PS: THIS IS THE SHE-RA IF FANFIC, I JUST CHANGED THE NAME TO SOMETHING POSSIBLY A LITTLE MORE FITTING. LET ME KNOW IF YOU GUYS LIKE IT OR NOT.
A/N: And another fun little chapter down the line followed by the beginning of a new episode!
One thing I need to mention before we continue, my writing from this point might get a little bit whompish, whatever that means. Reason being: Unlike the other dozen or so episodes, episode 6 is the one I hardly remember, so I'm kinda going on it by the fly. Don't get me wrong the episode itself is still good, if anything it's one of the funnier ones just because of Adora's Drunken/drugged-up state she's in through half of it XP and I got my own little thing planned to for Catra (Hehehe...)
But as such, my writing might not be the best here for awhile, especially as work continues to pile up in both work-life and school, so expect some more grammer/writing issues possibly here and there. I'll still try to make this as fun as possible, and hope you guys enjoy it all the same.
With that said, enjoy!
...
...
...
The halls were unusually silent and ill this time around as Glimmer walked through them.
What was she supposed to do? For the last few days, the one thing that's been on her mind was the very last thing Catra said to her, to anyone for that matter, after restoring the Sea Gate of Salineas and recruiting Mermista into the Princess Alliance.
"Her name... is Adora... And because of you... she's gone..." With a final hiss, she walked off to the ship.
Who was Adora? What did that answer out of anything? Was she a personal enemy of hers? A rival?
...A friend?
Out of the three, the third scenario was the only one Glimmer could think of that would explain Catra's distant behavior. Ever since they returned from their last successful mission, she's been skulking about, giving everyone that crossed her path the silent treatment save for the Queen when she asked her something directly.
And even then it was short and without emotion.
It pained her inside, feeling a hint of the possible pain Catra was going through. She might not have known what sort of relationship they had, but she could picture every practical feeling she could've felt if Adora truly was her friend. Meeting each other after so long, coming across each other again on the field of battle, it was something almost out of a fairytale, one with a dark twisted ending to it. One where no matter how bright things seemed, darkness was just around the corner.
Strange thing was, she actually felt a little guilty herself despite Bow trying to convince her not to blame herself. Each and every day she and Bow keep pushing on Catra to open up a little more and tell something about herself, usually resulting in her hissing in turn and walking away from them. Up till now, she thought it was stubborn Horde pride that she had to get used to, something she would have to wait to go away.
Now, she was starting to think differently. Looking back on it, throughout all the times she ever did reveal something about herself, it was just after Catra was inflicted with some sort of emotional pain. Whether it was caused by her surroundings or her relationships to the past, every time Catra opened up it brought ruin and turmoil. It was almost like a curse, one that siphoned the joy and wonder of her life, and filled her with despair.
Since they've returned, a saddening aura filled the air. Whereas Glimmer would be making the usual retort not to call her "Pudgy" or "Pinky", she was finding herself longing for those days. In the few days of immediate silence she's had from Catra's commenting she was now wishing for, finding the nicknames to be a lot more comforting than the deathly silence that now surrounded her.
"Glimmer!" Panic went off in Glimmer's mind at the sound of her mother's voice. Running down the hallways, she saw her professional yet caring mother standing in the middle of the Hallway, arms crossed and a stern expression on her face.
Right outside of Catra's locked door.
"Y-Yes, mom?" There was a small prick of nervousness in Glimmer's voice she hoped her mother wouldn't pick up on.
"Glimmer, is there something going on here you haven't told me about yet?" She asked raising her brow as she tapped her finger impatiently.
"S-Something I haven't told you?" She feigned the best smile she could put on her face. "Like what, mother? Heh heh..." She let a small chuckle slip out through her teeth.
"Well, I don't know. I thought about taking a pleasant stroll through my castle, check in on the staff, the guards, see how everyone was doing. And on the way I happened to come across something a little out of place." Nothing she said sounded uncommon to the princess, seeing her mother in the halls a dozen times throughout the days and actually joining her from time to time when she was younger.
"Out of place? L-Like what?" She already knew she was going to regret asking.
"Oh, I don't know, a crooked painting, a smidge of dust, and possibly this!" Stepping out of the way as she folded her wings again, Glimmer freaked at the mere sight of what she saw.
The Sword of the First Ones. The very thing that started her relationship with Catra, the one thing that made Catra the She-Ra she was today. It was currently embedded into the wall right outside her door, stabbed halfway through the opposite wall with a few cracks sticking out of place.
It was at that time she remembered the other part of Catra's dire warning to her and Bow.
"I'm done." Without another word she marched her way passed them, purposely shoving passed their shoulders without a second glance. "If you want me to fight in your stupid war then fine by me. But from now on, you're doing it without She-Ra!"
"O-O-Oh, that!" Glimmer laughed forcibly as she struggled to take the sword out of the wall. It took several mighty pulls before she managed to pry it loose from the solid concrete. "Haha, oh, you know that Catra. She was uhh...t-trying to make a coat hanger for herself!"
"You mean like the dozen coat hangers in her room's closet?" Her mother retorted, using her all-knowing "mother powers" to discern the truth. And the fact she's seen the room a hundred times on separate occasions. "Or the fact she doesn't wear a coat to begin with?"
Oh, yeah, she forgot about her mother's other superpower; Common Sense.
"W-Well, you know, a lady always has to be prepared! Heh heh heh..." If Glimmer was any more obvious she'd be a Captain like Sea Hawk. Within three seconds Glimmer quickly teleported into Catra's room, ignoring the deathening glare she gave her, dropped the sword, and teleported back outside to her mother again with the same nervous grin on her.
Looking at her with her still-suspicious face, Angella's expression softened as she lowered herself to her daughter's eye level, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Sweetie, I want you to promise me, if she does anything strange or out of place, you'll tell me. I can trust you on that, can't I?"
"Of course, mother." There was sadness and a sense of remorse her daughter could see in the Queen's eyes. What was she so worried about over Catra? Sure, she used to work for the Horde, and her attitude left much to be desired. But she at least did everything she could do what's right, which was far more than could be said for practically everyone else in the Horde.
With a small smile, Angella kissed he daughter's forehead, continuing down the hall to complete her inspections for the day. Sighing to herself, Glimmer leaned against the door as she contemplated everything else she had to deal with.
On top of the previous issue with Catra wanting almost nothing to do with the rest of them, more than usual in this case, she also had to hide the fact Catra gave up her job of being She-Ra. While there wasn't any rule forbidding her to, much less a law requiring that She-Ra be She-Ra, the last thing she wanted was for her mother to find out. She already had enough annoyances dealing with Catra's mannerisms, the last she needed was finding out Catra was no longer being the symbol of the Rebellion like she once was.
"I wonder if she's still mad..."
*Chhhkk!*
She couldn't tell if that was the passage of timing playing on her or if Catra actually heard through the doors, because the next thing she knew she found the sword impaled directly above her, missing her hair by a single inch. In fact, it was hard to tell if Catra stabbed through the door intentionally trying to hit her or not, because the thought entered her mind after seeing a couple strands of hair falling down in front of her.
At least it couldn't get worse from here.
...Right?
...
...
The intro starts with Shadow Weaver in the Black Garnet chamber spying and glaring at a image of Catra. Than the image dives into the water of her scrying spell.
~ We're on the edge of greatness ~
Where we have Catra at Bright Moon looking both determined and forlorn out into the distance.
~ turning darkness into light ~
A scene of kid Catra and kid Adora training together in the fright zone under Shadow Weaver. Before being replaced with a image of Adora glaring at a heart broken looking Catra who's on her knees across a battlefield.
~ We're right beside you ~
But than Glimmer and Bow teleport to Catra side raising her spirit back up, as shown with her surprise blinking when Gimmer offers her a hand, than she smirks accepting the help as she takes the lead ahead of them.
~ Ready to Fight! ~
Catra raises her sword, transforming into She-Ra in a glorious flash of light
~ (fight, fight, fight fight) ~
Then She-Ra rushes off into battle with Glimmer and Bow following right behind her.
~ We're gonna win in the end! ~
Mermista rises out of a tide, blasting Horde soldiers with water.
~ We must be strong, And we must be brave ~
Perfuma burst from the ground, capturing and tying up Horde soldiers with vines.
~(we must be brave) ~
Frosta rides an entire wave of frozen water, freezing Horde tanks in their tracks.
~ We're gonna find every bit of strength that we have ~
The scene shifts to Hordaks throne room where the evil shadowy figure sits upon his throne, his red glowing eyes being the only noticeable part of him, surrounded by notable members of the Horde, consisting of Adora and Catra's squadron, Shadow Weaver, Adora, Scropia, and even Entrapta.
~ and never let go ~
The scene shifts to an epic clash between Catra and Adora, the She-Ra gritting her teeth as she presses her sword against Adora's electrical baton, as the Force Captain herself grins with chaotic excitement as the red jewel from her headband shines.
~ (Oh ah Oh) ~
Adora and Catra push each other off as they back up into their friends- Entrapta and Scorpia for Adora, and for Catra Bow and Glimmer.
~ We must be STRONG! ~
The scene ends with a final shot of both sides looking across the field, a transparent image of Catra and Adora's faces filling the sky as the colors are split between them;
A majestic darkness shining into light upon Catra's side, and a horrid light seeping into darkness on Adora's half.
...
...
"You want to what?" A five-year-old Lonnie sneered as she looked back to the two. Based on her height, being nearly half a foot taller than most of the other kids in the bunk room, you'd think she was seven or eight.
"We want to join your gang!" A perky five-year-old Adora repeated with a somewhat frightened Catra hiding behind her.
Ok, as long as she stayed calm and let Adora do most of the talking things would be ok.
Hopefully.
At first, she had to admit. Asking to join the group of bullies, or at least the one who lead the other two, and wanting to be their friends seemed ridiculous to her. Why would she ever want to join the group that kept tormenting her on a daily basis? Better question, what made Adora think they would be welcomed in said group? It didn't matter if Shadow-Weaver had the final say in everything related to these children, there was no way she could force them to make them feel welcome in their group.
On the off chance it did, so what? That would mean they were with the group of bullies now and everyone would have more reason to hate and fear the "Freak of the Horde", the honorary nickname half the kids dubbed Catra with. They already bugged and bullied her throughout the day so why would she want to give people more reason to hate her? Being known as the kid that ruined Story Time months ago was enough!
From simple trippings to spiking her food with hot sauces, creating the most screechy noise people could to irritated her sensitive ears, placing her hand in warm water in the middle of the night, making a very awkward morning when you slept next to someone who tried taking the fall for you, there wasn't a single portion of the day where someone didn't bully her! At this rate she was one slushy away from making the bathrooms unsafe.
It took several days of coaxing to convince Catra of the alternative. If she did join the gang with her, then they wouldn't bully her anymore. No matter how rough a gang within the Horde was, all members forbid one another from bullying each other. On top of that, if she did join a gang with Adora, it meant those who bullied her would protect the both of them since the gang looked out for themselves. They had a very strict guideline and morals to maintain, no matter who was involved or what race they were.
And seeing how one was a frail boy who mostly took orders and a reptilian friend who was always by his side, the odds of her being allowed to join looked good, especially since the gang only comprised of three members.
"And what makes you think we'd ever allow you to join a group as big as ours?" Lonne asked grinning.
"W-Well actually Lonnie, there's only three of us-"
"Shut it, Kyle!" She yelled back. The frail boy quickly hid behind the somewhat larger reptilian, the lizard hissing with his tongue like a snake as he did. Catra had to admit, it was kind of humorous and endearing to see an opposite relationship between the kid and the lizard. While she was the timid one and Adora was the one who looked out for the both of them, the kid here was the timid one while the animal kid took charge of them.
It was quite ironic and amusing to think about.
"And what makes you think either of you two losers are good enough to join us anyway?" Glaring at the cat alone was enough to make the kitten tense while Adora stood strong. "Last I check our group doesn't accept babies who wet the bed!" Her joking seemed to be funny to just her as the other two remained silent.
Noticing her friend's drooping ears and small blush, like always, Adora spoke up for her. "You know as well as I do she didn't do it, someone just pranked her!"
"Heh, yeah, that'll make a nice defense." She chuckled. "Oh I didn't wet my bed, someone else peed in it!" The two behind her chuckled that time.
"Mmmh and you keep saying you allow anyone to join if they can prove themselves!" Adora's reminder caught the leader off guard. She wasn't entirely wrong in that regard, seeing how when she started the gang that was Kyle's requirement to join her and Rogelio. The problem was she really didn't like either of these two brats, like the freak with cat parts sticking out of her.
At the same time, she was a little curious as to how far she could get away with. If these two were willing to go to any lengths to join their gang, regardless of person, then there was no telling the amount of fun she could have at their expense or what kind of trouble she could get the two in.
The possibilities were endless!
"Hmm... so you brats really wanna join with us, huh?" Lonne rubbed her as she eyed the two. "Does that mean you're willing to go through our initiation?"
"Initia-?" Kyle was shushed by Lonnie before he could question it.
"Mhhm!" Adora nodded smiling. "We're ready to take on any challenge you throw at us!" Catra could practically sense the dark thoughts forming around Lonnie's mind regardless of how animalistic she was or not. Adora was way too trusting of people like her, others who took advantage of the foolish or gullible that surrounded them. Lonnie was no more than a bully stepping on an ant, one who took joy out of ripping the legs off a spider.
It sickened her to think about it, to think about the way she knew she saw Adora.
And a little angry.
"Alright then, squirts. If you wanna join us so badly, there's two things you have to do..."
...
*scratch-scratch-scratch*
"Hmm?" The guard poked his head around the corner at the sound of the mysterious scratching, unaware of the figure looking over him. Strange noises were commonplace around the Fright Zone. Whenever there was a noise, it usually ended up being a rusty pipe going off, the sound of rats scurrying around, or a simple droid making it's rounds around the Fright Zone.
It was times like this he questioned why he had to stand guard if there were already hundreds of robots that could've been programmed to patrol the hallways in the first place.
*scratch-scratch-scratch*
There it was again! Coming from behind! Drawing his weapon, he carefully proceeded down the empty hallway, taking care to check every corner of the room at once as he passed down it. When a noise went off once in an empty hallway, it was fine. If two noises went off without anything making it's presence known, it was unnatural. Nothing made noises around here twice that wasn't a living person or robot around here, and there weren't any rhythmic steps to the noise to tell him it was a robot.
*whap*
"Tag!"
"Whoooa-!"
*THUD*
That was the last thing he expected to see, the shock of the sight making him jump off his feet as the small figure jumped him. His heart raced momentarily as the shock settled into his system. He took several deep breaths as he collected himself, looking back towards the opposite end of the hall as he saw the small figure run behind the corner. Whatever it was or whoever it was didn't matter to him. If a little brat thought it was a smart idea to attack a guard for fun in the middle of the night like this, they had another thing coming.
The figure itself was none other than a chuckling five-year-old Catra. It went exactly as Adora planned for it, right up to the guard giving chase after her like she predicted. It didn't matter if she was a freak to him or a simple human like she was, the guard was going to give chase to her either way. And if it went the exact same way, then that meant she was going to come to a dead end right about...
Now.
"Uh oh." Catra spoke as she saw the hallway's end. While there were doors on the opposite sides of the walls, they were restricted to everyone without access to them. Turning around at the sound of footsteps coming towards her, she stared straight up to the menacing guard. It didn't matter if there was a helmet covering his face, she could feel the anger coming off of him.
"So you like playing tag, huh brat?" The guard grumbled. If a kid misbehaved there was a leniency using stun batons in this situation, specifically if they attacked a guard first. That being said, there also weren't any specific rules about how much he could use the stun baton, or at least not from his superiors. Catra watched as the guard's baton started to spark, knowing full well how he intended to use it. "All right then, let's play tag!"
"There you are!" The two of them looked back down the hallway as they saw Adora calling out. Running up to them she happily held Catra's hand as she stood in front of her, blocking her from the guard. "I've been looking all over for you. You know it's bedtime!" She smiled back to the other guard with a wave. "Thanks for finding her for me!"
That was the one minor complication between all of this. Every guard who valued their lives knew of Shadow-Weaver's fondness over the girl, just like the children did. Except where the most a kid would earn was terror beyond recognition, depending on how young they were, all the guards would face one particular penalty that none of them would walk away from.
Grumbling again, the guard stashed his baton back to his holster as he walked down the hallway again. "I don't get paid enough for this."
The two waited for the guard to make his way around the corner again, Catra picking up on his footsteps as her ears twitched little by little. Once he was finally far enough she nodded Adora with the same smile she had. "Ok, he's gone!"
"Awesome! Did you get it?" She asked excitedly.
"Mhhm!" Catra replied as she twirled a keycard in the air, the grey-colored object with a single green line running across it in a zigzag. "He didn't even notice!"
"Hahaha! You did it!" Adora cheered, hugging her tightly. This earned the sweetening laughter of Catra as she hugged back, feeling accomplished for one of the first times in her life.
The entire plan to swipe the guard's keycard went off without a hitch! It was a bit of an odd request from Lonnie in order to join their gang but it was all going to be worth it. After they finished their first test they would only have to deal with one more part of the initiation. Whatever that involved was going to be easy if this was the first half of their challenge, and Catra could hardly wait!
All this time, she was the one people would pick on. Nobody ever so much as batted an eyelash whenever someone gave her trouble unless Adora was around to stop them. She was always the one to protect her, the guardian figure of her life, and after today that would all be behind her.
Because after today, she was going to be part of a gang for their sector of children. She was going to be protected by more people who would accept her as one of their own for the first time ever.
More importantly, she was finally going to make more friends...
...
...
*click*
*click*
"Hey, you in there?" Catra was greeted by Bow looking at her curiously while snapping his fingers. Having come back from her most recent vision of memory lane, Catra simply scoffed a little as she pushed right passed him without a word. They were used to her visions by this point after the last dozen or so times they were around to see her staring blankly into the scenery. What they weren't used to was the immediate silence that followed afterwards.
Walking across the rocky cliffside, the three continued on their way to Entrapta's castle, the next Princess to recruit for their Princess Alliance. Usually at this point Catra would be asking several questions about the information on the princess, moreso now since she decided to skip the last Rebellion Meeting. It took forever to convince her mother that Catra overslept and was doing fine, not wanting her to get anymore suspicious of her after what she found the previous morning.
At present though, the three were continuing a silent walk through the rocky hills as they moved through Entrapta's kingdom. With Catra barely saying a word to the two, much less anyone else, since the events of Salineas there had been an awkwardness felt between the two would-be friends and the retired She-Ra who walked ahead of them.
It was hard to tell who was at fault here for those events. Maybe it was Catra's for not telling them more about herself sooner so they didn't agitate her? Maybe it was though two for trying to pry too much information out of her, a very small bit of information at that. If you asked either side, neither of them would be prone to answering, and nobody would be foolish to point it out to Catra directly.
The ex-She-Ra herself took the matter personally. Day in and day out since Salineas she's never stopped thinking about everything she witnessed on that day, the dramatic changes that went through her friend. She no longer resembled the loving, compassionate, friend she once was. While there was still compassion in her, it was slowly molded, twisted, beyond Catra's recognition. She thought what the Horde was doing now as ok, as long as the means were justifiable. How long exactly has it been since Catra left the Horde? Days? Months? Years? While obviously not the latter, it was impossible to say given how much Adora had changed.
And that didn't include how she changed physically! There were no words to describe the horrifying abomination she saw Adora transform into, the dark twisted version of what was once a dear friend. Watching as the shadows swarmed her from every angle, hearing her screams and cries of agony. All of it was centered around that one simple headband she was given by the one person Catra feared and despised more than anyone.
Shadow-Weaver.
The headband twisted Adora in more ways than one. She didn't just change emotionally, becoming more erratic and unpredictable as their fight went on, she changed physically as well. With the shadows that gathered and entered her heart she could manipulate them into all sorts of manner between fists, blades, spears, any wonder her mind could shape them into. She became a horrifying monster that Catra couldn't even recognize, one that overpowered her and almost killed her single handedly. And who was the one responsible for all of this?
Glimmer.
That girl, the one person who spent most of her time trying to get to know her, was without a doubt responsible for all this mess. She kept going on and on every single day how they were friends and how they could trust one another, never giving Catra a moment's peace to herself. At least that's how Catra saw it. After numerous annoying conversations with the princess she decided to throw her a bone. If she could help her figure out how to use the sword, as in how to transform into She-Ra without fail, she would tell her one thing about herself.
And at first, it worked! Being attacked by a sea monster, she called out the sword's almighty power and transformed into the benevolent form of She-Ra for the third time since getting the sword. She was ecstatic, thrilled! She found a way to finally transform into She-Ra after all this time, and could finally be of use to the Rebellion!
But all that sense of hope came to an abrupt end upon reuniting with Adora later that evening. She thought it was beautiful to hear how Adora was willing to give her a chance, willing to believe Catra as long as she could prove to her that everything she said was true. And the best way to do that was to transform into She-Ra herself, the one being that could resolve all of Catra's problem at this one exact moment. A moment that never came.
She did everything in her power to transform. She followed all the steps, took several deep breaths to concentrate, and went as far as to trust what Glimmer said about transforming, and nothing came of it. There wasn't any She-Ra, no flashy imagery, not so much as a spark. In fact, the only spark that did come off of it was the tension this erupted between the two friends, eventually forcing the two to fight against each other.
That's why it reminded Catra of her personal philosophy of who to trust.
No one.
She gave her trust, she wanted to believe her trust, and she needed her trust in that one moment most of all, and it all came to ruin. Glimmer's words were the very thing that possibly ruined her relationship with Adora, the one person who cared about her in this entire world, the one person Catra could always find at her side, and she was no more.
This was all Glimmer's fault, that's the revelation Catra came to after restoring the Sea Gate. She trusted her for the first time ever, trusted anyone other than Adora for the first time ever since the Fright Zone, and this is what she had to show for it. Betrayal.
"So... has she said anything to you since then?" Bow whispered over to Glimmer, the two hoping Catra couldn't hear them like this as long as they were at a twenty foot distance.
"No, nothing." Glimmer frowned. Looking at the sword in her hands her mind still flashed with vivid memories of Catra declaring how she quit being She-Ra. If she was willing to help fight for them then it was just as fine, she supposed, but she still needed to keep her mother from finding out. "I've been too nervous to talk to her too. She just keeps glaring at me whenever I see her." Bow eyed her at this with a small grin. "You know, more than usual."
"Well we should say something to her. We can't just keep ignoring her like this." It's not like he didn't understand Catra's point of view either. If this Adora girl was supposedly one of her friends, the fact she had someone she considered a friend surprising, then there was no telling how much it meant to her. "Have you tried talking about something differently?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know... say something to her."
"The last time I did she didn't want to talk to us anymore." It hurt just thinking about that line of dialogue. How do you go about your conversations when the last conversation resulted in someone never wanting a conversation with you again?! Man it was confusing. "Why don't you talk to her?"
"I wouldn't know how to talk to her. You talk to her!"
"I don't wanna talk to her yet, you do it!"
"No you do it!"
"You!"
"You-"
"If I ask you two morons a single question will you shut up!" Catra snapped back, the irritation blending in with the rest of her scowl. Much to their dismay, twenty feet away and whispering still wasn't enough to keep the cat from hearing them. Who knows what other awkward things they mentioned thinking she couldn't hear them.
"D-Deal..." Glimmer stuttered, feeling the anger still coming off of her.
"Who the heck are we recruiting this time?"
"Well, her name is Entrapta. She's a brilliant inventor. She makes all sorts of robots and rehabs old tech left by the First Ones'." Catra already regretted hearing Bow's droll about this mysterious Entrapta. "She's a pretty big deal in the Etherian Makers community."
"..." Catra was hoping for once that Glimmer had a clue about what he was saying because she wasn't catching on to a lick of it. "The... "Ether Making" what?"
"The Etherian Makers Community! Which, yes, I am a part of, because I drabble in gadgetry myself."
*pop!*
It was a sad sight to see a bowman pull out a simple pen-sized bow and arrow just to fling it off like a firework and shake his hands like an excited kid. If Catra liked either of them in the slightest bit she might've felt sorry for him.
"...Does he come with a translator cause I got none of that?" She whispered over to Glimmer.
"He means if we can convince Entrapta to join the Rebellion, she'll invent all sorts of cool junk for us! And weapons we can use to fight against the Horde!"
"Like my Trick Arrows!" Bow couldn't wait to meet the princess himself, already wondering what sort of fascinating contraptions she could show and teach him to make.
"All I hear is boring, boring, and more boring." That's just what Catra wanted to recruit, a science geek. "I really don't see how that's gonna help us."
"Are you kidding? It means she'll invent a whole bunch of cool junk for us!" She couldn't tell if she was seriously unable to see the benefit or still being stubborn about what happened before. "There's so many wonderful things she can help us use, a lot of stuff she can teach us about the First Ones!"
"Yeah, cause that's what I want. Some supernerd going around telling me how to use the..." Catra's eyes flashed off as the sudden thought struck her. Without warning she quickly swiped the sword out of Glimmer's hand before she had time to so much as blink.
"Wha- Hey!"
The Sword of Power, the very one created by the First Ones. No matter how advanced it's designs were or how complicated the circuitry of whatever ran through it, it was still technically a machine in some way. Something that was created by the First Ones that have made her life miserable since day one. A sword she had yet to figure out what was wrong with.
Looking briefly at her own awing reflection, she looked back to the princess of Bright Moon with something other than anger or contempt. "So wait, do you think she could figure out what's wrong with this sword then?"
Yes! She absolutely can! That's exactly what Glimmer wanted to say at that moment. After a near week of silence from the girl, she would've accepted any form of help in getting her to talk again, however insulting, compared to this silent treatment she's been putting up since then. It would fix all their problems and things could go back to being semi-normal around here!
The problem? How could she take that chance? Every time they went on an adventure up to this point, it's always turned out badly for Catra. In Plumeria, Catra's newfound praise and encouragement was mistakenly taken as a sign of compassion, something she's never gotten before in the Fright Zone. Last mission she ended up running into an old acquaintance of hers, someone Catra must've cared for given the negative reaction she was currently having, whose relationship Glimmer might've ruined after Catra failed to get the sword to work on her advice.
The result of the latter were the events currently being displayed by the magicat, the tormenting silence she was giving off driving Glimmer insane.
So what would happen if she ended up being wrong about things this time around? Would she remain forever silent? Quit working for the Rebellion entirely? Go back to working for the Horde? Who knows how Catra would react if one more thing went wrong throughout the entire mission?!
It pained her to say it, but she couldn't take that chance.
"N... No," she lied, "I don't think so."
"Are you sure?" It hurt to see a small frown grow on Catra's face after the brief optimism she was feeling, Bow shooting her an odd look at the same time. "I mean, it couldn't hurt to ask could it-"
"I said no!" Glimmer stammered. "She's not going to know anything about the sword Catra, so forget about it already!"
"...Hmph..." The scowl of anger slowly returned to her face as she glared at the lying princess. Looking at the sword for another second she hissed to herself as she tossed the sword to the ground, nearly over the cliffside to which Bow had to rush over to get it. "That's what I thought. This really is a stupid waste of time..." As expected, Catra grumbed at this remark as she turned to walk away again, continuing to glare even though her back was turned to them.
What was unexpected, Glimmer felt pained by this. Now she didn't just discourage Catra right in front of her, she lied about something she didn't even know yet to be true. Maybe Entrapta really could've helped figure out what was wrong with the sword, but she didn't know that. She was too scared to think of what the aftermath might be if she ended up being wrong, in Catra's point of view lying, again.
That wasn't a detail that went unnoticed by Bow as he walked back to her with the sword in his hands. "You mind telling me what that was about?" There was a small bit of irritation in his voice, Glimmer's lie being all too obvious to him. The two watched her as she came across a pile of boulders blocking the path, effortlessly leaping over one after the other as she climbed the pile and over it. It was a sure indication she was out of whispering range.
"Do you want to be the one she gets mad at if we're wrong again?" She replied with a moan. "Every time she gets her hopes up they immediately get shot down some time later. She spent the better part of the week ignoring us and that was from trying to help her with one thing. Can you imagine how negative she'll react if we got her hopes up over this and it proved to be wrong?"
As much as Bow hated to admit it, she had a good point. Lying was nowhere near as good as Glimmer was making it out to be but what choice did they have? With Catra being the way she is now, who knew how badly she'd react if her hopes were dashed for a third time?
"Mmh... it still doesn't make it right." Bow muttered.
"I know, and you're right." Glimmer agreed patting his shoulder. "I think we should at least see how this plays out first before we get her hopes up. If we can find something good out of this, then Catra will be overly thrilled. If we can't, then she won't feel any worse than she does now."
"Are you idiots coming or what!" Shouted Catra from over the pile of boulders.
She proved Glimmer's point. Nothing good could come out of raising her hopes.
Sighing in defeat, Bow nodded in agreement. "Fine, I won't tell her either. But what are you going to do if she finds out you lied intentionally?"
"Simple, accept it and move on." She mumbled as she started to gather her to teleport the two of them. "Same way it's always turned out at this rate..."
...
...
*Crackle*
*Bzzzzzt!*
"Whoooa..." Bow oohed as they came upon Entrapta's mighty fortress. "She's got lightning!"
Catra found herself rather surprised by the scenery. Compared to all the other past kingdoms they've been to, this thing looked nothing short of evil. Plumeria's kingdom was rich of fauna that made so much of this weird pollen stuff that Catra found herself sneezing for hours. Mermista's kingdom, while emptier, was built and constructed after the merman and seafolk inhabiting it, with a restored beautiful Sea Gate that greeted anyone at the entrance.
This place, on the other hand, looked like something out of an evil scientist horror story! The tallest structure she could see was a massive lightning rod with a flashing red light going off below the top of the building, and a single tunnel-like bridge feeding into the cliffside. All around the outside of this place was a massive purple wall that protected everything from within the fortress, but also looked like it was constructed to keep something from getting out.
She swore if she closed her eyes right now and felt the atmosphere alone she would be standing right in the middle of the Fright Zone right now.
Noticing the eerie red light glowing from the tower, Glimmer teleported to the top of the wall, inspecting the beacon at a closer distance. "Something's wrong. The castle's distress beacon is lit. They must be under attack!" Turning her head from side to side, Catra twitched her ears up and down as she examined the surroundings.
"Are you sure? I don't hear anything." She stated, taking a sniff of the air carefully. "And there's no scent of the Horde here either. Actually there's not much of anyone's scent in this place." Wanting to see the situation herself, she leapt to the great wall next to Glimmer, pulling herself up as she just came to the ledge. Unbeknownst to her as she stepped by, a single frame of the ground gave way immediately after she jumped from it. In it's place a row of several dozen sharp spikes rose to the surface.
Bow nearly jumped as the spikes revealed themselves, carefully stepping around them as he tried to reach the others coming down from the wall. "H-Hey guys, wait a minute!"
"Where is everyone?" Having a closer view of the place, Catra was more than convinced this was a Horde facility. From the evilly purple-colored walls and smaller structures around here to how barren and lifeless this place seemed. What kind of nut job of a princess ran this place?
*rrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrriiiiiirrrrrrr*
"Ah..." Catra yelped as a sudden pitch filled her head. She rubbed her forehead lightly as she tried to soothe the discomfort. It wasn't painful exactly, just very... weird.
"Are you okay?" Glimmer asked noticing her current state.
"Yeah, I'm fine, mind your own business." She huffed. Glimmer could tell this was going to be an uncomfortable day between the two of them. "It's just this place feels... off... to me. Forget about it." She looked back with annoyance as Bow offered her the sword back, taking it from the young man with the sides of her glare twitching. While she still had her grievance with the hunk of junk, it still did have it's use as something to hit people with. With another woosh of her magic,
Glimmer teleported Catra and herself further into the place as they continued their search. Nothing about this place made any sense to the princess, and it gave worry to Catra personally. It was way too quiet of a kingdom. At least with somewhere like Salineas there was the scent of ocean water filling the air with life. Here everything was the complete opposite, dry and lifeless.
Where is everybody?
*creeeak*
"Hey!" Catra yelped as she extended her claws. Bow and Glimmer didn't need extra sensitive hearing to catch the sound of a door slamming shut. The place was too quiet to ignore a single step. Her tailed swished back and forth aggressively, and a little excited at the thought of something to take her anger out on.
"Hello? Princess Entrapta?" Glimmer called out as she walked towards the source. "We're here to, uh, recruit you for the Rebellion... hmm?" She looked down to her legs as she felt a strange sensation crawling up her legs. Instead of your average everyday goosebumps like she expected, she was greeted with the sight of a disembodied hand- "Ahhh!" She screamed in terror, jumping a little.
"What's wrong?" Catra asked quickly rushing over.
"Oh... it's nothing I guess." Looking closer at it, she felt a little embarrassed at what she thought was someone's severed hand. While she got the hand part right, it turned out to be a part of some currently-handless robot.
Looking down at it herself, Catra smirked as she walked over to pick up the severed hand, waving it helplessly in front of Glimmer's face. "What? Is wittle princess a-scared of a little pile of junk?"
*clamp!*
"OUCH!" All of Catra's sense of hearing was put to an immediate hold as the severed hand sprang to life. Before Catra had time to react, the small yet speedy hand danced around her arms until it reached her left ear, squeezing it shut in a powerful grip as it continued to tighten. "Get off of me you stupid piece of trash!" Twisting and yanking at the aggressive mech, Catra grumbled in fury as she finally pried it from her ear, throwing it harshly to one of the nearby building's walls where it shattered.
"You guys! We have to be careful! Entrapta has traps set up all over her castle." Bow warned as he reached the two.
"Yeah, a little late on the news flash, bub!" Catra groaned, rubbing her sorely twisted ear.
"And they're supposed to be really cool!" As to how Bow was flashing his eyes with stars at this Catra would never know.
*Boom!*
The entire place shook violently as an explosion went off, echoing all throughout the cliffside and around the heroes.
"They're coming!" A goblin-sized creature warned as she popped her head slightly out of a manhole. "Get out of the square!"
"Wait who? The Horde?" Catra's question fell on deaf ears as the goblin retreated back to it's hole. No amount of pounding on the cover seemed to prod the creature back out of hiding. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"
"Hello?" Glimmer tried to call out as she teleported to her side. "Come back!"
*whomp-whomp-whomp-*
All around them the continued pounding of heavy footsteps filled the air, the trembling increasing in force and sound with each passing step. Catra was finding all of this so bizarre, never once dealing with an enemies or creatures in her life like this that she couldn't get a firm scent on. Even the droids back in the Horde she could eventually get a small whiff of from time to time.
What kind of things did Entrapta make around here?
"I'm thinking we should probably move away from whatever's making that sound." Glimmer commented, running over to the nearest alleyway with the two following behind her. The destination proved to be sorely lacking in peace as the three stopped several feet into the alley. From the darkened shadows ahead, they watched as a lone broken figure lumped it's way through the alley, the three backing up slowly as it revealed itself.
It was a robot. A fully fledged humanoid robot, one of the near hundreds Entrapta had lying around this place. Despite it's damaged appearance of a missing right foot, dozens of wires strewn about it, and part of it's left arm missing, no doubt the same one that Catra recently destroyed, the robot seemed to be operational as it wobbled it's way towards the three, seemingly possessed by some otherworldly force.
There was no way someone like Entrapta couldn't be working for the Horde if this was her work.
"What the-
"Rrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!" The robot screeched, the high pitch instantly hitting Catra's sensitive ears.
"Ngh!" The pain it caused her was minor, but the fact it proved painful at all from a mere shout was troubling. "Shut up!" With her own personal roar, she lunged at the limp creature with her claws, slicing the head clear off it's shoulders and kicking it back against the wall. What moment she could've had never came to her as the creature, now headly and torn, continued to limp over to them with it's severed arm. "What are these freakish things?"
*Woosh!*
With a single arrow, the entire robot itself was engulfed in multiple streaks of electricity, letting out one more metallic roar as it shutdown. Looking back she saw Bow with his weapon still drown, smiling proudly as he took down the beast with one shot, the very same she failed to after decapitating it. "Tch, beginners luck..."
*Wham-Wham-WHAM-!*
The footsteps never ceased as they got louder by the minute. As Glimmer and Catra hurried on through the alleyway, Bow took a short pause as he looked closer at the creature, kneeling down. "Look's like one of Entrapta's designs. Why would it attack us?" Out of the many strange things he could see from it's damaged remains, one thing that did grab his curiosity was the faint red crystal-like heart revealed in it's chest, followed by a strange steam of green smoke. With the sound of a sword being drawn and a reflective flash of light hitting his face, he gasped as he saw Catra with the sword drawn, ready to stab into the wooden door in front of her and Glimmer.
"I don't care who this crazy girl is, I'm breaking this stupid door down!" She yelled as she ran for it raising the sword.
"Wait, Catra no! It might be a-!
"Wahhhhhhhhhhh-!" He didn't have any time to finish the last part of his sentence as just a foot away from Catra making herself a new entrance, the entire doorway and floor in front of it gave out, pulling the two helpless victims in as they fell. It quickly returned to it's previous state by the time Bow got there, refusing to open up again through whatever means Catra did and leaving him on his own. Pounding on the door gave it no way as he found himself alone out here with the sound of approaching metallic steps.
"Glimmer! Catra! Mmmh-!" Backing up into the alleyway again, he failed to notice as a pair of hands wrapped around his mouth, pulling him into the brink of never ending darkness. There was no one to help him from his unknown assailants, and there was no means of Glimmer to teleport herself and Catra until they came to a landing, less she risk accidentally teleporting herself without Catra nearby.
Still, if anything was positive out of the events of these last few minutes, it was a very valuable lesson Glimmer learned.
It can always get worse...
...
...
...
A/N: You know I really gotta work on writing less cause at the rate i'm going here, I'm gonna end up start writing 10k words for every 1 minute of the freaking episodes i'm doing XP lol.
Again, sorry if the writing isn't the best, been hitting a bit of a slump lately, especially with the parts here I wrote on the fly here and there. But that shouldn't be an issue next episode cause next episode i got some stuff already planned out and ready, which I'm sure people will enjoy much more ^^
With that said, hope you guys enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!