Archive of Our Own ^beta

Nightcat carefully operated the plastic tweezer she had in her purse, plucking each of the fake red eyelashes one by one. She would have to shower in order to get rid of the gels that she applied in order to make her fur look as velvety and alluring as possible while on the job, but something like makeup was far more noticeable, and she absolutely could not have her mother see her like this. At least staff got a private washroom to change. On her first visit, She went to the public bathroom and the floor was absolutely filthy. Inv did not even bother fixing the potholes from the shoes impacting the ground.

Today… was alright, the slugcat supposed. She served some food early on before one of the dancers left and she took their place. For her just four months ago, having people drool over her as she spun on that pole, obliterating them into atomic dust as she spun around the pole, swiping her tail at the most generous patrons before slamming her absolutely MASSIVE yeezys down on the platform would have been an absolutely transcendent experience. Their desires and need for approval were stuffed full with cold, hard cash and the lustful looks of visitors, but it worried them that even this rush was slipping through her fingers like dust. Maybe she should try for some of the more… exotic shoes to perform with? Oh yeah, and selling her body out fully to strangers for more money, that as well, but shoes .

The dark-furred slugcat shuddered in discomfort. Surely… her instincts would be right again, right? This… this felt nice. She was getting what she wanted. Her impulses had led her down to this life of pleasure and exhibitionism and shoes, so she should trust it again… right? Surely getting down and going all in on the tungsten boots can’t be that bad? Some of her colleagues seemed to enjoy it, at least. Maybe this was just her apprehension blocking her, the same apprehension she had in her way from her desired life when she first visited the Inverted Nightclub and was offered a position as a waitress. Then… why does she feel so scared? So… wrong-

“Fuck!” Nightcat held on to the sink as the entire club tremored, the untimely stomp having caused her tweezers to take off a bit more than her fake eyelashes. “Fuck! Shit! Can’t they just warn us before they do-” The dark slugcat hissed to herself, clutching at her right eye and the new patch of furless slimy skin that had just been created where her eyebrow once was. Who was it that had done the slam? Was it Viv? Nat, maybe? Regardless, she will be sure to give the other dancer a piece of her mind when she comes back to work next friday night. As she rinsed her eyebrow to soothe the pain and began to work on removing her lipsticks, Nightcat heard the door opening.

Nif entered the washroom, an equally dark slugcat adorned in the signature red eyelashes and performer-required makeup. Her shoes slammed onto the floor, an ornate yet flowing design adorned with metal leaves and vibrant red-and-blue colors. She didn’t do serving all that much, half performing on the poles and at tables and the other half off with clients for more private services. Clearly, the latter tasks were not fulfilled today, seeing as how her boots are quite clean and that she was back here at all instead of offering usual “aftercare” services. As soon as she shut the door, the slightly older slugcat quickly pulled out a packet of batnip cigarettes from her purse, lighting it up to take a quick drag before noticing Nightcat in the washroom. “Hey, kid. How was your night?”

She shrugged, looking in the mirror at Nif. “Nothin’ much, just the usual pole clients for the day, got two riled enough to pay for the mega slam. How about you?” They clock out at around the same time, so their meetings here were frequent, and their relations cordial despite Nif’s brash attitudes and cynicism. “Since you are back here and clocking out, I assume you didn’t snatch someone?”

The older slugcat laughed. “Nah, I actually just came back from a client. A fucking weirdo at that.” 

“Ooh, spill the tea .” Nightcat wiped off her lipstick, ready to receive some hot gossip straight from the source. “Was it that weird-ass scavenger that asked to get crushed into a fine red paste by the shoes? Or the one in the lizard costume?”

Nif chuckled. “He was somehow both weirder and more normal than that.” She blew out a puff of smoke. “A weird blue squid guy called… look, I can’t bother remembering, and it's not like he really cared either. Something to do with rocks and numbers. He asked if I was okay with really weird shit, and I shrugged and said ‘as long as its not murder, sure’. We got into his car for him to drive us back to his apartment, and…”

“And?”

“Nothing.” Nif shrugged. “Absolute jack diddly squat happened. We went back to his place, and he, I shit you not,” she gestured a pulling motion, “rolled out a blackboard and piece of chalk, and started lecturing me on some weird math shit. I think he called it ‘Abstract Algebra?’ Tons of fucked up symbols that I had to pretend to understand. I even tried to get comfortable and take off my shoes to try ‘take notes’, but he asked to put them back on!”

“Bahahahaha!” Nightcat laughed heartily. “I can see why this client is more of a weirdo than others. How does anyone ever get turned on by doing that shit?” Nif walked over to the sink and pulled out her own purse, starting to remove her makeup by the sink. “I have some ideas, but maybe he is just a weirdo. It’s just three hours of entertaining some guy by feigning interest in the college math shit he’s talking about, and all in all he is a good tipper. Had seen weirder kinks before; at least this one was pretty benign.”

As Night finished rising off her face and removing the makeup, she felt like now was the right time to get a second opinion before leaving. She had been in here for years, so hopefully she could dispense some good---or at least coherent---opinions. “Say, Nif,” Nightcat initiated as Nif worked on removing her lip marks. “I have been thinking of… going deeper lately, like taking on table performances and specialized shoes and private clients in addition to serving and dancing. But… I don’t know.” Nightcat sighed. “Is it weird that I feel a bit… scared? Like, was it weird for me to think that I could not handle the osmium-lined shoe’s power?

“Aww, lil’ Nottie about to gamble at the big table?” Nif teased before lighting up another cigarette and taking a drag. “My advice? Don’t do it for the money. Communin’ with shoes of those power really don’t sell that much extra.” They said, pointing at their own finely crafted masterpiece. “This baby may look pretty as all hell, but… to tell ya the truth? its only a tungsten base lined with some High Speed Steel M42 for the linings. Just make the impressive materials visible to the gullible public n THAT’s how you get the attention.”

“Aww, what?” Nightcat said in disbelief. “I thought you were using Osmiridium soles at the very least.” Nif chuckled. “Nah, I could probably handle that thing’s power but I ain’t riskin’ it. There are horror stories, y’know? Of people who were overwhelmed by their yeezy’s raw drip power and became nothin’ but vessels to their eldritch whims.” The dark slugcat took another drag at her cigarette. “I am not some shoe freak who wanna splurge to buy some Hastelloy X243 or Dibenzyltetraacetylhexaazaisowurtzitane powdered shoes and risk their life just to get a little bit more profit. I wanna leave one day, you get that?” She held the still smoking cigarrete in her hand, looking wistfully in the distance. “Get out of this city, have a respectable job, start a family. I wouldn’t trade that chance for anythin’.”

The room was filled with a sudden quiet, Nightcat’s conflicting feeling storming in her head. “So… you think there won’t be a good way out of this if I continue?” Nif barked out a laugh, a plume of smoke coming out of her mouth. “Not my forte at the very least. But seeing how… into it you seem about all of this, I dunno… maybe it works out for you. Who fucking knows? You are askin’ a question at a thirty-something prostitute, ya think I’m here instead of studying law because I make wise choices?”

“Hah!” Night slightly laughed. “You make a great point. I will probably stop at osmium based-soles, then.” The slugcat put her makeup removal equipment in her bag. “I gotta go now, have to collect my check from Inv’s office. But one last question. You know of anyone who gone in deep and came out clean again?” Nif looked up thoughtfully, racking through her head. “Actually, there was one. Y’heard of someone by the name of Enot? A fairly big hotshot a while ago in the more illegal rings.”

And also my mom . Nightcat thought to herself, but quickly pressed on as this was not something she knew. “Wait, you said that Enot… used shoes?” Nif lit up a cigarette. “Well, yeah. The more customized one would be useful in crime, and he used them a bunch during his active years. He is a lot more chilled out after suddenly going under all of a sudden,” to have me, the dark slugcat thought, “but he seemed strangely averse to shoes after that point. I had a bar friend who was a henchmen for ‘em once, he had no idea what could have got him out of it.”

“Hm.” Nightcat silently considered. “Welp, my taxi is almost here. I will swing by to Inv’s office to get my check, then I will see you next friday!” After closing the door, the stomp of the metal boots shook the floor, which attracted the attention of some scavengers jeering at her, which she promptly ignored and looked the other way. After a brief talk in Inv’s management office, she stood at the gate of the nightclub, waiting for her ride while shielded from the pouring rain with the bouncer, Goku.

“Hey Nottie! How was your day?” The saiyan enthusiastically asked, towering at double her height. “Its… fine. Nothing much happened today anyways. But when I get back home, I will have to… face something.” Nightcat grimaced.

“Aww, that sucks! I would love to help you, but this seems like something quite emotional, huh?” He smiled.” The dark slugcat thought for a second, then requested for him to lean down so she could whisper something.

“Oh, you wanna tell me something private? Alright!” Goku leaned down, Nightcat leaning in and telling her secret plan. 

Whisper whisper

“Uh huh.”

Whisper whisper whisper

“Ooh! Yeah, I could do that!”

Whisper whisper whisper

“I see, alright! I should have time!”

Whisper whisper

“Since when were you such a great planner, Nottie?” Goku complimented, causing Nightcat to slightly blush. “Alright, I will keep an eye out like you asked.”

Nightcat nodded. “Thank you so much.” She checked her phone to realize her ride had arrived, and quickly waved goodbye before dashing off into the rain.

It was a light drizzle outside when she stepped out of the taxi, the gates of the upper districts that she called home as opulent and needlessly pompous as ever. Nightcat paid the scavenger taxi driver with her card, brushing off her fur to look as presentable as she could and dusting off any possible flecks of makeup or powder before trudging through the rain upon the front door of her mansion, the booms of her shoes rocking the entire neighborhood. She was not thinking much then, just having her earbuds tuned to some downloaded podcasts on her phone that she started to play when the taxi ride started. 

When she opened the door, her stomach slightly dropped. Enot, her mother, was sitting on the dining table, emotionlessly staring at a glass of fine Pinot Noir. They were still in their “work outfit”, not even bothering to put away the weaponized bracelets or belt canisters, glumly downing another hefty swig. It was obvious that the indigo slugcat had a few too many drinks already, the wine cabinet door still swung open, and the full bottle was now half-empty. Nightcat knew her mother well; despite their other bad habits they were in no way an alcoholic, much less in their own home when they could go out to whatever criminal bar or high-class restaurant when the urge calls to them. Her mother drinking like this could only mean something very, very bad.

“Hey mom, I’m back from McPebbles.” Nightcat tentatively muttered, shutting the door behind her as she was very well aware that she was stepping on eggshells. The indigo slugcat turned to look at their daughter, the alcohol-induced inebriated haze less than enough to cover up the hurt in their eyes. “how long?”

“H-huh?” Nightcat stammered, her heart starting to race. “My shift? It's five hours, like usual. I had taken the night shift, remember?”

Enot exhaled a shaky sigh, filling up another serving of wine before downing the entire glass. They used the table as leverage to get up from the chair, the inebriation clearly taking a bit of a toll on them already. “u know thats not what i meant, nighty.”

Her heart started to race further, the confrontation she had tried hard to avoid now right in front of her. “I-I don’t know what you are talking about, mom. Nothing happ-”

“dont you FUCKING lie to me!!” The slugcat screamed, grabbing the bottle and slamming it down on the table, shards of glass spraying everywhere as a puddle of wine now pooled on the floor. For a moment, the murderous glance resembled the one they would have used when they were at work, putting fear into even the most hardened criminals as they gained the mark of the Night’s Shadow. With the broken end of the wine bottle gripped in their hands, Enot slowly advanced, leather boots crunching on the glass debris. “do u think i am an idiot? that I am blind? that i won’t question why the FUCK are u wearing those abnormally sized yeezys? what kinda normal ppl do u see everyday that wears that shit?”

As Enot slowly advances, Nightcat inches backwards on their absolutely ginormous pairs of drip, the glass shards on the ground quaking as she took step-after-step back. “L-listen, mom, its not what you think. I… the restaurant, it had…” Before long, she fell into silence, accepting that nothing she said would obfuscate the truth.

“There is only one place in town where people goes to fucking drool at these shoes.” Enot muttered. “that little tramp inv and her so-called ‘capital of dripped out black slugcat hookers’, enslaving our race to- uhh, i mean-” Enot quickly stumbled on their words, causing Nightcat to temporarily raise an eyebrow. “* ahem *, I mean dressing up slugcats in these gaudy magic shoes for people to wank off to.”

“Look, mom. I… this was what made me happy, alright? Night tried to explain to her extremely miffed mother. “I am not harming anyone. I have not even had any physical encounters yet. I make sure to reject any advances from patrons, and I understood now that the extreme of exploiting my own body is a choice I could not undo and would be something I would regret for the years to come, especially with potentials like STI(Sexually Transmitted Infections) or unexpected pregnancies.” Nightcat sighed. “As such, I had made a promise to never go across that line, no matter what is coerced upon me as it would be non-consensual.”

Enot stared at her with a puzzled expression. “...the fuck u yappin’ about? and did u seriously say the word ‘open bracket’ and ‘close bracket’ to represent parenthesis in ur fucking sentences? u fuckin’ high on karma flower or smth?” The dark slugcat was confused as well, the situation not going as she expected. “Wait, so you are not mad about me being a prostitute?”

“wat?” the gradiented slugcat replied incredulously. “no, thats not what i’m mad about. ur an adult, go bang whatever scugs u want, just dont go crying to me about that shit if you get a pup from that. i murder people every month, nighty, why would u think this is outside my moral compass?” Thats… kinda true, actually. “I dunno, mom! I just thought that you would… be angry about all this shit.” Nightcat exclaimed, feeling for whatever reason a slight disappointment.

“Oh no, I am still very angry.” Enot crossed their arms. “Not about the whole sex thing, I dont give a shit about who u fuckin;” they waved dismissively, “but the shoes . i am so, SO disappointed about you wearing those fucking yeezys. i…” Despite the apparent ridiculous circumstance, Nightcat was shocked to see her mother genuinely tearing up. “i thought i raised u better than this. to not treat them like this. i made you a role model, away from me, away from the life of the drip.” They pressed on, genuinely on the verge of sobbing. “Tell me, who you knew and respected had these shoes as well? Who?”

“You.” Nightcat whispered, voice barely audible.

“what?” Enot’s expression faltered, tears still welling up in the slugcat’s eyes. “You heard me. There are stories of you being an avid collector of these shoes while in your prime. But then… you stopped showing around with them, coinciding with the time you retreated into the background to have… well, me.” Nightcat stared deep into Enot’s startled eyes. “Why? What has changed that cause you to remove all traces of these shoes? When you were reported to switch between them with ease and used them to assist in your heists?”

“i… i… damn it all.” Enot broke into a full sob. “damn it all. damn it all. damn it all.” As they dropped down onto the ground in a bawling fit, Night could not help but feel bad. They have been acting weird, but… they are her mother. With a sigh, she walked forward, sending tremors through the house with her steel plated shoes while remaining careful to not accidentally step on her. Uncertainly, she knelt down on the ground and gave her mother a tentative hug, which Enot grasped onto and only cried louder as tears flowed down Nightcat’s shoulders. “i am sorry, nighty… i am so, so sorry…”

Her eyes were starting to fog up as well, the experience of having her mother, usually kind and charming on the exterior yet ruthless and cold when things get serious but now completely removed of barriers and sobbing inconsolably in her arms, was certainly a moment of connection she did not expect to have. Unsure what to say, she just silently patted her mother’s back, letting Enot cry out their sorrows. “It’s alright, mom. I am okay now. I forgive you.”

“no.” Enot suddenly mumbled, the sobs starting to fade away. “there was still something u dont know. something u should have deserved to know long, long ago.” The indigo slugcat looked back up at her with the frayed pupils that she had known all her life, the one that held her in utter affection as she came into this world, the one that admired her messy doodles with immense pride as she shoved the crayon abominations in their face when they got off “work”, the one that still provided for her all this time with as much support and love as their lifestyle could manage. “promise me one thing, alrite?” Enot whispered. “I always was your mother, and you always were my daughter.”

“I promise.” Nightcat whispered.

Her mother rose to an unsteady walk, seemingly heading to the bookshelf which the entrance to their underground armoury was behind. What was puzzling, however, was that they were not fiddling with the bookshelf itself, but a seemingly blank patch of the wall beside it, usually covered by the sliding bookshelf when the bunker door unlocks. “so, do u want to know so bad why i stopped wearing shoes? even when they benefitted me before?” Enot asked without looking, a panel popping up in the walls to cause an octagon in the floor to be retracted, replaced with a metal hatch with two indicators of foot marks. They took off their boots, and their socks…? which Night had noticed had metallic attachments hanging off of it, and stood on the hatch. “last chance to call it off. u dont have to see it if u dont wanna.”

“Just show me the truth already.”

With a sigh, Enot obliged. “ur not gonna like it.” With the press of a button, the hatch opened save for the spot where their feet stood, a set of mechanical pistons gently lowering them into the ground as Night watched in amazement. How many years had she lived in this house, played around as a pup in this corner unaware that there was an entire assembly rig under it? The noise did not sound too pleasant, either. Lots of sounds of screws being tightened, motors whirring, the occasional odd noise of crystal being inserted, and was that… a garbled mechanical scream? She covered her mouth in concern as Enot stood motionless amidst all this, about to ask her mother some good questions when the assembly stopped. Like clockwork, the machines folded in on themselves, and Nightcat gasped when she saw what adorned her mother’s feet.

It was the most ornate and exotic shoe she had ever seen. All sort of exotic metals and alloys Nightcat didn’t even know existed. It has a generally blue and black color scheme, save for the front which has orange plates for the left shoe and beige plate for the right shoe, each with an insignia etched on it, and was one of them… Seven Red Sun’s? The side of the shoes are encrusted with three gems each, evidently magical as they pulsed with power, notched channels causing the purple, green, and red gem to power the left shoe and the blue, yellow and orange to power the right. “how do i look?” Enot wryly chuckled, spinning around as the metal base clanked against the wooden floor. 

“You look fantastic.” Night muttered in wonder. “Like the best version of me that I could picture being. But… how does this answer your question?”

“i thought you could have figured this out by now, nighty.” Enot sighed. “a shoe can not wear another shoe.”

A shoe can not wear another shoe…

Nightcat felt dizzy. No. No. It can’t be. Nononononono. 

There are horror stories, y’know? Of people who were overwhelmed by their yeezy’s raw drip power and became nothin’ but vessels to their eldritch whims.

that little tramp inv and her so-called ‘capital of dripped out black slugcat hookers’, enslaving our race to- 

“How long?” Nightcat croaked in the weakest squeak her voice could manage, filled with countless questions and emotions. “How long have you stole my mother’s body?”

“Enot” looked hurt, despite her fully knowing that there was no trace of Enot left, only the shoe. “Since you were an embryo attached to their uterine linings.” It whispered. “I grew attached to you as I carried you, birthed you, raised you. I wanted to honor their legacy.” 

Nightcat’s hands balled up into fists, as she felt rage. A burning fire within her heart that could not be put out. This thing. It had raised her and cared for her for Night’s entire life, and now she knew it was all a lie. She had heard wistful tales of it talking about Enot’s deceased husband and her father Wanderer, and now she knew that the slugcat-shaped husk in front of her was none-the-wiser about the love their parents had for eachother, and the consolation she had as a pup for at least having one parent was gone now knowing she never had any to begin with.

“i know ur upset, nighty. this is clearly shocking news to u, but i-”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT.” Nightcat found herself yelling, heart pounding with burning fury. “You are a thief, one somehow even more vicious than my mother. They were expecting a child, to raise the only part of Wanderer they had left, and you took all of it from her.” Nightcat snarled. “Years of bonding, of me growing up and of them watching proudly during my achievements, all gone. You are no excuse for a replacement. How DARE you take their place!”

The entity who called themselves Enot began to sob again, but this time Nightcat felt nothing. “please, nighty, dont do this to me! u promised! i am the one to have loved and raised you all this time, not her!” A dry laugh came out of Nightcat, a sheer blankness overtaking her mind. “Oh, trust me. I still love my mother. I had loved them dearly for all my life, and I will grieve for their loss in what ways I can. You, however?” The dark slugcat sneered. “I am not your daughter  to have.”

Nightcat watched in indifference as “Enot” knelt on the ground sobbing, but… as the seconds went by, the sobs slowly dried and transformed, into a chuckle then into maniacal laughter. Nightcat watched in unnerve as the entity who took her mother’s body guffawed, eyes glinted with a madness to a degree she had never seen her “mother” act as before. As the horrid laughs finally subsided, “Enot” regained its composure. “oh, OH. all of this, bravo! so grand, so tragic, like a work of desolation by the hands of pel herself.” The indigo husk clapped their hand, as if a movie had just ended.

“W-what do you mean?” Nightcat asked, a pit suddenly forming in their stomach.

“hahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!” The vocal cord of her mother’s body strained at how loudly it was laughing. “ur mother was an honorable slug, nightcat, more honorable than what i would have expected for a low-life thief like them.” Their mother’s visage let out a cruel grin. “when they got access to me, their mind was instantaneously on the process of being taken over. their only thought? to save their unborn child. Enot really loved you, nighty.”

“oh, how they bargained, how they begged, how they pleaded; anything to keep their child, their only thing left of Wanderer alive even when they are facing deletion themselves.” The body of Enot did a wistful sigh, as if reliving fond memories. “They struck a deal with me. In lieu of complete deletion, they gave me their accursed organic compassions. Not only their love for their job, the eternal seek for adrenaline, but also their love for you, nighty! their love for you!” The shoe-possessed vessel howled with laughter, as if this was the punchline to the most funny joke in the world. “so long as they have a child, they will always love u! they will always keep the world running for u!!!”

Nightcat falls silent. “So long as they have a child… no. no no no.” Her previous words rang in her head. I am not your daughter to have . “No no no no no… that can’t be!” The haunting shrieks of laughter only grew and grew. “do u see now? do u see why this is so FUNNY?” The shoe spoke through Enot’s living corpse, teeth clenched and spewing saliva every which way. “u killed them, nighty! u killed the piece of ur mother who loved u so much that they clung on to life, and u set me free! ur mother watched you grow up with pride and love, and u repaid them by ending their existence! their last moments were them begging for u to reconsider, to understand that they were always ur mother! oh, this is peak material right here! the most laughs i got in cent-”

“rrrraAAAAGGGGGHH!!!!! I’LL KILL YOU!” Nightcat screamed, lunging at her mother with all her might. However, she opened her eyes to find herself floating statically in space, surrounded by a flowing blue aura. Taking a glance at the boots, the blue gem appears to be glowing extra brightly. “Nuh-uh-uh!” The shoe chided, purposefully wagging Enot’s fingers in a stilted puppet-like fashion just to drive in the hurt further. “i know that compassionate me is weak and all, but they surely didn’t raise a fool, did they? decades of collecting the rarest artifacts to augment myself, and y’think just tacklin’ ur mother would do the trick?”

“Why…? Why are you not harming me still? Why can’t you just kill me?” Tears streamed down Nightcat’s face as the grief and guilt truly set in, knowing that the loving presence that had raised her was truly, in one way or another, her mother, her mother that was pleading for life in their last moments as she turned away from them. “u can call this… what do u guys call this thing now?”  “Enot” snapped its fingers a few times in recollection. “o right, investment . this body here is wasted, decades spent aging away raising a child and going on pointless criminal escapades. it shall work well enough for my conquest, but you ,” it stepped closer, caressing at Nightcat’s cheeks with each landfall with the ground emanating an aura of pure power. “u have grown to a fine specimen. young, supple, spry, quick-witted, and most of all, u possess ur father’s blood. u hold the mark of an iterator spawn.”

Nightcat dropped onto the ground, gasping and panting in front of the two shoes that she had unleashed their full potential. “So… huff… that’s your plan? To take over my body, and use it to… what? Conquer the world?” The visage of Enot contorted into a sick grin. “now ur getting it. this realm was mine by birthright, and i am burdened with the glorious purpose to invert it, to have the shadows subsume the natural order and rebuild it in my image. the age of slugcats and scavengers and iterators has come to its whimpering end, and i shall be the spearhead, the empress of the new order, the primogenitor of the age of drip yeezys!”

“No.” Nightcat muttered, filled with both empty shock and grim determination. “I… I will stop you.”

“Enot” hollered in laughter, rolling back her mother’s head to laugh heartily. “oh, this is just grand. ladies, gentlemen, unspecified, are you all hearing this?” It turned around, gesturing to a nonexistent audience. “this naïve child thinks her and her yee-yee ass haircut and her steel-plated shoe and her vestigial tail can defeat me! that hunk of junk is barely even sentient! …u know wat? sure, let’s entertain you. c’mon, little girl,” It clapped Enot’s hands, riling her up as if taunting her for a fight. “lets see what ur up against.”

“naquadriatic taranium based soles doped with degenerate rhenium, plated metastable oganesson-mendeleevium 259 alloy, thallium barium calcium cuprate oxide superconductor wires and ZBLAN optical fibers covered in fullerine polymer matrix fabric,” The shoe continued to point at the additions, “enhanced voidmetal alloy, karmic field stablizers, the tortured remant consiousness of Seven Red Suns and Sliver of Straw manning the flux controls, all six infinity stones, the Yu-Gi-Oh duel disk, thinly annealed metallic strands made from the one ring to rule them all, and last but not least…” two small objects sprang from the boot and into its hands, tossing one dismissively before throwing the other at it midair. With a woosh of air, a tree grew from miniscule size to its mature stature, bearing some sort of green fruit. Was that… a singular bird? “... and a PARTRIDGE in a FUCKING PEAR TREE! How are you going to face against that and prevail, little girl? Your metallic lining isn’t even REAL gold!”

The reaction from Nightcat was… unexpected, however, looking at all the gadgets and fancy parts her “mother” had gathered over the years. “Against all of this? I am even more sure now.” She gave a deep chuckle. “Nah, I’d win.”

This was clearly not what the shoe had wanted, this message clearly poking at the entity’s ego. “i have four stands at the ready, each one capable of ripping you apart PAINFULLY at the blink of an eye.” They snarled, a cruel laugh mixed with anger. “you can’t defeat me.”

“I do have to admit, I can’t.” Nightcat stated with an unusual confidence. “But he can!”

“Enot” turned around to see a orange-robed saiyan with spiked black hair, crossing his arms and staring intently at the indigo slugcat. Goku gave a friendly wave at Nightcat. “Heya, I got your daughter’s call that there might be someone powerful to fight, and it looks like she is right! I can’t wait to sparr with you, Mrs.Enot!”

“No!” The vessel hissed, showing for the first time since their reveal the slightest hint of fear. “u… ur nothing compared to me. u were not able to defeat me 1,000 years ago, and you will not defeat me now!”

“Hmm, that may be true!” Goku cocked his head. “But I have been practicing my techniques as well for this time, and I am eager to see if you would threaten me enough to take on these forms!” The saiyan cracked his knuckles. “Let’s battle, shall we?”

“You… i will pulverize you to atoms!” The husk of Enot screamed, ripping all six gems out from her shoe, energized tendrils controlling the six ingots of concentrated cosmic energy as they spun around in a ring, spacetime itself sparking until a reality-shattering ray of rainbow colors blasted out from the center, the fury of the cosmos itself slamming into its target. For a moment, “Enot” grinned sickeningly as Goku was obliterated into orange strands. This brief sense of victory was turned into unabated shock when the orange tendrils crawled up the blast at a lighting pace, grabbing onto the blue stone before the shoe could pause the blast and place the stones back where it should be. With a stormy blue cloud buzzing with electricity, the portal swallowed the six stones whole, leaving the shoe without a powerful weapon.

“you… YOU… what have u DONE-” The vessel’s turn in absolute blazing fury was paused by the appearance of two magical fields above and below it, quickly closing in and slamming itself onto them. Multiple metaphysical chains appeared out of swirling purple portals and latched on to every part of Enot as they rose in the air. “what-what is this? wat r u doing to me?” The pieces of the shoe began to fall away, the various powerful alloys and components clattering on the floor below. Soon enough, only the bare essentials on Enot’s feet was left.

“Alright, you can come out now.” Nightcat sighed.

The illusion faded, and standing right next to her was Inv, adorned in a fabulous and ornate shoe with its own set of ornate gemstones and a voidmetal frame. However, the aura of control in the air made it evident that unlike “Enot”, she was in full control of the shoe’s sheer disrespectful drip. She floated the six infinity stones in her hand, staring at the errant shoe intently. “I told ya, Nottie. If you give ‘em a good scare, people stop thinkin’ in rational terms and start slipping up.” Nightcat huffed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I still think we should have brought actual Goku here anyways… ”

“The Night’s Shadow… I was surprised to learn that you mothered a child, but I was more surprised that someone like you could be so rash and get into a yeezy you could not possibly have trained to control.” Inv muttered. “A shoe like this is one I would want no one to touch. Normally, I would be the one to end ya, but…” she looked over at Nightcat. “I think someone here deserved vengeance upon the one who killed her mother.” With a flick of her fingers, the illusion of the steel boots faded away like a shimmering mirage, revealing shoes made of pure voidmetal and coated in compound karmic gold alloy, six slots carved in ready to receive power. “I would be happy to oblige.” Nightcat smirked.

“No! u cant do this to me! you… i should have not entertained that thief’s last wishes.” Enot’s mouth contorted into a snarl, but this time more akin to that of a cornered lizard. “i should have dug my hands into the slugcat’s abdomen, and pull ur limp fetal body out before u have a chance to ever be alive!!! i would have enjoyed the sound of squleching on my feet, as I stamp your premature flesh into a fine pink paste!” 

Nightcat sighed. “Y’know, I never gave you a name, since you have been using my mothers. Might as well give you one before you are gone. How about… Jimbo? Does that sound like a good name?” She smiled at the puppeted body of her mother, which has now just been reduced to incomprehensible snarling. “Actually, I don’t really give a shit. You can burn in hell for all I care.” The six stones slotted into a singular shoe, emitting a cosmic glow as the dark slugcat winced and slowly lifted up her left feet. “Time to send you to the shadow realm, Jimbo. 「Beam Attack」ゴゴゴゴ ”

Cosmic energy surged as Nightcat stomped her shoe on the ground, slightly wincing still upon hearing the voice of her mother wail and shriek in agony. Slowly, each component of the shoe that had masqueraded as Enot for her entire life faded away into dust. As the strange computational chip covered by the orange and beige platings turned into dust as well, she swore she heard two synthetic sighs of relief. At last, Enot’s body went limp as the last of the shoe was blown away in the wind, dropping on the ground lifeless.

Nightcat stared at the body of her mother glumly. She was not a corpse, not yet; She was breathing, chest slowly expanding and contracting. A more appropriate term would be “comatose”, for while the shoe kept Enot’s body fit and relatively healthy, the mind was gone even before she was born. For all she cared about, her mother was well and truly dead. “Shoe or not, I tell ya, Enot lead a formidable presence in the underworld.” Inv suddenly made a comment. “I don’t think we could get peace for months thanks to the vacuum they created.”

Silently, Nightcat willed the purple, blue, and red stone out of the boot. “Not sure if my mother would appreciate us looting them… but I think you deserved this.” Inv solemnly nodded, having them float in her hands. “Go pawn them off, use them, whatever. I really only have one thing left in mind to do with these things.”

“I… think I understand what you are about to undertake.” Inv eyed at the remaining gems, knowing full well why Night kept the one for time, mind, and soul. “Just… be careful, alright? Don’t let that thing have the chance to rise again.” With that, the blue stone glowed and Inv was enshrouded in a stormy mist, before the portal collapsed and now Nightcat was alone. 

This might kill her, but it was a risk she was willing to take, if it meant they could… Nightcat shook the tears off. They need to concentrate. Balancing out the three gems across the boots, she activated all three at once, willing for Enot’s age and damage done to their brain to revert, willing for the memories of their time together to be flooded into their mind, willing for their soul to return from the cycle or oblivion. Nightcat screamed in pain as tendrils spread across her leg, her very soul rending into pieces just to keep this going. Slowly, she could see that Enot was getting younger. Wrinkles started to disappear, patches of greyed or discolored fur returned to a velvet much like her own, scars shrink down into nothing. As Nightcat felt her identity was about to be shattered into a million shards, she dropped to the ground, panting. Slowly, she crawled towards Enot, who slowly stirring into consciousness.

As she approached her mother, Enot suddenly shot awake shouting. “U cant do this to me! U cant do this to m-” The indigo slugcat looked frantically around, one hand instinctively over their flat abdomen. “wanderer… my pup… protect…” they were hyperventilating, but Nightcat only watched with emotional turmoil, holding in her breath to see if it had worked. Slowly, Enot started to calm down. “where am i? who r you? why cant i feel my pup…?”

“Shes right here.” Nightcat croaked, voice choked with emotion. Enot looked confused, then the dark slugcat’s heart soared when a glimmer of recognition came into their eyes, the thief wincing and putting a hand over her forehead. “Agh… i… remember. ur… ur nightcat. i… it hurts to think, but u r my daughter, righ-”

Nightcat cut them off, tackling the much younger version of her mother in a hug, letting the tears freely flow. “Welcome back, mom.”