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Park lounging could have been considered a hobby for Bob, as much as he tended to gravitate towards the many city-owned land plots. There was always something going on in one - if there weren't Moons and Negas duking it out with one another, there were picnics and children and children meant snacks and handouts.

Whatever the reason behind his infatuation, Bob once again found himself spreading across the back end of one of the wooden park benches, paws draped over one side. He let off a long, exaggerated yawn as his tail flicked back and forth, eyes scanning the area for anything of interest.

It was a shame, really. Judging by the look of things, the afternoon was turning out to be yet another bust.

The aura blipped into his mental radar and the unusual sensation had the fur on his back prickling up. It was Chaos - Chaos had entered the park - but it was unlike any of the agents he was used to finding lurking among the trees and playgrounds. This was darker energy, hard to pinpoint.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he dropped down onto the ground and slowly began to pad his way towards the trees. The soft grass helped quiet his paws, ears twitching as he heard a female's voice with a very peculiar lisp.

Head tilting, he peered into the trees. There was a silhouette of a young woman, shrouded by the shadows. The Chaos aura seemed to be exuding from her vicinity - was she a senshi?

"You seem lost, baby doll," he crooned out, calling to the shadow in the distance, "Need a helping hand? Or paw, rather?"

The Mauvian seemed amused by her reaction, sneering as he straightened his shoulders and puffed out his chest.

“Who else would it be, sweetcheeks? There isn't anyone else around but me and your lovely sel---”

His words cut off as she walked her way into his view. No - slithered her way into his view. He'd known she was part of the Negaverse, but his assumption had been off. It had been way off.

While she had the beautiful torso of a woman, everything else was horrifyingly snake. Even her hair, the further she drew near, consisted of dozens of little snake heads, bobbing and weaving, tongues flicking out as beady eyes stared in her direction. This was no woman - this was a youma and a monstrous one at that.

Instinct had him scrambling several feet back, the hairs on his back and neck standing up as his ears flattened. Snakes and cats, not a good combination.

“If you eat me, Laurelite herself will gut you for killing one of her Mauvians.”

A blatant lie, but… well, Bob wasn't above lying to ensure the safety of his own hide.

"Because I'm cute?"

Okay, probably not the best reason to give a monstrous woman with dozens of snakeheads for hair.

As the large humanoid being towered over him, the fluffy orange tail tucked itself under his body as the Mauvian crouched to the ground, hunkering down until his body fell over his splayed paws. Ears remained flattened against his head and his green eyes had never been wider.

"Look - she won't be happy, we aren't dime a dozen like youma are. But I can see you're a lady who needs a bit of convincing, so, uh.. ah..."

His mind scrambled for an excuse, an answer, a lie - anything to distract the creature from devouring his fat, fluffy self, tie and all. Of all the times not to have a teleport!!!

"I'm resourceful. I mean, you mentioned there being trouble earlier, right? I'm great with handling trouble! I'm a trouble solver!!"

Wait... the toy store?

This fearsome creature, of all things, wanted to go somewhere so that she could play with dollies? Alright, well, color him surprised.

One ear slowly rose from its cowardice position as the muscles in his shoulders slowly began to relax. She wasn't leaning in to strike him and the odd conversation about dolls and tools was distracting enough to keep him from experiencing the constant state of oh s**t.

"I'm Bob," came the answer to her demand, first and foremost, before adding, "I know a few joints that sell toys. You're going to have to be a bit more specific with what kind of tools you're looking for, if you don't want this to take all night."

His tone remained wary, lacking the typically lazy, jovial tone the Mauvian's words usually held within them.

A brush.

The woman-monster with snakes for hair wanted a brush.

Okay. Well. This was definitely new territory for the Maine Coon, but if it meant not getting his a** chewed up and turned into minced meat for a bunch of snakes... well, he'd go out on a toy hunt.

"You're a peach, y'know that?" He was hesitant to turn his back to the youma, but what choice did he have if he was going to get her where she needed to go? "What's your name, anyways?"

Paws padded their way towards the park's exit; there was a toy store just a block or two over, in part of a shopping district he knew would be closed around this hour. If they were lucky, there wouldn't be any wandering civilians either....

Not that Bob minded, of course. It just made for less of a mess for him to bear witness to.

"Medi. I like it." It was short, sweet and simple. Not that he intended to remember it, much as he assumed that this would, blessedly, be the one and only time he'd ever run into the snake youma.

He ignored the vermin comment, the Mauvian attempting to reason with himself that if the youma had wanted to kill him, she'd have done it and gotten it over with by then... right? Right, surely. Probably. Maybe?

The sidewalk seemed to go on forever, a change from his normal loitering and walking. Maybe it was the fact he was being followed by a monster that still made the hairs on his backside prickle, but it took what felt like twice as long to make it to the toy store, the windows dark and vacant. According to the sign, it had been closed for at least two hours - no sign of any lingering store worker within.

Finally choosing to turn around and face the gorgon youma, Bob's gaze steadied itself on her pointed nose, as opposed to the eyes that stared back. He wasn't ready to make eye contact with the monster just yet.

"Alright, boss. Toy store, at your service." He knew he should probably jet and be done with it all, but curiosity was quickly getting the better of him once again. "You know how to pick locks or... y'know, how were you planning on getting in, exactly?"

She looked far too dainty, snake tail aside, from knocking through doors like Bazzite could.

Eyes widened as the glass shattered, the sound echoing through the night air. No alarm began to blare - was there a silent one? Was one even set? Bob had little time to think (or care) about what happened next... well, until he was roughly snatched up by the scruff of his neck.

Letting out a startled yelp, the cat wiggled his way to turn around and stare at his serpentine captor. "Wait, this wasn't part of the deal, what are you---"

But it was too late, Medi already slithering her way into the toy store, cat in hand. Bob scowled as his eyes worked to adjust to the darkened store, gaze flickering up to stare at the aisle labels.

"There," he sulked, gesturing towards the fourth row, "Doll stuff, aisle four. Can we at least hurry?"