Chapter 4 – A Promise Broken
After finishing her ice cream, Adora was back to walking with Agent Smith. SHIELD had been giving her more freedom since she had been co-operative since her arrest, but they still required her to have a SHIELD escort any time she left her room at the Triskelion. Usually it was Mr. Smith, but occasionally Natasha and Clint would take her for a run around the city. For her part, Adora was in awe at the size of the city, and was always looking for new foods to try and new things to do.
Taking a break in a park, the two were happily talking and getting to know one another more. Adora honestly found Smith fascinating. For being what Catra would have called a "Government Spook" he was shockingly kind and charismatic. Also, a little bit dorky but Adora knew that would be the pot calling the kettle black.
As they were talking however, several explosions went off in the distance, and Smith's demeanour changed. "Adora, stay here, I'm going to see whats going on..." he said, pulling out his pistol.
Adora grabbed his arm, "Let me come along, I'm sure I can help!"
Smith shook her off. "Adora, Stay here, that's an order. If its a trap for you, the last thing we need is you near it." he scolded, rushing off in the direction of the blast. Adora attempted to follow but suddenly found herself floored by a flying tackle. Recovering from her shock, she looked at who had knocked her over and her eyes snapped open wide, staring into an all too familiar pair of mismatched eyes.
"Hey Adora~"
Adora pushed the cat off her and got to her feet, standing defensively. "Catra? What are you doing here? Did Santos send you?" she asked, as her mind raced. For all she knew Cartras was sent to silence her for her failure, or drag her back.
Catra gave a confused head tilt. "Why so defensive Adora? I came here on my own to save you, and bring you back." she said, giving a hopeful smile at her friend.
Adora relaxed her arms a little and sighed. "Catra… I don't WANT to go back." she replied, causing Catra's face to fall as she stared in disbeleif.
"What." Was all Catra could muster. How could Adora even THINK to say that to her after what she promised.
"Catra, Santos was lying to us, mistreating us. Using us." she argued, walking closer to Catra, "SHIELD's been taking care of me, I feel...loved here. More than what Santos ever did to us."
That was a poor choice of words, as Catra grit her teeth and clenched her fists, "And what about ME Adora?! You promised you'd be therefor me, how the hell do you expect to keep that promise if you won't come back!" She yelled out, a slight hiss in her voice.
Adora immediately realized she wasn't handling things well and tried to defend herself. "Catra you don't have to go back either, come with me. I'm sure Director Fury will protect you too. We can be together and never have to worry about Santos again." she said calmly, trying to reason with Catra.
But Catra was beyond listening. "Oh what you wanna just run away with your new friends and just abandon me then?!" she yelled back
Adora was horrified at her reaction, "Catra that's not what I-"
"I mean for God's sake Adora! I set those explosives so that I'dbe able to get you away from SHIELD and save you!" Catra yelled out.
The moment Catra stopped though...Adora was seeing Red. "You did WHAT?" She said in the most icy voice Catra had ever heard, causing her fur to stand on end. Before she could stammer an explanation Adora began to SHOUT at her. "How many people did you just hurt?! Did you even think about that?! People could be DYING because of you. I mean for god's sake how could you do something so STUPID!"
Catra was dumbstruck at Adora's outburst, and shivered in a mix of fearf and anger. Adora, the friend that promised to protect her from Santos, now talking down to her just like Santos. "I'm going to see if anyone needs help Catra..." Adora angrily said shoving past her. "Lord knows what you've-" Her rant was cut off as something was jabbed into her back, sending a brutal shock through her body and causing her to collapse in pain.
Catra had thrust a stun rod into her back.
As the cat girl stood over Adora, she fought back tears. "I'm bringing you home Adora….whether you like it or not."
1998:
The Young Catra and Adora were playfully wrestling with one another while Catra's mother watched. She simply smiled down at the two, until Adora pushed too hard, Catra ended up falling over and hitting her nose on the hard floor. The Woman quickly ran in, shoving past Hydra agents to embrace her young Daughter. Adora even cried with Catra, afraid she'd hurt her friend.
"Don't cry young ones. Accidents happen. What are a few bumps between best friends right? Forgive and Forget." the woman smiled kindly down at them as she settled the two. "Now, go back to your rooms and enjoy some She-Ra, no more rough-housing outside of training alright?"
Catra did not think this through at all.
Adora was a LOT heavier than she expected. She tried her hardest to drag the still limp Adora off, but could barely move her a few inches, all while cursing and meowing in anger. Her ranting was suddenly cut off by a loud gunshot and a bullet impacting next to her in the ground. Letting her claws out she wheel around to face the shooter, who turned out to be none other than Agent Smith.
"Miss, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to get on the ground, arms behind your head. Adora is under the protection of SHIELD." he commanded, keeping his gun trained on her.
Catra, beyond angry at this point, hissed at him and pounced, slashing with her claws. To her surprise, he managed to side step her. She slashed again and he swiftly dodged. She tried again and again and Agent Smith was somehow keeping his distance. Unknown to her, the Agent was using her anger against her, banking on her not being focused to evade her. Come on kid any day now, get up! he thought, glancing at Adora, who was beginning to stir. Unfortunately he was distracted enough that Catra was able to pounce on him. She raised her claws with a grin, ready to slash his throat.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" was all she heard before a recovered Adora barreled into her shoulder first and knocked her back.
1998:
Catra's mother had broken up the two fighting over a She-Ra toy. The Two were tugging for it and it broke apart in the struggle. She shook her head in disapproval. "This was such a petty reason for you two to fight. You work so much better together." she said, kneeling down and taking the broken toy. "I'll put it back together if you promise to play nice, alright?"
"Yes momma" Catra said nodding.
"Sorry Catra's momma." Adora replied, looking sheepish.
"Friends shouldn't fight like that."
Adora was wrestling on the ground with Catra, who landed a smooth punch on her face and rolled out from under her, getting into a stance on all fours.
"I can't believe you just hit me with a stun rod!" Adora yelled out.
"Look, I told you I'm bringing you back!" Catra retorted, charging and getting into a grapple lock with her. "Even if I have to kick your ass to do it!"
Adora put her weight behind the grapple and used it to throw Catra over her head into a nearby tree and ran at her, grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back. "Catra just listen to me! You can join SHIELD like me, we can have better lives! It doesn't have to be like this!" Adora pleaded, as Catra squirmed in the lock.
Catra dug her toe-claws into the tree as she ran up it and flipped over Adora's head, reversing the lock and pulling her into a knee to the gut. As the wind was knocked out of her, Catra then leapt up and wrapped her legs around Adora's arm, beginning to apply pressure. "You abandoned me Adora! Even if you'd been apprehended you still CHOSE to stay with your 'new' friends! You left me hanging, and I'm stuck with that bitch Santos because of you!" she yelled, applying more pressure, intending to dislocate Adora's arm to make her easier to drag back.
Adora replied by pouncing her in the head to make her let go and grabbed Catra in a bear hug. "Catra that's enough! I'm not going back! If you're gonna choose to stay with her that's your own fault!"
These words enraged Catra, far more than Adora had even intended. She headbutted Adora to make her loosen her grip, and in a swift motion, vaulted over her. Before Adora could react, Catra dug her claws into Adora's shoulder blades and raked them down the entire length of her back. Adora's screams of pain suddenly brought Catra back to reality and she was horrified to see the bloody claw marks through her best friend's torn jacket. "Adora, I didn't-!"
She didn't have time to finish before an enraged Adora punched her, full force, in the face, sending her flying back several feet. Adora went white seeing what she'd done, she hadn't intended to hit her so hard, she just lashed out. "C-catra..."
Catra managed to get to her feet, and wiped at her face realizing her nose was broken from the punch. The two simply stared each other down as people we watching in shock and horror at the fight that had broken out. Catra wiped the blood away again and grit her teeth. "So much for protecting me Adora….you broke your promise."
This statement hit Adora in the heart and she found herself at a loss for words. Catra got back into her stance and hissed, clearly ready to continue the fight, before an arrow landed in front of her, beeping. She quickly realized it was an explosive and barely leapt away from it as Clint and Natasha arrived, running beside Adora.
"Adora are you alright? We came as soon as Agent Smith contacted us!" Clint asked, notching another Arrow and aiming it at Catra.
Natasha stepped up as well and raised her handguns. "Stand down and surrender yourself to SHIELD custody." she demanded.
Catra scoffed at the two, reaching into her pocket and pulling something out. "Have fun with your 'new' friends Adora, clearly you don't need me anymore." she declared, before flicking the switch in her hand setting off a car bomb behind the three Agents and flooring them, allowing her to escape into the crowd.
As they recovered, Natasha checked on Adora, wincing at the bloody claw marks in her back. "Adora….are you alright?" she asked.
Adora simply curled up and shook her head, silently weeping for the loss of her friend.
Adora, having gotten home, showered off the dirt and blood from the fight, and Natasha took out a medical kit and helped stitch up the claw marks. Adora grimaced at the marks in the mirror. They were definitely not going to ever heal well, they'd leave scars. Not to mention the sheer emotional damage she was still suffering. After she composed herself, she asked to bring her to Nick Fury. She had said she wanted to ask something of him.
As she stood in front of Shield's director, she composed herself and gave a single declaration.
"I want to join SHIELD officially. Please, let me enlist."
Nick sat silently for a moment and nodded, before making a counter-offer. "I have something more in line with your abilities I want to discuss. Allow me to tell you about the Avenger Initiative."
Catra angrily stormed back into the Followers base, through the Orphanage. As she stomped in she passed one of the other orphans, a rather strange girl named Emily. "Oh hey Catra! Wow you look like hell." She chimed in.
"Fuck off Emily I'm in a bad mood." she replied, shoving past her.
"Okay!" Emily replied, turning back to the little device she was tinkering with, before looking back up. "Doctor Santos seems angry too. Says if you got back she wanted to meet you in her Sanctum. Miiiight wanna talk to her."
Catra groaned in anger, but also grew concerned. Almost nobody ever came back from Santos' inner sanctum. It was said that is where she kept an artifact of Inperatio, but nobody really knew the truth of this. She scurried through the large double doors, and down the long hallway until she reached the center of the Facility. There, she came across the doctor, standing at a large alter and holding something, her back turned to Catra.
She ran her hands across the object she held, speaking softly. "Such a beautiful thing… the source of our master's power. And their Influence over our world. The only relic of our lord Inperatio, Weaver of Shadows, in out world." she darkly chuckled, before turning her attention to Catra, yet still not looking at her. "It's about time you dragged your sorry hide back here. Where the hell have you been?" She demanded, her voice echoing across the walls.
"I went after Adora, I was going to drag her back here!" Catra stated matter of factly. "Especially since you didn't have any-"
"SILENCE!" Santos yelled back, shutting Catra up. "You disobeyed me. And did you recover Adora?"
"I...I didn't, no… But I could have!" Catra replied.
"So you return to me a failure yet again. I am not surprised..." Santos retorted, causing Catra to finally have enough.
"For Fuck's sake! If you fucking hate me so much why don't you just pawn me off on another Orphanage, or sell me like your other experiments!?" she demanded, uncaring of her tone and driven by pure fury from the day's events.
"Oh Catra, that option would only work if you WERE an Orphan." Santos replied, leaning forward slightly.
Catra, caught off guard, couldn't say much else aside from, "What...what did you say?"
Santos then threw her head back and cackled. "Oh I should have known, of course it was too much to expect you to figure it out you idiotic little brat." she said, amusement in her voice. "Your birth name, is Catra Claudine Santos." she turned around and her green eyes locked on Catra. Catra was left stunned. This woman, this MONSTER, was the loving mother from her memories?
At that moment she noted what Santos, her mother Lorraine Santos, was holding. She slowly raised the mask in her hand to her face. It was a varying shades of red with a black band around the eyes, and the eyes themselves being a milky white, hiding her bright green eyes behind it. In the forehead was embedded a gem, the same gem from the stories Santos had told her of Inperatio.
The Black Garnet, conduit of Inperatio's power.
As the mask rested on her face, Santos' raven black hair began to flow wildly behind her and all of the room's lights began to dim. She began slowly approaching Catra as the door locked behind her, and the Shadows in the room all seemed to flow towards her, extending from her body like Tendrils.
"And now, my daughter," she began, her voice echoing and her hands crackling with dark red lightning, "You disobeyed me, therefore you must be disciplined..."
Catra's screams of terror and pain went unheard by the facility….
To Be Continued….
And thus, the reveal that I'm assuming several people already guessed.
Doctor Lorraine Santos wasn't just referencing Shadow Weaver. She WAS her.
FUN FACT: Her original name in the first drafts was Lorraine Saint-Tous. Buuuuut then I realized that would have been PAINFULLY obvious, as Shadow Weaver's voice actress was Lorraine Toussaint. I'd be very interested to hear how many of you had guessed this was coming?
Even the name of their god was a reference. Inperatio – Latin for "Obedience"
Also did anyone catch the cameo?
All that being said, this was a ROUGH chapter to write honestly. I was not wanting to screw such a major chapter up, so I kept second guessing and rewriting how the fight went. Not helped by today just being stressful as all hell. Troubles with the city I live in, tough work day, and learning a Manga Writer I highly respected and enjoyed recently passed made this a hard write. But I powered through.
NOTE: I do not own She-Ra or the MCU, all related characters belong to their respective owners.
I HAVE NOT SEE PAST SEASON 1, REFRAIN FROM SPOILERS IN REVIEWS AND COMMENTS. (THOUGH I AM AWARE OF THE NAME OF THE SPELL OF OBEDIENCE)
Reviews and comments are encouraged, I appreciate feedback on my work.
NEXT TIME: Some Assembly Required….