A/N: Hiyo! Back with another resounding chapter! Gotta say, might be to uppity parts here and there, I did this over the course of the three days, and on the day I did adora's bit, I was in the midst of graduation (yippee ^^) so some parts of it might be a bit off in terms of writing, hopefully it's not too distracting. On the plus side, with all the dramatic parts a ways away, we can finally make room for some humor from the show, along with the usual moments here and there ^^
With that said, enjoy!
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"And this is a problem, how?" Light Hope asked, her unchanging expression even more unchanged as she stared at the magicat.
"How do you think?" Catra grumbled, having dealt with this annoyance for the last several weeks.
Ever since the Battle of Bright Moon, things have gotten relatively back to normal, at least as normal as they could be around here. The Princess Alliance was working side by side again with Mermista, Perfuma, and Frosta working along with the Rebellion, Glimmer finally got her powers back, and Catra was the same old grump she used to be after several weeks of inner turmoil. Some people may have been put off by such a display, but for Glimmer and Bow, it was a welcome come back after all this time.
That didn't mean it came without any drawbacks, either. For starters, Catra wasn't just the usual grump she's always been anymore, she was a grump with severe anger issues. Every day she's gone out on a mission, she's always charged straight into whatever group of droids she could that have been surrounding the Whispering Woods for the last month. Unlike the other princesses who took a steady approach as a team, Catra showed no signs of backing down as she took out every droid she could come across, using whatever means she could to demolish the droids from head to toe.
Of course, the other princesses were well aware of her erratic behavior, they just didn't know how to approach it. How were they supposed to know how Catra was feeling after all she's been through? Turning her back entirely on the Horde, losing the closest friend of her life, and knowing nothing she did would bring her friend back to her? It wasn't just the loss of her friend that the others saw nagging at Catra, it was knowing she would be fighting against her for possibly the rest of her life.
The only outlet she had to get her pent up aggression out of her system was the endless waves of Horde droids that kept invading the Whispering Woods for the last month. Without wasting a single soldier, the Horde could throw an endless amount of droids at the Rebellion every day while their soldiers reclaimed any land they were invading. With Bright Moon being the last place Catra could call home, she wasn't about to let any Horde, robotic or otherwise, set foot on her territory.
It was probably the one upside to Catra's overly aggressive behavior as of late. With the magicat's anger focused solely on the Horde, she was doing everything within her power to fight back, fighting literal tooth and claw against the invading armies with all she had. The one setback they had yet to understand was why she never tried to turn into She-Ra while doing it. She kept fighting in her normal attire, save for the sword, having nothing She-Ra about her.
It was out of a deep secret she was keeping from the others, one only she, Light Hope, and Swift Wind were aware of.
"Why can't I turn into the full She-Ra like before?" Catra repeated her question, fed up by the appearance that represented a fourth of She-Ra. "What's keeping me from turning back?"
"As I've told you in the past, Catra, you can't-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard it already." Catra interrupted, repeating the same line she's heard a thousand times mockingly with her hand. "I have to be honest with myself, I have to be at peace, I can't be selfish, blah, blah, blah. I don't get why it's happening though!"
"I'm afraid I can not assist you with that dilemma, Catra." Light Hope regretfully informed. "If you desire, I could try to make the scenery more pleasing to calm your nerves." Without giving the magicat a chance to respond, the environment around them shifted to one of a sunny beach, one where the air was filled with the sound of relaxing waves and not a single cloud in the sunny sky. "Does this environment make you feel more comfortable?"
"Ugh, no! That's not what I-!" There wasn't any time to voice her complaint completely as the environment changed again. This time she found herself in a field of flowers, one overlooking a vast forest of autumn leaves and a beautiful midsummer sky, earning nothing but a twitching brow of irritation from the young cat girl. If she didn't know any better, she could've sworn Perfuma had a hand in making this simulation.
"Is this more suitable?"
"...The scenery isn't the issue." Catra stated as calmly as she could, waiting for the environment to return to its original First Ones' chamber. "The problem is, I need to be the same She-Ra they need me to be before, and I don't know what's keeping me from doing it." She gazed around her legs and arms, seeing the few semblances of She-Ra she always recognized like her golden bracers and her white chestpiece. "I'm back to being the same She-Ra I was before, and I can't afford to be this way if I'm going to continue fighting for the Rebellion. I need to know what's keeping me from reaching anything passed one-fourth!"
"Actually, if it's any consolation," Light Hope replied as she observed a monitor she materialized in front of her, displaying an outline of what Catra could assume to be herself, "you have improved your bond with the sword by at least two percent over the last few weeks."
"Oh boy, almost one percent a week," Catra couldn't have been more sarcastic if she tried, "how exciting. That means in another two months, I'll reach ten percent."
"I am pleased to hear you are satisfied."
"That was sarcasm..." Catra moaned, rubbing her forehead soothingly. "I've been training for over a month, and I haven't gotten any better around here!"
"Indeed. Your performance today was, in fact, worse." The being shifted her eyes away as she noticed Catra's furrowed brow to that. "Please disregard. My human inspiration protocol is still in the beta stage. Should I smile more?" She offered, opening her mouth widely as a normal human custom.
"...N-No thanks... that's... actually, kind of creepy."
"Affirmative."
"Ugh... Look, every day I spend wasting time in here, the Horde is growing stronger. Adora is growing stronger," she shifted her eyes briefly at the statement, "I think. And unless I figure out how to reach She-Ra's true form, I'm never going to be able to master her full power. Do you get what I am getting at?"
"Yes, I understand what you are getting at. But I am afraid I have no control over how the sword perceives you. If you wish to master She-Ra's true form and unlock its power, you must be able to change yourself."
"How am I supposed to change myself anymore to this stupid sword?!" She growled. As if reacting to her sudden flux of emotions, there was a small shine glowing over Catra's bracers. What she at first assumed to be a rather pleasant surprise waiting for her soon turned out to be an annoying revelation as the golden bracers disappeared off of her wrists. Adding on to the train of annoyance, the two looked back to the monitor as the display depicting Catra's progression took a sudden drop by about eight percent. "Grrrrr! Who asked you!" She yelled angrily at the blade.
At the scene playing in front of her, Light Hope came to a sudden thought. "Catra, what is most important to you right now?"
"Huh? What do you think? Getting stronger so I can beat the Horde, duh!"
"But what else do you deem important to you?"
"What... do you mean by that?" The line of questioning was starting to worry the magicat a little as her ears lowered a little.
"Do you wish for me to phrase it differently?"
"No, I mean... why are you asking me about what I think is important?"
"Because it might be the first step into discovering your problem." With this information, a large monitor appeared above Light Hope, all displayed for Catra's eyes. The She-Ra-in-training was rather taken back by the visuals she witnessed as they displayed the day at the Battle of Bright Moon, the very moment before Catra donned the full form of She-Ra. "I believe you are informed enough to know the conditions into becoming She-Ra, correct?"
"Yeah, I already said them a minute ago. So what?"
"Do you remember, then, what you were feeling at the Battle of Bright Moon?"
"What I was... feeling...?" That may have been the first question Light Hope asked so far that brought discomfort to the magicat. Aside from the fact Catra had spent the better part of the last month trying to forget the horrible ordeal, given how it ended in the worst way possible to her, she was barely alive at all when she finally achieved She-Ra's true form. "Mmh... I don't remember..."
The images flashed in Catra's mind in brief glimpses, displaying the various moments she could recall as she closed her eyes. "I guess... I was scared... cold? I barely knew what was happening at the time. I just... I guess I just... wanted to keep my friends safe."
*shiiiiiiiiim*
Reacting again to this little bout of emotion, Catra watched as the wrists along her arm glowed once more. This time, with enough relief to bring a small smile to her face, she watched as the bracers returned to her, giving off a sense of form as they were reformed as good as new. Adding on to this moment of comfort, she saw Light Hope attempting to provide any amount of support with a robotic smile, phasing a hand through Catra's right shoulder.
"You have come a long way in changing yourself since you first began, Catra. Much more than any of the past initiates my memory banks can recall." The surprisingly comforting smile returned to its neutral form as she pulled her hand away. "But there is still much for you to learn. You must learn to master your emotions, or you are destined to repeat the same mistakes of the last She-Ra."
"Mmh..." Catra moaned, scratching the back of her neck as her appearance returned to its original state. "Well, it's not like things can get any worse, am I right?"
"Actually, things can, indeed, get much worse." The being corrected, annoyingly as always to Catra. "Did I not make that clear?"
"No, I mean... Never mind." As much as Catra hated to admit it, she didn't have a choice. If she was going to have any hope of mastering She-Ra's true form, she was going to have to figure out some way of changing her frame of mind and her emotions into something She-Ra should be. That's the ultimate realization she came to as she stared back at her sword, the one thing that determined if and how much of She-Ra's power Catra could obtain. "Can we just get back to hitting things again so I can keep practicing?"
"Very well. You must learn by doing." With a simple command, the ground around Catra ruptured as the floor split apart around her, rising high into the ceiling as another simulation began to take place.
In the mass of entanglement the rising floors gave way to, she found her environment changing into the familiar cave structure she just came out of awhile ago, the mighty cavern outstretched around her as a large creature began to appear. It took the familiar appearance of those massive bug creatures Catra's seen on a few occasions, the very ones she was first greeted with after claiming the sword at the start of the adventure.
Honestly, Catra didn't care how intimidating the creature looked as she took a stand. She didn't know what exactly the future would hold for her, and she wasn't entirely ready to change her entire being just because some holographic lady told her so. As long as she had her trusted ladle at her side, she was ready to face down anyone that came against her, and overcome any challenge with her own two hands!
...Wait a minute...
"...Ladle?" Catra muttered, looking at her weapon again. Apparently she didn't have as well a grasp on her weapon's transformation, which was almost parallel to her own transformation's difficulties. Instead of some giant axe that could've cut this creature down to size like she had hoped for, her weapon took the form of a legendary soup ladle of all things, one that barely came up to her elbow in size.
*Raaaaaaaoooooooooooo!*
The mighty illusionary creature roared as it towered above her, blowing back Catra's hair and leaving her with a few massive globs of drool from the creature's screaming.
"... Oh boy..."
...
...
The Fright Zone guards greeted Adora with a proud salute as she walked by, just as they always did whenever Adora entered an area. While she wasn't in it for the fame or glory of being one, she couldn't deny it felt a little good to be a newly promoted commander walking through the Fright Zone either.
Ever since Adora was promoted as Lord Hordak's second-in-command, every day felt nice and refreshing! The people who previously had respect for the young Force Captain and signs of caring for their fellow soldier were extremely respectful of Adora's new position, though it was hard to tell if it wasn't entirely without a bit of fear. Everyone usually had a smile on their face when they greeted her, nobody seemed put off or jealous of her new position, and she found people approaching her constantly for assistance, which she never seemed to mind.
On top of it, she later discovered during the night of her promotion that her powers weren't gone! Despite the lack of headband, the shadowy magic Adora had grown used to seemed to have stuck with her completely after the Battle of Bright Moon. The shadows almost seemed to be more lively than they ever were before, sometimes responding to her bouts of emotions occasionally sometimes defending her or doing something to comfort her without her personal sway. It was a constant reminder of her defeat at Catra's hands as well as her victory in her new position.
However, it didn't prove to be entirely without complications as she slowly came to discover, the veins on the right side of her neck blackening as they spread further and further along the side of her face.
*RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH*
"Aaah!" Adora cried out as she caught herself against the right wall, squeezing her forehead with her left hand in agony. It was that dull ringing sound that always entered her mind followed by the mother of all headaches. It felt like something was clawing in and out of her head at the same time, filling her heart with a surge of emotions every second.
Sub... t... ools... em pay...
"S-Stop it... stop... stop..." Adora cried silently to herself, trying to ignore the voices that filled her mind. She could never get a firm grasp on what they were saying all the time, with what few audible words she could hear always sounding threatening to those around her. All she knew was that anyone who approached her in her current state would find themselves to be an unintended victim of her wrath.
Like one of two guards who noticed the commander's sudden collapse.
"Commander Adora?" The right-sided guard spoke, approaching her slowly from behind. He was unaware as a few of her right bangs of hair started to darken, the commander doing everything she could to wave her arm behind her.
"N-No! Sta...Stay..." She could barely speak as she squeezed her forehead, the pain overwhelming her state of mind. At the same time, the guard was completely unaware at the small pool of shadow starting to form behind him, one that slowly started to grow in mass as shadowy tendrils of teeth and spikes rose from the surface, a sight that didn't go unnoticed by the other guard who was still watching from afar.
"Wha- Hey! Stop!" He shouted to the other guard, running towards him. Turning around, the previous one physically jumped out of fear as he collapsed backwards, pushing himself away from the growing entanglement that began to approach him. And the entire time, the black veins around Adora's face continued to fester, spreading further along her skin as they started to reach her forehead.
"Ngghhhh! S-Stop!" She ordered as assertively as she could, not to the guard that was slowly backing up to her in fright, but the pool of shadows that seemed to draw ever closer. What little it did to keep the shadows at bay only delayed the attack as the pool of shadow slowed continuing to move at a snails pace over to the fearful guard who had no idea what was going on!
Luckily for him, the sound of ruckus didn't go unheard from a certain Force Captain by the name of Scorpia, who casually poked her head out of Entrapta's lab at the sound of the shouting, and freaked at the sight of the recent peril. "Adora!" She yelled worriedly, running over to her. She looked over Adora quickly as the commander gave her a weak look, breathing heavily as Scorpia examined her, brushing a few strands out of her hair. "It's happening again, isn't it?"
"S-Sorry... " Adora huffed, lowering her head as the pain continued to drive on.
"When's the last time you used the machine?"
"I... I don't... three... maybe four days?"
"What!?" The announcement sent warning lights through Scorpia's mind as she lifted Adora off her feet. Thankfully it appeared to be enough to loosen Adora's hold on the shadows as the ones nearing the guard vanished into thin air, just as they were about to swipe at his feet. Taking a brief look to the two, she gave a nervous smile to the guard that was nearly attacked. "Err sorry! Just, uhhh... a training drill!" She sputtered, rushing back to lab without a second thought. The two guards looked to each other in confusion, giving a shrug to the other as they returned to their stations.
"Since when do training drills involve attacking the guards?"
...
"Almost... there..." Entrapta muttered behind her mask as she carefully tilted the vial into the concoction before her. She just needed a tiny, itty bitty, drop to get the last part of her experiment working. After the last three days straight of preparation, clearing up as much of her free time as possible to make sure she would have the exact hours she would need to preform this experiment perfectly, it finally came down to this one drop. She couldn't leave anything up to chance as she watched the tiny droplet being lowered towards the concoction, holding the vial carefully in her hair as she watched the view with her head rested against the table. "Annnnd-!"
"ENTRAPTAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"ACK-!"
*splash*
*BOOOOOOM!*
Smoke and haze filled the entire half of the science lab as Entrapta accidentally poured the entire vial into the concoction, resulting in the disastrous explosion that the science nerd somehow managed to survive. When they smoke finally cleared, Entrapta could be seen completely covered in ash and black soot, lifting her mask to reveal the only part of her that was clean from the sudden explosion.
Everything in front of her was a complete mess. There was a blast mark where the explosion went off, all the vials and beakers she had covering the table were completely smashed to pieces, any of her papers that had listed the ingredients and measurements she took were completely burned to dust, and any recording devices she had to monitor her progress were destroyed in the explosion! Just about every little piece of this three day experiment was gone!
"...Woohoo!" Entrapta cheered, pulling out another recorder as she shook off the black soot. "Data Log ML-3-1! My experiment to test the coincidence and timing of the universe seem work without a hitch! So far I've had at least four intentionally failed experiments due to bad timing! If I continue to study the effects of this quantum displacement, I might be able to control the very aspects of Luck and Chance in the universe myself!"
"Entrapta!" Scorpia yelled for a final time, finally finding the girl through the clutter of machines.
"Waaahhh!" The purple-haired geek screeched, dropping the recorder and watching in dismay as it shattered upon impact. "Awww, I wasn't prepared for that one..."
"Entrapta, focus! Adora needs help!" Scorpia pleaded, lowering her arms for the mad scientist to get a view. She didn't need to get any closer as she saw the corruption spreading from where she stood. All around her, Adora's left half was nearly covered in dark veins from head to toe as the Force Captain breathed heavily. Adora barely seemed aware of where she was as she had one eye closed and the other one barely open with the only source of comfort she had was holding herself with her right arm.
"Hmmm..." The scientist hummed as she placed the back of her hand against Adora's forehead, taking it away immediately as it sizzled. "Ow! Yeah, she's definitely burning up."
"I know that! We need to get her to the chamber right away!"
"Awww, but I wanted to watch how my droids were doi-! Ooogh!" Entrapta wasn't given any time to argue as Scorpira through her left claw over the girl, lifting her off her feet as she ran out the door with Adora and Entrapta in each arm respectively. Seeing how there was little choice in the matter, the scientists did what she could as she re-examined Adora's temperature with a strand of hair, still feeling a burning sensation at the tip of her strands as she pulled out a journal. "Ok, Adora, some casual questions. On a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you experiencing right now?"
"Ugh... En... trapta...?" Adora muttered as if she was just becoming aware of her presence.
"Ok, we'll try the next one. Have you been experiencing any sort of side effects?"
"Side... ffects..." She mumbled, drooping her head in her state of misery.
"Mmmh..." How was Entrapta not to frown at the situation unfolding before her?
She was torn between her two greatest compassions; her everlasting love for science, and the state of misery and pain Adora seemed to be in right now. Every second she looked at the girl she felt guilty for something she didn't do, and for one of the few times in her life, she didn't have the energy or excitement to take notes on it. She just stared at Adora with a pained frown on her face, scratching the back of her head with her own hair as she felt bad for the girl.
"...You're really not feeling too good, are you?" Entrapta commented as Scorpia jerked, cutting another corner of the hallways.
"She's not going to die, is she?!" Scorpia panicked, doing what she could to pick up the pace.
"I told you at least twice everyday for the last month." Entrapta reminded, trying to give something close to a comforting smile. "She'll be perfectly fine, she's not going to die." Her assuring tone wasn't as faithful as it appeared as she glanced back to the ailing friend again, resisting the urge to gullp audibly. "...But you might want to hurry, anyway..."
"MMMMMHHHHH!" Scorpia moaned as she screamed on the inside. To her relief, she came across the Black Garnet chamber around the next corner a few seconds later, feeling antsy as she waited for the automatic doors to open themselves before bursting inside. She practically dropped Entrapta to the ground as she rushed Adora over to the machine hooked up to the Black Garnet.
All around the Black Garnet, various wires and machines could be seen protruding from the great crystal, all of which fed into multiple computer monitors on one side, and a pair of shackle-like clamps atop a metallic table on the right of the great crystal. The shackles had nearly a dozen of different colored yellow bulbs feeding into the machine, which allowed the others to know when the device was ready to be turned on.
What confused Scorpia partially about the current predicament was why Adora waited so long to use this thing in the first place. Despite being a good distance between each other, it's not like Adora needed anyone to do this with her. The machine was set up so it worked on a timer, not that it was needed in Adora's case. If the commander had the energy to draw power from the Black Garnet as she normally did, then she could easily place her hands through the shackles and activate the machine automatically that way.
So why did she wait so long?!
Entrapta pulled herself off the ground as she swung over to the control module with her hair as Scorpia hastily got Adora hooked up to the device, gently placing Adora on her knees as comfortable as possible as she placed her hands in the strange device.
"You're going to be okay, sweetie, you're going to be okay..." Scorpia muttered. She needed to assure herself almost as much as she did Adora as the commander slouched a little along the metallic table, seeming more out of it than Scorpia's ever seen her before. "Is it on yet?"
"Yyyyyup! Just about!"
Scorpia sighed in relief as she saw the scientist typing away at top speed with her goggles on. As she said, the machine started to hum with life as the wires and cables connected to the Black Garnet began to glow with an eerie shade of red, the same crimson that filled the Black Garnet with life. She could never understand how the complications of this device worked, and she didn't care. As long as this techno doodad managed to fix her best friend, she would gladly shove Adora into whatever she needed to save her, including an oven!
Every second she had to wait for the machine to start up filled her with even more worry as she looked at her friends condition. From sweat dripping from her forehead to the heavy breathing, and the wave of blackness that started to color her hair a little at a time, there wasn't anything about Adora that didn't seem to be all right. There was no worse feeling in the world than wanting to help your friend and being unable to because you didn't know what was wrong with them!
"You're going to be okay, Adora, it's almost ready." She cooed, softly patting her back. She watched as the wires connected to the two shackles finally began to glow like the rest of the wires did, growing a small smile as the shackles themselves began to give off a faint red glow like the rest of the machine. Adora barely gave notice to this as her head turned, though it was the most physical response she's given within the last five minutes.
"Please... no..." Adora muttered weakly.
"It's for your own good, Adora. I'm sorry." She apologized, just as she saw the bulb around the shackles finally light up. "It's ready!"
"Activating the machine in three... two... one... annnnnd...!" With a cheeky grin, Entrapta pressed the one button she needed let the show begin.
*click*
*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT-!*
"NNNNNGGGGGHHHH! AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!" Adora cried out in pain. All around her, the energies and light that flowed from the machine nearly doubled in amount as electricity coursed through the machine at an incredible pace.
That was another thing that didn't make any sense to Scorpia. If Adora used the machine regularly as she was supposed to, the machine wouldn't be overcharged as it was now. The electricity and power that ran through it was only as great as the amount that was needed to restore Adora's being. If she used the machine on a daily basis, she wouldn't feel anything more than a meager shock one would get if they zapped somebody with static electricity at the touch of a finger, and that's if she felt anything at all while empowered. But if she waited too long like she clearly did now, there was no telling how severe the shock would feel to her.
It hurt Scorpia on the inside as much as it clearly hurt Adoar on the outside... and inside. The only solace she obtained out of all of this was the sight of her friend slowly returning to normal as she screamed through her teeth, watching as the black hair recede back to their natural shade of blonde, and the black veins disappearing from her skin. In addition, the further she returned to normal, the less pain she felt overall, as proven by the sound of the screams dying down over the last several seconds.
At the same time, Adora struggled. It wasn't just the pain she was feeling or the flux of emotions that she felt whenever she was drawing energy from the machine that bothered her. It was that. The sound. The voices. Every time she used this thing, at least once, she heard the voices screaming in her mind, and it terrified her.
They will betray your innocence.
She couldn't recognize the voice. It was unlike anything she had ever heard from in her life. It always sounded like it was shouting, whispering, silent, and echoing, all at the same time. She couldn't tell if it was male, she couldn't tell if it was female, she could barely tell if the voice as even humanoid or sounded more robotic in tone. All she knew was that it shouted at her at least once, clearly, every time she used this machine.
And every time it did, it became more frightening and threatening.
Eventually, the machine finally died down as Adora was completely back to normal, the wires and bulbs connecting to the machine dimming until the energies that once filled them were diminished. Adora could be seen slouching to her knees as she began to breathe normally again, breathing heavily as the air returned to her lungs. With the procedure finally over, the shackles released her wrists on their own, freeing the commander from her temporary bonds as she collapsed to her knees.
"Huff... Huff..." She panted as Entrapta typed briefly into the computer, looking over the results of the data from the recent restoration. "Thanks... thanks g-AHHH!"
*crunch!*
"Adora!" In no time at all, the Force Captain closed her eyes as she threw her claws around Adora, lifting her off her feet and pinning her arms to her side. Scorpia cried out as she squeezed the renewed life out of her dear friend, overjoyed that her seemingly-dying friend was filled with life again, unaware that the same life was starting to fade from Adora's person as her face started to turn blue. "Oh, Adora, I was so worried about you!"
"Ack!... elp... e..." She squeaked, the color around her face darkening to a shade of violet as her eyes bugged out.
"Oh, I know, buddy! I'm here to help you!" Scorpia replied, squeezing tighter as she thought of all the horrible things that could've happened to her dear friend.
"Uhh... Scorpia?" Entrapta spoke up, pointing to the friend in question. "I'm not a hundred-percent sure she's supposed to be doing that, buuuuut..." Curious at the comment, Scorpia opened her eyes again, nearly jumping in fear as she saw the purple-colored face of her dying friend.
"Oh my gosh, I killed Adora!" She cried out, dropping her to the ground. The instant she was on the line between panicking and breaking down into tears at the prospect of killing her friend, reality returned to her as she saw Adora gasping for breath, alive, albeit, not well.
"HUUUUFF! Huff... huff..." Adora exhaled loudly, now feeling the life return to her. "I'm... huff... I'm fine..." Scorpia sighed before frowning a little. She was overjoyed that her friend was finally feeling alright, but it didn't get rid of the pressing matter of the issue.
"Adora, don't scare us like that." Scorpia said, squatting in front of her as she rested a claw on her left shoulder. "You had us really worried, you know?"
"I... I'm sorry, Scorpia, I just..." Adora frowned as she lowered her head, curling her knees against her as she hugged her legs. "...I just... I never feel right when I draw in all that power. Something... Something feels off every time I take the Black Garnet's energy."
"And once again, I'd like to remind you you're not technically taking the Black Garnet's energy." Entrapta corrected as she turned the monitor near her to face the two. On the screen, it displayed several different images of an outline of Adora, the Black Garnet, and two arrows between them with an arrow at the bottom pointing from Adora to the runestone, and an arrow above it doing the exact opposite. "You're filtering the energy, remember?"
"How's that any different from what Shadow Weaver used to do with the Black Garnet?" Scorpia asked curiously, still unable to understand for the third time.
"Because when Shadow Weaver was harnessing its power, presumably, she was taking all the energy for herself and giving the Black Garnet nothing in return, forcing it to recharge its own power." Typing away on the module for a few seconds, they watched as the display changed from its previous images to one of the shackles and devices connected by the wires. "After the Battle of Bright Moon, Adora somehow harnessed the headband's powers, and she's in a constant state of the Black Garnet's energies now."
"But why does she keep getting sick if she's constantly empowered by the garnet's energy?"
"i'm still working on that detail," she commented, tapping the pen in her hair against her chin as she analyzed the charts, "but from what I can gather from Adora's brainwaves, her consciousness and subconsciousness seem to be conflicting with each other constantly, and the ensuing struggle is making your body sick."
"My subconscious?" Adora asked. These were the first recordings Adora's heard back from Catra ever since she became sick. She had no idea what was causing all of it, and it finally looked like she was getting some answers! "So... the voices I keep hearing in my head...?"
"I still need to analyze that, but from what I can tell, your amygdala is on overload."
"I didn't know Adora still played with dolls?" Scorpia remarked, earning a brief blush against Adora's face.
"I-I don't play with dolls!"
"Noooo, the amygdala." Entrapta corrected, displaying the computer screen depicting a rough outline of Adora's head. "It's the part of her brain that deals with self-preservation. You know, by saying what's dangerous and what's safe?"
With the click of a button, the others watched as the screen split into two sections, with the left half displaying a rough outline of Adora's head, the frontal lobe colored with a red smear nearly twice the size of her head, and the right half depicting Scorpia's head, with the red coloring the same size as her frontal lobe. "Look, as you can see here, the brainwaves your frontal lobe are giving off are significantly larger than they're supposed to be. Whereas yours is nearly doubled in size, Scorpia's brainwaves are coming off as normal... although come to think of it, I didn't get much from trying to read Scorpia's brainwaves at all."
"Well of course you didn't," Scorpia smiled back, "there's nothing wrong with my brain!"
"...Yeah, that must be it."
Adora rose to her feet as she walked over to the monitor, the feeling and energy finally returning to her after her intense pain. "So... the voices I've been hearing all this time... is just my subconscious trying to protect me?" She nearly flinched as the monitors flashed for an instant before turning off, the purple-haired scientist pushing them back into place.
"From what I can tell... yeah."
"And... that would mean my shadows are appearing because..."
"Because your body is trying to protect you." She confirmed, gathering all the research data and papers in a bundle. "With all the fighting your conscious and subconscious is doing, it's spreading the actual darkness through your body. That's why your blood is getting infected by the magic and your veins turn black. I'm not really sure what would happen if your veins turned completely black, but I'm pretty sure it won't kill you."
"It doesn't mean your fever won't." While she might not have been as enlightened as Entrapta, Scorpia did know enough about sickness to add to the conversation. "If you keep trying to space out your treatment, you're going to make yourself sick-"
"Or if I use too much of my powers." Adora mentioned, looking at her own two hands.
That was one of the few things she managed to discover personally over the last month. Ever since she was gifted with these powers since the headband's destruction, the one thing that seemed to be keeping these side effects from appearing in the first place, she's noticed that the more she used her powers, the faster the black veins spread across her body, and without her treatment, in this case basically harnessing the runestone's power, she became too weak to fight. It also seemed to flare up just briefly during extreme bouts of emotion, something she was working on controlling again.
In a strange way, she became a lot like the princesses she hated. She needed the runestone to stay healthy and strong, and without it, she became weaker. She would happily declare it as a case of dramatic irony if it wasn't for the fact she hated over half of the other princesses who were a part of the Rebellion.
"It just... scares me sometimes... Like something could happen if I ever gave in." The voices she heard ranged from all manner of things, like how she should be doing something her way, how she shouldn't be showing any signs of backing down to someone, or how she should display her power to instill fear instead of respect. The one thing the voice almost always wanted from her, when she could understand it clearly, was power.
More, and more, power.
She didn't know what that would completely entail. Did it want her to try harnessing the powers from the Black Garnet? Did it want her to acquire more sources of power like the Black Garnet? She couldn't tell. All she knew was that every time she used this machine, for just one line of dialogue, she could hear this voice each and every time.
Luckily, she was surrounded by friends that supported her, such as the one behind her who patted her shoulder with a comforting smile. "You don't have to fear anything as long as we're around, Adora. I promise." It was at the brief look to her welcoming allies that she grew a small smile. Throughout everything she's been through, all that's happened between her and Catra, these were the last two people in the world she could trust. They didn't show any signs of ill intent, and Scorpia was always there to provide moral support whenever she needed it. Touching her claw with her hand, she gave a light nod to her before returning to Entrapta.
"Are you any closer to finding a way to fix this?"
"Unfortunately..." Adora could just tell by the change in Entrapta's expression. She was about to say the three words no scientist should ever say in their life! "I don't know. Not yet, anyway. I am currently developing a temporary measure in case you're ever needed somewhere for an extended period of time, but it's still under development. Sorry."
"It's okay. Least the machine still works, right?" It's not like she could expect Entrapta to fix all her problems at once as long as she was working for the Horde.
"But, I might have something to show you that might excite you! Something to make our droids a lot more fuuuuun~!" That was the one thing Entrapta cherished about Adora. Whenever it came to robots, weapons, anything that could be used to decimate an entire army with in a matter of minutes, it always brought a smile to the commander's face. She had just as much of an appreciation for the schematics and uses behind droids almost as much as she did, especially when they involved heavy firepower.
"Show me."
...
...
With a small blue shine of the floor, the entrance to the Beacon activated as the floor lowered from the underground tunnel. From it, an exhausted Catra could be seen stretching her arms out with the same irritated scowl that's haunted her for the last month. No matter what moments of fun she's had during the last month, she always came back to the same look of unease and discomfort as the days events replayed in her mind.
All the training, all the fighting, all the rebelling, and for what? The same thing every day. With each day that passed, there was no telling what sort of things the Horde were doing while she wasted time just trying to turn into She-Ra. Forget the fact she hasn't even mastered transforming her sword into whatever she wanted, she couldn't even turn into She-Ra when she wanted to! How was she supposed to help anyone if she couldn't turn into the person they needed to be.
These thoughts always caused her to squeeze her head when she vacated the Beacon, groaning in silence as she came to terms with what her life had turned into. A routine of fighting, training, angering, and annoying became everyday life for her, and chances were, she was going to experience a new emotion of irritation before the week was over.
*neeeeeigh*
"Ah-!" Oh, right, she almost forgot. The Horse. As much as she hated to say it, even when he nuzzled her against her wishes, Swift Wind was one of the closest thing to get any semblance of a smile out of her. She couldn't really tell why, either. Maybe she caught a sense of his emotions as the two had a bond through the sword, maybe it was something else. All she knew was that she felt a little more comfortable with him than anyone else around here lately.
With a nod to each other, she hopped on her noble steed as he took off to the air, soaring at great speeds through the beautiful day as they made their way over to the still-ruined castle. To think a month ago the castle was in complete ruins. At least a fifth of the outside walls were completely destroyed, the pillar that supported the Moonstone Chamber was nearly blasted apart, and the ravine was littered with the remains of broken droids and tank parts thrown across everywhere.
Now, you would barely recognize the place compared to how it once was. There were still some repairs that were needed to be done, but for the most part, the castle had been restored to its former glory. Most of the necessary walls were rebuilt, with a few small bits here and there that needed touching up, as indicated by the scaffoldings set up along the castle, as well as some blast marks that were noticeable near the waterfall behind the castle. Then everything would finally look good as new!
Even if it didn't feel like it.
...
"You should've seen it. With the Moonstone super-charged, I've been so much more powerful!" Glimmer stated, flexing her arms with pride. It was then that the three friends, Bow, Glimmer, and Catra, found each other again as they walked down the hallways. Through the small trek to the meeting room, Glimmer was still filled with excitement, Bow's expression showed signs of concern and deep thought, and Catra was still focusing on her sword until she heard Glimmer's tone perk up. "I must've taken out, like, at least five bots!"
"Hah, talk to me when you reach nine in five minutes, THEN we'll talk." Catra challenged, smirking.
"Five bots, nine bots, it never ends with the bots!" Bow stammered, pausing in the hallway as the two turned back.
"So? What are we supposed to do? Not fight?"
"The heck we aren'!" Catra grumbled, taking a step forward. "They're just going to keep coming if we ignore them! I say we hit them as soon as they show up, whenever they show up!"
"Exactly!" This was one of those few occasions where Glimmer was more than eager to agree with Catra. "The Horde is going to keep taking ground until the Whispering Woods regrows."
"I know, but how long can we keep this up?" It was the one issue Bow seemed to notice before all the others. No matter how many droids they kept fighting back, there were always more to take their place. "Did you learn anything from Light Hope?"
"Uhh... Not really, just the same garbage as before. You know, like 'I should always be focused', or, 'I have to protect Etheria', and all that... Eh heh..." Either Catra was getting worse at lying or the other two were getting better at telling when she was lying. This is pretty much how Catra's been for nearly the last month, with her always trying to pass off any questions about questions regarding her or Light Hope. They were more than aware she was hiding something from them, they just didn't know what.
"Catra," Glimmer spoke up with a pleading look, "what's going on with you lately?"
"N-Nothing! I'm just... a little stressed from all the training, that's all."
"Yeah, but you've been acting a bit stressed for the last few weeks now." Bow pointed out.
"Well what do you expect? I've been training everyday!" She snarled. "On top of fighting the droids with you guys, I'm working on mastering my powers with Light Hope. Just cut me some slack around here, jeez."
"We get that, Catra, and we're really trying to help you." It made Glimmer wonder if they were starting to lose some form of connection with her, given her recent shifts in mood lately. "We know you've been under a lot of stress since the Battle of Bright Moon. We even tried redecorating your room a little bit to make you feel more at home, but you still seem to be getting angrier."
"And why wouldn't I be? It's been feeling like the same day around here since the battle. I'm always getting called by Light Hope at random times of the day for more training and the droids keep invading our forests. It's just felt like one long day for the last month-"
"And it's making you think yesterday is when you had your big battle against Adora. We heard you before." The Princess of Bright Moon interrupted, shaking her head. "And we also know that's not the only thing bothering you, Catra. What else is going on with you?"
"Nothing, all right? Why do you need to know everything that's wrong with me?"
"So we can figure out how to help you." Bow chipped in. "It doesn't help anybody by keeping secrets to yourself like this, Catra. The sooner you tell us what's wrong, the sooner we can help you."
"You guys..."
How was she supposed to make them understand? This wasn't an issue with the amount of stress that's been tacking on lately or the fact she was still trying to be the best She-Ra she could be. The problem was she couldn't turn into the She-Ra she needed to be, and without She-Ra's full power, there wouldn't be any use for her if she couldn't help the Rebellion.
And she knew for a fact if she did tell them the truth, things would only get worse. They probably wouldn't let her assist them on their missions for her own safety, they wouldn't be able to use She-Ra's incredible magic to save themselves, and they wouldn't have the supreme strength that She-Ra displayed at the Battle of Bright Moon. This was beyond the issue of being unable to use She-Ra's incredible strength and more of an issue of Catra being needed, much less wanted, at all.
They wouldn't want someone who would put their friends or allies at risk, they wouldn't want someone who couldn't give it everything she had. It bothered her just as much as them that she couldn't explain what was going on, and that went on to the pile of Catra's neverending irritations.
"I... I just need time to sort out some personal issues, okay? I swear things will be back to normal soon."
The two dejected friends looked to each other in their brief moment, sighing in their minds at Catra's brash behavior. She was definitely back to being the same old Catra as before, albeit a little kinder than she's usually been. "Well then... Can you tell us how things have been with your training? Have you gotten any better at transforming your weapon into things?"
Finally, something to change the subject! "Of course I have!" She grinned. Raising her sword in front of them, the two watched as it began to glow with a bright light, transforming before their very eyes. "Behold! A... bowl of... some sort?" Ok... She was hoping for something along the lines of a katana or her favorite giant flail again, but it was better than nothing... presumably.
The strange bowl looked more like a pot of some kind, with the similarly matching colors of bright gold like most of her other weapons maintained, along with the encrusted blue jewel adorned in the middle of the beautiful work of art. Strangely, the part that threw Catra off were the round-shaped handles on the side of it, looking nothing like the pots and pans she's seen in the kitchen during her time in Bright Moon.
"...Pfffft! Hahahahaha!" Without warning, her two friends burst into laughter at the sight, unable to help themselves at the spectacle Catra's displayed.
"W-What?"
"Catra," Glimmer wiped her eyes as she felt a tear forming from the laughter, "that's a chamber pot!"
"Egh-!" If Catra wasn't worried about angering the sword or breaking it, she would've happily dropped it out of disgust. She's heard of the primitive toilets the people used in the past, and has never been so thankful to live in an era where indoor plumbing existed.
"Why didn't you transform it into a dagger or something?" Princess Frosta asked, appearing out of thin air.
"Wah!" The princess with pink hair jumped, startled by her sudden appearance.
"You should transform it into a dagger." Her eyes lit up as she smiled brightly at the Princess of Bright Moon. "Hey Glimmer, did you see me take out that robot with my ice daggers?"
"When did you get here?"
"She's been following us the entire time." Catra replied in her place, her keen sense of smell picking up the girl's scent several minutes ago. "Didn't you notice?"
"And why is Catra holding a chamber pot?" Frosta asked curiously.
"Mmmh I wasn't trying to make a chamber pot, I was going for a weapon!" She blushed.
"Hah hah, yeah, but at least now we don't have to worry about bathroom breaks in the middle of a fight, right?" Bow's attempt at humor was met with a twitching scowl on Catra's face as she turned to him. "Heh heh... heh... ehh... you're not laughing."
*clunk!*
"I am now." Catra clapped her hands in satisfaction after shoving the pot over Bow's head, covering it completely. The poor archer struggled as he tried to pry the golden pot from his head to no avail.
"Catra, can you take it off of him, please?" Glimmer asked as she turned back to the younger princess. "Anyway, we have to go. We have an important meeting to attend."
"The war council?" Frosta chirped with excitement. "I'm heading there, too. Better hurry, you're going to be late!" She winked, taking off down the halls with every intention to beat the princess down there in their glorious race! The very one Glimmer wasn't even aware of, and made her brow twitch all the same.
"...Do we have a new addition to the Best Friend Squad?" Bow asked in an echoey tone as the pot was still stuck over his face. No amount of discomfort could ever derail him from the possibility of new members.
"Shut up. Let's go. And Catra? The pot?" She reminded.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you." Catra mumbled, taking a few seconds of pulling from Bow's head until she finally pried the pot right off of him. "Besides, I'm going to need to use this later."
"Ewww. Gross."
"I MEANT TO FIGHT WITH!"
...
...
...
A/N: Feels like a good stopping point there with the length I have going. Like I said, writing might be a little iffy with what's going on lately, so hopefully its not too distracting.
With that said, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review, and hope to see you soon!