[Scene: The Hen Tie Oktoberfest. Zoi is on the ground, looking up into the jaws of a giant black furred creature]
Zoi: [lashes out instinctively with a blast of energy, which takes on his elemental signature of flower petals.] Zoi!
[The beast roars in agony and backs away.]
[Zoi rises to his knees. He has no idea what that creature is, where it comes from, or why it is attacking him. His only thought is to get away. He crawls through a narrow passageway between two stalls, and finds himself staring into the fangs of another, nearly identical beast.]
[There are two of them?]
[In the shelter of the surrounding booths, he rises to his feet, summons a lance made of ice, and swings it in a broad sweep.]
[The beast pauses and Zoi stares it down. As a human, Zoi wouldn't have stood a chance but as a Shitennou his reflexes are better. He's partial hidden by the booths, yet he doesn't dare make a huge show of magic near this many witnesses. But even without magic, he's not powerless. He's had hours of weapons training over the Summer with both Kunzite and Neffy. These beast might be fearsome to look at, but they didn't seem exceptionally quick or intelligent.]
[Zoi hears a rustling behind him. He remember there are two of them and spins, lashing out with the lance. It connects with a solid thack and a girlish scream. As Zoi completes his turn he sees he's struck Naru in the temple with the flat of the lance, knocking her out cold.]
[Umino rushes kneel beside her]
Umino: Naru!
Zoi: [cringes] Sorry.
[Zoi turns back as he feels a rush of hot air, as the creature in front of him lunges with its fangs to strike. ]
[He strikes it in the jaw with his lance]
[The beast jumps back with a roar and lashes with it's steely tail, tearing through drywall and canvas like it is paper, and severing a cord holding together the heavy steel frame of the booth right next to Zoi]
[Zoi rushes a few feet to safety, then realizes with horror that the booth is collapsing directly onto Umino, who is hovering protectively over the unconscious form of Naru.]
[Umino looks up in horror at the several hundred pounds of falling booth, and ducks over Naru to shield her head from impact.]
[When Umino is not crushed a few seconds later, he peeks up to see Makoto, in her dirndl, bracing the wall with both hands.]
Makoto: Don't lie there staring! Get her out of here!
[Zoi breaths a sigh of relief to see that his friends are okay, then focuses his attention the monster that is attacking him. Or rather monsters. Both are approaching and seem to have been joined by two others.]
He tries to retreat and they are joined by more until he is surrounded by a total of seven of them.]
[He looks into the crowd but doesn't see any more. The beasts seem intent on attacking him and nobody else. But that's silly. Shitennou are not edible in any real sense. Zoi might looks and feel human but he was made of solid energy. If they tried to bite a chunk out of his flesh, it would simply dissolve within a few minutes. All except for the piece of tanzanite in his chest that houses his soul and allows him to take physical form, but they couldn't very well eat a rock, now could they?]
[Zoi looks and sees he's completely surrounded. He can see Usagi a few feet away, on her knees, tugging her pigtails, screaming her lungs out and staring right at him while paralyzed with terror. As are several other fairgoers, from a relatively safe distance away.]
[Damn. Witnesses.]
[The ice lance he might explain as something he found on the ground. It's not impossible. It would be a lot harder to explain away teleportation or outright magic based attacks. Especially if any of these witnesses summon the nerve to get their cameras.]
[As far as he can tell he's got two choices.]
[A) Fight for as long as he can, without calling on his powers, until he inevitably loses and gets mauled into a pile of dust.]
[B) Use his powers as a Shitennou in front of hundreds of people.]
[If he goes with Plan B, he's fairly confident he can achieve and easy vicotry. The choice should be a simple one... Except he got those powers, very begrudgingly, from his mother-in-law, the chaos goddess Metalia. And he's pretty sure she already regrets elevating him to a Shitennou enough as it is...]
[That settles it: First plan A. Then Plan B]
[Zoi spins around, trying to anticipate which of the monsters will strike first so he can focus on that one. But as soon as he takes sets eyes on one he gets the feeling all the others are about to attack.]
[He can't watch them all. It seems as if he has no choice but to call upon his powers. But before he can, a monster roars in pain and turns away from him.
[Zoi risks a look and sees Minako enter the fray, her petticoats flying as she lands a high kick right into a monsters face as she leaps over the ruins of a booth, hitting one of the monsters with a sweeping kick as she scoops up a metal pole into her hand.]
She rushes into the circle, swinging the pole like a quarterstaff with blinding speed and accuracy. The monsters try to ignore her, and she smashes two in the face with a whirlwind attack before coming to a halt in the center of the circle in a crouch. Zoi blinks, highly impressed. In weapons' combat it would seem she's on a par with Nephrite. And he didn't think anyone was on a par with Nephrite.]
[She positions herself until she is back to back with Zoi.]
Minako: [grave and serious] Keep your back to me, manwhore, and swing at their heads! Their hides are too thick for you to do any real damage anywhere else! Hit them in the jaw hard enough to break bone and they will retreat! Also, watch out for their tails-
Zoi: [looking at the slashed up drywall] Yeah, I figured that one out on my own.
Minako: Oh, and just so you know: You can't kill them.
Zoi: [wideyed] I can't? They're immortal?
Minako: Let rephrase that: You mustn't kill them!
Zoi: Why not?
Minako: Because something bad will happen.
Zoi: What? Like they'll explode?
Minako: Yeah. Something like that.
Zoi: [winces] Ok. This just got a lot more challenging.
[The beasts seem to have recovered from her attack and are closing in again. Minako bashes one in the face but it barely reacts]
Minako: Dammit..They keep getting stronger...[raises her voice to a yell]...Mercury! Are you taking a nap or something! Fog of war time!
Zoi: Fog of-?
[In the distance he hears Ami shout something. Suddenly a blinding fog rolls in from nowhere, stinging Zoi's eyes and causing him to become completely disoriented.
[He feels Minako step away from him and he staggers around in confusion. The sounds of fighting intensifies. He can hear battle cries and roars of pain from the monsters, but it all seems to be moving away from him. Still, it is unnerving to be so completely lost and helpless in the middle of a warzone while there is a pitched battle going on.]
[Then he vaguely remembers Kunzite mentioning something about Sailor Mercury having a fog attack and how he can counter it.]
[Zoi holds out his palms and an arc of flames appears between them. He summons a large ball of fire and holds it over his head like a beacon as the fog slowly burns away from around him.]
Minako: [from deep in the fog] FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MANWHORE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? PUT THAT THING OUT!
[Zoi wonders if she is talking to him, and the answer becomes clears as a circles of beasts charge through the fog, coming right for him. Zoi's not concerned. He can't see the crowd through the fog, so he's fairly certain they can't see him either.]
[But before he can join the offensive, the members of the C'est La Vie gang rush over to surround him, clasping each others hands behind their backs and forming a protective ring around him.]
[The monsters seem to have forgotten Zoi and are wading into the crowd. For a moment Zoi is touched that his old friends would put themselves at risk like this to protect him, seeing as how they now see him as an enemy. Maybe unfairly, but not without reason. But now the monster seem intent on hunting the fairgoers, who are still staggering around as if blinded.]
Zoi: Thank you ladies, but I'll take it from here.
[He teleports out of the protective ring to a spot only a few feet away, on the outskirts of the fairground, and whistles to get the beasts' attention.]
Zoi: Hey, monsters! I'm over here!
[As they turn to chase him, Zoi runs into woods, as fast as he can.]