2432/Chicken Chat

Chicken Chat
Date of Scene:	26 March 2025
Location:	KFC - Karaage Fried Chicken
Synopsis:	Adora and Catra have a chance encounter in the Karage Fried Chicken and spend the entire time arguing with each other while eating a lot of chicken. ...A LOT of chicken.
Cast of Characters:	Adora Rainbowfist, Catra

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Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora was handling not having any magic ... relatively well to be honest, no doubt helped by the fact that certain people had been going out of their way to make sure she wasn't just stewing in it. Which is why when she was at the Karaage Fried Chicken she was not moping.

No she was just eating from a massive pile of karaage instead.

Sure she didn't feel great for not having She-Ra anymore but also it was strangely freeing at the same time as she didn't have to /worry/ about being She-Ra anymore. She did have her phone out next to her, which was playing some sort of random rock music at a very low level so as not to be disruptive of anyone around her, but for whatever reason she never bothered to get any earbuds or anything.

...She /might/ be doing some sort of 'if you can eat this much food you'll get a shirt and on the hall of fame'. Also the meal free.

Catra has posed:
From outside there issues the sound of a motorcycle pulling up, with the engine growling and sputtering to an idle and then stopping entirely. Not an out of the ordinary thing; motorcycles are popular in particular with the youth who can't drive a car yet, even if a brand new Honda Rebel is likely to be out of most teenagers' price ranges. (Not a problem when you've got a purloined company credit card that you've just... never gotten around to giving back, even after getting 'fired', however.)

The door opens, and someone walks in; also not a particularly out of the ordinary sound, this is a popular chicken place afterall. Maybe a hair unusual that this person doesn't just walk straight up and order, like they're busy staring at something else in the room, like maybe a person sporting a third eyeball or something.

But eventually, they start moving again, and head straight for the order counter; and the order is generous, lots of fried chicken and... chicken, really, that's just it. Just the sort of food an obligate carnivore (with an unmistakable voice) would favor.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Huh. A motorcycle. That's a bit weird to hear in japan. Most people drove around little quieter scooters instead. Adora doesn't pay /that/ much attention to the sound, popping another bit of the bite sized chicken into her mouth as she absently bobs her head to the rock music playing next to her, humming a bit as she chews.

A familiar voice in the background ordering chicken gets her pausing though. And she glances over towards that familiar voice.
...Huh.

A part of her tenses slightly, as if expecting danger, but then the logical thought goes through her brain. ...That uh. Catra is just getting food. That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. Evil people need to eat too, right?

Should she talk to her? Should she say hi? ...Eh, not much point. Not like she's She-Ra anymore.

... Adora quietly pops another karaage into her mouth. Notably, she does not have any sign of the Sword of Power around her still, no bracer, no giant sword sitting nearby, she was just Adora. Eating away at her pile of food.

Catra has posed:
Catra isn't looking in Adora's direction, but that doesn't mean anything. Well, she's disguised of course, but Adora would know full well who Rachel Miller really is (and why she's so obnoxious). But no; she just... waits for her chicken which comes in a folded-over cardboard box, pays with a black card, and turns around to leave. Sne she makes it all the way out the door, letting it swing shut behind her, before she grinds to a halt and stands there on the sidewalk, halfway between motorcycle and door, with some confused people patiently waiting for her to move so they can get past.

She turns around and comes back inside, and walks straight up to where Adora is sitting. A none-too-gentle kick moves a chair back from the table, and she sits down before depositing the box in front of her.

"Hey Adora." Clearly, she meant for that to sound smug and triumphant, but it just ends up coming out.. tired. "Not even gonna say 'hi'?"

The disguised feline busies herself with opening her box of food and pulls out the first piece, making a point of eating as if nothing at all was troubling her.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
There's a moment when Catra just turns and leaves that Adora feels ever so very slightly ... disappointed? Oh well. It's not like their lives revolved around each other anymore. This wasn't even Etheria anymore.

Aaand then the door opened again and the chair next to her is kicked out. And there was a Rachel Miller sitting in it. She blinks a bit, glancing towards Catra at that comment. "Hey. I uh. I mean, you're allowed to just get food in peace without being bothered." She pauses. "And the sword's gone, so it's not like annoying you is a particularly good idea right now." She adds, popping another one of her own Karaage into her mouth.

It's not really a scornful comment, her tone isn't really defeated or upset, just... like... almost matter-of-fact. There were things she was thinking of possibly saying or asking that cross through her mind, of course, but most of them just pushed away. "How have things been? Enjoying the fire stuff?"

Catra has posed:
"Yeah, when was the last time we actualyl fought, again? Remind me, because I'm pretty sure it's been a while." The feline gnaws away at her piece of chicken; and she's not leaving anything, quickly demolishing it straight down to the bone, which is unsurprising given how much better this is than the Gray Kind, of course.

"I remember when you'd see me from a mile off and I could've been just minding my own business, and you'd just... assume automatically that I was tryign to figure out how to burn a village to the gorund as artfully as possible or something. Now I can get chicken in peace? Nice."

She plucks a fried drumstick, and goes straight for giving in the same treatment. "So you broke your sword? Great, But I don't believe you're powerless, and even if you were if I picked on you then I've no idea how it'd happen but you'd have a dozen friends appear out of thin air to fight me, and I frankly don't need that much of a work-out right now." She pauses, and stuffs one hand into her jacket pocket to pull out the Spirit Ember and plop it down on the table.

"It's lousy," she states. "I can do parlor tricks with it. And it's making it harder to do dark magic. ...Which is a problem because I got fired and Obsidian is probably tracking everything I buy with that credit card I just used so I can't stay in one place overly long or I'll have people tryhing to get my head."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Uhhh... I think shortly after I came back? Sort of? The stuff with the jar and stuff though 'fight' is probably... a bit uh..." Adora pauses as she thinks a bit. "Honestly, since I came to this world basically the main fighting we've done is mostly with words to be honest." Adora pops another piece of karaage into her mouth.

"In fairness back then that basically was exactly what was happening basically every time we encountered each other, usually you would show up and do something and then I would show up to fight you off, or I'd be after something and you'd want it for something or other." Adora shrugs helplessly at that.

Not believing she's powerless gets a soft laugh from Adora, and she even lifts her hand, not really caring who sees. "For the Honor of Greyskull." She says.

There might be the slightest spark, the slightest flicker of magic.
...But nothing happens. No transformation. Nothing.

Just some people looking at the two oddly, or pretending not to see them in that Japanese way. "Nothing doing, really. But I'm getting used to it. Probably soon I'll start forgetting that magic even existed." Which would probably mean that she'd forget Catra too, but that's not a thought that's occurred to her yet.

"That's probably for the best. Dark magic doesn't feel good at all. I don't honestly know how you could stand it at all, it's like a swarm of bees crawling under your skin and just..." She shudders helplessly. Pause. "Wait." She looks towards Catra. "You were /fired/ and now getting tracked and might be being hunted down?" Uuuuugh.

Adora drops her head to the table, all of the weight of not being She-Ra hitting like a ton of bricks again. "Of course. Of course when I don't have She-Ra something like this happens and I can't even try to help and..." She pauses. "...Meh, it's whatever, you're fine, you've always been better at fighting and stuff than me, and you didn't even have someone actively trying to /make/ you that way."

Catra has posed:
Catra hunches her shoulders over when Adora yells, and her ears go flat under her illusion -- Adora can't see it of course, but she'd certainly know exactly what Catra really looks like in that moment. "Keep it down," she grumbles. "Anyawy, I can use dark magic because I'm a villainous evil little monster, remember? So that's why it's not a problem. ...Except it seems to be when I have this," she picks up the Spirit Ember again and waggles it in the air, before stuffing it back in her jacket pocket.

"And it's not like I can get rid of it. So I ihave to figure out how to use it properly before I accidentally turn all of Tokyo into a melted hole in the ground because as much as I hate this city the food is pretty good and there's a couple of people I kinda like here."

Catra pauses, picking up another piece of chicken and starting in on it, before shoving the box exactly four inches in Adora's direction. "Yeah, well, probably I got fired but I haven't gone back to find out. I've just been couch-surfing and staying in abandoned hotel rooms. ...But I helped your friends kill one of the Witches, which is lik..." she trails off, and shrugs. "Imagine I'd beaten Shadow Weaver senseless without Hordak's permission, it'd be about like that."

Catra finishes and drops a couple of bones on the table, to join the growing pile in front of her. Not even using a napkin? What a villain. "Except, like, worse, because I could beat Hordak in a fight, and there's people or... things at Obsidian that I cna't." She sighs, and deflates in her seat. "And if Joker ever comes to talk to you, do yourself a favor and run as fast as you can."

Catra resumes eating; but she tilts her head to give Adora a sideways look. At the notion of forgetting, she offers no comment, but the look she gives Adora is... hollowed out.

She definitely thought of the implications.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
It wasn't quite a yell from Adora, but it was probably still more attention than the cat probably wanted at the moment, to be fair. She pops another karaage into her mouth. "It still can't feel that good." Then again maybe there was less shame included with it since she's doing it of her own free will? Whatever. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. I..." She pauses.

"When I first got the Sword of Power it wouldn't consistently let me transform either, but I'm sure when you actually need to it'll let you. Sure made things really awkward when I first arrived at Brightmoon, though." Adora gives a bit of an awkward chuckle. "I guess it was a bit hesitant to let someone from the horde use it, maybe the Spirit Ember is the same." She pauses. "But ... I don't think you'll burn tokyo into a flaming hole unless you want it to. The magic kind of ... reacts to your will. At least that's how it was with the She-Ra stuff. Not that I used much magic, She-Ra was always kind of more stabby." As Catra knows well.

The box is pushed towards Adora, and she takes another one of her karaage to pop into her mouth, before dumping a few into Catra's box and taking one of Catra's pieces of chicken. Fair trade and all that! Popcorn chicken-like chicken for bone-in chicken. "That does sound kind of rough, but I mean... if you killed one of the Witches, I can see why they'd be after you. Have you talked with anyone else about it? I can text a few people and let them know about the situation if you need me to." Even with everything they'd been through, she doesn't exactly want to hear about Catra /dying/ or something that would just be too much.

Catra has posed:
Catra shrugs her shoulders, and plucks one of the karaage and pops it in her mouth. how has she never actually tried those before? Always thought nah, some other time. But they are pretty good.

"Rashmi knows, so does Usagi," she mumbles. "They offered help. So did Usagi's boyfriend. So did Hinoiri. ...It aws even suggested that I go to that stupid Academy, apparently nobody can do dark magic there but let's face it. Can you possibly seem me going to school? Only school I ever went to only ever taught me how to beat people up, like I'd fit in there." Catra's eyes narrow, as she stares at the chicken. "Usagi was the one I was protecting. Just... because she's the kid's Mom. You know, the kid from the future? If you've met her. Anyway she's... she reminds me of us when we were kids and I don't wanna let anything happen to her, so I shot Tellu, and they all ganged up and killed her, and now I'm fired basically. So that's it." She takes out another piece of chicken and sits there, staring at it. "Yeah, I know, I'm a complete idiot, I got myself kicked out of the one place that would ever accept me."

The feline continues to sit and stare at her chicken, which would be burning anyone else's fingers by now but perhaps the Spirit Ember is helping with that?

"So you broke your sword," she mumbles. "Y'don't think that was a silly thing to do? What if I dewcide to go burning things to the ground? What're you gonna do then?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
They really are. Like popcorn chicken but even better seasoned. "That's good. And uh. I'm literally in the beat-each-other-up club actually so you wouldn't be /that/ out of place. They even do scholarships and stuff for people who are less good at academics and more good at running and stuff, so you'd probably be fine. I think they help protect magical people, too, to be honest."

Usagi was the one Catra was protecting. There's a very slight smile towards Catra as she talks about that. "That's a pretty good reason to help defeat someone, to be honest. To protect a kid, I mean... Usagi's been pretty good to you too." Better than her, even now a part of her wasn't sure that Catra is someone she can really trust.

...But that might not be her problem anymore, really. She takes another bite of that chicken. "You'll find a place to accept you, I'm sure. There's a reason you were still a leader in the Horde even after I left, even with Shadow Weaver trying to tell you that you weren't worth it." She says. "As wrong as she was, I don't imagine that made it easy to want to continue."

Pause. "It was ... uh. The option. If I didn't break it, maybe I would have killed the people there. Better to not have a sword than to have come to with my friends down around me." She shakes her head slightly. "And uh. If you decide to go burning things to the ground I'd probably do my best to get out of there and make sure everyone else is safe, too. Even if I don't have magic I'll still do what I can, it's just how I am."

Catra has posed:
"Yeah well... I'm not going to," Catra mumbles. "Burn everything down I mean. ...or anything. Unless I screw up with the Spirit Ember, I guess." She finally gets around to biting into the chicken in her hands, and devours it pretty quickly; maybe she really is utterly ravenous.

"What happened to you?" she demands, suddenly turning to face Adora and giving her a fierce swat to the shoulder, almost a punch but not quite. "Since when have you ever been like..." she waves a chicken bone with a bit of flesh still stuck to it at Adora, "Like... this? As long as I've known you, you'e always been sucking up all the oxygen you could find and turning it into bubbly-happy-heroic and can't-sit-still even while asleep Adora." She tosses the bone on the counter, "It's like suddenly you're sad and defeated Adora, it's like someone sucked all the life out of you and turned you into like, I dunno, boredom on two legs."

Catra finally leans back, realizing she might've been just... a bit in Adora's face. "Used to be if I was donig *anything* you'd be so gung-ho to stop me, hell at the Princess Prom all I hadda do was drop a crumpled piece of paper in a garbage can and you'd be all over it. Now it's like, what, I'm not even using a napkin," she points at the pile of bones, "And you don't even care? What happened to you? And don't tell me you broke the sword 'cause whatever the sword isn't who you are any more than the Spirit Ember is who I am or the Moonstone is who Glimmer is."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"What happened to me? What happened to /you/. You used to be so desperate to beat me, to get a victory for the Horde that you were willing to do just about anything -- even activate a portal after we told you *it could destroy anything*." Adora turns more towards Catra. "I'm just. Kind of feeling the shadow being cast now, because frankly I wasn't sure if I'd be able to beat you now that you had fire powers -- and now I don't even /have/ powers." She turns more towards Catra.

"I'm not She-Ra anymore, I'm just Adora now. And while I still have all of my skills and could probably still beat you in a fight without magic -- I don't have that anymore. I don't have what I need to be 'enough' anymore. I don't have the sword, I don't have a gemstone, I'm..." She shakes her head.

"I'm just a normal girl now. What the heck am I going to do to stop you even if you were doing anything worth stopping??? And you're just. You're just eating food. And not using a napkin. There's nothing /wrong/ with that. And frankly, it's barely even me who changed." She says softly.

"You. You've been different basically ever since I got here and I know that's partially because you've been here longer than me but even from day one you were already starting to be different. The first time I 'fought' you, you were beaten down by that Joker guy. And now you're saving people, protecting children..."

"And none of that is /bad/ and I don't want to be the reason you /lose/ that because you seem like you're doing better and that's clearly better than how /I/ was doing with you and so I don't even know anymore. I'm..." She shakes her head. "I'm just Adora now, and maybe that's better. For both of us."

Catra has posed:
"I didn't open the damned portal because I wanted toe destroy Etheria, I opened it because I wanted Etheria to be DIFFERENT," Catra snarls, "And yeah Entrapta told me I could destroy the whole planet but do you think I believed her? One moron pulls a switch and poof, planet destroyed? I didn't believe her for a second, I thought she was just trying to stop me because she'd decided to be on your side again! And I was mad that Shadow Weaver betrayed me and ran off to join you and I was mad that you found a magic sword and ran off to be heroes with people you'd known for like FIVE MINUTES and you only bothered to ask me to come along as an after-thought, after I thought, I THOUGHT I WAS YOUR FRIEND."

If a few people were staring before, then all of them are now. But if Catra has noticed (she most certainly has) then she doesn't seem all that bothered about it.

"So, what, no you're upset because I'm nicer to people than I was before? Should I go outside and beat someone up just because it'd be funny? Would that help?" She reaches over and punches Adora in the shoulder, "And you're not 'just Adora', if you think having a magic sword and being the strongest person in the room is the thing that makes you a hero and if you don't have those things then you're just some useless chick with a questionable hairdo then you need to go have a talk with Rashmi or something, I was the biggest villain in the room with no powers at all so stop moping and hurry up and manifest a sword out of thin air or something."

Catra's eyes, mis-matched even under her illusory disguise, narrow as she glares, seething at Adora.

"And if you're desperate for some kind of contest?" She reaches into the box, "I can still eat more chicken than you." And she starts devouring the next piece as fast as she can.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"And... and you were my friend, which is why it hurt so much when you weren't willing to come with me. Why even /knowing/ the Horde was bad, you weren't willing to."

Pause.

"...But also someone explained why that expectation wasn't... really, right, so you know. I don't really ... blame you for that, but it did do horrible things to both of us, honestly. But I couldn't keep doing the things that the horde would have wanted me to do -- I couldn't attack a village of people who can barely defend themselves -- I couldn't continue attacking a people who were nothing like what we were taught they would be." Adora turns more towards Catra, she was also barely paying attention to the people around them, who were trying /very hard/ not to pay attention to them, though they were getting occasional glares here and there.

"I'm /not/ upset that you're nicer to people than you were before! I'm /glad/ you're doing better! I'm /happy/ for you, and I /don't want to ruin it/." Adora says, shaking her head. "I /don't/ want you to go outside and beat someone up I want..." She falls silent at the 'you're not just adora'. 'Just hurry up and manifest a sword'.

She rests her hands over her face as frustration builds. "I ... I've been *TRYING*. I've been trying *every day*. I'm /supposed/ to be able to just be able to summon the 'real sword'. That's what Glimmer kept on telling me, telling me to break the sword, to bring out the 'real sword' and to become the 'real' She-Ra but she's not even from the /same timeline/ as us. I /can't/. I ... I didn't turn to the honor of greyskull, I turned to power instead and I think that I'm not /worthy/ anymore."

"And now, and now if I don't we're supposed to have some Horde Prime show up and possibly kill everyone and destroy the world and I'm honestly /so so tired/ and I just... just..."

...

She shakes her head, just shoving Karaage into her mouth until she can't talk anymore, mumbling something that just comes out as 'mmmhhh hhmmm hhaaa hmmm hmm hmmm.'

Catra has posed:
Catra just... stuffs food in, as a response. Because she can eat more chicken than Adora. ...Even if by the time the bucket is empty and there's bones all over the counter it's basically impossible to tabulate a winner.

"OKay." Catra starts talking, then stops, swallows the last morsel of food so she's not being gross, and holds up a hand. "Power doesn't go to people who are 'worthy' of it. Adora that is such bullshit on so many levels. Do you think I'm worthy of the Spirit Ember? I'm betting you don't." She gestures towards the door, "Do you think the Witches who used to work for Obsidian and still would be if all but one of them weren't dead, are worthy of power? What about the grown adults from the future who came back in time to literally murder a pre-teen? Are they worthy? What about..." she gestures around the room, "I dunno, all those people in all those villages I burned, they didn't have power to stop me, did they? Were they unworthy? Did all their villages get burned down because they were unworthy?"

Catra waits, taking a moment to suck on her fingertips one after the other. "Thinking that power is for 'worthy' people..." she sighs, and shakes her head, "You're just giving yourself permission to suck."

Catra licks her fingertips on her other hand, and pulls out her phone. And for a moment it might seem like she's done with the conversation, but even with the glow from the screen (still with a crack down the middle, she's never replaced it) she mumbles, "I never killed anyone. In those villages. I always gave them a way to escape. ...Not, like, officially, I just... always made sure there was a gap in the line of tanks or something. Never actually killed anyone before the witch a few days ago."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
It probably doesn't help that Adora is eating something that doesn't really have any bones to leave behind or anything and she'd basically just had an anime-style impossible pile of Karaage in front of her when this had started. It was mostly gone now. "That... that kind of power is different, dark energy doesn't go to worthy, it goes to the people who have the kind of ... mindset to use it. She-Ra is an agent of balance and I did things to /upset/ that balance and that's... you /are/ worthy of the Spirit Ember you /literally proved it/ by going through the trials and I actually /do/ believe that because I have seen you at your best, I have seen how hard you try, how much effort you put in, how much you have done to earn your power meanwhile I just. Basically had it handed to me. Almost /forced/ on me by Shadow-Weaver and then I lucked into finding a magic sword that I just happened to have my fate tied to and...."

Adora stands after that comment of giving herself permission to suck. "Maybe I am, but you don't /know/ what it's like. I watched *everyone* I care about disappear in front of me. One by one. YOU disappeared twice because after disappearing your stubborn self came /back/ as some green portal-corrupted version of yourself whose 'hey adora' still haunts my dreams."

"And it's something that I *really* am struggling to forgive you for, and I promise you I'm /trying/ because I've /seen/ that your changing and I just..." She gives a little cry of frustration, before starting to make her way towards the door. Fully intent to just start trudging down the street, hands stuffed into the pocket of that familiar red horde jacket.

Catra has posed:
Catra bolts to her feet. She looks at the mess of chicken bones, and pulls out a couple of Yen notes and tosses them into the mix (cleaning that up would be way too much work, definitely someone else's job, and the staff in the place know it and they're already looking sour), and she storms after Adora.

"Stop acting like I'm the only one who ever did anything wrong! And I've heard you talking about that before and I don't even remember it. For me I just pulled the switch and wound up here, I thought I really did destroy Etheria and I've been convinced that I'm the most irredeemable moster than ever lived since."

The feline follows Adora out the door, "Was Hordak worthy? Was Shadow Weaver?! Look whatever," she marches up to where her motorcycle is parked -- brand new with a stealth black paint job -- and swings her leg over to straddle the front seat. (It doesn't have much of a back seat, but there is one. Techcnically.)

"So look." She turns the key and the engine roars to life as Catra woks the throttle, "I used the credit card that Obsidian is tracking and I stayed here way too long, and I have no idea if they'd use you against me, so I can't just let you walk off into the rain. Especially since they know about you. So get on the bike."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"You're /not/ the only one who ever did anything wrong and recently you've been doing more /right/ than wrong and /that's why the fact I'm struggling to forgive you is a problem/." Adora spits back at Catra. "You're /doing well/. You're /improving/. And I had /nothing to do that/ and I feel like half the time when we interact /I'm actively making it worse again/. I don't even /think/ you're the problem anymore."

Adora keeps walking. "And it's /hard to handle/ because I am angry and I am hurt and I have /nowhere to direct it at/." Rain was falling? She'd barely even noticed because she was so focused on her thoughts. And Catra tells her to get on the motorcycle.

She takes a deep breath at the talk about the credit card and that they might use her against Catra and Adora gives a long, exhausted sigh, frustration once again entering her voice at that. Of course. She can't /just leave/ and get away like she wanted to, it might cause problems for Catra. Gosh. Darn it. "...Fine." She mutters, just sounding exhausted and defeated as she gets on the back of the motorcycle.

Catra has posed:
Catra lets out a frustrated half-sigh half-growl, "Look, if it makes you feel better I'm stealing money on a daily basis." She pauses. "From an evil mega-corporation that's trying to rule the world but whatever, it's like I'm stealing Hordak's loose change. Or maybe I can rob a bank, or go beat up some bikers, or whatever."

Catra leta all of Adora's comments slide over her, though she turns her head away at the idea that Adora thinks she's the one making Catra worse. ...She was just checking the traffic before she pulls out though. Yeah, that's it.

"I don't have any answers for you. Maybe I'm 'doing better' but I was 'doing better' in the Crimson wastes too until I wasn't. So whatever. Maybe you got to be Shadow Weaver's favorite and she accidentally turned you into a hero, and she treated me like dirt and trned me into a nasty little monster. So maybe that's just how it is."

Catra revs the engine hard, and drops her illusion as she looks forwards. "I'll drop you off at the academy," she grumbles, before kicking the bike in gear and peeling off into the night, with Adora on the back seat behind her.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"That is barely even a crime or stealing at that point I feel like." Adora comments in response. "...Maybe don't do the last three though. Bikers are crazy." Yes that's the problem Adora. The talk of 'doing better' and the crimsion waste and shadow weaver and... all of that... Adora is just... too emotionally exhausted to really talk about any further, she mainly is just... quiet the rest of the ride.