A/N: Another fun-filled chapter down the drain! ...idk if phrasing it like that actually makes it sound better or worse out loud... Oh well. Going to say there's 8.7k words of fun to read cause I got a bit of a lengthy author's note down below- sorry :/
Anyway, i'd like to take this moment to make another shout out to someone, someone by the name of HJSDGCE, hands down someone who needs to make their name more say-able XP. As many of you might remember, earlier I talked about a certain person who seemed overly critical about my work and made me question it's worth and detailing. Needless to say, it got out of control. The guy kept badgering me for 3 hours the previous night (Wednesday) after I made my own comment about his catra seeming out of place here or there in a chapter, no matter how many times I apologized, claimed he was probably more accurate, and how he was more likely right, and since he made his "review" a week or two ago, he left me very questionable and concerned over everything he said.
It got me doubtful and left me in a slump as of late. 1 because apparently of how much anger issues he apparently had, and 2, as to whether or not I was ruining Catra's character or not. While it's not my intention, the last thing I want to do is make the fanfic unbelievable or boring to the rest of you guys who enjoy the fanfic.
That was until I got HDIJSJSH (seriously hard to remember the name without looking at it XP) HJSDGCE's overwhelmingly positive review which helped bring me back out of it. He went on to say how much he was in love with the fic, like many people have of course, but also how Catra felt in character behind all of this. I was so overjoyed to see such positive feedback and confirmation from someone showing that I was keeping to the story accurately, at least for this "What-If" Scenario I created.
It's then I learned... that i don't care! No not of his review or anything, I meant what the negative review I received earlier about Catra being too out of character. I remembered the bottom line of fanfics is just that- this is a fanfic! I didn't make this fic for that one person who was overly critical, I made it for all the fans of She-Ra and it's wonderfully done characters. It's that wonderfully orchestrated series that i wanted to bring to the internet for people who've always asked "What if Catra found the sword instead" to themselves. And so what if he thinks Catra's out of character? That's his view of it, not everyones...i hope...
If he doesn't like it, fine. It's not his approval I was going for, heck I wasn't going for anyone's approval (not to say I don't enjoy the awesome feedback from you guys ^^). All i was doing this for was for the fans of the show. So thank you so much HJSDGCE, i really hope you continue to enjoy the series of the real one and the one I'm making down below.
The same shout out goes to the rest of you fans who've supported and cherished my work for the last month. It's thanks to your positivity that keeps me going in this and in life so I can get through a stressful life with a smile on my face. You guys are the best!
I actually had several more paragraphs of explanations here but didn't want to fill up the A/Ns so much so I deleted them. If anyone wants to see a more detailed reasoning for my feelings from this guy's feedback PM me. I also apologize if something up above is out of place as I edited it a dozen times over this morning XP.
HOOOOOFTAH, that was definitely one of my longer Author's Note's ever. Thank god I didn't start off with another "not much to say" line XP.
Now with all that said, I hope you guys continue to enjoy yourselves and the chapter!
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Anger.
Sadness.
Regret.
Turmoil.
Distress.
These were just a few of the words a sniffling Adora could use to describe her present situation as she sat curled up on the bunk bed she used to share with a dear friend.
Every single night she's been plagued by the same nightmare, usually twice a night when she'd wake up in a mad sweat. It would always start out with her in a seemingly black void, completely lifeless and lacking any sort of emotion. She'd forget where she was for a moment until the sound of a familiar friend's scream would catch her attention.
Running through the darkness, she'd find her way to her friend, Catra, as she would helplessly fight off a monster covered in darkness, one she had no chance of winning against. She would try her best, throw in a claw or two, and yet she would simply pass right through the monster with each swing. The monster would cackle with wicked glee at her useless attempts before striking down the catgirl with a single blow of their arms.
From there, it would roar with anger and joy as it continued to pummel Catra with each swing. There, Adora would cry out for her friend, attempting to run to her every time in order to save her. But no matter how hard she tried, how long she ran for, she would never catch up to them, the fight seeming to move further away every time she stepped closer. This would go on and on as her eyes were glued to the scene, ending only after the final blow was delivered.
Sometimes Catra would be in a miserable state, at other times much worse. The aftermath of the carnage was always more brutal with each passing dream, becoming more violent every time she fell asleep. It was only after the fighting was over would Adora managed to catch up to the two, tackling the monster headfirst away from her injured friend. She would glare at the face of the monster with rage in her eyes and tears from her face, and what would she see next?
Herself. She would see herself staring back at her with malicious intent, a wide smile over her lips as she laughed at Adora's pitiful attempts at stopping her and the state of her friend. She would always go on to insult Adora without end, telling her how this was the way they were now, mocking her by saying how much she enjoyed beating her friend, the satisfaction she came to when she almost killed her. And the previous night was the worst.
There, there was no running from the scene, there was no need to run towards the scene. In it, she saw everything that happened from her own personal view. She was looking from within the monster itself, seeing through it's eyes and saying things against her will. She would feel every touch as she slammed her friend to the ground, pulverize her until she was severely beaten. She wouldn't be able to stop herself no matter how much she begged to herself, unable to tell Catra how sorry she was for what she was doing.
Then, it came to an end. When Catra was beaten to the ground, the monster she was inside of would raise both their mighty shadowy arms to the air, preparing to deliver the killing blow once and for all. And then, she would wake up before the final blow itself.
Her dreams were no longer a safe haven for herself, a place she could go to to forget all her problems, no peace from the memories that haunted her. And it all came from the one thing she had yet to let go of since she first put it on.
The one single headband that granted her this great power.
"I never should've worn you!" She muttered to herself angrily. She would never want to hurt her friend, she would never even consider harming her friend, and this stupid headband made it so easy for her to push pass her morals, her ideals. What sickened her the most was knowing how good it felt to put it on.
The stress since Catra's defection got to Adora the hardest. She questioned each and every day why she would leave what Adora considered family. The people who raised her, the friends and allies they grew up alongside. As if it wasn't enough to think about Catra's defection, it was even harder to hear all the people who would insult and mock her about Catra never being one of them to begin with, how she wanted to leave for her own greedy desires.
And this headband is the one thing that took away that pain. It made her feel happier, safer. It pushed her negative emotions to the back of her mind without a second thought, filling Adora's person with overwhelming power and entering a state of euphoria. She had no problems in the world when she put it on, and every second since the failed mission of Salineas she's been forcing herself to resist the temptation of it. She didn't want to return to the horrid creature that she once became, the one that nearly killed her friend.
Nothing good came from this unholy gift, no matter how much her mind tried to tell her otherwise. With a grunt, she tossed the headband across the bed and over it, not bothering to look where her headband landed.
Or who caught it in the process.
"I see you've been busy..." The familiar voice commented in a slightly joking manner. Lifting her head straight up, she had to wipe off what few tears gathered in her eyes, knowing a true soldier should never show their emotions in front of someone of higher authority.
Like Shadow-Weaver.
"S-Shadow-Weaver!" Adora said with a small gasp as she hastily stood from the bed at attention. "I-I was just-"
"Calm yourself, Adora, it's alright." She assured soothingly, gently pushing her back down to the bed as she sat on the opposing bed to it's left. "I heard you were forced to use the headband during the mission. How did that go?"
With a small frown Adora lowered her head, staring at her twiddling thumbs. "Not good. Not anywhere near good. The entire mission... it was a complete failure... We couldn't-"
"I mean, how did it go when you used the headband?" Shadow-Weaver clarified.
"It went... even worse..." She said, pained with remorse. "I couldn't... I couldn't control myself... I went insane..."
"I warned you it was to be used as a last resort. What possibly could have happened to make you keep to yourself for the last several days?"
Silence took Adora at this. Why did she have to explain her experiences with the headband, the very thing she loathed right now? Loathing her headband third, her memories second, and herself first, there was no easy way to describe the experience. "I... I turned into a monster..."
"A monster?" The witch of darkness was no stranger to the effects of the headband. After all, she created it specifically for Adora, and she wanted to hear every detail from Adora's own lips. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean I turned into a monster!" Adora shouted angrily as she wept. "I don't know what I was thinking. I just felt this incredible rush of power and the next thing I know I feel like I'm invincible! Then, I'm running around, pulling shadows out from under me, trying to stop Catra, feeling who knows how many different emotions, and then I... I... tch..." She sniffled as she squeezed her teary eyes. "I... I almost killed her...geh... tch..."
No force on Etheria could keep Shadow-Weaver from forming a mere grin on her face, yet somehow, she forced herself to. Not that it would have mattered with the mask of cloths covering her face, but she suppressed it as best she could. To think that Adora, the one she raised alongside that despicable urchin, came so close to killing the very friend she found dear for some reason. She almost thought about slipping out how proud of her she was.
"Oh, my dear, sweet, Adora..." Shadow-Weaver soothed, taking the girl's face into her hands as she wiped her tears with her thumbs. "You've been so troubled these last few days. If it were up to me, I'd give you all the time you needed to collect yourself. Unfortunately, you can't sit by and do nothing around here. You're a Force Captain now, and you have work you need to return to."
"B-But how can I? How am I expected to work like this?" She sniffled. "I don't want to turn into that horrible thing again, I don't want to live with the regret! What if I lose all my control next time and I attack one of our own?" Admittedly, she brought up various good points. She used the headband in front of Catra alone when she was fighting her. She doesn't want to picture how or what she would be like if she used it in front of her allies. "What did that thing curse me with?"
"Curse you? Oh no, my dear, it didn't curse you." She laid out the headband upon Adora's lap. "The headband itself doesn't give you anything you don't have already, save for an essence of my magic I gave to it for you."
"G-Gave me? You mean... like the shadows?" Was she supposed to feel appreciative or angered? It was nice to receive something that came personally from one another, but at the same time it filled her with shock that it was her magic that turned Adora into the shadowy figure in the first place.
"Yes, Adora. You see the reason you were out of control was because you had no control over your own emotions." She began to explain. "The headband doesn't just strengthen your physical state several times over. It also amplifies your emotional state as well. If you were chuckling the least bit, you'd be filled with laughter. If something irritated you, your anger would explode a thousand fold. What you need is to master controlling your emotions, close yourself off to everything that affects you."
"C-Close myself off?" She questioned back to the band. In what way did she need to do that? Forget about all the good and bad times she had? Figure out how to keep the smallest twitch from making her irritable beyond compare? "How?"
"The same way I did with my powers, Adora. What you need is training."
"Training?" She frowned a little more as she looked at the gem in the headband's center. "I... I don't know...I don't know if I can-"
"Of course, I wouldn't dream of forcing you to, Adora, not if you don't want to." She stood as she stroked Adora's head. "But if you ever want to get your friend back, then that headband's the only way. It's the only means you have of toppling Catra's power the next time you meet, anywhere you find each other." Adora watched as Shadow-Weaver began to float away towards the exit, still contemplating what she said. "The choice is yours."
Having left the room, Adora squeezed the headband in her hands. She couldn't think of ever wearing this cursed object again, she wouldn't dream of harming her friend one more time after the last. At the same time, the longer Catra was with the princesses, the more evils she commited, the more destruction she would be spreading under the princesses name. She would never be able to live with herself as long as Catra remained brainwashed under the princesses control, incapable of looking into her eyes if she saw the untold horrors that she committed.
It was a painful choice, if she could even call it that as of now, but one that left her with the biggest chance of saving her. She needed this power to save her friend, the power that could wipe all the evil princesses off the face of Etheria. If Shadow-Weaver offered a solution to master this newfound power, then she would welcome it with open arms, running straight for the door to catch up to the one person she had left.
And she would make sure nobody stood in her way again.
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...
"I don't believe it! You actually got the cards?" Loonie continued to gape at the keycards in awe.
To be honest, she didn't think these two were going to pull it off. With the two, or at least Adora, going on and on about how she and Catra wanted to join their little gang, the very one that bullied Catra endlessly, she thought they were crazy. Even Catra showed more sense in not wanting to join them given everything they've done to them. It was due to that one rule they had on not picking on their own members that Adora found cherishable.
So naturally, she decided not to let the two scrubs join unless they managed to pass the initiation that she had in mind. It wasn't anything she thought they were capable of obviously. In fact she half expected these two to get their rear ends handed to them and punished severely in the process. So when the two came back after having finished the first stage of their initiation, she was nothing less than shocked.
The two had actually done it. They managed to swipe a keycard from a guard without the guard finding out they stole it and they managed to bring it back here! Man, if it wasn't for the fact she wanted nothing to do with these two she would've been more than thrilled in letting them join!
"Haha, you can thank Catra!" The chipper five-year-old Adora stated, gesturing to Catra who stood behind her shyly. "She's the one who did all the work."
"Y-Yeah... B-B-But it was all Adora's idea!" As much as she loved the praise, she wasn't about to let her friend go without some credit. "I couldn't even tell what to do without her help."
"Heheheh!" Adora chuckled as she hugged her close. With an inseparable duo like themselves, there was nothing they couldn't handle! They couldn't wait to be part of a new gang and make new friends!
"G-Good job you guys!" Kyle congratulated, Rogelio nodding next to him in agreement.
"Hmph, well I guess it was ok... But it still doesn't mean you're in the gang!" Lonnie reminded. The two were well aware of the fact Lonnie had one more task for them to complete before they could officially join. and both of them were ready to do it side by side. "Are you prepared for your second and final test?"
"Oh yeah!" Adora nodded enthusiastically. "We can take on anything together!"
"Hah! That's funny, because for this one you two have to do something different!" Without giving them a chance to let the information sink in, she pulled out two white cloths from out of her pocket.
"D-Different?" Catra muttered, looking at Adora with uncertainty. She wasn't useless on her own of course, she's handled numerous challenges and exercises on a daily basis. What troubled her was what kind of challenge Lonnie was going to put them through, the nerves making her skin crawl as she watched Lonnie tie the blindfold over Adora's eyes.
"Yup! It's our club's philosophy. Every member has to be able to pull their own weight, so if you want to join the club you'll have to prove you're not useless on your own." She grinned maliciously as she looked down to the fearful Catra who drooped her ears. "Unless of course you guys aren't material enough to join us."
"Mmmmmh..." What was she supposed to do? She was plenty scared already, she didn't want to imagine whatever sort of horrifying task someone like Lonnie had for her. Knowing her as the bully she was, she might make her jump into an ocean of sharks, or maybe skydive from the tallest building in the Fright Zone! There was no end to the horrifying possibilities from the bully of the sector.
That's when she felt a blindfolded Adora squeeze her hand softly. "It'll be okay, Catra. You can do this. We both can!"
"...Yeah!" Catra nodded smiling, paying it no mind as she was blindfolded next. Adora was right. As long as the two were together, however far apart, nothing bad could happen. If Adora was going to stick through it for her then she was going to do the same, no matter how frightening it got. She was almost certain Lonnie was annoyed at the encouragement, hearing a small rumbling emanating from the girl's throat.
"Yeah, yeah, save your pep talk for if you two pass the last test. Kyle, you know what to do." Lonnie instructed. Jumping a little as she felt her other hand being grabbed, she allowed herself to be lead wherever she was going to be this late at night, ready for whatever challenge Lonnie and the rest of the gang had in store.
"Good luck!" Adora's cheer always brought a smile to Catra's face, even as she set off to face the unknown.
In some regards, this was the happiest moment of Catra's life, one where she felt pure joy at the prospect of making new friends and making Adora proud of her again for being able to do this.
And it would be the last time she ever smiled so innocently.
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...
"Hey, are you okay?" Catra's ears twitched as she heard Glimmer's voice bring her back to consciousness. With her blurred vision slowly clearing in front of her, she saw a small look of worry on Glimmer's face as she saw her opening her eyes. With a sigh of relief she smiled a little as she stood up with the ex-She-Ra. "Phew, I thought you were out cold for a minute there."
"Pinky? Ngh..." Her head feels like it went through a washing machine a second ago, rubbing it to try and dull the ache. "Where are we?"
"Don't you remember? We fell inside of here after the trap at the front door went off."
"Front door? ...Oh, right..." Now it finally came back to her.
Out of the three missions she's had so far involving the princesses, this was by far the most dangerous. They weren't greeted upon arrival by a swarm of happy go-lucky villagers or find themselves in a cantina in search of a stalwart sea captain. They were greeted upon by a dozen traps and a deadly robot, at least one that tried to look deadly given it's missing limbs and loose wiring. And after disabling the surprisingly formidable machine, one that could survive having it's head ripped off, she and Glimmer stumbled into the trap door that lead them to where they were presently.
Looking around she wondered just how long she was out of it or whether the vision kicked in before or after she banged her head against whatever. Examining the surroundings, they appeared to be in some sort of purple cage, a small one at that, that connected to the large pipe overhead that trapped them in here to begin with. All things considered, she found it quite fortunate that this was all that happened, less her vision kicked in while she was being dropped into a meat grinder or something.
"Who the heck boobytraps the front door with a dozen different things?" Catra asked beating the cage against her fist. They were definitely sturdy, maybe too sturdy to break apart without She-Ra's additional strength.
"Entrapta does, that's who." Glimmer answered, bringing some magic to her hand to brighten up the dimmed surroundings.
She was going to have to be careful during the entire time she was with Catra. With the former She-Ra already having it out for her after her last failed attempt at transforming into the powerful warrior, any one thing Glimmer could say could set her off. She didn't want to raise Catra's hopes about anything, she didn't want to say anything insensitive, which proved harder when you knew little to nothing about the person you weren't trying to insult, and she needed to be careful about what she did from this moment until they found Bow.
The last thing she wanted was to anger Catra enough to leave the Rebellion wholly, and that was at best if she didn't plan on skinning Glimmer alive in the first place.
"We need to get out of here as soon as possible," Glimmer continued, "Bow's up there all by himself. He needs us."
"Well what the heck were you doing standing around watching me sleep? Let's go already!" Catra growled, fuming through her nostrils. Already Glimmer was getting to Catra's nerves and that was in less than a minute of being alone with the hybrid.
Was this supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing that it took this long?
Pushing the thoughts from her mind, she nodded as she gathered her magic again and teleported with Catra holding her shoulder. Reappearing seconds later, the two found themselves crouched atop of one another as they entered a rather small hallway. Either that or Glimmer's magic somehow shrank everything around them.
"Uhh...Glimmer?"
"Hang on, I'll try again." Once more, she gathered her magic, this time reappearing at the top of the beacon of the mighty fortress that she saw after arriving here. Both girls' hearts skipped a beat with panic as they hastily grabbed onto the beacon itself, feeling themselves sliding off of it.
"This isn't working!" She grumbled, thankful that now like many times of her life her claws made it easier to stick to the slick surface.
"Mmmh..." A third teleport later, the two found themselves falling. Briefly filled with confusion, the two girls panicked even more as they saw themselves falling towards a massive bear trap, one five times the size of their bodies. There were mere inches between the two and the trap's massive jaws before they managed to teleport for the last time, reappearing inside of an average-looking hallway with Glimmer piggybacking on Catra.
"Nomoreteleporting!" She squealed, shaking the girl off of her as she flattened out her hair a little from the fall.
"A-Agreed!" Glimmer's heart still raced as she panted out of breath.
This was by far the worst place everyone has been to so far. Not one location within this bleak fortress was considered safe, save for the hallway they currently found themselves in. They couldn't trust their teleporting to bring them to a safer location, the scentless air left Catra without the ability to tell who or what was around the corner, and the constant minor grinding of gears throughout this entire place distracted her hearing enough to prevent her from getting a thorough reading on anything that could be approaching them.
Both girls were powerless to get out of this place themselves, and had no means of using their tricks to their advantage.
"Why didn't your stupid teleporting work?" Catra yelled looking around. It felt so strange being in a place her senses were dulled, almost frightening a little. Even the Fright Zone had plenty of smells and noises going around to pick up on just about everything within a dozen yards of her.
"I'm sorry! I can't exactly teleport us safely without seeing where we are. It takes too much concentration just to fit us in a location where we won't find ourselves stuck inside a wall." Explaining the details of how teleporting work did little to soothe Catra's irritation of her and the place surrounding them.
"Pffft, typical."
"What's typical?"
"You are, princess. We get to a place where your teleporting mumbo-jumbo is more necessary than ever, and you can't provide for us." Every word from her comment was filled to the brim with agitation. Nothing that came out of Catra's mouth didn't tell Glimmer exactly how she saw her right now.
Useless and annoying.
"Hey, at least I'm trying to help!" She retorted. "If you're so much better at navigating then you lead the way!"
"I would if there was a single smell in the-" Catra blinked as she looked up again. Her nose twitched as she picked up a singular scent, walking towards it almost like a trance as she followed it.
"Catra?" Seeing the girl sniffling so loudly in this quiet place gave her a bit of hope. "What's wrong? Do you have somethi-"
"Shhhh!" Catra shushed covering her mouth.
The air was getting heavier with the one scent that wasn't their own as her ears twitched at an increasing noise. Something was definitely different in the air and heading their way, She couldn't tell if it was another trap or one of these robots again, only that she wasn't going to be the one caught by surprise when it came out.
Stepping quietly over to the side of the wall, her scent went off like mad as her ears twitched to the sound of the nearby pipe's massive rumbling. Gritting her teeth, stretching her claws, she quickly jumped to the large pipe with a hatch over it, swiping at the metal plate that opened it. Without looking she dug her hands into the pipe, immediately yanking out the first thing she felt and throwing it to the ground.
"Wah!" The figure yelped in fear, landing on her back harshly as Catra jumped at her. She wasted no times raising her claws to her neck, lifting her from the collar of her outfit in her other hand.
Glimmer ran over to her side as she saw the strange person Catra pulled out. Admittedly, she didn't know who she was at first. With the strange red eye-like goggles attached to the strange mask she wore, and the fact she was digging around through the large pipes, she at first assumed her to be a robot. It wasn't until she got a closer view of her exposed skin through the outfit and the familiar twirls of hair she had that Glimmer recognized the figure.
"Princess... Entrapta?" She questioned. Taking a quick look back at her, Catra looked over the supposed princess in her grip. Seeing her nod, the two watched as lifted the metallic mask from the face, greeting them with a cheeky grin.
"Eeeeeeeeee..." The princess squeaked as she continued to stare at Catra.
Feeling a little disturbed by the squealing princess who showed her teethed grin to her, Catra released the girl from her grip as she scratched the back of her head.
"Uhh... hello?" She waited for any sort of response. "...Uhh Glimmer, I think I might've broken her-"
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The princess squealed loudly, reaching the right frequency and pitch to make Catra squeeze her ears in pain.
"Ahhh! Keep it down, will y- ahh!" Before Catra could finish her demands, she found herself suddenly lifted off the ground by two massive purple appendages, all stretching out from the scalp that was Entrapta's head. Catra struggled to free herself as she found her left leg and right arm entangled by the living hair.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!" Catra was too helpless to shout or fight back as she found herself twirled around in every second. One moment she was upside down, the next she found herself stretched to the limits, then find parts of her face stretched by the scientist herself, and so on. All the while the squealing princess continued to jot down information with her notebook in her left hand, with her hair writing in it, a tape recorder in the other. "Observation entry Mark MC-7-01. Assuming it's genetics are similar to that of previous history's findings, I may have successfully discovered a legitimate specimen!"
"Put me down you moron!" Catra demanded, trying to untangle herself from the hair.
"Subject seems fully capable of humanoid speech and movement. Oooooh, the Etherian Science Committee is going to be so stoked when I-!"
"Uhhh excuse me, Princess Entrapta?" Glimmer spoke up from behind. Looking back to the girl, Entrapta greeted her with a hearty smile as her hair returned to her sides.
"Hello!"
"Ahhh-!"
*Thud!*
She completely ignored the cat she was messing with not two seconds ago, the very one she dropped from the air in mid-inspection. Rubbing her sore cheeks, she hissed back to the crazy scientist as she rose to her feet. "Congratulations Pinky, you're no longer the second most hated person in my life."
"Yeah, whatever." Glimmer replied completely ignoring her. "Sorry for the intrusion earlier. We kind of let ourselves in." She apologized.
"Intrusion?" Entrapta took a moment to ponder what she meant. "...Ah, yes. I see what you mean. It's no biggie. Welcome to Dryl!" She clasped her hands together as she smiled. "I can't thank you enough for your generous donation!"
"Donation?" In the blink of an eye Catra let out a small yelp as she found herself being lifted again, this time by her tail.
"Oh yes, your donation! I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am that you brought me one!"
"Put me down already!" Catra screamed flailing around. The grip on the tail was proving more painful than the fact she was currently being hung by it. What short relief she felt after being let go was washed away as she found herself face first on the ground again. "Ow..."
"What? Oh no, no no, no, Catra's a friend of mine. I didn't bring her to give her to you." Glimmer said, chuckling as she shook her hands.
A look of surprise and depression grew over Entrapta's face, the scientist tilting her head at this. "You didn't? Awww... Well no biggie!" She quickly reverted to her happier state of being as she Glimmer from all around, looking at her fashion sense from her cape to her hair, molding the hair around her into hands and footrests. "I'm just glad for the company! Things are usually more fun around here but right now it's all kind of deadly."
"I noticed." Catra mumbled rubbing her sore tail.
Without skipping a beat the science princess continued on her way as the two followed behind her, Entrapta not looking as her hair carried her around. "You guys should consider yourself lucky I found you. I designed this castle as a labyrinth."
Catra took a short pause as she grimaced at the sight of the blue cat painting they passed. Why does this painting bother me? There was something that bothered her when she passed by a cat painting in a deathtrap-filled castle like Entrapta's.
"I'm the only one who can navigate it."
*thunk*
"Ow!" She rubbed her sore head as it bonked into one of the pipes behind her.
"Which means you can help us find our friend, right?" Glimmer kept wondering if Bow was safe so far. He was a strong fighter and a great archer, there's no denying that. But there was no telling how well he'd fair against vicious machines like these and the unpredictable traps that were placed around it.
"She means her friend." Catra restated turning away. The non-friend groaned to herself as she rolled her eyes.
Ok.
Fine.
She made it clear she was mad. The least she could do though is pretend not to hate them so much! Everything that happened was outside of Glimmer's control. If she had it her way, she would let Catra use the sword wherever she wanted whenever she wanted... provided she was still on the Rebellion's side of course.
It didn't bother her so much that she hated Glimmer as it did when she sounded like she was mad at the both of them. While she could've been mad at Glimmer and only her, she felt like she was taking her anger out on Bow too. He had nothing to do with any of it so she could at least acknowledge that! If she wanted to be made at someone let it be her and only her. She's the one whose advice Catra took, Bow had nothing to do with it.
"Absolutely!" The scientist assured as she jumped from the alcove they stood atop. With Glimmer jumping after Catra, trying to ignore her contemptuous nature, the three found themselves back in the hallway they passed by not too long ago. What surprised them the most was how it lead directly back to the painting of the cat Catra passed by earlier, getting a similar sense of being captivated much like the kitten in the painting.
Ok this painting is starting to disturb me...
"I'm pretty sure we passed by it already." The other princess pointed out. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"
"Truthfully... I don't know. Normally I have my electronic map to assist me with this place but like my bots it's sort of evil right now." Leaning over her shoulder to see the data pad itself, the other two were greeted with the angered bright red face with a scornful expression. Along the side of it were several red roots that trailed around the item giving a faint pulse of red which each flash of the expression's face.
"Yeah, that's the other thing I wanted to ask-"
"Why exactly did you invent killer psychos?" Catra said it earlier and she'll gladly say it again. This girl was giving off major Horde vibes over everything she did.
Robots were an essential part of their war against the Horde. They could be programmed to do any task, they were easy create when it came to the basic machinations, and most importantly, it lessened the loss of other lives. People wouldn't have to worry about their families never returning if robots filled the masses. That much Catra could understand.
What she nor Glimmer could understand was why a princess of all people would want to invent one to begin with!
Glancing back at Catra, she let out another chuckle as she took out several items to examine her closer with, from another notebook, several rulers, and magnifying glasses of various sizes. "I still can't believe I'm really looking at one!" Catra crossed her arms as she eyed the weird girl. Was she supposed to be like those hippie villagers she met in Plumeria? Because the last thing she wanted was getting praised all over again just for being She-Ra and shot down again after several hours. "Why helloooo, what's this?"
"Don't touch it." Catra warned placing her hand on the hilt of the sword. "I found it myself, and I plan on keeping it. And why do you keep talking about me like I'm an item or something?"
"Ooooh, sorry, I just can't help myself!" She went back to her notes as she turned the voice recorder on again. "Observation entry Mark MC-7-02. Subject doesn't seem to know about herself or the mysterious First Ones' tech she has. Could she be from a different society of her race? One that didn't perish with the kingdom?"
"Kingdom? Perish? You're not making much sense here you know."
"Additional research is required to find out." With the click of the recorder she smiled back to the swordsman as she twirled her massive hair. "As for the robots, I'm sorry about them. Usually, they're super useful. They do almost everything for me." She counted off with her hair as fingers. "Cleaning, filing, basic hygiene." Glimmer made a face of disgust at that. "Ooh, and they're sound-activated. Here, I'll show you!"
*clap-clap-clap-clap-clap*
"Ah-! Maybe you shouldn't do that." Glimmer's suggestion came too late for them, even after closing Entrapta's hand herself, as the three felt the familiar rumble of the ground shaking.
Down the hallway behind them, the three saw a massive machine with scrubbers across it's bottom and several other scrubbers acting as hands. Like many of the robots that roamed the halls of this place, this one had blood-red eyes that filled it's vision, giving off the same disturbing hum as the first one they encountered as it spotted them.
Not giving it a chance to catch up to them the three ran for their lives in the opposite direction, Entrapta following only after she felt Catra pulling her hair away. Continuing to watch the robot as she ran, Entrapta awed at the sight of the gargantuan being as it scrubbed everywhere while giving chase. However strong it was it proved during the chase as it scrubbed over the painting in it's pursuit. With this, the painting was scrubbed harshly away from the wall, Entrapta oohing at just how powerful and efficient her mighty machine of washing could be.
"Hahaha! Isn't it adorable!"
"How are you this crazy?!" Catra shouted as they ran.
*Clank*
All three turned their attention back to the metal machine as the sound of it colliding against the risen bars went off. Seeing the monstrosity, the trio watched as it struggled to give chase, pushing with as much excess power it had available to no avail. The machine itself looking back, it unleashed an earthly howl which penetrated Catra's eardrums again, followed by the strange tingling sensation filling her mind as she squeezed her head.
"Isn't that amazing?! It's trying to talk!" Entrapta revealed as she ran over to it's side.
"Whatever it's saying, I don't think it's good." Glimmer commented in turn.
"Tell it to shut up!" Rising slowly to her feet, head filling with a numbing pain, Catra groaned squeezing her head. That strange unholy screech it was releasing was hurting her on multiple levels. It wasn't just the screech itself that made her ears first, it was the strange sensation spreading through her mind, like a plant was trying to force it's roots into her mind. "TELL IT TO SHUT UP!"
"Make what stop?" Her ally kneeled a little as she checked on her. Why was Catra in so much pain all of a sudden? Was she actually in pain or trying to make Glimmer feel worse about their situation? Cause either way, it was working!
Climbing up to the machine's stomach with it's hair extensions, Entrapta grabbed for her recorder as she refused to turn away from this wondrous display. "Bot 329 is attempting to communicate." As she examined it the behemoth of a machine finally pushed it's way through the metal barriers, breaking through it with relative ease as the robot charged head first towards Glimmer and Catra again. During this time Entrapta's dangling hair was caught in it's sweepers, the scientist starting to panic as she failed to pull away her hair. "Oh, no. Bad bot. Bad bot!"
"Ugh, get out of the way!" Grabbing her sword, Catra ran towards the machine with a fire in her eyes, intending to tear the creature into hundreds of pounds of scrap metal. Leaping to the monster's face, Catra yelled as she swiped the sweepers away from her as it attacked, cutting one of the sweepers in half before running up the arm-like structure to the robot's head. With a great big roar Catra impaled the sword directly through the robot's red face, right into the creature's face.
It was in that moment, only but a moment, that Catra witnessed the strange red starting to grow over her sword. She didn't know what it was, she didn't know why it was growing over her sword. All she knew was that during those few seconds of consciousness, something was penetrating her mind.
At the same time, with the machine itself having died down, the princess of Dryl finally managed to get her hair pulled out. With a solid yank of her prehensile hair, she managed to pry it loose from the machine's scrubbers of death, inadvertently falling over and landing to the ground with a solid thud in the process. Nevertheless she was thankful for the quick assist, more so at the fact she didn't lose her hair out of it as a result.
*wham!*
The two turned back to the face of the creature as the pounding continue. Up above they could see Catra continuing to strike at the dreadful machine with a furious anger, crying out in fury with each ferocious swing. As she did, Glimmer noticed a faint red glow sparkling from the jewel of the sword. It had an eerie glow, much like the robot she recently struck down. A drop in the pit of her stomach told her to be worried as she teleported to the top of the robot where Catra stood, exactly whatever needless revenge she needed out of the contraption.
"Catra? H-Hey, stop!" She cried out.
It didn't make any sense to her and she didn't care. Everything around her, everything that was against her. All the anger and rage she's felt throughout most of her life was coming out in this one moment. Swinging away at the dead machinery, reducing it's head to a stump by now, Catra angrily continued her assault against the machine as her eyes went off with a bright red.
She couldn't explain her anger, she didn't know why this machine made her so angry, and it didn't matter to her. It felt good. Too good. Every swing of her sword brought down a mix between relief and fury, her sword never dulling and her arms never aching as she swung away at it. She barely paid it any mind as Glimmer attempted to grab the sword, struggling to pry it from her grip.
"Stop it! It's over now!" She yelled. "Give me the sword, let go!" With a grunt, in the one instance that Catra had a loose in her grip, Glimmer managed to grab it out of the girl's hand, tossing it behind her into one of the damaged scrubbers from the wreckage.
"Ngh... Ahhhhhhhh!" She screamed from the top of her lungs as she grabbed her head in painful frustration. From anger to confusion to realization and back to anger, Catra's mind exploded as she felt an influx of emotions swarming her head. Every emotion, the good the bad, the ugly, flowed into her mind repeatedly without end, swarming the girl's mind as she collapsed to her knees.
"Catra?" What was wrong with her? First her unbridled anger, the glowing red eyes, and now this? Why was she suddenly in pain when the machine was destroyed? What did that red stuff do to her? Waiting a few seconds, she watched as Catra's arms dropped to her side, the girl's head dropping with it. Cautiously, she reached a hand over to her tormented friend, shaking her by the shoulder as gently as she could. "C-Catra? Are you okay?"
"...Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..." A small growl escaped the girl's lips as her body shook.
"Catra?" With her friend staring back at her, Glimmer gasped in fear at the sight before her.
Catra, the friend-in-progress of a friend, looked at her with fury. Not just any fury, a primal fury, one given by any animal of the wild. Her teeth ground against one another, her ears tilting not out of fear but as a sign of aggressiveness. With claws extended, a blood-lust filling her eyes, Glimmer let out a scream of terror as she was tackled off the robot to the ground, Catra pinning her by the shoulders, as her mouth watered with hunger.
Unable to focus her magic from the sudden daze of the fall, Glimmer struggled to push Catra's claws off her to no avail. Staring back at her, her eyes widened in horror as Catra opened her jaws like a tiger ready to devour it's prey. With mouth full of thirst and stomach filled with hunger, Glimmer let out one last scream as Catra lunged at her throat.
"Catra, no-!"
...
...
"...Hmhmhm... Catra?" A familiar voice spoke up.
"Mmmh..." Catra moaned as she rested against the silky sheets.
"Catra? Wake uuuuup~"
"Mmmh!" Catra moaned irritably as she felt something flick the tip of her ears. "Leave me alone..."
"Oh Catra, come oooon, you're going to be late."
Opening her eyes slowly, her vision adjusted as it cleared from it's hazy sleep-filled eyes. "Would you give it a rest? I'm trying to sleep Ado-!"
Huh? What was going on? She could swear, blinking her eyes to clear them of the drowsiness that overtook her, that she was gazing back at Adora. A smiling Adora. A smiling Adora who was in her bed. She was lying on a pillow next to her, wearing a light blue pajamas as she stared back at her in this... wait...
"Wha... Where...?" Catra slowly rose from the bed as she rubbed her eyes clear. What was this place? Where was she? What... What was she doing before now?
The last thing she remembered was... something... something important... maybe? If it was so important then why couldn't she remember? If it was important then she shouldn't have forgotten in the first place, right? It had to be important for some reason, something telling her this was all wrong.
But what was it? And what was she sitting on.
Head still filled with fuzz, she looked around herself as Adora rose from the bed too. She was in some strange bed, a round luxurious one at that, in the center of a barely lit room. As her eyes adjusted to the furniture around her, she saw several different dressers with nearly a dozen drawers on each row. They were neatly aligned with the polyester, standing among each other proudly and ready to provide for her for various occasions.
Over on the other side of the large room, she saw a large desk with a mirror in front of it, a few different combs with different brushes thrown across it and one located knocked over on the side of a wooden stool that stood in front of the strange furniture. It was pure with a bright white coloring, the only other color being a faded pink all along the side of the mirror.
Seeing the mirror itself, she noticed herself in the reflection, looking down at her own clothing with a questionable brow. She was wearing pajamas too, a large woolen shirt that stretched passed her knees. Unlike Adora's, hers was more of a red color, almost bright enough to be considered a pink despite the clear red it was presenting. She didn't bother caring about the mess of a hairdo her bedhead gave her, she could deal with it later.
And in front of her? It was weird. Yes everything about it was weird, but this was just weird weird. There were a pair of beautiful red drapes strewn across the wall, several on each side in front of what appeared to be a window, while in the middle of all these was a massive door window with curtains across the entirety of it.
Nothing about this place screamed fearful. In fact, Catra felt almost... happy... for some reason. Something about this place told her everything was all right, that she had no reason to fear this place. Her mind told her that this was where she wanted to be more than anything else in the whole world.
But where exactly was this?
"Geez, you seem really out of it this morning." Adora commented as she flattened her side of the bed. Scratching her ears, letting out a yawn, Catra rubbed her eyes again as she tried to get her barrings.
"What... What is all this?" Something about this place was familiar and unfamiliar to her at the same time. "And what are you doing here?"
"Uhh duh, sleeping? We've slept together since we were kids, remember?" Adora reminded playfully.
"Oh, right..." Yes, of course she was right... she was right, right? Was this right? How did she not know if she was right or wrong? All of this screamed strange to her in the back of her mind, a scream that slowly continued to silence as time went on. "But... where exactly am I?"
"Heh, you really did party too much last night, huh?" She smiled back to her friend as she pulled the ropes of the curtain.
In a flash of white, Catra was blinded by the penetrating brightness that instantly filled the room. Everything illuminating round her, Catra slowly adjusted to the new brightness as Adora took her hand, leading her. She could hear the faint murmurs of other people, the numerous scents of the fresh air, the sound of birds tweeting beyond the horizon. All of this felt commonplace to Catra no matter how strange she felt about it.
"Now come on, your highness. The people are waiting for you to greet them for the day."
"Yeah, yeah, I heard it a bunch of...?" Opening her eyes clearly, she turned back towards Adora with confusion on her face. "Wait... what did you call me?"
"What do you think?" Taking her hand as she smiled, she lead Catra over to the balcony where the magicat's jaw dropped.
People. People as far as the eye could see. Everyone with a smile on their faces and happiness in their voices as they cried out in cheer at the sight of their beloved Queen. From all over the cheers of people filled her ears as the vastness of the surrounding town overflowed from her eyes.
From simple town houses to utility functions, to the numerous markets that lined the streets and the beautiful clear sunny day that greeted her along with the rest of the town who gathered around a statue from below her. Seeing the statue itself, Catra took in the beautiful form she was greeted with.
It was a statue of herself, the one and only Catra, the one and only owner of the legendary Sword of Power created by the First Ones. The statue itself was designed with the regal appearance of any royalty, donning the unique look that her She-Ra outfit gave her. Out of solid stone, from top to bottom, not a single thing stood out of place, nor a single crack within the stone that shouldn't be there.
Taking a look at the small chuckling behind her she was met with Adora giving a small salute to the still sleepy girl. "Official good morning, your majesty."
"Majesty...?"
...Oh... OOOOHHHH... now she understood! Yes, it all made so much sense now! Man, she was feeling incredibly silly about everything, feeling giddy like a small child at a carnival. Why did it take her so long to remember where she was and who she was? She must've looked really silly to the rest of the townsfolk who greeted her that morning too.
She was Princess Catra, and this was her Kingdom!
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A/N: Don't think I have much to say I didn't already say in that massively ungodly chunk up above XD. Just another shout out of thanks again to HJSDGCE, and others like Endlesschain, Shadow Joestar, Socram, Kraven, Sd, lucian, halo master, etc. and anybody else I missed for their continued support. I hope you all enjoy and continue to enjoy the series as it goes on!
With that said, leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!