59/Let the cat out of the bag

Let the cat out of the bag
Date of Scene:	11 July 2023
Location:	Obsidian Tower - Board Room
Synopsis:	Catra is... somewhere. She doesn't know where. She does, however, find herself drawn to a strange, weird old crone in green... And into the clutches of Obsidian.
Cast of Characters:	Catra, 21

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Catra has posed:
Etherians have been arriving in Tokyo of late, flung here by Horde Prime's super-weapon. Adora has already arrived; and now, Catra has come, too. Snatched from an earlier point in the timeline, at the moment when Catra herself had opened an ill-advised dimensonal portal. And so now, here she is in Japan.

Adora may've had the luxury of turning up in an abandoned warehouse. Catra has no such luck. The feline horde soldier finds herself standing in the middle of Shibuya Crossing, surrounded by traffic, tall buildings, noise, lights, and hundreds of people, all of whom are talking and as far as Catra is concerned, saying nothing but gibberish.

At first, Catra just sort of freezes in place; one minute she was preparing to fight She-Ra, the next she's... wherever here is, trying to get her bearings.

Someone approaches, and the feline reacts instinctively with her claws, and then she's off, running and hoving her way through the crowd. She keeps on running, dodging people and cars as she tries one street and another after another, until eventually she can duck into an alleyway that seems reasonably devoid of people, there to collapse to her knees and try to catch her breath.

Macaron (21) has posed:
It wasn't the nicest greeting she could have received, but she'd likely received worse. The poor deary. People screaming, running in fear from her...

Only for, moments after she was out of sight, people just... ignored her. The calm returned quickly. As if they didn't see her. Didn't notice her. People walking by the alley not even seeming to notice her if she didn't draw attention to herself. The sights, the sounds. The...

Smells? There it was. Something... smelled. And unlike the likely expectation, it wasn't bad. Sure, the smell of the alleyway was terrible. But there was... something else. Fresh baked... cookies? No. Not just fresh cookies. DELICIOUS fresh cookies. And it might take her a moment to find the source, if she investigated. A door, on the side of the building. If she peered inside she'd see... a desk. On that desk was a fresh tray of cookies. More than that, she could see someone across the room, her back to the desk and doorway, standing over a cauldron. Gently humming to herself.

The cookies... smelled amazing. Like gray ration bars. But like... *good*. No, a thousand times better.

Catra has posed:
Suddenly being invisible is almost more disconcerting than being in a strange place, surrounded by strange people. Almost.

Actually no, it's worse.

Catra remains on her knees until she's gotten her breathing under control after the sustained, frantic exertion. Until she smells the cookies, of course, something she picks up on right away amidst the stink of the alleyway. And with no other real course of action in front of her, she checks it out, naturally. She slinks on bare feet up to the doorway, and peeks in with one yellow eye; holding her breath, she observes, watching the person standing over the cauldron.

That person reminds her of a few fairy tales, whispered between the other children in the Horde Army. Whispers that weren't encouraged -- though they might've been guided in the right direction. Moreso, the image of the witch reminds Catra of Shadow Weaver, standing over the Black Garnet.

But she's not Shadow Weaver, so Catra plucks up her courage and takes a step inside, still slinking along as quietly as she may, keeping her mismatched eyes on this person and waiting for the first sign of anything even a little bit unpleasant.

The cookies? Entirely untouched thus far.

Macaron (21) has posed:
Bad End Commander Majorina didn't even look up when the girl takes a step inside, pausing for a moment to grab a small... apple. And drops it inside. She mumbled softly as she worked, stirring the cauldron before sniffing it. "Hmmmm. Needs more frog essence-de wasa..." she muttered.

The cookies were there, just waiting for her. And the old lady never looked back... But if she stepped fully into the room... the door would close behind her. And if she opened it... she'd find herself, no longer in an alleyway. But instead... an... office building? With people? All speaking gibberish. All except for the woman, however, who seemed still focused on what was in her cauldron. "Almost done-de wasa..." she said proudly.

Catra has posed:
The second the door closes, Catra jumps into motion, flinging it back open again and making a run for it; only to skid to a halt some twenty feet further on, when it becomes apparent that the alleyway has been... replaced. Instinctively Catra looks around for a hiding spot; somewhere she can assess from. A place from which to attack with the advantage of surprise.

There is no such place.

"What IS THIS?!" the feline screams, claws out once again to smash whatever happens to be nearest. Someone's computer monitor, most likely. "Who are you? Where am I? What is this?!" Catra stalks back into the room with the woman and her cauldron, abandoning stealth in favor of anger. "What's going on? Where's Hordak? WHERE IS ADORA?"

Macaron (21) has posed:
Of course, when she did that? It made more people scream. Less of them, but some... And then she'd see there were some other who definitely *Weren't human here. Things. Monsters... dangerous... looking monsters.

Who were staring at her. And started to advance... only to stop. Cock their heads to the side... and pull back. Strange.

But when she returned to the room, Majorina motioned towards the cookies. "You should eat one, dearie. They're catnip, chocolate and rose petal. They were always cheshire's favorite," she said before grabbing a big metal spoon and dipping it into the cauldron.

When she pulled it out, it was a... perfectly normal... riceball? "Finally! The 'language translatorball' is complete-de wasa!" ... Yes. She was... terrible at naming things.

It was only then that she turned towards her and frowned. "You're early. Neither of those two are scheduled to come today. Only you." She hopped down from the stool she had stood on, now only coming up to... Catra's knees. She scampered over and placed the rice ball on the desk. "Eat this." She then paused and seemed to just stare at Catra for a moment. "Hm. I thought you'd be... taller-de wasa," she said before scampering off to the other side of the desk to sit at it... then... Paused...

... It might take Catra a moment to realize the old lady seemed to have taken a nap the moment she sat down in her chair.

Catra has posed:
When the monsters advance, Catra lashes out at them too, but with their sudden halt she swipes at nothing but air. Still, she snarls at them, baring her teeth in a threatening manner that's unusually feral, even for her.

Of course, she's still terrified, and the rage is there to mask the fear. From herself, as much as anyone else.

"What's Catnip?" she asks, point blank, still not picking up a cookie to eat it. Or even just to pick it up. She can smell them, certainly, and they do smell good, but that doesn't mean anything. At least not to her. She stalks back and forth along the desk, until the riceball is plonked down.

"What do you mean I'm early? Where ARE they? And--" She draws herself up, "What do you mean I'm short?! I'm not short! I'm exactly how big as I'm supposed to be, it's not my fault Adora's... tall... taller... what why is she sleeping now, she's sleeping."

Catra stares at the woman, before picking up the riceball and sniffing at it. She regards it mistrustfully, before looking over her shoulder back out at the offices, and sighs. She stuffs it in her mouth, glaring sideways at Majorina as she chews it and swallows it.

"Alright, there, I ate it," she grumbles, flatly. "Now where's Hordak and Adora?"

Macaron (21) has posed:
Bad End Commander Majorina was sleeping quite soundly, before work called. At least the rice ball wasn't... awful. No worse than the gray bars. "Hmm?" she asked, her eyes slowly opening for a moment before she stretched. "Mnnnnngggg... that was nice-de wasa. Hmmm? Oh... right. You're still here, aren't you?" she asked. "I imagined you'd have run off by now. Cats usually go where they want, when they want." She picked up one of the cookies... gave it a sniff, before shrugging and biting into it. "You're a long way from home-de wasa," she said. "I don't know about a Hordak or an Adora. The only one my crystal ball spoke of is you. The others are unimportant." She paused. "Etherian... hmmm. You really are a long way from home. Aren't you?" She took another bite of her cookie, eyeing her.

"This is obsidian-de wasa. I am Majorina, commander for the Bad End Kingdom. Servant of Emperor Pierrot. This? Is my corner office-de wasa."

And she could hear yelling in the other room, still. But now.... it was starting to make sense. "She broke my monitor! Why do the monsters always choose MY desk?"

"Shut up, Ted, nobody cares."

"My name isn't even Ted! I have half a mind to go tell that old witch what I think of her and her stupid cat monster!"

"Go ahead, Ted. Was nice knowing you."

Majorina, meanwhile, stared at her. "So then, kitty. Who are you-de wasa?" she asked. And it was there. She could tell Majorina wasn't speaking etherian anymore... yet... Catra... could understand it. More impressively... She knew she could SPEAK it, if she wished.

Catra has posed:
Catra's eyes narrow. "I *do* go wherever I want, when I want," she declares. "But right now I want to be here and I want you to tell me what's going on."

One of her ears flicks back to listen to the complaints of the guy outside, and she folds her arms. "Shut up, Ted!" she yells, experimenting with the new language that she can... somehow speak. "Don't make me come out there, and break something you're actually going to miss once it's gone!"

Catra doesn't turn around, but her ears track to what's happening behind her. She pauses, listening and waiting, before plucking a cookie off the pile -- hey, the strange lady ate one -- and she just holds it up under her nose for second.

She can't deny that she is hungry; so the cookie goes in all at once, and disappears down her throat just as rapidly.

"My name's Catra," she declares. "Force Captain Catra, second in command for Lord Hordak of the Horde Army. Nobody tells me what to do." She puffs her chest out, and plants her hands on her hips, whilte quietly acknowldging the fact that, right now at least, it seems like she's Force Commander of absolutely nothing, and that's absolutely terrifying.

But she isn't about to let on to that.

"What do you mean I'm... 'from Etheria'? Where am I right now? And where's the portal!?"

Macaron (21) has posed:
Bad End Commander Majorina took another bite of her cookie before nodding. "Mmmm. I see-de wasa." Still, she smiled when Catra told Ted to shut up. She didn't really like Ted either. That was a good sign. And Ted, to his credit, shut his mouth.

"Force Captain Catra... heh. Hee hee hee. There's no Lord Hordak here, Catra," she said before taking another bite of her cookie. "And I very much doubt the Horde Army will be appearing anytime soon." Then paused. "And of course they don't. You're a cat-de wasa," she said.

Majorina was an old lady, she knew things. And if there was one thing she knew, it was that cats do what they wanted. "You're in Obsidian tower-de wasa. On a strange little planet called Earth. As for the portal... hmmm. I think you have your answer as to how you ended up here-de wasa. One must be careful when they tamper with magic. And when I say you're 'from Etheria', I mean you're 'From Etheria'. Please, deary, keep up. I have to speak with mindless fools all day, I expect better from one my crystal ball said was worth gathering-de wasa."

The cookie, however... It was likely unlike anything she'd ever eaten. This. This was... soft... chery... nirvana. It was like a hug from Adora, followed by everyone who ever talked down to her telling her how amazing she was and how wrong they were to doubt her, followed by grinding all of their faces in the ground as she left behind, laughing as they tried to make up for their disrespect to her. It was like eating *victory* itself.

Catra has posed:
"I need to get back there," Catra replies, flatly. But even as she says it, she knows that's not happening. Not any time soon, at least. Perhaps not ever. And all -- so she thinks at least -- because she opened a portal. She's stuck here, torn away from everything she knew, and it's all her fault, with absolutely nobody else to blame.

"So what's Obsidian all about then?" she asks, changing the subject almost as rapidly as bringing it up. "Screw it. I was outgrowing the Horde anyway, I would've taken over from Hordak before too much longer and I already put Shadow Weaver in her place." No she didn't. "And I definitely don't care if I never see Adora ever again." Lies, lieing to herself most of all.

"So you knew I was coming. And you baked cookies for me." Does Catra touch another one? No. In spite of how amazing they were, it seems one was absolutely enough for the cat. "Need a Force Captain to keep the troops, and people like Ted, in line? Win a few battles? Build an empire?"

Macaron (21) has posed:
Bad End Commander Majorina chuckled. "You may... desire that, and you're welcome to try-de wasa. But even my magic could not get you back to Etheria now. What Obsidian desires... is control. Destruction. Power," she said.

She lifted her hands up to her desk, and a crystal ball materialized on it. Her old, withered hands moved over it. "As the commanders of the Bad End Kingdom... what we desire, is to awaken Emperor Pierot."

She hmmed. After a few moments, Catra's arrival appeared on the crystal ball. "Indeed. I do not... normally meet with visitors-de wasa. Few are worth wasting my time on. But you seemed... worth it." She hmmed, the ball flickering... Hordak's face didn't appear.

But for a moment, Adora's did. Just for a scant moment. "Hmmmmm... I see-de wasa... So that one... she is... close to you. It appears she will either arrive soon or already has. Hmmmm..." she narrowed her eyes. And then showed... on the crystal ball, magical girls appeared. On a beach, fighting a monster.

"There is no great army here opposing us. No war to be waged in battle. Soldiers, troops... they are but distractions. These are what we fight here. Battles are not won through leading grunts... but in proving your might, your skill, your power... against these girls. Some call themselves warriors, heroes, princesses-de wasa."

Catra has posed:
Something in Catra's eyes flickers when Adora's face blinks ever so briefly in the crystal ball. It's more than just recognition, but beyond that it's unclear, a boiling soup of emotions. Love, hatred, pain, loss, grief, rage. Her lip curls upwards, betraying Catra's surface thoughts, even if she herself won't acknowledge the deep well of feeling beneath.

"Good, that's even better," she replies. "I already beat She-Ra. I dragged her back before Lord Hordak and used her sword to make this portal. That was her," she points at the crystal ball where Adora's face had been moments earlier. "She thought she was better than me, and I taught her a lesson. So she's here, or she will be? Good. *Good*. That means I get to teach her again."

Catra folds her arms across her chest. "Sounds like you've got an infestation of Princesses on your hands. We had those on Etheria, too. And we were about to beat them all. You want help beating them here, too? Great, I'm in." She narrows her eyes. "But I don't take orders. Just let me off hte chain and I'll thrash them for you. Especially *her*."

Catra eyes the cookies, still not touching another one, before looking back to Majorina. "So are there... other cats, on Earth? Like me?"

Macaron (21) has posed:
Bad End Commander Majorina nodded. She knew that look well. She enjoyed playing with that look. "Hmmmm..." she said. "She-ra?" she asked, before waving her hand around the orb. And new images appeared.

Though, the new ones that showed... Was She-ra. Fighting the monsters. Not alone, no.

Besides other magical girls. Fighting alongside them. Joining them. Sharing defeat with them. Victory...

Majorina's eyes narrowed when for a moment, it showed a vision of Catra and She-ra fighting... And the magical girls coming to She-ra's aid to defeat Catra. "I see..." she said, lowering her hands.

"Then perhaps you will be more useful than the rabble we are used to. Indeed, but first... The princesses aren't like those in your world-de wasa. They are... numberous."

She then sighed before looking her over again. "If you go as you are... you won't last long de-wasa. You'll draw all of them to you..." Like had happened when she fought she-ra in that vision... more and more of the girls seemed to appear. Overwhelming her...

"I'll need to make you something to... suppress your abilities. It will weaken you while active... but it will also hide you-de wasa. Protect you from being a target when outside of the protection of our walls."

She then looked her up and down yet again, before getting to her feet. "Of course there are cats, what terrible world doesn't have cats? But while there are other cats, there are none like you. I've only known one cat like you, de-wasa. Cheshire. Hmmmm... perhaps that should be your name." she mumbled softly before she started to the door. She closed it... and opened it again.

It opened... to a strange room? She then closed it again, then opened it. And for a moment, it was CATRA'S old room. Albeit, just one bed. And nothing... entirely unique to Ethernia. A copy? "Will this do for now, Chessire-de wasa?" she asked.

One day Catra may come to appreciate one simple fact that was giving her treatment she *never* would have received otherwise. Majorina... was a cat person.

Catra has posed:
"My name's Catra," she mumbles, but doesn't appear to be all that motivated to press the issue just now. She's more intent on the crystal ball, watching the visions pass across the rounded surface; She-Ra, the other girls, their victories. Their victories over HER.

That can't happen. The thought brought anger bubbling up to the surface, but it's the same anger Catra has been using to mask her real feelings for so long that it's just become an automatic habbit.

"I won't let that happen," she declares. "That *won't* happen." She opens her mouth, about to demand the chance to go find She-Ra and fight her right now, before her shoulders slump and she deflates. But of course this woman is right. Especially if this new world is... Well, she saw what it was like earlier; no variety of people. Everyone looking the same. Herself, standing out entirely.

"I don't like the idea of being weakened," she grumbles. "But if it means I can hide until it's time to strike, I guess it's a good idea."

As the door is closed and opened again, she looks through it, into the room beyond, and regards its... strange familiarity. "Yeah, that'll do," she replies, blandly, as if it were just barely good enough. But it's something familiar in this stange place, even if it's only a room, and not even a place with any particularly happy memories for Catra. Just those with Adora, actually; and they aren't happy memories. Not anymore.

The feline wanders thrugh the door, half waiting for it to slam shut behind her and trap her in it. But she's here now, and there's not many other options on the plate right now. But at least she's working with someone reasonably powerful who appears to be on her side.

For now, anyway.

Macaron (21) has posed:
Bad End Commander Majorina nodded. "Of course. But trust me, Cheshire... your name is not something you desire every fool to know you as. At least, until you know who... is disposable-de wasa," she said.

But the girl was alone. Angry. But powerful. She... may be able to be of use. If she could defeat those foolish girls... But first, she would need to learn *how* this world worked.

That, and she was smart.

Once the girl was in the room, Majorina followed... closed the door... and opened it. Turning the door to the right. It revealed a dark, gloomy... place... where she could see... pillars? And hear sounds, grumbling, grouching in the distance. Oni and Wolfrun. "Turn it to the right to open it normally," she said.

Then turned it to the left. It opened... outside of Obsidian tower, inside the grounds. On the ground floor. "Try to stay within the tower for now-de wasa. But turn it to the left to come out here." Oh, that was DEFINITELY some kind of weird magic.

"Welcome to Obsidian-de wasa." And then she left...

And after a bit, Catra would find... there were more cookies appearing on a shelf. And maybe a cat toy or two. Wolfrun and Oni were going to be so jealous. Majorina never got THEM nice things.