A/N: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFTAH! God, its been forever! What is up people, monokub back with a brand spanking new chapter to boot! Heh heh!...ehhhhh..
I'm not going to sugarcoat it- this was a really hard chapter to write. Why? I don't know. But for the first half of it I could barely think of what to write, and even what I did write I'm still not 100% sure of. Honestly, the latter half of this i actually managed to finish in under a day, it was the first half that kept giving me a delay, and I don't know why.
I'm not even 100% satisfied with how this game out in all actuality. The writings a bit choppy here and there and I feel like I skimmed out on some things. Idky, i just wasnt really into this chapter like I was the last three, hard to say.
Either way, hope you guys can still enjoy the extra long posting here with all of its faults, and with that being said, enjoy!
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"Ok. We'll split up to cover more ground." Glimmer instructed as she paced back and forth in front of her friends.
Today's mission in the Whispering Woods would be unlike anything they've ever done before. Normally, whenever they charged into the woods, it was to take out the invading Horde army of droids. Every day they spent wasting their time doing this, the Horde managed to acquire more territory across the forest, as well as the rest of Etheria. There was no rest for the heroes if they didn't want to lose one of the few means of protection they had against a Horde assault, the wood's mystical energies having protected them up until a month ago.
Now they were going to do things a little differently. Today, their main priority was not to destroy any droids they came across, but to capture one intact. During the previous Rebellion Meeting, Bow came up with the idea of creating a Kill Switch, a device that could stop the droids in their tracks, and heavily cripple the Horde's robotic army. They just needed to find a droid and capture it without destroying it.
And that, in itself, remained the problem.
Of the half-dozen heroes that currently stood alongside each other, there was one that went by the name of Catra, who was less inclined about keeping the droids intact and more in favor of ripping as many of them as possible to shreds. Everyday her anger's been rising since the Battle of Bright Moon, an event that still scarred her, both physically and emotionally. Not just because she was dealing with her conflicting feelings of Adora being her enemy from now on, but the fact she hasn't been able to turn into her full-fledged She-Ra form as she did during the climactic battle.
Something was keeping her back, placing a handicap on her She-Ra form, and she had no idea what it was. She was stuck with the weaker form of She-Ra that she has donned since her adventures began, the one with plain white outfit, golden tiara and bracers, and a short skirt. She couldn't attain the full power of She-Ra again no matter how many times she tried to during the last month, and it was getting harder for her to keep it a secret from the rest of her friends and allies.
Why should she tell them anyway? How would that make anything better? If she told anybody, there wouldn't be much of a use for her anymore, and that was the least of her reasons. Something about herself was keeping her from attaining the true form of She-Ra, the empowered version they desperately needed to turn the tide of war in their favor. She was holding herself back somehow, she didn't know how to fix it, and the last thing she wanted was for anyone to find out unless she figured out why this was happening in the first place.
Whatever was keeping her from unlocking her full potential was definitely on her, and she couldn't afford to let anyone find out for the time being. According to Light Hope, she has gotten a marginal increase of obtaining She-Ra's true form by a mere percentage, barely over two-percent of her previous form, so she knew she was making progress in some way. She just had to figure out how to obtain the form of She-Ra on her own, the same way she fixed all of her problems in the past.
On her own.
"Catra and I will cover the north and southern side of the woods." Glimmer continued, turning to her friends. "We can move the fastest, so we can cover more ground that way and react if one side has an emergency. Bow, Mermista, you two cover the-"
"Razorshark..." Mermista interrupted, reminding her of the codename she preferred at the moment.
"...Ughhh..." Glimmer rubbed her eyes as she groaned at the irritation. "Fine. Razorshark, and Bow, you two will cover the western side. Bow and Perfuma have the best chance of capturing a robot without damaging it too badly, which is why I'm sending her and Frosta to the eastern-" Glimmer paused as she looked at the empty space left of Perfuma. "Where's Frosta?"
"She said she had to take care of something for a minute." Perfuma replied casually.
"Oh come on!" Glimmer rolled her eyes as she moaned. "She kept complaining about coming with us after the meeting and now she's not even here?" She set up these teams with the idea that they would all be evened out and they would work well alongside each other. Even though Perfuma and Bow were more capable of capturing a droid alive, especially if she paired them up together, she placed the two on separate teams so they could balance out their partners' massive strength and magic. "She said she wanted to go with us, so why did she disappear all of a sudden?"
"I told you you shouldn't have brought her." Catra let out a bored yawn as she reminded.
"You said that about every mission."
"And your point?"
"It'll be fine, Glimmer." Perfuma spoke before the other princess had the chance to respond. "I can capture a bot just as easily by myself. And Swift Wind can help look for the bots and watch over me in case something goes wrong." Swift Wind let out a proud neigh to this as he lifted his head in agreement, stretching his rainbow-colored wings.
"I don't know... Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?"
"Don't worry, Glimmer," Swift Wind answered in her place, "I'll keep the fair princess safe!" He decreed, earning a satisfying smile from the princess of plants.
"Well... if you're sure then." She submitted, knowing time was of the essence to find a droid, the missing princess, and keep the two from potentially destroying each other. "Alright then, we should head out."
"And remember," Bow continued on, "we need an intact bot. No destroying, no tearing about, and no smashing."
"What if it was just, like, a liiiiiittle waterlogged?" Mermista teased with a grin.
"And also covered in ferns that secret a corrosive poison?" Perfuma added, raising a hand.
"How about if we just accidentally sliced a droid or two in half?" Catra tried to pitch in quietly, letting out a fake cough to cover up her involvement.
"No, no, and no." Bow retorted directly to the three princesses, Catra mentally scoffing with annoyance. "We have to capture the next bot without any major damage. Otherwise I'm not going to be able to make a kill switch."
"Alright, alright, I got it." The magicat groaned as she walked away from the group. "Let's just go already." The others looked to one another with a sense of unease before they took off in their assigned directions. On top of everything else the group was doing, there was also a particular reason Glimmer chose this order of friends to pair up with each other. Among them, only one of them could keep up with Catra if she ever tried to bolt or run from the scene, as well as someone she was most comfortable with out of the group.
And that person was none other than Glimmer herself.
Waiting for the rest of her friends to leave, Glimmer sped up to the feline girl as she walked along her side. "Hey, so... Catra? Can we talk for a minute?"
"Yeah, what about?" Catra didn't even bother giving her any attention as she leaned her arms behind her head as she walked.
"Well..."
"...It's about me, isn't it?" She could tell within seconds what Glimmer was trailing off to.
"Kind... of..." She's never felt so awkward before when talking to Catra. How was she supposed to approach the person who appeared to be getting angrier throughout the last month without making her any angrier than she was now? "I thought this would be a good chance to catch up on things since... you know..."
"Since I fought against Adora, right?" There wa a surprising lack of disdain in Catra's voice at this, though, Glimmer couldn't tell whether this was a good or bad sign.
"Y-Yeah... I mean..." Taking a deep breath, Glimmer prepared herself for the conversation that was about to follow. "Catra, you've become real distant as of late ever since the big battle."
"Well, yeah. What did you expect, sunshine and rainbows? I felt like I lost a lot on that day, Pinky, and I've been trying to ignore it." Just the fact she reverted to using Glimmer's nickname was more than enough proof to what Glimmer was saying.
"But it's more than that, Catra. You've been quiet about yourself and us more than you used to be, and that's saying a lot. You usually don't speak to us unless it involves fighting the Horde, you never tell us how much your training is progressing unless we ask first..." Glimmer glanced over the cat girl as she continued to look away, her tail's tip twitching with a sense of unease. "And I... I just want to know..."
"Know what?" Catra's hissed was followed by a moment of silence between the two, one that irked the half-human as she turned her head to her friend.
"I... I want to know if... If you're still mad at us about Adora?" The pleading look in her eyes and the question itself was enough to get Catra to stop in her tracks. How could she not know what she was referring to? It was a day that played endlessly within her mind ever since it happened.
It was the day of the big battle, when everything in Catra's life changed for good. After a harrowing struggle between friend and foe, Catra had finally achieved the true form of She-Ra and managed to gain the upper hand. She could match Adora's strength, dexterity, and magic with her own, and she was beginning to turn the tide for the rest of the Rebellion. It was the first time she got a feel for what it was like to be She-Ra, and she couldn't be more thankful for the timing.
But it was also the same day she had to let go of Adora, no matter how much it tore her up inside. She needed to let her go if she wanted to use all the power she had at that moment, to unleash every ounce of strength she needed to push back the intense wave of darkness she shot at her, and she couldn't do it. She couldn't force herself to fight against Adora knowing everything that happened to her was her own fault, not with all the guilt that had followed her up to that point. She risked possible death at the hands of a dear friend from her own guilt, and a part of her was willing to accept the consequences.
That was until her two new recently-assured friends teleported to her side, by the name of Glimmer and Bow. It was thanks to their support and encouragement, literally having her back when she needed it most, that was she willing to press on and stop Adora where she stood. It was a painful endeavor to force herself through, but one that came without a choice. If she failed to stop Adroa's attack, her life would be at risk, as well as the lives of her other friends and allies. They would've suffered just as much as she would if she didn't stop Adora then and there, and knew what she had to do.
She had to let Adora go. Throw away what little remained of their friendship at that moment. She couldn't risk the people she came to care for losing their lives because of one lousy decision she's made, all because she was too weak to push herself through whatever pain was necessary. And while it was thanks to their encouragement she managed to get passed the sadness that came soon after, it was also because of them that she had that pain to begin with.
They put themselves in harm's way by standing right beside her. They practically left her without a choice. They saw her unable to decide for herself, and they had to push her to make a choice against her will. And it was one of the most painful experiences she, or they, had ever experienced.
"I wouldn't blame you if you are." Glimmer continued, distracted by her fidgeting hands as she tried to speak through this sense of unease. "Even if it was to save you, we really didn't give you much of a choice, and I'm sorry for that-"
"I don't blame you." Catra cut off, the response surprising the Princess of Bright Moon. "Yeah, I was pretty mad when I realized it myself, but it's not like I don't understand why you did it either. If you hadn't, I don't know if I would've beaten Adora a month ago, and you couldn't risk anything happening to your other friends. So yeah," Catra continued down the pathway, "don't go thinking I'm mad about you or Bow forcing me to beat Adora. I'm not mad about that."
"You... aren't?" She couldn't tell what to make of the revelation. On one hand, it was good to know she didn't harbor any grudge against Bow and Glimmer, a worry that hadn't left their mind since the day of the battle. On the other hand, that still left one very important question unanswered. "Then why are you getting so mad around here lately?"
Catra's tail wagged aggressively at this as she went on. "That part's personal, so don't bother asking about it."
"Mmmmh..." One step forward, two steps back. That's what the situation felt like to Glimmer. Where she finally had one glorious question answered, she found another one waiting in its place, one that was more crucial to the current mystery surrounding Catra. Without any care of how she would react, Glimmer teleported from her spot as she reappeared right in front of Catra, blocking her path.
"Get out of the way, Pinky.'
"No, Catra!" Glimmer stammered. "I'm tired of you always keeping something from us. I thought after you accepted us as your friends you would be more open with us, but, if anything, you've been closing yourself off more and more!"
"Well what did you expect?!" She snarled back. "It wasn't exactly an easy week to get through a month ago. It was one problem after another, and it was getting worse every day right up to the very end! How can you expect me to accept so much of what's happened in that short amount of time?"
"I'm not asking you to accept anything right now, Catra! I just want to know what's gotten into you lately." Catra's expression softened as she saw the pained look in Glimmer's eye. "We're your friends, Catra, and you should feel comfortable with telling us anything. At least give us some sort of hint so we can figure out what's wrong."
"Pinky, I-!" Catra paused as she stared off to the side, an aspect Glimmer examined in full detail. No matter how far Catra pushed away within the last month, she still held the same kindness she's shown the others since becoming friends, proven by the fact she didn't threaten or growl at the irritating Glimmer. Catra wondered if she told Glimmer anything if she would leave her alone, trying to find any excuse to drop the conversation, even if it meant revealing a little of what happened. "...I messed up..."
"Huh?" Finally, some progress! And yet, it still seemed to be painful for her to bare. "You... messed up?"
"I... I did something I shouldn't have, alright?" While the vague tone in Catra's voice was offsetting, Glimmer could tell by the serious tone in her voice how much it was eating her up. "I thought about something stupid that I shouldn't have a few days after the battle, and I've been trying to fix it ever since."
"What were you thinking about?"
"... It doesn't matter. Just know that... If I ever seem mad at you or Bow about something, it has nothing to do with you two, alright?"
"But Catra, you don't have to worry about the others. Whatever it is that's bothering you, I'm sure they'll understand! You should feel as comfortable with them as you do with us, even if it takes awhile to get used to them, too."
"I don't have a problem with them, Pinky!" Catra stomped with in a gruff as she lead the way. "Yeah, they annoy me, and I'm nowhere near calling them friends anytime soon. Mermista's sassy, and I find her amusing at times, but she's still irritating the rest of the time. Perfuma's too nice for her own good and a love freak when it comes to plants. And don't even get me started on-!" Halting, Catra's head shot to the right as her ears perked up.
"Ca-?"
"Shhh!" Catra shushed, quietly yet firmly. Noticing her trance-like stare into the woods, Glimmer glanced over into the dark woods themselves, trying to see what was distracting her so much. One of the things she could never get over was Catra's keen sense of hearing and everything it entailed. She could hear someone two rooms over half the time, and on a quiet night, she could hear a guard belching from the entrance of the castle while they stood watch.
It was a detail she didn't prefer knowing.
With nary a flinch, lowering her eyes, Catra sprinted down a path of the trees, with nothing following her save for the sound of the rustling of leaves and twigs behind her. The magicat didn't care if Glimmer could keep up with her or not, she had to see what she was hearing for herself. If she was hearing what she thought she did, then it would confirm her recent suspicions about a certain someone that's been pestering her all throughout the last month.
Rounding the corner, she pressed her back against a tree as she came to a clearing, poking her head out just enough to see the person in question. Over in a small patch of clearing, on the other side from where she was, she saw the certain pipsqueak that's been bothering her on multiple levels as of late, who had her back turned to Catra as she examined something in front of her.
One that went by the name of Princess Frosta, the Princess of the Kingdom of Snows.
"Mmmh... come on... Open up..." She heard her mumbling as Catra quietly edged closer to her. Her body was twitching a little as she was hunched over something in her hands. "Why can't I get this stupid thing to work?" Being as quiet as possible, Catra neared the girl an inch at a time, trying to see what she was doing. From the small rattling-like noise she could hear, Frosta was messing with something in her hands, something small enough to conceal on her person at all times
"What are you doing?"
"Ack-!" The almost-twelve-year-old shrieked, startled at the sudden voice. For just a split second, Catra caught a glimpse of the small object as it jumped from Frosta's hand. It was just for an instant, but it was enough to see the rough wooden edges of whatever she was holding. Like any panicking child with something to hide, the young princess quickly hid it behind her back as she gave a stern look back to her recent eavesdropper. "What are you doing here?"
"We're on a mission, remember?" She could see the girl tense up as Catra crossed her arms suspiciously. "Better question is, what's behind your back?"
"N-Nothing!" She stuttered as Catra narrowed her brows. There was no doubt she was hiding something if the physical details behind it weren't enough of a hint for the magicat. Her mannerisms, the nervous twitch in her eyes, the fact she was still keeping both her hands behind her back. She could take any one of these hints and instantly know she was keeping a secret from her.
"Is that so?" Frosta didn't change the stern expression on her face even as Catra squatted closer to the ground so she was at eye-level. "Then what's behind your back?"
"My hands, duh!"
"Aside from that, you little brat."
"Nothing, Princess Pet!" She mocked. "I just froze my hands by accident while I was trying a new trick, so I'm trying to warm them up. That's all." Catra had to admit, for an annoying brat like her, she was pretty good at making up a fake story on the spot.
"Oh, really?" Catra scoffed, raising a hand towards her. "Then you won't mind if I help you warm up your hands then, right?" That little drop in Frosta's eyes didn't go unnoticed to the mentally-grinning cat. "After all, my hands tend to be pretty warm compared to most peoples'. Unless, of course, you really are hiding something..."
"Are you kidding? I'm not going to give you my hands!" Before Catra could call her out on her suspicions, she continued, "I've seen the way you clean yourself. I don't want cat slobber touching me!"
"I DON'T COVER MY HANDS WITH SLOBBER!" It didn't matter how much she cleaned herself on the occasion, mostly along her arms and her hands. There was no way she could snap back like that without the faintest of blushes. She was occasionally dirty when it came to grooming herself, she wasn't a dog that was drooling all the time. "And why is it taking so long to warm your hands up? Shouldn't you be more than hot enough with that stupid winter coat on?"
"I don't need to subject myself to your primitive ways of keeping your hands warm." She boasted proudly.
How the heck is putting your hands in a pocket primitive? She couldn't tell what irritated her more; how far this girl was going to keep whatever she was holding secret, or the dumb excuses she was coming up with to keep them hidden. With most of her direct methods of confrontation seeming to fail her, she resorted to the last trick on the tip of her mind. Mentally grinning, she let out a silent gasp as she gazed behind her. "Adora!?"
"Huh-?"
*swiff*
"Wha- HEY!" Frosta yelped as she felt the contents within her hands being swiped away. Within the three seconds she turned around to when she angled her back degree closer in Catra's direction, the magicat managed to swipe the mysterious objects right out of her hands, keeping the shorter princess at bay with her right foot as she pushed against her face. Catra showed little interest or care as she continued to push the childish princess back with ease while examining the object in great detail.
The small object in question appeared to be a small treasure chest-like box, with various symbols and designs based around the Kingdom of Snow's culture. Shaking it within her palms, she could hear a small rattling noise coming from within. Whatever was inside of the mysterious box had to be important if the small princess was so keen on keeping it hidden from the rest of the group, as well as Catra in particular.
The only bit of worry she had behind all of this was what could be so important that the princess refused to show anyone else?
"Get your smelly foot off of my face!" Frosta continued to grumble, trying to pry the small grip of Catra's claw nails had with her hair.
"What's in the chest, brat?" Catra questioned nonchalant.
"Nothing! It's not important, so just give it back!"
"If it's not important then why do you want it back so badly?" Smirking, she tauntingly shook the box around the princess's face as the contents within it rattled. "You seem pretty worked up about something not important..."
"That's because it belongs to me!" She growled back, refusing to use her magic to attack her unless it was absolutely necessary. If she tried to use her powers just to get back a seemingly-harmless box, it would create a great cloud of suspicions from the rest of the allies as well, and that would make her cover even harder to maintain. "It's not going to do anything for you anyway! You need a key only I can make with my magic, otherwise you're just wasting your time."
"Oh, really?" If there was one thing Catra liked, it was a challenge. If there were two things Catra liked, it was a challenge, and one that involved breaking and entering something, or picking the lock to a well-kept secret. Seeing the magicat's face brightened up with a grin, Frosta's eyes narrowed as Catra playfully lifted up her right pinkie, steadily growing a sharpened claw from it, and inserted it into the box without hesitation.
One of the many skills Catra was proud to have was the ability to lockpick anything with a small lock, such as this. Doors, small chests, etc., they were all toys for her amusement as she dug her claws within the locks. There was always a certain process that usually went along with this as she fiddled with her claw inside the small lock. Sometimes she could need to grow a second claw to help with the procedure, provided the lock was big enough to fit two claws in, but thankfully she seemed to be making progress as she slid her nails deeper into Frosta's secret.
As her pinkie twitched and shifted, hearing the small spring going off every couple of seconds, Frosta started to panic. There was no way she could allow anyone to see what was in the box, and she didn't think anyone could pick their way into the box before meeting Catra. With every centimeter she saw her finger slide in, a pound of fear and concern started to fill up in Frosta's heart. She needed to find a way to get her annoying foot out of her face, and to get the box at the same time.
Despite her childish demeanor, there were still some things even she was against doing, knowing it would tarnish her reputation as a princess and future Queen of the Kingdom of Snows. And yet, even she knew there was little choice she had in the matter. Desperate times called for desperate action, and there was only one thing she could do as her pupils shrank after hearing the small click, seeing the lid of the box opening by just a sliver.
There were no other options.
*CHOMP!*
"YEOUCH!" Catra yelped like never before as her eyes briefly bugged out, pulling back her injury and tossing the box a little in the air. In that amount of short time, Frosta quickly leapt into the air a good two feet as she grabbed the box right out of the sky, shutting it tightly before the contents could be revealed, then glared back to a jumping Catra as she hopped around on her right foot while holding her other one tightly in her hands.
In many ways, Catra could respect the underhandedness of Frosta's tactic. After all, when someone had something important they needed to accomplish, there were no rules about how far they could go to complete their mission or finish their task. At the same time, if there was one thing she couldn't respect, it was the stubborn eleven-year-old who just did the last thing she ever expected someone like Frosta to do, much less any princess for that matter.
She bit her squarely in the foot. Not enough to make it bleed, but more than enough to leave a noticeable bite mark and an annoying pain in Catra's left foot.
"Ptooey!" Frosta spat as she rubbed her mouth. "Blegh! That was disgusting!"
"YOU BIT MY FOOTY AND YOU'RE COMPLAINING?!" Catra screamed, gritting her teeth to hold in the ongoing screaming in her mind.
"Well I told you to let go of me!" Frosta yelled back. As Catra hopped on her foot, Frosta took the opportunity to freeze a small block of ice over the small chest, ensuring she wouldn't be picking it anytime soon. "When's the last time you washed your foot?"
"YOU DON'T GET TO COMPLAIN TO ME YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Catra's growls began to lessen as she rubbed the pain away. "I didn't bite your hand trying to get the box from you like you did!"
"Who do you think I learned it from in the first place!" Frosta reminded.
"Grrrrrr!" Catra's teeth clenched as she squeezed her fist. This was the final straw. She wasn't going to put up with a brat being annoying, refusing to tell her any of her secrets, and get away with biting her of all things at the same time! Her presence alone was enough to send a small shiver down Frosta's spine as she backed up a step, knowing she may as well have pushed her luck. "You know what? I'm done playing nice around you! You're going to tell me what's in that stupid box, and you're going to tell me right now-!"
*swish!*
"Catra!" With a gust of sparkling magic, Glimmer finally appeared as she teleported in front of the magicat, blocking her way to Frosta who hid right behind . "What is going on out here? I heard screaming for crying out loud!"
"The little brat bit my foot!" Catra yelled, showing her the thin trail of teeth-like bite marks around the edge of her bitten foot.
"She shoved her smelly foot in my face and she wouldn't let me go!" Frosta complained back, pointing to the older girl accusingly. "And she wouldn't leave me alone!"
"You've been acting like a spoiled brat around me wherever we go! At least I didn't go around biting you all the way!"
"You wouldn't let me go no matter how many times I begged you, and I was suffocating under your foot odor!"
"I don't have foot odor, and I washed it three days ago-!"
"Stop it," Glimmer finally shouted, looking back and forth to them, "both of you!" She moaned, rubbing her head from the migraine building up. Between turning her head back and forth to them screaming in her ears while yelling at each other, there was only so much she could tolerate on a daily basis before everything started to give her a headache. Rubbing her forehead, she turned to the innocent-looking princess behind her. "Now what's the problem, exactly?"
"She won't leave me alone." Frosta replied, frowning a little. "And she keeps bugging me."
"That's because you won't show me what's in your stupid box!" Catra crossed her arms with a grumble.
"Box?" The confused princess repeated, turning to her taller friend. "What box?"
"The pipsqueak has some box thing that she's been hiding from everyone, Pinky. I know she's hiding something from us and she won't tell me what!"
"It's none of your business!"
"Hold on, just wait a minute." Turning, she kneeled down before the Princess of Snows, trying to look as peacefully as she could given the circumstances. "Frosta, please, can I see what she's talking about?" Without moving her head, Frosta shifted her eyes up towards the sneering cat who stood behind Glimmer, then shifted them back to the former. She couldn't risk raising any suspicion from a fellow princess like this, not a real one, and continuing to act defensively as she was would only cause more trouble down the line.
With a sigh, shifting her eyes away, she pulled the small package from behind her back as she revealed it to Glimmer. Through the melting ice that slowly shrank away with Frosta's magic, Glimmer let out a silent "oh" to herself as she saw what was hidden. To Catra's confusion, the Princess of Bright Moon gave Frosta a soft smile as she patted her shoulder.
"I understand."
"Are you kidding me?!" She had to be kidding, right? Frosta annoys her to no end, she gets caught with some strange box she refuses to show Catra, gives that typical innocent kid look to her, and that somehow makes everything okay all of a sudden. "She shows you some mysterious box and suddenly you're okay with it?!"
"Catra, it's fine." Glimmer replied, rising back to her feet as she turned to her. Like any brat that annoyed Catra, she bared her teeth at the sight of Frosta sticking behind Glimmer again as she stuck her tongue at her.
"No it's not! She's been acting weird around here lately, and she keeps disappearing whenever we're fighting off these bots!"
"How does that make it suspicious?"
"I..." Scratching her head, Catra tried to ponder. "I don't know... exactly... But I swear she's hiding something, and it has to do with that box!"
"There's nothing wrong about the box, it's just a-"
"Then why is she being so defensive about it?" She refused to acknowledge that the box was harmless, or the contents it held within. "If it's not that big of a deal, then she shouldn't have to worry about showing everyone what's inside!"
"I don't want everyone else hounding me about it!" Frosta yelled back.
"Listen you little-!"
"Catra, relax!" Glimmer blocked the way as Catra leaned closer to the small one behind her. "It's nothing you need to worry about. It's just a-"
*-mble*
*rumble*
*Rumble*
The ground started to quake as a small tremble began to spread around them. The three looked around themselves as they felt the violent shaking picking up, watching the trees flutter with the force of wind and a few of the leaves raining from their branches. This was unlike anything the three had ever felt before when it came to quakes. It didn't spread out evenly, it didn't appear to be dying down, and it seemed to be lasting longer than any quake should.
In fact, to Catra's observation, the quake almost felt like it was approaching them. With each second that passed, the trembling began to worsen. Through the woods, along with the sounds of small forest animals flying and running away, she could pick up the bizarre sound of something rolling closer to them. She couldn't pick out exactly where the source was coming from, with the vastness of the woods echoing around them, except that whatever it was, it was heading straight towards them, intentionally.
After another ten seconds had passed, Catra shot a look to her right as the mystery-in-question came to them, growling to herself as she pulled out her sword. Looking in the same direction, Glimmer tightened her expression as she gathered a handful of her magic in the palms of her hands, her readiness to face whatever was approaching them being replaced with curiosity at its unique design. And, as expected, Catra caught the small glimpse of the shorter princess backing away into the woods, mentally shaking her head to her as she ran through the trees, then focusing back on the robot approaching them.
"What is that thing?" Glimmer asked, preparing in case she needed to teleport the two of them out of the way from being steamrolled.
"If it's something I can hit, who cares?" For all the frustrations she had to deal with for the last month, nothing quite relaxed her like bashing away a droid, the bigger being better to break apart into tiny pieces.
Unfortunately, her moment of excitement was taken away as she felt Glimmer grab her arm, lowering it softly. "Catra, no! Remember what Bow said? We have to capture it intact."
"Oh, come on! Just one little bash?" The magicat pleaded, eyeing her weapon and morphing her sword into a mighty... golden golf club with a sapphire jewel encrusted in the hilt? "...Or a dozen or two?"
"Not unless Bow says otherwise." She declared, gazing at the bot as it reached them.
Just five feet from the two, the massive round body taking up nearly the entire path, the two stood and watched as the robot came to an instant halt, the force of its movement pushing a small breeze passed their hair as they stood their ground. Waiting, watching, the two prepared themselves as the robot let out a low-pitched hum, a bit of steam rising from the bot as it began to unfold itself into the large creation Entrapa knew and love.
Their preparation and bravery were put to the test as the robot unfurled its limbs, seeing each of its arms stretch out in full length and its silvery metallic legs planting into the ground beneath it. From the six-foot radius that took up the bots being, the two took a step back as it unraveled its structure, standing at a glorious ten feet by the time it was fully transformed. And while it didn't have anything menacing about it with its design, there was an unsettling air filling the two as the machine towered several feet above them.
"What... What kind of bot is that?" The princess fought back the urge to gulp, trying to maintain a cautiousness in case this thing attacked on a moment's notice.
"I don't know, why don't you go ahead and ask it?" The cruelest of fates Catra had to endure at the present was the inability to smash this thing into a living pulp. She could make an assortment of different devices with her sword if she wanted to capture a droid alive, but, provided she could get it to work in the first place, she doubted there was anything she could make to capture something of this size. Save for its skinny limbs, there was no guarantee she could make anything big enough to pin this thing down.
"..." The droid continued to stand there in silence for a few seconds, gazing ahead of the upcoming path, then lowering its sights towards the two smaller princesses who tensed up.
"...Uh..." Blinking at the new creation, Glimmer relaxed her stance a little as she lowered her arms.
"What the are you doing?"
...
"What is it doing?" Adora asked as she watched along with Scorpia and Entrapta on the couch.
Back at the Horde, in the middle of one of Entrapta's labs sat three of the Horde's finest heroes and symbols of the Horde, from Adora's perspective, Adora, Scorpia, and Entrapta. After the ravishing display they managed to present for Lord Hordak, they were finally granted the honor of taking Entrapta's newest droid for a test run, and what better test could there be than the ability to try it out on the princesses themselves!
From the lab, the group had a front row seat to the large monitor in front of them, one that displayed everything from the robot's point-of-view. Through its eyes, they saw everything it saw around it, including the chance to see their surroundings even while it was morphed into a ball, as it traversed the warming forest. With record speed, the trio bore witness to the robot's grand speed as it traveled in its ball as it reached Catra and Glimmer only seven minutes after leaving the Fright Zone on its own.
It was definitely one of the Horde's, and Entrapta's, proudest of creations, and it had to goals on its mind. First, to test its abilities out on the princesses that defended the woods with their lives, and see how well it stacked up against them. If the robot did well enough against five princesses and an archer, aka Bow, then there was no telling how well these machines could do if they were mass-produced on a grand scale.
Its other objective was to locate, secure, and retrieve as many resources as it could from the First Ones' structure that stood within the Whispering Woods. As great as the robot was, it still took a large amount of resources to put together. In fact, it took nearly everything Adora had collected from the First Ones' Beacon as well as the vast amount of resources they were secretly provided with by the Kingdom of Snows.
With over two-hundred pounds of resources used to make a robot who required less than half of that to make, that was saying a lot.
"Why isn't it attacking them?"
"Well, it is still a prototype." Entrapta reminded, lounging around in a hammock of her own hair from behind the couch. "Right now, it's only designed to react in self-defense, so it won't attack unless they do first."
"So if they don't do anything, it won't attack?" Scorpia raised her brow as she tapped her chin. "Isn't that kind of, I don't know, unuseful, then?"
"Not necessarily." Entrapta replied as she dangled her legs over her makeshift hammock. "As long as they hit it in some way, the robot will react to them immediately."
"Unless they don't mind losing a few hundred pieces of First Ones' technology, anyway." Adora added, grinning. "They won't have any choice but to attack. Besides, I doubt we'll have to wait that long for something to happen."
"Why's that?"
Adora's grin widened as she looked back to the screen. "Because, why else? It's Catra we're talking about."
...
*twitch*
*twitch*
"...So... do we just keep staring at it or what?" Catra continued to stare as the robot's eye-like camera flickered a few times. There was something unsettling about a robot who continued to stare silently at someone instead of one that was bent on your complete and utter destruction. At the same time, Glimmer just walked around it like it was a statue, observing the robot at every angle, failing to find any weapons up close save for the carapace-like shielding it had around its limbs.
"It doesn't seem to have any blasters or weapons on itself. I've never seen the Horde build a robot like this before." There was something strange about the way the bot looked that rubbed her the wrong way. For some reason, it was giving her a sense of familiarity, like she's seen this sort of design in the past. She just couldn't put her finger on where though, as she only considered those she knew to be alive. "...And it almost looks familiar to me..."
"Why does it look familiar to you? It looks like a bucket of bolts like all the other ones do."
"I don't know why, it just... does..." Where were these thoughts coming from? The droid looked familiar to her? Why? How? What was her mind trying to tell her that she was unable to process?
Neither of the two were given much more time to examine the massive robot as it started to move again. With a creak in the gears of its limbs, the robot looked straight ahead down the path as it began to walk forward. The two gave each other a look before seeing the robot continue its casual march, wondering what sort of objectives it had if it didn't seem too interested in Catra or Glimmer instead.
Normally, to most people, they would be overjoyed at the sight of a monstrous killing machine walking away from them. Without any sort of worry that the robot was going to attack them, they could plan carefully. With Glimmer's teleportation, she could find the others, gather them all up, and, together, they could take the robot down without resorting to too much injury and keeping it intact. This was perfect!
Then again, there was also the one person who seemed put off by this action. Catra's brows narrowed as she saw the mechanical giant walk away from them. What was its deal? Did it think they weren't worth any of their time? Did it not see Catra, or anyone else, as a threat? Or was this its own way of insulting her and her inability to transform into She-Ra? Like it knew she was incapable of achieving her full power, and this was its way of mocking her for it?!
"Where do you think you're going?" She grumbled as she was reminded of the sword-turned-golf-club in her hands. Seeing how she never got a chance to try out this confusing game known as "Golf", only hearing about it from the occasional guards she's met in the hallways, she decided now was as good a time as any to give it a try.
From the basics that she knew of, she scanned the greenery around her until she came across a solid, round, stone, a bit lopsided and oval shaped with more than enough weight to it to get the robot's attention in one swing. Glimmer could already tell something was amiss as she saw the wicked glee on Catra's face as she collected the misshapen rock, twirling about the golf club in her right hand. "Catra, what are you doing?"
"Nothing, I'm just going to get its attention." She stated, positioning herself on the left side of the rock as she steadied the club in her hand. Never seeing the magicat play a round of golf, much less minigolf, it was confusing at first as she saw the magicat looking back and forth between her rock and the strolling robot. It was just when she saw the deceitful grin on Catra's face that she realized what was going on, too little, too late.
"Catra, no-!"
*thwack*
*CLANK!*
With the speed of a bullet, the feline struck the rock as hard as she could, launching the projectile straight at the back of the robot's metallic head, leaving a notable dent in the back as it stopped moving altogether with its head down. There was a fulfilling sense of accomplishment in Catra's mind as the robot stopped in its tracks, proud that her golfing skills seemed to be on par (no pun intended) with the average golfer, seeing how she nailed it squarely in the back of its head.
...
At the same time, the monitors displayed a whole system of random graphs as the screen gave off a dim purple hue. All around the screen's sides, Adora, Entrapta, and Scorpia bore witness to the multitude of details and equations being processed within the robots mind, calculating every detail involving Catra, her strength, and, to Adora's pleasure, her weaknesses.
"Orbko's algorithm allows it to pinpoint every precise detail of an enemies power from attacked." Entrapta explained as Scorpia and Adora looked in wonder. "Even if you were to tap it lightly against the back of your hand, it can calculate exactly how powerful you really are, and how much strength you can use. With that, I created a reverse algorithm so it can identify its enemy's weaknesses as well!"
"That's incredible!" It really was a marvel to have such a technological genius, and a princess as that, on their team. To think Entrapta would contribute so much to the Horde in the short amount of time she's been in it. It almost made her wonder how much of a threat she could be, in turn, if she was still working for the Alliance like she used to. "So it knows how strong Catra and the rest of her friends are now?"
"No, just Catra at the moment." She replied, twirling a strand of her hair in her finger. "LIke I said, it can't anything they do unless they attack it first, but it can process and create an entire list of potential team attacks once it registers the other threats."
"Shouldn't we warn Frosta about this?" Scorpia had concern for the young eleven-year-old, like any decent person would. "We've seen what that thing can do up close, and she's going to have to fight it at some point to maintain her cover, right?"
"Not to worry, it's already been programmed not to harm her, just like all the others have. On the off chance Frosta is forced to fight it, it'll follow its emergency orders to retreat to the nearest safe zone, either somewhere deeper in the forest, or back to the Horde for repairs."
"So, she'll be alright?"
"Of course she will, Scorpia." Adora comforted, patting her back with a sincere smile. "I wouldn't dream of Entrapta sending something out there she couldn't handle. Even if she couldn't handle Orbko, there's no way I would let Entrapta send one out that didn't register her as an ally, just in case. She'll be perfectly fine, I promise."
It did bring comfort to Scorpia's person for all the other reasons. Despite everything that Adora's gone through with her ex-best friend, her feelings of neglect and betrayal at Catra's hands, the aftermath of her grand battle with Catra, and the stress of being a commander, she was still the same Adora underneath it. The same one who cared about others and put them before herself, the one who resorted to violence second to almost everything else, and the one who cared deeply for her remaining friends and allies at her side.
Yet, it still didn't get rid of the pain she held for everything Adora continued to suffer through. She refused to talk about her conflicted feelings with Catra since the great battle, most of which had to deal with her overwhelming anger towards the magicat, and she continued to train everyday to harness her shadow powers while knowing the strain it was pushing her body through. She had so much going on and she refused to back down from her duties and take a break.
So, anytime she got a genuine smile out of the blonde second-in-command, seeing the amount of care and effort she put into those around her, it was heartwarming.
"Besides," Entrapta spoke again, "I wouldn't be able to make another one without the excess resources Frosta has to offer. Half of the materials I needed to make the robot came out of her kingdom." They all watched the TV as the robot finished its calculations and readings.
...
"Pffft, the droid doesn't even know what hit it." Catra chuckled, tapping the pole of the club against her shoulder tauntingly.
"Ugh, why didn't you just wait for the others to get here?" Glimmer groaned as she faced the smug cat. "We could've formed a plan to capture it in one piece!"
"Would you relax? Geez!" It was quite sad to Catra that once somebody became a buzzkill like Glimmer, they were always a buzzkill like Glimmer. "The stupid robot's not even movi-Urgh-!"
*WHAM!*
There was barely a second for Catra to react in time before a massive silver-coated fist slammed against her entire being, throwing her painfully against one of the sodden trees of the forest, nearly eight feet off the ground. Before she could even release a tiny breath, everything between her neck to her elbows was pinned against the tree, the menacing camera-eyed droid narrowing its lenses as it focused on her.
"Wh-eck..." Catra struggled to breath, lifting her arms weakly as she tried to claw away at the metallic substance. For such a scrawny robot, this thing packed way more of a punch than anything Catra's ever felt. It was like she was slammed with a massive skiff running at full speed, her injured arms being the one piece of resistance she had blocking such a devastating blow. It barely mattered whether she managed to block the attack at all, as the ensuing crushing of the robot's grip made that the least worrying thing right now as she saw the robot lift up its other fist, intending to finish its attacker once and for all.
*swish!*
Almost a second away from delivering the final blow, the robot came to a halt as a ball of purple energy struck it across the head. There didn't seem to be any injury inflicted, as far as Catra could see, as the robot turned its head in the same direction as its attacker, seeing an angry Glimmer glaring as she unleashed a barrage of her magic to save her friend.
"Haaaahhh!" She screamed wildly, throwing bolt after bolt of her empowered magic at the dreaded machinery. What few bolts that did manage to hit passed the robot's protective carapace only seemed to increase its processing power as it examined and calculated every detail about Glimmer's magic, each blow hastening the time it needed to study. Where it took an estimated fifteen seconds to process the magicat's strength, it just took under four seconds to fully process Glimmer's powers and abilities.
And, as it was programmed to do, it adapted.
Upon finishing the last detail, the robot's exterior carapace began to re-materialize around itself, forming a bowl-like shell around its arms that were slanted upwards away from the robot. Glimmer wasn't given a chance to examine this herself as her eyes widened in terror. Following the next bolt to strike against the robot's flimsy carapace, instead of bursting on impact like the rest of her magic did, it instead reflected off the silver surface, redirecting and shooting back at Glimmer at nearly twice the speed. She was helpless as she took the brunt of the attack straight to the chest, knocking her off her feet with a painful push.
"Ngh..." She mumbled, squeezing a hand around the center of her chest as she looked back. The robot simply stared at her as she groveled a little in pain, as if observing for its own sake to see what she could do next, then turned its attention back to the one designated as She-Ra as it applied more pressure to its painful grip. She could see the look in her friend's face as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to tolerate the pain as she growled through her teeth in pain. "Catra!"
With a solid burst of magic, Glimmer teleported from her spot as she reappeared over the robot's head, its point of view cut off from noticing her as the carapace over its head protected it. Perhaps that's why it was so surprised, wobbling in place, as it felt an increased mass grow over its forehead. From its analytical studies, it knew the Princess of Bright Moon was the one behind this, and it was already contemplating over a hundred different scenarios and simulations in which the princess would use her power again.
It just didn't have the capacity to shake Glimmer off its head, the young girl tightening her grip around the upper carapace, as it continued to analyze her magic.
Gathering as much of her power as she possibly could, Glimmer spent a large fraction of her power as she teleported herself, Orbko, and Catra, who was still trapped in the robot's clutches, away from the environment. When the trio reappeared, Catra was out of the robot's grip, the robot was dropping from its back, and Glimmer was thoroughly exhausted and several feet below her as they were transported over a hundred feet in the air, a drop that would've been more than enough to end the robot's life, or theirs if they were unlucky.
"Ngh," Catra winced as she shrugged off the pain, quickly looking around until she found the other falling princess under her, "Glimmer!"
Shaking the fuzziness from her recent expenditure of magic out of her hand, Glimmer turned back towards her rescued friend as she threw her hand to her, the teleporting princess extending her own as she tried to grab for it so she could teleport them again. Right as her nails brushed against the tips of Catra's fingers, she let out a startled yelp as she felt a powerful clamp against her leg, one that pulled her an arm's length away from her dear friend.
Unsurprisingly, below her she saw the robot staring back at her as it tightened the grip on her leg. With little choice in the matter, Glimmer let out a cry of anger as she attempted to blast the robot's head, at least enough for it to loosen the grip on her leg. Unlike before, however, the robot countered her attacks with ease as it raised one of its bowl-covered arms against each of her blasts, deflecting the attacks back into the air like they were nothing, and actually managing to strike back against Glimmer's hand, the dual spectrum of the assaulting magic and her charging magic shorting out her power in a painful burn.
"Ah!" Glimmer yelped, rubbing the burning sensation in her right hand, and fretting at the sight of the planet's surface they were nearing. With a growl coming from above her, Catra raised her weapon in front of her, praying with all of her might that it could transform into what she needed most right now. Luckily, her prayers were answered as the weapon shined and transform, forming into a massive ball 'n chain with a far enough reach to strike anything within ten feet of her, or below her in this case.
And like all the other times, she was unaware as the robot was scanning the sword's capabilities, computing and planning every course of action within its head on how to adapt to the sword's shapeshifting capabilities. It was thanks to this small delay that the robot failed to react in time as Catra swung her mighty flail, being careful to avoid Glimmer in the process, as she smashed the extended weapon across the robot's face, the sounds of metal scraping together as the spiked edges brushed against the robot's metal.
It was just the boost they needed to get the robot to release its hold on the Princess of Bright Moon, Glimmer releasing another blast of her magic with her other hand for good measure, and striking the robot right in the face. To their delight, this was enough to send the robot hurdling faster towards the woods below them, and gave Glimmer enough time to grab the chain of the long flail, waiting as Catra pulled her up closer to her.
With a large tug, Catra used all of her current strength as she pulled the princess closer to her, close enough so she could wrap an arm around one of Catra's legs. With a final burst of her magic, Glimmer concentrated as she teleported the two of them to safety, avoiding the same grisly end that awaited Orbko not three seconds later.
When they reappeared again, it was back on the solid ground they knew and love, or at least a couple feet above it if the proceeding fall was any indication. The two let out a small yip of pain as they landed on their sides, out of breath, their hearts still racing from the immense strain they were pushed through within the last minute, and panting with sweat as Catra wiped her brow.
But at least they were alive.
"Huff... Huff... " Catra huffed as she sluggishly pulled herself off the watery ground of the forest. "Okay, I'll admit it... for once... huff... I'm sorry... for hitting the stupid... stupid... robot..."
"Mmh..." Glimmer moaned as she felt around her right hand. There were a few sparks of the backed up magic buzzing around it, but she could still fight with it. "Catra, what kind of robot was that? It knew how to fight against us, it..." She was still trying to comprehend the way that robot morphed its carapace around itself. "It changed its body somehow... It threw everything I had back to me."
"Tch, well, you, maybe, but I'm pretty sure I could take him." She commented, about as half-enthusiastic than she actually sounded like. The robot just got the drop on her, that's all. She was pretty sure she could handle the robot again if she came across it anytime soon without her She-Ra powers.
...She hoped she could take that thing without her She-Ra powers...
Their one moment of relief flew away from them as Glimmer's eyes widened, looking through the magicat with a face full of fear. "C-Ca-Catra!" She struggled to say, the terror of the horrifying creation still fresh in her mind.
Catra didn't need any explanation as she felt the ground beginning to tremble around them, springing up to her feet and turning around to face her charger. Like before, as Glimmer was helped off the ground, the familiar bot approached them in its massive ball form, surprisingly carrying itself a good distance from wherever Glimmer dropped it in the middle of the forest. Approaching the two who slowly backed away, the robot unfolded its entirety just three feet from the duo of heroes. Outside of a few scrapes and scratch marks from its landing, it was still in pristine condition, as if it was barely injured.
"Uh... Do you think you could teleport this guy any higher?" Catra asked nervously, transforming her weapon back into the familiar blade. "Like, high enough to guarantee he won't be getting back up anytime soon?"
"I can't. I spent too much energy teleporting the three of us the first time and then the both of us the second time." Glimmer informed, barely getting a small aura of her magic around both of her hands. "I could teleport the both of us at least once before my powers are tapped out."
"Ngh... there's got to be something we can do..." Catra muttered, raising her sword up to her chest. With all of the data its collected and observations its recorded, the robot did something neither they, nor the people viewing through its camera, thought it would be capable of.
Raising both of its hands to its own chests, the others watched as the carapace-like armor around its arms began to morph around its limbs and stretched over to its hands. There, the mysterious robot materialized two incredibly large maces, ones that were half the bot's size in length, and twice the size of its head at the tip, spanning a good five feet diameter, as the spiked clubs became whole.
Like Catra, it had transformed its parts into virtual weapons.
...
"Wow! I didn't know it could do that!" Scorpia exclaimed, sitting on the edge of her seat as she watched the performance. Curiously enough, there was a small silence emanating from the scientist herself, who gave off an aura of uncertainty as she tilted her head.
"That's... interesting..." She commented amidst confusion.
"What you mean by interesting?" Adora asked back, feeling a sense of dread filling upon her.
"Well... A-And it could just be a small variable that I missed, but..." Was she truly seeing this? An actual breakthrough in evolutionary technology? Is it possible that there is something that she, of ALL people, actually didn't account for in her design?! "I... I didn't think it could morph its carapace in such a way."
"You mean it was an accident?" Scorpia suggested casually to the concerned girl.
"I-It wasn't an accident! It was just... surprising!" There was no way she could allow something like this to blemish her scientific reputation! If word got out that she created something accidentally without the intention of doing it accidentally, there was no way the scientific community would let her live it down! "I just made the bot more advanced than I originally thought, that's all!"
"Huh... that's not going to be a problem, is it?" Adora rubbed her chin as she saw the several charts and graphs displayed around the monitor's screen. Even now, there were thousands of coding and information being downloaded into the robot's processors, the robot processing a gigabyte's worth of information every second.
The purple-haired genius gave off a shrug as she descended from her hammock of hair, sitting cross-legged against the couch. "Mmh... there shouldn't be any sort of problems as long as any unexpected variables come up."
"Unexpected like how?"
...
*Clank!*
"Haaaaaah!" A small voice yelled as she jumped atop the robot from above the tree branches. To both, Glimmer's and Catra's surprise, right as the robot was about to lift one of its mighty weapons, the small blue princess of ice known as Frosta jumped into the air, delivering constant pounding against its thick skull as she batted away at the mysterious robot nonstop.
Like all the other droids, and her time within the Rebellion, she was constantly reminded that if push comes to shove, she was supposed to fight against the droids alongside everyone else, even if they weren't attacking her. As long as the rest saw her fighting at their side, whenever she was around, there wouldn't be any room for possible suspicion. While she didn't enjoy the idea of fighting against the creations of her current allies, she still didn't hold anything back when she was forced into the scenario, showing off as much of her power as she could to prove to the Rebellion whose side she was on.
Then again, considering the new droid was supposed to retreat upon seeing Frosta, she knew she didn't have to go all out and destroy the mysterious new creation after meeting it for the first time.
"Frosta?" Glimmer spoke up, almost dumbfounded by her appearance after seeing her unexpected reveal.
"What do you think you're doing, brat?" Catra asked in a mildly aggressive tone compared to Glimmer's. "Get away from that bot before it sees you!"
"Your welcome, by the way!" The shorter princess scoffed at the unwelcomed greeting and lack of gratitude as she continued slamming her ice-covered fists against the massive robot. Taking Catra's own words into advice, the blue princess held back her continued assault as she ran her way to the edge of its head, hanging one hand over the top of the carapace and dangling right in front of the robot's sensors. She gave a short pause at this as she allowed the robot to see her face for a few seconds before pulling back her other fist and slamming it straight across its face.
Naturally, the robot stumbled from the impact against its face as the sensors going off within it were in a temporary state of disarray, allowing Frosta enough time to jump down from the mighty bot as she continued to work her literal magic. Placing both her hands upon the ground, Catra and Glimmer saw a large thick blanket of ice growing around the robots legs, rising all the way up to just below its knees as it struggled to break itself free.
"Hmph," Frosta smirked as she prepared to follow up her last attack, "now I got i-! Hey!"
"What do you think you're trying to do?!" Catra cut her off as she grabbed the princess by the collar of her winter coat. Frosta didn't show any signs of fear as she tried to pull away from the angry girl's grip, directing her anger back to the magicat who had yet to deliver any recognition for her actions. "That thing's gonna destroy you in one stomp!"
"I can handle the robot myself, Catra!" Frosta puffed up her cheeks as she kicked her little feet that were a full two inches off the ground. "I thought you'd be happy to finally see me fighting a robot for a change!"
"I'll be happier to see you getting out of the way, shrimp!" She knew this was just a part of her plan, it had to be! Sure, go ahead and make Catra look like the delusional bad guy around here, make everyone think she's off her rocker. Then, when anyone else starts to notice something around here, leap in to save the day and make yourself look like a hero in front of the rest! "If you wanna be useful, go find somebody else, got it?"
"I can be useful on my own, princess pet!" It almost felt like Glimmer was being pulled into the conversation she wanted no part in as she was insulted just now.
"Knock it off!" Glimmer instructed as she tried to pull the two away from each other. During this time, the robot lifted its cleared vision up to the petty squabbling away from it as it started to process what the princess had just done.
...
Its primary objective was to defeat the Princesses of the Rebellion and secure resources from the Beacon for the betterment of the Horde army and its creator.
But this child attacked it.
It was not supposed to harm Frosta during this excursion as it followed through on its task.
But this child attacked it.
It was only supposed to fight back upon being attacked directly, save for their dearest ally who went by the name of Frosta.
But this child attacked it.
It was supposed to-
-attacked-
-unable to comply with protocol-
This child-
She was registered as an ally-
-child attacked-
*bzzzt*
*zzzzzzt!*
In the monitors all of their faces lit up as an "Error" message started to appear over the large monitor, the robot's weapons morphing back into the protective carapace as it squeezed its own head in confusion. It wasn't supposed to fail its mission, and it was supposed to protect itself from any dangers as long as it was on its mission. So if the princess attacked it while they were on the same side, was it supposed to register it as an enemy, or let it continue? It couldn't allow itself to be destroyed with its mission at stake, and it couldn't attack a fellow ally either.
All the charts the three had been monitoring since the start of its adventure began to spiral out of control. The algorithm on the bottom right was ascending with a constant flow of numbers and letters falling rapidly across the screen, the bar graphs began to rise and fall in a constant waving motion, causing the bars to dance around one another. The scans and observational records it recorded in the center of the right side was flipping endlessly as hundreds of words blinked across the screen over the last minute.
It was a strange event to see through the eyes of the robot as it calculated everything it needed to know about this paradoxical conundrum it found itself upon. Out of the three curious onlookers, one of them were giving off a show of fear as she nibbled against the ends of her twintails, the fear in her eyes becoming all too evident to anyone around her.
"Uh oh..."
"What's wrong?" Adora never took her eyes off the mysterious sequence as the graphs started to overlap each other, bouncing around the inner workings of the creation.
"Um... remember when I mentioned that unexpected variable about two minutes ago?" She gulped.
"Yeeeeees...?" Adoa almost rolled her eyes to the back of her head as she felt a growing concern rushing through her.
Well... right now, the robot's trying to understand the fact Frosta attacked it while she was still on our side."
"Yeah, and?" Scorpia chipped in, feeling like she was watching a science fiction movie beginning to unravel its stunning plot twist.
"Annnd with its technology, its trying to figure out how to adapt to the given scenario it was presented with. Up till now, I thought all of its adaptions would be on a physical level," Adora and Scorpia's heads turned to her as they could grasp at the basics of what she was implying, "not a mental, or in this case technical, level."
'Why do I feel like there's a "but" coming along?"
"Buuut," Entrapta continued as she proved Scorpia correct, "its incapable of fighting against its primary programming and personal instincts for survival. So, in order to compensate around that, I think its rewriting its original coding, and trying to assess the situation on a personal level."
"And... that's bad becaaause..." Scorpia and Adora weren't prepared for the answer that was given to them as the screen flashed with red.
Instead of telling them up front, they witnessed an incredible feat of the robot's own design as it re-scanned Frosta's entire body with a white-ish outline covering her. With several lines of information protruding from the young girl, the robot re-established its primary protocols as it readjusted its targeting. Before their eyes, they watched as Frosta's outline switched from its designated white outline, to a deep shade of red.
"Because now it sees her as an enemy... But on the bright side, I created the closest thing to artificial free will!"
...
Back with the squabbling trio, none of them were aware as the robot's purple-colored lens started to change to the same shade of red that the others saw through the monitors. It realized now that its targeting system was flawed if it was meant to complete its primary objectives. With a bit of a spark running across the bot's head, it readjusted its parameters as it overwrote its primary programming, and changed the perspective on what was and wasn't deemed an enemy.
It wasn't until the ice started to crack that the three finally noticed the robot breaking free, covering their faces as shards of ice flew passed them with a gust of wind. Looking back, the robot was back to its functioning form, its lenses covering a third of the top half, as if to give the robot an angry glare-like appearance.
"It broke free!" Glimmer panicked, realizing the valuable time they wasted arguing when they should've been more focused on the robot instead.
"I've got this!" She didn't gave anyone a chance to respond as Frosta grew a black of ice over her hands in the shape of two oversized mallets. Before Catra could even grab her, the girl jumped headfirst towards the robot, hoping to beat it back again, or to put on the display that she was trying to, long enough for the robot to turn away or be destroyed by the others. That chance never came to her as she let out a sudden gasp of air, feeling the robot's powerful fist wrap around her neck. "Gaghhhh!" She coked.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very, wrong. The robot wasn't supposed to be attacking her in any circumstances, even to defend itself. If anything, it was supposed to dodge out of the way in a convincing manner, to make it look like it was actually trying to fight back against the wolf in sheep's clothing. The fact she could feel her airways constricting as the robot tightened its grip was enough to prove to her that it wasn't trying to put on a mere performance.
It was defending itself by any means necessary.
"Hey!" No matter how angry she was or suspicious of her, Catra would never let a walking trash can like this harm one of her allies without her say so. "Let her go!" With no signs of fear, the cat lunged towards the massive bot, intending to give it a much-needed scalp removal regardless of the protests, only to find the younger princess being thrown directly at her.
*wham!*
"Agh!" She squeaked as Frosta was chucked directly into her stomach, crashing her back a few feet passed Glimmer and skidding across the rough ground. So, on top of her sense of pride taking a hit, followed by being slammed by what felt like a truck and nearly choked to death, she could now add being shot at with a girl over half her size to her list of injuries for the day. As much as she wanted to yell at the idiot for doing something stupid, her safety came first. "Egh... You okay?" She winced, rubbing her sore head as Frosta rubbed one of her frozen mallets across her own head.
"Mmmh..." The short princess barely spoke a word as she looked back to the robot in a mix of fear and worry. It... It attacked me... All eyes turned to the robot as it stomped its way over to the three princesses, reforming the giant maces within its hands once again.
Its priority was to defeat the princesses and acquire First Ones' technology from the Beacon and return to the Fright Zone with a handful of equipment.
It wouldn't allow anyone to interfere, and was designed to combat against any and all threats determined to be its enemy.
And right now, it determined everybody out here to be its enemy...
...
...
...
A/N: So, how'd you like it ^^!... no seriously, that was an honest question XP Lol i really don't know why I had so much trouble with this episode. Even though it skims on the episode a bit more than usual, that hasn't stopped me before. Maybe its the fact I skimmed on it at all that kept me from writing so much? Who knows. Either way, I really do hope you guys enjoyed it for its length and apologize for the long wait. Next one HOPEFULLY wont take as long as I have a solid plan for it- an hoping to end the episode next chapter too ^^
With that said, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!
Btw, WE HIT 300 REVIEWS! ALL TIME SHE-RA (2018) RECORD ^^!