It was a weird day for Scorpia. On one hand, she was happy that her friend, Catra, finally got another accomplishment for the Horde and Lord Hordak, but she was also concerned since she saw her friend conflicted about something involving said accomplishment. That is why Scorpia was bringing Catra some self-brew tea in the storage room because that would cheer her up.
However, when she arrived at the location, it left her puzzled: there was no Catra, the only person in the room was their new prisoner bonded by ropes, Adora, sitting on a box joyfully swinging her legs with a faint red on her face.
Of course, Scorpia would be confused since Catra was not guarding the prisoner, but when she was about to ask what happened, the corridor she just left was gone, destroyed by a blur she almost missed when she turned around. Without missing a beat, she closed the door behind her and waited inside together with Adora. Surely Entrapta and Catra would do something about whatever that was and came to rescue her, she thought to herself.
After some time, the doors were open and a dark-skinned man walked into the room from the heavy snowstorm outside. Scorpia knew who the man was, Seahawk, a rebel she saw earlier with Adora's group before they had fallen a hole. Also, he was that Horde inspector from some months ago.
Naturally, the man tried to rescue Adora and grabbed Adora's shoulders, but Scorpia wouldn't let him have his way and grabbed Adora's legs, making it seem like they were having a tug-of-war with the prisoner as a rope.
Both enemies were talking about their responsibilities regarding Adora but when the topic became Catra, it made Scorpia admit insecurities about her relationship, making her release her grasp from Adora. To her surprise, instead of running away with the prisoner, Seahawk told Scorpia she was feeling the same way.
So they sat down, talking about their problems to one another. It turned out that the two of them were a lot similar besides being enemies in a long-lasting war. With their newfound confidence, Scorpia and Seahawk both decided to fight whatever was that thing from before and left the storage room, with Scorpia carrying Adora on her shoulders.
Finally arriving at the scene, Scorpia saw her friend being cornered by the giant snow monster. With worry, she shouted "Catra!" But her friend was too busy dodging the creature's attacks to notice her.
"Well, this will be more difficult than we thought," Seahawk placed a hand under his chin then formed a daring grin, "but this is what adventure is all about!"
Scorpia wanted to jump right into the fray and help her friend, but unfortunately, she was not alone in the room. She saw Entrapta laying on the ground, stuck in some sort of foam-cocoon as her hair messed around with a hand-size monitor, and exchanged looks with Glimmer and Bow, both of whom were shocked when they realized Scorpia was carrying Adora.
The two rebels straightened their faces and assumed fighting positions. The Horde Captain also took the hint and was prepared for combat, but she also knew this would be heavy to her disadvantage.
Luckily, there was a ray of hope on her side. "Now, now, there is no need for a scuffle," Seahawk stepped between the two parties, his carefree attitude breaking the tension in the air, "we all have something we need from one another, don't we?"
He looked at Scorpia with a side-glance in hopes that his intentions would be understood by their enemy. Scorpia was not the brightest tool on the shelf, but Seahawk's message was properly received. She placed Adora on the ground, making her stand right next to Scorpia, and looked at the rebels.
"If you help me save Catra, I will let Adora go." A simple proposal came from the Horde Captain. Any other member in the Fright Zone wouldn't do such a thing, but for Scorpia her friend's safety was above the mission.
The rebels didn't respond immediately, creating an unnerving pause of silence between the small group of enemies. Glimmer and Bow were staring at each other, but when the man nodded to the princess, who answered him with a smile, the decision was made.
"Deal," Glimmer said, lowering her fists and Bow following her lead.
Scorpia, happy to hear the agreement, used her pincers to free Adora from the ropes. Adora took some time to realize she was free - or even to know where she was - but when she caught on Glimmer and Bow with her eyes, she dashed right at them with open arms.
"Guys," Adora said as she pulled her friends into a tight hug, "you made it to the party!"
Glad that Adora was free, Glimmer and Bow returned the hug without exchanging any words, their feelings being enough to know they were together once again.
"So, I hate being that gal and all," a while after seeing the rebels hugging each other, Scorpia called them out, "but we kinda have a situation on our claws. Well, my claws, your hands, you know what I meant."
Her worried words were all it took for Glimmer and Bow to stop their hug, although Adora was still with her arms wrapped around their necks. The monster was still focused on Catra, that was becoming slower the more she dodged its attacks. Normally, Glimmer wouldn't even be bothered to lift a finger to help that particular enemy - a part of her kinda wanted the monster to end one of Catra's nine lives - however, they still had an agreement with Scorpia, and it was their turn to pay it back.
"The disk is the reason everything is weird," Bow said in a serious tone as he pointed at the First One's tech laying on the ground, "if we manage to destroy it, everything will come back to normal."
"So if the disk is gone, that monster will stop attacking Catra?" Scorpia asked.
"We are not sure if it will stop immediately," Bow responded, "but it should at least make it less reckless."
"If it is still attacking at that point, we will help you get your friend back," Glimmer joined the conversation, tapping Adora's arm with her hand. "After all, we do have a deal."
Even if they were enemies, Scorpia felt relief hearing the other princess' words. It was a weird feeling, she had to admit it, but it was nice to know people would get her back in a pinch.
"Then it is settled, my crew!" Seeing the mood took a turn for the better, Seahawk announced in high spirits as he drew his golden sword. "Let's go save the damsel from the evil monster claws!"
"Hurray!" Feeling the excitement from the man's speech, Scorpia jumped with her hands up in the air.
However, their joyfulness was short. The monster's roar grabbed everyone's attention as they turned serious. As they glanced in its direction, their sights caught Catra being held between the monster's jaws, using what was left of her strength to keep them open.
It was enough to make Scorpia serious. After giving her first step, she glanced back to see the rebels. A part of her was worried they would double-cross her and leave. Perhaps understanding Scorpia's feelings, Seahawk gave her a wink, a signal to show they were there for her in case something happened.
Her response was a shy smile, before walking towards where her friend and the monster were.
"Aww," seeing the Horde Captain walking away, Seahawk said with tears in his eyes, "caring about someone truly is the greatest adventure there is!"
All they had to do now was wait and see how the situation would progress. There might be another fight between or both sides would just escape and make their way out. But at that time, they were focused on what would happen with the monster attacks.
Except one of them, whose sights were cast down.
"You know," Glimmer said angrily, looking at the other enemy laying on the ground, "If you hadn't restored the disk, none of this would happen." Bow wanted to say something about his friend's attitude, but even he needed to agree about her reasoning.
Entrapta, on the other hand, was acting like she didn't hear the rebel princess' dissatisfaction and continued typing. Her only reaction came after Glimmer cleared her throat, making Entrapta look away from the screen for the first time since the conversation started.
"What? Did we lose?" Entrapta asked without any worries in her voice.
"Unbelievable…" Glimmer added as she rubbed her temples, "Why did you even bother to restore that disk in the first place?! It always makes bad stuff happen! You know that!"
Their experience with the disk in Dryl's Castle was traumatic enough and now they are living the sequel. Luckily, it was about to be over, however, it did not change the feelings of Glimmer after how deadly the situation was last time.
"Oh yeah, that," Entrapta said rubbing her chin, "Well, that experiment was a failure, no doubts, one-hundred percent, but what kind of scientist would I be if I hadn't done more tests?" She stated like it was normal. For her, testing technology that can and was close to killing her was just like any day.
Unfortunately, those feelings weren't reciprocated.
"You…" Glimmer was speechless, or at least she wanted to be, but her emotions piled up, "Do you have any idea how bad your actions are?! How cruel is this for Adora?!"
An object that robbed her friend's free will, it was not something Glimmer could just let slide. The first time was a mistake, a consequence that was not anyone's fault due to the unforeseen side-effects. Now, however, they all knew, Entrapta knew, yet she still chose to continue the research on the disk.
"Glimmer, that is too much," Bow saw his childhood friend being swallowed by her feelings and tried to calm her down, but the princess just went on with her frustration.
"No, it is not! This whole thing is her fault! Had that thing never being restored, Adora wouldn't be a mess, and She-Ra would just destroy that stupid monster! But now, you had to tingle with the one person that could have saved us! Don't you feel any regrets over this?!"
There was an uncomfortable pause between the group. Seahawk and Bow were silent, their eyes quickly shifting between Glimmer, whose heavy breaths were louder than the monster's noises in the background, and Entrapta, who looked at the other princess with her head tilted thoughtfully.
"Oh, that," after seconds that seemed to be hours, Entrapta decided to speak, "Well, yeah, that is wrong."
Hearing the enemy princess' response, Glimmer took a moment and sighed. There was some comfort in knowing that at least Entrapta had some coincidence over her actions and was not just heartless in her experiments.
However, that thought came to an abrupt end.
"I mean, the disk affected She-Ra, that is true," Entrapta brought her monitor near Glimmer's face, the screen showing two models, one for She-Ra and one for Adora, "however, it didn't change Adora or brainwashed her or something along those lines. If you see here near the brain, the disk sent a signal that interfered with her sense of self-control and-"
"Urg!" Glimmer shouted in anger without listening to what Entrapta was saying and then grabbed Adora's face with both hands. "How can you say that when Adora is looking like this?!"
The person in question had half-opened eyes and a relaxed face. Adora - the usual Adora - would never let any enemy out of her sight, especially if it was a monster, always in a fighting stance and ready to jump into the fray, but this Adora seemed - and acted - like she didn't care about any signs of peril.
"Hi, Entrapta."
"Hi, Adora. Again," Entrapta responded in a monotone as she waved back to Adora and shifted her eyes to Glimmer, "Look, there are some side-effects, but-"
"But what?! You still don't get that she is not normal?!"
"I do agree she seems different from standard, however-"
"Then stop trying to justify yourself!" Glimmer knew she was pushing too much, but couldn't stop herself, or even if she wanted to stop at all. "Adora is not a machine that you can change at will! She is a person for crying out loud!"
Bow and Seahawk were lost, trying to find a way to intervene with the heated discussion before it goes too far, but no idea came to their minds as they looked back and forth between the princesses. Still, someone had to do something now.
Bow placed his hand on Glimmer's shoulders, hoping this would drive her attention away from the argument. "Glimmer, I think you should-"
"I know she is a person!" Before any attempts of peace were made, it was Entrapta's turn to snap back. She stood on her twin-tails, bringing herself near Glimmer, "That is why my theory prevails!"
"Oh yeah?!" Glimmer's voice was getting more intense. "What other excuse do you have for justifying any of this?!"
They had no idea what this discussion would bring. The consequences of such interaction and their words. Glimmer, Entrapta, Bow, Seahawk, Scorpia, none of them knew. However, it changed something. It was when Entrapta said with a voice so loud you could wonder if reached Bright Moon or Fright Zone from the Northern Reach:
"Like I was saying! The disk isn't making Adora do anything against her will! If anything, it makes her do whatever the heck she wants to do!"
That was the moment things went different.
Entrapta and Glimmer were staring at each other's eyes as if the first one to break contact would lose. But, their attention was stolen by a loud woman's voice in desperation, shouting "Catra!" with all of her might. And it wasn't just them, all the other persons on that side looked over where the noise came from.
The monster had closed its jaws, Catra nowhere to be seen. Any hopes they had of Scorpia having saved her was gone once they realized the princess was standing still with wide-open eyes as tears appeared on their corners.
The sight left the group - except Adora - speechless as they realized what happened to the other Force Captain, her fate sealed by the misfortune of destiny. Even as enemies, the Rebels in the group also felt the pain of someone being gone in such a manner.
However, the tragedy did not end. The monster, finally done with its meal, turned around, its eyes falling upon the stunned Scorpia. After all, she still had the disk in her pincers. And so, the monster roared once more, dashing for its new objective.
"Oh no," was all Glimmer said before separating herself from Adora's arm and separating herself from the group. Bow, following her lead, went after her friend, nodding to Seahawk to take care of Adora before leaving. The sailor responded with a nod of his own.
It took a while for Scorpia to know what was happening. When her consciousness came back, the monster was just some steps away. She did try to increase the distance between them, but it was too slow. The monster's claws hit Scorpia's back with a wide swing. She felt that the attack didn't pierce her exoskeleton, but the impact sent her flying across the room.
However, instead of crashing into the metal walls, her body was thrown into something softer. Scorpia opened her eyes, seeing Glimmer and Bow as they used themselves to cushion her.
"How are you feeling?" The rebel princess asked when they helped Scorpia stand up. Scorpia did not respond, maybe due to shock or regret, Glimmer thought. To find someone who really cared for Catra was surprising. If she were not the good guys, perhaps Glimmer would enjoy seeing her enemies like this, but she was part of the good guys. So she placed her hand on Scorpia's shoulder and kindly said "We will get her back. We just have to defeat it, fast."
Scorpia was lost for words. How many times today she was surprised by how nice her enemies were treating her? She looked at Bow, who was smiling in agreement with Glimmer. Scorpia could feel it, with them, Catra could be saved. She turned serious, getting ready to face the monster as the two rebels by her side assumed their battle stances.
The First Ones' Disk lay on the ground, dropped from Scorpia when she was launched, and the monster hovering around to protect it, roaring to intimidate its foes.
Scorpia, Glimmer, and Bow waited as the monster stared at them. There was no way for them to destroy the monster, they knew that. The victory was solely on fetching the disk and destroying it. Soon, the creature would charge at them. All they had to do was wait and lure it away till one of them got closer to the disk.
-At least, that was the plan.
Suddenly, the monster collapsed on the floor, making the group jump back by surprise. They watched it as the creature cried and its body twisted and convulsed on the ground, its belly turned up to the ceiling.
"What the…" Scorpia, Glimmer, and Bow all had the same question but were still vigilant. The monster seemed to be in pain, in agony for a reason they did not know.
They looked more carefully and noticed a bulge in the monster's belly. But what surprised them was the fact the bulge moved.
Left and right, up and down, the bulge's movement seemed to be the cause for the monster's suffering. And it didn't stop. It only grew in both speed and size, like something - someone - wanted to break out.
Till it did.
A small hole was formed as a hand pierced the belly from within with its claws, covered in bruises and soaked by a dark liquid. The claws, slowly as if it enjoyed, passed along the monster's belly, making a cut so big a person could pass through. Then, someone rose.
As sparks and metal parts flew from within the monster's cut, a figure stood. Their coat, the only thing they had to fight the cold, was a few threads from being torn apart. A liquid covered their body, bringing the fur on their body down as they grew heavier. Their body had new bruises and cuts from forcing their way out, but that sight made Scorpia happy.
"Catra!" She said in relief. Her friend was safe in her eyes, besides the fact she was covered in injuries and probably in pain. But for Scorpia, Catra being alive was what mattered. She stepped forward to hug her friend, but her legs came to a stop.
She felt pressure like never before, something that made every part of the body freeze worse than the blizzard outside. It was only then she realized Catra was looking back, but Scorpia could feel her gaze somewhere else.
Her eyes were wide and her pupils shrank, staring at where she was. In a blink, she was gone from Scorpia's sight.
A surprise screech was heard coming from her back. Scorpia turned around and saw Catra grabbing Glimmer by the collar of her dress, generating momentum with a spin before throwing the princess at Bow.
The two rebels collided with a pile of boxes. Scorpia managed to catch a glimpse of Bow covering Glimmer with his body before the boxes fell over them, burying both of them.
Before Scorpia even managed to acknowledge what happened, a cry of pain was heard coming from Seahawk. She shifted her sight and saw Catra launching the sailor away with a flying kick and swore she noticed her friend grinning when Seahawk hit the floor.
Adora noticed that her former friend was nearby and opened her mouth "Hey, Catr-'' but her words were stopped with a quick strike on her neck, leaving her unconscious as she fell into Catra's arms.
In a moment, it was over.
It was precise, calculated, violent, and fast, too fast. Scorpia was stunned as she watched Catra's actions. It wasn't something she was familiar with nor thought she could do. And after everything was done, Catra's eyes did not leave Adora once.
Now, the only ones awakened in the laboratory were the Horde members.
"Scorpia," Catra's words broke the silence as she called her, without looking away from their prisoner "grab disk and Entrapta. We are leaving." It was said in a commanding tone, one that Scorpia knew very well, but it sounded so different.
Scorpia wanted to say something, anything, but it seemed as if a hand was grasping her throat and blocking her words. "S-Sure," she tried to be positive for her friend, "you can count on… me…" but before Scorpia could finish her sentence, Catra was already walking towards the exit as she carried Adora with a hand under Adora's knees and the other making Adora's head rests on her shoulder.
Scorpia watched Catra moving away in a corridor without lights, her tail flopping on each step till her figure vanished into the darkness. Only then she managed to move her body as a wave of cold sweat came out of her skin.
Still, she had to do what she was told. Her pincers grabbed the disk. Scorpia saw her reflection on the blood-red, three-pointed star object and noticed her frown. Was it regret she took so long or sadness that face meant?
She then looked where the monster was. Its body was now still, with no signs of movement. Its eyes turned from red to gray as his energy was ending. The ripped belly, the place where Catra emerged, left Scorpia shocked by the actions her friend did.
Had she destroyed the disk, would this still be the outcome? It was something Scorpia asked herself then. She could do it now and things could be better, but her pincers did not move. Catra wanted the disk, and Scorpia wasn't hoping to find out what would happen if she didn't have it.