587/Chasing Cats

Chasing Cats
Date of Scene:	12 October 2023
Location:	A Rainy Backstreet
Synopsis:	Niji and Adora track down Catra, and confront her about Adora's stolen sword (in the form of a bracelet). Does it go well? Does anything with Catra ever go well? ...Basically no. But it goes. And Niji goes... more Niji.
Cast of Characters:	Catra, Adora Rainbowfist, Niji Dasshu

---

Catra has posed:
It's raining in Tokyo.

Again.

Somewhere in one of the least affluent parts of town there's a noodle shop. It's not the same noodle shop where Adora saved a young woman's life the other day, but it's the same sort of idea; a little hole in the wall place, just five tables, totally grungy but boasting great food, partly out of necessity -- nobody comes here for the ambience, certainly. Three of the tables are occupied, though only one person seems to be here alone.

Catra is still hiding in plain sight, under the guise of Rachel Miller, once again clad in damaged jeans and a hoodie with the hood pulled low over her face. She sits in the corner, where she can gaze out the window at the wet world outside. Gaze at it without experiencing it. Perhaps her coming here had less to do with food than anything else. There's a bowl of ramen in front of her, half-eaten and periodically picked at. She's also got her earbuds in, to the chagrin of the other people in the place, though she isn't letting it go quite so full blast as usual.

Still loud though. Sounds like Marilyn Manson.

Mostly, the disguised feline seems focused on a chunky bracelet; one that has lost ones runes all over it. Not that anyone else would recognize them.

"How on Etheria does it even *work*," she mutters. "Don't tell me you absolutely *have* to be an annoying blonde girl just to get so much as a carrot peeler out of it."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The Sword has been gone for a day, and Adora has been a mess. All day at school she couldn'r focus, and she got caught more then once trying to sneak off campus during classes. Finally, after school, she'd met up with her friend Niji.

"She sticks to the rougher parts of town. Mabye near the Jinshin docks. That's where I saw her last week. I can't...really explain why I need this back but...just trust me. Also, you have no idea how much I appreciate the help." Not help in a fight, surely, but looking. Thinking. Adora rockjs battle tactics, but otherwise she is...well...kinda dumb, honestly.

A white hoody over a Smashing Pumpkins shirt she picked up in a shop is worn with jeans and pink and white Converse. Out into the rain they go, checking allies and storefronts. Until, of course, they walk right back the Ramen shop. Adora sees the bracelet through the window before she sees the girl, really, and she puts two and two together. "Stay near me," she whispers.

Into the ramen shop she goes, brushing her hood back as she makes her way towards the table. She stands there in silence, glaring down at the girl and the chunky bracelet.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    If Niji knew Adora wasn't counting on her in a fight, she might be a little bit offended. Maybe less so if she knew Catra had razor-sharp claws and reflexes that weren't merely cat-like. And Niji isn't academically smart, but she does have an odd mind for tactics and thinking quickly from playing so many team sports. Always be looking at your opponents, the field, and finding the opening to get the goal - or pass to someone else who can.

    Niji, for her part, is wearing her very standard non-uniform clothes - jean shorts and a white t-shirt with a blue jacket over them to provide sleeves and some protection from the rain. But it does make her normally fluffy hair look a lot more... sad and straight down, due to the rain. "You sure?" she whispers when Adora tells her to stay near her. "I can watch the back door. She's a runner." But Niji also doesn't protest as she walks in too. Adora isn't the only one who brought running shoes today. She does stick with the larger girl until they're much closer to Catra, though.

Catra has posed:
Catra looks up after a moment of feeling a... presence observing her, quirking one eyebrow up at the pair who are looking down at her. Even in her disguise, she's still got mismatched eyes; one blue and one green, which gaze first at Adora, then at Niji. She wordlesses slips the bracelet over her right arm, pushing it up under the sleeve of her hoodie, and then thumbs off her music and sits with her hands clasped on the table in front of her.

"Hey Adora," she greets, flashing a toothy grin that's just... too toothy. "Kinda thought a big hero like yourself would be too good to hang around in a place like this, but looks like I was wrong." She tilts her head towards the back of the store, "Menu's that way."

The feline shifts her gaze towards Niji, and gives the girl a look up and down. "And you brought a friend! Hi, Adora's friend! I should probably give you my phone number so you can call me when Adora ditches you for other, cooler friends. Or maybe I won't. I don't think I will actually, I don't think I want you calling me at two in the morning." She pauses, and angles her head towards the back once more. "Menu's that way."

"HEY!" yells the man standing behind the counter. "What do you think this is, a public shitter? Order some food or get out!"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Catra...," Adora starts softly. "You've stolen that before. You know you can't use it. You took it from me at Prom. Then again in the Wastes." Did this Catra even make it to the Crimson Wastes? She can't remember. That was long ago for her, afterall, and this Catra seems to be missing some pretty vital experiences.

She glances aside at Niji. "Niji, this is Catra. Catra, Niji. I've told you about her," she says to Niji, before turning back to angry girl sitting in front of her. "Wildcat, please. Your...organization...they can't get their hands on something like it. Not if they're making stuff like that Rifle. The kinda harm they can cause..." She has a sinking feeling this is going to end up violent, but she's trying to appeal to the girl she loves first.

When the man yells at them she bristles a bit and glances over. "Fine! I'll have...I don't know. Something with meat in it! Lots of protein!"

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji shrugs. "Well, since it'd be impossible for anybody to find someone cooler than me, I've got nothin' to worry about when it comes to her makin' a cooler friend..." she says, with a wink. "But you know, she's still trying to be -your- friend if you'd stop being a jerk about it. Maybe you could start the whole 'not being a jerk' thing by giving back what you stole?" Niji offers.

    The man tells them to eat or leave, and she perks an eyebrow up at him. She's about to order some ramen when she pauses in the middle of the discussion. "Wait, what rifle. Organization?" She asks. "What... exactly were you worried about me over?" she asks, just a little suspicious. Not -nervous- oddly enough, just suspicious. "How much trouble is your friend in..."

    The man is about to yell again when Niji cuts him off "Beef ramen yeah yeah." She says. "Places like this either have the best food or the worst." she says, shrugging. "Wonder if I'll get to find out..." or if she'll have to chase down the moody teenage girl in the hoodie.

Catra has posed:
"Food in here's really good," Catra replies, "I come here a lot. Or at least I used to, now that you all know that I guess I'll never come here ever again." She picks up her chopsticks and holds her bowl with the other hand, as she goes about rapidly slurping up a few mouthfuls of noodles, extraordinarily tender pork, and half a hardboiled egg. Catra can definitely eat in a hurry when she wants to; part of growing up as an unpopular child in the Horde.

"You clearly don't know me," she continues, looking up at Niji. "Adora, why don't you tell your friend how often I let people beat me without a fight?" She pauses, and flashes a toothy grin. "Besides. You know the rules. Finders keepers."

So what if she didn't technically find the bracelet/sword? It's currently sitting on her arm, under her hoodie, and she's clearly in no hurry to change that. Just the same, her eyes do visibly dart between the front door, the kitchen (which presumably has a door out the back), and the window, which if it were to somehow cease to be intact would certainly be big enough for Catra to fit through.

"Miller-san. These girls bothering you?" yells the man behind the counter.

"Nah, they're fine," Catra yells back, with a wave of her hand. "Adora even said she'd pick up the bill for my food," she adds, pointing to the blonde.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora opens and then closes her mouth, looking for words. She glances aside at Niji, not looking her in the eye. "It's complicated. But...she fell in with a dangerous crowd. People who...hurt people. It's not who she is, though. She just doesn't know that yet..."

The blonde turns back to Catra and pulls her hands out of the pockets of her hoody, before shrugging it off. The Smashing Pumpkins shirt is cut to show off a bit of athletic, tanned tummy. Did she wear that on purpose when going to find Catra? She'd never admit it. "I can't let you give that to them, and you know it. I figure you kept it to yourself this long because, deep down, you don't WANT them to have it."

She takes a deep breath. Catra knows that breath. It's the "I'm not starting a fight, but I'll end one if I need to" breath she used back when the other kids would pick on Catra when they were growing up. Those kids ended up with busted lips, broken noses and even broken limbs when they got REALLY mean with the wildcat. Honestly, that is the only violence she has never regretted. But everytime she takes a swing at Catra she regrets it. Does Catra regret it when she does the same?

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "I gotta be 100% honest with you Adora-san, I'm not sure this girl is the girl you think she is. But whatever." she says. "I'm not going to back out now. She still has your stuff." she notes. But she knows the breath too. Not from Adora, but from herself. From having to step in a few times herself. She looks small next to Adora, but her athleticism isn't null and void - she's far more well muscled and athletic than the average girl. Might even have been able to compete for the 'most' part of that title before the huge blonde showed up at school.

    And she's not afraid of a little scrap, either. "You're not really gonna make us try and wrestle that thing off you in this poor guy's shop, right?" she asks. Well, maybe she doesn't strictly think the guy wouldn't deserve it, but. "Like, why don't you just hand over what's not yours and you two can keep sniping at each other while I try the ramen. Everybody wins!"

Catra has posed:
Catra slurps up the rest of her noodles, and plops bowl and chopsticks down on the table in front of her. She looks back and forth between the two girls standing in front of her and sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You two really aren't going to let this go, are you?" She shakes her head. (Did she really expect them to drop it? Certainly not.) "Look, honestly, you should do two things," she continues, addressing Niji. "One, don't listen to Adora about me. I'm a horrible person who does horrible things to good people. Because I like it." She stands up, pushing the chair back and stretching her arms over her head, then out to her sides. "And second, hang out with someone else, 'cause if you keep hanging out with Adora you're gonna get hurt."

"By me."

Catra plants her hands on her hips, and gestures towards the front door. "We could go outside," she points out. "It's raining and that sucks, but for you Adora, I'll fight you *anywhere*." She pauses. "And if you want to see real fireworks? Come to Shibuya Crossing."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The blonde's jaw clenches a bit when Niji voices her thoughts on Catra not being who she thinks she is. She can...try and explain her thoughts another time, in private. Now is sadly not the time. She doesn't step back when Catra stands, but then she nods. "Outside. I don't wanna mess up this guy's shop." She doesn't sound happy about what is going to happen, but she also sounds resolute.

She steps aside, making sure Catra makes her way out into the rain first. While waiting she looks over to Niji and says, softly, "It's hard to see who for who she really is right now, but...I'll explain things better later, okay? For now...we need to get that Bracelet back."

Assuming Catra makes her way outside she follows, leaving her hoody behind. It does mean she has less cover from the rain, but she isn't as worried about the wetness as a cat would be.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji scoffs at the idea. "Girl, I'm pretty sure I train harder than you fight." she says. She has no idea she's magically disguised. She doesn't know that's even an option. So she doesn't know that Catra's current form doesn't reflect her capabilities. And she does knmow that she's not afraid to stand up - for herself, or her friend. "The only one who needs to look out is you. I don't want you to get hurt while I hold you down and pull Adora's bracelet off you - that's the only thing I'm worrying about." she adds, crossing her arms. "I wouldn't want to make Adora-san sad."

    She's... blustering, a -bit- but she's also not gonna back down. Catra wouldn't be the first bully she's had to hold down while rifling through pockets for stolen things; usually lunch money, but it could be all sorts of things. At least, that was true back in Aomori. But that was a place without magical girls, without offworlders, without all of the things she didn't even know she was dealing with.

    After Adora leaves, Niji pauses and grabs Adora's hoodie. It'd be a shame if they had to come back in after making a scene for just a hoodie, right? What if Catra runs - again? There's no way the girl is gonna stand and fight Adora - even Niji might at least reconsider that, and the girl didn't look as fit as Niji. She had to give her points for not being visibly scared, at least! But really, stealing from this girl - crazy.

Catra has posed:
"Well if this is the way it's gotta be," Catra sighs, as she saunters towards the door. You know the best part about being a villain? Sauntering. The heroes are always running all over the place, arriving breathlessly just in time to stop bad things from happening to good people -- or arriving just a smidge too late and having to watch bad things happen to good people -- but villains don't have to bother with all that rushing from place to place, they just go at their leasure.

Catra's in no hurry. Why would she be? Certainly not to go outside in the rain. She pushes the door open and steps outside, while the shop owner is busy yelling something about paying.

Catra stays under the awning in front of the store. Afterall, it's less... overwhelmingly humid there. Her earbuds come out of her ears and get tucked away in a pocket. She stands with her head bowed, face concealed under the hoodie; though there's a flash of yellow and turquise, reflecting off her eyes.

Did her eyes change color? And how are they so reflective?

As Adora follows her out, Catra hardly lets her get out the door before there's a solid punch coming for her abdomen, followed by a kick. ...Have her arms turned orange? Well, tan colored, but close enough. Not to mention both those hits are... considerably stronger than someone of her stature ought be able to pull off.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora is quiet as Niji talks her talk, and she follows Catra out into the rain. She isn't even fully outside yet, with Niji being behind her in the shop, when those blows connect. She lets out an OOF as the wind is knocked out of her, and then she slams back against the doorframe as that heel catches her chin. Catra is probably shoeless, so at least there isn't any boot behind it. She hits the doorframe hard enough to shake the door on it's hinged. She grunts and turns, spitting a bit of blood onto wet asphalt before she ducks down and moves fully outside to face the girl.

Her fists come up in a boxing stance and she hunches a bit, protecting her core. She rushes in, a rapid delivery of several strikes trying to catch Catra in the tummy and side, hoping to daze her a little bit. She's ducking and weaving though, trying to dart to the side. She's also trying to keep the girl's focus, worried now about what Catra could do to Niji, who has no idea she's in over her head.

"Mmph. Good hit, Wildcat..."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji gets to the door in time to see Adora smack against it, and the force of those blows. Maybe... that's why she picked a fight with Adora? Now it makes more sense. Either Adora's not as good at fighting as she looks, or Catra is better than Niji gave her credit for. Or both.

    Adora's valiant efforts to keep Catra's attention off the girl with literal rainbow colored hair because she wants the attention of others is perhaps doomed to failure, though. Sometimes people don't know what's good for them. Or when to stop. Or when to not get involved. Or all of the above, as is Niji's case. So despite the fact that Catra just acquired first blood from Adora in this fight, Niji is all in.

    In quite a literal way, too. Since she's not going to act like a mook in a ninja movie and wait her turn, and she's not going to come in and try to start a beatdown on Catra.

    She just wants the bracelet back, then the two of them can work out their relationship/nemesis issues - she's got the feeling that isn't getting sorted today. But if she can just hold Catra down - a feat she doesn't realize is as hard as it is - then Adora can get the bracelet and a problem is solved and a friend is helped.

    All of this means, though, that while Catra and Adora are pacing around in extremly well trained, practiced fighting stances? Niji just runs up and tries to slam physically into Catra, aiming to knock her down to the ground. Smacking her to the ground and holding her there's gotta be less dangerous for everyone, including Catra, right?

    The question of if Catra or Adora are expecting the dark skinned Japanese girl to try to straight-up American Football tackle 'wildcat' to the floor from the side is about to be answered.

Catra has posed:
"Stop. Calling me. THAT!" Catra snarls in response to Adora and the term of endearment, as she takes a a hit to the side, and another to the stomach, distracted for just a second. Perhaps she remembers when she and Adora were on the same side, and doesn't want to be reminded; or maybe it makes her think of Scorpia, who also used to call her that.

Catra's jeans and hoodie fade away, replaced by a tight bodysuit that, well, she's really been wearing the whole time; the bracelet is clearly visible around her right arm, and she is indeed barefoot. And, tan skinned, with stripes, and cat ears, and a tail. Also teeth.

And claws.

Catra steps back from Adora, just in time for Niji to slam into her side. Were she an ordinary girl she'd be on the ground wheezing. Catra takes the impact and bends, letting Niji's momentum carry her onwards; in passing she takes a swipe at her, claws extended.

"Stay out of things that don't concern you," she snarls, flexing her fingers and exposing her claws, possibly dripping crimson on one hnd already. "Adora, I'm going to cut your friend to ribbons if she doesn't piss off."

The cat takes a swipe at Adora, more meant to force her back than connect, before she straightens back to her full height. "...What, no sword, so you need cannon fodder now? You *know* I'm just gonna ruin her life, right?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"I won't!," she replies when told to stop calling her the name that means so much to her.

She narrows her eyes when Catra sheds the illusion, and she takes a few deep breaths. She rolls her shoulder and goes in for a few more swings, the feline avoiding them as she also takes a swipe at Niji! She's so fast and graceful, Adora would be swooning if they were in a better situation.

"She's my friend, and friends look out for eachother. Just like we looked out for eachother for -13- years. And we can AGAIN!"

Then comes the swipe of claws. Adora isn't good in class, but she's damn good in a fight. She moves to the side and reaches out, trying to grab the girl by the forearm. If she manages she whirls, using her superior strength to throw Catra hard...and right out from under the awning and into the torrentially pouring rain!

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji is usually damn good in a fight. Niji is also usually fighting... people. Other students her age. Not slightly older absolutely more animalistic cat girls who can take a full-force body blow from her and not go down. There is a great deal of shock evident on her face that just keeps growing. She hadn't noticed (or maybe, been able to fully notice) Catra shedding her illusion. She only processes it in slow motion as she realizes Catra didn't go down, Catra swiped at her like a cat - oh she actually has claws and is a cat - oh hey that went right through my shirt am I bleeding?

    And she collapses in a heap against the wall of the rain-soaked street. She's watching, now, looking at Catra. She looks stunned, staggered. But it's not the claws that drew blood on her side that has her downed. It is that Catra is not just a name, and Wildcat is not just a nickname, because there is a giant orange cat lady with sharp claws fighting her friend and who is responsible for the pain in her side. The cuts aren't deep but the rain isn't exactly helping them feel great.

    "Oh, that's why they call you CATra." she says, before sucking air in through her teeth. "What was in that ramen? Wait, did I even get to try the ramen?" she asks out loud while she watches the duel and holds her side.

Catra has posed:
Catra isn't quick to strike at Adora; she always looks for openings, and doesn't just rush her. Well... usually she doesn't just rush her. Right now, Catra is glancing over her shoulder at Niji, while keeping her ears trained on Adora.

"Duh," she taunts, "What, you thought she called me all that for fun? You're such an *idiot*." She snorts. "You and Adora will get along great."

Catra turns her attention back to the blonde, and jumps forwards, feinting to one side before striking at the other; which is where her wrist gets caught, and she's flung out into the street. She screeches loudly as she rolls through a puddle, and scrabbles to get out of it, ending up in a crouch with one hand touching the ground, out there in the rain.

"Oh so THAT'S how it is?!" she growls, pulling her lips back from her teeth, as if this entire engagement were somehow Adora's fault, instead of her own. "Fine!"

She turns and rushes Niji, going after the rainbow-haired one instead of her usual opponent; and she goes all in, claws out as she swipes, goes for an upercut, and swipes again, apparently intent on her threat to cut Adora's new friend to ribbons.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"NO!"

Adora sees Catra's attention shift and she moves just as the cat begins to charge. She can't get there fast enough to stop that first blow, but she does arrive just in time to try and stop the second one. Instead of another swing, however, the blonde comes up with a spinning kick. She attempts to catch Catra square in the face, hoping to hit her hard enough to knock her senseless, or at least knock her away. As soon as she can, more importantly, she puts herself in between Niji and Catra. It means any further attacks target the blonde, though.

"Niji, get out of here!," she yells over the sound of the rain hitting the pavement and asphalt. That third claw slash very possibly catches Adora across those abs of hers, drawing blood and giving her another scar for Catra to eventually regret!

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "What? Leave? Now?" Niji asks, blinking. The idea that she'd back off from a friend who just defended her - or really, a friend who was doing anything - seems at least as foreign to her as the idea that she just encountered a highschool girl who became some kind of claw-wielding werecat blender.

    "There's no way." She says. "I don't understand what's going on, though." She pauses. "But I don't need to." she shakes her head. "There's no way I am just gonna run when you're in danger!" she says. All the same, she's just a regular human girl, so as she gets to her feet, slowly, she's trying to decide what to do. Catra's moving so fast, so expertly - Niji can tell she's trained to fight, and not in a combat sport way. She's got claws and fur. All of this is weird and her brain doesn't want to process it.

    In fact, Catra is so fast and Niji's mind fighting the magic so much she's only just noticed Adora got there -after- the first slash, and that she had claw marks in her jacket and deeper, to her arm. Maybe that would have gotten the message across to most humans. But Niji is either too focused on her friend, or too hardheaded, or both, to just run through the rain screaming like some part of her really wants to. Her hand goes to her geode around her neck, reflexively, as a ward against the pain, the confusion.

    "Stop paying attention to me and kick her furry butt!" Niji adds.

Catra has posed:
Catra has blood dripping off both hands, though the rain is rapidly washing that away. Perhaps the only good thing about getting wet. The feline is getting drenched, and it is not doing anything positive to her mood. "Go bother somebody else!" She turns to go after Niji again, but Adora is in the way. So she goes for her, just in time to take the kick to the face.

Her head snaps to one side, and she squeaks loudly at the impact; and for a moment, it might feel like she's about to go down. She shakes it off instead, staying on her feet as she balls her hands up into fists.

"You know I don't throw fights Adora! I can't. I *won't!* She tilts her head to one side until the bones in her neck pop against each other, and then she's in once more, aiming a quick succession of punches at Adora's stomach; as long as at least one of them connects she makes a grab for Adora's arm, grabbing hold (and maybe digging her claws in just a little) as she twists and throws, hurling Adora through the air and into the puddle-filled road.

"Oh come on, you're making it too easy," she taunts. "Why don't you turn into She-Ra and -- Ooops! I forgot. You *can't*."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora lets out a grunt in reply to Niji not fleeing, trying to focus on her girlfriend/adversary and hold her attention. But she's been punched in the gut, kicked in the face AND clawed across the stomach. The rain is doing a good job of quickly washing blood away, but she'll need stitches. Niji might, too.

She ducks in and tries to block the blows with her arms and hands, but Catra is faster then she is, and she's hit again and again. She grunts and sags a bit, and takes another wild swing before Catra digs those claws in. She lets out a cry of pain before she is spun and thrown, hitting the wet asphalt and rolling. She ends up on her back, coughing and trying to get her barings as the rain pounds down on her.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Catra actually launches Adora a pretty good distance while Niji is just watching, mostly dumbstruck. Gripping her necklace tightly mostly because she's in pain and shock. She watches her friend hit the asphalt and do a tumble or two. She's not even started to get up to her feet when two bits of light come from around the corner. Maybe it's just pure dumb unluck - usually, people are edged away from Mahou Shoujo fights, but not this one. Instead someone is barreling down, way too fast, on Adora as she's just starting to move her legs. "Nonononono!" Niji says - and she may not be the only one. But there's no way she can clear the street all the way to where Adora was thrown in time.

    And yet she is still trying, having only recently gotten to her feet, she's taking a step forward, then two... and then a bright flash of light erupts from her geode pendant and seems to fill the whole world. After that flash of light - there's no Niji where she stood.

    There is, for a moment, an afterimage trail of rainbow colors though. Because Niji has already ran over and grabbed Adora - large though she is, Niji has carried her out of the way - the truck doesn't even notice there was a girl in its way, as it drives on past, not even making it in time to hit the rainbow-colored afterblur, despite its clear speed.

    And Niji is not wearing the same clothes she once was. She's... wearing a sort of bodysuit-dress mixture, with leggings that evoke a starry sky and a top that shifts into lines of rainbows. Her hair has grown longer and is somehow *more* brightly colored, the ponytail long enough to whip behind her and almost touching the ground when it stops.

    She is also now blue skinned. And has two blue wings that have erupted behind her, coming out of her back without somehow harming her outfit (it's magic, she's not gonna be able to explain it if she wanted to.) And she's not even panting.

    There must be something in that first henshin that calls out an attitude all on its own, because she tilts Adora in her grip so the girl can stand, and turns back to look at Catra, before adopting a fighting stance with her fists clenched. She's short a henshin phrase, maybe, but perhaps this just isn't the time for it, having just saved her new friend from a literal speeding truck that the were-cat threw her in front of. It's just a stern glare. And the fact that she's radiating magic now.

    She'll process what happened later. She just knows right now - she's a lot more capable than she was moments ago. And she's got a friend to help.

Catra has posed:
Adora is about to get run over. ...In the middle of the road, where Catra just threw her.

The situation makes the feline absolutely freeze. She doesn't know what to do; she's not fast enough to get there in time, nor is she anywhere vaguely close enough to being able to take that sort of impact without needing to spend the next six months in hospital. (Or a shorter amount of time on a slab in the basement, assuming she doesn't get carted off by the military and dissected.)

So she just stands there, agape and inexplicably terrified by what's happening.

Isn't this what she wants? She's the villain, afterall. Adora is the hero. She's supposed to want to *win*. She's supposed to want the heroes to lose. Getting run over by a truck counts as losing! "Look--!" she shouts, not even having enough time to finish shouting a warning before the truck is upon them.

Maybe Catra wasn't fast enough. Maybe it's just that she didn't choose to be, or maybe she couldn't have been. But someone was. Catra finds herself looking up at Adora's friend, who's turned blue and has wings and... seems to be phenomenally fast. The feline backs off a step, raising her hands up in front of her, balled into fists.

"Stay back," she hisses, "Unless you want to look even more like an arts and crafts failure than you already do."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The blonde doesn't even know what is happening. She was beginning to sit up, staring down those swiftly approaching lights, and then there were other lights and a woosh of wind, and now she's being held by the girl. Except it isn't -her- anymore. She blinks a few times. "...Niji?" Okay, that can wait. This needs to end, and she needs that bracelet NOW.

She steadies herself and stalks towards Catra, breathing heavily and bleeding from a few places.

"I wanted to give you the option to give it back to me by choice, Wildcat. And I know you would eventually. But...we don't have time. Not with the attack coming up soon and everything going on with Obsidian. I couldn't call it from any real distance while you had it on you, but this close?"

It's true, really. She can summon her Sword to her at anytime. When they first encountered eachother in the abandoned carnival she'd summoned her blade from across the city. When she fought that corrupted teacher she called it from her room (With some smashed windows involved). "So, last chance."

She waits long enough to give the cat one more chance, before she holds out her hand. "Sword of Protection, beacon of Greyskull, remnant of Eternia...to me!"

Unless Catra can figure something out, the bracelet begins to glow with golden loight...and rips itself from the girl's arm...rocketing through the air. As it does so it transforms in bright light, becoming asn enormous sword. Six feet from hilt to tip, with a two foot wide blade. She catches it and twirls it before placing the tip down to the ground, gripping the hilt, her bright, pained blue eyes on the catgirl.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Catra still wants to fight, but one of her opponents honestly is going to need time and space to process the fact that she changed clothes, changed colors, grew about a year's worth of hair, and oh yeah runs really really really fast. So she doesn't so much want to fight as want to solve the problem.

    So, Niji - actually, Geode Girl Loyalty and how does she just know that is her name like this?! - does what she does best - she looks at a situation, comes up with a plan, and excecutes it. On the field of most sports, after all, you don't get a lot of time to come up with the best plan, so she's happy to execute any plan. And she does so... really really fast.

    She's across the street quickly - it's easier to track the rainbow afterblur than the girl herself - and picking up Adora's hoodie, dropped under the restraunt's entrance awning when she noticed a certain cat knocking a certain blonde for a loop.

    And then the rainblur trail shows that she's moved up behind Catra - and she puts the hoodie over her head and ties the arms together behind it. Really really fast. Now it's an impromptu blindfold.

    That's about when the bracelet starts trying to get free of Catra's arm - but she's probably having a... pretty difficult time figuring out anything that happened since in one or two blinks of an eye she's blinded by a hoodie that absolutely doesn't smell like Adora or anything to a feline's sensitive nose, for bonus points.

    GG-Loyalty debates tickling catra too but decides she's liable to turn into a blender of claws pretty soon so instead she dashes back over to stand by Adora and also to watch the catgirl trying to process/solve/understand/etc what just happened.

Catra has posed:
Finding herself in a hoodie, that smells like ADORA, with the arms tied behind her back doesn't just make Catra angry. It makes her absolutely apoplectic. Luckily, a hoodie is not analagous to a straightjacket, so even with the arms tied behind her back it's one good tug to free herself.

The indignity, however, is lasting.

The feline backs away, hunching her shoulders and crouching low. She's lost the sword -- again. (Well, technically the first time she got it she didn't lose it, she gave it back.) But it's not like it 'works' for her, anyway. So it was only ever about keeping it away from Adora.

And now Adora has backup, in the form of an extraordinarily fast blue girl. The feline backs away another step. She's stuck in a hoodie that smells like Adora, and her first impulse is to tear it off and hurl it from her. But it's raining, and being wet (more wet) is definitely worse.

"You're bleeding," Catra points out, deadpan. She pulls the hood up over her head, and turns to stalk off. She walks with her shoulders hunched and her ears pressed flat against the back of her head, her body language betraying how much she's expecting to get attacked from behind. Maybe because that's what she would do. But of course, it doesn't happen. Would Adora even do that? At all? Would she even allow it?

Catra walks a long ways, keeping to the back alleys and places where you're likely to get mugged, if you aren't a Horde-trained fighter. She's adopted her disguise once more, incorporating the Adora-scented hoodie. Eventually, she finds herself more or less alone, but for the rain and a pile of laden trash bags.

And here, in the rain and solitude, she throws her head back and screams.