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"Helllllo?"

The voice was chipper and demanding and loud as the Himalayan trotted down the alleyway. It was sort of late, but the darkness didn't bother her. Kitties couldn't really see in the dark, but they could see way better than people could. A small frown crossed her face when she still couldn't find what she was looking for, though. Where WAS she?

"Are we playing hide and seek? If I find you, does that make you it? Because I'll bet I can hide better than you!"

Her words were warm, encouraging, and friendly. She just wanted to play with the Senshi she felt hiding down there!

===

Captain Serpentine also heard the voice. More importantly, he felt the twin signatures of his enemies. One felt... different, distinctly other than Senshi but just as distinctly lacking in Chaos. The tiny cat seemed to be searching for another. He was quite content to let her do the work of flushing the Senshi out.

"You can't see me?" Horatio looked down at herself. Shiny, cream-colored coat? Check. Large peppermint goggles? Check. Checkered flag on fluffy adorable tail? Check and Check! How... how could the Senshi with the impressive bustle and pretty blue stripes not see her? Maybe being inside the dumpster had somehow impacted her vision. "Well, I can fix that!"

The Himalayan lowered to the ground before pouncing onto the Senshi's chest! She quickly moved to wrap around her shoulders, a paw reaching through her tri-colored hair to touch her face as she purred, "Do you see me now? Do you see me?"

===

Serpentine was a patient officer. He heard the Senshi speaking, felt her presence... and slowly, but surely, she appeared. The first sign was the creak of the dumpster lid, and then timid foot steps forward. Finally, the girl spoke. She had yet to notice the cat that had spoken to her.

He kept his eyes pinned on the alleyway, but his thoughts went elsewhere. He concentrated on his youma, the sheen of her monochrome scales, her cuved hood, her small arms. Now seemed a perfect opportunity to summon her from the ghostly realms of the Rift, to see how she could aid him in thsi upcoming battle. The stench of the Captain's surroundings disappated as his breathing slowed. The grunginess of the dumpsters and the dirt that covered the environment was a secondary concern as he formed that mental image.

The last piece of the pyschological puzzle were those bright eyes, as bright as his own. Serpentine imagined locking his gaze with them. 'Stheno... come.

To Horatio, giggles were better than Beethoven, cuddles were better than silk. Her purr increased in intensity into a full-out thrumming sound as she soaked up every drop of the affection offered to her. "Okay, we can cuddle for a long time and I'll get to know you, and you'll get to know me, and I'll figure out why you look familiar and--"

The motormouthed cat was cut off by the new worries she heard in her new friend's voice, felt in the subtle tightening of soft hands on her fur. The Himalayan's whiskers quivered as she wriggled her nose and took several sniffs of the air. Yes, beneath the garbage scent was something far yuckier, dark and Chaotic. Yet, her light words seemed unconcerned, "Oh, you're right. Welp, time for us to get busy then!"

She hopped down from her companion's shoulders and gave a languid stretch, including unsheathing her claws. "If you think I'm going anywhere, then you're just being silly. Two against one is always better odds, and besides, I just found you and I don't want to lose you again. I'm sugar and spice and don't you forget it!"

===

It took a few minutes of intense concentration, but his patience paid off, as it usually did. In a surge of Chaos, the humanoid youma bonded to him appeared and slithered to his side. Serpentine stroked her scaled hood possessively and was rewarded with a pleased flicking of her tongue. The Captain could feel the bond pulsing deep within his chest, and it was a comforting tether.

It was their first battle together. He could not help but grin as he leapt from his sentinel position. Serpentine would be lying if he said he was not looking forward to it. He would not underestimate the Senshi, despite her bar wench look, nor the talking cat, whose power he did not know. Even so, the only tone to his few words was one of easy confidence, of one who saw victory as a certainty. "Stheno. Attack."

Immediately, the Naga drew herself to her full height and spat her blinding venom towards the Senshi and her fluffy companion. Serpentine's whip cracked to the other side. Both attacks had the potential to be avoided - it just never occurred to the proud Captain to doubt himself or his youma.

Like most people, Serpentine knew the effects of steam. It puffed up in his face when he checked baked goods, it heated his hand when he stirred boiling water. Yet, he had been fortunate enough never to be seriously scalded. Until today. The ball of steam caught his side, but mostly his weapon-filled hand that he instinctively brought to defend his face. The florist screamed in pain and released the grip on his whip. He moved back to avoid a further hit--but the ball exploded into a fog of steam! Now he could see neither his target nor his weapon and felt like he was in a sauna. The tendrils around his face made him sneeze, a sound which quickly dissolved into cursing.

"Damn Senshi," he hissed, sounding every bit his name. He had to wait for the steam to clear to locate his wapon, and even if he found it... he would have to wield it with his injured hand. Still, he did not back down. His pulse quickened, and his anger only grew. He had been misaken to attack head on - but he could adjust now. At least one weapon remained open to him, "Stheno...cover me."

The Naga-esque youma bared her fangs at the Senshi but did not move in to bite her. Instead, she drew back to coil around her master and await further instruction. Her own weak hands sought out his, and though the contact hurt... her cool touch did, somehow, bring some relief. Together, they would wait for the steam to clear.

==

Horatio was wondering just who had turned out the lights?! She had been in mid-leap to sink her claws into the scaled face of the youma when a stream of liquid had hit her square in the eyes. The goggles had not been properly positioned over her tiny face, else they would have offered some protection. It burned and made her yowl even as she collapsed into the warm, comforting cloud that suddenly appeared, "It huts, it hurts, and someone blocked out the sun and I'm lost please help me and--OOF."

In her blindness and writhing, the Himalayan tripped over... a soft stick? She felt all around the object with her paws. No, not a stick... maybe a jumprope? and called over to the Senshi, "Hey, I think someone lost their toy, and the bad man's going to get it if we don't take it, moo wan see?" The last few words were muffled as the small cat tried to lift the object she could not see. It was surprisingly heavy!

Horatio was normally content to be held up and nestled against a chest, especially a super special, warm Senshi chest. Of course, she wasn't normally blinking tears from her burning eyes which, by the way, couldn't see anything. She could feel her new friend moving, could hear something cracking - a sharp sound that made her ears swivel each time to try and find its source. Her rough tongue licked at her muzzle as she tried to dislodge the strange... leathery taste that had come in her mouth from lifting the weird jump rope. Or maybe it was the Negaverse agent weapon? The kitty hadn't gotten a really good look at it before the stupid snake had squirted her...

The Himalayan squirmed and wriggled in the Senshi's grip, and her voice was a huff, "I want to see if I can pay back the big nasty snake so put me down and I'll go scratch it up and then you get the Negacreep, okay?" Now that the burning was getting a little bit more bearable, Horatio was ready to resume her role as resident spitfire. Even if it meant having to attack blind - because running just wasn't an option, you know? She had a Senshi to protect! "We've totally got this!"

==

The steam eventually disappated in the cool night air. The Negaverse Captain, when revealed, was statuesque in his own cold fury. Stheno relinquished her grip and slid to her full height, a pure intimidation tactic. Serpentine's mood was not improved by the futile swings of the Senshi who, clearly, had never wielded a whip in her young life. He closed his eyes and concentrated, summoning his weapon back to his hand. A pained hiss barely escaped through clenched teeth, but Serpentine quickly transferred the whip to his non-scalded hand. It would be useless there. He was by no means ambidexterous--although he made a mental note to at least begin some training with his left hand.

He could not snap his fingers for attention. He could not use his weapon for its distinctive sound, which had already been cheapened by the Senshi anyway. The only sounds he made, then, came from his careful steps towards his opponent and the order he lovingly whispered to his youma, "Stheno, subdue her."

The Naga sent him a confused look, but obeyed. She charged towards the Senshi and the cat, her belly scraping against the alley. Only once she began to charge did Serpentine, in turn, dash for their opponents. With an arm full of kitty, surely this Senshi could not react as quickly as she had before.

Never let it be said that he did not learn from his mistakes. The steam had come from her hands; he would make sure she did not have the use of them, if he could help it. At the last possible moment, he planted his feet and launched a wild kick at the blue-and-brown clad girl.

Serpentine had expected another magic attack. That was the reasoning behind the kick - to give himself enough space in the small alley to duck or dodge a steam ball. So, the blow to his face enflamed him. It hit him squarely in the nose, but he did not recoil in pain. Anyone who damaged his face immediately made any fight personal. It would not go unavenged. He kicked her to the ground and actually dropped his whip again. There was no point in trying to use it now. He had only his body, and he truly did not want to damage THAT any further given his two injuries. But he would have his revenge.

He stomped on the wrist of her blood-stained hand before sitting on the Senshi's chest. His unburnt hand closed around her throat, and he squeezed hard. There were no whispered threats in her ear. No sign of delight or mockery shone in his eyes. The only emotions he showed were pain and fury. As the blood dripped from his nose and onto the concrete, his wounded pride swelled. He used that darkness to fuel him, to squeeze harder. He doubted he could win the fight at this point... but he was not going to leave this girl unmarked.

==

Horatio mewled as she landed on her paws, squinting at the world around her. Okay, lots of blurry grey. And there was a blurry gold and green with a big black and white thing that slithered. That was all she needed in order to enter the right, right? Right!

She dashed at full speed and launched herself with all of her tiny might. The claws of all four paws sunk into the youma's hide, causing the Naga to give a howl. A few scales fell to the ground as the Guardian Cat scrambled to climb her larger opponent, but even a weak hand was able to knock her aside. Horatio hit the alley wall with an oof. Okay, she had just about enough of all of this, and she heard Leda's squeak and its fear acutely. No more Miss Nice Mauvian. She began to charge her kitty beam.

Stheno was suitably distracted by the bouncing cat. Sure, her master had given her an order... but that was before the annoying little fluff ball blocked her path. Now, it was... glowing? The youma's eyes narrowed, those slits seemingly intrigued by the light. What did it mean?

He was just waiting for her to stop struggling. The cold Captain had no compunctions about killing a girl, no matter how weak, how pathetic not in a war. Not when they might not even be humans, being as attuned to foreign moons and stars as they were. If anything, he was feeling gracious as he glared down at her. Serpentine would show her some glimmer of respect. He would leave her body in the alleyway, but he would not defile it further. The crushed hand, the bruised throat... they would be enough, if she gave up her life as well. Like the patient man he was, he simply waited for the light to die in her eyes. She deserved this. For burning his hand. For his aching nose. For his blood that dripped onto the ground. For clutching his current, strong hand as if to earn salvation from those two sins. She deserved this.

The brick chunk struck him hard. Desperation added to increased physical strength Serpentine's head jerked to the side, blood spewing from his cut temple. The grip he held on the Senshi's throat immediately slacked as he brought the unwounded hand to his head and instinctively rolled away into a quasi-fetal position. Any feeling other than rage was completely out of his mind now. Any nobler sentiment sank into a howl of pain. That b***h why wouldn't she just die?! And where was Stheno?!

The sudden appearance of a star-shaped beam answered his question. The Naga had continued observing the cat and finally taken matters into her own, small hands. Whatever it was, it made her nervous... and so she hurried to her master's side. She pushed him out of the way of the cat's attack but suffered a blow to her tail. She howled in anguish as the area immediately became numb.

Horatio slumped onto the ground, the only movement for a moment the flick of her tail. The normally energetic cat was pretty drained after her attack. She tried to roll over to face Leda... but it was effort she just coulnd't expend. "Hey... hey, Leda... can we go home now?"