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Honestly, hiatus had not treated Carmen that well.

She'd spent the previous months wandering the streets of Destiny City, masquerading as a peculiarly decorated stray. In some cases, she even took her scarf and glasses off to look extra pitiful and un-decorated. Those weren't her proudest moments, but a cat had to do what a cat had to do. She worried she was losing the refinement that came from being a Mauvian, but that was a silly concern. It wasn't like one could un-awaken from being a Mauvian and go back to being a normal cat, right?

Right?

The thought sent shudders through her, but not as much as this strange feeling that something was going to happen very soon. It was enough to make her raise her hackles and set her fur standing on end. Despite herself, she gave a little territorial hiss. Someone was on her turf, and they were going to get a stern talking-to, regardless of who they were.

Or maybe more than just sharp words.

If Carmen knew that she "smelled like cat," she would flip her lid multiple different directions. She didn't want to smell like any boring cat!

That aside, she heard steps and perhaps rustling, and that meant someone was in the area for sure. Something dangerous held in her posture as she skittered forth to investigate. Sure enough, there was another cat in the area, a rather well dressed cat at that. A well dressed cat with a dark star on his forehead.

There was a Chaos cat in her midst.

Once again, she hissed, her tail hairs fluffing up. "You, Chaos Cat," she snarled softly. "You have ten seconds to get out of here before I decide to make you get out of here." Last thing she wanted was him sniping a senshi, if such a thing could happen.

This cat be trollin', or trippin', or somethin', at least according to Carmen. He was way too cheerful to be up to any good. Then again, even if he was more serious, he probably wouldn't be up to any good anyway.

"Please," Carmen huffed. "Even if I had any of those things, I wouldn't let them fall into your paws." The bit about hiding a potential senshi stung a bit. She wished she did have a potential senshi, if only for the sake of dramatic potential and not being a failure as a Guardian Cat. Her bristling seemed to somehow gradually increase even further as she thought about the comment, the worrisome implications sinking in in slow motion.

"Out!" She shouted at last, charging towards Chip and attempting to give him a kitty slap with one raised paw. "Get out!"

Chip's reaction just irked Carmen more. He was mocking her for not having any projects or potential senshi, she just knew it. That brief second where his eyes bugged out upon her charge gave her a spark of satisfaction that swiftly faded to annoyance when he gave her a tail a swat. "Paws off!" she hissed, spinning around and trying to hold her tail out of reach (success not guaranteed). "You are not fit to lay one digit or 'toebean' on me." Toebean was a strange neologism that she'd heard a lot in relation to cats, but she figured she'd used it right.

Grunting, she lunged forwards for another slap. For some strange reason, she felt a hesitation towards pulling her claws out just yet, but if this strange little Chaos Cat did so, she'd show no mercy.

"You know what a toebean is," Carmen snarled, because such a cute little Chaos Cat had to have gotten his toebeans complimented at least once. Sure. Seeing him roll with the hit was even more satisfying. She had really made an impact, so to speak.

The satisfaction was swiftly shut off when Chip pounced on one of the tails of her scarf, handily pinning it in place. She would have pulled away, but in a moment of vanity, she didn't, because she was not about to lose her scarf to a Chaos cat who would do god knows what with it. She froze, her voice becoming more urgent than intimidating. "No! Get off! I won't let you take anything from me!"

Somehow, as if to spite everything, Carmen's indignation shut off, because it finally clicked into place how silly she was being. Clearly, the proper response was to be even sillier. She groaned and dropped the rigid posture, but launched her verbal counter anyway. "Fine. Take my scarf. In exchange, I'll take your hat. Fascinators are fashionable, I suppose."

"What say you? Does that seem like an adequate exchange to you?" Now she wondered if Mauvian outfit swaps were an actual thing, or if they could be.