762/A Nocturnal Menagerie

A Nocturnal Menagerie
Date of Scene:	14 November 2023
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Adora, Amy, and Coco team up to confront Catra and one of Obsidian's creations. In the city streets, where collateral damage can be brought to an absolute masximum -- but wasn't, really.
Cast of Characters:	Catra, Adora Rainbowfist, Coco Kiumi, Amanda Faust

---

Catra has posed:
<< Hey Adora. >>

The text message comes at, predictably, an inconvenient time; late at night, around the hour when one might normally be considering such activities as sleeping, getting ready for sleeping, or winding down for sleeping. Well, unless you're a cat, in which case who knows what hours you keep.

Catra is sitting on a rooftop, looking out over the city skyline. She's in one of the less than afluent areas of town, where the people generally struggling to get by live and work. What, you thought Tokyo was all glittering lights and tall buildings, full of people with yen coming out their pockets and nothing going on but playing games and drifting and whatever else?

Welcome to reality. But, hey, this place reminds Catra of the Frightzone, so she comes here a lot. Which means that she hates it just as much as she likes it.

Convenient, that.

<< I'm down by the docks. MIght wanna bring friends. Obsidian gave me a monster. >>

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora rolls over in her bed and glances up from the slightly spicy sapphic manga she's reading. A text? Hm. She closes the cover of 'My Catgirl Bites With Love?!' and flips her phone over to look. Her internal, emotional reaction upon seeing that text is a whirlwind. She climbs up and glances across at the empty bed of her roomie. Crap. Catra said that the next time she called she should bring her Sword. She needed back-up for this one.

"Switfwind. Catra's gonna release a monster or something. You strong enough to carry She-Ra and mabye two more girls?" The cat-sized alicorn puffs out his chest and laughs. "Of course! Easy peasy! Who am I, the Steed of...someone...not...She-Ra?" She nods to him and climbs to her feet. She scrolls through her contact list on her phone and sends off a few texts. Amy Faust and Coco Kiumi.

<<My sort-of girlfriend is going to do bad stuff for Obsidian at the docks. Gonna be a fight. If you're up to help meet me at the school gate ASAP!!>>

With that she springs out of her room and down the hall, the flying little alicorn in pursuit. They reach the gate of the school, and Adora plucks the chunky bracelet from her wrist. She takes a deep breath as it flows into golden light, becoming an enormous Sword that she holds aloft. "For the Honor of Greyskull!" With an eruption of light and color, she is replaced with the towering form of She-Ra, while Swiftwind grows in size, and soon becomes a large stallion with rainbow feathered wings and a long, rainbow horn and mane.

Thanks to the Veil, the normal folks who are nhearby tend to wander right by, or purposefully avoid the area.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco had just woken up from a nightmare, and she was currently relaxing herself with an improptu warm bath, enjoying the soothing feeling of the water when her phone rings out.

A few seconds later, she has reverted back to her human form and is reading the text message. Oh, right, Adora from the Arcade. She did remember the two sort of had a complicate relationship at the moment. A quick "I will be there" and Yellow Pearl Voice falls out of her dorm room's window, her fall broken by the Live Stage.

Hey, it was faster than taking the stairs, and the Veil can take care of the rest. Poor Veil, if they were a person, they would be overworked.

In a second, the sphere of white light has brought her to the school gate, where Adora/She-Ra and Swiftswind await her. She waves at the tall figure. "I am Coco here, and by your message you would be Adora, right?" She turns towards Swiftswind and adds "Is this your steed? I didn't think I would meet another winged horse, he looks majestic."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    One might normally be considering such activities, were one normal.

    Amy has a bag of popcorn and is leaning back in her chair to read the latest chapter of some manga.

                                       --                                      
My name is Yoruno Ren.
I was a high school boy
who got turned into a girl.

                                            And also now I've become Snow White.

                                *recordscratch*                                
                                                                                
         You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation...          
                                       --                                      

    Beep beep bu-deep biip beep! Just as she's stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth, Amy's phone notifies her that Zordon is calling! Or that there's an incoming text message. Probably the latter, since she's a magical girl and not a Power Ranger.

    She lifts her phone and reads the message:

<<My sort-of girlfriend is going to do bad stuff for Obsidian at the docks. Gonna be a fight. If you're up to help meet me at the school gate ASAP!!>>

    Crunch, goes the mouthful of popcorn. She's not going to get to enjoy the rest of this bag hot, dammit. She sighs through her nose. Crunch, crunch.

    After a moment of savoring the popcorn, she heads out.

                                      ...                                      

    ...Puella Red stares, mouth agape, at the giant lady absolutely towering over her and also the huge horse big enough to carry her and more. Also, she looks to Coco: "Another winged horse?! When else did you see one?!"

    She has absolutely no idea how to mount a horse and will probably need to be lifted up and left feeling like she and Coco have entered the land of the giants as they OH SHIT FLYING? THEY ARE FLYING, DO NOT FALL OFF! Amy clings tight to whoever's in front of her!

Catra has posed:
What if I wanted to stay away?
What if I wanted to run and hide?
Vows and promises break, oh, hey no
It always ends like this

Catra plugs her earbuds back into her ears and settles in to wait while listening to some Elysion. The skies threaten rain, but for now it's still dry outside, and it'll take a few minutes for Adora to get here. She won't be long, she's proven that she can get around pretty quick. Maybe not Obsidian quick, but she's not bad.

Earth to earth
Ashes to ashes
Dreams to crumbles
And love to dust
Earth to earth
Ashes to ashes
Dreams to crumbles
And love to dust

Catra almost restarts the song, just to hear that chorus over again... almost. Instead, she just turns the volume up. She shifts, watching the people walking about in the streets below; it's not like there's overly many, but there's... enough. So she picks one, pulling what looks like a crossbow out of a duffel bag that she tosses aside afterwards. She's got a single bolt, that she takes the time to load, and then scans the streets below, looking for a target. Anyone will do, really.

Deep in my heart I've been prayin', cravin' for
Someone like you to come and stay
Innocence died in my childhood
I would trust you, but I'm afraid

Yeah, that guy will do. He looks like a jerk anyway. Catra's pretty sure she saw him smack his girlfriend at the noodle shop the other day. Or was it someone else? Might've been the guy with the glasses, not the guy with the hat... oh who cares. She pulls the trigger, and the guy suddenly finds a crossbow bolt sticking out of his shoulder; but it's not really a standard bolt. It's more of a needle, carrying a liquid that's now... well, injected.

Can you heal this human nature wound?
Can you feel for all eternity?
Can we speak, for once what is the truth?
Can we rise from our identity?
(This is what we are made of)
Lies is what we are made of

Catra tosses the crossbow aside and bounces up to her feet, standing on the edge of the building to watch what's going on below. The guy she hit is... changing. Mutating, getting bigger, growing muscle; all a lot like that character who transformed into Nemesis at the end of the first Resident Evil movie, but faster and bigger. The cat pulls out her phone once more, ingoring the people suddenly finding that they need to just flee the scene. The veil must be working overtime today indeed.

<< Better hurry, Monster on the loose!! =^.^= >>

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Oh! Yeah. Well, call me She-Ra, please!"

And then Swiftwind is talking. He lifts a leg to pose, whipping his mane back. "Ha ha! I -am- majestic! I am Swiftwind, faithful steed and companion of She-Ra, the Princess of Power! Come, friends! We have a troubled girl to punch until she is on the right track!" She-Ra winces at that explanation, but then moves to help the other girls onto Swiftwind's back, if they need it. He does not wear a saddle or bridle. She gets on last, reaching her big arms around both girls in front to seatbelt them to the back of the alicorn. And then he takes off, flapping into the air and launching in the direction of the docks!

Tokyo gets a bit small under them, the lights of the buildings and the darks of the in-betweens blurring a bit as they fly towards their destination. Amid it all, She-Ra looses one arm to fish out her phone. Whoever is sandwiched in the middle can see that text, and She-Ra swallows.

"Hurry, Swiftwind!"

The scene on the street is likely a few moments into chaos as the steed clatters to the sidewalk, about twenty feet from the monster.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Nice to meet you then, She-Ra!" The mermaid princess smiles at the tall warrior.

Coco tries to reminisce about their past conversations when Amy asks her when she met one. Did she actually never tell Amy? "The Guardian Hippocampus appointed by Aqua Regina with our protection has wings too. He can move among land, sea and air with no problem." Ok, maybe not with no problem since he tends to stick to the form of a penguin when on land, and they aren't the most adept at it, but still.

She then leans closer and whispers to Amy and to Amy only. "Besides, you know about Sunbreaker too after she got turned into a plushie by Usagi."

Then she gets to ride Swiftswind, with a little help from Adora for mounting, how impressive is that!? Flying on horseback is a completely different thing from doing it inside the isolated confines of the Live Stage.

At their destination, Coco shakily dismounts from Swiftswind. She would tell him how great the experience was, but no time for that, there is a monster to deal with!

Amanda Faust has posed:
>Remember when Sunbreaker turned into an alicorn
    'I figured that didn't count.' Amy whispers back.

>Haha! I -am- majestic!
    "OH MY GOD YOU TALK." Amy resumes staring, mouth agape. Eventually she says, "Nice to meet you. I'm Amy Faust, a Puella Magi."

    Before long, they're, well, *there*, and theres an ugly mutant monster thing.

    "One Special Infected, glad we don't have a horde to deal with." She quips as she dismounts and materializes her rocket launcher, but... hesitates.

    It hasn't actually... *done* anything yet.

    "Hey there, uh... I don't suppose you want to talk?"

Catra has posed:
Catra isn't really all that obvious, upon the heroines' arrival.

The Youma is, though.

A hulk of what used to be a man; a good fifteen feet tall, with tendrils of energy wafting off its back. ...No, it's more like it's collecting energy, by drawing it from people nearby. At first, it just stands there, until it turns around and gazes with lidless eyes at the three teens and their alicorn.

And then it grins with its lipless mouth.

"SPARKLES" it intones, before casually ripping a lamppost out of the ground and hurling it in their direction. While that flies through the air, a large hammer manifests in its hands; easily the same mass as a compact car.

Through it all, Catra stans on top of the building, watching what's going on. The music has moved on to a different song, but for the moment she just keeps listening and watching.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"He talks. A lot!," She-Ra replies to Amy as they fly along.

"Ugh, what's with the huge monsters lately? Shadow Weaver made this huge bus monster last week, now this? Well, come on girls! He's not talking!" The beautiful, blonde warrior woman springs forward, ducking low to slide under the lamppost as it launches past. She closes the distance with speed, before bringing her blade around to try and catch the monster at the leg. If she can knock it down to size a bit, this might go easier. "Swiftwind! Get the civ--"

f"Save the civilians! On it!" The alicorn springs into action, rushing around to try and both herd the innocents out of the area, as well as scoop down to launch anyone too weak or scare to flee right onto his back.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Sparkles? Do you want--" Suddenly, LAMPPOST! "F---!" Amy swears in English, and ducks. At least she's small and hard to hit!

    But then it has a giant hammer. "Where'd that come from? Well you're not the only one who can make weapons, buddy! You want sparkles, well explosions are pretty bright! Like a big sparkle, right?" She fires a couple of rockets at it, center of mass, to test its defenses.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco looks around to try and spot the famigerate sort-of girlfriend, but either she is hiding or has left the area. Probably the former, her plan can't be over with just this. Time to prepare for battle though, and that she does, invoking a Live Stage around herself, which carries her up high before she starts singing.

The mermaid is surprised at Amy's surprise over Swiftwind talking. Is it really that big a deal? Alas, she doesn't realise most people aren't surrounded by all manners of talking animals ever since their birth.

"Legend of Mermaid: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!" At the command of Coco's song, a new Live Stage appears to intercept the path of the lamppost and it starts repelling the any unwanted entrance or exit by Coco's will, trapping it in unless it has enough force to break past that.

The mermaid princess sings of a rainbow wind blowing off at a faraway coast, carrying with itself a very nostalgic song, a promise that will ensure they will never forget each other as long as the melody of the seven countries resonates in their hearts.

Clouds slowly float away, vanishing away as they aim for the rainbow's end where the paradise of the seven seas lies, and then the stars like pearls can start releasing a powerful, wondrous light.

Under the magical notes, darkness would be eroded, feeling of fear and anxiety would start disappearing, and any fatigue her allies are feeling would likewise diminish.

Catra has posed:
The monster's defenses seem to be pretty simple. It's tough. It isn't nimble or cunning (or at least so far it isn't), it doesn't have armor, it doesn't have a forcefield... it's just tough. Adora's sword cuts into it, and Amy's rockets impact its chest and explode, and even though there's blood and damage, it just... keeps going.

The monster roars, raising up its hammer and smashing the ground, leaving an impact cratter and showering asphalt as it tries to basically smash She-Ra to bits. It roars, raising the hammer and swinging it, trying both to catch She-Ra in the shoulder, and gain some momentum as it charges past her towards Amy, making a similar attempt to pulverize her skeletal structure as well.

Coco doesn't go unnoticed either; she's... all the way up there, but there are plenty of lampposts, and the mermaid princess finds a second one of those flying through the air, hurled upwards towards her.

Catra watches it all. Her ears twitch at the sound of Coco's singing, and she rips out her earbuds, stuffing them in a jacket pocket. Still, Adora came, and brought friends. She jumps off the side of the building, using her claws (and leaving five long clawmarks behind her) to slow her descent; she just drops the last couple of stories, landing in a crouch in the wake of the big beast.

"Hey Adora," she grins, straightening. "So you *did* bring friends. I'm gonna call them... rocket girl and loudmouth. Like the monster? Obsidian made it. Pretty neat, hunh?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
As that huge hammer comes down, the Sword of Protection shimmers and transforms into a large golden shield with a flash of energy. She deflects the hammer and turns the shield as she does so, letting the magical artifact absorb the blow. As soon as the monster has moved past her to go after Amy, she spots the descending Catra. "Girls! Focus on the Monster! I'm gonna handle my--...uh. I'll handle Catra."

She pulls herself to her feet as the Shield transforms again, becoming a long, golden length rope formed into a lasso. She begins to twirl it at her side as she warily watches her, strafing as she approaches her.

"Shadow Weaver's monster was cooler," she offers with a lopsided grin, poking at the beastgirl a bit. "Anyways, it seems a bit blunt-force for you, kitten. Not really your style."

Meanwhile, Swiftwind has been working hard, and soon no civilians are anywhere nearby, leaving the girls all safe to fight it out.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    It is a chonky pile of HP! (So is Amy, not that she knows it.) "Get your girl, Adora, we'll handle this."

    It raises the hammer, and Amy, instinctively trained by three decades of platformers, jumps so that she won't be immobilized by shking ground -- oh, it was attacking She-Ra instead. Amy fires another rocket, then runs perpendicular to the monster as it charges her to try and not get caught -- if it moves fast enough, she'll rocket-jump to buy time. firing a couple more rockets down from the sky. "Man... I thought we were supposed to get to banter with the enemy. If the monster doesn't talk, why isn't its master here? Does she not like banter?"

    Of course, jumping means she could have a serious problem dealing with any lampposts thrown to intercept her...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The second lamppost doesn't make Coco bat an eyelid: she can just respond the same way as before. At the behest of Coco's will and song, another Live Stage appears, intending to trap that one too.

Meanwhile, Catra's made her appearance and she starts by giving her a bad nickname. "I am sorry for you being such a Tone-Deaf Kit, but time fixes all." Granted, the chances of her getting used to it while she still harbored darkness deep in her heart were basically 0.

"We will take care of the monster!" Coco acknowledges what Adora says, and goes back to singing her purifying song, repelling the darkness, removing negative feelings and diminishing the fatigue of her allies.

Seeing Amy trying to jump up, Coco creates more Live Stages at constant intervals. If the redhead wants to use them as platform, they are there.

Catra has posed:
The beast howls, swinging its hammer (heavy enough that even it eneds both hands) as it keeps trying to shatter all of Amy's bones; and it comes close, but Amy is too nimble, at least for the moment. The hammer knocks a car out of the way, smashes a large hole in a building, obliterates a bus stop, and leaves several craters in the pavement and sidewalk.

All through it, the beast snarls and roars and chatters its teeth. It periodically picks things up to throw up at Coco; another lamppost, a chunk of pavement, and half of a Corolla.

Gradually, as the beast wades through a series of explosions, it drops to one knee for a moment and puts one hand to its head. Is it the explosions? Or does Coco's song weaken it? Perhaps both, as it is pitted with craters of its own from the rockets, and a particularly high note makes it shake its head, before climbing back to its feet and advancing once more, jumping up onto one of the platforms that Coco made for Amy, to follow the her.

Catra, meanwhile, watching She-Ra turn her sword into a lasso, and sighs, rolling her eyes. "You don't honesly think you're going to get me with *that*, do you? Come on, fight me properly, especially if you're going to let you friends get pounded flat."

She flashes a grin up at Coco, and winks at the singer, before looking back to Adora. "Besides. So much cooler to have a swordfight, don't you think? Oh, but... that's right, I forgot, you're *special*. You're the only one who gets a sword."

Catra fishes something out of her pocket; a handle, that she turns over in her hand and holds it out to her side. A long, curved blade, wreathed in a purple glow materializes in the air, and the feline plants the tip of the blade on the ground by her left foot, drawing a semi-circle on the sidewalk in front of her.

As she finishes, she looks up, giving She-Ra a sideways glance.

"Turns out you're not so special afterall."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Chaos ensues around the Princess of Power as the others engage with the monster. Like always, though, She-Ra only has eyes for Catra.

She frowns as the Sword transforms back into the blade with shimmering, golden light. She gives the sword a twirl and sighs as she moves towards Catra in a guarded stance, sword up in front of her. "Catra..." But she doesn't have anything to say. Catra wants this fight, so Adora is going to give it to her.

The tall blonde blinks as the handle forms into the flaming blade. "...And here I thought you liked your claws..." She leaps forward, then, Sword swinging in a wide arc towards the beastgirl. "I've always thought you were special, you stupid little cat!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy finds herself landing on a Live Stage. Uh, okay!

    The monster is on a Live Stage too, but... 1. Coco controls the live stages, 2. it doesn't have lampposts up here, and 3. that means she has a ranged weapon and it doesn't, and it can only be so many places without falling.

    Amanda reshapes her rocket launcher to a smaller one she can hold like a rifle, and fires mini-missiles at the live stage the monster is on or jumping to, aiming to give it a hard time!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The monster doesn't change its modus operandi and neither does Coco, opposing its three separate throws with three Live Stages of her own, repeating the usual catch-and-contain. The mermaid princess turns towards Catra, annoyed. "Did you really have to create a monster so dumb it only repeats what has not worked? All it's doing is ruining the city, at least make it stop that!"

If Catra doesn't care about the dubious intelligence of her monster, then what happens next should make her care, because the monster tries to follow Amy in the sky on Coco's Live Stages, and the mermaid princess just watches indifferent while she keeps singing her song of joy and peace. Because of course, she doesn't let her own magic prop the monster up, causing it to fall with a notable noise.

And to add insult to injury? Since that monster wants those Live Stages so much? By her song, Coco summons 3 extra and tosses them down right on top of it.

Catra has posed:
Catra stands with the tip of her sword touching the ground, looking sideways at She-Ra, right up until the moment the heroine is swinging her own blade at the feline. She waits until the last moment before she moves, maybe -- just maybe -- giving Adora a stab of worry that she might not parry.

But in the end she does, bringing her katana up to block the incoming attack with a loud ring of metal against metal. She grins, and lets go of the handle with one hand; she raises one finger, and winks at She-Ra. "Hold on, just a sec."

Catra glances over her shoulder, watching as her monster crashes to the ground, and gets pummeled by a salvo of missiles and a trio of live stages that smash into it from above, one after the other.

"Hey! Stupid! Do something else!" she yells at it.

The monster climbs back to its feet, and shakes its head. It grabs its chin and wrenches its jaw back into place with a loud *crack*, then puts its hand to its shoulder and relocates it with an equally loud report. It can't do anything about the black blood coming from a multitude of wounds, of course, and as some of Coco's more powerful chords wash over it, it staggers and drops to a knee.

Roaring, desperate to maintain its rage, it climbs back to its feet; its hammer smashes a nearby car, and it looks up at the two heroines facing it.

Do something different? It seems to have pretty limited creativity; so it just whirls its arms around itself and winds up before hurling the hammer upwards at Amy, and then picks up the smashed remnants of car and sends them Coco's direction.

Catra sighs, and shakes her head as she looks back to She-Ra. "Good help is so hard to find these days," she sighs. "Where were we? ...Oh, right."

The cat jumps back, shifting the katana behind her back before she rushes forwards, fainting one way before switching the blade to her other hand behind her back and whipping it around in the opposite direction to where she'd telegraphed, ducking low to avoid She-Ra's fist that she knows is coming. (Or at least she figures she knows it.)

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The ring of steel doesn't make the large woman stumble. She bares down on Catra until the catgirl pulkls her own blade away, though She-Ra is quick to get her foot and step back. She circles her a bit as she calls out to her minion, not risking a glance towards the ongoing fight...just in case. Never give Catra an opening she can exploit.

When she turns her attention back to the Princess of Power, she is ready for her. Well, mostly ready for her. She swings her blade about to catch her as she rushes forward, but she falls for the feint, as she often does. With a grunt her blade carves into the ground, and the katana carves into her thigh. She growls and stumbles back a bit, swinging that fist exactly where Catra expects it to be. "You're so stubborn!" She takes a deep breath, then, and refocuses herself. Thankfully, she's She-Ra during this injury, so the slice on her leg will heal quicker then it does in her normal form. She'll have a scar, but...it'll become one quicker. She swings the blade one way, then another, then another, trying to put Catra on the defensive for a moment. Suddenly the blade swings at the girl's shoulder, and as she hopes Catra will move to one side, her knee comes hope to try and deliver a devastating blow to Catra's tummy.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A giant hammer is thrown! "Oh, f---!" Amy rocket-jumps out of the way, and then redirects herself to land on another live stage by just... shooting an explosion.

    "'Do something else'" She echoes. "Truly, thou'r't a great tactician. Also, if making smart, tactical monsters was easy the military would be doing it. Did you even make this monster, or is someone *else* making, like, super biotech monsters and all you can say is 'it's so hard to find good help these days' after all their hard work?"

    While she heckles Catra, she keeps firing down at the monster. It looks like the Quake II rocket launcher but with gems stuck on it and it's even making the same distinctive sound

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Praise be given when praise is due, Catra actually listens to Coco, which surprises the mermaid quite a bit. She does tell the monster to change things around, and Coco almost feels bad for her when the monster doesn't really change things much. Almost.

"Well, at least you tried, and I supposed it didn't actually ruin the city further", the singer tells Catra, trying to find a positive. "Though the owner still won't be happy about their car." All of this exchange comes after another Live Stage has blocked the car. She is gathering quite the collection there.

For her own, it's time to have an encore! Make way for Piece of Love. Coco sings about a heart that"s bewildered by love, shaking and shaking, so much that it hurts... A deep sadness that no one else realized somehow getting conveyed to her true beloved.

The melodious purifying notes narrate of a small star in a galaxy, that is just herself, sprouten up with a single droplet of love.

If you fear of losing things, then you cannot fight, so make a prayer to the moon, and a prayer to the stars and engrave the path you should be traveling down in your heart, is the exhortation that comes from the singing voice of the mermaid.

The magical notes unveil the reason of the tears: a piece of love from fate touching upon, and meeting with a piece of her heart.

Catra has posed:
"Oh you can't expect much from pawns," Catra acknowledges when Amy heckles her, as she bounces back from Adora after drawing blood from the mighty warrior woman's leg. "But for one Pawn, it's doing great, keeping a Knight and a Rook occupied, don't you think? Now watch this; Queen takes Bishop."

The feline glances at her katana and grins, before looking back up to She-Ra. "I am stubborn," she agrees, and jumps forwards; an ill-timed manouver, leaving her scrambling to bring her sword up to block She-Ra's blade, and quickly retreating from the flurry of attacks. She does indeed jump to the side, forced into the right place (or the wrong place, depending on how you look at it) for She-Ra to deliver that knee right to her stomach.

The monster continues to withstand the withering barrage of rockets, but it looses something every time it gets hit, of course. As chunks of flesh fly off it, dark energy starts to shine through the cracks, as it were. Energy that's bleeding off and dissipating in the air. For the moment, the beast just doesn't know what to do, and it stands there howling as it's coming apart at the seams.

"Hit the singer," Catra wheezes, picking herself to a crouch from where she'd rolled to, holding one hand to her belly while jealously clutching her katana. "Can't stand that happy crap."

The monster roars, holding up one hand to catch a rocket from Amy, and literally losing all of its fingers in the process; at Catra's instruction, it holds out its arms, directing the energy escaping from it to focus it into a beam, blasting it upwards in Coco's direction. As it releases the energy, it seems to... diminish, somewhat, as if it were burning itself up to perform the attack.

Catra, meanwhile, holds her blade over her shoulder as it builds up a purplish glow and then swipes it in the air in front of her, releasing a blast of energy in Adora's direction. In the wake of it she stands, still holding her stomach and somewhat bent over, clearly not ready to return to the fray just yet and just playing for space.

"Go ahead, kill the monster," Catra calls up, and coughs. "It's done *everything* I needed it to do." She tilts her gaze back towards She-Ra. "It gave us some alone time. So hard to connect these days."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She-Ra grunts as that knee connects and sends Catra stumbling. She didn't drop the blade, though, and Adora sets her frown. "Aw, come on. She's a good singer. You should give the Mountain Goats a try. My favorite. American band."

She lets the others do what they're doing as she focuses on Catra, striding forward with a purpose as she takes the hilt of her blade with both hands. Her eyes widen at the burst of energy, and she leaps back and swings her own blade. An eruption of rainbow and golden light pours from it in a matching arc, colliding with Catra's dark energy. When they collide it illuminates the whole city block, burning a few shadows into place.

"Alone time?? You stupid CAT! You have my PHONE NUMBER!"

And then she leaps, covering huge distance as she comes down with a mighty blow, aiming for the katana to try and make Catra fumble it. Yeah, right.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy stops and blinks to consider that. "Wait, am I the knight or the rook?" This would be a great chance to attack her, but instead the monster fires a beam at the one who makes live stage shields, so.

    "Lady. Adora *asked* us to fight it and give you alone time. Everyone's out of the area, you're not draining energy, like, we're just being courteous to our friend. C--Yellow was stopping all its attacks solo."

    Beat.

    "So, what *is* your deal, anyway? She said you were friends and now you're fighting her, what's that about? I'm... call me Red, by the way, nice to banter with you. I do heroing because I always wanted to ever since I was little and I can't stand by while someone's hurt. Why do *you* fight? What great goal are you trying to achieve by causing property damage with your Resident Evil reject, here? What's your *ideal*, lady?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Even a Pawn can be dangerous if left unchecked: it can become a Queen itself. I say Puella Red and I did a pretty good job at preventing your monster from hurting anybody and leave you two space like She-Ra asked us to."

The brilliance of the Live Stage shines all the brighter, responding to Coco's will. "And now, it's time to save the person in it, certainly not kill!" The mermaid princess raises her arm, the bracelet on her wrist shining with white light as a halo of yellow light moves downwards from the mermaid princess's head: her clothes become more elaborate as it does so, gaining a flowing bow on her back and parallel frills on her blouse.

"The Tale of the Seven Seas ~Pearls of Mermaid~: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!" Coco sings of embracing a dream: the journey to find the story that leads all lives to paradise, a treasure that is surely shimmering beyond the seven seas.

The magical song spreads its splendor with sorrowful intensity, repelling evil and purifying the darkness. The words of the mermaid princess call back to a lute, whose melody that resounded at dawn was similar to a sweet lullaby from her hometown, healing fatigue and wounded spirits and bodies alike for her allies.

The enchanted melody shows everyone present the peace the mermaid princesses wish to protect with their songs, a beautiful paradise when nobody has to hurt and suffer.

Catra has posed:
The monster rages, howling and snarling as its power wanes and dissipates. The beast smashes a hole in the nearest wall, then starts ripping off chunks of itself to try to keep enough pain and anger to exist, even under the glare of Coco's music. But in the end, it's all for nothing, as its body melts like chocolate on a hot day; the skeleton stands up from the mess, grabbing a cinderblock and throwing it up in Amy's direction before that, too, crumbles; as the mess fades away, a man is left laying on the ground, with a glorified needle sticking out of his shoulder.

Catra holds her sword up to fend of Adora's assault; not to directly challenge her by blocking it, since she knows she's lose in a strength on strength contest, but by angling her blade to redirect She-Ra's into the ground. "Still have the claws you like," she adds, as she swipes with one hand, claws extended, before bouncing back.

Well, maybe not as fast as usual. Her stomach still hurts.

Amy's question gives her pause. What *is* her deal, anyway? Does she have a deal? It's not as though she's given what side she's on much thought for a long time. She's just been on not-Adora's side for so long it seems like it'd be wrong to do anything else.

"Don't have a deal," she shouts up to Amy. "Don't see what I need one for. I just do what I want."

Catra takes a step back, and then another, backpedalling herself purposefully out of Adora's range. "But really, just wanted to try out the sword. Obsidian gave it to me. You like it? It's called Powersend." She shifts the sword to rest on her shoulder, behind her head; and she leaves her combat stance, leaving herself entirely open to attack as she just stands there, talking. "YOu have neat friends Adora. They're annoying, but everyone on your side is, so that's fine I guess. The rocket launcher's pretty neat, I want one."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Aaand the monster melts without even another rocket. Okay.

    ...AND THEN IT PULLS A CROCORMIRE AND THE SKELETON FUCKING ATTACKS HOLY SHIT. "AAAAH!" Amy *screams* and stumbles back away from where the cinderblock is headed, falling on her butt and nearly falling off the live stage.

    Holy shit!

    Holy shit.

    Her heart is going a mile a minute.

    She looks down at the not-a-monster to make SURE it is no longer moving, and at Catra, wide-eyed, breathing fast.

    What the hell that was friggin' creepy jeez.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She-Ra grunts as her blade tears into the ground again. She sucks in her tummy and pulls aside as the claws swipe. Not dealing with THAT again right now. She'll already need to get her thigh tended. She watches as Catra backpedals, and she dips her gaze to that blade.

"I'd try and tell you they're using you, but you already know that," she grunts. "I'll keep trying to talk you down, and I'll keep fighting you. Whatever it takes, kitten. And no...I really don't think you need a rocket launcher..."

She keeps her blade in front of her, not taking the bait to attack while she's just standing there.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
After the monster melts away, Coco lowers her Live Stage to the ground near the man and delicately extracts the needle from his body.

"There, that's done", she comments to the other three, but Catra in particular. "Really, you should try out more peaceful ways to meet up with your girlfriend. I think She-Ra would appreciate some privacy in your meetups too. I can even set you up, if you want. I do that with couples who encounter a problem or another." And she Is quite passionate on that front too.

"Are you two ok?" she inquires towards Amy and Adora.

Catra has posed:
"She's not my GIRLFRIEND!" Catra snarls up at Coco, her mood shifting on an instant. Her ears lay flat, and her tail lashes the air behind her as she watches the mermaid princess descend to help the man.

All well and good. She shoots a glare up at Amy, tracking where the girl with the rocket launcher is going, just in case. Her hand tightens around her sword, and her lips peel back, showing teeth.

But then, just as quickly, all the overt rage is gone. Once again, Catra is standing there, grinning, as if all of this had gone entirely to plan, right down to her monster getting vanguished.

"Seriously though, it's been fun. You two fought my monster, we smashed up some stuff, Adora's gonna have another scar, and my sword is just *great*. I can't wait to use it again sometime."

The cat gives She-Ra a wink, before she takes a step back and turns to saunter off, sword still resting on her shoulder. "See you next time. ...I gotta get some explosives..."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She-Ra winces when Yellow Pearl Voice calls Catra her girlfriend. Sure, Adora considers her that but...wow is it COMPLICATED. See?

She takes a deep breath and shakes her head. "Explosives. Awesome. Goodnight, Catra." Her tone is so...tired. So freaking tired. She takes a few steps back to watch Catra, waiting for her to receed from view. Only then does she turn and make her way to the others.

"I...I'm sorry about her..." She shakes her head, not knowing what to say. Her leg is bleeding from the sword wound, and she glances down to it. "Looks like it's time to take another trip to the nurse. Also, you two rocked. ...Thank you."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    IS THE MONSTER SKELETON GONE?

    Yes it's gone. Okay.

    The adrenaline that feels like it must be 90% of Amy's blood by volume is serving no purpose. Her hands are shaking. She dismisses the rocket launcher, not really in the mood for further banter. She rolls over onto her front to look down at the others from the live stage. "S'not your fault, you don't have to apologize." She sees the leg bleeding. "Oh, damn. Is that deep?" Once Coco lowers her down, she'll get out the first aid kit and staunch the bleeding as best she can before they head home. "Thanks for trusting us enough to invite us. And thank you for your help as always, Coco."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Anytime, She-Ra", Coco replies with a smile, which is actually a fitting reply if nothing else, considering they were literally contacted at night. "Catra is feisty, let's put it this way, yes. I don't know what happened between you, but I think you should be especially careful."

Now that things are over, she can start packing up, and that means- Oh, Amy is still up there? Whoops. Coco shifts the Live Stage with Amy in it to the ground, as well as those with the various things the monster tossed at her. Well, the city wasn't too damaged, at least?

"Sorry, Amy", the mermaid tells her friend with a nervous grin.

She winces at the cut Adora has on her leg. "Ok, I will go back to singing, don't worry. That will heal it a good bit." Not all the way, but a good bit still. So, her magical notes fill the air once more.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The Princess of Power sighs softly and nods to Yellow Pearl Voice. "Alright, sure. The scar'll be smaller, at least. I'm losing count on how many I have..." She trails off and lets the girl sing. The blade wound stops bleeding and closes a hint. It will be easier for the nurse to sew up now, and the scar will be a fine line. Good.

"Alright, let's get back to the school. Sw-..."

In a flurry of feathers, the alicorn lands beside them hooves clattering. He tosses his mane and poses. "DID SOMEBODY SAY SWIFTWIND?!"

"Well, I was -about- to. Let's get out of here." She helps the other two girls up onto the steed when they are ready...and back to school they go.

She tries not to think of Catra with explosives, but it's a hard time.