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“Sho,” Catbird mumbled, mouth full of blueberry pancakes. “Got plans this weekend?”
Catmint absentmindedly poked her muffin with a gloved finger.
“…Catty?”
“Hm?” She snapped back to attention.
The two sat in the Amiibakery, a small building attached to the Amiibrawl stadium. Quiet chatter filled the room as fighters met up to lament their losses over some pastries. The two rivals sat at a table in the center of the restaurant, staring at each other blankly.
“Uh, you—“
“Sorry, what did you say?” Catmint asked.
“Uhh…” Catbird looked at her strangely for a moment. She was usually pretty observant, what with the cat ears and all, but… she had gotten pretty wrecked earlier. “You got plans this weekend?” He asked again.
“Well, it depends.” She leaned back, eyes closed to recite a familiar script. “If I successfully thwart you before then, my schedule will be booked.”
“If not?”
“Hmm… how about bowling?”
Though she didn’t look it in comparison to the other tourney-goers, Catmint was a supervillain, and Catbird her arch nemesis. The two had been dealing with each other for years, now— Catmint would build some contraption to take over a planet with, and Catbird would stop her in the nick of time. The two had done it all; gunfights, swordfights, spaceship-fights… usually ending in Catmint’s ship being destroyed. With the speed she rebuilt it at, she could have done wonders as an engineer.
But the two continued to fight, on and on. After a while, they realized they… really didn’t hate each other’s company. Yes, Catmint still tries to take over the world every week, and yes, Catbird still beats her ass every time, but they hang out now, too.
“I can do bowling,” Catbird answered, taking another bite of pancakes.
He enjoyed it, their hangouts and battles alike. They knew she wasn’t quite good enough to ever beat them, but Catmint always managed to come up with something new. The life of a superhero can get monotonous, and she kept it interesting.
He looked up at Catmint again to see them staring off into the distance. Their muffin was still untouched.
Catbird’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t wanted to bring it up, but… Catmint got absolutely stomped in the tournament. They’d been excited— it was a new avenue to take over a world! But it seemed she still wasn’t strong enough for some opponents. Catbird approached the question carefully.
“Hey, you’re not still hung up about earlier, right? That… “big numbers” person, they’d probably get me too.”
Catmint glanced at their rival, then continued looking around.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s just… I don’t know, the adrenaline, I guess?” She scratched at her ear.
“Heh, I’m surprised you still want to keep going after that,” Catbird teased.
“Mm.”
She continued staring around the restaurant, changing targets every few moments. Catbird continued to worry. Catmint was a bit of a weirdo, yes, but something about her behavior seemed… off. He opened his mouth to ask another question, when Catmint suddenly snapped back to focus.
“It’s THAT guy!” She exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
“A— what?”
“The, gah— Suh… something… something with clouds! Cloud guy!”
“……..Weatherman?”
“YES.” She slammed her hands on the table, making the silverware rattle. “Weatherman. He’s at that table back there.” She motioned subtly with her head.
Catbird leaned to the side to give him a look. Sure enough, Weatherman sat at a table in the corner. He seemed to be reading a book, sipping a coffee. They looked back to Catmint, concerned.
“He’s been watching me this whole meal,” she said, staring at her rival intently.
Catbird looked over to him again. He turned a page of his book, not seeming to notice as they stared.
“…Uh, no, I don’t think so?”
“What?” Catmint’s ears flattened against her head. “But— SOMEONE’S been watching me. And he… he’s giving me weird vibes.”
“Ah, well,” Catbird leaned across the table to pat her on the shoulder. “He’s always got weird vibes. Nobody’s watching you.”
“I—“
“Just take it easy, you gotta rest after a loss like that.”
“But I…” She glanced back at Weatherman as he took another sip of coffee, unfazed. She turned back, shaking her head aggressively. “Urgh— I— whatever. I’m going.”
She stood up suddenly, nearly knocking over her chair. She grabbed her coat (cape, really) and sped out of the Amiibakery.
“Wh— Wait, Catty?!”
Catbird was left stunned, watching as she went. Maybe he’d been a little too harsh on that last comment. Catmint didn’t usually get this upset, but tensions were high, after all… he sighed and looked back at what was left of their meals.
…She left her muffin uneaten.
————————-
A dull “clunk” sounded as Catbird landed on the top of Catmint’s spaceship. He flapped his wings and folded them away, looking around. It was more of a formality— he knew exactly where he was headed. Despite her ship being destroyed many times over, Catmint never seemed to alter the layout.
As he approached the hatch he knew was there, he went over the possibilities for today’s excursion. Catmint had been getting really into robotics lately. Maybe she made some robot minions, or a giant mech, or a robot-arm-backpack, like some sort of… unspecified aquatic animal.
…On the other hand, though, she had been a little weird. They hadn’t seen her since after the tournament, where she’d rushed out of the Amiibakery. Maybe she had come up with a good idea in her frustration? Or maybe she was just mad about losing. Either way, it was making Catbird a bit apprehensive. He needed to be prepared for anything.
He stopped, just barely away from the hatch, when the whirring of machinery sounded below him. He stepped back. They absentmindedly tapped their foot against the ship’s exterior as the door began to open. The platform would slowly raise, and Catmint would appear, striking a dramatic pose…
…But she didn’t. The door opened, and whatever mechanism had been working before went silent. Catbird carefully leaned over the open hole, trying to see what was wrong.
Suddenly, a reddish blur shot out and into the air. Catmint leaped over her rival’s head, twirling through the air and landing perfectly on a platform behind him.
“So, you’ve come to face me again, Catbird?” She jeered. Catbird, caught a little off guard, had to regain their composure as they turned around.
“Catmint. Are you getting into acrobatics now?”
“Oh, not quite…”
Catbird narrowed his eyes. Their hand fell to rest on their blaster— a dinky-looking but effective weapon.
“What is it this time, then? Giant robot?”
“Ah!” Catmint snapped their fingers. “I should have gone with that. No, this time I’m being a little more… direct.”
She hopped down, landing gracefully on the top of the ship. She began to slowly walk towards, and around, Catbird.
“You see, Catbird, I still can’t seem to get over my loss in Amiibrawl.” He had been right about that, it seemed. “If I had won, I could have taken over the tournament… But I wasn’t strong enough.”
“So, what?” Catbird took a step back as she approached him.
“Today’s plan is twofold.” Catbird tilted their head to the side— ‘twofold?’ Really? She ignored him and continued on. “Me and you will fight. One more chance to best me in battle. And one last bit of training for me, before I fully take over Amiibrawl. Speaking of, haven’t you noticed our flight path?”
She grinned a toothy smile, a little more sinister than usual. Catbird stopped suddenly, whirling around. The ship had been floating fairly close to the small planet containing Space Florida… but Catbird hasn’t noticed it getting closer. He whirled back around to Catmint with a determined look.
“You wouldn’t…”
“Nyahaha— I would! In approximately… five minutes, the ship will crash right into the Amiibrawl stadium, and it will be mine for the taking!”
She smirked at her rival, tail twitching with anticipation. With one hand, she pulled her sword from her belt.
“Well? Are you gonna stop me?”
She held it up, aimed at Catbird. The weapon itself was mostly just a handle, but with a “click,” its laser-light blade appeared.
Catbird grabbed his own weapon and held it out in turn for a moment. He pressed the trigger, and their battle began.
Immediately, Catmint shot to the left, easily dodging his fire. Catbird backed up, trying to get more distance between them, but Catmint would not let up. Every time he moved back, she’d close the gap in an instant, and swing too close for comfort.
Catbird cursed under his breath. What was she doing? Usually, she kept her distance, relying more on her weapon’s projectile attacks (yes, it had those too). But today she seemed faster, more aggressive.
So Catbird took to the skies. That was one clear advantage he always held— wings. He flew over Catmint’s head and took aim once again, firing a few shots. He’d expected her to be an easy target, now forced to use her range, but she wasn’t. She wasn’t firing back at all anymore, instead just dodging. She seemed really fast. Was she normally that fast?
Catbird didn’t even have time to wonder as she leaped onto the platform she’d landed on before, turned suddenly, and shot towards him.
Panicked, Catbird raised his blaster to block his face. The impact that followed was still enough to send him flying—or falling—back down to the ship, where he landed somewhat painfully.
He pushed himself up to see Catmint kicking their blaster away. She looked at them with a smirk. Catbird scoffed, and got back to his feet. He pulled out the two blades attached to his belt, and went on the offensive.
He was matching their advances, now. The two dodged, blocked, and parried each other’s moves. This was how their fights often went— Catbird always won, but he’d save his final strength until the very end. Until then, it always seemed like a close call.
This time, though… Catbird felt a little more stressed than usual. Why had Catmint been so focused on her sword attacks? Why did she seem so much more agile than she was last time? Did that tournament teach her something? With every move he dodged, he could feel himself getting just a little more tired. Catmint still seemed full of energy.
Realizing he needed to put a stop to this, Catbird backed up. He suddenly shot into the air, before plummeting down towards Catmint, blades forward.
But instead of connecting cleanly, his weapons clashed against Catmint’s own. She held her sword sideways, attempting to parry Catbird’s strongest move.
She was smiling, staring at him intently. He was sweating, still trying to win the clash. He glared at her, but his gaze softened slightly when he noticed her eyes.
Were her pupils always so… square?
As if taking this realization as a sign of weakness, Catmint’s smile widened. She leaned on her back foot, channeling some sort of energy she’d been saving, and in a single, clean motion, knocked Catbird away.
He smacked against the platform wall with a crack. They grimaced at the impact— one wing felt more than a little broken. He sat up anyways, wincing, trying to get back into the fight, reaching for his belt…
…But he quickly realized he had nothing left to use. The two watched together as his blades tumbled away to the world down below.
They were nearing the stadium. And Catbird had nothing to fight with.
“Ah.. ahaha… hahaHAHAHAHAHAA!!!”
Catmint was laughing. Loud and manic and better than she had ever evil-laughed before. Catbird felt a little sick. But she wasn’t looking at him. She was watching as her ship sped towards the ground.
“I did it. I finally did it! This world… will finally be MINE! AHAHAHAHAHAHA-!!”
Catbird was frozen in place. Horrified. She… she’d won. How had she won? This wasn’t supposed to happen. He looked around frantically. What could he do? What could he possibly do? His eyes landed on the hatch Catmint had jumped out of initially. As quickly as he could, he shuffled over, dipping inside.
On the inside of the ship, warning alarms were blaring incessantly. He staggered through the familiar layout, down the hall to the cockpit.
In front was the large window, doubling as a screen, that Catmint used to see forward and operate her ship. Catbird fell into the captain’s chair, scanning all the buttons and tabs in front of him. A panel off to the side was displaying a countdown to impact.
20 seconds.
They’d stopped the ship before, but now, it all felt more real. More pressing. Catmint was weird, and she… she WON. If he didn’t stop her now…
They shook their head. Stop the ship. Brakes. They looked down— the main controls were some kind of slapshot mix between that of a boat, plane, and train, all at the same time. They scanned over them quickly, trying to find anything— there. A large lever. They grabbed it, pulling as hard as they could. He could hear the grinding of machinery and the sound of thrusters as the ship, somehow, slowed to a halt in the skies above Amiibrawl stadium.
Catbird sat at the controls for a moment, breathing heavily. It was all okay. He did it. He still won in the end. It’s okay. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, as Catmint walked in.
“Catbird?!”
He whirled around, startled by their sudden appearance.
“You— but— I beat you!”
She looked… a little hurt. Maybe she herself had been so shocked to win that this felt… unfair, somehow. Catbird forced a smile.
“…You know I’d never let you beat me for real.”
“I— but—“ Catmint stopped and stepped back, face flushed. No, she seemed… embarrassed, to think she’d won. Of course she hadn’t. Of course Catbird beat her. Of course.
Catbird pushed himself back to his feet, stepping over to his rival.
“Just… no more schemes for a bit, okay?” He was quite injured, but didn’t want to say it. Not now. He patted her on the shoulder.
“Good try,” he said.
And he walked past. He could feel their eyes on him as he went, but he didn’t turn around.
Her eyes still looked wrong. And until he could figure out why… He didn’t want to look.