1410/I need you for a job...

I need you for a job...
Date of Scene:	13 April 2024
Location:	Obsidian Tower - Cafeteria
Synopsis:	Glimmer needs Catra for a job... a small, tiny job. With a smidge of kidnapping. She also lets slip that a certain somebody who Catra really liked... is in town. This will definitely not cause problems later.
Cast of Characters:	Catra, Glimmer Brightmoon

---

Catra has posed:
It's a... not a lazy afternoon at Obsidian, but an afternoon of some sort. Maybe it's a lazy one if you're the type to not have any interest in working, or... generally doing anything one might term as 'useful'. Especially when you're still raw following a fight of epic proportions with a former best friend turned mortal enemy.

Well, mortal in Catra's estimation, anyway, and it's hardly as if anyone's been able to talk her out of that assessment.

So the feline is sitting in the cafeteria, playing some brainless game on her phone (which seems to involve using a frying pan to flip little pieces of bacon onto random targets -- right now she's trying to land one on a four leaf clover and it's basically impossible but she doesn't seem overly concerned about the result). While she's at it she has her music playing, with some Rammstein dialed up loud enough that while she can still hear things going on around her, she at least has plausible deniability if anyone tries to talk to her.

One after another, little pieces of bacon go flying off into the oblivion that waits off the edge of the screen, some of them bouncing off the clover but most of them just tumbling to their electronic doom. Eventually, the feline just sighs and dumps the phone on the table in front of her, leaning her hand back and massaging her temples as she stares at the ceiling.

"I hate this planet," she mutters, to nobody in particular.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
And it was then that the answer to her problems appeared!

Wait. No. Wrong. It was then the CAUSE of some of her problems appeared. Yes, that was it. One moment she was grouching, moping, pouting and generally doing her whole 'I am sooooo angsty and angry and grawr' thing...

Then there was a strange smell, like cotton candy, and arms wrapped around her from behind. "Catra!" Glimmer said, suddenly hugging her from behind. "I need your hellllllp! And only you can help me!" And then, she'd disappear. Not taking Catra with her, but hopefully getting out before she got her arms scratched like posts.

Before re-appearing across the table from her, sparkling and all. Both palms flat on the table and looking at her with eyes that *shimmered*. Like *jewels*.

"I need. Your help. To kidnap somebody. For like. Ten minutes. But, since you are the expert on kidnappings and all, considering you, you know. Kidnapped me." Pause. "Actually I think you only remember kidnapping me once. But you kidnapped just about all of our group at least once, so you've definitely got me beaten in this department. RIGHT! Kidnapping. I need you to help me kidnap Bow's new girlfriend! For *fanfic* reasons!"

Catra has posed:
One moment, Catra is minding her own business. The next moment, she is being

...HUGGED.

After the initial surprise wears off her claws are out, and since Glimmer has vacated the space by then it's the table that pays the price, while her phone goes flying and the earbuds cable gets yanked out of it, leaving Catra sitting there with an enraged expression completely at odds with the ridiculous look of silenced earbuds jammed into her ears.

"Don't DO that!" she snaps, leaning over to pick up her phone from where it fell. She deposits it and her earbuds on the table, on one of the more... intact portions, and runs her fingers through her hair. She takes a deep breath, straightens her headpiece, and straightens the table a little while she's at it.

Oh well, Obsidian has lots of money, they can afford a new table.

"You want to kidnap someone, but... only for ten... minutes? Do I have that right?" Catra looks at Glimmer sideways, her yellow eye half hiddne by her nose. "You realize that makes no sense at all, right? And, I kidnapped you once, I'm assuming you hit your head in an alternate dimension like..." She trails off, about to mention Adora, but stops. No, she's not bringing her up right now. "You hit your head," she asserts. "But that's fine, whatever. So, you want to kidnap someone." She gestures towards Glimmer, waving her hand up and down. "You can *teleport*. Just, teleport in, grab her, teleport into a locked room, and there you go, kidnapped. But why do you want her only for ten minutes?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon managed to avoid getting mangled, woo! Like a boss! That was... akin to bonding, right? "Sure, right, whatever you say, princess," Glimmer said.

... That definitely meant Catra was going to get hugged again later.

"Well, it's more of a kidnapping slash interogating slash information giving thing. But I can't let them know I'm here, right? Because if they know I'm here and working for Obsidian, then Adora will do something sweet but dumb and try to like. Figure out why I'm doing it. And I can't really do the whole 'Oh, my memory is messed up' because I'm working with you and I wouldn't like. KNOW you then, because we didn't meet until after I'd already met Adora. But Double Trouble has the whole thing going on where they pretended to be me and so long as they're pretending to be me, I can be them being me, you know?"

"And the reason I need to kidnap her is because I need to know about the chip on the back of his neck. Since if it's what I THINK it is, it's from Horde Prime. Which you think is just fanfic, hence, fanfic reasons. From what I saw, Bow wasn't being all jerk-like, but in some of his videos he did seem to... forget about me," Glimmer said that one... with maybe just a hint of hurt to her voice. "But remembered this Sayaka girl. She DIDN'T have a chip on her neck, though. So I just need to ask her about it. I'm sure it's NOT a Horde Prime control chip, though. Because if it was, that'd be... wouldn't make any sense, since Horde Prime is dead. Unless this whole thing brought him back. Which wouldn't make ANY sense because if it had, why would he go after Bow when like. You're right here? But maybe it has something to do with Entrapta, since I know she was pivotal in removing the Horde Prime Control chips and-- oh. Right. I should probably talk to you about that sometime. Beast Island did NOT live up to the hype and Entrapta's fine, we can talk about it later."

"But the big thing here is that Bow might be in danger and I need to kidnap this Sayaka girl and question her to be sure. I need you to lure her to me so I can do it without anyone getting suspicious that I'm me and I'm sure right now you're thinking to yourself 'Geez, sparkles, why would I EVER want to help YOU or your friend?' And I have a very valuable reason for this."

She teleported and sat next to her, but wasn't touching her. Just resting on elbow on the table... Which gave an ominous creak.

"Because Adora can't do this. And if you and I manage to figure this out and help Bow? Then it'll mean *you* were pivotal in helping Adora's good friend out in a situation where *she* couldn't do anything at all. And that will annoy the *crud* out of her. I mean, it's *Adora*. Girl can't even take a nap without sleep fighting. And hey, if it all works out? I'll get us ice cream cake!"

She even made a few sparkle fireworks pop off her hands when she did it.

Catra has posed:
Catra visibly recoils when Glimmer teleports closer, but when there's no actual contact, she allows some of the tension built up in her muslces to drain away -- but only some of it. Gotta be ready, afterall. The feline glares at Glimmer, watching her closely for any sign of treachery. Any at all. Even just a little one. Even if Glimmer being hurt that Bow has apparently forgotten her is a moment that she can secretly savor. Or maybe not so secretly, as the corners of her lips twitch upwards, just noticeably. But only for a moment, before her ever-present scowl returns.

"I'm not a princess," she mutters, picking up her phone and plugging the earbuds back into it, and then her ears afterwards. She takes a moment in silence, scrolling through her music until she finds something to listen to, and starts it going with the volume once again turned up far too loud; this time it's something with a slower pace, which might pass for 'calming' among some audiences. Some.

"Alright, Sparkles. I have no idea what you're talking about with any of that. I keep trying to tell you people, Adora warned me Etheria would be destroyed if I opened the portal, and I opened it, and now here we are with NO ETHERIA IN SIGHT. On this terrible planet that smells like armpits and is full of humans and basically nothing else. So." She puts her hands together in front of her, palm to palm, and takes a deep breath. "I don't care why you want to kidnap Bow's girl, but if it grinds Adora's gears, then I suppose I'll help you and DO NOT get all squeaky about it, okay?!"

Catra spreads her hands on the table in front of her. "So. Where do we find this girl, what can she do, and how can we most easily get her alone." She pauses, "And if you only want her for ten minues, do we *really* have to kidnap her, or just tie her to a chair wherever we find her, as long as she's alone? It's just, the fewer steps you build into your plan, the less chances you have to screw something up. Which is why I said just grab her and teleport her to begin with, it's not lazy, it's effective. You're not using your abilities, but whatever. Just tell me about her."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Too late. Glimmer instantly let out an excited squeal, clenching her fists and waving them a bit. "Yessss! We're so going to boooond!"

Still, however, she only grinned wider. "Yeeeeeah. I mean, if there's one thing I'd trust Adora's views on, it's the complex reprecussions of creating an interdimensional portal. But, then again, the girl did have a *really* frustrating habit of being right *all the time*. Was that what she was like when you two were training together? Always right even about stuff she realllllly shouldn't have known about? Either way..." She eyed Catra for a moment. Then shook her head. "I know you don't believe it... and I'm not going to try and force it. I'm not like Adora, I get it. She... makes me mad sometimes too. How she's *always* got to be *sooooo* perfect. Even if she is right it's just... UGH! Maddening! She alllllways has to be the one to save everyone and fix everything and do everything and heavens forbid someone else has to do some of the work, right? But, right. If you ever want to know what happened when you opened the portal? Let me know. I'll tell you everything. But..."

Her eyes turned very serious for a moment and the look she gave Catra was... not... a nice one. "Make sure you *want* to know. Because Etheria *was* almost destroyed *because of you*. *I* lost something *very valuable* to me when it happened. I'm not going to sugar coat it and skip over the things that you won't want to hear. But I won't make you, either. I'll let you choose when you feel ready to hear all about it, okay?"

She then teleported besides the table. "As for Sayaka? I know *nothing!* She has blue hair! And that's really about it! OH!" She pulled out her phone. "Eeeee, like having a little first one's tablet... one second... one... and here!" And then showed a picture. "This is what she looks like. I know she goes to Radiant Heart, though. And I guess we don't *need* to kidnap her. We could just like.... draw her off from everyone else and chat with her. But I've never kidnapped someone before and it'd be *so coooool!* Well. I guess I did almost kidnap you that one time but... yeah. That... was annoying. You know you're an *incredibly* obnoxious prisoner. Like. Seriously. It was probably good we never got you back to the Brightmoon. You'd have probably burned the place down around us."

Catra has posed:
"Don't talk to me about the portal and DON'T talk to me about Adora," Catra replies, her own voice taking a tone that can best be described as... dark. It's not threatening, nor is it angry, it's just... taciturn, and doesn't come out nearly as menacing as she no doubt intended it. "So I cost you something important, too bad, it was war. What did you think I was going to do, play nice and give you back your toys when we were done for the day? You were trying to destroy the Horde, we were trying to break your Princess Alliance, and I don't understand why I have to keep explaining this to people."

She shrugs, staring down at her phone for a moment. The rest of what she wants to say, about how she destroyed Etheria and how everyone lost things, including her, and maybe in her heart she didn't really intend that but didn't think it could actually happen and just, just for once she wanted to *win*, all rattles around in her skull, but somehow it just can't find its way to her mouth. What, unpack herself here? To Sparkles? Yeah right.

The feline looks at the picture of Sayaka on the phone, and unh-hunhs. "So you have absolutely no idea if she can do anything. So you either want to figure that out, or talk to her without kidnapping her. 'Cause otherwise she'll be able to do something totally inconvenient to your plan, like teleport or turn into a hummingbird or hypnotize you or something, and you won't be prepared, and next thing you know she's either left or turned you into a mindless servant scrubbing the floors in the public toilets. And as much as that'd be hilarious, I'm sure you don't want that."

Catra pauses, and shrugs her shoulders. "You could just hit her head really hard with something blunt, too, and just wake her up later, but you seem regrettably intent on *not* hurting her." She pauses, and for the first time in the conversation flashes a grin, "Yeah, I would've burned Brightmoon to the ground, starting with your bedroom. Another reason why you want to make sure you're the one in control."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon narrowed her eyes on the cat. "Fine. I said my part, no reason to bring it up again. Until then, you can wallow or we can focus on funner things. For example... kidnapping!"

However, Catra made a very good point. The girl cpossibly COULD turn into... who knew what. And that would be bad.

She then nodded. "An even better reason while I'll need your help. We need to isolate her first. So long as we're near her, she can't transform if she has one, right? Because there's this whole... veil thing. Where people need to see someone transform. I even tested it. I went to the dance and found Bow. I was there like... an hour. And he *never* realized who I was. And let me tell you, I got real close. We were within feet of each other and he didn't recognize me. Granted, then Scorpia showed up in the middle of the prom and THAT was pretty wild. She looked cute with hands. Still adorable, though."

"And for the record, no amount of hypnotizing could EVER make me clean a public restroom. And we're not giving Bow's girlfriend brain damage. So, how about this. We'll go, you lure her off and or pick her up and run, bring her to me, then bam, I ask her questions, you keep anyone chasing us distracted, then I run in, grab you, teleport us away and we get ice cream cake?" she asked. "Genius, right?"

... These were the people. Catra. Was losing. The war too.

Catra has posed:
Catra opens her mouth, and closes it again. Glimmer just said something extremely important, and it certainly didn't fail to register.

Scorpia.

Scorpia's here. On Earth.

Here, on this terrible planet that's full of humans and smells like armpits, where Catra's been all alone and surrounded by people she doesn't like and people who want to use her or are maybe pretending to be friendly so they can use her later, or...

But Scorpia's here. But she's not in Obsidian, which probably means she landed in Radiant Heart, which means that Catra needs to rescue her, which of *course* she does because she's Scorpia and she couldn't possibly be anything but a pain in the--

But, she's here. Here on Earth. So maybe Catra doesn't have to be... completely alone. So maybe some part of all this will be okay. Maybe. Just... just maybe. So she has hands now? Maybe she can get her own drink from now on then. It's not like it'll make her harder to find, her personality is unmistakable.

Outwardly, Catra is just kind of stuck, for a moment. Hear right ear flicks a couple of times as she works through all of this, and her jaw is hanging open, until she realizes that and closes it, all with the music playing.

"...Right, where were we? Kidnapping the blue haired weirdo." She shrugs, "So I have to do all the dangerous stuff? I mean, fine, but next time it's your turn. I can just steal her backpack and then run for it, the twerps at Radiant Heart are all obsessed with their homework, so that'll get her to follow me for sure, and then you can ask her whatever you want I guess." She shrugs her shoulders. "It's about as good a plan as you lot always came up with and you seemed to do fine just... a little under half the time."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon was staring at Catra and... and... "Is something wrong, Catra? Are you okay?" she asked, looking just a little concerned. Why... was she looking like that? Staring?

Had Glimmer said something wrong? Because, like it or not... Glimmer saw Catra as a friend now. She was a friend now. Kind of. Even if she didn't remember.

And she was actually worried about her.

Only for Catra to get through it. She let out a soft sigh of relief before... "YESSSS! That's a BRILLIANT plan! You know, you're pretty good at this. And yeah... we did pretty good. Well, at least until..." she trailed off.

"... So, snatch her bag, lead her to me. And sure, why not? Next time you need me to get someone for you, I'll snatch their bag and lead them to you so you can have a little chat. It'll be fu--"

She took that chance to lean on the table. Palm down... The one that had been damaged.

There was an ominous crack before... "Huh?"

It snapped. Glimmer let out a shriek as the table broke and she fell down onto it... giving a low groan.

"I... hate this planet..."

Catra has posed:
As the table breaks and Glimmer just... goes down, Catra jumps out of the way and then stands there, blinks, blinks again, and then immediately bursts out laughing. Her voice goes all high-pitched as her mercurial emotiosn jump head-first into mirth, albeit a joyless version of the emotion. This is definitely Catra laughing *at* Glimmer, not *with* her.

But hey, she's laughing.

"Me too, Sparkles, me too," she answers, once the fit of giggling is over, and her facial expression returns to its previous, dour state. She picks up her phone from where it fell in the process of all this, once again disconnecting her music, and this time just winds the cord for her earbuds around it and stuffs the whole lot in her pocket. "Alright, fine. Let me know when you want to do this, and we'll do it." She pauses, "I even promise not to bring a Pureheart Rifle with me to shoot her. At least this time." she shrugs, "Maybe next time, I guess we'll see."

With that, Catra stretches, and turns to saunter off. She lifts one hand to wave over her shoulder, "Never would've thought you had being a villain in you, Sparkles, but I guess you are royalty. Tell me when you're ready." She pauses, and looks over her shoulder. "Don't pop into my room and grab me, just... *tell* me." And then she turns to continue on out of the cafeteria.