A/N: ... for those of you with weak constitutions to feels, I urge you...
Turn away.
...
...
...
"We're almost there!" Sea Hawk announced as the final corridor opened.
They made it! It was the first thing on everyone's mind as they raced through the last doorway!
There were many touch-and-go situations since this mission began. From getting spotted by Scorpia at the start of the mission, Entrapta's curiosity getting her lost and confused at least three separate times throughout the complex, Lonnie and the rest of her goons coming across Catra and her friends within the prison block, finding out Glimmer was somewhere else entirely, and, finally, Catra sacrificing herself to go find Glimmer, even if it meant surrendering to the guards so they would bring her to them.
If anyone said at the start of this mission that they were one-hundred percent confident that things would go off without a hitch, you would know someone was lying. This is where they've been for the last several hours. This is the nightmare they willingly walked into after Bow and Glimmer were captured at the night's end of the Princess Prom, and this was them finally running free from said nightmare as they were about to wake up to a wonderful conclusion for their day.
It didn't mean they would be leaving the moment they boarded the skiff or anything. There was still Catra who they had to wait for, on the chance she actually managed to get Glimmer back and were currently escaping with their lives through the complex. But with time of the essence they needed to get the skiff up and running on standby, to make sure they were prepared for when they eventually saw them running out of the place.
Provided they managed to at all at this rate.
"The skiff's a short run from here!" Sea Hawk added, being the last one with Catra to drive the skiff before the start of the mission. "Just a little further!"
*chink*
*chink*
"Huh?" Entrapta turned back as she noticed one of their friends missing from the group. It wasn't any particular friend of theirs that was missing, it was actually one Entrapta had made herself halfway through the mission.
Literally.
Turning around she let out a gasp as she saw Emily again, the robotic ally she reprogrammed after everyone made their way through the entrance. The poor bot was stuck as the last of it's capables were jammed into the port on the side of the corridor the group escaped from, struggling as it mechanical gears whirred in order to escape.
"Wait. Emily!" Entrapta cried out, making a full U-Turn as she rushed right back into the corridor to save her trapped friend. The girl was so preoccupied about rescuing her comrade that she had forgotten the one warning Catra had given her as she reached Emily's side, and was about to become the victim of it.
"Huh! Entrapta, no!" Perfuma shouted in terror as the rest of the group turned around. The last thing they got to see was a confused Entrapta turning back to them before the doorway to the vents closed off completely, giving off a small blast of greenish flame before the last of the shutters had finally sealed completely.
None of them could believe what they had witnessed, half of them staring in complete shock at whether they were just hallucinating at that moment. Nothing they could tell one another would convince themselves otherwise, no words could be said to comfort any of the distraught friends.
Everyone had witnessed, first hand, what it truly felt like to lose a friend for the first time in years. The great, dear, friend they knew since first meeting her, the person that had her own funny quirks to her, was no more.
The Princess of Dryl, Entrapta, was no more.
...
...
"W-What do you mean you're going to kill her?" Glimmer nearly choked to say, still trying to recover from her injuries.
"What do you think I meant? I'm going to tear out her throat and watch her bleed to death!" Catra growled, huffing at the chest.
This was it. This moment, right here, was the greatest reward Catra could ever ask for after all of her years of pain and torment.
She didn't dislike Shadow Weaver, she didn't hate her. She LOATHED Shadow Weaver and everything she represented.
Ever since Catra was a child, practically from the day that she learned to walk, Shadow Weaver had always been a pain at her side. From petty insults to downright physical abuse, the shadowy witch was a monster to no end. She did everything in her power to make sure Catra regretted her existence, and almost every other day of Catra's life, she did.
Growing up she could never figure out why she hated her so dearly. Did she do something to offend her when she was little? Did she just not have Shadow Weaver's respect after all of her own personal struggles, after all the hard work and effort she put into her training to impress her? It took what felt like forever for the young magicat to get an understanding, but eventually, she realized the darkest truth Shadow Weaver had to offer.
There was no reason.
She simply hated Catra. End of discussion. It was the one conclusion Catra could come up with after so many years of hate and abuse. She didn't bother trying to warm up to her anymore during her early teens, she didn't try to impress her anymore to get a small prick of respect from her. Why should she when Shadow Weaver was barely aware of her existence? Why bother wasting her time trying to gain any sort of attention she had to offer? All she gave Catra was neglect and scorn, something she got enough of from the rest of her allies.
And, especially now of all times, she finally had revenge in her grasp. The person who made her life a living nightmare since day one, the person who put Catra through incredible pain seconds ago in an attempt to destroy Catra's sense of self, to trap her within her own body until the day she died. There was no mercy Catra had anymore for someone as wretched and vile as this woman. Shadow Weaver had to die.
She deserved to die!
"Catra, don- Ngghh!" Glimmer groaned as she leaned against the doorway, holding her right side. The amount of energy she spent trying to break out of her confines, every bit of strength that was drained from her during Adora's torture, it was all amounting to the state she was in now. She didn't know if she could teleport in time to stop Catra or if that would make Catra jump the gun and slash Shadow Weaver's throat immediately. All she knew was that this was wrong. "Y-You can't..." She struggled to say.
"Of course I can! Watch me!" Catra yelled back, pulling back her clawed hand as she prepared to strike. She was going to go as long as she possibly could without washing her hand after this. She wanted to keep Shadow Weaver's scent on the tip of her claws for as long as possible, to savor her trophy every day of her life.
"No, I mean- mmhh... I mean you shouldn't!" Glimer clarified as she leaned a little further against the doorway.
"What are you talking about? Of course I should!" She seethed with anger as she looked at the unconscious witch. "After everything she's done to everybody? Everything she's done to me?! She deserves to die, she needs to die!"
"Even if she did, it doesn't mean you should though! What would you have to gain by killing her?"
"Uhh hello? Happiness? Payback?" Thinking about it alone brought a malicious grin to herself. "What else is there to lose?"
"But what would be the point? Agh..." At the sound of the recent thud, Catra shot a look back to her fallen friend. The Princess appeared to be wracked with pain as she collapsed to her knees, keeping her hands against the walls in order to pull herself back to her feet on a moment's notice. "You kill her. Fine. Then what happens?"
"She'll be dead, obviously."
"And then they'll just replace her with someone else!" Glimmer stated. "They could replace her with someone more vicious and cruel. You wouldn't gain anything by killing her."
"Tch, you don't know that." She scoffed. "For all you know they wouldn't find anyone to replace her."
"Even if it did, that still wouldn't make things right!" She needed to get through to her! She hated Shadow Weaver herself, there was no mistake about that, but she couldn't allow Catra to go down this line of reasoning. There was only one path these thoughts took someone to, and it never had a good ending. "You kill her? Fine. What then? Are you going to kill anyone else?"
"If I have to."
"So anyone's fair game, then? All the soldiers? The officers? Adora?"
"Knock it off, Pinky, Adora's nothing like her." Catra hissed, almost challenging her to say something else about Adora.
"She is when she tortures you!" Glimmer snapped back, catching Catra by surprised. It didn't matter if Catra wasn't standing right in front of her, it meant nothing if she could see it in her tears. She knew Glimmer would never lie about something this important, not when it concerned her best friend. "You think Shadow Weaver did all of this to me? Adora had a hand in it too!"
"Y... You don't know that!" Catra brought her clawed hand around Shadow Weaver's throat. Why was Glimmer picking now of all times to be a major buzzkill? Catra was screaming in her mind to let her have this one last thing in the world! "I-It could've been anybody! It could've been one of Shadow Weaver's illusions for all you know!"
"You're saying her illusions managed a device meant to torture people through interrogation?" Glimmer turned back towards the device in question as Catra did, seeing it set up right next to where the princess was being held. "She used that- Mmh... She used that on me, Catra. It wasn't some illusion, it wasn't anybody else. It was Adora."
That... That's impossible. No, there was absolutely no way Adora actually tortured Glimmer to get information out of her. Interrogate? Maybe. But she was never one for anything violent at this degree! She remembered how her friend almost cried just because she squished a single butterfly one time that somehow wandered into the Fright Zone, how Catra had to talk to her for five minutes to convince her it wasn't that big of a deal.
Even if she did torture Glimmer, as horrible as it sounded, did it... really mean anything? "Y-Yeah, well... M-Maybe she had a good reason for it-"
"She thought I placed a spell on you of all things, Catra!" Glimmer shouted. "She was being tricked by Shadow Weaver into thinking you were brainwashed this whole time!" She grew hopeful as she saw Catra's ears drooped, the cat's own body betraying her.
"I know that, I know, but... B-But it doesn't mean she's evil! She just... S-She was probably under orders! Torturing someone doesn't mean she's evil-"
"And how does that make Shadow Weaver any different then?" Catra realized that she had fallen into Glimmer's trap just now, eyes widening with shock as she listened to Glimmer's words. "How is anything she did to you any different than what Adora did to me?"
The girl began to pant, the shouting back and forth taxing what little energy she maintained after her mighty rescue. The injuries she obtained throughout her experience left her exhausted enough. Right now she was running on fumes at this point, and there was no telling how much longer she could last at this rate.
She hated Glimmer now more than ever at that moment. She wanted to shout and scream at her with every fiber of her being, to tell her all the million and one reasons she was wrong about what she was saying! And yet, no matter how far along a comeback came for her, feeling a clutch take it's hold over her heart, she realized...
She was right.
She couldn't make the argument of Shadow Weaver torturing her all throughout her childhood or Glimmer would just remark how it was probably Lord Hordak's orders to toughen them up. She couldn't say anything near as foolish as saying Glimmer didn't know what Adora was really like as she had just met her because her two friends spent barely an hour together and half that time involved torturing someone! She wasn't given the gift of time to formulate a comeback either, knowing every second they wasted here meant another chance of them getting spotted.
And Glimmer, the friend she saw wheezing out of breath, still struggling to stay awake... she wouldn't last much longer if she was recaptured and kept here.
"I know... huff... you don't want to hear it..." Catra could hear her perfectly despite her weakened breath. "And I'm not saying... I'm not saying Shadow Weaver doesn't deserve to be held responsible... huff... B... But this isn't the way... not like this...Ngh..." Glimmer clutched her side as she felt a spike of pain along her right abdomen. "Please, Catra... please..." There was no telling what Catra was thinking as Glimmer watched her from the door, her hair blocking her eyes from Glimmer's point of view.
Anything she did at this moment, anything she thought, Glimmer would be too powerless to stop. The adrenaline that kicked in during her rescue was finally on it's last legs. If she tried to so much as shout for another minute, she swore she was going to pass out from the lack of energy she had left. Everything, from here on in, was Catra's choice.
"...AaaahhhhHHHHHH!" With a mighty roar and a fire in her eyes, Catra pulled back her claws in anger, Glimmer watching in fear at what she was about to do.
"Catra, no-!"
*swiff!*
*skreeeek!*
"Mmh..." Glimmer couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, closing them before the final blow was struck. All she heard was the sound of Catra approaching as her other senses kicked in a little higher. She failed. She failed to reach her in time. After everything they've been through, Catra's hatred was still stronger than the bond the two of them had, three counting Bow. She would much rather sacrifice their petty friendship for her moment of revenge, she knew now what would always come first when she had to choose between the two.
She flinched a little as she felt Catra lifting her up to her feet, throwing her left arm around Catra's head as Catra held on to Glimmer's right side. Whether for added comfort or assurance, she could feel Catra's tail wrapped a little around her too, to help make sure the girl stayed by her side as they prepared to flee.
"You really know how to ruin things, you know that?" Catra grumbled. Opening her eyes at the strange comment, the Princess of Bright Moon was in shock and awe at what she found around Catra's bloodsoaked claws.
Nothing.
There wasn't any blood, no torn skin, nothing save for a barely chipped tip of her three middle claws. Confused by the outlook, Glimmer looked back right as Catra began to run with her, refusing to let Princess Dweebus slow them down any longer so she could stop to look at whatever fascinated her. While she couldn't see up close, she saw enough to tell there wasn't any blood pooling around Shadow Weaver.
It didn't mean anything close to forgiveness for the magicat. She's going to remember this day as the one time she almost got to destroy her greatest enemy, her greatest tormentor at that. She would never openly admit the lack of blame she had on Glimmer's involvement, but she was never going to tell the girl how she was feeling.
All that mattered at that moment to Glimmer was the one thing that brought a small smile to her face, a sense of comfort she could feel without worry or regret.
If ever the time came, Catra would always choose her friends over her own hatred.
As the duo left, the scene slowly panned back to the interior of the Black Garnet chamber. So Glimmer didn't want Catra to kill her? Fine. She would be mad at her for awhile over it, but fine. She wanted her to leave without doing anything, however? There was no detail or pleading in that regard, and with that note stuck firmly in the recesses of her mind, Catra happily did the one thing that would torture Shadow Weaver for the rest of her years.
She gave her three new permanent scratch marks over the face of her mask, ones she would look at every single day for the rest of her life, and remember fondly how close she came to beating Catra again.
And lost.
...
...
*Wooooooooo!*
*wooooooooo!*
"Huff... huff..." Catra and Glimmer panted as they continued to run side by side through the hallways.
They were running out of time, time they wasted a good portion of alone as they remained in the Black Garnet chambers for longer than they should have. With every minute that passed them there was another chance that the rest of the gang was forced to leave, that another corridor would close itself and block off their escape. There were at least four separate occurrences throughout the run here that Catra nearly lost her tail after running through an enclosing doorway!
She ignored as she ran passed the remains of other destroyed droids and knocked out guards through the rioting that the jailbreak had caused, one which happened in no small part thanks to Catra's planning. It was a shame she never bumped into any of them since fleeing Shadow Weaver's private room as she could definitely use the help right now!
At least Glimmer seemed to be okay, all things considered. She was still weak and having trouble trying to keep her footing, forcing Catra to do most of the running for the both of them as she held onto her. In addition, she also had the pleasure of not running into any guards.
Yet.
The minute they did she knew they would be in trouble. She wasn't going to be able to contend with them while also keeping Glimmer on her feet and safe at the same time. With how long they've been in this place already she found it fortunate enough that they didn't bump into any of those stupid droids! There would be no protecting herself from those in her current state, especially with the added exhaustion she herself was feeling after Shadow Weaver's magic inflicted her with untold pain.
That last sparkle of hope they needed came to an end as they came across the last corridor. It was the last one that was still open, the one that could send them on their way to freedom. How badly they wished it stayed open long enough to cross through, because by the end of it all, they found it closing on them by the time they crossed halfway through the hallway.
"No!" Catra yelled, frustrated. There were no keypads or data terminals to hack the door open with either, not that it would work with the lockdown happening anyway. "Any chance you could teleport us through it?"
"Mmhh.." Glimmer held her side at this. "I might pass out after if I do." She warned.
"Fine, I'll carry you the rest of the way after! Now let's go!" There was no joking in her voice as Glimmer nodded in agreement. The sooner they were out of the Fright Zone, the sooner they could get back home to rest.
Grabbing onto Catra's hand, the Princess closed her eyes as she focused the last remaining ounce of her energy, focusing with as much power as she could draw out. "Mmmhhhh!" She moaned to herself, Catra watching as the blue aura of energy started to build around her. After this, there was definitely going to be carrying involved, but at least hey would be safe.
*rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttt*
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Glimmer cried out in pain, almost dropping to the floor if not for Catra's quick reflexes grabbing her. Neither of them understood what happened, Glimmer wincing as she teared up from the pain she was suddenly enveloped in. Without warning, right as her powers were ready to burst forth, a red, sickening, aura fell upon the weak princess, disabling her magic as it brought about more pain.
"Glimmer!" Catra cried out, holding onto her. "What happened?"
"Mmh... I don't know... I can't... teleport..." She muttered weakly, pulling herself from Catra to lean against the nearby wall. As she worked on catching her breath, Catra stared back to the locked corridor in dismay. They were so close to freedom and now they were the furthest ones from it! They needed to come up with a new strategy and fast! Find another exit, hide somewhere until it was safe to run again, or-
*skreeeeeeeeee-*
The two of them turned down towards the hallway as they heard what sounded like group of claws scraping against the metallic walls, a noise they were in common with time and again whenever Catra scraped her claws against something. Looking down further in the hallway, both girls felt their hearts skip a beat, unable to maintain the horror that slowly approached them.
There, drawing further and further, the sparks creating the only source of light around her until she came under a ceiling light, was Adora. Force Captain. Best friend. Shadow Weaver's pupil. They were one and the same, all giving off an irritable glare as she stepped out of the darkness. From it, Catra and Glimmer could see her already wearing the headband around herself, gulping as she had two arms covered in pure shadow, forming the gargantuan monstrosities that nearly ended Catra's life the first time they fought.
Catra was in no shape to fight her. It didn't matter if she protected herself at this point or did so while protecting Glimmer too. She already exhausted herself from the long journey she made trying to rescue Glimmer and Bow in the first place, the agony she had to power herself through from Shadow Weaver's magic.
If they fought right here, right now, it would be a total slaughter.
"A... Adora-"
"Hnnngghhhh!" With a beastly growl, rematerializing the shadows in her right arm, Adora pulled back and released a powerful shadowy tentacle straight ahead, aiming right towards Catra herself.
"Adora, no-!"
*creeeak*
*CRASH*
That... happened... Opening her eyes nervously from fright, Catra was met with a curious and confusing sight, one that didn't provide the answers until she turned around again. There, Glimmer and Catra saw the doorway to freedom, one that promised them an escape route straight out the door, one that Adora had made herself after she ripped the metallic blockade straight out of the wall. Looking back to her friend, she was unable to tell how she was supposed to be feeling or what, watching as Adora casually tossed the wreckage of the door over the side of the stairs they were next to, and began pulling away at her headband.
"You're... letting us go?" Glimmer panted, doing her best to keep herself off the wall.
"No." Adora replied firmly. It was then that Catra noticed the string over Adora's chest that ran all around her from her shoulder to her left thigh. Trailing the string itself, Catra's jaw dropped as she removed the last thing she needed from her back, holding it out in her hands, still in its sheath.
The Sword of Protection.
"I'm giving you a choice of us." She told Catra directly, ignoring the other princess in the room.
"A... Choice of us?" Catra repeated, looking between her, Glimmer, the opened pathway, and finally back to Adora again. "What choice?"
"I'm talking about us, Catra." The magicat watched as a pained expression grew over Adora's face, the Force Captain looking off to the side in discontent. "Catra, I... I can't keep doing this anymore. I can't keep being the only one who wants you back like this while defending you at the same time. It's... it's not fair..."
"But... But Adora, I'm-"
"Just... stop!" She snapped angrily, ignoring the tears forming in her own eyes. "I... I just can't anymore with you, Catra! Not like this! You keep saying you're not under their control, and you continue to work for the Rebellion? Are you under their control while working for them or working for them because you want to? Which is it?"
"N-None- the first one- second? Look, Adora..." Catra scratched at her head furiously, trying to find the right words to say. "I'm not under anyone's control. Shadow Weaver lied to you since day one about all of that! I don't know what else she's said, but practically everything she's said has been-"
"I don't want to hear it anymore, Catra, okay?!" Adora yelled again. "If you were telling the truth, then that... that means you never cared about who you left behind, and if that was the case, then you didn't care about... me..." Adora swiftly wiped her teary eyes against her sleeves. "What did I do, Catra... What did I do to make you hate me so much?"
"Adora, it's... it's not like that, ok?" Catra struggled to reply as tears formed in her own eyes. An inch at a time, she felt like her heart was slowly being pulled between two different directions, one that would've resulted in pain no matter which way it went. "I don't hate you! You're my best friend!"
"...Best friend...?" Adora's expresion boiled with rage as she shot a look towards Glimmer. "Then what does that make them?"
"H-Huh?" Glimmer mumbled, doing what she could to stay out of this conversation until she was directed personally.
"What?"
"I've been here for weeks, Catra, almost months." Adora reminded, doing what she could to maintain her composure. "And you never came back for me. And yet they've been here for more than a day, and you send a party out to rescue them? What am I supposed to say to that?!"
"A-Adora, no, it's..." Catra struggled to find the right words but nothing came out. Everything Adora said, however far stretched it was from the truth, was still accurate. Adora's been here for almost several months now, and she never came back for her. Glimmer and Bow get kidnapped, and she sets out to rescue them, albeit after some coaxing from Glimmer's diary. She was looking like the enemy from every angle Adora shot at her, and she had no way to counter it. "I swear, this changes nothing between us!"
"Then I want you to prove it." With a firm look on her face, she lowered the sheathed sword over to her side, extending her left out dearly for Catra. "I need you to choose, right here, right now. Come back to the Horde, and I'll let you keep the sword, and I swear I won't let anything happen to you. But choose... them... and I'll let you walk away... but don't..." Adora's eyes watered as she said this. "Don't ever come back, then..."
"Adora..." Catra sniffled quietly to herself as she took a step forward.
"Cat-ggghhhh..." Glimmer groveled in pain, holding onto her side again as she gritted her teeth. She braced herself against the wall again, finding it near-impossible to maintain her stance.
"Glimmer?" Catra turned back, slightly worried.
"If you come back, I promise you she can still leave." Adora added, noticing the concern she had over one of Catra's new friends. "If her safety is all you need at this point, she can go. I'll see to it personally she and all your other friends are sent home safely."
This... This wasn't fair. Catra finally made some new friends, actual people she was willing to consider friends for the first time in forever, and now she had to choose between the two of them? Why did it have to be this way? Why couldn't it be both?! This wasn't being stuck between a rock and a hard place, this was being stuck between two wildfires for crying out loud! Whichever one she went with she would regret forever!
And yet... she deserved it... For being such a great friend like Adora pointed out, she never bothered returning to the Horde just to come back for Adora. Who cared if she thought she was being under the Rebellion's control? She should've known Adora would keep her safe.
In fact... looking back on it... why didn't she come back since day one? She got the sword, she got her escape. Did she really do all this because a sword with an annoying personality told her to? The same sword that brought her no end of misery ever since she plucked it from the grounds of the Whispering Woods? The stupid hunk of metal that never let her transform into She-Ra to begin with whenever she needed it since she found this stupid thing?!
"Catra?"
When Catra turned around again, she didn't see Adora, not the same one that stood there a moment ago. In fact, save for her and herself, she didn't see much of anything that resembled where she was a second ago. All around her was a white empty void, that had had a strange warmth to it as she stared at her other friend.
Adora, this Adora, was her. The five-year-old girl with her hand extended out and an enthusiastic smile on her face. She was unaware of herself at that point in time, for lack of care or concern, as Catra stood on her own two feet, resembling the same five-year-old self she was when the two had met for the very first time. It felt just like that day again, with Adora meeting her out of nowhere, with a smile on her face, all while she asked Catra the following question.
"Do you wanna be friends?"
Catra... stepped. One step. Two step. Closer and closer. This was Adora. She was her friend from years ago. She was still her friend from years ago. She stuck by Catra's side through the best and the worst of times growing up, and now Adora was asking her to stick by her side after all of this.
Outside of this realm of reality, Glimmer winced in pain as she watched this. She didn't know what Catra was thinking as she stepped closer to Adora, watching as the Force Captain's smile grew more comforting as she neared. She barely had the energy to shout, she had no energy to plead with her. Slumping further to the ground she was still trying to understand what Catra was doing.
Was she doing this for her sake? For all their sake? Was only doing this because she cared about them to? Was she going to accept the deal in exchange for the rest of their safety? What difference would it make if she did? They would be on opposite sides again, they would be forced to fight each other no matter how badly one side wanted to or not!
Or... or is this what Catra really wanted? Did she truly want to return to the Horde, return to the one person she cared about most in this world with little care about those surrounding her, depended on her.
Those who considered her friends as dearly as Adora did.
As for Adora, she felt... warm. Catra, her closest friend, was drawing near her. She was reaching out to her in this instance, in this hour that Adora needed her most, like a true friend would. She would make sure she kept her safe. She wouldn't allow Shadow Weaver near her if she truly feared her, and she would promise her friend Hordak wouldn't lay a finger on her. She would get her out of this trouble, somehow, and then everything could go right back to normal.
It was just like that day for her too. Paying little heed to the surrounding white void she found herself in, she saw Catra, the sincere five-year-old girl, coming towards her, wanting to accept her friendship. To accept her friendship, to offer her friendship. Adora swore she would never let Catra leave her side again for this long, never by herself like she did all those weeks ago.
She felt the tears flow freely from her eyes as Catra finally grabbed her hand. Without missing a beat, Adora quickly pulled her in, embraced her, cherished her. She threw her arms immediately around Catra, the five-year-old blonde crying tears of joy as Catra threw her own arm around Adora's neck. Never has Adora been so happy to see a friend return to her. It was a new memory that she was going to cherish forever as she cried happily on her shoulder, neither of them paying attention as Adora's tears did this.
Catra was finally home.
*sniff*
"I've missed you..."
"..."
"..."
*sniff*
"...I'M SORRY!"
With that, the realm of fantasy was shattered. In that instance she let her guard down, in the moment she welcomed Catra back with all her heart, her world of dreams came to an abrupt end. The magicat, her friend, reached her arm over to Adora, and embraced the second thing she came across.
Her sword.
Slipping it out from Adora's grip, Catra hastily ran back over to Glimmer, picking her up in her other arm as she made her way back to her feet. She couldn't believe what she had done. Glimmer couldn't believe what she had done.
She used her.
Catra accepted them.
And she ran at full speed out the corridor, making their escape into the darkness.
Glimmer was still in shock as she tried to help in the running, refusing to let her drag her down, or drag her feet along the entire way as it happened. Still... how was Catra doing all of this? She tilted her head as far as she could, trying to look into Catra's tearing eyes. "Catra... are you... ok-"
"Shut up!" Catra yelled, focusing solely on the path ahead of them. "Don't you dare say a single word!" It was here as they made their way out of the building at long last that Glimmer could finally see Catra's face. It was filled with absolute pain, and wrought with turmoil, as the tears flowed endlessly from her eyes. "If you say anything, anything, I will drop you and run right back in, I swear!" She shouted furiously.
She was in pain. An emotional pain that outweighed any form of torture or suffering Glimmer had been ever been inflicted with, or Catra for that matter. All the pain Catra had felt in her life didn't compare to the pain her heart was racing through as she ran across the Fright Zone, doing everything to make their escape.
She stabbed Adora, her greatest friend in this world, right in the heart. The weakened Princess struggled to look away from her, not able to contend with the pain she felt coming off of Catra herself.
Catra didn't betray Adora for her selfish desire to get the sword back.
She did it because she needed the sword's power to keep them safe.
She did it because Glimmer needed her right now.
She did it because it was the right thing to do.
And that was the greatest pain she ever felt in this world.
And Adora took the brunt of it. Everything went deaf around her as she saw dozens of guards run passed her, saw Force Captain Scorpia standing ahead of her as she instructed the guards to give chase after them. She remained motionless in that state of utter disbelief, unable to come to grip with reality until she saw Scorpia lowering herself a little, looking at Adora worriedly as she shook her shoulders.
"Adora!" She finally heard her calling. "Adora? Adora! Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"
"...Ah...Ahhhh...AHHHHHHHHHAHAHAAAA!" Adora finally snapped as she screamed.
She threw her arms around Scorpia tightly, crying into her carapace, the Force Captain finding herself caught off guard, yet embracing her warmly all the same. She didn't know what happened to throw Adora into this emotional state, she didn't know what kind of pain was inflicted upon her just now, and for the time being, she didn't care. All she could do was throw her own arm around the crying Force Captain, glaring down the darkened hallway that the others ran off, patting her head as she tried to soothe her mourning friend.
Catra had finally made her decision. She showed Adora what she truly meant to her in this one hour of need. She saw her as something secondary to everything else in this world. She stole the sword, she stole the princess, and she stole a part of her heart that she ripped out in the process. Throughout it all, Adora was screaming the one line throughout her mind without end.
How sad do I have to be until you're finally happy?!
...
...
She wasn't sure how long she kept running for at this rate, the tears having dried themselves away by now. Glimmer could finally manage on her own feet at a slow enough pace, Catra slowing herself down to ensure she could keep up with her. Most of the machinery that made up the Fright Zone was starting to fade from their surroundings as they came across a more rocky terrain. They didn't know where any of the others were, and stopping to ask for questions was the last thing they could afford to do.
No more than half a mile behind them, they could see it. Dozens upon dozens of Horde soldiers running after them from the distance, all with various weaponry to disarm or permanently put down the two escaping princesses as they ran for their lives. The duo didn't know what else they could do except run. Run, run, and keep on running until they finally made it out with their lives.
It was at this bleak hour, when Catra started to question every sense of the word hope, that she finally saw them. A ways away from them, in the air, she spotted the skiff, the very one being piloted by Sea Hawk himself, where the remaining princesses sat watching.
"There they are!" Bow called out. Looping around the duo as the Horde chased after them, they flew. Right by their side, right as they were running, Perfuma lowered her hand, helping Glimmer out first as Catra pushed her towards it. Waiting until her friend was safe, Catra threw her hand towards her, taking Perfuma's strong grip as the princess finally helped her over the side.
With the two returned by their rightful side, Sea Hawk blasted the skiff into the air, wanting to distance themselves as far as possible from this terrible place and the army who slowly came to a halt as their prey escaped their grasp.
Catra herself shot one last look back at the terrible place. She hated the Horde. She hated everything they made her do since day one, even more after the terrible events of today. She needed to find some way to make up for what she did to Adora, find some means of possibly bringing her into the Rebellion! If she could finally see how Catra was on the right side, then maybe-
"Where's Entrapta?" At Glimmer's question, Catra suddenly turned around again, facing the remains of the group. Here she was met with the very faces of all of her allies, save for one, who returned her gaze with a look of nothingness. There was no joy at the rescue, no sense of pride at their escape. There was just... emptiness...almost... pain.
"Where is she?" Catra repeated, looking all around as if she was hanging from the side of the skiff.
"She..." The two turned to Bow as he replied solemnly. "Entrapta... Entrapta didn't make it." Tears immediately rushed to Glimmer's eyes as Catra's was filled with a newfound fury.
"What... What do you mean she didn't make it?" She shot back in the direction of the Fright Zone itself. "D-Did you leave her behind? Come on, we have to-"
"Catra." Mermista cut off, taking her full attention. "Catra... she's gone..." Mermista said, flicking the tears out of her eyes.
"I heard you the first time, big deal!" Catra yelled. "Look, I got the sword now! With or without She-Ra, we can just turn back and-"
"Catra!" Perfuma yelled as her eyes filled with sorrow. "She's gone. She's really... truly... gone."
"..." Catra didn't know what to do. None of them knew what to do as she dropped to her knees. It happened like she said she would. They would go in there. They would try rescue their friends. And someone would die trying as a result.
The entire day had been summed up in those three things.
Pain.
Terror.
Sadness.
...
...
...
A/N: Soooooooo, writings not the best atm as pills wear off, and groggy as this chalks up to writing about 17k words in one day...HOOFTAH!
Hopefully the chapters' crummy writing isn't too distracting- i'll delete/re-edit the chapter better if it is.
It's fair warning now, this iiiiiiiiiiisn't going to be the saddest chapter/episode...
So, uhh...if you enjoyed that somehow, uhhh... leave a like, fave, follow, and review, and hope to see you soon...