1993/Pony vs Cat

Pony vs Cat
Date of Scene:	08 October 2024
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	Hinoiri comes to confront Catra in a mall while the cat is destroying things. A battle ensues! Followed by a talk.
Cast of Characters:	Catra, Hinoiri Kirara

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Catra has posed:
It's after hours, and the Four Clover Mall is basically deserted. There might be the odd person here for cleaning, but by and large it's tumbleweed city, just... without the tumbleweeds. But, that doesn't mean there's entirely nothing going on.

Walking down the hall is one feline, not bothering with her disguise -- nobody's here to see her anyway -- but still with her headphones jammed in her ears, playing something angry and loud. Something in keeping with her mood, and the smashed glass of the exit door somewhere back that away.

And I don't want you and I don't need you
Don't bother to resist, or I'll beat you
It's not your fault that you're always wrong
The weak ones are there to justify the strong

Why does everything always feel like it's going to pieces? Pull the lever, destroy a planet. Or maybe not, but she knew it could and pulled it anyway, so that's really all that matters. Adora claims to care about her and then leaves without her. Again. And gets replaced with another Adora who's probably the same one from a different point in time or... something, but they're equally dumb so that's probably accurate. Hinoiri's not in Obsidian any more. Glimmer's... well she's Glimmer.

And now she's having dreams about burning to death without actually burning with some weird talking lady who wants her to do it.

The beautiful people, the beautiful people
It's all relative to the size of your steeple
You can't see the forest for the trees
You can't smell your own--

And that's it, Catra has had enough. Powersend springs to her hand, the blade wreathed in purple energy as she swings it, smashing through a waste bin and the pillar behind it; she snarls at nothing, as she moves on to the next target, and an ATM machine finds itself next the target of feline wrath. As yen notes spew across the floor Catra ignores them, gritting her teeth as she channels more dark energy into the blade, releasing it in a wave that destroys half a food court worth of tables and chairs.

Of course, it really hasn't made her feel any better. But maybe if she keeps doing it, it'll help eventually.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was not a happy girl. Her hair was a mess, she was a mess, her little extra credit project was... doomed. But that was fine, it was extra credit. She didn't NEED to do it, anyway. But she was hungry, didn't want to cook, didn't want to do much of anything and she just wanted to go hoooooome.

Stupid vending machine youma. Ruining all of her hard work. Someone was going to--

And then she felt it. Dark energy. She groaned, shaking her head. "Oh, come on. Is this what it's like to be a sparkle? Nope. Not my problem. Not. Dealing with it. Not..."

... So, here she was, going in through the broken exit sign. Who in the world would--

And then she saw the destruction.

Then she saw the source of the destruction. Catra would hear a low whistle, Hinoiri standing there, arms crossed, leaning against the wall of one of the markets. "So... last I checked, a lot of Obsidian's plans were more about 'Energy draining the people', not property damage. But this? This just screams 'angry and lashing out at the world'."

Then she sighed. "Which, admittedly, I of all people get. Been there myself more than once... wanna have a sit down or is this more a 'I really just need to punch the shit out of something' kind of situation?"

Catra has posed:
Catra is busy charging her sword up for a second blast of energy, when there's Hinoiri, right there, challenging her state of mind. She holds her sword, charged up and crackling furiously as she turns to face her. The cat's face is an angry glower, her ears flat, and her tail lashes behind her.

"Yeah," she snarls, as much fueled by too much dark energy as anything else at the moment. "Well today Obsidian can go straight to hell. So can the rest of Tokyo. I don't *care* right now." She stalks through the destruction she's wrought, stepping over the wreckage of the eating area as she looks for something else to break. The music, still blaring in her ears, is loud enough to be audible to Hinoiri as well.

Hey, you, are you trying to be mean?
If you live with apes man, it's hard to be clean
The worms will live in every host
It's hard to pick which one they eat the most
The horrible people, the horrible people
It's as--

Catra yanks the headphones out so hard she snaps the cords, and her rage kicks up another notch. She hurls the severed earbuds against a wall, and they collect just enough dark energy in the process that they embed into the concrete and leave two little craters.

"WHY IS EVERYTHING ALWAYS JUST SO-- SO--!!!"

Catra finally gets around to unleashing her built up power, blasting a catastrophic wave of energy into five food stalls, all in a row; all had their security grates and whatnot closed, of course, but it doesn't matter as they and everything behind them are smashed to pieces, and little fires start up here and there -- nothing that'll threaten the mall, as they're slowly dieing down on their own, but the damage is down. Catra, for her part, is breathing heavily, as she looks over her shoulder at Hinoiri.

"Just... don't get in my way."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a soft sigh, shaking her head. "Yeah. Obsidian tends to go that way, doesn't it?" she asked. "But you know, there's some good in this city. Believe it or not, people like you."

She glanced towards the headphones embedded in the wall. She then tapped her boots on the ground. The little wings appeared. "And if this was just property destruction? I wouldn't care. I've been there. It sucked. I did a whole requiem in the dusk zone. Had a complete meltdown, almost died. Riventon had to drag my stupid flank out. Another friend of mine met me there. Then I nearly got her killed a little bit later."

There was a flash of magic and then a gray magical girl was there, boots on, hair short and...

"I'm not Adora. I'm not going to yell at you for breaking anything. I'm certainly not going to be mad at you for it. It's just stuff. But I've *been there*. And you know what? Sometimes, you just need to get out some aggression. Before you explode and try to take the world with you. So you wanna dance, Catra? Let's go."

Then she launched off the wall, leaping up slightly and then kicking off it to come flying at Catra, twisting in the air to bring her heel down at Catra's shoulder!

Catra has posed:
"Then why do you care?!" Catra snaps back, as Hinoiri comes flying through the air at her. The feline's eyes narrow to yellow and turquoise slits; she twists, moving just enough to let Hinoiri's heel scrape down her back instead of crashing into her shoulder.

Catra springs off her feet, dropping to all fours as she dashes off; not a retreat, just a reposition. She jumps behind a pillar, using it for cover as she summons her illusions, one striding out from either side of the pillar to face Equivalence, and each summoning a ball of shadowy energy to fire off in her direction. Neither one is really meant to hit; just to force a dodge, to cost time.

"Hardly the right atmosphere for dancing," Catra calls back, still behind the pillar. "We at least need to fix the lighting, this isn't going to give the right *Mood*!"

A burst of energy erupts from behind the pillar, and a multitude of what look like little purple lightning bolts fly up to the ceiling; they scatter in all directions, and where they find the foodcourt lights they overload them, bulbs going bright and exploding into sparks.

Now, as the room goes dark but for the occasional flicker of sparking electrical wires, Catra steps back out from her cover. "That's better," she growls, wreathing her sword in energy and adopting Koncho-no-Kamae stance, holding her sword blade-up and horizontal at the level of her forehead. "Now, come get me... try that again."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Ahhhh crud apples. Darkness. She couldn't fight in the DARK! Okay, well, she could. But not well. And the illusions had done their job. She didn't want to hurt Catra, not really. So she'd dodged. She'd leaped back, she'd avoided the strikes.

"Because I care about *you*. Because, you know what? You got a raw deal. You're one of the few people on this rock who I can actually talk to, who *get it*. Who understand what it's like to feel like the weird one, the one who isn't *like* everyone else. The outsider."

"Sure, I may look human, but I'm no more human than you. Buck, I'm probably less, I'm used to four legs and a horn."

She glanced around in the darkness, trying to keep pace with Catra in the darkness. Not easy, buck. If she really saw this as a true fight...

She'd flee. Maybe call for help, somehow. But she didn't want the other sparkles to see Catra like this.

"I've been where you are, Catra. I've... sat there. I've been angry, hurt. I lashed out. I tried to drive others away. I destroyed things. I hurt people. I don't know if it's the dark energy or if it's something else, but I've been where you are. I've made the same mistake that you're making."

"And then the time came that I lost control and I hurt everything, everyone, around me. I became something else. Something I *hated*. And it cost me nearly everything. I should have died that day. But I didn't. Because people stepped forward and helped me. Because despite everything I did, despite all of the people I hurt, they decided I was *not* too far gone. That they could help me. And they didn't give up on me."

"... And so the least I can do is show my friends the same mistake. So if you're going to act like this, if you're going to throw a tantrum for Sora knows what reason, I'm going to kick your flank. Then, when you've worked it out of your system? You and I are going to go have a talk and I'll try and help you out of it. Because sometimes being a friend means stopping someone you care about when they're going too far, too hard."

Then she rushed at her, stopping a good ten feet away and then kicking in a wild flurry, unleashing a steady stream of gray magical blasts at Catra!

Catra has posed:
"I AM NOT. MAKING. A MISTAKE!" Catra hurls back, shrieking loudly enough to make her voice hoarse; she fights the urge to cough afterwards, still holding up her sword in her adopted stance. Sure, she might be visible enough, given the pale purple glow aorund the blade that reflects off her eyes, supplanting yellow and blue with purple, but the debris laying on the ground? That might be more difficult.

Well, not for her anyway. At least, that's the plan.

"I'm not doing anything but waiting to be told what to do, while living on this... cesspool of a planet! Do you have any idea how *bad* it smells here?! These people sweat and it's so gross!! And they can't handle the existence of anything different from them. They're awful. And somehow, *I'm* the villain?"

Catra grips her sword as Equivalence rushes her, but isn't quite ready for her to stop short and start chucking magic at her. She blocks the first two with her sword, redirecting them to hit something else behind her; the third one grazes her, the fourth hits her full on, and then she's in full defense, forced to dive for cover. Her illusions wink out as she gets hit, which happens several more times as she's on her way out. Her illusions reappear and split off from her, all three Catras running in different directions and picking different pillars to hide behind.

"Nice move," Catra calls out, as she wipes a thin red trickle from the corner of her mouth on the back of her hand.

"Didn't see that coming," she continues, the sound coming from a different spot. "Tell me more about this 'making a mistake'," she adds, from the third position. The real Catra holds her sword up in front of her, charging it up herself, while her illusions conjure energy to match the soft glow. "So you got yourself redeemed. Do you think that's going to happen to me, someday? Do you think I deserve it? Because I won't and I don't! I destroyed an ENTIRE PLANET, and even if I didn't I opened a portal knowing that it *could happen*. And I didn't have any magic or dark energy corrupting my thoughts, so I don't have that excuse. It was all me. *JUST ME*."

Magic blasts from a distance? Two can play at that game. Catra whirls around from behind the pillar, along with her phantasms; she swings her sword wide, releasing an arc of angry purple energy that scythes through the air in front of her, all the way to the far wall; her illusions add to it with beams that they sweep back and forth, though the blast from Catra's sword is the real show stopper.

"Why... don't people just... LEAVE ME ALONE?!"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Oh, come off it you big angry cat! We both know that's not true! And who the buck called you the villain? You're angry, lashing out and hurting! That's normal, this world bucking sucks! You shouldn't have to be here at all, it's unfair that you have to be!"

The kicks were effective, at least. But well... this was Catra. She knew she could take it. And sure enough, the cat was showing off the trick she learned. Illusions. She really was good at it. "Heh. You know you really do have talent. I may have laid the groundwork, but you're really coming into your own, magically."

"And your mistake is lashing out and driving yourself into a frenzy rather than talking to the people who care about you. And, like it or not, I do. Admittedly, sometimes you help me understand why some people really felt I deserved to get gotten, but well... you're still someone I care about."

"... Catra, I almost DESTROYED THIS WORLD! I lost control! And no, I didn't think I couldn't do it. But I thought I could STOP IT! I thought I could control it! And when it all went down, I pulled the lever! Because... I..." Her fists clenched. "Because when it was all said and done, I lost my grounding. I wasn't *redeemed*. I just had to accept how little I meant to Sora. And when I didn't have that belief anymore, I couldn't control it. I lost it *all* because I was too *weak*."

"So I pulled the lever and wanted them to kill me, okay?! I wanted to DIE because I was so miserable and hated myself so much that I just wanted it to end, even if the only way I could do it was to destroy the world and become something else!"

And then... the light. What in the world was--

BUCK BUCK BUCK! She tried to dodge around the beams, weaving amongst them and...

And then one hits her. A fake. Whew. She felt a moment of relief.

Causing her to hesitate. And the real beam hit her. She was launched back, slamming through one of the glass windows of a shop, crashing to the ground.

For a long, long moment there was silence... Then... slowly... Equivalence began to stand up. Bruised, battered, half her mask burned away.

"Do... do you want... to know why... I won't... leave... you alone? Catra? It's because... because..."

And then there was a pained groan and Equivalence collapsed to the ground, out of sight again.

"... Because... when I had nothing... left to lose... I pulled the lever... but that's... who I was..."

"... Not... who I am... I... believe in second chances... and I believe... in you..."

Slowly, she began to get to her feet once more, her hair no longer gray, instead streaks of red and orange, like her normal hair. "So don't... think... for a moment... that I will *ever*... leave you alone... because... I am going to make sure... if you pull that damn lever... you will *always* have something you'll be giving up..."

Then she launched herself forward again, and she tried to PUNCH Catra!

... And her vision was blurry and it was a fake Catra, so she actually just kind of ran into a wall but it was FINE, she was going to be fine.

Catra has posed:
Catra watches as it all happens; Hinoiri getting hit by... well not a *fake* beam, she fires the real thing from her illusions, but it's definitely a weaker beam; and also the arc of energy from her sword. She hears everything that gets said, too, and so much of it aligns with things other people have said. People like Rashmi, in particular. And some of it like the old Adora.

The one who opened a portal and left her.

But Hinoiri is still here. Catra is still standing there, watching, as Hinoiri goes ahead and punches the wall behind one of her phantasms; she lets both of them wink out, and when Hinoiri turns around she'd see Catra sitting on one of the few un-destroyed tables, illuminated in the moonlight coming in from a skylight, and her eyes back to being brilliantly blue and yellow in the reflected glow.

"I've been having dreams," she says, calmly, as if nothing at all had happened and they were sitting down to lunch on a park bench. "Dreams where I'm burning to death. Or at least, it should be to death, but I don't die, it just hurts, really bad. And there's a person in my dreams who's talking to me, telling me to go and claim something. Her. It. I don't know."

Catra shrugs, and stabs her sword point-down into the floor in front of her, leaving the blade quivering as she relinquishes it. "And who the hell do I talk to about that? I can't tell anyone at Obsidian, they'll just try to take... I dunno, whatever it is, for themselves. Or get real angry at me when they can't. Can't tell the Sparkles either, they'll just... y'know. They'll do what they do. Pretend they're trying to help me, but still try to steal my power for themselves, or purify me or something idiotic like that. So I'm just... alone. Like I always am." She shrugs, and gestures around herself. "And I was maybe hoping a few more people would come and try to stop me, I really wanted a big fight."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence groaned from her position on the ground, but well... she listened. Panted, but she listened.

She let Catra finish. Her own eyes closed and... ow. Just... ow. But those dreams? They...

"I... don't... tell anyone this..." She sat up and leaned against the wall. She was gonna need a moment to stand. Ow. "I used to... have those kinds of nightmares. A lot. After what... Charr did to me. Being stalked. Burned alive. Don't... ever tell Riventon. But it was part... of the reason I just couldn't... go back to being Sunbreaker. Even if I found a grounding and didn't snap? I don't think I could use fire magic like that again... those... nightmares are terrifying. They made me feel... powerless. And the thought of doing that to someone else again... Heh. Greatest fire mage in a generation, well. Mage, honestly. And scared of a little fire."

"... My point is... I get it. That, at least. Dreams like that... they're terrifying. Fire... bucking hurts. It doesn't stop... hurting, either. It's nasty like that. Even once the... flames are gone? The burns remain. They keep reminding you... that you've been hurt. Like a voice screaming under your flesh, telling you that you... lost... couldn't handle it..."

"... Those dreams... sound like shit... And this world, for all it's... stupidity... has some of the most bucking... ridiculous magic... I've ever seen... And you've got talent, Catra. I taught you a few basics and look at you now, illusions, dark energy beams. Heh. Shadowweaver was either a fool... or scared that you'd crush her and put her to shame."

"... And if something wants you, Catra, it might... be good. It might be something that wants you to help it... or it might be dangerous. It might be something else trying to use you. I get it, though. I'm... not a sparkle, though. I help them, because I like them. Because... they helped me. Believe it or not... they aren't all shit. Some of them are, but that's just people. But some of them will help you. Or at least try. Rashmi would. Adora probably wouldn't, because she's so self righteous and certain she knows what's best for you."

"... And I hope you at least consider that I'd help you, without stealing your power. Cause, let's be honest. If I was going to steal someone's power, do you really think *you'd* be the first person I'd go after? Even if I'm the world's greatest mule, would that be at *all* the smart thing to do?"

Pause.

"... Okay, and maybe don't tell Riventon. He'd... maybe help you. But there's just as much chance he'd try and take it if he thinks it'll help his plans."

She tried to sit up, only to drop back to the ground with a light whimper, groaning. "When in tartarus did you learn to shoot beams like that? Tell me the truth, girl, am I going soft? I swore last time those hit me I could have deflected them with one arm. Now? I think I'm going to be limping for a week... and sorry... I could have called for backup... but well... I wasn't kidding when I said I'd been where you are. I didn't want anyone to see you like this... far too many sparkles... don't... well. It's not they don't understand. I think they just don't want to. And you deserve better than that. Even if you don't admit it."

"... Think you can help me limp my flank out of here? If you like, I can give you directions to where you'd be bound to get a lot of sparkles to try and jump you. Give you a real brawl if you need it that much."

Catra has posed:
"I don't trust Rashmi -- she's still on the other side -- and I definitely don't trust Adora." Catra hops down off the table she's sitting on, and reclaims her sword almost as an after thought as she walks towards Hinoiri, with the blade resting on her shoulder.

"I do want a proper brawl. I was hoping Adora would show up, I wanted to fight with her again. ...It used to be me against her all the time, now it's..." She trails off, and shrugs as she stands over Hinoiri. "I dunno. I spent all that time trying to get rid of her, now I miss fighting her. Apparently now I'm the idiot."

Catra's free hand extends downwards, waggling her fingertips in a 'come on' sort of motion, waiting to help haul Hinoiri back to her feet. "I know the places whre some of the gangs like to hang out, I thought about going to go beat up some of them. They're terrible anyway. But I thought, no, I'll get a *real* fight if I get a few of those sparklie-girls to come after me." She sighs, and shakes her head. "But they really are oblivous, sometimes? I guess I'll have to try harder next time. Break more stuff. Bring two Youmas. Put a neon sign in the sky that says "COME FIGHT ME"."

Catra dismisses the blade of her sword, and stuffs the hilt into her jacket. "I'm not going to tell *anyone* else about my dreams. I'm just gonna try to figure it out. It's just... fire for you made sense, but I don't know how it does for me? I don't use fire, I use illusion and shadow. ...So I don't know how fire comes in." She pauses, and shrugs. "Anyway. We need to walk past an electronics store on the way out. ...I need new earbuds."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence gave a small nod. "Yeah, I get that. Rashmi's good, but I think... in general, she's one of the few I trust to do what's right for you, not entirely what's 'right'."

Equivalence took the hand and, well, she was limping. And she'd need more of a hand up than Catra was likely used to having to give. "I know what you mean, though. Sometimes... I'd fight with Sora. For a while, I used to... hope... one of those times when I caused trouble... she'd come for me. She'd be one of those faces who came to beat me down."

"... Then I found out how little I meant to her... so not quite the same, I guess. And yeah. They... they miss a lot. There's a handful of them who like, will study this stuff. Learn about it. Naru, for example, she's cool. But most just go 'Welp, it's magic, it just works' and let it slip by them. I think the sparkels only really show up when there are people in danger. I mean, it's why I came, after all." She'd put a hand over Catra's shoulder and leaned on her. "My friend was in danger. And hey, just because Obsidian fired me doesn't mean I'm not going to come and punch your stupid flank when you need it. I am Equivalence, sparkle freelancer, heh heh... oh wow it hurts to laugh..."

"... Fire, though, that's a toughie. How it ties into you... I... might be able to help. Maybe. I have a little bit of gear. Stuff I cobbled together with a bit of help. If you feel comfortable sleeping near me, I could try and measure you while you sleep. I might be able to like... get a measure of what's causing it. Cause well... you *are* illusion and shadow... so either that means there's possibly some other, second power you got going on there, you're having dreams because you miiiiiiiiss me," she said that in a teasing tone, only to cringe at the aches the laughter brought on.

"... Or something over there is trying to buck with you. Fire isn't exactly an... uncommon element in Obsidian. And it wouldn't surprise me to find out there were dreamweaver's in Obsidian. Err, mages who can tamper with dreams. And if it's that? You'll at least know and maybe we can work on a way to get them to knock it off..." Then she got a... somewhat wicked grin on her face. "Or get them back. I mean, I *am* Equivalence. You find out who it is, it shouldn't be too hard for me to convince a herd of sparkles that one of Obsidian's jerks are pulling some kind of crud with dreams and smack them back with it. And you can't tell me it wouldn't feel good to make some jerk burn for thinking they could get away with something like that just because you're new with magic."

Catra has posed:
Catra chews on that suggestion for a long moment. "I'... think about it," she mutters, as non-committally as possible. Which is probably about as close to a 'sure I'll sleep near someone who's awake' as anyone is likely to get out of Catra, if we're being realistic.

"If someone at Obsidian is messing with my dreams, you won't have to call anyone," she growls, "I'll find them and make them understand just how badly they've screwed up all on my own." Unless, she doesn't add, if it's Joker, because that's the only person or... entity or... whatever that she's encountered so far that she finds truly intidimating in ways she can't explain. Ways that neither Shadow Weaver nor Hordak ever achieved.

Catra shakes her head, banishing that thought once more. "Anyway. I did beat down Shadow Weaver, and put her in her place. Broke her mask that she was using to draw magic from the Black Garnet, and replaced her as Hordak's second in command, and I did all that with no magic at all. ...If I were to go back to Etheria now I'd beat Hordak too and take over the Horde, and I'd be running the whole planet in a week." Which, sounds like an exageration, and it probably is.

When Hinoiri teases her, that she 'miiiiiiiiiiisses' her, the feline turns her head sideways with an unreadable expression, before she just reaches down to grab Hinoiri around the waist, "This is taking too long, you walk too slow when you're hurting," she states, as she picks her up and tosses her over her shoulder. "Right, now... earbuds, then where are we going? You need me to drop you off somewhere? ...I can fit you on the back of my bike so you don't have to walk."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence gave a small nod, limping along with her. "Well, offer is always there. Admittedly, I'll understand if you don't want to. Dreamweavers always gave me the heeby jeebies. Just... somepony watching you. As you're sleeping. So they can like... study your dreams. Ugh. At least all I can do is see if there is magic going into or off you or whatever."

"... But yeah. If they are? Be careful. I know you can handle a lot. But people don't fight fair. Especially not there. At your prime, if you get the drop on them? I doubt there's many people you can't take. But people like that? They're bound to fight dirty. Tamper with your food, your bike, all kinds of things. And nobody can be alert 24/7... trust me. I've tried."

Hinoiri, at least, had managed to avoid meeting Joker. But she'd seen enough there that scared her. "Hm. Would you go by queen, then? Or would that make you a princess in your world? Or... Hordess Catra? Okay, no, I don't like that one. Let's not make the ruling title of the horde 'Hordess'." She shuddered.

Then she was being hauled and yelped. Before she started to snicker. "Okay, would you believe the first thought that came to my mind was 'My gosh, I miss having a tail'. I still sometimes freak out because I swear there's something brushing my leg and then I remember I don't still have a tail. Only for it to be my skirt or something. And yeah, just drop me off at the school. I think I know a guy there who can do the whole... healing up thing without asking too many questions. I'll say I ran into a vending machine youma."

"... Vending machine youma, can you believe those are a bucking thing? The number of cans I get thrown at me these days is ridiculous."