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Dimokratia Narration, again, and this time, snapshots of moments. A dark void of narration, from a save file loaded after being put down for several weeks.

"After the arrival of the spirit of the stars, Luma," A snapshot, a photograph of the plump-round starbit soul of space that had landed in Princess Sarracenia's arms - including her dress from several weeks ago and arms in frame! - takes the fore. "-it became clear that the situation was not limited to our planet, but a spread of the threat of the Shroob across the entire Mar-- Mush--"

Dr. Elvin Gadd coughs and yabus uncertainly, one fist held before his mouth and another tucked behind his back. Nodding with bob of white headtuft, the aging professor half-shrugs with a sweep out of palm towards the image projected. He doesn't say anything, though.

The palpable increment of his ellipsis, ". . .", is cut by another figure, across the image, arms crossed. Complex blue-glow optics with pure ceramic-white sclera-surrounds shine in the dark of this recap space, as Dimo, of the Silver releases the cross of her arms to look vaguely 'up', at ceiling-void. "Local." She provides with a kind of warm dispassion, helpfully providing something that was both descriptive and correct while not needing the update herself. Guiding the doddering Gadd about while the scientist engaged in fits of genius and other more mere fits had become tiredly usual to the Champion, who knew full well that the Doctor would hold that pause for an exhaustively long time otherwise from experience in such waitings.

"Yes! Anyway, as I was saying--" And then the doctor launches back into Narration.

"Across the entire local galaxy! And that would be disastrous! We've already seen how badly they've treated the Mushroom Kingdom!"

In retrospect, several photos of the Shroob - primarily of the gang beating up a heck of a lot of purple mushrooms and a few of the ruined Toadstool Castle Town surrounds and the escape of the Toad refugees - appear. To remind, the Shroob are purple mushroom creatures not unlike Toads, with two large dark eyes with big red dot-points, generally vacant voids of open mouths and two prominent fangs. With pincer claw hands and spongy suggestions of feet, they menaced with remotes and rayguns, and were ultimately routed and removed from the time stream, when. . .

The images progress, and the Sundew Navy's barrage joining the Koopa Cruiser's broadside attack hangs in still frame as premise before the advancement of pictures highlight the crash-landing of the massive Shroob mothership into the bay near the Mushroom Kingdom's port.

"Thanks to the retrieval of critical navigational components from the invading capital ship," Dimo takes over with a calm voice as Gadd walks towards the foreground and crouches besides the source of light and pictures, muttering in untranslatable or unknowable 'iyagiyagi', and performing rummaging tasks. "The challenge of finding a path to chase became a matter of time. Despite not having interacted with the technology of a fungus-based people before, they seem to be quite capable scientists. I wonder if they see value in transcending their forms for more idealized bodies in higher image . . ." Several slides progress of the saucer-bottomed Shroob 'pilots', the biomechanical Swiggler, and even the Shrooboid - Shroob androids!
Dimokratia Elvin stands up and smacks his head against the 'source of light', knocking aside the slide projector that Stuffwell the Sentient Suitcase had deployed from within his cheerily opened leather self on a hinge-raised platform to shelf an old clicker-clacker rotary photo projector that was now flipped over and no longer creating a cave-like illusion of a secondary and secret narration space. Dimo, standing besides a perfectly ordinary pull-down projector screen, manages to maintain a polite smile and steeples hands low before her while the doctor composes himself. She's not laughing! She's warmly regarding. Amusedly, warmly regarding.

The surrounds, now obvious, is not the evacuated surrounds of the ruined Castle Town, but a new place for all but Lala and Hikaru: the Gateway Planet, a pseudoplanetoid that hung low in orbit over the mysterious Star Hill! Lazy in its roll through space, tumbling like a fat rock playing at hanging as a moon in the sky by closeness, the Gateway Planet is where you have been gathered. The tumbling, hovering thing is one covered in grasses and colorful flowers and stone spires and craters and a little fenced in shake roof house with a chimney that seems pastorally out of place, with a small garden row two by four of truffula-ball trees, a rather large antenna setup dwarfing the height of anything else on the small planetoid. Chopped and rounded off spikes of sharper stalag-mights look more like barnacles or suckers from close, and a faint blue field of atmospheric retainment field glows with a distressed >_< face minute and hard to find in the middle distance. It's a very, very stressed out forcefield-like situation. You probably shouldn't think too hard about it, as it is currently doing a wonderful job retaining the interior atmosphere. 'Nighttime', as you are experiencing, is a short period perfect for outdoor slideshows where the reflected glow from the planet rises in shining ebullience to provide well-enough to see with even if it is far from the brightbeating rays of the sunward side.

"Princess Sarracenia was exceptionally lucky, previously, as she caught the arrival of our most important pursuit-piece: the trail of our stellar ally. Across the... local galaxy," Even Dimo really wanted to call it Mario or Mushroom Galaxy, earning the faint touch of a pause. "-the 'Star Power' of our soft solar friend has left more than a followable trail back to where we must go to end this trial, but a super-highway. Breaking through the temporal distortion has been quite the work--"

Somehow, Gadd interrupts Dimo by sorting the advance of his own textbox over the Champions, making the Silver's representative's filiment-white brow shoot up in faint offense.

"Ahem!" Gadd begins, boldly, having somehow cleared his throat back to normal from Narration after a bout of head trauma. "Thanks to my genius invention," Gadd enters parenthetical to aside to 'literally everyone' by blocking nobody with '''surreptitious''' hand. "Which was inspired by those delightful Pretty Cures!" And then, out of aside. "-I've created the Star Warpulator! It will *shoot* you directly where you need to go! How direct, how direct."

Falling into praising himself, Gadd leans back into Stuffwell's open self and goes up to the elbow in the luggage's depth before pulling out -- a sleepy Luma! It's in a small crescent moon bassinet, like it was put down for a nap earlier. "While you shoot on ahead, we'll follow along with Love Prime, bringing whatever support you'll need! The time stream may become quite difficult, so..."
Dimokratia Gadd yabu-nods for a moment and then doesn't finish the thought at all. His next line just starts anew-anew.

"Anyway. Like I was saying - Any questions?"
Dimo shakes her head and gestures widely. "If we were to just shoot them out of the star-accelerator, they would have the same amount of information. I would say we are wasting time, but I cannot make that assertion without knowing the state of temporal damage."

Gadd nods some more. "Very true!"
Angela Upon arrival on the pseudoplanet, Roland's immediately struck by how small it is. "Hot damn... This is amazing..." Roland says. "Hold on. I have to, I just gotta." He hands off the Angelapad to Love for a moment as he just starts running across the length of the planet.

"Yeah!! That looks fun!!" Love shouts, handing the Angelapad to E-Gadd as she rushes after Roland. NEither of them are paying too much attention to the mission for the moment.

"Children, I swear." Angela complains from her video screen, clearly wanting to be able to run across the whole of a planet as well but isn't going to admit it when she's not able to do it. "That sounds remarkably and suspiciously convenient--" She says of the Star Warpulator before adding, "Hold on. What do you mean by ''shoot''" It's a question but also not quite a question. She's not the one who is takighn the risk she supposes but.

"Yay! Love Prime! Love Prime! WOoo!!" Love says as she engages in run and jump happily.
Combaticon     "I have no questions that will not be answered by examining the temporal framework," the source of the voice is Depthcharge, her arms resting just above projective hipjoint armor, "The sooner we get moving, the sooner we can verify the damage." She's on the same wavelength as Dimo, here.

    Beside her, Onslaught's red-glowing eyes shift towards her, as indicated by the little white points of his 'pupils'. Shifting his stance, Onslaught folds his hands behind his back, just beneath the cannons, "Whatever difficulties may be present, the Decepticons will rise to the challenge." His head turns slightly, "Vortex will act as escort for Love Prime and the Professor. I will travel ahead with Depthcharge and the rest."

    The spindly black and gray 'bot-- shorter than the other two by a wide margin-- effects a salute with enough enthusiasm to make a notable *clang* as hand-servo strikes faceplate brow, "Understood!"

    Depthcharge's eyes close with a weary sigh, "Let's get on with it. Engage the Star Warpulator."
Tamamo     Tamamo, who is still (due to the nature of having resumed the save file) wearing her motorbike race course outfit with all its proper protections, and possesses that same motorbike with reasonably dwindling hope that it will be useful in the course of space travel, raises a hand.

    "Yes, hello! Do I correctly understand that the option presented is to be shot from a cannon? That sounds rather dangerous." Unlike all her bike stunts, which were perfectly safe, somehow. She seeks a reassurance, looking between Elvin, Dimo, and the Cures, who have something to do with design, it seems. "In what manner does a Star Warpulator warp... ulate?"

    'I wonder if they see value in transcending their forms for more idealized bodies in higher image . . .'

    "I am unsure. Do they see this as transformation, or as use of tools?"
Futaba Nuki "So that's what that outfit looks like from the other side..." Futaba, ever the inquisitive sort about the wrong things at the wrong time, peers closely at the photos that Gadd helpfully provides. She's wearing her usual hoodie and shorts combo today rather than the tennis outfit she had been wearing at the start of this whole mess with the Shroob invaders, and her trademark red scarf rustles every now and then when it feels like not idle animations are going off during this briefing.

"maybe we could show 'em the benefits of trying something new. I mean, they could probably keep the saucer legs, but-" Futaba approaches Dimo, holding one hand up towards her shoulder and the other hand at her finger tips to get a rough estimate of her arm length, then brings that lower hand up to show that Dimo's arms are thiiis big. "-I bet they could get way more done with bigger arms, not to mention everything else you could show 'em once they come around."

Retreating to her seat that is just her own tail bundled underneath herself, Futaba holds onto her shins while rocking back and forth idly as she watches the projector screen and listens more. She purses her lips briefly at Gadd's interruption, but what she's hearing about the super-highway and getting shot out of a star cannon does take some of that annoyance off her features.

"Sounds like a fun way to catch up, alright. Heck, I could soften the landing if anyone's worried about hittin' the ground too hard without having to slow down!" She offers with a chuckle, then furrows her brow afterwards. "This stuff about temporal damage, though... Is this the kind of damage that would get us stuck somewhere, or turnin' into babies, or...?"

She glances over at Sarracenia, then right back at Dimo and Gadd. "We got anything we can work with to fix that while we're at it, or are we just grabbing our guy and hightailing it as fast as we can?"
Audrey Basque     Audrey... arrives with Roland and Love!
    She is wearing her Librarian uniform, but the jacket part of the suit-like attire is open, to reveal the clean white dress shirt underneath. The inside of the jacket is pitch black, with the starry sky reflected in it. This indicates being Off Duty to someone who otherwise minds her clothes so much, but who didn't have anything to get changed into when told to go get some fresh air already. Which is surely important, probably. Her hair is down, quite long, rather than the usual large drill buns.

    She's missing a bit of color on her face, like she's just now getting over a really nasty cold. That's not too far off.

"It will *shoot* you directly where you need to go! How direct, how direct."

    "E-Excuse me, shoot us?"

"While you shoot on ahead,"

    "What do you mean shoot--"

"If we were to just shoot them out of the star-accelerator,"

    "T-The star what now?"

    Audrey has a lot of questions and concerns and all of them are actually a singular question and concern, in truth!

    "... it is safe, right?"

"Yes, hello! Do I correctly understand that the option presented is to be shot from a cannon? That sounds rather dangerous."

    Deep breath.
    Not because of the Warpulator this time.
    "Okay, I'm ready to be shot from the cannon now."
Star Twinkle     "Wahoo! Yippee!"

    The narration is softly interrupted by the background noise of Hops and Jumps happening, like a cutscene having been broken to allow out of bounds movement. Untransformed, it's a wonderful and rare treat for Hikaru to be on a planet with such low gravity that she can do proper leaps, and so she's right there beside Love like a pair of funny little space crickets. In her Practical Adventuring Overall Shorts-- sparkly top, biiiig pink and white sneakers, and a pink hat with the katakana for SUTA-- on it-- Hikaru is practically wearing the equivalent of battle gear for the Mario setting, prepared to save the world!

    Right now, though, she's trying to do run-ups long enough to manage an airborne flip around the entire circumference of the planet. She's gradually labbed out the triple-jump tech, and each loop around the planet that she passes by Love, she's in some different, strange pose midair to try and get extra momentum.

    Lala, meanwhile, is listening to Gadd and Dimo, because she's so responsible! She's also tuckered herself out with running around much earlier than Hikaru did, so her face is a little pink from exertion and an antennae dabs at her forehead while she catches her breath, patient through Gadd's rambling and pauses. Love Prime is, of course, behind her, settled on Gateway Planet in spaceship form with the porthole open and ramp deployed. AI's also listening, but Yuma is vaguely distracted by something, seeming impatient.

"I wonder if they see value in transcending their forms for more idealized bodies in higher image . . ."

    Lala takes this very seriously. The multiverse in general has given her a lot of cause to think about robots, and in fact, between Angela, AI, Dimo, and the Combaticons, all the ones she's met outside the Starscape Galaxy are right here! "Lun... I wonder if they might be happier if they were. They have a lot of technology, but... they must still feel like they're missing something, if they're doing such terrible things to other planets, lun."

"They may be a parasitic species, Miss Lala. Rather than being unhappy, this may just be the way they've learned to live."
"What's 'parasitic'?"
"A parasite is some sort of organism that survives off of taking food from another, or in some cases, consuming them directly. Do you remember when Miss Hikaru removed that tick from your leg?"
"Oyo?! It was *eating* me?!"

"It will *shoot* you directly where you need to go! How direct, how direct."

    Hikaru lands in a small circular field of flowers with a 'wah--' and several rolling somersaults before popping back up to her feet. "Awesome! Like the Atomic Trampoline! Or like Yuma's wormholes! Or, both!"

    This level of danger seems like it's not only acceptable to the Precures, but essentially routine and unremarkable. Sure, Lala would be upset with being shot out of a cannon-- but this isn't a cannon! Lala nods and reassures Angela and Tamamo, "It's an invention, lun. That means it's been tested and it is safe. They don't let you do inventions otherwise."

    When the Luma appears, both Precures are magnetically drawn to the bassinet with sparkly-eyed gasps, deprived of having seen the precious baby for several weeks. This was what Yuma was waiting for too, and the Star Drop flits through the air to circle with excitement around the bassinet that holds her younger star-baby comrade. Yuma's synthesized singing voice stays politely lullaby-soft out of respect for the sleeping babb, but she's clearly delighted.

"She's so cute...!!! Stardorable, she's *sleeping*...!"
"I hope she hasn't been worried about her family, lun..."
Sarracenia      Sarra feels like she doesn't need a recap, but Dr. Gadd and Dimo are entertaining enough that she doesn't mind watching it. She minds even less when the image of the Luma being held by her is shown (she appears to be wearing the exact same outfit today), and she puffs up with pride a bit when the navy is shown. "I am still curious why the Koopa Cruiser was here. Did the Mushroom Kingdom call them for backup somehow during that time skip? Was it already here? Have we talked with them yet to see if they know anything about what happened?"

     'I wonder if they see value in transcending their forms for more idealized bodies in higher image . . .'

     Sarra perks in interest. "...is that something we can do?" she asks, presumably aimed at Dimo. She can't quite contain her giggle as Elvin smacks into the source of light.

     'Princess Sarracenia was exceptionally lucky...'

     Sarra smiles proudly again when mentioned as the one who caught the Luma. She seems to smile most anytime Dimo speaks about or to her. Or even if something involving her is just mentioned in passing by Dimo. And she giggles again ever so slightly when Gadd interrupts Dimo and those brows shoot up.

     'I've created the Star Warpulator! It will *shoot* you directly where you need to go! How direct, how direct.'

     Unlike Angela, Sarra is not worried at all about being shot out of a cannon. She basically does that to herself all the time with the Bullet Bill power-up. "Being shot out of a cannon is perfectly safe." he says, then hmms as she considers Roland. "...for elites." she adds. "And if anyone thinks they might have trouble, I am happy to provide some flight items that will allow you to cushion your landings." She proceeds to pull out a mixture of leaf and feather power-ups, which confer raccoon ears and a tail or a golden cape respectively in addition to the ability to glide and fly.

     Then...a sleepy Luma! Sarra's eyes widen and begin to sparkle. "...so cuuuuute....!" she says in the loudest, squeaky, attempt at a quiet whisper while she fights with every fiber of her being not to scoop up and huggle the little star creature. She suddenly looks around for Yuma. If that star drop is here it may be in for a sudden and forceful squeezing.
Futaba Nuki "Hold on. I have to, I just gotta.
Children, I swear."

Futaba inhales deeply while closing her eyes, exhales, then holds her hands up. "I'm good. I'm good." She says like she's trying to convince herself she totally doesn't want to run after Roland and Love.

"Wahoo! Yippee!"

Her eyes are SO shut right now. Futaba can hold out. She can withstand this. It's just a matter of time until it's time to get to work, as long as she can stop herself from getting too excited.

"Stardorable, she's *sleeping*...!"
"...so cuuuuute....!"

Perfect, a distraction! A calming one, even! Futaba heads straight for the bassinet, successfully diverted from jumping around wildly by the sight of a cute star thing being circled by the precious Star Drop. "Oh.. Oh, dang, that /is/ super cute. Ah..."

Oh no, Yuma's SINGING, too. That gets Futaba clutching her first to her chest, shedding a single tear at how adorable that all is.
Dimokratia The most pressing question - what the heck even a Star Warpulator was - is asked several different ways. Never fear, for Elvin Gadd has a response that dispels all doubt! Or, would, but his handedness becomes challenged fairly quickly when the Angelapad is passed from Roland to Love to the old doctor.

Roland and Love find the planet has enough to completely lose the gathering on one face of the planet and get out a decent ways before the horizon starts wrapping back. The jumps are lifty and easy, both Roland and Love getting enough air to graze the cool top of the atmospheric barrier of faintly ectoplasmic-blue color. From their height, and as they round the planet after double and spinning triple jumps, they approach an observatory-like mountain retreat set with discs of matte gunmetal and silver, pads of earth-tan veined by geometric lines and circuited from within like chunks of meat and nervous system as naked as hillside or cross-section. The whole place seems terraformed, changed, reshaped, and yet as seamlessly familiar as all the rest besides it save for the materials. The hills have optics, and the interconnected landing platform for mid sized rockets and aerial craft are surrounded by a midmountain cyberjungle.

Organic-seeming metal trees are leafed and budded in intricate crystals, deposited as a tree might grow, and barked in carbon shells that give not just the illusion of form, but the actual cladding of organic shapes. A melt-line, like ice but for infiltrated soil, shifts from a synthetic cobalt blue and a too-white of 'icecap' simulacra that matches the nearby peaks of the other Star Hills to the fanciful royal blue of the local ground, richsparkling and even barely-buried fallen star piece featuring soil that evokes both the namesake and actual falling star phenomena of the area the Gateway Planet lazily tumbles over in orbit.

Roughly half the planet has been changed in this way, but upon one of the rocket platform is the actual physical presence of Love Prime! Landed there before the attack to arrive for race day and for the girls to transfer through the new outpost space-port access of the lands below, now Love Prime was one of the only ships still docked. The temporal distortion had certainly held tourists and trade at bay!

Meanwhile...

Now looking down - at not just a comely noble (science-looking? many books!) lady, but a mildly severe one! - Gadd's old heart aflutters for he image within his moving picture box, and while cradling Luma's lunar bassinet and holding the pad, delivers lines like operatic poetry (from a four foot tall simlish-speaking fogey).

"Why, my well-read lady," Gadd anunciates. "I mean that you are imparted with force, and then travel a distance until stopped." Gadd answers.

Then he nods, which means he woodpeckers his nose near the screen with a goofy single-toothed smile, like he's sharing the Real Truth with a similar level of mind.

It really helps she's over a screen. Somehow, feeling like being someone's picture-in-picture presence appeals on multiple levels to Elvin.

Thankfully, Dimo shifts in with a few distance-dominating strides to lean low and scoop up star child from Gadd's negligent attention and smoothly shift to a cooing-hum subvocalization. The smooth lift away from starry-eyed Elvin finds Dimo's carbon-dark detalied finger gently stroking the eepy-eyed star child, while Luma moves in pantomime of wiggly yawn. Instead of a biiig stretch the little starbit's stretch includes a faint increase in glow that warbles at the edges, a harmonic change that trembles at the edge of some low limit, and then is retracted with a satisfied stellar 'auph' and stardust pouf from front.
Dimokratia "The energy trail that this being leaves forms a potent path that can be used for some time after. The doctor has shared with me the opinion of local scholars, that their world - and the space above - is connected by a "Star Road", that reaches all points in the galaxy at once." The sophont's interest in this topic hangs in her tone, a faint sort of reverence for this effect and affair, beatific recitiation leaking into her drier declaratories. "This power, which may be behind the Warp Pipe phenomenon on the surface below, is much more clear outside of the atmosphere of the planet... given the right encouragement. Doctor?" Dimo asks, but the sophont looks directly at Yuma, Hikaru, and Lala as they crowd about.

E. Gadd, bouncing to awareness as the sizzle of Dimo's tone bounces off the pate of his head, cranes his head up to look up at Dimo towering over him and coming down to share access to the precious baby star/little stellar comrade with the Pretty Cures and not the finely dressed severe woman who throws labcoat shoulders in the ideal - unslouched and poised and dissertation-delivering. "... Anyway! As I was saying, the Star Warpulator!"

No longer having his handedness problem, Gadd's attention is seized anew while he rummages in his labcoat pocket which bulges with the presence of Key Item, producing the Object with a vertical open-palmed presentation raise, only to nearly drop the thing immediately. Elvin does Not have the art of hovering an object over palm to present it to the world down, much as he tries. The 'Star Warpulator' seems to be a brass hand telescope with a polished finish and leather-dark and faintly blue weathered finish to the material. The stitching and meeting of the piece is implied by a flat little golden and black-eyed star set as a catseye-shiny mark on the otherwise functional-seeming object.

The faint blue of the leather manifests in the faint irregularities or cracks in the ''leather'' are filled in with brightened starfield, a beauty-dusted and stellar seasoned surround for the metal. The object oozes Key Item properties, even if Gadd fumbles it slightly.

"I will happily engage the Star Warpulator, Depth--"
Stuffwell, snapping shut and rising to stand, emits perpetual smile and outright grand vibe. "Wow! It sounds like you want a tutorial on the Star Warpulato-"

Dimo, observing a fight literally about to start as she talks, leans in while Yuma cuts *Gadd* off with its lullaby-song as the backing music track changes completely.

Gadd, who must push against Stuffwell without getting main audio channel for whole long shoot moments, continues to squabble until he steps out around the group, passing Angela's pad to the other Librarian on-site: Audrey.

"Salutations! We're here-" "Anyway, as *I* was saying, *I* was here to introduce-" "the STAR WARP-ulator!" "A device that allows the perception and generation of 'launch stars', objects that will-" "Shoot you at a high velocity!" "It's completely untested!!" "It's perfectly safe!!"

Gadd and Stuffwell end simultaneously, both with big smiles. Neither think you got the other's end of the story at all and have absolute faith in you.

Luma, who is resistant to squozes from even the strongest of princesses (due to association with gravitic crush force, naturally), is easily lifted from lunar bassinet and taken into Sarra's arms, but Dimo seems to take this as Sarra taking a personal responsibility in the starchild, and shifts to continue the third leg of the briefing before Gadd gets into a fistfight with his own luggage.
Dimokratia "The device draws in stellar radiation from distant points and captures them through a complex navigational sight that calculates the sacred constant and draws that distant signal into phase with the local environment. This, if there is one of these star-trails from the passage of a being like Yuma or our sleepy guest, allows a particular generation." Dimo begins, taking the Star Warpulator out of Gadd's now-closed upright holding hand and opening it up to performatively look up into the sky above the Gateway Planet, which is now facing out towards the greater galaxy. Many of the stars, as they're inspected by the telescope, palpalby-to-Audrey (and Tamamo) draw down in light and gravity, but there's not quite a connection, until, searching, Dimo finds a golden trail in space, falling down thickly towards the surface of the planet below. This, of course, was the path Luma took to land in Audrey's arms, and the stellar witch would know this like reading a constellation spilled across a sand-dune, but what's even clearer is when Dimo focuses on a far point in the trail of the young star.

This time, there's a long dragging of light, a gathering of starpoints that form a large hollow two-layered star in gold in the sky above the gathered group. Radiation from the dispersed energy-trail of Luma forms the structure of the light-lensing construct, and as Dimo shifts her gaze and manipulates the telescope by pressing down on the star-stud, she makes more and more of the hollow sets of star-within-a-star, until she brings down telescope, and with some flourish, closes the object by placing palm against the eyepiece and pushing down firmly. The satisfying 'click' of the telescope is not without some external resistance, all stemming from. . .

Every one of the launch stars peels down, telescoping in like a number of slingshots drawn back to full cradling and filled with incredible potential energy.

"The star-energy of this world has a sort of inertial dampening effect, I've found. It is, more than likely, safe." Dimo states, with a smile. It is the exact smile of someone knowing she's selling 'you'll be fine, probably'. "And it will be fun, I am sure. Hikaru, would you carry the Warpulator? If you stay as a group, especially with Yuma, I doubt greatly anything can stop you."
Angela ''Audrey.''

"Not gonna do some running around, Audrey? You're missing out..." Roland is panting for breath by virtue of being in his thirties while trying to keep up with Love and Hikaru but--

''Oyo?! It was *eating* me?!''

"Wahh--" Love says and since vore is just not in her language module she adds, "--Sis." Since the King of Greed is what she thinks of first.

Love naturally gets a lot more jumping and spinning around than Roland does due to the aforementioned 30ness of the guy but he can't help but marvel at the majestic nature of another, if tiny, world. Indeed, the smallness of it just sort of makes it more fascinating to him.

"That was a lot of fun!" Love beams at Hikaru. "You're so good at posing while jumping, Hikaru! I'm glad Lala got some in too..."

''Why, my well-read lady. I mean that you are imparted with force, and then travel a distance until stopped.''

Angela, who is worlds away, can calmly say, "Understood." At Gadd. "Try to enjoy it, Roland."

"I'm sure they wouldn't uh put us in danger like that haha." Roland says, sweat dripping down his neck.

''It's completely untested!!''

Somehow hearing that ALONGSIDE 'It's perfectly safe' only worries Roland more than if it was just the one or the other.

"I'll Warpulate first if you're worried, Roland!" Love suggests.

Roland immediately feels queasy, "N...No that's fine. We can just do ... a normal order. Yeah. We can be normal about it."
Audrey Basque "Why, my well-read lady," Gadd anunciates. "I mean that you are imparted with force, and then travel a distance until stopped." Gadd answers.

    "I-- I know what being shot means!" Audrey protests, in a way that is seemingly healthy for her because she's able to *raise her voice* above a complaining whimper. It's wonderful what arguing with a tiny man about being placed inside an accelerator will do for your mood.

"is connected by a "Star Road","

    "That sounds... kind of beautiful, actually? Sarracenia, why wouldn't you..." She has to think, she's still low on energy and-- okay well the last time she spoke to the princess she was hunched over by a bush and puking. *Because* of her. "... tell me your world has such fascinating skies?" Implied: instead of making me walk to your kingdom.

    Okay well the skies also have invading purple Shroobs.
    But you gotta take the good with the bad.

"It's completely untested!!" "It's perfectly safe!!"

    Audrey's only joy in life at this moment is that if there's a terrible Star Accelerator Related Accident then Tamamo's there too.

    That is to say Audrey smiles, reassured.

"Not gonna do some running around, Audrey?"

    "M-Maybe another time, Roland. I'm still a bit sick."
    That's not totally untrue!
    It's actually visibly true!

Being handed the Angelapad.

    Audrey awkwardly holds the device, like she wasn't by Angela less than a hour ago. "I, um. I've never had to hold this before. Should I be... is there something I need to know?"

    If Roland can do it...

"The device draws in stellar radiation from distant points"

    FINALLY someone who speaks English.
    She's able to forget her woes watching Dimo work the machine, observing the stars and the way they interact with the universe so directly here. The evident trail used by Luma to travel... she actually would rather sit down and study the sky than go pick a fight, if she was given the choice. That'd be terribly cowardly of her, but she hasn't felt a pull towards the sky in quite some time. Maybe another time. Maybe after it all.

"The star-energy of this world has a sort of inertial dampening effect, I've found. It is, more than likely, safe."

    "Well now I'm jealous. When I move things about, inertia's a huge problem. I've bruised myself more often than I can count teleporting in a hurry and forgetting to account for being in-movement."

    Alright well no use putting it off forever.
    "You're very brave, Love," she remembers to praise the little critter, because it's extremely important. "I'm sure it's fine."
Futaba Nuki Watching Luma makes it harder and harder for Futaba to sit still, especially when she sees the little thingy warble with that sorta-yawn in Dimo's hold. She looks away while holding her hand over her mouth, suppressing a noise of cuteness overload by morphing her mouth away for a few seconds, then goes back to normal once she's satisfied she won't make any more noises about what she just saw.

Instead, she can focus on Gadd's simlishy noises after Dimo nudges him back towards giving the group more information to work with, and something that might help Audrey worry a little less about getting shot out of a cannon. Or... Telescope?

"You call that a cannon?" Technically, Gadd never did call it a cannon. Still, Futaba's going to attribute what Audrey called it to Gadd, and she looks skeptical already at how small it is. She does look eager to hear what Stuffwell has to say about it, and hearing the dueling commentary between Stuffwell and Gadd is a little tricky at first until she sorts it out mentally and starts laughing riotously.

"Untested and safe, eh? I like those odds! Can't be an Elite without takin' some kinds of risks like these, but I'm sure we'll be fine." She comments, brimming with confidence at what both of the commentators said without a care in the world. She might not know which or if either of them are correct, but...

Well, she's just not going to think about the safety too hard. Much easier this way, especially once she's listening to Dimo's explanation about how it actually works. "So we're gettin' a big dose of star radiation to get launched by, not out of, the Star Warpulator along this big honkin' star-trail, right?" Futaba asks while feigning an adjusting of glasses where her eye markings are, lacking the physical prop to really do that properly. "And our our big cushion at the end is star energy of where we're headed, so we don't even need somethin' solid to land on. Did I get that about right?"

Futaba strokes her chin lightly, then nods after Dimo offers Hikaru the Warpulator. "Good call. Doubt there's anything that could keep her from finding us, and we alrady know nothing could stop any of us from getting to her. 'specially not with Lala or Yuma around." Flashing the Precures and the Star Drop a toothy grin, Futaba looks over at Roland and Love with a curious eyebrow-raise.

"Normal order? Sure, sure, we can go in name order. Let's see, that means..." Futaba looks from Roland to Love, mouthing some syllables quietly as she looks from person to person. "Love and Lala, then him, Hikaru before them, me before... Oh, Onslaught and Depth real early, and Audrey... Does Ba mean she's goin' up first or last...?"

Futaba looks like she's getting a headache already trying to figure out who's going in a 'normal' order. Eventually, she throws her hands up and heads towards Hikaru. "Aah, we'll be fine whichever way we head on up. Me and Love can head on over first, since we'll probably have an easier time gettin' back if Audrey's here to move us around. Sound good?"
Combaticon     Dimo, helpfully, explains the Warpulator's function in a way that involves far less meandering and tangents than the Professor has ever managed. Onslaught inclines his head slightly, then nods once to convey his understanding. In a way, it's much like the space bridge technology Cybertron uses-- in that all he needs to know is that it will work.

    > "We can just do ... a normal order. Yeah. We can be normal about it."

    "Whatever is the matter, human?" Depthcharge shoots a side-eye at Roland, "Afraid your organs will not survive the radiation? Or is it the lack of atmosphere?"

    Unceremoniously, Onslaught shoves Depthcharge onto a waiting Launch Star before she can sass further. There is only a brief, "I'M NOT R--" and she's gone.

    "Deploying as the vanguard," the Combaticon commander states evenly, stepping onto another star without further hesitation, "We shall regroup upon landing."

    "She's gonna be so mad at him," Vortex asides towards the cutesy rocket ship.
Tamamo     "Oh, yes, I see," says Tamamo, who didn't understand warpulation until it was demonstrated. But it has been demonstrated, so that's no longer a problem.

    'It is, more than likely, safe.'

    Tamamo is not sold by this. However...

    'Hikaru, would you carry the Warpulator?'

    She knows, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Hikaru could not possibly resist these summons. If the girls are going to take these moderate risks -- and bring along Yuma, no less -- then she can hardly seek an alternate route, just because she's a little worried about it that 'completely untested' bit of the tutorial explanation.

    That all being firmly decided, "I have no further questions, thank you. I suppose I shall not need to change, after all, if we are to race across the sky." That is, the racing suit is made for high speed maneuvers and surviving a wipe out. That's the very thing she has to worry about. "Are we pressed for time? Should we be hurrying? Ah, I suppose present circumstances do make that somewhat difficult to determine."

    'What's 'parasitic'?'
    'A parasite is...'

    "As well, a 'parasite' is one that eats without killing. Oh, but they can make you quite sick, even so."

    'Stardorable, she's *sleeping*...!'

    Tamamo allows herself a little time to fondly consider star babies, and to hum along to Yuma's tune. Oh, come to that... "Hikaru, Lala, will one of you be carrying Yuma, or...?" She can't just ask to hold the child. It'd be taking responsibility away from the appointed caretakers. What she can do is think hard about it while asking something else.

    'M-Maybe another time, Roland. I'm still a bit sick.'

    "Oh, do you require medicines, Ms. Basque?" says Tamamo, who could very well have been believed to be unable to perceive Audrey until the word 'sick.'
Sarracenia      Watching the others bounce around and even float around the planetoid does tempt Sarra as well, but she has more important things to do.

     Like squoze a little squishy star! The yawn was the breaking point. The princess was quite surprised when she was not stopped from taking the little star, but once she has it she has it. It is tucked in between her arms in front of her chest in the most secure and safe hold a princess can manage: the plushie hold. "So cuuuute~" she coos again, leaning her head in and lifting enough to cheek-nuzzle the Luma before lowering it back into proper plushie position as she hums along with Yuma.

     'N...No that's fine. We can just do ... a normal order. Yeah. We can be normal about it.'

     Sarra giggles at Roland and waggles one of the feathers at him as he continues to show his nervousness at this method of travel.

     Sarra doesn't go jumping, but she does end up following Hikaru during one of her laps around the planet. Which allows her to see the techno-organic plants on the other side. She blinks in surprise, then smiles and reaches to run a hand over her metal lotus before returning to the gathering. "Miss Dimo! What lovely work you have done on the other side of this charming planetoid!" she says cheerfully, still clutching the Luma.

     'That sounds... kind of beautiful, actually? Sarracenia, why wouldn't you...tell me your world has such fascinating skies?'

     Sarra is still clueless that she was the actual reason Audrey puked. If she had any idea she would likely not be talking to Audrey at all. Or even more, depending on her mood. "Well...it is embarrassing to say, but I did not realize we had such a sky. The Shroob attack is the first time I saw one of these star creatures." she says, indicating the Luma. She doesn't even know what to call them. "It does sound quite beautiful, though. A road made of stars? Oooh, or perhaps a rainbow road connecting the worlds, surrounded by stars?"

     As the others debate on who should go first, Sarra makes a phone call as she follows after the Combaticons. She laughs as Depthcharge is pushed in, and calls out loudly, "DO NOT FORGET TO GIVE ANY ALIENS THE UNIVERSAL GREETING~!!" before she reaches into her purse and pulls out...a baby carrier! The kind that straps around the chest! She carefully tucks the Luma into the carrier, then rewraps her arms around it before she hops into a star launcher as well and launches off with a happy 'wheeeeee~ Ahahahahah~'
Star Twinkle     "...is that something we can do?"

    To Sarracenia, presumably unfamiliar on the subject of Dimo if she's asking that question, Hikaru lifts up a finger. She's got a metal leaf unknowingly stuck in one of her twintails from a mistimed jump that led her crashing into a tree, and a smear of cobalt metal 'dirt' on her face and knees. "Yeah! Miss Dimo can make you thirty feet tall and made of metal! It's totally twincool."

    Yuma is the most huggable creature in the galaxy-- whichever galaxy she happens to be in. Squeezing the 'neck' portion of her silly little peanut-shaped body squishes her fluid-light facial mask into several squiggly lines, but after a few seconds to adjust, the dual-blob mask reforms with a slight upward bend. That means she's happy! Accidentally though, when squeezed, she makes a sudden louder noise than her lullaby, like hiccuping into a clarinet.

"You're so good at posing while jumping, Hikaru!"

    Love gets a big excitable hi-five from Hikaru. "And you're so good at jumping while posing! All three of us should get shot out of the Warpulator first! That way we can help everyone else if something goes wrong!" Hikaru decides on this before even being tutorialized!

"It's completely untested!!" "It's perfectly safe!!"

    Both Hikaru and Lala would really like to pay attention to the tutorialization of the Star Road. And they can try, but... Luma is wiggling their little arms and yawning, and that is the single most important thing in the multiverse right now. Yuma too has the clumsy-yet-adoring fascination of a toddler discovering their first younger sibling, peering into the cradle with a wiiiide mask-blob on her face to take in every little movement. Hikaru coos and strokes a finger under the star baby's chin, but Lala goes silent when Luma is lifted out of the bassinet, oddly awestruck at the creature. She reaches her arms out to Sarracenia.
Star Twinkle     "Could... could I hold her for a minute? Please, lun?" When Lala gets Luma in her arms, she holds them incredibly gently, propping them up with folded arms and against her shoulder and leaning the star-child so Hikaru can marvel at them too. Lala's antenna brushes the just-awoken baby's forehead, crackling with soothing electricity that transmits the impression of ¤well-wishes of joy and comfort in your future¤. After that, Lala's alright with handing Luma back over to Sarra.

"The device draws in stellar radiation from distant points and captures them through a complex navigational sight that calculates the sacred constant and draws that distant signal into phase with the local environment."

    Now, having missed the tutorial, Lala and Hikaru have to contend with larger words being used at them! They focus super hard on Understanding-- both a tiny bit guilty that they totally tuned Gadd and Stuffwell out-- and each rationalize their own ways of comprehending the technology. "So it makes stars that launch us, lun?" "It'll shoot us at a high velocity!"

    Lala contemplates this subject for a little longer, turning to look at Yuma. "The Star Road sounds really pretty, lun... I wonder if we could find lots more Star Drops like Yuma there? I didn't think about how her wormholes might work before...."

"And it will be fun, I am sure. Hikaru, would you carry the Warpulator?"

    "Yes! Yes yes yes yes! Twincooool!" Hikaru immediately accepts the offered gizmo and prances around with it held up in the air like a trophy. "Nothing can stop us...!!"

"Hikaru, Lala, will one of you be carrying Yuma, or...?"

    The girls...! Do not precisely have a handedness problem. Hikaru has the device, but Lala's hands are free. But still, after Lala looks over to Yuma for a glance of silent communication, she hugs Yuma in her arms and gently offers her over to Tamamo. "I might need to transform super quickly to catch everyone if stuff goes wrong, lun. So if you don't mind holding her, I think it'd make Yuma happy."

    Yuma *has* always been very affectionate towards Tamamo. If held, she's a bit more like a rambuctious toddler than an infant, preferring to be slung over Tamamo's shoulder and energetically looking around in every direction while humming in MIDI notes, but she's evidently very comfortable being there in their merged stellar warmth.
Audrey Basque "Oh, do you require medicines, Ms. Basque?"

    There's no hyperventilating left in Audrey, but if there was any, it would be spent here, having Tamamo's attention.

    "I... do, actually, Lady Tamamo. Do you have them on you, right now?"

    Audrey is uninjured; there's nothing to see, of the likes Tamamo might want to spy. She's actually oddly *pristine*, like another healer got to her first. She's nonetheless a shade paler than usual, and has observable involuntary flinches when people get near her.

    It might be more mental than physical.

"Well...it is embarrassing to say, but I did not realize we had such a sky."

    "Oh."
    That oh carries so much on it.
    "Well... it is never too late to learn."

"Could... could I hold her for a minute? Please, lun?"

    On the other hand, watching Lala interact with Luma is like a sweet and helpful salve. A temporary one, but a needed one right now.
Star Twinkle     "She's gonna be so mad at him,"

    AI is pleasantly waiting on her launch pad while all of this goes on. Really, it's likely that the Pretty Cures' cheerful acceptance of the launch star technology is from trust in AI: had AI's scan revealed anything dubious, she surely would've alerted the girls to it. Instead, seeing that her *fourth* tutorialization isn't needed, she turns her attention, such that it is with a rocket ship and a glove, to side conversations.

    "It is likely that Mister Onslaught assessed the risks of such an outcome before making his choice." AI's tone seems perfectly friendly... she's just not all that used to small talk. "Anger seems improbable, given that the end destination is the same regardless."

    AI does have guests to invite onboard as well! The big star symbol on the side of the ship that lights up with each word AI says briefly goes dark with a few loading cycles of light around its perimeter before she talks again, towards Gadd and Dimo. "I will be ready for liftoff whenever you board and complete proper pre-flight safety protocols."

    The interior of the spaceship slash treefort slash dorm room is the same as it's ever been. Lala's cutesy pilot chair is inoperable without her antennae-- though Dimo's tendrils could make a very convincing substitute-- but thankfully they don't need it, as AI is already powered on. Her autopilot's gotten a lot better since Cybertron!
Sarracenia      Before Sarra launches

     'Oh, do you require medicines, Ms. Basque?'
     'I... do, actually, Lady Tamamo. Do you have them on you, right now?'

     Sarra blinks in surprise as she hears the exchange. She might be blissfully unaware of the reason behind Audrey's ruining of some bushes back on Hydrocoeria, but she has still offered things like healing mushrooms to Audrey in the past only to be turned down. And now Tamamo's offer is being accepted. Sarra lets out a rather annoyed 'mmmmph' at that, and her opinion of what Audrey's opinion of her must be goes down quite a bit. It is not that she thinks Tamamo is not worthy of having her help accepted. Quite the opposite! Rather, it is...how much do you have to dislike someone to refuse their help specifically? As someone practiced in the art of disliking people, Sarra thinks she knows. And on that note, how could anyone dislike Kukuru enough to refuse her help? "...are you serious..." Sarra mutters very quietly under her breath.

     'Oh. Well... it is never too late to learn.'

     Sarra doesn't appreciate the tone carried with that. She realizes that she may have been deluding herself in thinking that she and Audrey were at least okay after the duel. Her frown increases. "...indeed..." she mutters just barely audibly.

     That sourness is forgotten quickly when Lala asks for Luma. Sarra is certainly not able to resist one of the other cutest creatures in the room! She carefully hands over Luma and tries not to smile overly much as Lala and Hikaru marvel at the star child. Sarra is just as careful about tucking the Luma back into its baby carrier.
Tamamo     'I might need to transform super quickly to catch everyone if stuff goes wrong, lun. So if you don't mind holding her, I think it'd make Yuma happy.'

    Tamamo, giving away her feelings with a faintly visible, glowing corona of warmth, rolling off her like a summer breeze, says, "Oh, that is a reasonable concern, of course. It would be no trouble, and so, I shall follow soon after you."

    Taking Yuma into her arms, she instinctively cradles the little one, only to soon shift to lifting against her shoulder as squirmy energy is detected. Tamamo checks over her many zippers, opens one, and takes out something bright pink and the size of a coin, shaped as if made of bumps. "There, now, would you like konpeito?"

    It's sugar candy, and she'll be popping it into her own mouth if Yuma doesn't.

    'I... do, actually, Lady Tamamo. Do you have them on you, right now?'

    "Naturally." She's carrying a lot more than candy, though some things could get confusing if she forgot what was placed where. She reaches for her other side, without moving Yuma's perch, to start going through things.

    "Let us see... you are looking a bit pale. Is your stomach well? I have something here for settling it. Have you recently lost blood? That would quicken your breath, but it is not something for which I would recommend temporary fixes. These tend to cause one to pay a price, later. I have vitamins for you, here, but the use of these depends on your own ability to find rest."

    She actually has more than that, but isn't offering magical solutions straight off. It doesn't sound like they're in any immediate danger, after all... as far as she knows! More like, the shroobs are definitely dangerous, but her sense of danger has been reduced by the presence of multiple tutorials. It's harder to think of losing any challenge that comes with a tutorial.

    Once that's sorted, it's definitely time to get launched. As she said she would, Tamamo follows after Hikaru and Lala, leaping with a knees-bent posture in anticipation of a hard landing, and one hand firmly supporting Yuma.
Dimokratia "Unfortunately, it is not a 'cannon'. None were promised, as well - though I do promise you will be launched. This is the purpose of the Launch Stars - to accelerate you onto the Star Road." Dimo briefs, a fond frequency of aside to the fellow synthetic while she explains generally. "It is both path and place, though your destination, we believe, is a real place - merely one at the end of the Star Road."

She, too, preferred a slicing-direct explanation of things, not the educated rambling of the Doctor. She had spent weeks here with him! Weeks! Physically!

Are we pressed for time? Should we be hurrying? Ah, I suppose present circumstances do make that somewhat difficult to determine.

Tamamo's question is pertinent and direct enough to the doctor's interest he directly addresses it as it comes up, even if it was aimed at Dimo. "My tall lady," Elvin smiles while looking up and squinting through thick glasses. Faint severity, air of intelligence? Elvin had to be at his best for the ideal forms around him. "What we do know is that the majority of the pieces of the Cobalt Star were taken by the Shroob, who left all of the Power Stars behind, and also, Mario is still missing." Gadd hangs his head, at that, and with a somber note, sighs. A lift of hands from jacket pockets bring a cloth up to his glasses to wipe down the fronts. His other hand joins its compatriot, to take the thick lenses off of his face to clean off the grime of thought and the day's pressing.

"Asking someone to find him is terrible enough," Dr. Gadd yabus tiredly. He's been working those weeks, himself, and he is an aging man trying his college best looking good for the fine (and faintly severe!) ladies. Emotionality is not his strongest suit, and so it comes only when the press is down upon him in this most heartfelt way.

He feels it in his knees, that don't quite make even the moon assisted jump himself. "But please, if you can - find Mario. It is important,"

Gadd doesn't side-eye Sarracenia when he places his glasses on, but, there's a personal note to Elvin's statement as a man of the Mushroom Kingdom by choice. ". . . to all of us."

The timing element was implied, but at the same time: you were chasing the possibility of undoing everything! So, with the hopes of an old man imparted, Dimo hands off the Star Warpulator to Hikaru with some advice: "If you become lost, you and Lala will have the easiest time guiding the group home with the power that Yuma has. The Star Warpulator can gather any kind of strong star-trail, not just our little star-bit's, and, I believe for this you're the most suited to carry something to see the stars, hmm?" Dimo smiles carbon-dark lips and leans in to pat Hikaru on the shoulder fondly. "As another twinkling star that shines throughout the universe."

Sarracenia's return after passing off Luma to Lala with compliments gets an interested turn of attention from Dimo after engaging in Episode-necessary act of saying the message out loud. Shifting up to stand at ease, hands clasped behind her back, the carbon-dark, chrome silver, and ceramic white champion gives a pleased smile and her full attention to Sarracenia. "I see you appreciate all of our works, Princess Sundew. Did you know, it was you who first made me aware of your world's incredible properties? Your love for all of my people's designs has been well-noted, but I'm especially pleased to hear you approve of our terraforming and building."
Dimokratia Leaning, slightly, Dimo applies a honey-warm and melody-sweet tone to her voice, the direct attention of her optics washing Sarracenia directly in pleasant synaptic tingles of being seen clearly and granted fond regard. Like golden floss being strung between her ears to sinewave a frequency where it slackens in her skull, Dimo's voice works through Sarracenia's synapses while the champion steps forward and applies a brushing touch to the princess' silver lotus hairpiece -- and if it's not there, one simply grows on demand, drawn out of Dimo's palm as liquid chrome. Either way, there is a palpable moment of 'being brushed', and feeling the flower directly for Sarracenia, and Dimo leans in to ask more discretely. "Tell me, since you wear this beautiful young flower on your head so much," That seems now more charged, and certainly more responsive. "-That I wondered what particularly you found beautiful about it? And now I know it is complex within you, and that you could learn more from a... less basic application. Consider it my boon, and, a good luck charm. Do your peoples not kiss heroes before battle?"

Dimo draws away, laughing in a shrug when Sarra is re-equipped with Luma baby carrier. "Or is it after, upon successful return? You will have to let me know, Princess!" Dimo directs, before the Launch Stars begin to be interacted with, and Dimo has to get further clear to not be sucked up by a Star and be a safe distance to corral Gadd from, who is shuffling around feeling sad.

Though it would be a different and perhaps related world if they were called Warp Stars, the Launch Stars that hang over the group in array all seem to aim as a quiver of columns 'outward', even though the golden trail follows a particular swaying path through space. When approached, though, there's a vague prompt-of-intent in taking hold of the dipping inner ring of the stars, and then a user is gently guided to the center and bounced up faintly in the air in an elastic micro-orbit, spun and oriented with the two pieces of the star, and: shot.

Like out of a cannon. The snap of the gravity-lens banding of the stellar slingshot you enter imparts a single compressed instant of incredible spin and snap force both - fired like a bullet from a rifle. Doing it NORMAL STYLE, which involves Roland still generally being after several people who elect to form the vanguard, the Combaticons and Futaba forming a front pack that Love might quickly join ahead of the group while there's any last minute handling of star children or inspiring words or vitamin chugging near the rear. Eventually, everyone is fired off into space from the Warpulator's revelations of the path of the Star Road, and even the clumsiest breaks into a controlled cruise in whatever posture is aerodynamic for them. Across the center of each star-traveler, like a barrier, a faintly golden-shining inertial field springs to life in spurts and silhouette-trailing raindrops of light. Trailing around them, and behind, is a golden-red kind of light, and after cruising, there starts to be hazards in the form of broken up chunks of space debris and small irregular asteroids in the way. Initially a few easily dodged or simply not dangerous approaches, it starts to get thick and heavy when the group approaches a planet that seems to have the center of it blown through with a giant molten hole spraying in both directions that complicates approach but Luma apparently flew right through.
Dimokratia A brief segment of Turbo Tunnel: Space Edition later, the red-trailing space heroes have started to pick up a corona of orange or even yellow as they pick up speed, having to go through an active slow-motion lava bore hole or across a microplanetoid like the one most of the gang had run across for fun... at flank flight speed. Able to pick up speed by grazing close to the ground and of course avoiding obstacles, the gang must race through the magma and rock danger and heat vents of the interior with the slow-motion explosion and irregular bore hole, or, a hasted run across partially purpleified terrain with a mix of a few Shroobs firing rayguns at targets too fast for them to really individually target, and natural feature enemies like a scattering of Goombas and a very agitated Chomp on an especially high path bound. While nothing is individually threatening, what is lost in speed needs to be regained somehow. The vanguard hit this course with speed to spare, and eagerness to do stunts and gravity graze the planet for a boost is one reason why Luma came this way in the first place, but, not every turn or corridor is kind, and all the enemies are out to get you.

On the far side are another set of Launch Stars that can re-boost people into the marathon or add more acceleration to someone already peeling out ahead!

Coming hard and fast, Launch Stars begin to appear summoned around Luma, Yuma, and Hikaru when the speed becomes too fast to touch down and do maneuvering and the spectra of corona becomes a warm yellow and then shifting green. The wash of teal, of the first stages of blue can be had in the stellar straightaway, before the planets on the path start coming again. Satellite-size but still potentially populated, a desert world rotates into path of the star roadsters with tall-reaching cactus to claw the fliers from the sky, a world covered solely in volcanoes spits ejecta in every direction like a sick film, and a water planet FORCES TERRIBLE PHYSICS on you but the growing barrier of the shooting star energy grows more and more indigo and violet. The obstacle course of the cosmos speeds up to whipping speeds, blurs of shapes and blasts of cosmic radiation like beam attacks that must be dodges or be washed back into a previous stage in, a team race to bring everyone to the same finish line, and then, at the end--

Heaven? Some speed-based lightspun equivalence? There is a 'pfohh!' and a burst of what can only be described as cloudstuff when travelers achieve the full rainbow road of acceleration through the Launch Star travel reach the end-destination, a white light at the end of the spectral tunnel that generates before them and they transcend//appear in. . .

A realm of clouds in space, five pointed with what seems like the whole galaxy caught in the empty center of the star's reaches. Each arm of the star holds a tremendous amount of space, yet the golden roads that seem natural now to you as you are, this 'fast' that it is a three dimensional walk to you to accelerate relativistically within the space, thread the void with meaning and path. Above the galaxy, in a realm-above-realms, is what appears to be a comet in the distance, and atop that comet, is a palace.
Angela #-1 INVALID ANSI DEFINITION: 423 ''Maybe another time, Roland.''

"Ah...yeah..." Roland says, uneasily.

''Sarra giggles at Roland.''

Roland glowers at her before remembering the kids and then just has a small laugh at himself too.He shakes his head quickly as if to get his head out of the gutter.

''You're very brave Love.''

"Don't you know it!" Love says to Audrey completely missing that she's not doing perfectly fine because what's being a little pale? Angela's way more pale than Audrey is right now and she's just fine! It might need to be signaled a little loduer for her. And then she gets a little dizzy of Futaba's explanation of the order but once Futaba explains who is going first she says, "Yeah!! We can do that!" She is relieved.

''Whatever is the matter, human? Afraid your organs will not survive the radiation?''

How exactly do I go about killing something like this? Do I pour sugar in the gas tank or something? Eh it probably doesn't matter you're never gonna need to, Roland, so why bother thinking about it? But--

Depthcharge gets shoved into a launch star.

"Being the butt of the joke now and then's good for the soul." Roland tells Vortex, solemnly. "Keeps you humble."

''All three of us should get shot out of the Warpulator first!''

"yeah!" Love agrees. Nevermind Depthcharge. She happily hifives Hikaru. She's having the time of her life. "Today's so cool..." She's just happy. And it's nice being happy. And sometimes it's so nice being happy that she wants to cry a little and she thinks that's a little silly but she can't help feeling that way but she's going to do her best to not cry now because people will think something's wrong and then she'll feel bad. So instead she'll save up those tears of joy for later.

''Is there something I need to know?''

"It is a touch screen pad with my face on it, if you want me to be able to see something you need to point the front end of the device towards what you want me to see. You should not be able to turn me off or mute me as these are the same pads from LobCorp and agents weren't allowed to just ''mute'' their Sephirah so it shouldn't require any particular expertise."

Love is going to try and aim her jumps around the same time as Hikaru and Lala, of course. This isn't just because their pals, it's also so that frames can be printed and sold for merchandise so she's really determined to time it juuust right. Roland just sort of inevitably goes when it's his time to though her murmurs a small prayer in french to himself before he gets launched and is, predictably, screaming during it, his tie flapping up into his face the whole way through.
Combaticon     Depthcharge bounces up into the orbit, tumbling uselessly through the circuit until she is fired on a slingshot trajectory. Only then does she manage to correct her angular momentum. Casting a glance back, she picks up Onslaught behind her. Almost on instinct, her right arm splits open and flips her hand inside while flipping out a cannon barrel. Anger in those bright red eyes, the leading Decepticon spins around to aim her weapon back--

    --and ricochets off a meteor.

    With a frustrated noise, she folds her weapon away again and instead flips up her battle mask, returning her attention forward. Obstacles like that were unexpected within the warp stream. What kind of slapshod space bridge is this?!

    Oh right. Time stream. Onslaught's impertinence almost made her forget. Weaving around another space rock at breakneck speed, Depthcharge unfurls a modest scanning array from her back between the shoulder boosters and she starts gathering data.

    A few seconds behind her, Onslaught has only changed his posture enough to see what's in front of him. The system he uses to fly is also what he uses to maneuver around debris. His mass and size makes it a little arduous and someone like Blastoff would probably be a lot more at-home here.

    Both Cybertronians eventually accelerate beyond Plaid into Pride. The surroundings change abruptly, from the rising tension and danger of the Launch Star to a suddenly more serene experience.

    Depthcharge lowers her hand from shielding her optics at the very end with the bright white glare. The sudden peace seems suspicious, and yet-- "Well, this is not the Well of All Sparks." Shifting her position in space, the scientist of the Combaticons pulls up her holographic screen to conduct a survey and generate map data while she has this perspective on the system they've arrived in.

    Onslaught drifts almost listlessly, still having his hands folded behind his back. Sunlight strikes the bill of his cap, prompting him to glance 'up' towards the source and then beyond it to the comet in the distance with the little palace on it. Red eyes narrow slightly. Curious. After a moment, he shifts his gaze to Depthcharge, buried in survey work, then back the way he came from to check on those who followed.
Audrey Basque Dr. Tamamo.

    Tamamo's ability to laser focus on 'have you lost blood' means that she already knows more about what happened than Audrey does!

    Audrey does not protest, or frown or pout, or huff. She's perfectly civil because there's simply a point where you cannot be bothered and *also* shouldn't anger the person who knows your specific Power Word: Death secret code phrase. Which is less a secret code phrase and more a secret at all.

    "My thanks, Lady Tamamo."
    They might just be tums and vitamins but they're tums and vitamins she didn't have and needed, so don't judge.

"Me and Love can head on over first, since we'll probably have an easier time gettin' back if Audrey's here to move us around. Sound good?"

    "H-Huh?" A flinch. Are people saying to avoid relying on her again and how she'll surely get them all killed and--

    "I... ah... y-yes, of course. The precision of my... my reserves are... I'm, ready to assist, yes."

"Do your peoples not kiss heroes before battle?"

    Audrey averts her eyes from the almost-kissing flirtatious behavior uncomfortably. It's not even the same kind of 'g-g-gasp!! kissing!!' energy she used to have. It's worse and more awful than that.

TURBO TUNNEL.

    This is the worst thing Audrey could be doing right now! Her stomach is *already* upside down and she's fairly sure you cannot overflow a tummyache into warm pleasant feelings. She is going to find out, sadly.

    When she launches, it's in an awkward and uncertain position, clutching the Angelapad to try to keep it from flying out of her hands or worse. Eventually she has to adjust, try to adopt a stance that's more like flying; head ahead, eyes forward, minimize her surface area.

    Audrey is not a graceful racer, much less an adept one. This speed is new to her, and she elects to do what's safer: use whatever she has left that passes as focus and concentration to project layers of folded space around herself, so that no space debris (or stray critter) risks turning her into soup. This doesn't fully protect from the heat, and she gets far too close to being bitten in half by a horrible steel ball with teeth, but...

    Clouds, and fluff, and... not a slowdown, per se, but a warm feeling of control, with golden roads that make this feel almost as simple as walking. Her stomach is upset, but it's staying contained, and that's the best she could have asked for. It means she can look, and feel, and just... forget herself, for a moment. She remembers, now that there's no threat, to turn the Angelapad the correct way so that Angela can see the galaxy, the massive star, the clouds and the--

    "There's a palace!" she observes, to no one in particular.
    As if it were not painfully obvious!
Dimokratia Meanwhile, back on the Gateway Planet, Dimo looks down at Elvin Gadd.

"Are you done moping about Mario, Elvin?" Dimo asks, with pleasant and patient tone.

"No. I think I'll do a little more." Dips the scientist, generally discharged of his duty. Since he's a little hard of hearing, and seeing, he doesn't quite hear Love Prime's invitation, despite Dimo clearly receiving the signal.

So, while Gadd mopes, Dimo steps towards the tall spaceship, having to take the short walk across the planetoid to reach the welcoming entrance of an entirely different kind of warping-star and quite pleased with the automation and strength of Love Prime's personality. "Love Prime, I will joyously assist in any diagnostic you require." Dimo offers with harmonious tone, the wake of her long jellyfish-like trails bowing together behind her after entering the ship so they did not get pinched. "I believe Elvin will be along soon, but he is in his feelings."

Trotting up the ramp to join Dimo is Stuffwell, whose irrepressible smile comes with grand cheer. "Excelsior! Soon we will undergo and or RETURN to ADVENTURE, my most favorite state of being! With such fine accompaniment and accomodations, how could our quest fail? Why, lack of practice, of course! How about a quick BADGE tutorial--"

The excited flow stops in place and its box disappears with a horror jumpscare appearance in the door of Elvin Gadd, accompanied by all but the sharp sting of music with his dramatic close-up.

"No." His voice gavels out a yabu of authority. "Skip tutorial. There will not be a review of badges. You will open the secret reserve of vacation juice from our Delfino Island trip and then we will let the machines speak."

"Would you like a tutorial on the effects of blood alco-"

"No. I do not. I would like to enjoy the majesty of space, Stuffwell."

Without decreasing in glow or smile, Stuffwell does what passes for a faint nod or bow, and then falls quiet. Dimo picks up the slack. "I believe gathering or scooping enough of the Star Road energy might help us accelerate as well, but we might have to perform a more complex acceleration. I await your decision, of course, Love Prime. Please,"

The champion spreads her hands. "Show me what you can do. This amount of speed - I'm sure you can handle it, but the maneuvering will be tricky. Will you require assistance, or do you merely need me for pre-flight checks?"

It's softly rhetorical, a glow that had risen in thought but with an idea of the answer either way. Dimo was enjoying herself in her own way, especially without the threat of Gadd walking into the jaws of some beast.

No, that was everyone else's problem for a short while.
Tamamo     As it goes, with an "Oh!" of surprise as the bunrei is rotated, Tamamo ponders whether she could have brought her bike, after all. It is not a superliminal craft, but flying through the sky on a steed, or perhaps on a chariot pulled by one, has a certain romance to it.

    And then, problems start to appear. She hadn't expected a starry road to be so rocky. Rocks are, according to her assumptions, a chiefly terrestrial matter. Tucking her body this way and that to avoid harm and, even more importantly, to avoid harm to the little one she's carrying, Tamamo soon manifests the Eightfold Blessings, burning into sight and solid existence the ornate mirror that represents the mysterious miracles of her origin. Most importantly, it's effectively indestructible, and she can angle it like a shield to prevent asteroid-related damages with minimal loss of momentum.

    "Really, now..." For her own part, her aerodynamic (astrodynamic?) posture turns out to be 'knees together, legs halfway brought up, arms loose,' a thing learned in other styles of outfit and under other circumstances, but still applicable here, and it forms a safer pocket of space on her lap that she would put Yuma in, if she wasn't so clearly keen on seeing everything. That being the case, Tamamo lowers another zipper, draws out a talisman, keeping her defensive mirror oriented through gestures of one hand with fingers splayed, and, with words like a prayer, creates a truth.

    "May wonders be revealed, and doors fly open to our knock. May dangers pass us by, beyond arm's reach. May our journey be swift, but joyful." The talisman burns away, its embers scattering in the corona. Then, she only has to make it happen. Something as unlucky as breaking a mirror would simply never happen to her.

    The Star Road provides the speed and the course, but with a breadth to either avoid or fail to avoid its obstacles. Tamamo barrel rolls to one side in avoidance of a plume of lava (which might be magma, if it happens in a hole in a planet), staying a full arm's length from roiling heat, even if her Summer alignment keeps her better protected from that environment than most.

    Out again the other side, and she comes nearly close enough to touch the next planetoid, picking up her gravity-grazing speed to outrun a cacophonous Chomp, only to smack a truffula shrub with her mirror, braking just enough that a wild volley of Shroob fire only hits ahead of her, before she gives the planet a little extra spin with a flying kick, to catch up with the others.

    She weaves between cacti while only looking where she's heading half the time, trusting remembered paths and motions and solving mechanics by intuition. She tosses ahead a talisman of hellish freezing to slow down a lava plume for a little while, and kicks her mirror down under her to surf explosively against a water planet before it passes from sight, faster and faster. And all through this, she takes in the sights, and checks in on her temporary charge.

    And, finally, clouds, and a destination.
Futaba Nuki "Launch, launch, launch..." Futaba repeats to herself as she gets more excited by the moment for the inevitable firing of the Star Warpulator, undoubtedly due in part to Dimo mentioning Launch Stars plural. "How many of those do you think we could hit in a row? Dang, if those things shot us out even faster jsut from touchin' a bunch at once... Could be messy, but it'd be real cool going that fast, y'know?"

She does settle down sooner rather than later, at least, especially once she remembers that not everyone can become boneless like herself. Love still seems eager, though, so Futaba's definitely going to stick with her!

"Are we pressed for time? Should we be hurrying?"

She's especially raring to go following Tamamo's question and Gadd's reply, smacking a fist against her chest in another sign of vaguely indicative confidence. "Don't you worry, doc. Folks like us are pretty good at finding guys like him. We've got diviners, mechanics, crazy good luck, and sharp eyes and noses between all of us that I doubt there'd be anywhere in this whole-"

What was the word Dimo used before? "-local galaxy he could be hiding in for long, time problems or not." After flashing the doctor one more toothy smile, she turns back to the rest of the group. "Alright. We all ready to head on over?" She asks, pausing once more to look over at Sarracenia and Dimo. "... Heh. Look at you, Princess, movin' on up in the world. Might have to add a new title to your name once this all gets taken care of."

Despite her words of encouragement, envy briefly flashes across Futaba's face. It's not like she wouldn't want a good-luck pre-battle kiss from Dimo or anything! Still, this could just as well be an opportunity for her to show off some and earn recognition herself! That's enough to get her head back on straight, and then she's back to doing a spot check on her gear.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure to keep your hands inside the Warpulator at all times. We may experience turbulence and uncontrollable time travel symptoms on the way, but don't panic. This is completely normal and part of the experience." Futaba jokes around as she looks over at Roland to see how he's doing, then back up at the Launch Stars.

"Now or never." She grabs on, and the launch begins! Cheering at the sudden rush of speed, Futaba oohs and ahhs while glancing around every which way to take in everything passing by. Realizing how distracting that all might be and how easily it could be to get lost, though, Futaba recolors her tail critical-path yellow, even popping a little light bulb out of the tip to ensure that everyone behind her has a clear path forward.

It might even help during the sped up segment, zipping around as she is by slapping nearby walls to get out of the way of microplanteoids or flapping an oversized arm-wing to get through holes that she can't quite kick herself towards in time. The Shroobs are largely ignored with as fast as they come and go, Futaba not quite able to decide on what to throw at them in time before she's already long gone.

That's fine, too, because she's definitely going to be doing unnecessary stunts for speed boosts here. "Heads on straight, folks! I'm takin' the fun route, but don't get lost tryin' to keep up if you can't!" Grazing by the ground is straightforward enough, but grazing by the lava holes and narrowly torpedoing through gaps in the planets on the way is far more exciting.

Eventually, however, the speed starts to feel normal, and Futaba can even make out what's in front of her: The clouds, the galaxy, golden roads and  strange tunnels, and a palace on a comet.

"That up there... That's not something that shows up every day. Think our guy's there, or just our culprits?" She asks, already starting towards that comet at a brisk pace. Speed in general feels strange to her right now, and Futaba can't even be sure how quickly she's moving any more, but she's still trying to stay active!
Sarracenia      It has been quite a while since Sarracenia Sundew was seen clearly and with fond regard. The silver lotus is of course in her hair. It has hardly left that spot since Sarra first applied it, doubly so after Sarra learned of its origins and Dimo, and it has for a while had a proper hair barrette to hold it in place even during her most rough and tumble adventures. At the brush and the golden tone, Sarra practically melts. Her face gains a pinkish tint to it and her one good eye is wide as she gazes up at the Silver champion.

     'Consider it my boon, and, a good luck charm. Do your peoples not kiss heroes before battle?'

     Sarra's face goes from pinkish to full red.

     'Or is it after, upon successful return? You will have to let me know, Princess!'

     Even though Sarra wants to answer, she finds it very difficult to speak after that. She attempts, but all that comes out is a stuttered "U-uuh...I-I..." followed by an embarrassed squeak as the princess realizes she is stuttering. It is a bit of a blessing that she is launched shortly after, though her gaze follows Dimo covertly until she is out of sight.

     The launch star journey is peaceful and beautiful at first. Sarra keeps her arms hugged around the Luma as she flies, smiling brightly all the while. "This is amazing!" she calls out to the others. "Is this not fun, cutie?" she adds to the Luma.

     When obstacles start to appear, Sarra's smile turns to more of a smirk. "Well, this should keep things interesting!" She pulls out one of those feather power-ups and equips it, and a golden cape forms at her back. It increases her mobility in the air, and her experience with flying helps her to spiral and weave her way through. She of course aims for the bore hole despite carrying Luma. She is confident in her flight abilities. As she notices Launch Stars popping up in Luma's wake Sarra tries to moves so that they are left in places where the acceleration will be most advantageous. She likes to help while showing off!

     As the threats become more present, Sarra reaches up to touch her Silver lotus, and gloves of Silver form over her hands. Those enemies that get too close find themselves perforated with a salvo of silver fletchettes. The more serious threats are met with tossed bob-ombs as Sarra streaks by, the princess channeling the instincts of a mother bear. Smash threat first, ask questions later. Or never.

     Cacti are weaved around with an acrobatic spiral. Volcanic ejecta are marveled at as they pass by, and the beautiful and vibrant colors against the backdrop of space leave Sarra smiling with eyes sparkling the whole way. When they reach the final destination and the final acceleration, Sarra lets out a delighted laugh of excitement before aiming toward that palace.

     'There's a palace!'

     "Perhaps we will meet another princess!" Sarra exclaims. Then, just leaves Audrey's imagination to torture her. It could be another Sarra-like princess! Hahahaha!
Star Twinkle     This is such a perfect day for girls! Hikaru has an adorable little telescope doohickey (once she stops skipping around with it, she does immediately extend it and begin looking around the cosmos with their extra trails of light), Lala got to hold a baby Luma and spending time with friends, even Yuma and AI got bespoke company of a shared type! And not to mention, they've finally found a way to save a world from devastation, so they can fight for a planet full of happiness! The sparkles practically radiate off of them while the preparations wrap up, and the Precures gravitate around Love for the full mahou blast trio experience. And then, they lift up, hover, spin, and launch--!

    At first, Hikaru and Lala don't transform for their star-path trajectory; sailing through space as nothing but ordinary girls is a thrill that even they've hardly had a chance to experience before. Lala grabs Hikaru's hands, and with a comet trail streaming out behind them in a helix that twists tighter as they go, they spin around each other and laugh with the exhiliration of rocketing across the cosmos. Hikaru reaches out to grab Love's hand too, spreading out into a V-shape to fly together.

    The Precures plunge into the core of the burst-out planet uncostumed, with a 'wahhhhhhh---!!!'' that drops away as they soar out of sight as if they fell down a well. When they punch out of the other side at full launch star velocity, they're transformed, with Hikaru's planetary twintails and Lala's antennae streaming behind them as they flail to regain their balance. Even at their cosmically high speeds, Cure Star can crouch mid-flight, conjuring a magical star beneath her feet, and then leap off of her own personal launchpad with Milky in hand to gain speed until they're at the forefront of the pack.

    Like this, transformed and with both of them side by side, there's no obstacle in all of space that can slow the Pretty Cures down. A magical heart surfs beneath Cure Milky's feet over the surface of bubbling lava, leaning and veering frictionlessly to dodge past gouts of eruptions or fiery enemies looming out of the magma; Cure Star alternates between bouncing on the heads of Shroobs and then rebounding off of star platforms to not only keep up her speed, but heedlessly increase it through the hazards. Boosted again, their speed reaches what would be blistering if there was air around for friction, and after all the swerving and swooping of the earlier segments, when an asteroid crosses their path for the last time, the girls charge up their attacks to just blast right through.

""Precure¤!""
"Staaaar Punch!"
"Miilkyyyy Shock!!!"

    For Yuma's part, as with any wiggly toddler, she relishes in Tamamo's pampering while she's being hugged and given treats, but she's neither in a bad mood nor tired enough to feel the need to stay glued in her arms the whole time. Once they rocket off with the launch star, Yuma quickly disengages, staying close by to Tamamo but flying freely on her own. And she takes to it like a fish to water-- it is, quite literally, her natural environment, and the sparkles and synthesized songnotes that wash off in her wake as she flies spirals around Tamamo energize her in turn. With Yuma orbiting around her, Tamamo's navigation through space is effortless, like being carried by solar wind to fly as a pair.
Star Twinkle BACK ON THE GATEWAY PLANET . . .

    It is not really as though AI has anywhere else to be, or even anywhere else she could be, but the rocketship still exudes a sense of pleasant patience as Dimo climbs aboard. From within, Dimo can tell that the main core of AI is housed in the nose of the ship, or the roof of the vibrantly colorful and lived-in bedroom/command bridge/playroom she finds herself in. AI's voice comes from surround sound, but overhead the light pulses softly with her speech.

"I believe Elvin will be along soon, but he is in his feelings."

    "I understand. I cannot hold it against him. If I simulate that our own heroes, Miss Hikaru and Miss Lala, had gone missing in such a manner, then I would also be 'in my feelings'." The ship goes quiet for a bit, while the large screen on the curved wall pops up with various safety measures, generated as reminders on the spot, to prepare for takeoff and zero gravity.

    "I recognize the bravery and loyalty to a 'hero' that it must take, for Doctor Gadd to dedicate so many weeks to his recovery. Ever since discovering those qualities in Miss Hikaru and Miss Lala, I have begun to detect it in other life-forms as well. It is a wonderful thing, to have a 'hero'."

"No. I do not. I would like to enjoy the majesty of space, Stuffwell."

    "Welcome, Doctor Gadd." AI synthesizes politely. Her complete nonacknowledgement of the alcohol could have any number of causes-- at least he's not driving! "Please be sure to buckle yourself in for safety."

"Will you require assistance, or do you merely need me for pre-flight checks?"

    AI falls silent, though a steady rumble in the ship's engines begins to build after the porthole closes behind Gadd and Stuffwell. "Mother's database is lacking information on high speed vehicular navigation techniques. I have only performed such maneuvers once, in a terrestrial race on Cybertron, in a different form. With such little data to draw from, I cannot be certain as to my capabilities in safely engaging autopilot in such environments."

    The engines grow louder, starting to rattle the cabin with pre-takeoff. A very faint note of mischief enters AI's voice. "So my calculations have concluded that it would be irresponsible to not gather such information in a circumstance where an additional expert AI is on hand to ensure riskless experimentation."