A/N: *awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn* I gota tell ya people...awwwwwnnnn... I am very tired X/ like stupendously tired. Why? Cause I've been up since 3:30 AM (don't ask long story). Best I can state with a long story short, expect the first half of this to be wonky with the grammar, dialogue, writing, etc, cause that's when I was most tired (kinda ironic when you think about it since i should be more tired right now XP).
Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this as we get some more humor to help make up for the feels we got all of last chapter ^^ followed by some feels by the end...bewarrrrrrrre...
Enjoy!
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Bow continued to stew in his own thoughts as he remained within the prison cell. There were so many thoughts plaguing his mind right now that he didn't even know where to begin.
How about from the beginning? Like when he foolishly went back inside of a palace with the assistance of two guards, who instead turned out to be two members of the Horde in disguise. A part of him wondered why they looked so familiar. While they still had masks on, the way they spoke was vaguely similar to the people he met before when they invaded Salineas in an attempt to destroy the Sea Gate and capture Catra the first time.
Maybe his problems actually began when he went off on a tangent when he decided to shout at Glimmer for no reason? Perhaps saying there wasn't a reason wasn't completely accurate. He thought she was being possessive of him, like everything that went through his life was something she got to choose or decide. Being a little put off by how weird she was being throughout the entire day, he berated and scolded her about how he was free to choose how to live his life, not her.
And not ten minutes after that, he found out she got the idea from Catra, and she was trying to apologize for seeming that way, not that she was that way. So not only was he regretting his decisions and how he appeared to her, he was also dealing with the fact that wherever Glimmer was right now, she probably thought he still hated her.
This place was saddening enough without such thoughts.
Or perhaps his real issues began the moment he woke up from his own capture, finding himself within the Fright Zone itself? Beaten, bruised, and battered, he found himself thrown into a jail cell behind an electrical barrier. Save for a single bed and a toilet, there was little to nothing within this place that could help him get out.
The prison itself was nothing to the likes of which he's ever seen before. Within the center of it lied, what he assumed to be, the control station for all of these cells, or possibly the prison itself. All around the place, from what little he could see from the entrance when the force field was transparent enough, were hundreds, if not thousands, of other cells just like his! All of them were neatly lined up row after row in a large circular rotation, possibly twenty to thirty cells per floor. If the Horde really wanted to, they probably had a cell for every member of the Rebellion at this point.
For all he knew they probably had a hundred other prisons like this across the Fright Zone, perhaps enough to fill the entire planet of Etheria!
It was with the random clicking sounds he heard that he realized someone approached his cell. Taking a look, he saw what appeared to be a scrawny kid opening a small hatch in the cell. While he couldn't get a clear look of his hair color, he was pretty sure he was blonde, the kid not looking much tougher than the average teen, a little under that at the most.
"Dinner rations, prisoner." He stated, pushing his arms through the small opening of the field. Why did he think Bow would willingly take the tray to begin with? They were enemies. There was no way he was going to trust someone like this. That was when he watched the barrier shrink around the kid's hand, giving him a painful shock as he quickly pulled his hand out again. "Ow!" He sucked on his finger soothingly as he turned his back to Bow, tearing up a little at the sore pain.
"Hey. What's your name?" Bow decided to ask. If he didn't have anyone else around here to get information was, he might as well get to know the one person he's met since coming here.
"Me?" He questioned. "You're talking to me?"
"Sure. Is that all right?" He wondered if he somehow offended the kid or did something else wrong.
"Uh, I guess, but no one ever talks to me." It was almost ironic that the first person he met that wanted to talk to him was from the other side. "I'm Kyle."
"Hey, Kyle. I'm Bow." He greeted with a friendly smile. "Can you do me a favor? Can you tell me where they're holding the princess?"
"P-Princess?"
"She's my best friend." He had to know if she was okay, especially after the long night they've all had. "No one will let me talk to her or even tell me if she's okay."
"Oh, well... umm..." Bow shot a worrying face to him as he poked his fingers nervously. "She uh... she might be fine for a while, but..."
"But what?"
"... Adora's a little mad at her..." Panic overtook his face as he gave him a wave of his hands. "B-But I'm sure she'll be alright! Mostly! Maybe... I don't know. But she needs to keep her alive, so no worries."
"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?!" Bow jumped to his feet as he ran to the barrier. "Is she alright? Is something bad going to happen to her? Tell me!"
"I-I can't! That information's classified! And they wouldn't tell me. And Adora's not really in the best mood right now."
"You've got to help me get a message to Glimmer then, please!"
"I... Uh... I-I gotta go!" He sputtered, taking off quickly to the lift that brought him up here to begin with. "I like your shirt!"
"Wait!" It was too late. By the time he shouted at him to stop, Kyle was gone, leaving Bow to pound against the electrical barrier in frustration.
What was going to happen to Glimmer? He didn't know that much about this Adora girl, partly thanks to Catra's lack of description about her past. But if she was going to do something to Glimmer of all people, all because of some unexplained anger she had towards her, there was no telling what she could do.
"Please be alright..."
...
"Ok, here's the plan." Catra began as she took a boot out of her satchel.
She never thought she'd find herself actually off to go and rescue Bow and Glimmer, from the Fright Zone of all places. It was the single most terrifying place of her childhood experiences, the place where all her troubles began and never ended. If she had to choose between spending the rest of her life in a dungeon compared to spending a single day back in the Fright Zone, she would take the dungeon a thousand times over.
So what drove her to go back to it this time around?
Her friends. Yes, that's right. Friends. As much as she hated to admit it, despite her insistence to it, and no matter how much she tried to push away from it, Glimmer and Bow were her friends. Friends she was willing to go back for and save them from whatever horrors awaited them within the Fright Zone.
It's not like she didn't care about them on a whole. Over the course of their journeys together, she came to respect them for their strengths and quirks if nothing else. For all their flaws and their annoying habits, she did respect whatever strength they managed to display in front of her from time to time, including the time she watched Glimmer fight off a shadowy doppelganger of Shadow Weaver by herself. Anyone willing to do that was respectable in her book.
Even then, they showed time and again that they cared for her. They accepted all her flaws that came with her, all the fears and worries she had, and had her back whenever she messed up or did something reckless. Not once in her years within the Fright Zone had anyone ever accepted her as much as they did, save for Adora who was always by her side.
What truly pushed the envelope though, what really gave her the final shove she needed to go out and save these two, was Glimmer's Diary. After obtaining a key from a now-bruised Sea Hawk, thanks to Mermista, she got a closer look into Glimmer's point of view about her, about everything she thought about Catra.
It was enough to make her shed a tear.
She saw Catra as a hero, someone who could accomplish a lot more than anyone else ever said she could. She didn't know if she would call herself a hero at this rate, but it didn't matter compared to everything else she said about her. She revealed how she knew of Catra's faults since day one, how she and Bow were willing to help her fight through her struggles. Most of all, they were the very few people that admitted they depended on her, that they knew they could always count on her to have their backs when the time called for it.
How could she bring herself to let them down now of all times?
"Alright, so this is the Horde Base we need to get to." Catra explained as she went over the plan.
"...It's in the shape of a boot?" Perfuma asked as she stared at the colorful purple boot.
"Hey, cut me some slack, I was in a rush to get all of this." Catra replied, continuing to take out other smaller items. "Now as I was saying, this is the base we need to get to. If they've been taken anywhere, they're bound to be here."
"So what's the plan then?" Entrapta asked in excitement, flailing her arms in different styles representing the possibilities. "Are we going to use cunning? Stealth? Action?"
"All of them." The other princesses and Captain watched as she placed an item in front of each of them. A white Queen chess piece for Perfuma, a purple sock for Entrapta, a bath sponge for Mermista, and a fishing hook for Sea Hawk. "All right. First, we need to reach the prison itself. Perfuma and Entrapta will go-"
"Wait, why am I a chess piece?" Perfuma asked interrupting. She looked at the chess piece from every angle, wondering what sort of significance.
"I already told you, I was in a rush. I just grabbed whatever I could find in Pinky's room. Anyway, as I was saying-"
"Wait, so I'm a sponge and Sea Hawk gets to be the fish hook?" Mermista grumbled.
"Never fear my dear," Sea Hawk calmed, "it just goes to show attached we are!"
"...You wanna trade?" She asked Perfuma.
"Sure!" The princess smiled as she took the interesting yellow sponge, growing a small flower atop it's head.
"How about I be this model version of Bow instead?" Sea Hawk suggested, holding up one of 3 thumb-sized figurines. One was detailed after Glimmer, one was in the form of Bow, and the last one was Catra herself, in her She-Ra appearance.
"Ooh! I want the She-Ra one instead!"
"No, It's mine!" Catra yelped, snatching the three figurines away in one swipe. The blush didn't grow on her face until after everyone looked at her strangely. "What? Bow made them for us. And I thought it looked better like this..." Catra grumbled, digging through her satchel again. "Now then- Hey, where did my marker go?"
"Hoho, I am Princess Entrapta!" Right in front of her face, Catra saw what the aforementioned marker was used for. Deciding to have a little fun, it would appear that Entrapta brought it upon herself to draw two googly black eyes on the sock she gave her, as well as a small snout she drew in herself. "The Horde will never match myyyyy sockiness!"
"Heheheh!" Catra was the only one who found herself not chuckling at the joking going on, rolling her eyes at their shenanigans.
We're all going to die. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she continued.
"All right, so moving on..."
...
The scene shifted to a view of the Fright Zone as Catra went on with her explanation in the background.
"First off, we're going to need to land over at the scrapyard. It's the least guarded and least surveillance area of the Fright Zone. We're not going to get any other place to land like this one, and we're going to need to split up to make the most out of this."
"You want us to take out the surveillance?" Entrapta could be heard asking.
"Kind of. Splitting up into three teams, Entrapta and Perfuma, you're going to need to disable the spotlights leading into the Horde structure we're going to infiltrate." At this, Perfuma and Entrapta could be seen running around the corner of the security tower, Entrapta donning her mask as she peaked over Perfuma's shoulder, waiting until the spotlight passed them before running around it. "You're going to need to wait for my signal to disable the lights."
With the spotlight passing them Perfuma began to work her magic at the base of the tower, growing a massive vine that sprouted in size and girth, holding onto one of it's many roots as it raised towards the sky itself and lifted her to the top of the tower. With little else to work with herself, Entrapta, taking one more look at the marvels of technology and science surrounding her, extended her own hair to the top, pulling herself up in one swing right before a spotlight managed to reach her location.
"Meanwhile, Mermista is going to access the Fright Zone's sewer System." Catra continued as Mermista appeared leaping over a massive pipe. With the flick of her wrist, a giant geyser of water arose from the manhole, slowly rising up all the way to Mermista's waist. "She's going to need to swim through the pipes to reach the building and open the door-"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, back up here." Mermista interrupted as the scene changed back to the conversation itself, Mermista crossing her arms in disgust. "I'm sorry. Mermista is going to do what?"
It took Catra a few seconds to realize what she had actually said, glancing back at the small display of work she had and shriveling at the thought. "...Ok, I have to admit, it sounds pretty gross, but you're the only one who can breathe in underwater."
"...UGGGGGHHHHHH..." Vengeance. Pain and terrible vengeance would be inflicted upon Catra by the time this day was over. To be the one person who was needed for all of this to be pulled off, to be the one charged with swimming through... filth... all for the sake of saving Bow and Glimmer. A part of her was positive Catra tasked her with this on purpose, and she swore she would make her pay with the biggest swirly she could create. "Fine!"
Back to the present, Mermista, still looking at the manhole in disgust, used her power to lift the manhole with the water, pushing it away off to the side as she lowered herself towards the opening. "Super gross." Holding her breath and her nose, she dived into the manhole, legs first, heading straight into what would most likely be the filthiest mission of her life.
"At this time, Sea Hawk and I will take up position by the entrance." Catra went on as she placed the hook and her She-Ra figurine by the boot.
"Say, why did Glimmer have a fishing hook in her bedroom to begin with?" Sea Hawk had to ask.
"Actually, it's just part of a hanger I had to pull apart. Anyway..."
Changing to the scene in question, Catra and Sea Hawk could be seen looking over the corner like Entrapta and Perfuma had done in their espionage. Unlike theirs, they had the misfortune of having guards placed at the entrance of their target, spotting at least three in total with one on each side of the entrance, and one guard in the middle. No doubt Adora took notice of this lack of safety precaution and increased the amount of security, even by a little.
"Sea Hawk and I will take care of any guards we find on the way to the base." Nodding to each other, they pulled back a little as Catra scratched the rough surface of the structure they were hiding against, causing a noise that drew the middle guard to the area. Peaking around the corner, the other two guards nearly jumped as they raced to the corner at the sight of someone pulling the first guard behind the corner.
Racing around it, they were met with utter confusion when all they found was the guard himself, lying unconscious at the feet of the large building. For what short while they were searching for the perpetrators that attacked their fallen comrades, they were drawn to the small sound of scraping they heard coming above them. Neither of them had enough time to shout out a single warning or alert as they saw Catra holding up a prepared Sea Hawk, holding onto the building itself with her other claw.
It took a single drop and strike from both of them leaping from the building to knock the two guards out cold like the previous one. With all three of the guards knocked out, Catra and Sea Hawk took the liberty of disarming them of their stun batons, finding them in much safer hands.
"After we do, Entrapta and Perfuma will regroup with us at the door, which Mermista should have unlocked and opened by the time we regroup."
"Excellent plan. Adventure!" Sea Hawk cheered, raising his fist at the planning area.
"Yeah, but didn't you say we were going to do all of our plans?" Mermista pointed out. "When do we get to hit something hard?"
"And when are we going to recruit any allies?" Perfuma added.
"Well, it might not exactly be recruit like you said, but it should give us enough help to create a distraction. At the center of the Prison Area we're going to there's a guard station. At the very base of it, there's a small generator that powers all the cells within the complex. And, assuming Pinky and Bowey's not wasting time being asleep, they should be able walk right on out of there before the backup generators kick in within the next three minutes."
"And the recruitment part?"
"Perfuma, it's a prison." Catra grinned. "I guarantee you anyone in there is going to hate the Horde's guts with a passion. They should be able to provide a distraction long enough for us to sneak out of there with those two, at least before the reinforcements swarm the place. I'm not gonna lie, it'll get swarmed real big, real fast, when the reinforcements show up."
With the guards out of commission, Catra took a peek around the corner, taking out a small hand mirror from her pockets to reflect it's light towards the Security Tower. Noticing the flash from the other end, Perfuma gave a nod to herself as she checked back with Entrapta. "That's the signal." She announced.
Meanwhile Entrapta was in her own little fantasy land as she gazed at the technological marvel in wonder. To think, all this wonderful technology, for the size it was given at least, lied in some place as horrific as the Fright Zone! It was like being a kid in Candy Land whee everything was easy pickings for whoever came across it, so many wonders to explore and fascinating machinery to work with! "Fright Zone log, day one." Entrapta commented as she used her tape recorder. "I can barely contain my excitement! Ha-ha!"
It was the very same excitement she managed to use in order to remove the hatch from the control module. "Hmm. The Horde's using an outdated wiring system." With a twirl of her hair and the flick of her extensions she began rewiring and reworking many of the various odds and ends of the machinery, grin growing wider with each wire she came across. "It really would work so much better if I just consolidated these conduits and rerouted the current here-"
"Entrapta?" Perfuma spoke, grabbing her attention. "Now would be a good time for those lights."
"Oh... right!" With a single pull, pulling out one of the wires with her hair, the spotlights finally lost all their power, allowing Catra and Sea Hawk to trek their way over to the door.
Checking to make sure the coast was clear, Catra and Sea Hawk made their way over to the door, keeping an watchful eye over their surroundings until Catra got her own back against the door. With one more look around, she firmly and gently tapped her claws against the door, trying to see if there was some signal she could get from the otherside.
*clank*
*clank*
"...Come on, fish lady, where are ya?" Catra muttered to herself, taking a glance at their surroundings every five seconds they waited.
"Where's Mermista?" He wondered with a hint of worry. In a place as dangerous as this, there were any number of unfortunate circumstances that could've happened.
"I don't know, maybe she got stuck somewhere." Where on Etheria was she?! Every second someone got stalled on this mission or disrupted increased the chances of the entire mission blowing up in their faces, possibly literally at that. With the coast seeming clear, Catra turned her back as she gave another pound on the door. "Hey, hurry up in there!"
"Uh Catra?"
"Not now, Captain."
"Horde!" He announced, knowing it would get her attention. True enough, she shot back as she saw another small skiff heading in their direction, with Scorpia at the helm of it.
"Crud!" Knowing the two were already spotted she searched frantically around them for anything that could save their bacon. There was little doubt the two of them could deal with her themselves, but if she spotted them from far enough she could easily sound the alarms and trigger an emergency siren around this place with just one call. Thankfully, noticing Sea Hawk's appearance, an idea came to her. "Give me your coat and bandana!"
"What?"
"Just do it!" With time of the essence, realizing what her plan was as he watched, he quickly turned his back to the arriving Scorpia, changing his own hair as Catra used his body as a small bit of cover to keep her from seeing Catra putting on the jacket herself.
At the same time, Scorpia became curious and confused at the strange duo she saw up ahead. One was a strange looking young man with a white T-shirt while the other one was... something she couldn't quite make out. Neither of them were recognizable to her and she doesn't remember expecting the duo either. With her face slowly hardening with seriousness, she brought the skiff to a stop as she stepped out of her vehicle.
"Halt!" She ordered, walking right up to them. "Who are you two?"
Stepping out from behind Sea Hawk, Scorpia got a better look at the second person she had yet to get a clear view of till now. Unaware of her true identity at the moment, she was met with a stranger who was wearing a bandana over her forehead, one which kept her ears covered under the red cloth as she kept her right eye closed. Along with that, she had her tail wrapped around her waist like a belt as she wore the captain's blue jacket, Scorpia couldn't get a clear look of the clothes she wore underneath it as she kept her arms crossed.
As for Sea Hawk himself, he didn't do much other than changing his hair style, but it did help to add to his secret identity since he was only wearing his white undershirt while doing it.
"Who are we? Who are you?" Catra retorted, pointing back to her.
"I'm Force Captain Scorpia." She easily shot back. "Now I repeat, who are you?" She asked leaning closer to the girl sending sweat down the back of Catra's head.
Exactly how close was this girl to figuring out Catra's identity? The cover of ears, jacket over her current outfit, and closed right eye could only keep her identity secret for so long. Considering she's never met her in person up to this point, she could be a supergenius for all Catra knew.
Luckily Sea Hawk already came up with that little detail as he answered for them. "Why, we're the inspectors, of course!" He announced proudly. Catra mentally sighed in relief at his quick thinking as she took in the idea.
"Inspectors?"
"Yeah!" Catra proudly smacked the metallic door they were standing outside of. "We got a call from some manager guy, you know? Said he needed help with something passed this door."
"Then why are you still out here?"
"B-Because um... No one was here to let us in!" She insisted.
"That's strange," Scorpia poked her chin looking around, "there's usually some guards out here." Taking a closer look to Catra herself, Scorpia raised an eyebrow. "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"
"Uhh..."
"And why are you closing your eye like that?"
"W-Well, I uhh..."
"Oh, how dare you!" Sea Hawk interrupted, patting Catra's head. "Can't you see the girl's sensitive about her missing eye? Do you think she needs a reminder of that tragic incident?!" Getting the idea, Catra put on the best fake cry she could as she cried into both her hands.
"Ehehehehhhh!" She wept. "The doctor said people wouldn't notice if I kept my eye closed!"
"There, there, my dear. It's all right." Sea Hawk cooed as he patted her head.
"N-No, no, d-don't! Please don't cry!" Scorpia begged, shaking her claws together pleadingly. "I didn't know it was like that! I don't mind the eye! In fact, I think you look better without one eye!...Oh... wait..."
"Aahhahahahhaaaa, you're a monster!" Catra cried louder.
Scorpia was beginning to panic. The strange one-eyed girl couldn't be any older than a young teenager. Why, she might even be the strange man's daughter, seeing how closely the two were being. This was bad on a whole number of levels. How else was she going to explain to any of the higher ups if she made one of the two inspectors cry just because they were doing their job? They might not ever want to come back and work for the Horde again!
And what kind of person made a young girl cry? A monster, that's who! The very one Scorpia was accused of being by the girl who was currently crying. "P-Please, please don't cry! I'm sorry!" She begged on her knees. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
Sniffling a little, still pretending to cry, Catra glanced over to the door that they were still stuck outside of. "W-Well... I guess you can open the door for starters. Then we can get our inspection done a lot faster..."
"You got it!" She happily went about typing in the codes for the door, wanting to do anything to help the possible father and daughter duo! It was the least she could do after accidentally insulting the young girl about her eye, knowing full well how much it hurts to get made fun of because of how you appear to someone else.
Standing in front of the other two, she tapped as fast as her thick claws would let her, doing everything she could to bring a smile to all their faces as they watched the door open. It was a smile that lasted only so long for her until she saw Mermista standing on the other side of the doorway, looking unamused as always with a hand on her side and an annoyed expression on her face.
"Huh? Hey, aren't you the-"
*Bzzzzzzzzzzt*
"Ghhhhhhhh-!" With a small screech at the feeling of a thousand volts coursing through her veins, Scorpia slowly lost consciousness before falling in front of the three of them, Catra watching with a smile on her face as she held up the recently-used stun baton.
"So let me get this straight," Mermista went on as Catra gave Sea Hawk his outfit back, "you had me go through the sewers, the sewers, just for you guys to get the doors opened anyway?!" She stammered.
"Hey, it wasn't that bad for you, was it?" Catra joked with a cheeky grin.
"I WAS FLUSHED ON!" At the shout, she watched as Perfuma and Entrapta made their way around, running up to Catra and Sea Hawk who heard the two approaching soon after.
"Hey, you're okay!" Perfuma smiled, holding a large vine that was wrapped around Entrapta from head to toe. All three of the others looked at her in confusion, all wondering the same thing.
"Eh... why is Entrapta like that?" Catra asked.
"Oh, she just... has a small habit wandering around here and there." Perfuma tried to play it off innocently, not going into detail how many times she had to chase her around.
At that, Entrapta's eyes flashed with stars as Perfuma started to unwrap her. "You guys! There is SO much awesome stuff here! Did you know they have bots here designed to pick up raw scraps and reorganize them into reusable material for later use? And their wiring system is so much fun! I mean, a lot of it's outdated and everything and a lot of the junk they have here is so basic that any science nerd can hack into it within a few seconds but-!"
"Entrapta!" Catra yelped, clicking her fingers in front of her. "Focus. Now let's go, we don't have much time." With the others nodding to each other in agreement, they all hustled into the building following her, all except a peeved-looking Mermista who's brow continued to twitch irritably.
"Can I at least get a thank you for what I've been through?"
"I'll give you a thank you with a bar of soap. Now let's go!" Catra stated, pulling her in before the doors could close in on them again.
...
The hallways themselves seemed completely the same yet somehow different as Catra ran down the halls with the others right behind her. The same bleakness they had whenever she ran down them as a kid, the heavy atmosphere she used to feel any day she walked down these walls. Everything felt strangely foreign to her, like she's never been here before, despite having memories as clear as yesterday of this place.
Over there she could remember fondly how she and Adora played pranks on some passing guards when they were seven because they were forced to wax the floors all day for something they didn't do. Deciding to get some payback against the mean guards, the girls did well and beyond what they were told, applying seven coats of wax to the same floor, and then lying in wait until some of the guards passed them to slip on their behinds, others right on top of each other.
That got them into even more trouble but it still felt worth it.
In another hallway she reminisced about the time they managed to run away from a guard the two angered, one that smacked Catra around for a personal prank she pulled on her earlier. Deciding to get payback and drive her insane, the two made fun of her back and forth, taking shortcuts and splitting up between hallways as the stupid guard tried to chase them and beat their little behinds into submission. After what must've been a ten minute chase, the guard last track of them and was forced to return to his duty before he got into any more trouble.
The idiot didn't have any idea that Catra carried herself and Adora up to the pipes above her, giggling quietly to themselves as they watched her leave in a mad huff. They were definitely better times than they were later down their lives.
It was at the sound of footsteps approaching from the hallways that Catra raised her hand, signaling for the others to stop. Taking a quick look around, she began clicking the access code of a nearby Janitor's closet, rushing people to come inside once the door sprang open. Right as the guards were about to round the corner, she managed to collect everybody into the small block of space, everyone huddled and pressed together uncomfortably.
"Shhh!" Catra shushed quietly, everyone remaining still and silent while they were all being pressed against the enclosed space.
"Is it clear yet?" Perfuma whispered.
*sniff*
*sniff*
"Ugh, Mermista, you really need a bath after this." Catra swore her nose was starting to get paralyzed from the lack of fresh air.
"Don't remind me!" She replied almost threateningly.
"And who's stepping on my tail?"
"Oops, sorry." Sea Hawk apologized.
"Step on it harder, please.." Mermista muttered, still irritated for all the time and energy she wasted.
"What's the plan, She-Ra?" Perfuma asked, trying to break up the potential violence.
"We need to get to an information port." Catra replied. "If we're lucky, Entrapta can hack into the port itself to identify which cell block Pinky and Bowey are in."
"Ok, but one slight problem." Mermista brought up.
"What?"
"Where is she?" Checking their cramped surroundings, Catra rolled her eyes with a groan.
"Ugh, you've gotta be kidding me..."
"Okay, she is really putting a crimp in my harmony!" Perfuma cried quietly, scratching at her head with the flux of annoyance reaching her head. Sea Hawk did what he could to calm her down as he gently patted her head, trying to keep her from crying out and drawing attention to the closet they were in.
"H-Hey, it's fine." Catra tried to sound as comforting as she could with the uncomfortable position she found herself in. "We'll find Entrapta, hack into the info port, and then rescue Glimmer and Bow. It's simple, right?"
"And we have to start the prison riot." Sea Hawk reminded.
Rolling her eyes, Catra added, "And start a prison riot."
"And escape before reinforcements appear!" Perfuma also reminded.
"Ghhh... Fine. Get a information port, hack the data base to find Glimmer and Bow, cause a jail break, and escape before reinforcements show up."
"And blow something up?" Mermista smirked saying, enjoying the sight.
"MMHHHHHH..." Catra's face flushed red as the anger reached near her boiling point. "Fine! Get to a data port, hack into the data base to find Glimmer and Bow, cause a jail break, escape before the reinforcements show up, AND blow something up, most likely the generator to the cells since we're at it. There! Happy?"
"I don't know, give me another minute or two to think up something."
"Mermista!"
...
"Fright Zone Log, day one continued." Entrapta spoke into the tape recorder as she hung from the air, tapping away fearlessly into the info port she came across. "Keypads appear in every corridor and are capable of giving status updates on multiple systems." The scientist continued to look astounded.
This place was a wonderland of technology for the purple-haired genius. Every two steps she took she found herself gasping at the sight of another marvel, everything she recorded held more answers than she could get in a year's worth of daya! Sometimes she wished she could live in a place like this, just for the chance to experience everything this place had to offer! From the security to the mechanics to the very droids she spotted along the way, this place was amazing!
Speaking of which, her attention was drawn behind her as she heard the minor beeps and boops of another one of the scrap droids passing by her. "Wow! Hello there, little guy!" She gushed, chasing after it in excitement. "Where do you think you're going? Come back here you~" Like a little girl chasing after a puppy, she chuckled to herself as she chased it along into a nearby station.
These scrap bots must've been her second favorite thing about this place, next to the Fright Zone itself! She couldn't believe she never thought about adding these little guys to her own laboratory. With little guys like these around, they could make the hassle of picking up unused or unnecessary parts a breeze! Why, she could even design these guys to design smaller random things when she was too busy to make them herself!
"Haha, got ya!" She squealed, chasing the scrap bot into a dark corner. What she thought to be a dead end turned out to be a trap set up entirely for her though as another strange mechanical bot hummed with life.
From behind the cluster of mechanical junk she saw the scrap bot standing on, she saw it. A large, almost man-sized round droid bot with three mechanical spider-like legs, standing proudly and truly before her. It was the very definition of everything she loved about a robot! From the appearance alone, she could already tell it was strong, durable, was brimming with life, took a lot of care and consideration into the mechanics of it, and was the very definition of science itself! She couldn't stop herself from drooling as small hearts formed within her eyes, finding her scientific curiosity at her utmost limits.
"Well hello to you, too. Hehehe~"
...
...
"Mmmmmh." Glimmer felt exhausted as she tried to look around.
How long had she been awake by this point? Minutes? Hours? Maybe even days? There was no clock around here, and ever since she woke up the first time, she's never been able to fall back to sleep. The pain coursing through her on a constant level was minimal, but enough to keep her conscious no matter how badly she wished she could pass out. And without any clock in here there was no way to tell how much time had passed since she woke up, or if there was a chance that she passed out at all.
Along with the strange surge of power keeping her exhausted, she also found herself stuck to a metal slap that stood her up. The strange slab was connected to a bunch of different wires, ones that connected to the small shackles attached to her wrist that pinned her to the table, all feeding up to a console a few feet away from her.
The bags under her eyes were from stress both physical and mental. Ever since this strange witch woke her up her mind felt like it was being set aflame, along with the rest of her body thanks to this constant surge of electricity that never ended. Was this all the horrible witch's doing or the power of these electrical surges alone? She didn't know, and she absolutely didn't care. She needed to get out of here before things got worse, however possible that would've been.
Taking her powers out for a test run, she tried clicking a spark of magic into her fingertips, feeling thankful to see her powers were still in their best condition. Deciding to take it a step further, she attempted to teleport herself out of the strange holding.
*Bzzzzzzzzzt!*
"Ahhhhhhhh!" What few seconds of hope she felt as her powers surged were instantly shattered as a painful rush of the electricity spiraled through her, inflicting previously unknown amounts of pain throughout her entire body as she screamed. Her attempts at resistance were dashed as soon as they were raised, unable to tolerate the pain enough in her current condition.
"I should warn you, Princess." She heard Shadow Weaver speaking as she approached from the shadows behind her. "Any attempt to teleport through these restraints will only cause you pain." As if to mock her, she gave a simple flick of her finger against her cheek, giving her a small shock at the mere touch. "It seems my Black Garnet and your powers don't mix. Besides, your mother will be here soon." Snobbish, mightier than thou attitude, a lack of tact and appearing to be all-powerful?
This was definitely the same person.
"I-It's you, isn't it?" Glimmer muttered weakly, trying to put on a brave face. "The one Catra was so afraid of in Mystacor. I can tell just by looking at you. Judgemental, brash, it's no wonder Catra hated you.
"Do NOT speak that creatures name in front of me, Princess!" Shadow Weaver hissed, puckering Glimmer's cheeks tightly, sending a small painful surge of electricity around her face.
"Nnngggghhhh!" Glimmer squeezed her eyes tightly as she tried to push passed the pain. Narrowing her eyes, Shadow Weaver released her hold on her, allowing her to catch her breath.
"And don't try to get a rise out of me, either. It would be a shame if you were to die before your mother came for you."
"You're... you're lying. She wouldn't do something like that-"
"Unless it was to save someone she holds most dear." She interjected, lowering herself to Glimmer's eye level. "She is coming to surrender herself in exchange for your safety."
"No..." She... She had to be lying! Her mother couldn't risk her own life, the entire Rebellion, just for her sake! She loved her mother dearly too, and she'd do the exact same thing, but... but she... She prayed at this very moment Shadow Weaver was lying now more than ever.
"Oh. It's a shame, the toll the Rebellion has taken on your family." Every word that sounded like a resemblance of sympathy was spiced with a dashing of mockery in every word. "First, you lose your father and now..."
"S-Shut up!" Glimmer shouted as the tears dripped from her eyes. "She-Ra- no. Catra will stop you!"
"Stop me?! Ahahahaha!" The dark witch slapped the back of her hand over her own face. "Oh my word. You really give that girl more credit than she deserves!"
"She did it in Mystacor, didn't she?" Glimmer reminded, smirking as she saw what little expression she saw from Shadow Weaver drop. "She's a lot stronger than you give her credit for. If you were really some powerful witch, you would've dealt with her a long time ago, wouldn't you? But you can't, because no matter what you throw at her, she always beats you!"
"Mmmmmhh!" Shadow Weaver let out a tremendous grumble as she raised the back of her wrist. Squeezing her eyes shut waiting for the pain to follow, she was instead mess with a small chuckle as the witch lowered herself to her height once more. "Hmhmhm, I see what you're doing." She grinned behind the mask. "Trying to get a rise out of me, hope there's an accident and we lose our only bargaining chip. Clever.
*Bzzzt*
"Ahh!" Glimmer cried out again as she flicked her on the forehead, zapping her again.
"But not clever enough."
*shoom*
Both girls turned to the door at the sound of it opening, Shadow Weaver smiling again as she saw who was approaching.
"Ah, Adora. How wonderful it is to see you." There was something strange about the sudden excitement in Shadow Weaver's voice that worried her.
"Can I begin now?" Adora asked, never taking her angered eyes off the Princess.
"Of course, my dear. Don't let me keep you." Shadow Weaver eagerly replied, floating over to her side, stopping as she was about to pass her. "Remember, she needs to be kept alive. Understood?" With an assured nod from Adora, Shadow Weaver left the room, the Force Captain turning her full attention to the Princess at hand.
"You're Adora, right?" The Princess of Bright Moon asked as Adora walked to her. "Catra's told me a lot about you, she says there's a lot of good in you! Please, please help me out of here." Adora looked at her with anger in her eyes.
This is the moment she's been waiting for, a chance at revenge. This Princess, this one single Princess, was the cause of all of her troubles. Losing her closest friend, pushing who knew how many innocent lives into harm's way for the sake of the war, forcing the Horde to commit who knew how many atrocities because the Horde didn't have a choice. Every problem, all of it, could be returned full circle to these evil princesses.
And now, she had one firmly in her grasp.
Digging through her red jacket for a few seconds, Glimmer becoming antsy at the thought it was going to be a weapon like a knife, she pulled out her famously used headband. "Do you know what this is?" She asked her, holding it right in front of Glimmer's face.
"I-It's a... headband?" She guessed hopefully.
"This is a gift." Adora replied. "A gift from somebody who truly cares for me, from the closest thing I have to a mother around here. And do you know what it does?"
Were these rhetorical questions? "It... makes you stronger." She could fondly recall the day she attacked Salineas. "I saw you use it in your last fight against Catra, it turned you into..." She looked away, unable to bring herself to say it.
And there was no need.
"A monster." Adora stated. "I'm well aware of how I acted because of this thing." She gave a solemn, regretful, face as she gazed at the headband. "I wasn't in control of my emotions... I let its power rush to my head... and... and I almost..." That was the one part she couldn't bring herself to say as she glared back at the princess. "You made me use this to hurt Catra! You've made me do a lot of things I regret doing!"
"No I didn't!" The innocent Princess insisted. "I didn't make you do anything! I didn't ask you to use that, I didn't ask you to fight Catra!"
"And yet you turned her against me." Adora was fuming with anger, the likes of which Glimmer has never seen in a person. "You abducted her, brainwashed her, controlled everything she's done up to this point for the sake of your corruption!"
"Corruption? I don't know what you're talking about! Listen, Adora, whatever Shadow Weaver told you, it wasn't the-"
"Silence!" She shouted angrily. "I've had enough of your lies! Do you know how much I've had to defend her because of you? All our past friends think she's a traitor, every good time she had with them seemingly vanished because of what you did. Do you know what it's like..." Adora teared up a little. "Do you know what it's like to defend someone... someone you care about... when the entire world is against her? Well? Do you?!"
"Adora..." What was she talking about? Glimmer wanted to understand dearly what she was talking about right now. What was making her so angry, how could she possibly help? "Look, Adora? I don't know what you're talking about, I really don't. But whatever you've been told, it's all a lie. I didn't trick Catra into helping us, I didn't cast some evil spell or whatever you want to call it on her. She chose to help us willingly!"
"...Tch... That's a laugh." Adora scoffed. "You think she would willingly give all of this up? The family she used to know? The people she came to work alongside with? You think she would ever want to give all of this up? Tell me then, why? Why would she ever want to leave it?"
"Because she was unhappy!" Glimmer retorted. "Everything I've seen with her, every problem she's had has stemmed from this place! Whatever life she had here was an unhappy one, and if you were such a dear friend, you would've noticed it sooner- Hmm!" Glimmer shut her mouth, too little to late, as she realized what she suddenly said. The same look of shock filled Adora's expression, leaving the girl stunned for the first time since meeting her.
A part of her fretted as her eyes quivered with doubt. Was she... actually right? Was she right about everything?
"Your little friend never cared about any of us since day one." Lonnie continued to talk down as Adora lowered her head. "She didn't care about who she hurt, she didn't care about who was involved, and she didn't care about you. All that little freak ever wanted was whatever benefitted herself. End. Of. Story."
"Must've been pretty close then." Scorpia's stinger wagged a little with glee. "Most people I meet usually don't have nice things to say about her."
T-That... That's not possible... Adora's eyes watered at the thought. Had she truly been neglecting her friend up till now? Was she actually wrong about everything else? She knew Catra was picked on occasionally, that the girl had a harder time getting along with everyone else whenever she tried to open up to people. But to go so far as to wanting to betray the very people who raised her? Who she grew up alongside? What about all the good times they've had? What about all the moments of joy she's experienced with Catra, day in and day out?
"I take it all back! You're officially awesome!" Whooooooo!" Catra cheered as they soared through the land at top speeds. Not once since they've been taught how to use these Skiffs have they ever been allowed to ride them, much less drive them, across the Fright Zone, or anywhere for that matter. This was the first time Catra actually had actual fun within the last several months, and more importantly, a sense of freedom. "I can't believe you actually stole a skiff!"
"Borrowed," Adora corrected as she piloted the skiff, "please don't make me regret this."
What was there to regret? They were two friends out in the open world, away from the horrid Fright Zone, and, at least to Catra, they were having the time of their lives! "What's there to regret? This is awesome!"
Did it mean nothing to her?
"Haha, you can thank Catra!" The chipper five-year-old Adora stated, gesturing to Catra who stood behind her shyly. "She's the one who did all the work."
"Y-Yeah... B-B-But it was all Adora's idea!" As much as she loved the praise, she wasn't about to let her friend go without some credit. "I couldn't even tell what to do without her help."
"Heheheh!" Adora chuckled as she hugged her close. With an inseparable duo like themselves, there was nothing they couldn't handle!
...No... Adora's scowl tightened as she shot a deathly glare at the girl. Those moments were real, they had to be real. She remembers all the joy Catra had in this place, all the laughter, all the fun, everything the two of them did together that made their lives meaningful. There is no way, no chance, she would ever get rid of it so willingly!
"That almost worked..." Adora dried the tears from her face. "You almost got me to believe you for a moment. But I know Catra, and she's not whatever you turned her into!"
"Adora, please-"
"Do you want to know what else this headband does?" She continued. "Whenever I wear it, thanks to some immense training I did for her, I can suppress my emotions. So, lets say I feel guilty for what I'm about to do? Now..." At the pause, Adora donned the cursed garment for the third time within her life. She didn't so much as flinch this time around as her body was engulfed in the surrounding shadows, keeping her eyes closed until the shadows reached the jewel of her headband.
With that, she displayed her red-tinted eyes, one devoid of almost everything. "Now I'm not going to feel bad about what I do next." She stated monotonically.
"D-Do next?" The Princess gulped at how she worded that. "What do you mean by that?" Instead of answering the girl outright, Adora opted to provide a demonstration. Without batting an eyelash, she casually walked her way to the console, standing in front of it as she started to turn the device on.
"Thanks to Shadow Weaver, she was kind enough to make a few modifications to the restraints you're currently stuck in." Adora explained going on. "So, let's say I ask you a question, and I don't like the answer. And then, perhaps out of shock, or confusion, I accidentally hit this."
*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!*
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Glimmer cried out in agony. In one fell swoop, the electricity around her exploded in a mad frenzy, covering her entirety until Adora lowered the settings again. That pain, the surge she felt right now, felt like nothing compared to what Adora put her through in the last three seconds alone. She felt like her entire body was being shocked simultaneously, like bolts of lightning were striking every single part of her body at the same time.
"We'll call that, "letting my finger slip"." Adora joked, barely twitching a face as she did so in an uncaring mood. "So, the way this game is going to work is like this. I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to provide me with an answer. And every time I'm not satisfied with what you give me..."
*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!*
"Aggggggggghhhhhhh!" Glimmer cried out in pain, physically cried out in pain. The pain she was feeling was so barbaric compared to what she felt seconds ago. This person, this supposed person, was the friend Catra cherished so deeply?!
"Are we clear?"
"What do you want?" Glimmer cried out asking.
"I want to know how to break the spell you put on Catra." Adora replied firmly. "By the time this session is over, you're going to tell me exactly what I want to hear!" A small portion of her anger rose at that, no matter how hard she tried to keep it down.
"I don't know anything! There is no spell!"
"Liar!"
*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!*
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Her entire body wracked with pain as the surge continued.
This, was Adora's payback. This was the device that was going to solve all her problems. Watching as the princess cried out in pain, she proceeded with the electrocutions.
She didn't care at the moment what happened to this princess. She didn't care about much of anything at this moment. The only thing she cared about right now was getting what was needed to save the person she deeply cared about. The person she laughed with, cried with. The person who's innocence Adora continues to remember to this day, the one she cherished most of all.
She was going to get her answers.
She was going to save Catra.
And she had all the time in the world to hear Glimmer scream...
...
...
...
A/N: Ok, for those of you who say Scorpia might not be dumb enough to fall for that trick... She got distracted thinking there was a duck because Sea Hawk simply said duck (which lets be honest, is seriously hilarious all the same XD).
And we get some more dark Adora today, in a rather unsettling mood for her friend. I know it might seem a bit too dark but after the months of stress and moments she's been waiting for revenge up to this point, can you really blame her?...oh, you can? Crap...
Well, anyway! Hope you all enjoyed either way! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed, and if you'll excuse me, *awwwwwwwwwwwn*, i gtg to bed here T_T...
Hope to see you soon!