Just Say No!

Just Say No! is the twelfth chapter of Season 2 of The Two Cats and the twenty-fourth chapter overall.

Pete's Shop
Mariko heads to a dispensary owned by "Pete" one morning, where she buys catnip on a seemingly regular basis. Pete is happy to see her, referring to her as "one of [his] regulars," and sells her a small bag. Mariko comes up a dollar short, but Pete decides to let her pay what she has. Mariko thanks him, waves goodbye and leaves.

Just outside his shop, however, Mariko runs into an animal wearing sunglasses, a backwards baseball cap, and a sign saying "Say No to Drugs." He lectures Mariko about on how catnip and drugs are bad, to which Mariko refutes. The animal doesn't listen to her, and continues - even after Mariko leaves.

Catnip's Dangers
As usual, Expi comes home for lunch, but after she goes back, Mariko goes outside to take the catnip she has, and as she does so, she sees Rainbow Dash, her favorite character from 'Friendship is Magic' standing right next to her. Mariko is completely dumbfounded, especially as Rainbow Dash also lectures her on taking catnip and drugs. While she is speaking and not looking, Mariko goes back inside.

She heads back to her apartment, and goes to sit down and play video games. But as she is about to change the input, she notices a public service announcement come on television featuring Pipsqueak Harry, a character from a live-action kids' show she watched as a kitten. Pipsqueak Harry in the PSA talks about the dangers of catnip and how it leads to the use of other drugs, using a slogan at the end - "Don't Nip the 'Nip." Mariko just changes the input, remarking about if he has ever seen his own show (although admitting that 'Don't Nip the 'Nip' is a good slogan).

Mariko finally boots up her Joontropolis 4K and plays Overwatch, but as she enters a match, someone on her team complains about the character she chose to play as, asking her if she's "on drugs or something." Mariko is caught off-guard, but simply thinks of it as a figure of speech, and tells him that the character she chose is a 'fine pick' and that it's only Quick Play. The animal complaining shrugs it off, telling her to "stop nipping the 'nip" and come help them. Mariko is again caught off guard by that slogan, but chooses to think of it as another figure of speech.

Mariko's team wins the match, to which Mariko is about to gloat about, but she notices the person who was awarded the "Play of the Game" has a username of "DontNiptheNip," and realizes the rest of her teammates all have some sort of anti-drug related username. The animal who complained, who has the username of "DontNiptheNip," compliments her, but then tells her to stay safe from "that catnip stuff." Another one of her teammates joins in, saying that if someone offers her catnip or any drugs, to which the rest of her team finish off by chanting "Just Say No!"

The Mob
Mariko shuts off her game system, and decides to go outside to get some air. But just outside their apartment, she is greeted to a crowd of people, including many holding some variant of an anti-catnip sign. An animal approaches her and laments about how catnip is bad for her and offers to help her quit. And then, others come and join in - including animals she saw earlier, like Rainbow Dash, Pipsqueak Harry, her teammates in Overwatch, and the animal she ran in near Pete's shop. They all start to sing about how catnip is bad for you, and with that, Mariko runs off to Pete's shop - with the mob just behind her.

As she runs, however, Mariko starts to get tired and worn out, but with Pete's shop just around the corner, is motivated just enough to continue running. She makes it and enters with the mob now standing and clawing at the front door. Pete asks Mariko what's going on, to which Mariko explains that she's had these anti-catnip animals after her all day. She then asks how Pete deals with it, but Pete tells her he's never had this many protesters. Mariko then just asks if he at least has an idea of what to do, but to her horror, he responds by telling her that catnip really is dangerous and leads to a slippery slope. He then tells her he's closing up shop, but that he can help her quit - as can all the protesters as he lets them in. Mariko screams as they began singing the song from earlier.

All A Dream
Expi comes home and wakes up Mariko as she appears to be having some sort of nightmare. Mariko tells her about buying catnip at Pete's shop that morning, and taking it after she left, albeit falling asleep without realizing. She then tells her she dreamt about being in some sort of "anti-drug PSA", but Expi comforts her, reminding her that it was all a dream. Mariko then laughs about the idea of being in an anti-drug PSA or "being a character in some weird piece of media."

Expi then tells Mariko that she's going to take a shower, then look for something to eat. As she does so, Mariko takes a look at her bag of catnip, wondering if she should stop taking it. But immediately she decides against it, telling Expi that she will be going out "for a puff," and as she does so, jokes about the idea of quitting catnip to herself.

Characters

 * Mariko
 * Expi
 * Pete

Trivia

 * This chapter serves as a satire of anti-drug PSAs that were prevalent in the 1980's, particularly stemming influence from the 90's anti-drug cartoon special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.
 * The 'Pipsqueak Harry' PSA is a parody of an actual PSA done by Pee-Wee Herman.
 * Rainbow Dash's appearance is a reference to the use of television characters in ads, with her line about going to "Tartarus before [Mariko] dies" being a reference to another PSA based off the Super Mario Super Show.
 * 80's/90's "hip" language is used to portray the type of language used towards kids.