A/N: Hooftah, with a near 11k Words, I am proud to announce we are practically haflway done folks! HALLELUJAH!
Now as I mentioned last chapter, don't expect that much of a "fight scene", i mean there is basically like 1 minute of the fight left and whatnot. I still think the chapter should be plenty fun though as we get bring our episode to a close, as well as another grandiose flashback regarding Catra's past.
Hope everyone enjoys!
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"Adoraaaa!" Catra continued to yell as she ran through her shrinking kingdom.
Everywhere she looked, everything she saw, buildings, the ground, the air itself, all of it was being consumed by the dreadful red light, destroying everything it touched as it shrank onto the kingdom. There was no touching the wall of death, having burnt her fingers from a static discharge it gave the first time she tried it. And all through this chase, this giant run through the city, there were two questions plaguing her.
One, what was this obnoxious screeching sound she heard all throughout the city? During her run through the city, there was this low pitch screech noise that irritated her ears. Thankfully it was quiet enough not to mess with her senses directly, though that still left the question of where it was coming from to begin with. Were the walls making the noise? It sounded like it came from every direction, so that seemed like the most probable solution. At the same time though, it was hollowed out, almost waning. Where was the source of the noise coming from?
Second question, where was everyone else? This entire place was her kingdom, she realized that part of it. What she couldn't figure out was where she was or how she got here. She remembered going on a mission with Glimmer and Bow, going to Entrapta's Castle, and that's it. From there, she woke up, and the next thing she knew she was outside this entire place after the screeching sound began. She couldn't remember it, she couldn't remember anything!
The one thing she remembered was that there was one other person in this entire kingdom, the one person she knew would be at the castle, which supposedly belonged to her.
Looking behind herself as she ran, she gulped silently as she saw the continued desecration of her kingdom, the red walls coming in every direction. She didn't know where the two of them would go from here. All she knew was that anywhere would be better than this. As long as she found Adora, things would be fine.
Coming to the giant wooden doors to her castle, she grunted as she pushed with as much for as she muster, nudging the door inch by inch as she made her way through. She didn't know if these things could destroy everything as quickly as they moved, but if anything could slow it down she hoped these doors could.
Finally managing to slide herself in, she wasted no time turning and slamming the doors shut, slouching against the door as she panted out of breath. That might've been the longest run she's ever gone without slowing down, spanning over three miles to reach the center of her kingdom. "Huff... Huff... Ado... Adora!" Catra called out, being met with a silent echo all throughout the place. Her heart raced a little from the lack of response to this. Was she still here? Oh no, what if she left?! "Adora! Adoraaaa! Where are you?"
"I'm here Catra, I'm fine." Adora yelled back casually as she walked down the large staircase. Catra managed to ease her tension a little, rubbing the center of her chest as she tried to steady her pacing heart. Adora was alive and well, greeting her as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Geez, you look like you've seen a ghost. Are you okay?" She asked placing a soothing hand on her shoulder.
"There's no time to explain!" Catra yelled. "We need to get out of here, now!"
"Get out of here?" Adora blinked in confusion at the sudden announcement. "Why? What's the hurry?"
*CRACKLE*
There was no need to answer her directly. The two of them were drawn towards the door at the sound of the fierce crackling of ground and building. To Catra's shock, the doors and walls of this place proved useless against the horrifying might of the red. Seething at the sight of the red approaching her, Catra grabbed Adora's hand as she took off up the stairs. "I don't know, we just need to get out of here while we still can!"
"And go where?" Adora questioned as she continued to look at the red wall while running.
"I don't know! Maybe there's a secret passage around here? Some magic to teleport us?" There was no telling what they had in this castle, having lost most of her non-essential memories upon her memory's return. For all she knew they might have a time traveling wizard that could turn the clock back for them. "I don't care! Let's get out of here while we still- Ngh!" Catra froze at the sight in front of her.
The walls were coming in from the hallway. At the other end, she saw the wall coming closer. Behind her, a wall was still giving chase. In the middle of this long hallway, where a single window sat, she could see an approaching pile of red coming towards her. No doubt there was more red coming from the opposite direction, throwing that possibility out the window too.
"No..." She couldn't believe it. There was no means of escaping this place. All around her the castle slowly crumbled to bits of dust, falling around her as the walls and ceilings gave way to the walls of death that continued on her path. The one direction she didn't see red was directly below her feet, seeing an empty void above where her feet were standing. If there was any getting through that way she'd take it in an instant. Falling forever into a seemingly-bottomless void was still preferable over whatever thee things could do to the two of them.
Everything was gone, disappearing. Closing in on her here by the second, she could tell everything else was gone. There was no kingdom outside these walls, the castle walls that is, and everyone she knew had simply vanished without a trace. She didn't hear any screaming through the kingdom, not a trace of anyone lied about. She was alone in this very kingdom.
Her, and Adora.
"Now what do we do?" Catra squeezed her hand anxiously, trying to come up with a plan.
"What do you mean we? It's just you now." Catra turned back towards her friend at the monotonous sound of her voice. There was a blank expression on her face as she stared at Catra. It was like she wasn't even aware of the surrounding walls that continued to near them.
"Adora, what... what are you talking about?" Worry started to take hold of her as she saw Adora slowly back up.
"What do you think? It's always been about you. What you wanted, who you decided to like. You just kept pushing everyone else away. Anyone you didn't agree with or didn't like. You never really cared for any of them."
"T-That's not true!" Catra tried to argue, remaining where she was. "I-I didn't push anyone away! I just... I just didn't want anything to do with them! I didn't want to scare them, I didn't want to make anyone angry."
"And you thought by turning your backs on them that they would be the only ones who left?" By now, Adora was halfway between the remaining hallway, stopping in place as the walls came behind her. "You didn't think anyone who cared about who you pushed away would want to stay with you? You didn't think anyone else would be affected by your simple turn aways?"
"...The people..." It was then that Catra finally realized why everyone was disappearing, who was to blame for her kingdom being empty.
Herself.
She was the cause of the kingdom's nothingness, the reason nobody still remained. What short few menial tasks she felt were unnecessary were small tiles on the path of a large chain of dominos. When she didn't want to meet one person, two people were affected. When she didn't want to give any special attention to a lone infant, a couple kids left one by one.
Anyone who so much as noticed those people missing would leave in turn. One by one the people around her started to dwindle and disappear, eventually leaving her with a kingdom without it's people.
A world without any friends. And those who did remain by her side were starting to disappear themselves. It was at that moment Catra watched as the wall finally reached her, Adora slowly fading into the red itself.
"But I... I didn't mean to push anyone away, I swear! I just..." A grave look of despair crossed Catra's face as she looked away. "I just didn't want to be hated..."
"Well good for you." Adora's voice started to echo as the wall consumed the rest of her. "Now you'll never be hated again. Now you'll be alone..."
"Adora!" Catra cried out trying to reach for her. It was already too late as the tips of her claw brushed against the incoming wall, sending a painful jolt against her hand, leaving a crisp burn around it. Her eyes widened in terror as she backed away from the wall, looking around herself as the walls were a couple yards away from her in all directions. "No, no..." Her ears twitched as her tail wrapped around her waist, trying everything to keep herself as far from the walls as possible. Mentally preparing for it, the walls all a foot away, she prepared for the worst of it, ready for whatever pain it had to bring.
There was no amount of preparation for this kind of pain.
*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT-!*
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Catra cried out in an immense roar as the wall in front of her and behind her pushed closer to one another. Nothing but pain and sorrow came from these walls of terror as an endless jolt of electricity surged throughout her entire body. She was being pressed against the walls in all directions, the walls unable to push passed her body as she blocked herself with own arms. It did little to keep the walls separated, yet enough to stop them from crushing her.
The trouble was, now what could she do? The minute she gave any slack, the second she lost the will to survive, she was going to get crushed. She was going to die. With no one else around her, with no way to get herself out of this predicament, what else could she do by cry out for help?
"Someone... anyone... help!" She begged tearfully. The worst kind of suffering was when you forced yourself to survive through it.
The only suffering worse than that was knowing that no one could save you, not when you found yourself all alone...
...
...
*wham!*
"Agh!" The small servant yelped as she was kicked away square in the stomach by a feral Catra.
The battle taking place outside her mind was far more stressful for the surrounding allies as they struggled to fight off the horde of Robots and a mind controlled Catra. Her eyes were burning with fire as the red veins across her head pulsed brightly, being signaled by whatever force compelled her to do it's bidding.
Sneaking up on her the pastry chef attempted to hold back the feral-turned enemy, Catra hissing and roaring as she hugged her tightly from behind, squeezing her arms tightly together. With a growl, Catra sank her teeth into the woman's arm, the chef letting out a cry of pain and losing her grip enough for Catra to squeeze through. Sliding out from under the arms, Catra wasted no time as she miraculously lifted the large woman over her shoulder, tossing her away at the smaller servant who rolled out of the way, barely in time as the large chef landed heavily on the ground.
Following this brief display of might, she found herself cowering in fear and disgust as she was sprayed heavily by the refreshment's servant, pushing the cat back enough as she covered her face, buying times for the others to make a quick recovery and get back on their feet.
When one of them were fighting Catra, the others were fighting off the robots that came into the room one by one. When they weren't dealing with the robots, one of them were dealing with the much deadlier Catra, the girl's claws sharp enough to cut through their bones if she tried hard enough. Between the two whoever was dealing with the magicat found themself less fortunate, the robots that moved sluggishly being a blessing compared to the feline who was swift and deadly.
Finding the oncoming drench beginning to wane, Catra took the miniscule opening as she dashed over to the servant, jumping to the air and pushing him to the floor. She bared her teeth angrily at the servant, rising her sharp claws to swipe at his face and leave him with a few new stitches if he was lucky.
That's when Glimmer managed to jump in when her guard was down, tackling and pushing her off the servant. Helping him back to his feet, she gathered what little magic remained inside of her into her hands, ready to fight off her friend for as long as possible. "Catra, snap out of it! It's us, remember?"
"What did those bots do to Catra?" Bow asked as he and Entrapta continued their attempts to pry the source of virus from the computer.
"I know, isn't it amazing!" These were her favorite people from this day forward. One after the other, Entrapta found herself amazed and perplexed at the multitude of scientific studies these people were giving her! Whether intentional or pure coincidence, ever since she met these people a few hours ago the fascinations and discoveries never seemed to end! "The robots assimilated Catra into becoming one of their own! They think she's one of theirs now because of the virus inside her and so does she!"
"Is she still in there then?" Bow asked as he pulled at the disc that was stuck in place.
"Um possibly?" The uncertainty in her voice left him concerned. "The sooner we stop the disc the sooner we'll find out!"
"Ngh... agreed... Ghhh..." Bow grunted as he pulled at the device, planting a foot on the machine for a better grip. Despite his best efforts, the disc remained in place. It felt like he was trying to pull a tree out of the ground with how stuck it was. "Ugh, it won't move. What now?"
"Ah! The power conduit!" Entrapta deduced, following the power cables of the super computer to where they were plugged in. There were several large cables plugged into the socket of various color, all plugged into the same socket that powered the entire machine and the robots in turn. The two grabbed as much of the large cables as they could, tugging on the conduit until the large cord finally gave way and snapped from the outlet.
With a hum, the rest turned back to the machine as they saw the power finally die off, the red coated computer monitors flashing briefly before slowly dimming away. At the sight of their victory, Bow and Entrapta cheered to one another, congratulating each other for a job well done!
A job that was short lived as the core of the machine began to shine brightly. The remaining heroes watched as the machine hummed again, statical electricity surging through the entire computer again as life flourished all around it, practically empowered by it's recent turn off as the monitors flashed with a bright red light. All around the core the roots pulsed with a heartbeat, surging it's own energy throughout the complex and bringing life back to it's robotic world.
Returning to life for a second chance, all the robots, including the feral Catra, turned their attention immediately back to the the computer as they charged right after it as a means to defend it. As they did, Catra took lead of the robots as she scrambled by Bow and Entrapta, standing in front of the machine as she gaped, awestruck. Pausing for a second, the others saw her pull out her sword from it's sheath, slowly raising it so it's gem was nearing the disc's center.
"I don't understand, what's it doing?" He couldn't tell if he was more confused at the sight of the machines still bursting with life, or Catra trying to touch the disc with her sword.
"Ooooohhhh! It's running on it's own power source!" Entrapta exclaimed. The stars within her eyes shined like a bright morning sun, escalating with each passing second.
"But what's it trying to do to Catra?"
"Oh, that's the best part!... Well terrible, but still best!"
"What is it!?"
"Don't you see it? The virus wants to integrate it's technology with the sword! It wants to study the sword on a vast scale and replicate it's technology! Or make superpowered bots using the sword's schematics, take your pick." Turning around, she grabbed Bow with her hair as she pulled herself to the ceiling, right before they found themselves trampled by the incoming robots.
Looking back to the disc, Bow steadied his aim as he pulled out the last arrow in his quiver. "I pick we don't let any of that happen!" With his aim focused, steadying his shot, he released his shot, the arrow piercing through the air at top speed as it soared towards it's destination.
*swiff*
"No!"
Only for it to be grabbed by Catra's other hand, never taking her eyes off the machine, stopping the tip from reaching the disc by a single inch. Jumping back to the ground, the two watched as Catra gazed at the evil arrow, fuming at the thought that this one simple tool almost destroyed the very machine she worshipped for some reason.
"Fire another one! Fire another one!" Entrapta begged worriedly.
"I can't, that was my last arrow!" Bow revealed, his quiver empty of ammunition. Backing up to the group herself, Glimmer watched as the robots stood side by side, forming a personal wall between the computer and the heroes on the opposite side of the room.
*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang*
And that served to prove how little time they had left. Hearing the massive pounding on the sealed door behind them, the others looked on in fear as they saw cracks beginning to form. With every pound the door bent inwards more and more, the cracks beginning to break apart small fragments from the door where the robotic red eyes could be seen.
"We need to destroy that thing fast!"
"How?" The young servant asked behind him. "We don't have anymore ammo or magic, and we're not gonna reach Catra before she destroys it!"
Glimmer knew she was right. There were a few seconds until Catra decided how to break the evil machine and there was no way any of them were going to break through the line of bots while they were low on supplies. There was only one shot they had left, one she hadn't tried yet.
Why was this arrow bothering Catra so much? The more she stared at it, the angrier she felt! She had a strange urge to crush the arrow in her hand, to pull it apart into millions of tiny pieces! It shouldn't exist in this world or any other world at that! She had to destroy it, right here, right now.
Destroy it.
Destroy it!
DESTROY I-!
"Catra!" Glimmer shouted over, grabbing everyone's attention. "Destroy the machine!"
"Glimmer?" Bow questioned as he looked back and forth between the two.
"I know you're in there still! The same girl who lost her best friend! The one who hates me because of it! You have every right to be mad at me but we need you right now!" It was a small chance, but the last chance they had. If any portion of Catra remained in her head, if it hadn't been
"G-Glimmer's right!" Bow shouted in agreement. "What happened to the girl who was tough on everybody around her? I don't recognize this weakling. The Catra I know could be it with both claws tied behind her back!"
Taking the hint, the remaining allies continued to shout words of encouragement over to her. While limited in the amount of praise they could pitch in, having met the girl not ten minutes ago, they knew enough to support her finesse and strength in this short time of distress.
What were they shouting about? Catra didn't know these people, these weird creature things. They were just trying to confuse her! That must be it! There was nothing about these creatures that meant anything to her! They meant absolutely nothi...nothi...not...n...
...
How long had she been in here? Minutes? Hours? Days? Who cared if the last one was far fetched? When your entire body was wracked by an endless pain to the point where your body was numb, you had the right to say anything you wanted to.
Catra didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. The walls were still pinning against her, the one thing keeping them apart being her resistance to give in. Why didn't she want to give in though? Her eyes were heavy, her body was sore. There was nobody around her, no one who cared for her because she drove them away. Who cared if she disappeared anyway?
Come to think of it, she was just dreaming. Yeah, that must've been it. Nothing bad could happen if she just took a little nap, right? Her eyelids were beginning to droop, the pained sorrowed expression on her face dropping with it. Maybe it would be ok to take a short nap, a little break from all the princess duties she went through today, and the ones she ignored. It's not like anyone needed her anyway. Eyes coming to a close, she had to wonder what kind of princess she would be, if no one wanted her to begin with-
"Catraaaa!"
Instantly, her eyes sprang open. Who was that? Where did it come from?
"Catra, wake up!"
There it was again. A different voice this time, but one calling out her all the same.
Who were these strange people? A voice came to her every second, echoing throughout the place as it replaced the terrible screeching sound that filled her head up to this point. It did nothing to alleviate the pain she had, and she didn't care. If there was a voice calling for her out there, maybe it could help her?
If not... maybe she could help them?
"Who... Who is that?" Catra called out, looking around despite the field of red that surrounded her.
"Catra, hurry!"
"Hello? Hellooooo!" Catra called out, eyes opening slowly as she found energy returning to her arms and legs. She didn't care if it brought along the sense of feeling again, feeling the painful electricity continue to burn around her. All she cared about was the fact she was no longer alone.
Someone was still at her side.
"Hey! Heeeey!" She shouted rasply. She barely registered as she managed to push the red wall a little bit away. It still shocked her, and she was surprisingly fine with it. If this was her chance to get herself out of her then she was going to take it. Growling loudly, she screamed to the top of her lungs as she made one final call.
"Get... me...OOOOOOUT!"
...
"Ghhhhhhhh!" The Catra on the outside moaned in agony as she dropped the sword, squeezing her head in severe pain.
Glimmer gasped at the sight of her friend's inner struggle, joy filling her surrounding friends as they saw this. "Catra!"
Eyes still red with rage, the magicat looked to the arrow she was squeezing in her other hand. Why did she want to destroy this thing so badly? Something kept screaming at her to do it, screaming at her to put a stop to everything! It warned her, threatened her, insulted her to destroy it, yet she couldn't do it! Why couldn't she do it.
Turning back to the machine, she ignored the sounds of the door caving in, her friends preparing to defend themselves against a losing battle as the room began to fill with an endless swarm of bots, more of them popping out of the air vents and breaking apart the walls of the room as they forced their way inside.
Something told her not to do it, to let the robots take the people who meant nothing to her. It promised the pain would go away after awhile, that she'd have nothing to fear.
Its last mistake was claiming she was afraid.
"Aggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!" Catra roared for the last time, slamming the arrowhead straight into the energizing disc.
All at once, the entire room filled with an ear piercing sound, the frequency reaching Catra's own ears, causing her to double over in pain as she squeezed her ears tightly. All around her and the others the robots began dropping like flies as the frequency reverberated throughout the room. Any of them hanging on the ceiling came crashing down, the oversized ones toppling on top of one another as they fell over.
Best of all, to Glimmer and Bow anyway, the two ran over to her downed friend in time to watch the horrible red veins dissipate from her head, the same veins on the jewel of her sword disappearing as the beautiful blue light shined at long last.
With the two of them kneeling next to her, Glimmer took Catra into her arms, the look of concern present on her face as she shook her unconscious friend gently. "Catra? Catra wake up, Please be all right!" Glimmer pleaded. There was no telling what effects the virus had on her, and the detail that it could have a lasting effect on her only worsened Glimmer's fear.
"Come on Catra, you have to pull through!" Bow called out, awaiting, and hoping, for his friend's recovery.
"...Ngh... ugh..." Catra meeped as she opened her tired eyes a little, just enough to see Glimmer staring over her, with Bow doing the same on her left. She had that semi-tired look on her face, the small scowl on her expression, but for all they knew that as just from pure exhaustion. They needed some semblance of self to prove that she was all right, that she was still the same Catra they knew and cherished. "...You have five seconds to stop touching me before I scratch you."
"She's back!" Glimmer screamed as she hugged her friend tightly, Catra nearly gagging as all the air was pushed out of her.
"Accckk! Ok, three seconds! Two seconds!" She hissed.
"She's okay!" Bow cheered soon after, hugging the friend he almost lost.
"That wasn't your queue to join in!" Catra shouted, squirming in their arms, the cat was powerless to stop the squeezing that crushed her body, feeling like her face could burst as all the blood from embarrassment and force rushed to her head. And for whatever reason, this prompted the two to laugh cheerfully, the others speeding over to the trio to check on them.
"Eh hem..." Entrapta grabbed their attention as she let out a small cough. Seeing their distracted state the two huggers were in Catra pushed them off as far as possible, springing to her feet soon after. "I would... like to offer my gratitude, cat person... and her two sidekicks, for saving our lives."
"Sidekicks?" Bow raised his brow as he got back to his feet with Glimmer.
"Hmph, least she knows how things work here." Catra smirked.
"I would be honored to join your Rebellion and provide you with weapons." Her announcement brought two and a half smiles from the three as they looked among themselves. Another princess to join the Rebellion was another ally they had against the Horde. More importantly, it brought them one step closer to defeating the Horde once and for all.
"Thanks, guys. You saved us all back there." Bow smiled to the three companions who saved him earlier. "The Rebellion needs regular people now more than ever."
"And we'll be ready!" The two servants put on a dazzling display as they used a fizzy drink to blast a dish tossed into the air.
"Yeah...by the way..." Glimmer spoke up as she took Catra's sword off the ground. "Entrapta, any chance you could do us one more favor?"
...
...
"Save me, Adora!"
"I wonder what else she'll scream if I torture her?"
"Where are you, Adora?"
"You said we would always be there for each other!"
"Do you even care what I do to Catra anymore?"
"I thought you said we were friends, Adora?"
The insults never ceased as Adora meditated within the center of this everlasting darkness. There wasn't a single thing they said that affected her up to this point. All around her body were the blast marks and burns from dozens of direct blasts from the droids, her body still simmering from the burnt skin and the seared clothing.
Every single time she felt something, she was punished for it. When her worry got the better of her, she was blasted from the left. When her anger took advantage of her state, she was shot in the back. Any time she had her hopes up and ran happily to the source of the familiar, joyful, voice of the childlike Catra, she was blasted off her feet. And this was a process that continued without end for the last hour, filled with nothing but pain and suffering, all because she simply cared to much.
She didn't have a choice to care, either. Her heart, the thing that was putting her through this misery, was the cause of her pain. Why did she want to have a heart in the first place? Time and again, it brought her only pain. Pain, stress, confusion, so many conflicting emotions that distracted her wherever she went. It was the bane of her existence at this point, the cause of all sorts of misery and turmoil she found herself going through.
It was also the key to finishing this training she agreed to. She wasn't training to use her heart, she was training to suppress it. She needed to keep it bottled up inside of her. She couldn't afford to let it distract her anymore, to let it make her second guess herself about all her past decisions.
The princesses were using every trick they could, whether it was through direct manipulations or to put the lives of innocents into harms way. The only way she could see anymore to fight against them was to fight the same way they did. She wouldn't resort to harming the lives of innocence, at least not her own allies at this rate, and she would fight them feeling the same way they felt.
Nothing. She wouldn't allow a single emotion to affect her anymore. She was tired of all the pain it caused it, all the manipulations that were played against her with it. If she wanted to save this world, to save her best friend, she could no longer allow herself to feel.
Thus, she found herself where she now sat. In the middle of all this darkness, meditating with her eyes closed as she sat cross legged, she waited. The robots came whenever she followed the sound of their voices, whenever she thought about succumbing to her emotions. So, why not play their own game against them?
She waited here, in the middle of all of this, waiting for the faintest sound to come to her. The robots were designed to attack in her response to her emotions. So what would happen if she decided to wait for them instead?
Sure enough, after what felt like five or ten minutes, she heard them. The insulting voices drew closer to her with each word, the taunts and cries of her friends and enemies voices becoming increasingly aggressive, yet she never faltered from her meditation. It was then that all three of them appeared.
Yards ahead of her, in an arc of twenty feet, they made their presence known. They began to give off a small glow as they prepared to fire, ready to take out the target in one concentrated blast. It would've worked in most cases, seeing how weak and feeble the Force Captain had become. Here, she would've been an easy target for all three of them, if she felt the slightest twinge in her heart.
But her heart wasn't here anymore.
*Sheem!*
It came fast. Too fast for their processors and sensors to pick up. They didn't know what happened at first when Adora swung her arm in front of all them with one swing. By the time they noticed a disturbance in their diagnostics it was already too late. One by one, the three droids slowly felt their upper halves sliding across their midsection. Sliding half way off, the droids exploded one after the other as Adora retracted her massive blade arm.
The sounds of the explosions filled the entire room, the explosions being no bigger than the droids themselves. With the droids destroyed, Adora having yet to open her eyes, she listened to the sound of the doors behind her opening up, the light from outside filling the darkened room, all while a lone figure floated behind Adora, stopping behind her as she placed her hands of comfort on both of Adora's shoulders.
The girl had done it. She suppressed her heart, her emotions, showing no hesitation as she dismantled all these useless droids in one single blow. With a smile upon her head, a sense of pride filling her blackened heart, Shadow-Weaver stroked Adora's head soothingly. Her training had been complete.
Whenever Adora donned the headband, she would ensure she never felt anything again.
"Well done, Adora~"
...
...
"Well that was a waste of time." Catra mumbled as the three traveled along the cliffside.
Like at the start of this adventure, the three heroes found a good distance of space between the three of them, with Bow and Glimmer walking twenty feet behind Catra and Catra seemingly ignoring anything they had to say that wasn't related to her.
Her behavior was a bit more understandable at this point, seeing the results of a particular test they were given not ten minutes ago.
...
"How much longer are we going to have to wait?" Catra groaned, leaning against the outside walls of the castle.
"Catra, it's a sword created by the First Ones." Bow reminded. "I wouldn't be surprised if it takes several days to run her tests!"
"Besides, it's only been a few minutes." Glimmer added, feeling a little sheepish about saying anything to the magicat at this time.
She wanted to be happy that everything worked out in the end and Catra was back to normal. The problem was, Catra was back to normal. She remembered everything from her one, single, friend in this world, the strange dream she refused to mention to these two, and a particular hatred she seemed to have for Glimmer herself. She still hasn't forgotten about the failed attempt of transforming into She-Ra when she needed it most, and she would never forget who she blamed for that failed attempt either.
So when she decided to come clean and ask Entrapta to see if there was a problem with the sword, Catra was a little... less... than amused. This morning she was telling Catra, almost snapping at her, that Entrapta wouldn't be able to fix anything about the sword and she shouldn't bother trying to ask.
Now she was admitting she basically lied to her in front of her face and Entrapta might've had an answer after all.
As predicted, she didn't care what Glimmer's excuse was, she didn't want to hear her reasoning that she didn't want Catra to come up with false hope. Surprisingly, she was actually a little more interested in finding out what was wrong with the sword this time around than her anger issues with Glimmer.
Just a little.
"Well how many minutes is this going to take? I don't know about you guys but I don't plan on spending the rest of my life around this place." She took a brief glance at the surrounding robots who were repairing parts of the broken walls to the castle. "Especially with those things running around."
"I'm back!" Entrapta chirped as she ran out the front door, sword in hand. Catra wasted no time to take the sword back from her, examining it to make sure there wasn't anything missing or damaged from whatever Entrapta's examinations did to it.
"See? I told you it'd be quick." Glimmer said with a smile.
"Mmh hope she didn't break anything..." Catra muttered, taking a few swings of the sword in the air to inspect how it felt. "So, what did you find?"
"...Um..." The hesitation and nervousness coming from Entrapta scratching the back of her own head didn't go unnoticed. "Ok, so... promise me you're not going to be mad?
"...I promise not to scratch you after."
"Great! So anyway, good-ish news, depending on what you want to hear and don't," Entrapta went on as she flipped through a handful of papers, "based on what I found, there is a small inhibitor keeping the sword's power from, being fully utilized."
"Fully utilized?" Catra repeated, looking back to the other two who gave her a shrug. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means there actually is something in the sword keeping you from using it's full power." She clarified.
Glimmer took the moment of silence to stare at Catra as she awaited her reaction. How was she going to take it? Staring at the sword in her hands, there was no telling what was on her mind. Was she sad about it? Angered? Confused? She could've been annoyed beyond belief and Glimmer wouldn't be able to tell. The girl did a good job at keeping her emotions to herself, the last several weeks attesting to that.
"...Huh..." Catra shrugged herself, looking at the sword on both sides. "So it is the sword's fault I couldn't transform? I always figured that."
"You're not mad about it?" Bow wondered.
"Well of course I'm mad about it, but it's not anything that can't be fixed, right?" With some hesitation, her ears drooped a little as she looked back to Entrapta. "You... can fix it, can't you?"
A face full of sorrow and regret materialized over Entrapta's face. "I'm sorry about that, but... I can't... I already tried tinkering with it for a few minutes, but the technology itself is actually more complicated than anything I've came across. I mean I'm sure I could of course, but I don't know how long that would take. I don't even know if I can dissect it without damaging something permanently. I might end up breaking it worse than it is now!"
"Typical," Catra rolled her eyes as she sheathed her sword, "I find the one person who can study it and she can't study it."
"Sorry..." Entrapta mumbled, poking her fingers innocently and the tips of her hair. As much as Catra wanted to be angered over the mad scientist's failure over her one tasks, she just couldn't be. Whether or not she lied, this is exactly what Glimmer said would happen at the beginning of this adventure, reminding her why she shouldn't get her hopes up.
"Tch, forget it." Shaking her head, the magicat began to walk off, heading towards the open hole of the walls surrounding the entire castle. "Let's just get out of here, already. I've got a killer headache to deal with."
There were no words to say as the three watched her walk away. For what few seconds she was out of it, she mentioned how she was having a strange dream while she was infected with the First Ones' virus. Obviously, she was less than inclined to tell them the details of it, repeatedly telling them how she didn't want to talk about it and how they should mind their own business.
Another good indication that she was perfectly back to normal!
"...So..." Glimmer waited till she was sure Catra was out of earshot. "Was there anything else you discovered about the sword? About She-Ra, I mean?"
"Oh, that part?" Entrapta flipped through the pages again, feeling a little more chipper at the prospect of talking about science. "I took several more tests on that note, and to be honest... well... You promise not to tell her this?"
"Trust us, our lips are sealed." Bow assured.
"We wouldn't want her to get any angrier about it than she is now."
"Ok, if you insist. As it turns out... there's nothing wrong with it." Entrapta revealed as she showed them a blueprint schematic between the sword and Catra. "Despite the inhibitor built into the sword, whatever it is, it's not affecting Catra's ability to transform into this She-Ra character you keep mentioning."
"Wait, it's not?" Glimmer blinked rather surprised.
"No. In fact, there doesn't seem to be anything to suggest Catra shouldn't be able to transform into this She-Ra."
All this time, even after telling Entrapta not to tell it directly to Catra, she thought there would be a grand reveal about why Catra couldn't transform into the infamous She-Ra, the symbol of the Rebellion. Time after time, she's attempted to transform into the infamous She-Ra, having only three successful marks under her streak, and one of those times were completely by spur of the moment!
There wasn't some cosmic force at work here telling them she couldn't do it. There wasn't some big story explaining why she couldn't transform into this She-Ra. There was nothing. Nothing but surprise, confusion, and worry about how Catra would take this if she decided to tell her.
"But why can't she get the sword to work?" Bow hated to watch his friend try time and again in vain to transform. Especially with all the times She-Ra could've proven useful, they absolutely needed to figure out what was wrong. "She's done it before, so it's not like she's incapable of doing it."
"I've actually come up with a theory on that too." Digging through her pockets, she began typing away on the data pad held in front of her by her hair. "See, a lot of First Ones' tech has a tendency of bonding with the user. At least the ones we've come across so far, right?"
"Yeah..." Glimmer didn't like where this was going.
"So, with that in mind, I tried coming up with numerous scenarios and explanations for why it isn't working for her, and after a few minutes, I've come up with one final theory that should explain everything... however vague it could be."
"And.. that theory is...?"
Entrapta sighed as she prepared her answer. As a scientist, she was never supposed to be the one to give an assumption. Scientists were the cornerstones of every civilization. They provided explanations, reasonings, details that could explain the many mysteries of life! So when she had to tell her what was basically a guess, she felt like a disgrace to the many wonderful, proud, geniuses of Etheria.
"The problem isn't with the sword... it's with her."
...
"Do you think we should tell her?" Bow whispered to Glimmer, making sure they were farther away this time.
"Tell her what exactly?" Glimmer asked back. "Hey, it's not a sword problem, it's a you problem. I'm sure she'll love to hear that. We don't even know exactly what about her is keeping the sword from working."
"Still.. I hate seeing her like this. I can't even tell if she's angry or sad about before."
"Mmh..." Since leaving she's been quiet to the two again, acting the as before when this adventure took off. She seemed cold, acting distant. She didn't care at all if they were twenty feet behind her or twenty feet in front of her, as long as they kept their distance. That was their viewpoint on it, at least. And as much as she wished to keep it that way, she knew it couldn't last forever.
She needed to confront her on it whether she liked it or not.
"I'll talk to her." Glimmer finally decided, speeding up a little until she was a foot behind her friend. "Catra?" The ex-Horde continued walking without giving so much as a notice. "...Look, I know you don't want to hear about it again, and I don't like bringing it up either, but I need to get this said, so I'm going to just come out and say it. I'm... sor-"
"Forget it." Catra stated, catching Glimmer and Bow, who decided to support his friend from up close, off guard.
"W-What?"
"I said forget it." She repeated, shooting her a passing glance as she continued forward. "I don't want to talk about it and I don't want to discuss it, so forget it ever happened."
This was... shocking, honestly. All this time she's been harboring an obvious hate for the other princess and now of all times she decided to drop it? "Are... Are you sure? C-Catra, I was just trying to say... I really wish you didn't hate me all the time, so I wanted to... you know... apologize for it..."
"Hate you?" At this, Catra paused in their walk, giving Glimmer her full attention. "Who said I ever hated you? Both of you for that matter?"
...Was this really the same Catra or did she end up being replaced by some artificial AI that took over her brain here? Because that would be the only explanation for the complete shock of display presented by Catra. That was possibly, without a doubt, the closest thing to an actual nice thing she ever said to the two.
...And it was kind of scary...
"You... don't hate me? About before?" The suspension of disbelief was all over Glimmer's face. "B-But you were so mad about everything, and you didn't want anything to do with us. How was I supposed to think you didn't hate us?"
"Well, duh, I was mad about it, but it doesn't mean I hate you for it. It's not your fault for being stupid." She commented, continuing their walk.
"Gee, that's encouraging to hear..." Ok, now there was about a fifty-fifty-chance this was the same old Catra.
"But you don't hate us?" Did Bow hear that correctly? Was there truly a possibility for the Best Friend Squad after all this time?!
"Of course not. I just don't like you two."
No there was not.
Noticing the lack of response to this, Catra grimaced, looking at her sword again. She hadn't forgotten everything that happened in her dream, how that once blissful reality turned into a ravaging nightmare with a few choice words and decisions. How her entire kingdom came down upon her head in a matter of hours, in the dream anyway, because of who she wanted and didn't want to be around, who she kept close and who she pushed away.
She was tired of the long day she had, all this sappiness that was coming out of her mouth even as she spoke. But... she didn't want to relive that. She didn't care about anyone else, but if that was the kind of reality that awaited her in the future, if it would only last as long as she kept people from feeling pushed away, then she needed to change, if only a little. She couldn't afford to lose her kingdom like that again.
Or Adora.
"But..." The two perked their heads up as she went on. "If it means... anything..." Ugh, why did she have to do this? Wasn't the fact she was fighting with them enough for them? Or did they like to torture her by being a bit more open about this kind of garbage? "Compared to everyone else I grew up with... most of them, anyway... you guys are... I don't know..." A small pink blush picked up on the side of her cheeks, barely noticeable until Glimmer leaned over to her side a little bit to see if she saw what she thought. "... More tolerable. People I dislike the least. All right?"
"Catra..." She did everything in her power from squealing out in pure delight, her and Bow both!
For the first time ever, without any hint of sarcasm or joking behind it, Catra, the very Catra they've tried to open up with since the day she joined the Rebellion, said the very first closest thing to something nice about them! While in retrospect some would find that to be the most unbelievably saddest thing to hear, to the two friends who fought side by side together since day one considered it one of the greatest feats they've ever achieved!
It wasn't merely a sign that Catra could be a bit more open with them, it was a sign that Catra was getting closer to them, however little it proved to be! It was a bleak, unfeeling statement from the girl, yet it sounded like one of the nicest things Catra said or ever could say in their entire lives!
And they were more than happy to take it!
"Can we get a move on, now?" Catra groaned again, scratching the back of her head while blushing. "I don't know about you two but I'm starving. I've had this weird taste in my mouth for the last half hour."
That was one comment that was more than enough to make Glimmer's face beat red. She would spend the rest of existence making sure nobody would ever find out about what Catra did to her immediately after turning feral. "Uh heh heh, gee I can't imagine what could be the reason behind that!" She quickly stammered, grabbing onto Bow so he wouldn't say anything and teleporting ten feet ahead of Catra. "I'm sure the castle's chef can whip us up a big dinner for tonight!"
"Wait, you didn't tell Catra yet about-?"
*whomp*
'Owww!" Bow yelped as he rubbed his newly stomped foot. Already Glimmer was regretting telling Bow everything about what happened between him finding them and Catra turning feral. She would have to enact a brand new law forbidding Bow, much less anybody, from telling Catra about what happened on this day. It would be her utmost priority the day she finally became queen herself. All she had to do now was think of what sort of punishment would be suitable for such a thing...
Watching the two act like the morons she came to know, Catra sighed.
So she wasn't supposed to push people away? Fine. She could deal with that. It was something she was going to have to adjust to over time, but she was sure she could find some way to do it.
But there was no way she was ever going to let people get any closer to her. She didn't need a vision to give her memories about what she was talking about. She could never forget about what happened that day, and she would never allow anyone to make her feel close.
Never. Again.
...
...
"Hehehe! Are we almost there?" A five-year-old Catra giggled as she was lead through the complex. She couldn't wait, she was excited
After spending who knows how long trying to fit in, trying anything in her power to make a new friend, this would be the day she finally waited for! Sure, she was nervous when Adora told her they were going to try to make friends with the gang of that sector. Who wouldn't be when you were talking to the group of kids who used to pick on you on a daily basis? They were mean, rude, bossed the other kids around, and nobody messed with them since Lonnie, easily the biggest of the kids, was in charge.
No one would stand up to her. Who would be brave enough to start a fight against the toughest, meanest, and strongest kid within the sector? Naturally she thought everything should go her way, when the adults weren't around anyway. She was the self-proclaimed maturest one on the block and the most elite kid in the sector. Anybody who tried to stand up to her would get pummeled, save for the one time Catra did to get a girl's doll back.
She learned the hard way not to mess with her, not when almost all the guards had it out for her for being an apparent freak.
But all of that was going to change after today! After going along with Adora's idea, the two found themselves with their first task in stealing a prison keycard from one of the security patrols in the area. Using her quick wits and judgement, Adora decided Catra was the best kid for the job, using the girl's nimbleness and stealth to their advantage. After securing the target, she made the personal appearance to keep Catra safe from the guard themself, who was completely unaware that he'd been robbed by the time the two made it back to Lonnie.
Now, she was on her way to her next and last test, as part of her initiation. Admittedly, she was nervous. Not only did she have to wear a blindfold on the way to the next destination, she also had to do it without Adora's help. For some reason the last test required the two of them to do it alone. And while she was easily worried about doing such a thing without her only friend, Adora did assure her and show her confidence in her that she could do this.
With her encouragement in her heart, she was ready for this, willing to complete it!
*Shoom*
Her ears picked up at the sound of what appeared to be a door opening, finding the ecoustics of the place they entered to be rather large. "Where are we going again?" Catra asked Kyle as he held her hand. The young boy and the lizard kid at his side were given their own task in regards to Catra's initiation.
"Um... it's a surprise." Kyle muttered. "W-We're almost there."
"Oh, ok." She hoped he could tell she was smiling, having been doing it all the way up to this point. "I'm so excited, I can't wait!"
"Uh yeah... You um... You really are excited about this, aren't you?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I am! Because once I've done this, I'm going to have three new friends!" She noticed how they stopped walking as she said this.
"You... really consider us friends?" There was a hint of worry in his tone, but Catra was too excited to notice.
"Of course I do! We're going to be able to hang out whenever we want, we can play together, and we won't let people pick on us anymore! That's what friends do, right?"
"Y-Yeah... of course..."
"I hope you're not weirded out cause I look like a cat or something." She said with a small frown. "I don't know why, but everyone else just seems kind of scared of it. The adults won't tell me why, and the kids just make fun of me for it. That's why I'm really happy we're going to be friends."
Way to make a kid feel nervous, Catra. He saw the face Rogelio was giving him, being unsure of himself as much as Kyle was. "Umm... Catra, I uh... I think there's something you should..."
"Yeah?" She questioned. What was he sounding so nervous about? Was he worried this test was going to scare her? She could handle it, she was sure of it! And then, they were going to be friends after long last!
"...N... Nevermind." She felt as he continued to pull her along. "We're almost there."
"What did he have to say? Without seeing his face it was really hard to tell. For a second there it almost sounded like he was worried about something, or he had something to tell her?
Whatever the case may be, it would have to wait. The ambience of the air began to change around her. She didn't know where she was but it had to be somewhere big. She was almost positive she could feel a great amount of space within the air around her, the sound echoing through her ears. She even thought they were descending an elevator for a moment, hearing the strange noise of one going off as they stopped for about ten seconds.
After another two minutes of walking, Catra felt the three of them coming to a stop. She started hearing a strange beeping noise followed by a click, then walked forward as she felt Kyle gently pushing her on the back.
"Ok, keep going forward for a few seconds and you'll find your test." He informed. Smiling, Catra felt her way forward. Oh man, what was it going to be? Maybe they had some sort of obstacle course for her? Or maybe it was some sort of surprise they made her for! Or maybe-!
*tap-tap*
"Huh?" Catra felt as the tips of her claws brushed against what felt like solid metal. Curiosity getting the best of her, she decided to finally remove her blindfold, taking in the scene that lied in front of her.
A wall. A single, metallic, wall. How was this supposed to be a surprise? Did she need to get passed the wall or something? Come to think of it, the room itself was actually pretty small. There walls were only about seven feet apart, the ceiling ten feet high, and the floors themselves were practically rusty. Heck, there was even a small bed in here, and... a toilet? Why was all this weird stuff in here? What did it have to do with her test?
"What is this place?" Catra asked looking around. "Hey Kyle, how is this my... Kyle?" Turning around, she saw a small frown on Kyle's face with Rogelio standing beside him. Without saying a word, he lifted the keycard to the side of the wall, outside of her field of vision. What was with this weird place? Why was there an uncomfortable bed in here? Why was the entrance a giant hexagon in shape? Why did...
Catra's eyes widened as she gasped, realizing too all too late where she finally was. "Kyle, nooo!" She begged running for the entrance.
*Bzzzzt!*
Right before she could pass through it, a green electrical barrier dropped in front of her, zapping the poor girl as it blasted her a foot away. Catra let out a cry of pain as she licked her injured hand, fighting back the urge to wail a she stood back up, staring at Kyle through the translucent green. "Kyle! What are you doing?"
"What do you think he's doing, freak?" That voice was impossible to forget as the figure made it's presence known. How could she forget what Lonnie sounded like when she heard her voice not ten minutes ago? Walking into view, Catra's urge to cry out increased as she saw the smug grin on her face. "He's putting you into your place." She patted Kyle on the back as he looked away. "Well done, Kyle."
"I... I don't get it... is this part of the initiation?" She asked looking around the room again.
"Initiation? Pfffft hahahaha!" Lonnie bursted out laughing, holding her gut to keep herself from falling over in a fit of chuckles. "Oh my gosh, you actually bought all that?"
"W-What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean you stupid brat!" She snapped, managing to make Catra fall back in fright. "There is no initiation, there never was!"
"B-But why did you have us do this?"
"Oh come on, you can't be this stupid. Why do you think we had you do this, idiot?! It's because we didn't want you here!" Catra's heart ached at the words as tears gathered in her eyes. She was confused, scared, unable to comprehend why they were doing this until now. No matter how badly people considered her a freak, they never treated her anywhere near this badly.
"You think anyone would want a freak like you hanging out with them? I'm surprised Adora hangs out with you as much as she does! You keep messing up everything you do and your a bother to everyone you come across! What kind of moron goes around and ruins storytime for people for crying out loud?!"
"I-I'm sorry about losing storytime!" She cried. "I didn't mean it!"
"You think this is just about Storytime? Everything you do is annoying! You're always the freak hanging out where you're not wanted, you're always the crybaby in sparring classes! The fact is, nobody wants you here! Everyone practically asked us to do this!"
"T-That's not entirely tr-"
"Shut up, Kyle!" Lonne yelled back, cutting the kid off.
"W-Where's... " Catra placed her hands around her mouth as she prepared to call out. Noticing this, Lonnie quickly used the keycard again on the side of the door. Instantly, a large metal wall slammed shut in place of the barrier, filling the room with a pitch black darkness. "Adoraaa!" Catra cried out, begging for her. "Adorraaaahahaaa!" Hearing snicking on the other side of the wall, she watched as she saw a small rectangular panel open in the middle of the wall. It was about the size of a serving tray, no doubt used to give prisoners their food.
"Adora can't hear you, brat." Lonnie stated, peeking her eyes through the opening. "These walls are soundproof. They're used for putting rotten prisoners like you in the hole where they belong. As for Adora, the little squirts outside right now, doing the real initiation."
"R-Real initiation?" As they spoke, the scene shifted to a view of a five-year-old Adora. The girl was smiling to herself as she sat within some inner tubes outside on the playground, watching the rain fall outside of it.
"All she has to do is spend the night outside. If you ask me, she's taking it a lot better than you are."
Wiping her nose and tears, Catra slowly got up as she made her way towards the light. "W-Will you let me go if I do the initiation, too?"
"Of course not! We made that stupid initiation thing up! Even if you did the same initiation, we'd never let you pass!"
"W-Why..." Catra sniffled as she wiped her face again. "Why don't you like me, Lonnie? Is this about what happened a few months ago? I'm sorry for scratching you." She hiccuped, sniffling.
"What? The incident with that stupid doll? I'm all over that." She raised herself to her feet so all Catra could see was Lonnie's night time shirt. "As for why we're doing this?" Although she couldn't see it, Lonnie grinned. "Because Shadow-Weaver said we could."
Without another word, the room filled with perfect darkness again as the small hatch was closed. They couldn't hear her screaming, they couldn't hear her pounding on the door, they couldn't hear anything. From within the prison cell, Catra broke down into tears, pounding on the door endlessly for someone to let her out. No amount of night vision was going to help her within this cell, the walls and ceiling specially designed for hybrids with features like her that could let her see easier in the dark.
All that was left was a lonely, crying, five-year-old girl named Catra, who found herself trapped and abandoned within a prison cell she didn't belong.
She was helpless.
Frightened.
And worst of all, alone...
...
...
Never! Again!
...
...
...
A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, the bit of her friends encouraging her was a bit "cheesy" and cliched, but in my defense, this is still basically a kids show (granted a very AWESOME ONE!) so of course there would eventually be a bit of a cheesy/cliched "friendship-encouragement" moment somewhere XP Don't worry promise you won't see that often...hopefully...
Anyway! We've finally hit the end of ep 6, and are practically at the halfway mark as of now! More importantly, unlike this episode, the rest of the episodes I have more planned out for so aside from updates not being as tedious, I should be able to push some better quality writing, not on the spot bits like this one left me.
With that said, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you out!