A/N: Heyo folks! We've reached the finale of our beloved mystacor arc! I know it might seem short and rushed towards the end (as always P_P), and do hope that's not too distracting, but do keep in mind i'm following the episodes time length to it too, though I do add my own spins here and there as a result.
With that said, hope you enjoy!
...
...
...
"You wretched cretin!" Shadow Weaver hissed as Catra backed up from the floor. With every push away from her the tendrilly shadows below Shadow Weaver's ghostly black image spread nearer.
This was beyond the region of bad. Worse than bad. Catra would gladly trade her consciousness with the currently passed out Glimmer and Bow who were residing on the other sides of the room. What Catra was currently facing was nothing compared to whatever possible nightmares either of the two could have at this point.
This was Shadow Weaver. Whether a vision of her or an amalgamation of all her shadows as her powers intensified, this was Shadow Weaver. The black witch of darkness, the one who always tormented nearly all the children in the Horde as they grew up, especially Catra. She loathed the feline, she despised her. Catra was beyond the point of ever asking why in her life, never being answered by her in the past. All she knew was that she hated her almost as much as she cared for Adora.
Or at least showed for it.
"You were supposed to destroy the Lenses you stupid child!" Gathering the shadows around her, she stretched her tendrils as far as possible towards the magicat. Brushing her fingertips against the sword, she grabbed it hastily, swiping it to bat away the tendrils she ran passed her.
Everything! Everything she had this stupid fleabag do was messed up now because of one pathetic brat! Her plan was so perfect, all of her plans were! Manipulating Catra's mind, while resisting, she managed to bring the girl to the edge of insanity, tricking her into seeing and hearing everything Shadow Weaver wanted her to see! Using her magic more directly to clear out the room from the sorcerers who posed a possible threat, she was supposed to use her stupid sword to destroy the lenses and leave Mystacor defenseless for the Horde to invade!
What happens instead?
Insects happen! Specifically, two particularly annoying insects she discovered by the names of Glimmer and Bow, two people who supposedly considered Catra her friends for whatever possible reasons they had. They were insects so it didn't really matter to her.
Naturally, the very first instinct was to dispose of the two directly, but where was the fun in that? Watching a possessed Catra going around and slaughtering her friends first would've been much more entertaining. After all, in the improbable chance that her magic failed to corrupt Mystacor's defenses, what then? She would be left with nothing. On the other hand if she got Catra to deal with them herself, it would've brought her the ultimate pleasure as she pictured Catra's reaction thereafter, imagining her reaction when she released her hallucination from the girl. It would've been perfect!
Then, these two had to show up and ruined everything! Not only did they ruin the part where they're supposed to die, they somehow managed to fight Catra off long enough until Glimmer came up with an idea. Using the incense sticks she managed to break Catra out of her delusion, the smell being the one thing the hallucinations couldn't forge! As if that wasn't enough, after breaking out of the hysterical state, the creature she used to induce said madness was destroyed effortlessly by the Lunar energies own magic, cycling through the room as the eclipse continued.
Everything she planned, all the time and energy she spent, wasted!
Who was to blame? Oh sure, these two got involved, she would definitely deal with them later. But her, Catra, the one she despised with a righteous fury. All of it centered around what the girl was capable and incapable of doing, and like everything else, she proved herself again to Shadow Weaver by being the one thing she was best at.
Useless!
"Time after time, you continue to prove how useless you are!" She screamed. Seeing the door, the frightened cat ran towards it as fast as she could, only to be cut off by the enveloping shadows that formed a wall. "Why these pathetic creatures could bother to care for you, I would never know."
"S-Shut up!" Catra yelled. Seeing her exits blocked off, she made a mad dash for the shadowy figure herself, trying to slice her right down the middle.
"Pathetic." Without any effort the shadows making up her form split away, throwing the cat into a state of brief confusion before slamming her away with one of the shadowy tendrils.
*Wham!*
"Ugh!" Catra yelped falling to the ground. Refusing to accept defeat, eyes still shriveling with fear, she grabbed her sword again as she prepared her stance. "I-I'm not afraid of you!"
"Then clearly I've been too lenient on you." WIth the wave of her hands, Catra found her feet wrapped around by the shadows. In a solid swing she was lifted a dozen feet off the ground, slamming her directly on the opposite side of the room with full force.
"Ngh!" How was she supposed to beat her? How could she ever beat her?! Shadow Weaver never loses, not when it came to her methods. Whether caring or manipulative, she could get anyone to do what she wanted, whenever she wanted! Imagining how much she tricked Adora, the anger she felt at the thought, didn't compare to the fear she had welling up inside of her.
"Ever since you were discarded, we brought you in." She let out a cough as she felt the tendril wrapped around her neck in an attempt of suffocation. Thankful that she still grasped her sword, she struck it away, jumping to her feet again as she focused directly on Shadow Weaver herself, unaware of the tendrils that trailed around her.
With another leap, the magicat attempted to strike the witch head on, refusing to back down. Not caring enough to dodge out of the way, with the lift of her hand, several of the tendrils grabbed on to Catra's right leg and chest, squeezing them tightly as it flung her to the ceiling where she was slammed. Almost letting out a small chuckle, waving her hand down this time, she watched with petty amusement as she released her hold, sending Catra plummeting to the ground with a hard crash.
"We taught you to be a warrior," she continued as Catra struggled to get up again, "we showed you how to use your strengths," she didn't give her a chance to get a foot off the ground before slamming her from the right with a massive tendril, "and how to undermine your enemies. And all you had to do was know your place!"
Spreading her darkness around the room, she grabbed a handful of the small crystals in each tendril, firing them directly at the cat who ran for dear life. For what little she managed to do to avoid any of the projectiles, she found herself with at least two cuts on her left arm and right knee, wincing a bit at the pain it caused as she ran.
"LIke I would want to spend the rest of my life taking orders from you!" Catra yelled, slicing away at one of the incoming tendrils she ran through. "You've tortured me, humiliated me, treated me like garbage since the day I could barely walk! All my life all I wanted was a little respect out of you, and could you give me that? No!"
Backing up against a pillar, she looked up as she saw where it lead to. To her reluctance, it connected towards a large walkway towards the ceiling. Shadows gathering around her feet, fear still racing through her heart, she climbed her way up the large pillar, leaping as far as she could up it as fast as she could!
This would be so much easier if she wasn't still exhausted from the lack of sleep that started this stupid mess!
"You think you're worth my respect?!" The very notion of the idea was almost a mockery itself. With a single pull, she shot a tendril straight at the girl by the time she reached halfway up the pillar, throwing her back to the ground where it planned to impale her. Landing swiftly on her feet, she dodged out of the way in time to avoid the heavy tendril that crashed into the hardened ground next to her. "You were disobedient, giving false ideals to the simpleminded you came across!"
"I was a kid!" She grabbed one of the many crystals Shadow Weaver tossed earlier, throwing it back at the witch in an to give her a taste of her own power. It proved futile though as the crystals passed through Shadow Weaver flawlessly, not leaving an opening from where they struck. "Most people don't make it their mission to beat children to keep them in line! Most of the other trainers we had never beat us like you did!"
"You assume far too much, little worm." Sinking into the shadows, Catra froze with fear as her entire surrounding became shrouded in darkness. She couldn't see the ground or walls, she couldn't see the ceiling, and she couldn't see the light that was still channeling into Mystacor by the eclipse. All she felt was a hand over her shoulders and a whisper in her ears that sent shivers down her back.
Swinging her blade back, Catra's nervousness intensified as it was met with empty air. Even without the phantasm possessing her mind, it did nothing to alleviate the fear she had of the tormentor. "I treated you especially with cruelty. None of the other cretins needed a push." She shook as she directed the sword in another direction, trying to find where the echoing voice was coming from. "Nobody else was disobedient, everyone knew when to take orders."
"As to why Lord Hordak took interest in you, I'll never know. You were always sly with a sharp tongue, you never learned to train with others save for Adora, and you never did what you were told. What's worse is when you tried to bring Adora down to your level, distracting her and engaging with her in all manner of mischief. She could've been made Force Captain years ago by now if not for you!"
"Tch, is that my failure then or yours for being a crummy teacher?" Out of the many things she could've said, that was the worst retort she could've given back to her. Almost immediately after hearing this, she found her entire body covered head from toe in shadow in an attempt to crush her, the shadows around her shrinking in from the inside and out.
"Such insolence!" It didn't bother Shadow Weaver at all as she saw Catra cut through the shadows with her blade, running back to the pillar in an attempt to reach the top. "Your only usefulness was being what I made you. A weapon. A tool. Out of everyone, I gave you the only purpose you had in life, and you denied it!"
"Of course I denied it! You treated everyone else better than me and you thought I wouldn't take it personally?!" Not ten feet off the ground after jumping to the pillar, Catra felt it. Behind the pillar she saw a massive buildup of shadows gather, shaking the massive pillar steadily as it began to form cracks against the wall. Realizing what was going on, Catra jumped back from the pillar as she duck out of the way, just seconds before the entire pillar came crashing down with a thunderous roar.
*CRASH!*
Anyone within a good quarter mile could've felt the vibration of that tumble from outside or underneath the floor they were on. The multitude of dust that followed spewed into the air, the mighty pillar snapped in half from the rest of the way, and leaving no plausible opening for Catra to jump to before any of the tendrils could grab her. If it wasn't for the fact there were three more pillars to climb from, she wouldn't have known what to do or how to get up there.
Speaking of which, that was the other priority that slowly dawned on her. The Eclipse was half over, and there was little time left to stop whatever magic Shadow Weaver was using to corrupt the barrier over Mystacor faded. She needed to find a way to stop Shadow Weaver and the dark magic at the same time!
Squeezing her hands against the sword, she ran down in the opposite direction towards the closest pillar to the North, Shadow Weaver already predicting what the girl was going to do.
"I don't think soooo~" She cooed with a grin. Almost up to the pillar, Catra found herself repeating the same process again as the shadows gathered being the massive beam, ducking herself out of the way as it came down as harsh as the last one. Refusing to let it stop her, she climbed over the massive pillar as she ran towards the next one. With wicked glee, by the time Catra was already over it, the third pillar to the room was already collapsed, catching herself from falling as the ground shook for the third time.
Her eyes darted frantically to the last pillar, the last hope she had at getting to the lenses that were above them. At the same time, she knew it was a waste of time if Shadow Weaver destroyed those too, the woman having a sickening sense of joy throughout the entire chase. As if sensing the girl's cautious nature, unable to show it through the darkness that made her, she grinned.
"Come on Catra, there's only one more." She taunted. "I'll even give you a headstart." As if continuing to mock her, she playfully covered her eyes as she began counting. "One... Two..."
Was this supposed to scare her or drive her insane again? Because either way, it was working! The woman enjoyed watching Catra struggle fruitlessly as she tried to complete her task, she laughed at every failed attempt Catra tried. She wanted to see Catra try her hardest and fail, just like she always did.
And sadly, she knew. She had to take that chance.
Shadow Weaver took grand amusement as she saw the girl make a dash for the pillar, continuing to count off as Catra struggled against her exhaustion and injuries.
Making it to the base of the tower, she leaped up as high as she could, reaching a good ten feet up the pillar, climbing the rest of the way up as she sunk her claws as deep as they could go. With every pull towards the top she saw the shadows gathering at the base of the pillar, slowly rising towards her as she tried to escape. She could tell Shadow Weaver was toying with her, purposely rising the shadows slowly so they were always a single foot away from the girl.
Regardless, she continued to push her way towards the top, never losing an ounce of the fear she had blooming inside of her. She needed to think of a way to defeat the evil witch, but the emotions swirling around in her mind were becoming too distracting. She hasn't landed a hit yet, not that it would matter since this being is comprised entirely of shadow, and she's made everything worse after she was manipulated into her predicament!
What else could she do?
A small sparkle of hope came to her as she finally managed to reach the top, grasping it firmly in both her hands after jumping from the pillar itself. No sooner had she did she turn back to the sound of the pillar beginning to crumble, watching as the shadows brought it down in a massive crash like all the others. It was here she realized how close to the time limit of Shadow Weaver's countdown she came to, rubbing the nervous sweat from her forehead as she pulled herself up to the elongated crystals coming out of the walls.
So far so good. I just need to think of a- Her thoughts were cut short as the shadowy master materialized before her, towering over her nearly twice in length as she looked down upon the frightened kitten.
"Going somewhere?"
"Ngh..." There was no stopping this lady! Like all the other times she charged ahead, swinging furiously at her tormentor, and like all those other times, her blade easily passed through it. "You never learn, you never paid attention, and you never finished your task." Without any hesitation, Catra suddenly yelped as she was lifted off her throat mid swing, dropping the sword to her side as she was raised to Shadow Weaver's irritated scowl.
"Now let me tell you what you are going to do!" She huffed. "You will destroy the lenses here, you will return to the Horde, and you WILL let me fix you in a way that I see fit!" Raising a hand to her cheek, Catra was caught off guard as she stroked it gently rather than slapping it like she was used to. "Besides, your precious Adora is waiting for you. Do you truly wish to make her suffer any longer than she has to? Or would you rather prove how useless you are by failing to save Mystacor? To show the world how terrified you are of your betters!"
"I... Ghh..." How was she supposed to say no to this? She cared deeply for her only friend and it's not like there was much left for her to do here. Every time she tried to do something she always messed it up. In fact, looking back on it, she was the only one messing it up. "I'm... afraid..." Her eyes went hollow as the fear brought itself further into Catra's heart.
Shadow Weaver... was right... She always was right. She couldn't stand up to Shadow Weaver ever in her life, barely giving a smart lip to her whenever Adora was around. She never passed her exams with flying colors, at least to the same degree Adora did that made Shadow Weaver proud of her. And as a child, she could never stand up to the people who picked on her, no matter how many times she got payback for it later. That wasn't standing up to the bullies, that was just being sneaky and hitting them when they weren't looking. That was something cowards did
Cowards like her.
She... She really was afraid... There wasn't a good quality within her. There wasn't anything she could be proud of within herself. The fear was there because she was weak, because she couldn't stand up to Shadow Weaver. What was the point in resisting it when it her fear was all she had left?
"Come home, Catra... while I still show leniency!" She hissed, tightening the grip around Catra's neck which caused her to squeal. "You have no choice. You will return!"
"I... I'll-"
*Whish!*
"Ugh!" Shadow Weaver let out another hiss as she was blasted with a puff of glittery magic from behind. It was enough to make the shadows dissipate entirely for a few seconds, dropping Catra to the ground who coughed as the air returned to her. Rubbing her sore throat as she pushed herself to her knees, she saw Glimmer and Bow standing from behind where Shadow Weaver was, Glimmer still having an ample supply of magic in her hands.
"Catra!" They both yelled worriedly. No sooner had they said that did Shadow Weaver materialize behind them again, her dark hair spiraling with anger as the shadowy tendrils around her sprouted up to her hands.
"I'll handle her, you get Catra!" Glimmer announced, charging forward towards the black witch, roaring as she prepared to fight dark magic with her magic. It might not have been as effective as the magic her aunt had, but it was enough to disrupt the witch's form for a couple seconds, buying them whatever time they needed to fix things.
"Catra," Bow called out again as he approached her, kneeling on his right knee, "are you okay?"
"Gh..." The voice in Catra's throat wouldn't come out.
"Catra, we need to do something about the lenses! There's not much time left, we have to stop her!"
"Tch... I... I can't..." Shaking, she hugged herself as her eyes wavered, the fear evident in her eyes and her trembling.
"What do you mean you can't-"
"I mean I can't!" She shouted, refusing to take her eyes off the crystal where she saw the vacant expression in her own eyes. "I... I can't beat her... I can never beat her..."
"Why can't you beat her?" It was so bizarre to see her acting like this. She wasn't hallucinating anymore and she wasn't being affected by the paranoia in her mind, Glimmer filling him in after the two woke up from the vibrations of the pillars crashing.
"Because, I... I can't..." She slowly raised her hands to her head head as her tail dropped lifelessly. "I'm too afraid..."
"...Afraid? That's your only excuse? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard!"
The sound in his voice was somewhere between surprise and annoyance, never seeming like the person to get irritated so easily since she met her. Raising her head slowly she saw a determined look in his eyes as he smiled to her. "Huh?"
"Catra, do you think I'm not afraid right now? Do you think Glimmer's not afraid? I mean look at her!"
Turning their heads to the side, they were met with the sight of Glimmer continuing her battle against Shadow Weaver, the princess giving it everything she had. Using her own magic, she fired several shots at the approaching tendrils, dispelling each and every one of them as they neared her, until she found enough time to use her teleporting again. When she reappeared, she was above a surprised Shadow Weaver, the shadowy figure caught off guard as she fired a massive blast at the figure, disintegrating the shadows from where they once came.
It still proved useless in the run as the shadows gathered near seconds after as they attempted to swarm Glimmer in all directions, Shadow Weaver appearing behind her as she directed the shadows with her hands. Having the advantage of mobility, however, Glimmer teleported again before the shadows touched her, reappearing on top of another crystal at least forty feet above Shadow Weaver, the witch anticipating this as she slid against the walls in her shadows, approaching the girl who continued to fire back.
"You don't think she's terrified of what she's doing right now? She's risking her life because she's afraid what'll happen to her if she loses, Catra. She's fearing what will happen if she can't save us and Mystacor, and yet she's not letting it consume her or making hasty decisions because of it. She's channeling her fear into hope that she can save everyone no matter how risky things become."
"B... But..." It's not like she didn't understand what he was saying, she just couldn't see how it helped her! This was Shadow Weaver they were talking about, the person who made it their life's goal to torment the young girl from an early age! Of course they weren't frightened of her, they have no idea what levels of cruelty existed within her mind.
"And let me tell you a little something, Catra. I'm always scared." He enjoyed the sight of her eyes refusing to tremble at the statement, seeing her shaking subside into a calmness. "I don't have any fancy powers like you have when the sword works or Glimmer has with her magic. We live in a world where war is tearing the planet apart, a war we have to fight in. Every day I'm terrified something's going to happen to one of us and I'm not going to have the power needed to save us when the situation calls for it. And I still don't let it get to me to the point where I can't do anything."
"B-But... How...?" Was he insane or something, or was he actually braver than her in some regard? Fear wasn't as simple as he thought it was. People fear dying every day, she feared dying everyday, and she doesn't let that stop her from doing what she needs to. This was a fear on a whole nother level to her and he was talking about his fear as if it was just as great as hers, if not more. "How can you be brave against a serious fear like that? When you know there's nothing you can do about it? You have no idea what she's like, you can't possibly understand my fear of her!"
"And you know what? You're right." He admitted with an annoying grin. "I don't know how scary she is for you, for all I know she could be the scariest person in the history of Etheria. But you want to know how I get through the same level of fear I have?"
"How?"
"By having an even bigger fear." Her eyes flashed at the confusing reveal. "I'm afraid what will happen to us if someone needs me and I fail, but I'm even more afraid of what will happen if I don't do anything. That's how I get through my fear."
"Beating fear by... having a greater fear..." She mumbled back to herself.
It was strange, to put it lightly. Replacing fear with fear sounded like fighting fire with fire to her. It was a simple phrase that held it's merit yet she never thought about having an even greater fear to replace her old one. Did she even have something more to fear than Shadow Weaver? Was it possible that anything in this world terrified her more than the being she considered evil beyond recognition?
...Come to think of it... yes... she did...
As she thought that, the two turned around to see an exhausted Glimmer panting madly as held herself against her knees. She was out of breath, getting low on magic, and sweating a bit as she stood in front of the two. "Okay...huff... huff... if anyone wants to tag in... huff... be my guest!"
*WHAM!*
"Waahhhhhh!" Glimmer screamed as she was suddenly struck squarely in the stomach by a massive tendril, knocking her off the large crystal and plummeting towards the ground a near three stories below them.
"Glimmer!" Not missing a beat, Bow sprang from his feet as he dived down after her, intending to save her with one of the trick arrows he always came handy with.
Noticing the pathetic display before here, Shadow Weaver shook her darkened face with disgust. "What a waste of time. Now, where were we-"
She was gone. Catra was gone and running ahead of her. The girl that had sunk to her feet a minute ago, the one she knew was conflicted with turmoil and despair when she left her, was now racing for her life across the crystals, taking breath after breath as she bolted immediately for the Lunar Lenses.
"What?" She sped herself ahead as Shadow Weaver gave chase, unable to catch the girl with her shadows despite managing to keep up with her from the sides. "What are you doing?"
"What do you think? I'm ruining your stupid plan!" She snarled.
"How dare you use that tone with me!" Was that a snap back at her? Was that anger and determination instead of timidness and fear? Coming up to a large decorated violet curtain, Catra sank her claws deeply into the material as she climbed, taking numerous leaps up the large piece of cloth compared to scampering to get up it terrified like the pillars she had earlier. Trying to stop the girl from whatever her idea was she tossed one of her large tendrils at the girl, intending to impale her through the wall where she could.
As opposed to the previous times when she quickly dashed out of the way in a mad fit of terror, Catra casually leapt across the curtain to the right side, continuing her ascent to the top of the curtain where a platform lead directly to the eclipse's magical energy. She didn't show any emotion or care about the being chasing her at this point, kicking herself off the curtain as she came to the platform.
This wasn't right! This girl was supposed to fear her, tremble before her! Shadow Weaver ensured that Catra would never talk down to her again, never plan on betraying her on a moment's notice! What possible filth could've transpired during that brief time she had that pep talk with one of the insects?!
"Need I remind you who you are talking to you pathetic worm?!" She growled. Her attempts at continuing to provoke or intimidate the girl were for naught as she continued to run ahead.
As soon as she got to the eclipse's energy, what then? Would she figure out some way to defeat Shadow Weaver? Did she have a plan? Of course not! But strangely she felt alright with it. With Bow's words echoing in her head, the new fear she developed quickly overlapped the previous one, a fear so intense that it haunted her longer than Shadow Weaver had.
Right as she got to the eclipse's beam of energy, Shadow Weaver found herself enraged and at her wits end. "ENOUGH!" She shouted, standing on the opposite side of the beam of light that Catra stood near. She circled the magicat with her darkness once more, refusing to be ignored for so long by a sniveling pest. "You WILL return to the Horde at once, Catra! You know as well as I do you have no plan to succeed. Not even your foolishness can deny your fear of me!"
"...You know you're right." Catra replied in a scoffish tone, lowering her head. "I am scared of you. I'm terrified of you. I would have nightmares growing up in the Horde where you're trying to do away with me almost every single day in my sleep." Raising her head again, Shadow Weave saw something in her eyes that she never displayed in front of her; Courage. Baring her teeth in front of her she clenched her sword tightly between her two hands, ready to deal with the witch whatever way she saw possible.
"But looking back on it now, my fear of you is almost miniscule compared to my other fear. You're nothing but a speck of dust in comparison to it."
"You have some nerve." She shifted her attention down to the other two which Catra took notice of. There she saw Bow, having successfully saved Glimmer as the two of them hung ten feet above the ground with a rope web having caught them. "What? Is it because of these creatures? Do you feel some form of attachment to them now after all you've been through?"
"What? Them? Pffft!" The thought of it made her chuckle. "You wish! I could care less about those two."
"Then why are you standing up to me now? Why do you even care if you succeed or fail here? You have no place here, and you never will."
"And again, you're right. I'm not going to be accepted, I wouldn't want to be accepted by them anyway... but..." She contemplated as she looked back to the two as they began to climb up a rope Bow shot out to the crystal platform under them, seeing how Glimmer used too much of her magic to teleport to where she was. "...They at least had the decency to look like they care about me. Even if it's fake, they at least put more effort into it than you ever did! And even if I don't like them," she grinded her teeth as she prepared for anything, "I'd still rather protect them a hundred times over before I went back to the Horde!"
*ching*
It was at that moment, whether through her sheer emotions or simply a matter of timing with the events that had proceeded, that a miracle happened. The Sword of Power, the very one she could never get to work when she needed it most, transformed itself. From it's deadly, powerful, blade that Catra and her allies had known it to be, it reformed into a great and powerful shield, one almost the same size as the sword itself and a width almost as long as it's length.
All of this, while still maintaining that big beautiful blue jewel adorned in the center.
Looking over the shield itself, Catra blinked in surprise as she saw her reflection. "Huh... that's convenient..." It was also during that time when she realized how it reflected, turning her gaze to the energy in front of her as Shadow Weaver slowly realized. It was then she remembered, as her brain was wracked with pain, exactly what happened to the other creature of pure darkness when it collided with the beams of light at the base of the Lunarium.
She grinned.
"You wouldn't dare..." Shadow Weaver couldn't narrow her eyes any further without making her eyes vanish. She knew exactly what the girl was thinking of.
"You know what's funny? Seeing that pathetic look on your face, I don't even fear you anymore. I understand now that you were jealous of me. Jealous because Adora wanted more to do with me than with you." With a grunt, Catra took the shield directly into the beam of light itself. The two watched in amazement as the shield began to give off a powerful rainbow of light, shining beautifully as the shield itself absorbed the eclipses's energy.
"Now, I just pity you."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!" There wasn't enough time to stop the girl with her shadows before it was too late.
Redirecting the flow of energy through whatever means possible, Catra let out a small roar as she blasted the energies straight into the center of the Lunarium. There, a grand aura of might burst through the room, one that cleansed the entire room from it's dark energies and evil magic. The form of Shadow Weaver herself was helpless as she was caught in the blast, disintegrating her along with the shadows that she had engulfed the room in.
...
It was then on the other side, through the mystical water the real Shadow Weaver was watching this all through, that she cried. Through it's arcane energy and power, the blast was so powerful it managed to strike at Shadow Weaver herself through her channeling, striking the witch's center of power, the crystal lined on her mask's forehead, nearly draining it of it's power entirely. The witch let out another cry of pain as she was blasted back to the wall, collapsing into a sorry state as she passed out slumped over on the ground. Her crystal let out a small blink of light before being dimmed.
Shadow Weaver, had lost.
...
All around the Lunarium, just as Bow and Glimmer reached the top of the rope, the room returned with life as the unconscious mages and sorcerers began to awaken one by one. It was also at that moment that Aunt Castaspella had returned to the room, clutching her stomach, slightly in pain, but looking no worse for wear. She smiled brightly as she saw the state of the room, seeing the faces of her comrades returning with life.
Along with them, the ground itself also hummed with life as a blue magical energy began to flow throughout the symbols etched into the floor. There, they grew along everywhere, to the corners, to the walls, and up to the ceiling itself as it returned the Lunar Lenses to life from their dark imprisonment, returning to the beautiful shade of purple after long last.
The barrier over Mystacor brightened immensely over the land, regenerating its shield after long last, and keeping the residence safe for another time.
"She did it!" Bow cheered, pumping his fist.
That's when Glimmer noticed a small silence. Looking around the room, she was confused as she noticed the severe lack of Catra and the sound of someone gloating about how they single-handedly saved the day, again, as Catra always put it. Checking around, she turned her attention to the top of the Lunarium where she had performed her miracle, seeing the lump up there that could only belong to one person.
"Catra!" She called out. Being closer as she was, she grabbed Bow's hand as the two teleported to the top, running over to the fallen friend who wasn't moving.
"Is she alright?"
Checking her over in her arms, Glimmer let out a sigh of relief as she nodded back. "Yeah, she's perfectly fine. She's just sleeping." Maybe perfect wasn't the right word, though it was the closest thing to it.
Why was she unsure of herself? Because for one of the first times ever, she saw a genuine smile plastered over the girl's face as she hugged her sword. She doesn't know what fully transpired up here, and after everything this day had to offer, she didn't care. This was a sleep Catra desperately needed, and one she fully deserved.
Before she fell unconscious, Catra smiled as she collapsed. Today wasn't a simple victory that she had won for Mystacor, this was a day she never wanted to forget.
The day where she truly beat Shadow Weaver for the first time.
...
...
"Tch... stupid guards..." The six-year-old Catra mumbled as she continued to mop the near mile-long floor as a guard supervised her.
It wasn't enough for someone to throw food at her. Oh nooo, they had to be one of those doofuses who didn't know their place, who decided getting a shot back at themselves was too unfair or to aggravating to live with. No, after Catra was fed up for the last time and got food thrown at her head in the lunchroom, she lost it.
She was tired of living this way, tired of being treated like an animal half the time and a freak the other half of the time. WIth Adora gone, all she was left with was herself as her only friend was sent to another sector of the Fright Zone because she "earned" it for how well she was doing, because a big stupid lady person named Shadow Weaver favored her. And if that wasn't adding too much salt to the wound, bringing Lonnie and her lackies, the people who picked on her everyday because Lonnie wanted to, were brought in as well!
So now, not only was she without a friend in this sector, she was all alone to fend for herself from the bullies that picked on her everyday. She was going to be pushed on, harassed, and mocked day in and day out and no one would be there to comfort her anymore.
That's when she realized, a grand question. Why did she care about being the nice one? Being the nice one around here got her nothing. It didn't give her anymore friends, it didn't show her any appreciation, and it didn't stop the people from bullying her. Thus, with a tray in hand, she did something to the person who threw food at her that she never did before.
Bashed her gruel-covered tray against their faces.
Needless to say, their reaction was... about as much as she could expect from it. Instead of whimpering or crying like a brat, they were outraged that the freak of the sector humiliated him like that in front of the other kids, hearing a few people chuckling and laughing as the gruel ran down his face.
Trying to take revenge on the stupid freak, he at first tried to grab the brat by the collar to beat her senseless. To his surprise, not only did she not stand there and take it, she dodged out of the way and scratched his arm a good in, leaving several deep marks in his arm that he winced from.
When that didn't work, he attempted to throw his food again at the brat, unaware that her quick reflexes helped her out of the incoming shot, resulting in him striking the kid at the other table who growled back to him.
This line of vendetta eventually lead to an all out food fight across the lunchroom, one the guards haven't seen in decades. Food was being flung all over the room, kids were starting to fight each other left and right, and the room became so chaotic and they had to get the sprinklers on to wipe down the place after the last seven minutes of this fight, the kids scrambling one by one to get out of the room as they were covered in slimy food and cold clothing.
During this time, Catra herself found herself repeatedly hunted and targeted by the individual kids. A lot of them found it their opportunity to attack the kid directly and beat some sense into her, knowing that with no Adora around that would mean there was no Shadow Weaver to deal with either. Sadly for them, they weren't prepared for a kitten that could scratch back. Catra became a whole new level of aggressive, one nobody had seen before as she used her claws to scratch at the kids faces, using the trays as weapons to bash a kid in the face after she nimbly dodged.
There were quite a few times where she took a good hit here and there, ending up with a few bruises on her face and a cut or two on her arm from the plastic silverware some of the kids attempted to stab her with. Yet, by the time this food fight was over, she felt like a winner. She beat who knew how many kids back and only shed a few tears down her face from the pain she was in, which was a lot less compared to the normal she had to shed.
So of course, what better reward awaited her afterwards than getting scolded at by the guards, after the kids lied about her starting the fight mind you, and being forced to not only apologize to the kid who pushed her to the ground immediately after with no consequences, but also mop up the remaining slop in the lunchroom that was thrown around everywhere!
At least she finished the first tenth of the lunchroom after the first hour. At this rate she should be done by three in the morning.
Oh joy...
"You there." A voice called out to her. Looking at the strange person, she found herself seeing someone she never did before, someone most of the kids had never seen before. He was a strange man with pale white skin with pointy ears, sinister red eyes that practically housed an evilness on his own. With his intimidating silver armor, red cape, and Horde simple displayed over his chest, he looked like a dark hero from a story, or the worst villain you could imagine. He was also escorted by two royal guards, both soldiers carrying blasters with them.
Whoever he was must've been important because when she turned around for a moment, she saw the other guard trembling at the sight of him.
"Did you do this?" He asked.
Catra stared at the stranger for a few seconds, shrugging him away as she went back to the mopping. "What's it too you?" She hissed.
"You despicable ingrate!" The guard watching over her roared, taking out his baton and setting the stun function on. Catra's ears lowered at the sight of the sparks coming off of it. "How dare you show him disrespect like that you rotten child!" Catra prepared herself as she covered her head, waiting for a strike that never came. Noticing the lack of brute force that she was accustomed to around here, she opened her eyes again, blinking at the sight of the guard shivering in fear as the stranger held his arm up.
"You will not strike this child without my say so." He deemed. The guard continued to remain frozen in place, incomprehensible as he babbled incoherently an apology, while the stranger kneeled down to Catra, rubbing a hand over her head. "...Ah yes, the magicat. No wonder I'm not surprised."
"The magi-what?" Catra repeated with confusion, dropping the mop as the stranger pulled it from her hands gently.
"Little girl," it was shocking to hear anyone refer to her by anything other than freak, "do you know what you did in here today?"
"I-I don't care." She tried to put on an uncaring display as she crossed her arms. "Those bullies started it, I was just trying to end it."
"Those bullies... yes..." He rubbed his chin, pondering in thought. "My child, are you aware that during the entire... fight... you unleashed in the middle of all of this, you broke two kids' noses with a tray, and sent about 13 kids to a medical bay covered in deep scratches?"
"N-Not really, and I don't care." She huffed, turning her head away defiantly. "Are you gonna yell at me too? Cause I'm a little busy here... weirdo!" Ha! Not nice being on the receiving end of those mean words, is it! The guards behind the man would've looked like they saw a ghost if she could see passed their helmets.
At this, the stranger continued to stare at her for a few seconds, slowly growing a wicked smile over his face as he grinned. "Amusing. Child-"
"I'm not a child!" She pouted, puffing her cheeks a little. "My name is Catra!"
"Forgive me, Catra then." There was something about the way he apologized that filled the room with an eerie coldness. "Are you aware that more than half of those kids you beat up were several years older than you, almost a foot or two taller than you? And you still sent them to the medbay?"
"...Um...S-Should I be sorry...?" She mumbled unsure of herself. She didn't really mean to hurt anyone too badly, she just wanted people to stop picking on her. As opposed to a severe talking down to that she would've received, and expected, she was instead met with the sound of the stranger chuckling at her.
"Hmhmhm, that part is up to you, I'm afraid. What I want to know is how you managed to beat over a dozen children stronger than you without any sort of formal training?"
"I... I dunno..." She mumbled again, looking at her claws that still had a small scent of the various kids she punched or scratched. "I just got really angry about how much they picked on me... and next thing I know, I'm hitting them with a tray..." She gulped silently to herself as she looked to the tall menacing man. "Am I in trouble?"
"Trouble?... Heh, no, you're not." He stated. "That kind of raw power could prove useful to me..." Catra could hear him mutter to himself, though she didn't know what he meant. "Child- I mean, Catra. I have a single question to ask you."
"Y-Yeah?" She was starting to see what frightened the other guard so much. The longer she talked to the stranger, the more menacing and vile he started to appear. She might wet herself if she spent an hour talking to a man this scary!
"If you could go anywhere right now that you wanted, anywhere you could train, where would you go?"
"Anywhere I... wanted to train?" What kind of question was that?
"Let me ask a different question. Catra, tell me one thing you want in life more than anything?"
Ok, that made a little more sense to her even though it was hard to tell. What did she want most in life? A lot of yummier food to eat around here? For bullies to stop picking on her constantly? There were so many things she could ask for that she wanted, so many things she felt like she needed around here!
She wanted people to stop being so mean to her, she didn't want to deal with the harassment like this for the rest of her life! She wanted... say...
"I can... ask for anything?" Catra wondered.
"If you were going to spend the next phase of your life somewhere... worse than this, then what would you want?" He clarified. She would prefer getting it her way for a change. She found it ironic that the first time she stood up for herself and the fact she injured kids from head to toe that she was about to be rewarded for her efforts.
Maybe this is how the world truly worked? Maybe to get ahead of life you needed to be meaner? It worked that way for all the other kids so far since they never seemed to get punished, and now it looked like it was going to work for her.
At that moment, the one, greatest, request she could think of entered her mind.
"I want to be with Adora."
...
...
"Awwwwwwhhhhhhhn." Catra rubbed her eyes as she made her way out the room, stretching her other arm to the sky. Naturally, like she expected to be annoyed with, she saw the two smiling faces of Glimmer and Bow, the two greeting her as they waited right outside the room.
"Hey, you're awake!" Glimmer smile as Catra continued you rub her eyes. She went unnoticed as she let out a small snicker at seeing the girl again.
"Well look who's finally up." Bow commented leaning against the wall. "How you feeling?"
"Better than I have been." She replied, scratching behind her ears. "I honestly can't remember the last time I ever slept so good."
"I'll say, pfft," she snickered again, "you slept till noon."
"I did?" No wonder she felt more tired than she should've been. Who knew sleeping in would you make you feel this incredibly relaxed. "Hmm... Is your aunt okay?"
"Yeah, they're all right, thanks, tch, to you." Why was she acting so weird? She couldn't finish a single sentence without letting out a chuckle. Bow himself was doing everything in his power to contain a smirk on his face.
"Okay, I'll bite. What's so funny?"
"N-Nothing!" Glmmer beamed shaking her head, the corners of her face twitching as she suppressed another laugh. "We're just, pffft, really excited to see you up and about after a whole day of sleeping."
"Yeah! We still got a good chunk of vakay ahead of us." Bow added, covering his mouth to hide the obvious grin.
"In that case, you mind if we get a massage thing again?" She asked, cracking a few bones in her knuckles. "You made it sound extremely relaxing. I just hope that Kiroh girl isn't too mad about before."
"Oh, don't worry about that, I'm sure it'll be ffffff-tch, hahahahaha!" She couldn't take it anymore. Holding onto her sides she burst out in laughter with Bow as the two stared at her.
Was this supposed to be some form of joke in the Rebellion she didn't know about or some relaxation technique she wasn't aware of? Because she was finding it a lot more annoying than relaxing! "Ok, seriously, what's so funny?" She asked scratching the long sleeve shirt she was wearing. It was so itchy compared to normal.
...Wait a minute... That was when it dawned on her, one particular detail that Catra always lived by. She never had a long sleeve shirt! Looking down at herself, her entire face beat with a bright pink flush as she realized what all the hubbub was about.
Here she was, in the middle of the hallway in front of the two of them, wearing what may be the most embarrassing sweater of her life. It was hand woven especially for her, she could tell by the size of it, crafted and sewed together in red all over. It had a typical turtleneck and collar for her, having a slight itch to it that she wasn't used to as it brushed against her fur.
That wasn't the embarrassing part.
What was embarrassing for her was what else was on it. In the front of the sweater, there were dozen or so white stars placed around it, as well as a single image on the front. It could've been a normal cat or anything, but no. For whatever reason, she found an image of a single cat in a chibi-like style, crafted after Catra's own design, sleeping on it with a couple of Z's indicating it snoring. And above the cat read the most ridiculous two words she had ever seen labeled above it: Sleepy Kitty
"...WHAT THE HECK AM I WEARING?!" Catra shouted angrily as she blushed, the entire hallway shaking by the sound of her voice.
"Awww, don't pout, I think it looks, pffft, cute!" She squealed. "My aunt made it for you while you slept! She was so thankful for what you did last night that she wanted to reward you."
"BY MAKING ME WEAR THE STUPIDEST OUTFIT EVER?!" It didn't matter to her how soft or comfortable she admittedly found it to be. It was still too embarrassing!
"Well if it makes you feel any better, the design wasn't her idea." As Bow gestured with his thumb, Glimmer took off speeding down the hallway, still laughing it up with every step. "It was Glimmer's idea."
"AHAHAHAHAAAA!" Glimmer could be heard screaming with laughter as she ran.
"PINKYYYYYYYYYY!" Unsurprisingly, at the announcement, Catra gave chase after her, preparing to rip her limb from limb, not caring at all if the Queen punished her for this. Seeing this himself, Bow laughed out loud, giving chase after them. They still had a vacation to deal with and Glimmer's method of getting her ready to go was on the spot.
Now if she managed to survive the ordeal after Catra managed to get her, that would be a surprise.
In all honesty though, a bit of Catra didn't mind. She didn't care how much they humiliated her, to an extent, and annoyed her with their constant ramblings. To her, the only thing she cared about was getting her kingdom and fighting back against the Horde with as much strength as she had to give.
Besides, at least if these two were around here, she wouldn't have to deal with the one fear she suffered from more than the embodiment of fear itself.
And that was a fear she would take to her grave...
...
...
"Shadow Weaver?" Adora called out, popping her head into the chambers after a full day of guard duty.
After the task she was given, she made certain that Shadow Weaver wasn't disturbed at all. She kept watch over the door throughout the majority of the day, whenever she needed a break she assigned a pair of guards over the door, and refused to leave the door after the night's light filled the sky. She wanted to make absolutely sure nothing would disturb Shadow Weaver's attempts at bringing her friend back.
"Hello?" She called again. The room was filled with a strange coldness. Not one from the atmosphere or the dark magic Shadow Weaver used to give off, one from the emptiness she felt in the room. That was when she finally noticed the unconscious form of her mother figure, fallen against the wall for who knows how long by now. "Shadow Weaver!" Adora rushed over as she cried out.
What happened to her? She seemed okay enough. There were barely any injuries she had aside from a small scrape against the wall from earlier. She said she couldn't be interrupted as she preformed whatever ritual she needed to bring Catra back to the Horde. Come to think of it, if she was knocked unconscious at all, that could only mean one thing, one dire thing that Adora feared most of all.
The ritual had failed.
There was no mistaking it. She knew Shadow Weaver, the Shadow Weaver she presented herself to be anyway, as someone who never gave up. She never stopped a single task until it was finished to completion and then some. That was how she raised Adora to be and that's the way Adora saw her through most of her life.
That's when she noticed light emanating from the fountain again, the magic still spying on Catra and her allies since the night before. Glancing between the two, having a smidge of hope that maybe the ritual had been completed, she rushed on over to it, peering deeply into the waters.
To her regret, it was as she feared. Catra still appeared to be in the Princess's evil control. It was a bit of a weird scene, to say the least, as she watched Catra pulling on Glimmer's cheek as the princess laughed at her for whatever reason. Was some part of her resisting the control actually? Was that Catra's attempt at fighting back against the princesses through whatever resistance she had left to offer? She couldn't tell anymore.
All she knew was the hatred she had boiling up inside of her, taking one last look at Shadow Weaver and then to the fountain in front of her. "Every time we try something, they always manage to slip passed us like a snake." Snakes were one of the most annoying things in the world when it came to predators. They were cunning, swift, malicious, and devoured everything in sight. "Nothing we do from afar has managed to work, Shadow Weaver..." Her face contorting with rage, Adora squeezed her fist as the image in the fountain wavered, switching its focus from the two of them to Glimmer's face more directly.
"Not anymore." She declared. "Now, we do things my way." She was tired. Emotional. And stressed. Day in and day out she had to put up with her numerous grievances and stresses that would drive most people to the seat of madness by this point, and yet she persevered. Why? Because of her care for Catra. Catra was practically like a sister to her, one she cared deeply for since the two grew up along with each other, and now she was supposed to sit back and let everyone else try to deal with the work?
Well not anymore.
"It's time to deal with that snake myself." Splashing her fist into the water, she left the fountain as she made her way over to Shadow Weaver, already orchestrating a hundred different plans to deal with the wretched snake who's turned her life upside down, the same way everyone dealt with a snake.
By cutting off it's head...
...
...
...
A/N: Like I said, i know it's short, and did have some more intended for it, but work kinda got in the way and made everything exhausting for today T_T. So with that said, hope people understand here and there as my brain isn't 100% into it at the moment, though my energy is.
Fun fact, cause i love ya guys so much, I took another hour to add a good 2k words to this, specifically the flashback sequence ^^ It took more energy from me but it felt worth it to finally get this thing up from 8k to 10 k ^^
With that said, we're another episode down, and we're rolling into one of my FAVORITE episodes ^^! THE PRINCESS PROM!