purrrnicious | Heart Game: Run #3

It wouldn't be right to go halfway about it.

... I'll be all right. It's not as though I'm really the one who experienced it, and if I know what to expect... maybe I can help, later. As her unitmate.

Mm... you don't seem the type to give up halfway anyway. I think... she would appreciate the fact that you've went so far for her, too.

[ She motions forward then. ]

I'll follow after you then.

Haa... I wonder about that.

[she's very prideful, after all. meanwhile, he has no real pride.

taking a breath but then going for the final door]

[The final memory goes like this (cw for asphyxiation):

This one opens in Hordak's creepy inner sanctem with all its concrete and pipes and machinery, most of which Kohime can't identify. She's not a tech person. She makes her way in, a little anxious, not sure why she's been summoned here -- but her mood in general is different, too. She's stressed and she's afraid, and her boss sure is part of it.]

Catra: You. . . wanted to speak with me? Lord Hordak?

[Hordak addresses her without facing her, working on some sort of tube with a tool that resembles a screwdriver.]

Hordak: Yes, Force Captain. I wish to –– "touch base", as you put it; see how my orders are being carried out.

Catra: Everything is running smoothly.

[It's a lie, and she doesn't sell it convincingly, speaking just a little too quickly and urgently. Hordak drops the piping he's working on and turns partly to face her, now.]

Hordak: Does this mean Shadow Weaver has been transferred to Beast Island, per my orders?

[There's a beat –– because if he knows she's lost Shadow Weaver he will kill her –– so she opts to lie, instead.]

Catra: ...Yes! I sent her yesterday, just like you ordered. Believe me, we're never going to see her again.

[She barely gets her words out before a recording of Kohime's own voice, admitting to someone that she "lost" Shadow Weaver and had to find her before Hordak found out -- it echoes in the room, coming from Hordak's creepy little imp spy that swoops down over their heads and lands on Hordak's shoulder with a disturbing little giggle. Apparently, she'd told someone that she'd lost track of Shadow Weaver, and Hordak had sent the imp to spy on her which was overheard. Kohime in the memory is shocked at this turn, and then terrified.]

Hordak: You lied to me.

Catra: ––Wait!

[Hordak takes a couple steps forward to reach and pull a lever, the one from the earlier memory with this person. It activates some machinery in the room that alters the atmosphere, having no noticeable affect on Hordak (then again, he's a pretty alien-looking creature, something between a bat, vampire, and parially robotic) but there's an immediate impact on Kohime. She starts taking panicked, gasping breaths, not properly able to breathe with the device active.

It's at this point that Hordak approaches, unaffected as she struggles to breathe and collapses to her knees.]

Hordak: I know your lax security allowed Shadow Weaver to escape. I know you've been covering it up, lying about her whereabouts. But worst of all, I gave you the chance to come clean, to prove your worth to me –– to the Horde. This was a test, and you failed.

[The last thing she remembers is staring up at Hordak, tears in her eyes, pained and scared but somehow also angry and frustrated because it was always, always this way. Not good enough, worthless, thrown out like trash, first Shadow Weaver, then Adora, now Hordak.

The memory ends when her vision fades as she passes out. It's not at all clear if she survived.]

As you come back to yourself, maybe still fighting off the panic of being choked to death (understandable!) you find. . . well, you still can't breathe. Is the air thinner? Why does it feel like trying to suck in your breath through a straw? And as the seconds pass, it's not getting any better.]

[n-no. this bad. this is really bad he can't breathe he can't breathe???]

[ Air.

She can't breathe. She can't breathe.

Clawing at her throat in a panic she tries desperately to draw breath. Why can't she breathe!? It was just a memory, wasn't it? ]

[panic driving him to pull out the tracker.

WEIRD VIRTUAL FRIEND, HELP???]

[It crackles to life, showing the boy from before again, though the reception is poorer than last time.]

"Hello?"

[HOW TALK WHEN NO AIR??????]

Help...

[ Choking background noises from behind Princess Crown ]

"Wha–– o-o-o-o-okay! Don't panic, don't panic, uh–– you need to get out of there! Get back to the lift, and the air should be fine! C-can you make it?!"

[........ oh.

right.

... i-if he can power through Tyki Mikk's vacuum, surely...

g-grabbing hold of Kaguya and making the attempt to get in the lift]

[ She tries to help and not just slow their progress down though she sure is feeling the effects of a lack of breath.

Is it possible to shoot some air at the floor or nearby and try and... propel them toward the lift?? ]

[She can try. Just don't hit Crown.]

[ TRYING.

And aiming away from and behind them...! ]

[It helps a little, though not much. The feel of the rebounding air washing over them might help bring a little relief to the heavy, oppressive feeling of the stale air, if only briefly.]

[briefly is enough so he can get them to the lift, honestly

but immediately gonna collapse on the floor when he does]

[As Bow suggested, getting clear of the floor relieves the effect, and you find the next breath you take gives you cool, clear (relatively, anyway, this is still the Fright Zone) air.

You're currently on the 5th floor. The floor options are still there, but unlike before, there's a new floor indicated:

Main Floor
Floor 2 - Childhood
Floor 3 - Cadet
Floor 4 - Force Captain

Floor 6 - Audience Chamber]

[ Just gasping in air and collapsing to the floor as well.

What the hell. What the hell is wrong with these people!? ]

Hah-

Hah...

[ Breathless. ]

C...Can we just- [ BREATHE ] Can we just... get rid of him?

P...probably...

[they'd have to find out where he actually is and...

too busy BREATHING to really think too hard about it]

[ Whew... Just going to sit against the lift wall for a moment to try and get this residue panic and breathing thing back under control.

. . . It's only until she's managed to calm down a bit and get the oxygen flowing once more that she realizes there is something different. ]

. . . Hey.

[ They would have noticed this before, right? ]

The floors.... there's a new one.

[uuuugh. of course there is...]

... should we...?

[ Dream logic... ]

You know. Maybe it'll just be more direct. If it's a dream, then maybe we can just deal with things head-on...? We're in disguise, too, so... we have that going for us?

... that makes sense.

[time to. push himself up to hit the button for the 6th floor, then.]

[When you arrive on the 6th floor, the doors open on a long, concrete hallway, grey and plain. A door is at the end of this hall.

There is a Kohime here, leaning up casually against the wall with her arms crossed, in her BARiTONES uniform instead of a Horde one. She raises an eyebrow at them when the door opens.]

You two? Really?

Heart Game: Run #3

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