A/N: Yataaaaaaah! No idea what that means other than saying "Huzzah!" ^^! Haha, I feel really good about this one folks. As you can imagine with how soon i posted it after the last one, I had a lot of fun with this chapter ^^ Would've had more fun if i could've ended it, but I'll take what I can get XP that just means you guys get one more chapter tomorrow or day after ^^
It also means... at the rate i'm going...I am sooooo not finishing this fic before season 2 T_T CRAP!
*sigh* well either way, I did have fun with this. and I still won't be watching season 2 until I finish it (curse you brain you traitor!) So if you can, avoid potential spoilers in the latter chapters please XP.
With that said, enjoy!
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...
*Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!*
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Glimmer cried out in agony again as the volts went through her body.
Pain. So. Much. PAIN!
This wasn't like anything Glimmer had ever been through before. This wasn't getting blasted by some sort of mystical energy in one shot, this wasn't the result of some creature slamming a giant arm against her, this wasn't falling from some incredible height that she could survive. This was torture.
Literally.
Throughout the entire experience, possibly for the last half hour, however long Glimmer found herself here, she's been getting tortured. Every time her interrogator asked her the same question it was always met with the same two responses; "I don't know" or "there isn't any spell", and later followed by a giant burst of the Black Garnet's twisted energy being shot through her body. The tormentor asked the same question time and again, and it was never met with a different response.
What made it so much more troubling wasn't the fact she was being tortured, but who she was being tortured by.
Adora.
The Adora Catra considered to be her only friend, the same one she hated Glimmer over for losing in Salineas. The one Catra had fond memories of, not that she ever told Glimmer about them, like how sweet and kind she is. The one Catra relied upon throughout most of her life to keep her safe. She wasn't anywhere near friendship material, or if she does then it did kind of match Catra's own hardened personality, seeing how twisted Adora seemed to be, possibly due to all her time growing up in the Horde.
As for Adora herself, she was starting to lose her patience in every sense of the word. One question. She kept asking her one single question! And what did she have to show for it? Nothing. No matter how many times she asked, no matter how high she increased the voltage of these electrical shocks, she could never get a straight answer out of her.
It was actually surprising she was losing her patience as she did. She thought with her lack of emotions in her present state, seeing how she was wearing the headband, that she'd be immune to feeling any other emotions after her intense training regimen. Apparently, no matter how much she trained, it just went on to show that she could never fully be rid of her emotions, despite how hard she was trying to keep them suppressed.
She felt impatience, confusion, a tinge of worry, and most of all anger. She gave this evil princess who knew how many times to answer her one simple question and she was refusing to give it to her!
Didn't this princess feel any pain? Did she enjoy making Adora herself suffer? She took Catra away from her, brainwashed her, mind controlled her, whatever she did to take Catra away from her! She had plenty of other friends, sure, but none like Catra was. She was one of the very first friends she ever made, ever since she was little. She saw her as a sister, maybe something else, and she promised she would always be there for her when she needed it, and she knew Catra desperately needed it if she was fighting for the Rebellion of all people!
All she could process right now in her emotionally deprived state was a burning anger in her heart. "Geeehhhhhhhhhhhh!" Adora growled as she turned off the machine after long last.
"Aaaaugh-! Huff... Huff..." Glimmer panted heavily as she lowered her head, sniffling as the tears stung rolling down her eyes. "Please...ju... just stop...ehhheh..." She cried a little.
Still giving the princess the cold, scathing, look since she first laid eyes upon her, Adora walked her way over to the agonizing princess, pulling in the shadows from around her feet as she formed a giant clawed hand on her right arm. "Do you think I like this anymore than you do?!" She yelled. "All I want is to know how to free Catra from your spell!"
"T... There isn't anyyyy...egh..." Glimmer continued to cry, letting out a small hiccup.
How much resistance does this wicked princess even have?! Adora shouted in her mind. Without a care about the electrical energies keeping her contained, Adora grabbed Glimmer by the chin, forcefully lifting her head up as she glared into her eyes. "Tell me how to remove the spell RIGHT NOW!"
"THERE ISN'T ANY SPELLLLLL! Aghuh...tch...eheh..." Glimmer shouted, squeezing her eyes shut as she cried.
How resistant was this princess being?! Why was she so obsessed with keeping Catra on her side this badly?! Didn't she understand the minute she told her the truth Adora would stop torturing her? She'd be willing to let her walk away free at this rate if she could tell Adora how to save Catra! What was she doing instead?
Being persistent, that's what! Just look at her! She was acting like she was the victim of all of this, like Adora herself was the villain here! She was putting on the most pathetic display Adora had ever seen, trying to act like she was weak and helpless as she was as the tears flowed from her eyes! The way she stood held against the restraints in pain, the way she wept like this was torturing her, the way she... she was... crying... as Adora felt a small tear drip from Glimmer's face to Adora's shadowy fingertips...
The... the way she was... pretending to... She... how she was... acting... like this was actually hurting her... the... the way it reminded her of when...
Catra continued to cry to herself silently, digging her head back into her arms as she sobbed. The blond girl tilted her head as she watched her sniffle to herself. "Why are you crying?" She still didn't give an answer. All she did was try to wave her away, letting the other girl get a good look at her small claws. "Ooooh... those look sharp." She commented. "Are you the one who scratched Lonnie earlier?" As if to answer her question the girl's sobs grew louder and the sniffling doubled.
"Mmmmhmmmh..." She whimpered into her arms.
That... that wasn't any way to fake it... she's seen true sadness before. Real, legitimate, sadness. Her eyes wavered as her expression started to soften. Her hands began to tremble as she slowly pulled them in front of her face, looking at the way her fingers twitched before her very eyes.
"I... what..." For the first time since donning this headband after her training, she felt something. No matter how hard her training forced her to repress her emotions, she couldn't ignore the feelings that began to drown within her heart. "Wh-What... am I... What am I doing?"
What was she doing? How could she be doing it in the first place? She was a Force Captain for the mighty Horde, a fighting force that stood for Unity and peace across all of Etheria. They were supposed to be better than their enemies, not become them. Just because the evil princesses relied on underhanded tactics didn't mean they should force themselves to resort to them too.
Yet here she was, staring at her own two trembling hands as the shadows dissipated from her right hand, looking back to the state of the princess she just interrogated. This wasn't a creature of evil, this didn't look like anyone who would commit atrocities across the world for the sake of destruction.
This was a young woman, a child at that. A teenager who was the daughter of the leader of the Rebellion, Queen Angella. And despite her tears slowly beginning to dwindle, she was crying out in pain. A pain that Adora herself caused over the last two hours, all because she wanted a simple question to be answered.
What would that make them if they ended up being worse than the princesses?
She couldn't stand this immense feeling the headband was putting on her anymore. Without any hesitation, her hands shot up towards the headband itself, grumbling at the minor resistance it put up, and pulled it from her head. If she thought she was barely feeling anything before, the emotions coming to her now were all-consuming. Where a simple slice of confusion started from, she felt a giant pool of guilt washing over herself, the very same one she felt for what she had done to Catra the first time.
And now she was feeling it for her most hated of enemies.
"What... what am I doing..." She asked herself again, asking as if she herself would answer the question. Looking back to the princess she tortured, she couldn't understand. Why was she an evil princess in the first place? Why was she so obsessed with hating her? Why were her feelings drawing her to an unwanted conclusion that started to infect her mind. "Y... You... You really didn't cast anything on Catra, did you?"
"Th...That's what I've been saying." Glimmer sniffled, recovering her strength from the pain she's experienced so far at a snail's pace. After long last she felt as if she finally reached a breaking point with Catra's friend. "There isn't any spell on her, Adora. There never was! I meant every word I said about her joining us willingly."
"B-But..." It still didn't make the pain feel any better in her heart. "Then that would mean..."
"I know you don't want to think about it Adora, but it's the truth." Despite everything Adora had done to her, she could already feel the small bit of pain reeling in from Adora's eyes. "She's been working for us of her own free will, Adora. She always has."
...So... what? Was that it? Was she supposed to just accept that as an answer and move on? Was there anywhere else to move on to after this grand revelation? Did the tears starting to gather in Adora's eyes go on to say she believed her? That she had no other dilemmas or quarrels with the princess?
She still needed answers! Why did Catra want to leave the Horde then? What kind of desire did she have that was greater than her friendship with Adora? Come to think of it, what would she expect if Glimmer did tell her she was being brainwashed somehow? She came all the way up to this point, this big reveal, and now she doesn't even know how to respond! She just felt empty, like her heart was anchored down into a dark abyss.
She felt... pain. She felt nothing but pain right now. It would mean... it had to mean... Catra was a traitor... a traitor that would sell out her own family and friends, at the very least her allies. Most of all, it would mean she was willing to betray Adora herself of all people, and she continued to do so without question.
"...No... No, this has to be a mistake!" Adora shook her head in frustration. "There has to be a good reason for all of this!"
"Adora..." Glimmer muttered softly. She couldn't forgive her for what she did to Glimmer for the last half hour, but she could still see the pain growing in her eyes. She was unwilling to face the truth even when it was right in front of her.
She was living in pure denial.
"Maybe... Maybe there was a mix-up or something!" Adora paced back and forth as she tried to comprehend the situation. "Y-Yeah, I mean... maybe she's stuck, like... like she accidentally helped one of you guys and someone thought she was defecting!"
Yes, that had to be it! It made perfect sense! She went off into the woods, accidentally helped the Rebellion without meaning to, was spotted by another member of the Horde when doing it, and they thought she was defecting, so she stayed with the Rebellion for her own safety! Of course! Why didn't she think of this sooner-!
No... No wait, that wouldn't work. There would've had to be another member of the Horde out in the middle of the Whispering Woods the night she left her, and there were no other members of the Horde assigned to the place she went to. Adora made sure of it through the mission manifests.
Three times at that.
"Or... Or maybe... Maybe she caught amnesia!" Yes, that's it! It had to be right! She wasn't defecting intentionally! She must've suffered a severe head injury from when she fell out of the skiff! After all, she admitted she might have it too! And then she called Adora by her... name... "Nghhh!" Adora groaned squeezing her head, trying to make sense of this situation.
So there wasn't a spell over Catra? Fine. That still left Adora with the underlying problem of why she would work for the Rebellion, not to mention the fact she was working for the Rebellion at all! She had to have a logical explanation for all of this, something she could use to explain her actions and keep her friend from suffering any consequences or punishments! There had to be something in all of this confusion, there just had to-!
"Adora." Glimmer calmly called out, grabbing her attention. The look of pain on Adora's face was shared by the pink-haired princess, Glimmer recalling how her mother once was after finding out her father was killed in the war. There wasn't any happy way to announce such terrible news. The only thing the person could do was face the truth, no matter how painful it was to bare. "I'm sorry. There isn't anything wrong with her."
Short, simple, and to the point. This is what Adora needed to realize before she made a wreck of herself. If she couldn't get over this pain then-
*Raaaaaaaanoooooo-Raaaaanoooooo-!*
Both girls looked up to the ceiling as they heard the sounds of sirens going off, echoing all around them as some form event had occurred.
"What... What's going-"
"Adora." Turning towards the door, Adora saw her peer, Shadow Weaver, floating through the doorway, a look of anger seeping through her white eyes. "There's been a breach in the Prison sector. Hundreds of inmates are escaping as we speak." She pulled out the Sword of Protection from the twisted nether, pointing the hilt of the blade towards Adora herself. "Any idea who's responsible for this charade?" She asked knowingly.
Neither of them could believe it, and both would make the argument that they were in more disbelief. Adora was in disbelief that the friend she was trying to save came all the way back here to start a riot, no doubt risking her life to save this Princess for whatever reason. As for Glimmer, she couldn't believe that she, the one who seemed so spiteful of everything within the Horde, the one who refused to acknowledge or see the rest of them as friends, would come back just to save her.
Discouragingly enough, they both uttered the same words that brought bile to Shadow Weaver's throat.
"Catra!"
...
...
*wooooooo*
*wooooooo*
*wooooooo*
The sirens went off repeatedly as the large group of allies made their way through the corridors. Mermista, Perfuma, Sea Hawk, Entrapta, the robot Emily she reprogrammed, Bow, and last but not least Catra, were running for their lives as the various riots and prisoners ran through the hall, some several at a time, others by themselves, all running like rats through a maze as they tried to make their escape.
One that only Catra knew the quickest way out of.
So far, the rescue plan went off without a hitch. After infiltrating their way through the Horde complex, the group of friends, the word taking some getting used to for Catra, had finally made their way into the interior of the Prison block, one where numerous defectors, enemies, and insubordinate criminals were being held. Two particular criminals that the allies were trying to save were Bow and Glimmer, the first people Catra ever felt truly accepted by and acknowledge as friends.
Rescuing them from the prison itself proved to be a bit of a grueling task for the heroes as they came across Lonnie, Rogelio, and a handful of other guards that were patrolling the prison, possibly due to Adora's foresight that Catra's allies would try to rescue them ahead of time. What Catra first thought would be a smooth experience to get some payback against one of her top tormentors proved to be an entire endeavor in itself as she fought off Lonnie, all while the rest continued with their assigned mission fighting off the Horde.
Lonnie had one ace up her sleeve that left Catra powerless to stop her. It was a whistle, a specially designed whistle Lonnie had Adora get made for her if she ever came across the cat again. Every time she blew through it she felt her body go numb while listening to a paralyzing screeching sound, the whistle taking full advantage of Catra's extensive hearing capabilities. The screech itself was unbearable to the point where every time she heard it, Catra's body would cease to function, a numbness spreading through her body as her nerves were shot.
It was amazing what a good amount of science and technology could do for the Horde. Whenever Catra got to her feet to try to fight back, all Lonnie would have to do is blow the whistle, dropping her to the floor where she was too helpless to fight against Lonnie's kicks and strikes with the Stun Baton she had. It almost reached a dire end as Rogelio took temporary controls of the lifts and lowered it towards the fight the two were having, Lonnie taking pride at the situation as she pinned Catra's head right over the ledge, waiting for the lift to drop down and finish the job for her.
Catra had never found herself more thankful than she was now for Entrapta's quick rescue, prying the controls from Rogelio long enough to stop the lift over a foot away from Catra's head.
After an eventful struggle, Catra finally managed to gain the upper hand as the prison riots, caused by Mermista and Perfuma destroying the cells' generator, provided enough of a distraction for her to swipe the small whistle right off of Lonnie's neck, crushing it in her own hands with ease. There, Catra was relentless with her strikes against her former bully, leaving dozens of scars and bruises across her body by the time Bow had reached Catra after escaping from his own cell.
A part of her still wondered why she gave any bit of mercy to her former bully when she needed it most. Trying to place Lonnie's own game against her after all these years, she threw the girl into a cell right before the prison's backup generators kicked in, the barrier locking Lonnie right inside. Here, Catra decided to play a game of lock down with her, trapping Lonnie within a pitch black cell which Catra would've been more than happy to leave her after years picking on her.
At least, until she cried. This was her bully, the big, strong, tough girl that always picked on Catra, admitting to her fear, practically phobia, of the pitch darkness that the lock down would've left her in. She didn't care about Lonnie in the slightest, she would've been more than happy to keep her in the dark like her. And for some reason... she just couldn't.
She knew firsthand what it was like to be trapped in the lock down for over a day, growing a small fear of pitch black darkness herself. She found it all the more hilarious that Lonnie of all people had a dire fear of it, yet she didn't laugh. She didn't even smile for some reason. Despite her hate and contempt for the girl, she left the hatch open enough to give Lonnie some light, completely ignoring her thanks as she left her there, all by herself.
Regardless of her confusions, she still managed to save Bow, which was the good news of the present situation.
The bad news?
Glimmer wasn't anywhere near the cell blocks. She was being kept personally within Shadow Weaver's own private chambers, where Adora was supposedly torturing her.
The words "torture" and "Adora" never fit into the same sentence unless someone was personally torturing Adora, someone Catra would happily claw their eyes out for. How much had changed with her dear friend that she was resorting to torture at this point? How much had Shadow Weaver influenced her that Adora found it necessary to actually torture anyone at all?
Whatever the case, their newest priority was finding a way out of this place while also figuring out how to save Glimmer at the same time.
The prison riot, while effective, was proving to be less than useful in the long run. The prisoners, as expected, were doing their part by helping to take down the guards that swarmed the complex after the sirens went off from the generator being destroyed, but with everyone flailing about and making it every man for themselves, there was no amount of order or direction from the prisoners, the ones that were powerless to stop any of the droids that came across them, blasting them with enough electrical force to knock them out for days.
Many of the hallways were littered with one or two guards that were knocked out cold, at least one destroyed droid that someone must've ripped the legs right off of after seeing it impaled with it's own mechanical appendage. It felt like the closer they got to freedom the farther they got away from their chance to escape.
One that still had the pressing matter of Glimmer to contend with.
Noticing the shadows of various guards coming around the corner, her ears unable to pick up direct noise due to the sirens constantly blaring at her, Catra gestured everyone to follow her down the other path, barely avoiding the guards that checked the hallway or more prisoners. It was this little detour that proved to be fruitless, however, as they came upon a single hatch door at the end of the hallway, one Catra had no idea on how to open.
Taking a look at the control panel next to it, Entrapta smiled as she flipped slipped her mask back on, inserting one of the various wires to from the back of her headpiece into it as she began hacking into the system, her hair typing as fast as her tiny appendages could.
"Come on, how much longer?" Catra asked nervously, looking back and forth between her and the hallways.
"Ahhhhhh!" The rest of the group looked back to the hallway at the sound of the screams. On the other end, they watched as several of the prisoners ran for their lives through the hallways, escaping what sounded like the familiar clatter of droids and soldiers running through the halls.
"I just need a few more seconds!" Entrapta replied, never losing the ounce of brilliance or wonder she had since coming to this advanced landscape. As she said, with a few hundred more clicks she managed into input in just four seconds with eight strands of her hair, the hatch finally popped itself open for the small group, the chance of freedom within their grasp.
"The vent system will lead you guys back outside." Catra said as she ran down the hallways with the others. "We left a skiff a little ways away further out. Each of these rooms needs to be sealed and purged before you can enter the next one." She continued to add as she began working at the next console they came across. "The doors will only stay open for a few seconds, and you don't want to be stuck inside the previous room when it closes again, trust me."
"What happens if we are?" Perfuma asked nervously.
"Ever been roasted in an oven at five-thousand degrees? Something like that." Catra partially joked as the doors finally opened.
At long last, the final door to freedom actually opened before them! Wasting no time, everyone ran frantically through the door, prepared follow through each door as instructed, and bracing themselves for whatever else lied ahead of their path.
Once they made their escape from the Fright Zone they would have to regroup and prepare a new plan of attack to save Glimmer! No doubt the Horde would heighten their security to who knew how high after the Jailbreak Catra managed to come up with, and they still had to figure out how to get Catra's sword back from the Horde as well. It was a long shot but just about all of them were confident they could come up with something as long as they worked together again! After all with Catra by their side, they could easily come up with-
"Catra?" Bow called out as he noticed her missing from the group, which said a lot for the fast feline. Turning around, he saw Catra standing as she faced the door, a grim look on her face as her lowered her head a little, ears drooped and her tail not twitching as Bow looked back to her. "Catra? What are you doing? Let's go!" She really hated what she was about to do.
She infiltrated the Horde complex, managed to rescue one of her friends, and was not even a mile away from her chance at freedom. For a defector to pull this off, to come so far and finally see a goal at the end of the tunnel, was something Catra never thought anybody would be capable of, especially herself. If she left now she could look back on this day and feel proud of herself for how she managed to pull something this grand of a scale off with her own two claws.
And all the guilt she would feel for the rest of her life for leaving one of her friends behind.
"We can't leave without Glinmer," she stated, "and we're not going to get another chance like this."
"W-What are you talking about?" A feeling started to rise in his gut, something he knew he was going to regret. "Catra, we'll come back! We'll have a bigger group, we'll make a new plan, we won't leave her behind!"
"Yeah, we won't." With as much confidence as she could feel in her present situation she finally turned her back to him, stretching out her claws as she stood near the control panel. "Thanks... Bow..."
"Catra, no-!"
*swiff*
*creeesh*
All it took was one swipe. One good, solitary, strike to destroy the door's control panel and to shut the door behind her that could've lead to her escape.
...
"Catra! Catra, open up!" Bow wasn't given a chance to reach her by the time the doors closed, shouting her name as he pounded on the door. "Catra, we can still get out, we-!"
"Bow..." Perfuma called, reaching a hand for him to take.
It pained him to know the truth. It hurt to realize he couldn't stay in this place if he wanted to, not without risking everyone else's lives who would try to drag him through the doors. He needed to run in order to have another chance to save Catra and Glimmer if the two ended up captured, and to save the others who wouldn't leave his side if he remained behind closed doors.
With a heavy heart, and a pained look in his eyes, he took Perfuma's hand. letting the Princess pull him through the door just before it closed behind him, purging anything that was unfortunate enough to stay trapped within the room.
...
It brought a strange sense of comfort to Catra as Bow briefly pounded on the door and called out her name. If she was unsure about Bow and Glimmer caring for her then this was the way to prove it- by shouting out her name in worry and practically begging her to come with them. It brought something close to a genuine smile to her face, for the first time in forever.
A smile that didn't last any longer than a moment as she turned back towards the hallway. There, brought in by the sounds of the prisoners running through the halls, was the Horde. At least twenty different guards and soldiers, at least half a dozen droids pushing their way through the crowd as they all targeted her, scanning her for aggressiveness and threat levels.
With a deep breath, exhaling calmly, Catra retracted her claws, raising them to the air for the first time in a manner she had never done before. "I surrender."
The guards all stared at her, hiding whatever faces they might've held. Were any of them surprised to see the magicat surrendering, the one what was always aggressive around here and never backed down? Or were any of them confused by the strange behavior she was displaying, feeling defensive at the possibility that this was a trap of hers?
It didn't make any difference from the looks of it. With one of the guards inputting a command to the personal data pad on his wrist, Catra began to watch in horror as the droids in front of her started to charge. The red coloring coming from their cores gave her a strong impression that these people weren't willing to take her alive, not with the massive bounty she has on her head.
"I-I said I surrender!" Catra repeated as she backed up to the wall. None of the guards seemed to listen or care as the magicat seemed to cower before them, to Catra's dismay. With a bounty like hers, they could all be set for life even if they split the reward between the twenty of them. Taking initiative of the situation, half the guards began to draw out their stun batons, ready to deal with her if she tried to fight her way passed them.
They had no understanding that it would matter if she even tried. She was stuck within the Horde complex now with hundreds of guards and droids currently rounding up any of the prisoners that failed to escape in time, some of them planning to use excessive force just for the fun of it. With this train of thought, none of the other guards cared enough if Catra was surrendering or not, all of them having the same thought on their minds as Catra closed her eyes.
How much they wanted that reward.
"STOP!" A shout called out from behind the group, one that immediately called off the droids as their blasters powered down. Any of the guards foolish enough to draw their batons immediately stashed them away again, not wanting to contend with the wrath of a certain Force Captain, or the master that always treasured her so dearly.
Sure enough, with her timing never being as grand as it was now, Catra silently gasped. There was Adora, her best friend and enemy, pushing her way through the crowd with a stern expression on her face.
"Adora..." Catra muttered, still amazed at the timing. She wanted to know what was going on through that angry look in her eyes. What was her mind screaming at her at this moment? She wasn't surprised that Adora was possibly angry with her, seeing how she came all this way and started a prison break of all things, but there was a strange newfound hatred currently settled within her eyes, one that didn't disappear after she stood right in front of her.
Blinking to herself, shifting her eyes from side to side for a few seconds of awkwardness, she finally stared into Adora's eyes again to speak. "Adora-"
*Bzzzzzzzzzzzt!*
"Ahhhhh-! Ungh..." Catra was too distracted in her current state to notice the small baton Adora had clutched in her hands, how she turned it on as she approached Catra, and jabbed her in the gut with it to knock her out cold. Losing nearly all feeling of self, consciousness right at the edge of loss, she felt herself slump forward, Adora catching her as she fell onto her, and patted her head softly as she rested her head on Adora's left shoulder.
She finally captured her friend.
...
...
*shoom*
Slowly regaining more of her consciousness as the door opened in front of her, Catra let out a small gasp as she saw her other friend within the room.
"Pinky!" She yelled, still calling her by her nickname. The girl herself seemed to be in a horrible state of exhaustion, noticing a few scrapes here and there and the look of someone who just ran a hundred miles against their will. At least she was alive, which was one of the more pressing concerns Catra had during her entire plan to get here. It would've been rather troubling if it turned out Glimmer was either dead or somewhere else and Catra allowed herself to get caught for nothing.
Being pushed into the room by the two guards who held her in place as Adora followed them, Catra could feel the chill in the air creeping upon her. So many memories, all of them between horrible and unhappy, and never positive, this was definitely Shadow Weaver's private chambers, the last place Catra would ever want to find herself.
She kept her attention solely on her tortured friend, paying little mind to the guards as they placed her to a metallic table. The very instant the guards let go several large metallic straps tightened around her, pinning her chest, her wrists, hands, feet, and her ankles, refusing to give the girl a single nudge of space or mobility. It would've been more than easy enough for her to cut through any of these restraints after a short while, and Shadow Weaver wasn't going to give her that opportunity.
Watching the look of concern in Catra's eyes continued to disgust Adora in more ways than one. Why did she care so much for this evil princess? What made her so important that Catra would risk coming all the way back for her in an attempt to save her?
Most importantly, was she under her control or not? That was the one question Adora started to doubt through the last half hour.
"Leave us." Shadow Weaver instructed as she approached Adora from behind. With a salute, the guards who brought her here made their way out the door, sealing it off tightly behind them. Waiting for them to leave, Shadow Weaver made her way towards the ensnared creature, cupping her chin in the palm of her hand as she examined her. "Hmm... whoever would've thought you'd make your way all the way back here..." She muttered quietly for the two of them. "Adora, I need you to leave the room as well."
"W-What?" Adora questioned, rather surprised by the instruction.
"I need full concentration if I'm to properly remove the spell from Catra's mind, the slightest mistake could leave her in a vegetative state, forever." She explained.
"Spell? There's not any stupid spe-mmh!" Catra tried to argue, only for Shadow Weaver to clamp her hand around her mouth to prevent her from talking. No amount of struggling could loosen the grip over her mouth, Shadow Weaver refusing to let Catra spill a single word off from her tongue.
"The spell..." Adora turned over to the other princess in the room, the one who was weakly regaining consciousness as she moaned. "...S-Shadow Weaver, what if she's not being controlled?"
"...What?" There was no way Shadow Weaver heard that correctly.
"I mean... what if she actually is aware of everything? What if there's no control over her like you thought?"
Adora did not just question her on this.
Her. Adora. Actually questioned Shadow Weaver's own judgement and words for the first time since her childhood. "...Adora, dear, you mustn't let Catra's poisoned mind confuse you." Shadow Weaver replied softly with a comforting look. "The longer we continue to allow this, the more convinced she'll be that she is doing this because she wants to."
"B-But she didn't tell me this time!" Adora retorted, looking back to Glimmer as she slowly came to. "I mean, even after everything I did to Glimmer, she still insists that-"
"The princess?" Shadow Weaver's eyes instantly narrowed at that. "Are you saying you trust these princesses, those vile creatures, over me?"
Is... Is that what she was saying? Was she, a proud and noble Force Captain of the Horde, actually questioning her own superiors? "N... No... I... I mean if we just stopped to think about it for a moment, maybe-
"ENOUGH!" Adora physically jumped in fear at the tremendous bout of anger Shadow Weaver unleashed. For the first time, no matter how much she wished to believe otherwise, Shadow Weaver unleashed a bout of anger towards her. It was around the same time Glimmer finally came to fully, gasping in shock as she saw Catra strapped to the other table, unable to get a word out as Shadow Weaver continued to keep her mouth shut. "This is precisely what I'm talking about, Adora." Shadow Weaver struggled to maintain her kind persona while arguing with the the frustration at the same time. "I can't have you distracting me while I preform my spell-"
"Don't listen to her, Adora!" Glimmer yelled over, catching all three of them by surprise that she was awake. "It's a tri-" All physical emotion she could feel was drained from the girl as her body started to give off a small red-colored aura. Using her own magic, Shadow Weaver shot her darkness straight towards the girl, keeping her mouth firmly shut no matter how much she squirmed around her own chin.
"I already have one distraction to deal with, as you can see." Shadow Weaver continued. "If you want me to save your friend, dear, then I need complete and total concentration. Now, please, leave."
Even with the orders ringing through her head, she still couldn't bring herself to fully accept this with a clear conscious. "B-But-"
"LEEEEAVE!" Shadow Weaver roared monstrously, consuming the area around Adora with darkness. This, was official. This was the very first time Shadow Weaver had ever erupted into such a rage-filled spite towards Adora herself. The one she always treasured, the one who gave Adora the kindness that she failed to give on to others, the one who was practically like a mother to Adora, had officially talked her down, almost threatened her, to leave.
Heart racing out of fear and concern, she gave her possibly-brainwashed friend and Glimmer one last look. Everything about this was starting to lack a form of sense to her, nothing coming together as it should be. After all the wait, pain, struggle Adora went through to finally get her friend back, why was it at the very last minute she found herself starting to question everything, right when she could save Catra at this very moment?
With nothing more than a single tear forming in her eye, Adora lowered her head as she walked out of the room, unable to give another look to either of the two trapped girls she left behind.
One thing came to Adora's mind as she heard the door slamming behind her. All of this started with that sword, the one sword that started all of this mess. If the sword is what caused Catra to leave her side and start this insane adventure from the very beginning, then perhaps, just maybe... it could give Adora the answer she needed to finally sort this thing out once and for all.
...
Watching the door close behind her, Shadow Weaver sighed as she released her grip on both girls, magically and physically. "Now look what you made me..."
*whap!*
"Ah!" Catra yelped as Shadow Weaver backhanded her across the face.
"Adora thinks I'm mad at her now... all because of you." The dark witch began to circle around her, showing off whatever threatening darkness came to mind in the palm of her hand. "You have no idea how long I waited anxiously for your return, Catra. I'm actually very pleased by this turnout, believe it or not."
"Tch, and it took you like, what? Several months to catch one girl? Here I thought the Rebellion was rusty, but jeez, do you take forever." Catra relied with a snide grin. "Heck, you couldn't even catch me yourself! I had to walk right in myself just for you to catch me! How stupid is that?" As Shadow Weaver thought, the girl didn't have an ounce of fear of her anymore, not like she used to when Adora wasn't present in the same room with her. Glaring back, she made her way up to the Black Garnet as she brushed her hand against it in awe.
"Huff... You always did have a sharp tongue, if nothing else." She commented, seeing her reflection in the Black Garnet.
Giving a quick shot at the other princess in the room, Catra continued to glare. "So, what's up with Pinky over there? You going to let her go already or what?"
"...Come again?" That may have been the first thing she heard Catra spew from her mouth that intrigued her.
"I asked if you're going to let her go already." Catra grumbled. "You already got me, you got the sword, so just send her back home to mommy or whatever, I don't care."
"Catra, don't-" Glimmer tried to protest worriedly.
"Oh, shut UP, Pinky!" Catra yelled rolling her eyes. "Seriously, you are SO annoying!"
"C-Catra?" What was she yelling about now? Why did it hurt hearing everything she was saying?
"You think I came back for you willingly, you idiot?" It didn't matter to her if she could see Catra's rage from where she was placed, standing against the slab of metal as she struggled to get a single claw to twitch. "I came here because your stupid mother kicked me out! You think the immortal hag was happy that I lost your pudgy body at the prom? She threatened to have my head cut off if I didn't come rescue you, and now here I am trapped because of you! You can never stop being a pain, can you?!"
"C-Catra..." It would be a lie to say this didn't bring tears to her eyes.
"Honestly, Shadow Weaver would be doing me a favor if she got rid of you." She continued to insult. "At least back in the Horde I didn't have to deal with your whiny voice constantly! It's always "ooh, Catra, let's be friends", "hey Catra, let's do this together", it never ended with you! In the Horde people were at least decent enough to leave me alone for the rest of the day after insulting me. They didn't follow me and pester me around about everything!"
"C-Catra, I..." Glimmer struggled to speak as her voice shook. "I didn't mean to-"
"Seriously, if I'm about to die because of you, the least you could do for me is learn how to shut up until it's over!"
Every bit of word she said was true, and Catra had every reason to hate her for all her screw ups.
Every time she tried to get on Catra's good side, any at that, she messed up. Whenever she thought she knew one thing about her, she knew the exact opposite in reality. No matter how many times Catra pestered her to stop bugging her with these talks about being "friends", Glimmer continued to insist.
The prom itself was a prime example of everything she's done to anger Catra! Not once but twice, twice for crying out loud, Catra tried to help her! And how did Glimmer respond those times? By continuing to whine like a spoiled brat Catra accused her of being the same night, one who couldn't accept things as they were for whatever matter.
She was truly horrible, in every sense of the word! It was no wonder she didn't want to be friends with someone like Glimmer, how could she after the way she's been acting till now!
"I'm..." Glimmer didn't know what to think anymore, lowering her head down as she sniffled. Maybe what she's been through since coming here was what she deserved? Perhaps a fitting punishment for her own selfishness and greed was being a prisoner here forever? She couldn't feel anything other than utter sadness, everything within these halls brimming with despair. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, C-Catra..."
There.
There was Catra's biggest mistake.
She thought Shadow Weaver wouldn't have noticed, not with her eyes seemingly glued to the Black Garnet itself, or Glimmer who was trapped on the other side of the room, only capable of seeing the back of the slab Catra was tied against from her viewpoint. For a full second, barely enough time to blink, she saw Catra's face twitch. She twitched with a pang of remorse and regret on the corner of her eyes and the partial drop of her ears before reverting to the angry beast everybody knew Catra to be.
All of it, clear as day, for woman who had an easy view of the two from the reflection off the Black Garnet.
"...Heh...Eh heh heh...Ahahahahaahaha!" Shadow Weaver suddenly burst with laughter, covering her eyes as she rolled her head back in pure delight. "Oh, this is such precious, adorable really!"
"W-What...?" Glimmer stuttered as her voice wavered from sadness.
"I truly can not believe what I am seeing here. It's quite a marvel, if I do say so myself." Shadow Weaver chuckled as she made her way back to Catra. "Do you actually care for this pathetic princess, Catra?"
"Wh- What? Don't be ridiculous!" Catra would've shot herself in the foot if she could at that, realizing her mistake as her voice cracked, and praying Shadow Weaver didn't pick up on it. "I could care less about the pink idiot!"
"Oh, really?" The way Shadow Weaver spoke with curiosity as she neared Catra's ears started to send panic towards Catra's heart, doing her best to maintain her demeanor. "Then you don't mind if I do away with her right now then?" At the proposal, she drew her hands in front of Catra's face, showing off the dreaded red lightning that Catra had come to know.
"Why would you bother wasting your breath on that loser?" Catra spat, trying to maintain her expression. "She's a waste of time for you and the Horde, and you know it!
"Then you have no problems if I destroy her right now, do you?" With that, Shadow Weaver turned her back to the girl as she floated passed her. Drawing toward the defenseless princess who tried to pull at her restraints, Glimmer began tremble with fear as she watched the dark witch drawing nearer, generating a vast amount of lightning within the palm of her hands with every step she drew nearer.
She tried to teleport again to no avail. The moment she gathered a storage of her energy she quickly felt it being ripped away from her soon after, the Black Garnet's hold on her overpowering her. She had no means to pry herself from the enchanted bindings either. If the magic itself wasn't keeping her in place, the restraints over her wrists definitely did.
She had no means to defend herself like this, no reason to hope. All she could do was close her eyes and wait for the inevitable-
"STOP!" Catra shouted. The very moment she uttered her first letter, the lightning gathered around Shadow Weaver's hands disappeared. When Glimmer opened her eyes again she was met with a sneering Shadow Weaver, one who casually floated backwards until she saw the Catra's face again.
There was so much beauty she saw at this moment, so much joy to be had at the face Catra was pulling. She didn't smile, she didn't frown. All she did was keep her head lowered, refusing to let Shadow Weaver see her tormented expression.
And that was more than satisfying for her.
"Just stop... please..." Catra muttered. Shadow Weaver wasn't the only one finding herself in disbelief.
There was Glimmer, the emotionally fragile girl at this time, who heard Catra actually beg for someone else for the first time in her life. She begged one single word in an attempt to possibly save someone else, and it was for her of all people. She actually did care about Glimmer like Shadow Weaver thought.
"Ahhhahahaha! Oh, I thought I'd never see the day! I might actually start to cry at out beautiful this this!" Shadow Weaver taunted, forcing Catra's chin up with her own hands as the girl grimaced. "You actually made yourself a friend! Someone other than Adora, and an enemy at that! I wish I could record this moment forever-"
"Just shut up." Catra ordered bluntly. "You already got me and the sword, you don't need her anymore so just let her go already." Catra didn't care anymore. She was about to die and that would be the end of her life. The least Shadow Weaver could do was refrain from drawing it out. "Just finish me off and get this over with."
"Finish you off?" She repeated. As if what she said at first wasn't hilarious enough, the next thing she sputtered did. "Oh, Catra, Catra," she taunted patting her head, "why would I ever want to do that?"
Catra didn't know if she should be concerned for the first time at good news or anxious about it. If it was coming from someone like Shadow Weaver, most likely the latter. "Because that's... what you've been trying to do the entire time... isn't it?"
"Oh, Catra... " The girl attempted to bite her as she pinched her cheeks. "You think far too simply." At this, she began to siphon a direct channel of the Black Garnet's energy into her hands, creating a red beam of force in the process. "Haven't you ever once thought of why I bothered to put a bounty on your head, Dead or Alive?"
"That was... one of the things I was curious about until now..." She muttered back.
Drawing the rest of the energy she needed for her power, she went on. "Because of my dear Adora, of course. She's so attached to you and everything you do that, eventually, I decided to make this more interesting for the both of us."
"I-Interesting?" Now she was starting to get a little worried, for the first time since losing her fear of the wicked witch. "What are you going to do to me if you don't plan on getting rid of me?"
"Why, fix you, like I've always said." Without warning, she grabbed Catra by the throat, crushing it enough in her grip to let her breathe, but making it painful for the experience. "I'm going to shatter that feeble mind of yours until you're nothing but an obedient little doll to me." Yes, there it was! That elegant twinge of fear growing beyond Catra's eyes! "I'm going to crush your grip on reality enough so that you never disobey your superiors again! You'll simply walk, talk, and do as you're instructed as for the rest of your years, without a single smile or frown on your face, like a simple, little, doll."
Catra grumbled as she tried to bite at her hands again as she tapped her on the nose. "That's insane! Adora would never let you get away with-"
"Oh, Adora," Shadow Weaver interrupted, putting on a pitiful display of regret as she clenched her chest where her heart should be, "I tried so hard, but the Princess's wicked magic was just too strong, and their spell destroyed every bit of her mind in the process! Please, forgive meeee!" Catra couldn't believe what she was hearing. She actually thought out every detail to the very end! Even if it meant adding further torment and misery to Adora's own life, as long as Catra was the ultimate victim here, Shadow Weaver would happily allow it.
"Oh, and trust me Catra, I'm sure she'll be angry for awhile. She might avoid me for a few weeks, go a year without smiling at me. But eventually, like all good children, she'll start warming up to me again, fueled by the rage inside her, burning for vengeance against the evil creatures of Etheria who destroyed the Catra she knew!"
Leaning in again as she brought her face an inch away from Catra's nose, she finished. "And do you want to know the best part? When I'm done with it, you'll still be in there. You will be nothing more than a prisoner within your own mind, watching helplessly from the window that is your eyes, at everything you do."
"Geh..." Catra growled, attempting to lunge at her forgetting the restraints that held her back. She would allow her to manipulate herself, make her look like an idiot as much as she wanted to if it meant succeeding in her missions, but she would NEVER allow her to manipulate Adora's heart like that! "You went all this way for some crummy plan like that? Why don't you try and earn it and we'll settle it right here, you ugly freak!" The room went silent between the two as she said this. Of all the people in the world, Catra remembers the fateful day she laid eyes on Shadow Weaver's face.
And the disgusting horror that lied behind the mask.
"Oh, Catra..." With her arms raised to her side, she floated another foot off the ground as her magic pooled together. "I'm almost going to think about missing you."
*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT-!*
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Catra screamed bloody murder at the endless rain of torture that was directed straight at her head.
All around her, squeezing her eyes shut in pain, was an endless torrent of pain and agony. From the tips of all of her fingers, enshrouding the girl in pure and eternal darkness in turn, an endless stream of her magic shot forth, the witch directing her magic straight to Catra's skull, making sure it was as painful as possible as she used every ounce of her power.
This was a pain unlike anything Catra ever felt before. All around her, even though it was directed at her head, she felt a terrible agony passing through her constantly. It felt like her skin was being ripped apart and stitched back together from the inside out. It felt like her body was being burned alive in a fire and she was being doused with a pot of boiling hot water to put it out! Nothing in the world ever compared to the pain she was feeling at this very moment, the blisters she could feel peeling back at the ends of her mind as she tried to resist what little of the magic she could.
"Catraaaaa!" At the same time, Glimmer watched on in horror from where she was, unable to turn her eyes away at the pain that Catra was screaming throughout the room. The pain of it didn't sound like anything Adora put Glimmer through herself. By the sounds of it alone, whatever Glimmer went through was clearly a godsend in comparison to whatever pain Catra was being inflicted with. It almost felt like Adora was giving her mercy, Catra screamed so madly.
She couldn't allow this. Catra came all the way to save her, acknowledged that she actually cared about Glimmer and most likely Bow, and now she was suffering the consequences of it. She was trying to do the righteous thing for one of the few times in her life since Glimmer met her, and she was paying the price.
She refused to accept this!
Grumbling to herself, Glimmer began to harness any magic that still remained within her body, groaning at the mere fraction of pain the red lightning inflicted her with compared to Catra's own. She couldn't allow her to suffer like this, she didn't deserve this! Every attempt she tried to pull herself out of the binding through her magic brought her a rake of pain she could feel scraping against her innards. She didn't care if she died trying at this point, she couldn't do nothing for crying out loud!
"Come ooooon!" Glimmer shouted to herself as more of her magic materialized around her. With one attempt, the Black Garnet's energy pulled her back. With a second attempt, she managed to morph her body partway through her teleportation, only to end in failure as she was brought back into the confines of her holding again. Every attempt she tried ended in failure, every push she shoved with her magic was all for naught.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-!"
And she couldn't give up!
With a deep final breath, she pushed. She didn't care what would happen, she didn't care if this ended up ripping her body in half! All she cared about was saving Catra in this one moment she needed her most!
With every ounce of magic she could gather, every breath she could save for herself, Glimmer shouted, channeling the magic she had with everything she had, ignoring as her own body distorted in the process, until the impossible happened. With her magic in hand, she finally pulled herself out of the red restraints as she finally teleported, resulting in a small explosion of dark energy from where she once was.
As for Shadow Weaver, this was it! She could feel the last bits of resistance of Catra's mind fading, finding it rather amusing how much tolerance she had to this pain to begin with. She would commend the girl for her valiant effort, however pointless it was, by the end of all this. When the last of her resistance faded, she would give one grand shove of Catra's consciousness into the dark recesses of her mind, trapping her there for the rest of her days!
*FWOOM!*
"What-?" In a large explosion of light, Shadow Weaver turned back as she saw a miraculous burst of light grow behind her, the witch unable to stop the magic as the power continued to surge through her fingers. Appearing from the grand ball of light herself, she watched helplessly as the Princess of Bright Moon burst forth, pulling back her enchanted fist with all her might for one final strike.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
*CRASH!*
And it was that one single strike that was needed to stop the evil sorcerer of darkness. With a solid blow straight across her masked-face, Glimmer struck her with everything she had, slamming her straight to the ground with a thunderous crash, knocking the witch out of her own state of consciousness in the process, and dismantling all the darkness and power she had gathered around Catra, snuffing it out for good as he collapsed.
Glimmer panted heavily, never feeling as exhausted as she had at this point, and never feeling as good as she did now because of it. She saved her friend when she needed it most, and she proved her friendship to Catra at long last.
"Catra!" Barely paying a wink to the downed witch, Glimmer quickly ran towards her distressed friend, the one who seemed to be out cold as well. She wasted no time removing the restraints from her one after the other, fretting endlessly at the possibility she was too late. It was with the small tremble quiver in Catra's eyes that she realized she was awake, watching worriedly as she opened her blue and yellow eyes weakly. "Are you okay? Do you know who I am?"
"...Who... Who are you...?" Catra muttered in confusion, feebly pointing at her.
"No..." Glimmer's eyes started to water as she covered her mouth. She was too late... she failed... Catra needed her most in this one moment of distress, and even after all the positive thoughts, all the hope that she could muster in this bleak situation, she couldn't save her friend completely from Shadow Weaver's magic! Catra was... was gone... "C-Catra..." Glimmer whimpered, It would be the first of many tears she would shed for the rest of her life, living with the knowing-regret that she failed to save her-
"Pffft! Tch ahahaha!" Catra bellowed out with laughter. "Oh man, you should've seen your face, Pinky! You were like "oh no, I'm too late," hahahaha-!"
"Oh thank gosh!" Glimmer instantly cried, hugging herself into Catra's stomach as she cried heavily. Catra let out a small cry as Glimmer threw her arms around her torso as she sobbed into her chest.
"Ack-!" She yelped. "Hey, easy, easy! I'm pretty sore you know!" She grumbled a little, giving an irritated look at the girl. "...Pinky?" Catra questioned again, noticing as she continued to cry loudly. For one of the few times of Catra's life, she felt an actual sense of guilt for what was, in fairness, a pretty cruel prank. Her ears drooped around her as she scratched the back of her head, feeling awkward for one of the few times in her life. "H-Hey, Pin... Glimmer, hey, come on, it was... it was just a joke..."
It did nothing to soothe the tears draining from Glimmer's eyes. Even as she looked up towards her good friend with tears in her eyes, she couldn't get a single word out as she continued to sniffle, feeling overjoyed for the first time to be at the butt of one of Catra's jokes, and drowning with the continued sadness that she almost lost her dear friend.
Seeing how the princess was truly remorseful, the very person she never wanted anything to do with since first meeting her, she did the one thing she had never done before.
She threw an arm around her warmly in a small hug, trying to give her a soft smile as Glimmer tried to dry off the tears. "H-Hey, I'm... I'm sorry, okay? Now come on, you're embarrassing me." She chuckled a little. "I'm the one who's supposed to be saving you, remember?"
"Hmph..." Glimmer smiled in reply, wiping her own tears a little as she helped Catra from the metallic slab. "Y-Yeah... heh... sorry for ruining your moment." She lightly joked. Turning to the door, she gave an knowing nod to her certified friend, holding her own side with one arm as she walked to the door. "Now come on... we need to get out of her asap..."
"Yeah, yeah, sure..." Catra replied, turning her peaceful gaze from the limping princess to a downed witch who she gazed with fury. "Just.. give me one second." She didn't bat an eyelash or hesitate as she hopped off the foot of the metallic slab, making her way over to the terror of darkness as she stretched her claws out.
Opening the door, Glimmer looked back with panic in her eyes, seeing Catra lifting their tormentor by the scruff of her neck, pulling back her sharpened claws ready to strike. "W-What are you doing?!"
"What do you think I'm doing?!" Catra hissed back, continuing to glare at the mask of her most hated enemy.
"I'm going to kill her!"
...
...
...
A/N: You know the hard part about making a legitimate evil plan for a villain? Loop holes/critics. I don't mean like "Nerrrr that's so dumb! hashtag you suck at writing!" types (though those are still annoying), I mean like Cinema Sins pointing out the flaws of logic and whatnot in a story XP
People think writing a creative piece is easier said than done (not that I can speak for myself), but it's actually easy to miss a flow of logic when you write as much as I do, so it's common for something not to make sense in a grand plot line. At that, i question how many people will possibly, if any, find an issue with Shadow Weaver's "grand scheme" up above XP? Personally I think it's good, but chances are one or two things didn't make sense (aside from Shadow Weaver's magic not being able to affect catra's mind like I was told in the past, which I do question since it's unknown if that's for memories only or includes consciousness...)
Either way, had a lot of fun! Hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!