2105/I Can't.

I Can't.
Date of Scene:	25 November 2024
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Catra is dead tired and still trying to collect energy for Joker's game; and the heroes turn up to stop her; Usagi, Niji, and of course Adora. There's a youma, a battle, and oh yes there's FEELINGS.
Cast of Characters:	Catra, Adora Rainbowfist, Niji Dasshu, Usagi Tsukino

---

Catra has posed:
It's another night, and Catra is back at it again. Two nights, two youmas, back to back; definitely a first for the feline. This time she's in the low income, super grubby end of town; the place where tourists never go, and you never see on TV, where Catra likes to lurk a lot of the time when she's alone, sitting on rooftops or frequenting the sushi or noodle places, tucked into back alleys that exist only because they actually have really good food, or how else would they get customers.

She's not doing that right now. Instead, she's watching a youma; a big, lumbering metal monster, that looks like it started life as a cube van; now it's a humanoid contraption that reeks of rotting fish -- judging by the emblems left over from the truck, that's what it typicall delivered. Its right arm ends with the forks from a forklift, and in the middle of its chest it has a big mouth with rows of metallic teeth, like a shark; on its back an engine that rattles and belches fumes from its many, many upward-pointing exhaust pipes.

People have falled unconscious along the sides of the roads, and energy is being drawn from them, into the monster. Catra follows along behind it, head down as she matches the youma's slow pace. Her sword, Powersend, hangs loosely from her hand, the blade dragging on the ground as she walks, uncaring of the light rain that would normally send her scurrying for cover. Behind her, a large crystal jar, big enough for a person (a Catra sized person) to fit in trundles along on robotic spider legs, with a bunch of dark liquid glowing faintly purple sloshing around in the bottom, though there's already a crack in the side of the crystal.

Periodically, she checks her phone with the cracked screen to see if she'd gotten a reply to her text. A text she sent to Adora. << Where are you? You promised you weren't going to leave again. So where are you? >>

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
     It was actually mere moments after the text was sent that Adora showed up. Or, well, She-Ra. She'd already been made aware of the energy draining event by Swiftwing, her gaze angled slightly down as she came from the sky with very little hesitation, the Sword of Power in its usual greatsword form.

That blade brought down with intent to slice through the cube truck relatively unceremoniously with the Sword of Power, unleashing the full brunt of its power, and yet in spite of that.

...Very carefully aimed so that any shockwaves go nowhere near Catra or that jar.

"I'm here."
A beat.
"I figured an in-person answer would be better."

She-Ra straightens up, bringing the sword up into a defensive stance, her gaze half on the youma, half on Catra.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji Dasshu actually was already in the same part of town that Catra chose to attack - just the other side of it. Because yes, there are some really nice noodle shops out there, and she wanted to treat herself, and she was about halfway through what she finds to be some of the best non-Korma food in the city when the geode she wears around her neck starts to hum. "Oh OF COURSE now." she grumbles. She gets the rest of her food put in a to-go container; she needs to prioritize making sure nothing happens to the people here... and also the ramen shop.

    Sitting it in an alcove on the rooftop she totally won't forget about, and henshining in a bright spectacle of color on that rooftop, she moves towards the source, following the feeling of the geode and the sensation like nails on a chalkboard of her soul, towards the Dark Energy.

    And towards Catra and Adora, ending up next to Adora, looking like she picked up all of the colors white-and-gold Adora's outfit discarded. She looks at the youma.

    "Oh, look. It's Catra and She-Ra, and Catra is intending to use a vehicle to do her dirty work again. This isn't a very good play to be making twice." she says. "She-Ra, did you bring a sweater?" This question will probably make zero sense to the tall lady with the sword.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi Tsukino hadn't been planning to encounter anyone. Going on patrol the evening after that big lunch meeting had just been on her usual schedule - she and Naru have been trying to trade off on patrol and date night schedules, so neither of them is stuck looking after Chibiusa an unfair amount, and this just happened to be her night for patrol.

The last thing she was expecting, when she leapt across rooftops in one of the grubbier sides of one of the Tokyo Wards, was to actually run into Catra.

There's the jar. There's the youma. There's the victims, lining the streets, their energy being stolen away, and Sailor Moon has to put her money where her mouth is, as far as her convictions. When she leaps down to join She-Ra and Geode Girl Loyalty, she looks straight at Catra, and calls -

"If you can get energy from me, will you leave these people alone?"

Catra has posed:
The first thing that happens is that Adora enters... honestly a lot like how Catra often does; sword out, attacking. And the feline's first reaction is to jump back, and protect the jar from the shockwave, using herself to absorb what turns out to be very little, given how Adora landed her attack; an attack that absolutely rattles the Youma, denting its shoulder and making one of its headlights spark and fizzle out.

In response, the Youma manifests a dark energy meat clear in its left hand, and makes a swing with it at Adora, then as Loyalty and Sailor Moon are arriving, it's about to follow up with the forks; but it halts mid-swing when Catra yells "Fishbones, stop."

As the youma halts its attack, Catra, still dragging her sword on the ground, steps around from behind it and stands in front of the now assembled heroes. "Hey..." she stops, licks her lips, and tilts her head upwards to look at everyone directly; and her eyes are puffy, that becomes clear. Not from any injury, just... too many tears. "Hey, Adora." she can't quite force the usual level of sass into it.

"Yeah, it's Catra, using a vehicle to do my dirty work. And you really *should* beat me up and stop me, I'm doing..." she glances around herself, at the various unconscious people laying about. "You know, I have no idea what it does to people when they have their energy drained, I never asked, I just... really haven't done it very much."

Fishbones keeps lumbering forwards -- Catra never told him to stop -- so she takes a couple steps as well, so she doesn't get trod on. "I'm not gonna steal Adora's sweater again. The last one didn't fit me anyway." It's too big, and that doesn't stop her from wearing it in her quarters, of course. "Look, I don't want to fight, I--" she stops, and her eyebrows rise as Sailor Moon. "Why would you do that? Aren't you three the heroes? Aren't you all supposed to be beating me up and stopping me," she gestures around herself with her sword, "Doing evil things and hurting people?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"...Uh. Y...yeeesssss? I have my usual jacket???" Is the very confused response that Niji gets from the tall lady with the sword. Not that she presently had said jacket /on/, but. She glances towards Geode Girl Loyalty. Sparkly~. But that wasn't her focus at the moment. No, it was Catra and the youma.

Also Sailor Moon as she arrives, though it was more of a reflexive glance because knowing what's going on on the battlefield is always important. And Sailor Moon's offer. She gives a soft sigh.

"...And here I was gonna be all cool and kill the Youma then offer the same." Adora says. She's not pouting, she's not pouting!!! ... Okay maybe a little. After all, she's She-Ra, the defender of Etheria and also connected to a sword with a ridiculous amount of energy she doesn't think she's ever tested the bottom of the well on!

A dark energy meat cleaver is coming towards She-Ra, who lifts her sword to block, being sent flying back and flipping to land on her feet. That call of 'Fishbones, Stop.' and then those two words that always were just. That moment of ... almost connection, so many times.

Hey, Adora.

"..." She-Ra glances towards Fishbones, and then back towards Catra.

"It hurts them. It weakens them, and potentially, kills them." She-Ra says softly. Her sword pushed forward to the center of its figure as it lumbers forward. "And..." She pauses. "You're... half-right, Catra. We are heroes."

"...But what we're supposed to be doing is helping people who need helped. It's what we've always done. Yes, a lot of times that involves fighting things, however..."

... ... ...

"When our enemies need help, too..."

That sword if lifted again. "We're here to stop them, while also helping them. Do you need this ... thing... to drain people? Do you not have a way to do it with your sword? If you don't need it, I'm going to destroy it." The sword was beginning to glow with She-Ra's aura.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Catra's gesturing with her sword, yeah. But Niji can tell something is off - it's off with how Catra and She-Ra are acting, and with what Sailor Moon offers. She looks back and forth between the two of them as the youma is called to stop. Finally, she stands, hands on her hips.

    "Alright, so something more is going on than the usual. Does somebody want to clue me in?" she asks, looking to... all three of them, really. "Not the truck, though." she adds. "Pretty sure that thing is still a problem." she says, looking to Adora.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
If anything, this all proves what Rashmi said - that Catra, regardless of everything else she has going on, definitely doesn't want to be doing this. She's like... currently one of the least threatening looking villains Usagi's ever seen. If there's only ever able to be one picture of sad cat, this is the picture.

And She-Ra is definitely pouting, as she explains her heroic plan, and Sailor Moon's lips quirk in a smile. "I mean, you could still do that. It would probably be a good idea if it looks like Catra-san fought us for the energy?"

If this is about Catra needing to do her job more... well, them stepping in isn't good. And they can't keep doing it forever. This is a bandage on a stab wound, but it's something.

She-Ra explains what the draining does. What it is. How it effects people. As she does that, Sailor Moon walks over to Loyalty, saying quietly - though Catra can definitely still here - "Someone's threatening Catra, to get energy or they'll come after someone she cares about. And this whole hostage thing is bull - but you know, bull we should sort out after her deadline?"

ANd then, louder, to Catra - "There's more than one way to stop evil and say the day. Just because you can do something by yourself, doesn't mean you should have to."

Catra has posed:
Catra hears those words. 'Someone she cares about'. The words come as a stab in the gut; she doesn't care. Sailor Moon is wrong. She has to be wrong, she doesn't care about anyone. She's not just a villain; she's a monster. And absolute monster. And monsters don't care about anyone.

"I don't..." Catra pauses, "Fishbones, stop. I said stop. That means stop attacking, stop walking, and don't even start thinking." She looks over her shoulder, watching as the youma grinds to a halt behind her. "Yeah, I need it to drain energy, I can't do it with my sword. Or at least, if... if I can, I don't know how." She sucks in a deep breath, and just... "I don't want to... I don't... I'm not trying to hurt these people," she insists, ears laying flat against the back of her head and a flash of defiance stiffening her spine. "I know you're not gonna believe me, but I don't! I DON'T! I'm just... I HAVE to do this, I have to, I don't have a choice. Or this... horrible... clown thing is gonna, I don't know, pull Rashmi's guts out through her mouth or something, I have no idea what he's capable of."

Catra's sword returns to the ground, and it becomes abruptly apparent just how tired she is. Has she slept at all in the last three days? "Look... if you can give me energy, I'll... Yeah, I'll take it, and I'll stop draining these people. At least tonight. I just, I gotta fill that thing, or, or something bad will..." she trails off, and shakes her head, "Look, I'm not asking you to help me, I don't WANT your help, but Rashmi let me in to talk once and she shouldn't have DONE that, you never, ever let the monster in, or more monsters follow and that's exactly what happened! And if anything happens to her it'll be my fault, and... and I just don't want that this time. Not this time."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"I mostly just read the little notice that said not to mess with the jar." She-Ra responds to Geode Girl Loyalty. "I don't know the details, unfortunately." The sword begins to glow brighter as she infuses more energy.

"Both of us have been controlled too much growing up... between Shadow Weaver and the Horde..." There was a bit of anger sparking in Adora's eyes at the thought of someone threatening Catra like that. Taking someone Catra cares about hostage like that.

Yeah, they would be better off if it looks like Catra fought them for the energy. Yeah, them stepping in to help is probably not good. It doesn't fix things. It doesn't change the fact that Catra is still working with horrible, awful people and has been working with horrible, awful people for a long time and...

...Thoughts that make Adora's heart ache continue. But she decides to focus on the one she knows what to do with, that quiet anger.

Catra talks about not wanting to hurt the people. That she has to do it. "If you don't want to drain these people, then don't, Catra." The glow reduces from She-Ra's sword. "I'm still going to destroy it by the end of this." She moves in towards Catra.

"...But we're gonna have to rough each other up a little before this is over, you know that, right?"

Adora changes the sword into a pair of bracers, as she gets up into a boxing stance.

"So stop thinking, stop worrying, have Fishbones target me, target Sailor Moon.. and do what we've always done."

"We fight. We thwart each other."

"And at the end of the night, one way or another, we both go home."

Aaaaand it might be partially to try to break her out of it, but She-Ra throws a punch towards Catra. To attempt to give her a quick little jab. It's ... very weak, like a fist-shaped slap rather than a real punch. "It'll be just like training back in the day, right?"

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty shakes her head at Moon's explanation. "That sucks. I'd ask how you knew it was true but I saw her eyes, too." Loyalty says. "Unless she's a real good actor, she's real conflicted." she says. And Catra's talk with She-Ra pretty well confirms it.

    She looks at She-Ra. "You know that just makes me want to mess with jar more, right?" she states. She's not going to but she does want to.

    Loyalty thinks back to what the Otherdora told her about their history and life, both before and after she had magic. "Training. Like when you worked for those military folks." she says. "Does that mean we shouldn't get in our way? Sailor Moon and I can probably focus on the youma. At the very least we can stop it from getting involved." And keep things under control. And stop the energy drain. "I dunno I just... can't let that thing keep roaming around, it's dangerous." So is Catra, and Loyalty knows that, but she also knows better than to try to remove Catra as a threat in front of her, especially in front of this... Different Adora who didn't know her as well. But more ready to fight Catra. She reaches out her hand and focuses and in a burst of shimmering light in every color in the rainbow, an aluminum baseball bat appears in her hand, dented and spraypainted. This one is hers.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh, I definitely think that thing needs to be destroyed, I mean, look at it," she waves a hand, shark teeth. "I approve of destruction of this thing. Just not, you know, the jar. None of us want Rashmi-chan getting got for this, and - "

And Catra is talking about monsters and being let in and She-Ra is throwing weak punches and Loyalty is going for the youma and Sailor Moon puts her head in her hands and sighs.

"Catra-san," she says, calmly, "Rashmi-chan didn't invite a monster in. Monsters don't care if someone else is going to get hurt because of their actions. The fact that you're this stressed is proof of that. So just - tell me how to put energy in the jar and - is this really the best plan?"

Catra has posed:
Catra doesn't defend against the light punch; she just takes it in the shoulder, perhaps showcasing just how entirely exhausted she is. Could she even manage a fight, in her current state? She does lift her sword, though, apparently willing to give it her best go.

"You're wrong," she replies, giving Sailor Moon a sideways glance. "You're just... wrong. Why don't you ask Adora what happened to Etheria? She thinks it's still there, right?" She turnst her head to look back at Adora, "But it's NOT, I know it's not because even though Entrapta warned me that opening a portal could destroy the whole planet I fought all of you and opened one anyway, and then I landed here, so I KNOW it's gone, and I killed everyone there. So how does THAT make me not a monster?"

She sucks in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. "But, fine. Fishbones, stop draining these people and star--"

Catra doesn't get any further; the moment Catra tells this youma to stop doing its entire reason for being, something... changes. Do youmas regularly disobey the one holding their leash? Or is there a board member perhaps, who doesn't think Catra is entirely trustworthy? Either way, Fishbones moves with a greater speed than hitherto displayed, and snatches Catra up with the forks; her eyes go wide as she drops Powersend, the blate clattering to the ground as there's an audible CRACK, and the Youma throws her over its shoulder. She flies into the jar, almost knocking it over sideways, and lands in a heap beside it.

Fishbones ROARS, and its engine sputters and clanks into high gear; it billows a cloud of smoke around it, the entire street quickly filling up with a smog stinking of dead fish. It gnashes its teeth, and the energy drain from the unconscious people nearby rises, taking more and more. The dark-energy cleaver it manifested doubles in size, and it swings it with sudden, rapid agility, trying to sweep it through all three heroes; an assault it follows up in reverse direction with the forks, that snap and chatter like a crab's claw, trying to grab anyone unfortunate enough to be too slow.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"...She's a better actor than me!" She-Ra comments towards Loyalty.

...It's not saying much, really. "But definitely not acting." She adds. Training, like when you worked for for those military folks. "Yeah, kinda! Though uh. If you want to fight too feel free to uh... I don't know I'm sure we can figure something out!" She shrugs helplessly!

Sailor Moon sighs and talks and ... Adora listens to the person putting words to thoughts and feelings she absolutely couldn't do herself. If only it were that easy! ... She tried talking to Catra like that before and it didn't work... right?

Oh well. Catra doesn't even really ... defend against the light punch. "..." That stance drops as Catra starts her orders. "...Man, you're really not okay, are you, Catra? Normally I'd already have a pretty bad scratch on my fa--"

And then the Youma turns on Catra. And sends her flying.

She-Ra kicks Powersend off to the side to get it out of the way, and shortly after... there was a roar, and a cloud of smoke... and the youma is manifesting a bigger sword.

Which swipes across Adora, sending her flying again as she hits the wall. "Fffff.... ow..."

That aura engulfs the sword again as Adora pushes off the wall, dashing towards the truck again. "We were having a conver/sation/!" She calls out as she unleashes that empowered slash. Aiming to attempt to cut through the limb holding that dark energy cleaver.

An upward strike almost immediately with a downward strike towards the main body of the youma.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
Geode Girl Loyalty says, "@emit     Loyalty is pretty content to bash the youma, wondering if it'll even fight back. But she hasn't actually moved, other than to summon her weapon to hand. Mostly just... twirling the bat around. Listening to the two. "Have you considered just... telling all of us this stuff?" Loyalty calls to Catra. "I think Rashmi has almost every magical girl in Tokyo on speed dial, and if she doesn't, she knows Sailor Moon to cover the rest. Pretty sure we can make the clown regret touching our favorite chef." she notes.

    Of course then Catra tries to tell the Youma to not do Youma Things and all heck breaks loose. "Yeah, dangerous!" Loyalty yells as she shifts through the battlefield as a blur of light - rainbow light that carries a little purification energy in the path of her previous movement until it disperses.

    After a dodge back, she crouches down and launches herself, wings outstretched, right at the youma's 'face' equivalent, swinging that baseball bat hard. Loyalty is not a subtle fighter. "Youma first!" she yells to She-Ra."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Perhaps Catra was expecting this to horrify Sailor Moon. Probably, she was - this seems to be her greatest guilt, her deepest horror, and it is truly terrible, but Usagi has had this conversation before, not even that long ago, so what she says is -

"What is it with you Obsidian girls and thinking monstrous acts make monstrous people?"

Her voice is exasperated, and she's starting to say more when -

"Catra, look -" Fishbones gets Catra. "- out... okay, I guess we're not going to get to just talk this out - Loyalty! She-Ra! You two take that thing apart, I'm going to check on Catra and keep the jar safe!"

If the youma is going wild, who knows what it will do? And Catra went down, and she didn't get back up - what if she can't? These are thoughts that race through Sailor Moon's mind as she races for Catra, first running and then throwing herself full-body into a slide that would make a baseball player proud. When she reaches Catra's side, she reaches out, hands gentle, as she touches her shoulder -

"Catra, does anything feel broken? Do you need a healer, I'm engaged to a healer -"

Catra has posed:
Catra is laying on the ground, but as Sailor Moon touches her she reflexively swipes, not with claws out, but just to bat her hand away-- and instantly regrets it. She holds up her other hand, summoning a little ball of smokey dark energy, that she tries to very defiantly blast Sailor Moon with, but it's more like the evil equivalent of having a cold bowl of pasta thrown at you than a credible attack.

So Catra deflates, and just rests her back against the jar. "Ribs," she gasps. She looks down at her bare feet and wiggles her toes, first on one foot then the other. "Oh good," she adds, and slumps back.

Fishbones, meanwhile, has no intention of going so quietly. Adora's sword cleaves through its arm, and it howls in rage as the limb clangs noisily to the ground, and the big meatcleaver flickers and fades away, as the arm lays there with its fingers wriggling. Niji's bat finds its face, and smashes out the other headlight as the bat leaves not so much a dent as a crater, only for a pair of sickly yellow lights to flicker on in their place. Of course; fog lights.

Fishbones swings the forks for Adora, the two pieces of metal snapping as they try to hit her, grab her, grab her sword, anything. Injury is the only real goal. As it does, it breathes out more of the hideous smog; only now, the smog has a glowing, purple quality to it, and it's full of little motes of dark energy that won't really slow anyone down, but will sting quite painfully to the touch. It turns, facing towards Niji, as its mouth yawns wide and a mess of glowing purple chains fly out, trying to wrap around Loyalty's limbs and seize hold of her.

"Why are you helping me," Catra gasps, looking up at Sailor Moon. "I'm your enemy. I'm the VILLAIN. I'm not... I'm... I'm getting exactly what I deserve."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
     "Yep, agreed on that!" She-Ra agrees on both the shout of it being dangerous /and/ also to take out the Youma first. Catra was just about to do the right thing, just about to work with them and take a step towards not doing... awful things and...!

And then that Youma had gone berserk.
And attacked Catra.

Why. Why can't things be simple!? Why was this Catra being... being... so... hard to give up on?! She'd /made/ her choice, she even /destroyed Etheria/, according to her! And yet.

And yet she was, once again, with this world's equivalent of the Horde. Being treated awfully.

And Sailor Moon was off to protect and support her. "Gladly." Is She-Ra's response to being told to take apart the Youma. "Geode Girl Loyalty." She lifts her blade, as her Aura sparks into life, and it turns into a pair of magically-glowing gauntlets that she punches together. "Let's smash it to pieces!"

Before she can, the Fishbowns swings its forks at her, and She-Ra... seems like she's not in the mood for evasion, instead opting to reinforce herself as those forks strike into her body, but rather than defend, She-Ra...

Has opted to vent her anger.

Rainbow energy engulfs her and her gauntlets as she calls out,

"ROGELO RAMPAGE!"

And She-Ra goes into a quick series of brutal punches, putting all of her strength into each one as she attempts to brutalize those forks, each punch unleashing a shockwave of that rainbow energy, before she finally ends with a secondary call out.

"FROSTA SPIKE!"

And she ends the 15-hit-rage-combo with an uppercut, a spike of rainbow energy stabbing out of the ground underneath her towards the bottom of the Youma, scratches, wounds... injuries that she doesn't care about right now.

Her childhood It's Complicated is being taken care of by Sailor Moon. So she's focused on taking care of that Youma.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "I don't understand everything that's going on here, but I understand you're trying to help her, and I understand THIS BIG JERK is making that hard or impossible SO." she says, as she recovers from the somewhat her-own-skeleton rattling impact of the headlight-smashing swing, only to have the fog lights turn on and her to roll her eyes. "oooooof course."

    But as long as Adora and Sailor Moon are fighting to stop/save Catra, she can fight alongside them. She's getting into a crouch for another flying swing at the new lights, but then a snarl of chains comes out at her. She moves, but one of them catches her leg. She looks, slowly, from it to the youma. "You sure about this?" she asks the youma. Before she suddenly rockets off into the air. Maybe she can't lift it. Maybe she can't tug it. Maybe this is going to hurt her more. But... she's gonna try to jerk it as hard as she can, and at her speed, that's pretty hard.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The swipe is expected, given who she's helping. Sailor Moon doesn't even bother to take it personal, not when it's so obviously not about her in the slightest.

The Darkness is uncomfortable, a stinging like - like bees under her skin, Mamoru was right about that, but it doesn't matter. Not right now, anyway.

"Good, if you can move your toes and your arms, it probably didn't like, snap your spine or anything, so let's just sit back and -"

She should be helping her friends, but the best way to help her friends, is to help Catra. And Catra isn't... so bad, really. Maybe not the best girlfriend/ex-girlfriend, but, not the worst person ever, right? And she feels bad about what she did, clearly, and also, she hasn't put Usagi's fiancé in the hospital, or any of her friends, so honestly -

"I hate to say this, because I don't want you to get competitive," Sailor Moon says honestly, "But I've helped people who have hurt me way more than you have. My friend Rashmi wants to help you. She says that you deserve better than what you've got. My friend Oldora - the old Adora - loved you, to the point of madness, and whatever. And - honestly?"

She looks over at the youma, trashing around, getting trashed by Loyalty and She-Ra.

"Because I want to. In my experience, people who think they're monsters derogatory instead of monsters approval are worth helping."

Catra has posed:
Fishbones gets battered by Adora's assault, and then Loyalty rushes upwards, yanking the Youma's chains along with it. Briefly, the entire machine gets yanked off its feet, lifting up off the ground, and something inside it definitely breaks in the process. Its forks are battered into a much less useful shape, and it howls audibly as it crashes back down and goes to one knee. Still, its chains flail about, all of them seeking to wrap around Loyalty and drag her towards the big, snapping mouth and all of its rows of jagged metal teeth! The cracks in its armor from all of the attacks against it start to leak; and a horrible smelling, corrosive green goopy liquid sprays out, sticking to things and making the metal surfaces of cars and lampposts and things start to fizz and bubble as they dissolve.

Catra closes her eyes, tilting her face away from Sailor Moon and resting one hand over her abdomen. "Rashmi's an idiot," she replies. "This wouldn't even be happening to her if she'd just... understood who's side she's on, and who's side I'm on, and told me to go away. I could've just fought her and everyone'd be mad at everyone else and probably her restaurant would need new furniture, but she'd be fine right now."

The feline sucks in as much of a breath as she can, before letting it out slowly between her teeth. "Yeah that Adora loved me, or at least she said she did," she adds, ruefully. "But then she tried to rip my head off and then she ran away through a portal, and didn't take me." She grits her teeth, visibly resisting the urge to cry again, right here and now. "But she was messed up on dark energy for the first part, so... whatever I guess I'm sure I deserved it somehow."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
     "Yep! Big jerk, Catra needs help otherwise she and other people are in danger, and right now the fix is Loyalty Smash!" ... Zip! "Or fly. Fly works too." Okay that's pretty impressive. Even as she comes off from the uppercut. And if Loyalty gets caught by the chain and stopped instead of it breaking off, Adora is ready to support her!

As those chains begin to lash out, the Gauntlets of Power are quickly turned into a massive pair of scissors.

"SCORPIA SNIPPERS!"

She calls out, as the scissors grow larger, and she pulls them closed to attempt to snip off, or at least block the gnashing teeth from being able to pull Geode Girl Loyalty in any closer.

She's... still making poor decisions though, as that green goop sprays out, leaping away while holding onto those 'snippers' to drag the teeth of the snippers along any remaining chains to work at snipping more of them away.

She's not listening much to the conversation between Sailor Moon and Catra... then again they were far enough away she mostly couldn't hear it. Soon she was up in the air again... and the Sword of Power changes into a pair of clawed gauntlets.

"CATRA CLAW CRUSHER!"

Glowing claws on the large gauntlets are brought slicing down towards the top of the Youma to start to /dig/ at it with those clawed gauntlets, trying to find /something/ vital to destroy if she can.

.... She might be getting sprayed with that green goo.

It's fine.

She's not going to regret all of this later.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty is actually listening, but she's not entirely understanding. For her, she'd love to help, but she's not even sure where to begin. In the end she didn't save Hinoiri, other people did. She has always been a supporter, the muscle. But there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes that's what you need. Well, maybe Adora over there is the muscle... she's the something. The bat.

    All of these thoughts are probably contributing to her being still caught by the chains just before she gets out of range, and being dragged back into a gaping mouth. "Oh no. Oh HECK NO." she says, scrambling and running, trying to get away, leaving that blurring trail of slight purification around her, which might help those chains break.

    And when - or if, but probably when with those big scissors being wielded by a big lady - that chain breaks, Loyalty is going to grab them and try to use them to tie the youma up itself, by running around it in loops.

    And then she perhaps unhelpfully adds. "If you don't want to be a monster, the best thing you can do is stop working for them. Like right now. Others have done it! You can too."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Rashmi's not an idiot," Usagi says, and there's a sharpness in her tone, a warning that says that she wants Catra to be kind, to her friend. "She's choosing to do one of the hardest things possible - to give people another chance, and to hope they'll be better. You have to trust people, for that. You have to hope, for that. It's easy to give up and give in. It's hard to hope."

She looks over the fight, as the monster goes down, and then she looks down at Catra, and she grimaces.

"I know you're gonna be mad about this so... please don't claw me too bad?" That's what she asks before she gets to her feet, and picks Catra up in a princess carry, grateful for her enhanced strength as Sailor Moon. "She couldn't handle her dark energy even more than I could. The one time I had it for longer than like, half a minute, I taunted Hinoiri about the fact that no one had ever liked her enough to come back for her, so, you know, Dark Energy will make you a real jerk. It's still something I did - it's still something I had to kind of apologize for - but you know, it's a factor. I'm not saying you have to forgive Oldora - and she's gone, anyway, but - I don't think that's a sign of how she felt about you. I think the way she never stopped telling me about you, and how much she loved you and how much she wanted to get back to you and the perfect happy ending she had, with you and all your friends, is how she felt."

She's carrying Catra to the jar, not just for the fun of it, and once they reach that jar, she sets her down gently.

"If you want, I'll take you to a place where my fiancé can heal you up. But if you don't want that - I get it, secondary location and all - then I'll just give your jar what power I can, alright?"

And then, after a moment, in spite of whatever claw marks she's received, she says, gently,

"Catra-san, we don't get the things we deserve. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. I don't think you deserve what Oldora did when she was corrupted, and I don't think she deserved what you did to her. I don't think you deserve what that guy is doing to you now. Just... maybe you've done monstrous things. But you're not a monstrous person, okay? You're just you."

And then she puts her hands on the jar, closing her eyes - and after a moment, the jar glows with energy as she willingly offers what power she can.

Catra has posed:
Catra's claws come out on reflex, and absolutely dig in, but she finds enough self-control to prevent it from going beyond that. After all, Sailor Moon *is* trying to help her. And even if Catra doesn't understand why or even want her help... she's still trying to help.

Fishbones gets hammered at under She-Ra's assault, once she manages to break the chains; it rumbles with frustration, denied a meal of tastey soft winged geode girl! Aidic goo is leaking out of its armor, and its engine is rattling and clanging like it's running out of oil. Its weapons are mostly disabled, but it rises back to its feet, about to--

"Loan time expired," says a sweet, feminine voice from... nowhere? And the space Fishbones occupies abruptly goes dark, as the whole Youma duskports away, vacating the scene with a loud roar that fades into the distance, as if it were falling down a deep mine shaft. But, either way, it's gone. (The good covering She-Ra is still there.)

Catra, however, is faced with a problem; even as she's laying propped up where Sailor-Moon has placed her, watching the contents of her jar bubble upwards, as the hero is busy emptying her energy into the jar.

"I think you're wrong," she mumbles. "But... I guess... thanks," she adds, very quietly. "Don't give up too much, in case, y'know, people like... come after you." The offer to have her healed dangles in the air, and she thinks about it; and really, it's a good idea. And she really needs it, with broken ribs. But, it would mean being vulnerable, in front of people who are supposed to be her enemies, if they were to think for more than four and a half seconds about it and had more than like, six braincells between them.

But it *is* a tempting offer. And so Catra just sits there, watching Usagi do her thing, looking over at the blue person with wings and that girl from her childhood who is her best not friend anymore yes it's complicated even though she won't admit it, and sighs heavily.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
     She-Ra opens her mouth as Loyalty speaks towards She-Ra questionably helpfully. The thought she had almost escaping her lips.

...But no, even though she's angry, that's not anger at Catra, a comment like that is bad! ... And she refuses to be like the past her.

Even if there's the possibility she might not have much choice. Ugh.

Meanwhile there is a very confusing sight that runs across the edge of her vision, Sailor Moon.

Carrying Catra.

What. It's such a strange visual to her that she is kind of staring for a few moments at that. One, Catra is ... sort of ... allowing it, two, Sailor Moon is /princess carrying/ Catra and that sure as heck is a sight that causes some /very/ confusing feelings.

Which gives just enough time for Fishbones to escape! And Adora promptly drops her transformation, a puff of rainbow magic clearing out the worst of the goo as she makes her way over towards Catra, slowly. She's... hesitant, as she walks towards Catra. "..." She holds her hand out towards her.

"...She's right, Catra."

Her gaze is turned away, not quite able to look at Catra directly as she keeps that hand extended nonetheless. "...You may have... made your decision before but..." She gives a soft exhale.

"...You can... you can choose something else. You don't have to go back. You can... you can come back with us. We'll figure out how to deal with the stupid clown, and... then... then... you know. ...At least you won't be being controlled by someone anymore."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty is... confused, but glad that she didn't get gnawed on by a giant truck. Sounds like someone overdrafted their Obsidian Being a Jerk account on time today.

    So Loyalty twirls her bat once more and it poofs into a rainbow of sparkles itself. She does not dehenshin, but she walks over to Catra. "Look at these people, who want to save you. And then think about how Joker's using you and terrifying you. They're putting themselves at risk for you, without you even asking. They're trying their best to make your world better." she says.

    "Then on the other hand you have these people who are ruining your life, one of these stupid youma at a time. If you don't want to be controlled by Obsidian and that clown guy, the first step is not doing what they say. And the second step is probably punching them. Or at least it's a step on the path."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
She's not even bleeding too badly! This is, all things said and done, a net positive, honestly. It would be better to get all of these people their energy back, but she can't, so the second best thing will be to call emergency services, as soon as Catra has gone on her way.

She's pouring energy into the jar, making sure not to give so much that she risks her henshin, trying in vain to separate her own power from the Silver Crystal's, trying to avoiding giving Obsidian that much of a boost - when her concentration is broken by a serene voice, and the youma - vanishes?

"W, what?" She squawks, and turns to look at the empty space and her goo covered friend(s?). "Did - was that a rental?"

Did they rent out youma, in Obsidian?! Was there a Build-A-Youma store? Youma-busters Monster Rental Store???

As she's contemplating this, Adora comes over, with her own pitch, and Usagi is thinking hey, maybe this will work, given all that star-crossed love energy, and she pulls her hands from the jar - she's given at least as much as all those people drained combined.

When Loyalty comes over, with her own equally strong pitch, that comes with the added bonus of punching the evil creep, she adds, "If you just want to come to get healed and then go back, no one will stop you. I could call Riventon, if you want back up. He knows about the healing, and he'd probably come stand behind you and look bored at us if you asked. Who knows - maybe he wouldn't even try to steal everything not nailed down?"

A little effort to inject some humor and levity.

Catra has posed:
Catra looks up at the three heroes all surrounding her, all asking her to come with them. All of them pleading for her soul. She cranes her neck back, looking up at the jar behind her; half full now, thanks to Usagi. And, with Fishbones gone, there's no Youma to collect energy from; it dematerializes, shrinking down into an ordinary looking jar once more, that falls into Catra's grasp. She cradles it protectively against her chest. Her abdomen is showing signs of serious bruising, betraying the state of her ribs underneath. How many are broken? One? Four? It's hard to tell.

She holds out her hand, and Powersend skitters across the ground into her palm; once she has it, the blade flickers out, and she tucks the hilt away in a pocket of her jacket. And then she leans backwards, except the robot-jar is gone, so she just falls on her back. Which, she instantly regrets.

They're all making a really good offer. Her eyes blink rapidly, and a tear rolls down from the corner of each, and the look on her face betrays everything.

She hates herself for it.

But she can't help it. She looks up at the concerned and compassionate faces of her enemies surrounding her, and words like 'Okay' and 'Please' all bubble around, just below the surface.

"I can't," she whispers.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora is ... mostly not ... ignoring, but considering she mostly just ate a bunch of attacks, even with She-Ra's endurance, she's hurting, she's tired, and she's burned and in pain in so many places from the end of that fight. Her focus for other things is lacking at the moment. She's just... standing there, holding her hand out in offering towards Catra.

She does vaguely nod in agreement with the other two's comments. She's not, like, punch drunk or about to pass out or anything, just most of her body was burning at the moment and focusing on other things wasn't super easy. "Yeah." She does add, after Sailor Moon's offer. "If you... can't... I mean... just going with Sailor Moon to go get taken care of makes sense, too. I mean... you're, uh. Going through a lot and... well."

Ugh, it was almost easier when the two were still just fighting.

And then Catra whispers the words that she'd... somewhat expected, but simultaneously dreaded hearing. "...Get some sleep at least, then." Adora's hand lowers and she gives a small nod. And then Adora turns to start walking away.

...Mostly to hide the tears welling up in her own eyes.
Shut up, it's just the rain.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty sighs and looks at Catra. "Can't... or won't? You're from the same world as Adora, and she's done the whole thing twice, coming here, going to school, having a happy life." she says, bluntly. Maybe the can't isn't about that, but it's where her mind runs to.

    "If it's about leaving Obsidian I can think of two people off the top of my head who have already done that and they're also doing good." Well, okay. Hinoiri is doing... okayish. But that wasn't gonna sell Catra.

    "If you can't, tell us what's stopping you." Then Adora adds in her bit, and Loyalty remembers what the previous Adora said about the two of them. It's hard with Adora walking away. "There are so many other ways you can do things than back to Obsidian, Catra." she says, softly. "You can come with us. You can chase her. You can go off on your own. But you don't have to go back to 'them' - and if you do they're going to keep using you like a tool, when you could be so much more, should be so much more." she continues. "That thing that hurt you, hurt Adora? That thing was a real monster. And I know where it went back to. Obsidian Tower. But you don't have to. If you hate being a monster... just don't go back to the same place it did. Whatever path you take."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's a moment - a moment - where Usagi thinks that Catra will take them up on it. Where she thinks this will be it, and they'll be able to solve at least part of this problem -

Bt when Catra says she can't, she just looks sad - not pitying - and then, she digs into a pocket that doesn't quite seem to exist, and digs out a pencil and sticky note, and scrawls on it for a moment, before shoving the note at Catra.

It's a phone number.

"This is the number for my burner phone," she says, calm and gentle. "If you change your mind - about wanting healing or anything else - reach out to me, okay?"

And then - and then she reaches out, and she pats Catra's head, gentle and kind and like she would a junior classmate, or a little kid, someone in need -

"Next time, maybe. Or the time after that. Call me. Don't forget."

And then she climbs to her feet, clasps Loyalty on the shoulder, comrade to comrade, and she chases after Adora, walking as close as Adora will allow her to be.

"It's going to be okay," she murmurs, and again - again, Catra can probably hear her, with those sharp, sharp ears. "One way or another, it's going to be okay."

Catra has posed:
Catra watches everyone go, one after the other, but her eyes are on Adora, watching her walk away with a forlorn look on her face. She hears everything Loyalty has to say, and when Sailor Moon gives her the note with the phone number, she crumples it up in her hand; not to throw it away, but to keep it, clutched tightly between her fingers. She rolls, slowly, onto her side and struggles to her feet, stumbling through the streets until she reaches a door, where she can turn the knob the wrong way and duskport back to obsidian tower. She rides an elevator up looking a hair's breadth from collapsing, and when she reaches her quarters, she dumps the jar unceremonioiusly on a table, staggers over to the couch, and collapses.

She looks at the note, with the phone number; and she memorizes it before letting the paper fall to the floor, leaving it there mostly for lack of energy to get up and go anywhere. Her own phone, with the crack down the screen comes to hand, and she looks at it, going back and looking at her text message history. The last text she sent to Adora.

Her fingers hover over the screen, and she wants to say something. She needs to say something. Instead, she drops the phone on the floor, draws her knees up on the sofa as she lays painfully on her side, and bawls; she's cried so much over the last three days and the sheer despair and self-hatred boiling around her is likely palpable to other beings in the area, and none of them good to be showing such emotions to.

Eventually, as the tears run dry, she picks the phone back up and taps the screen. The text history with Adora is still there. She sniffs, and taps at the screen for a moment; then she drops the phone back on the floor, rests her hands over her abdomen, and swiftly falls asleep.

A couple moments later, Adora will receive her text. << I'm glad you came >>

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora isn't moving that quickly, so as the continued conversation at Catra goes on behind her, she almost hesitated, almost turned back again, but there was still nagging thoughts in the back of her mind that, possibly, it was... not a waste of time, but it was hopeless. She'd tried so hard. She'd tried so many times before, and /still/ things were like this.

...Right?
She'd put in enough effort, right?
...She'd reached out every chance she could.
...Right?

She tried so many times to fix things but none of it worked. Sailor Moon's whisper gets a very small nod from Adora. The words welling up in her throat were not something she could say. So she says something she knows she can.

"...I'm going to make that clown pay."

It's not immediately that Catra gets a response to her text.

...Adora opted to go to the boxing club after the fight, still scratched and burned as she thoroughly makes a punching bag regret being made to get out her feelings.

<< I promised I would. ...Get some rest. You looked like you needed it. >>

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty looks at Catra - she isn't leaving today, and maybe it's just too much, too hard for her. So Loyalty just sighs, as Sailor Moon pats the cat on the ehad. "Catra. The door is never closed. But I can't make you walk through it. I hope you do, though." she says before turning to walk with the other two girls.

    And when Adora says she's going to make the clown pay, Loyalty nods. "When you do, I want in." That's all. Just a commitment to help her friend. Because in the end that's what she represents.