A/N: Word Count: 10.3K Pre-A/N's. Ah, nothing brightens my mood than being able to push out 10k or so words of a chapter in under a day for all the fans of my work ^^ I'll be honest, this is probably one of the harder ones to write out for. Not because the episode is bad or anything, but because the scenes shift so vividly , and when it comes down to it, nothing really "happens" in the episode. It just goes from Adora and the gang seeing a town, catra working, more exploring, catra filing, more exploring, and THEN it twists things "shockingly" by focusing on Entrapta, and THEN more exploring.
Although I will not deny, the look on Hordak's face when Entrapta greets him for the first time is one of the most if not the most memorable moment of season 2 for me XD.
Anyway, onto the show!
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...
"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! You're going to love this part next!" Scorpia declared, just as excited as when the tour began.
"Yeah, you... said that about the last four places too." Frosta commented as they walked through the doors.
So far the tour has been... interesting, to say the least. With the goal of improving relationships with one another, Adora had invited the Princess of the Kingdom of Snows, Frosta, over to the Fright Zone for a guided tour of the land. Ideally, she wanted to show how great the Fright Zone was, and how much better the Horde was than the Rebellion let on. She had numerous places to visit with her, wonderful things to see, and was hoping to show the princess that the Horde could be trusted.
So, it wasn't at all surprising her day got immediately ruined the moment a pair of guards showed up t the lunchroom reminding her of the dozen or so stacks of paperwork she had waiting for her, which she forgot was scheduled on the same day of the tour. With her attention preoccupied, she left the remainder of the tour to her trusted friend, Scorpia, hoping to finish the paperwork in time to continue the tour with them.
Thus, the two found themselves exploring the Fright Zone on their own, or what little of the tour Scorpia showed the princess herself. So far, a majority of the tour had consisted of simple places Scorpia thought they should start out with, such as the bunk rooms, the locker rooms, and the outside of the Fright Zone as she wanted to save the best for last. She thought the princess was having a great time, and, given Frosta's maturity, it was really hard to tell otherwise.
And, unsurprisingly, the tour came with a lot of strange looks from the people they passed by as the tour progressed. It's not like the young princess couldn't understand. After all, when you saw what looked like one of the enemies being escorted by a Force Captain and a pair of personal guards, it was bound to raise some eyebrows. Frosta just wished they were a little more informed about how they were allies now so she wouldn't feel so awkward around them.
At least now, they were finally exploring one of the training rooms, which alone sounded much more interesting than the rest of the tour had been so far.
*tweeeeeeeeeet*
It was the sounds of the whistle going off that first drew Frosta's attention before the door even opened. When the metallic doors fully opened, the second thing she was greeted with was the sight of a room full of children running from one end of a track to the other. All of them seemed to be excited as they raced against one another to the opposite end back and forth, actually enjoying the experience.
"Oooh, I love watching this!" Scorpia's eyes sparkled again as she watched the roomful of children exercising back and forth. "This is one of our training facilities for the really young cadets. Adora, Entrapta, and I usually watch them at least once a week for fun. It's where all the kids first start their basic training."
"Yeah... real young..." Frosta muttered, watching in curiosity as some of the kids went back and forth. To be honest, she was rather surprised at how organized they were. All the kids were enjoying themselves while training with one another, all wearing matching uniforms and actually following the orders that they were given by their blue-skinned instructor. Despite being so young, looking to be a mix of ages between six to age, they were already mature enough to do training like this.
She would've found it really noble, in a sense, if it did't bother her so much. "Aren't they a little... you know... too young to be doing this, though?" Frosta asked, noticing how some of the kids barely came up to her shoulders."
This wasn't like anything she had to put up with since she inherited her kingdom. She was a princess, she had a land to rule over, it made sense that she had to grow up quickly from where she came from. She decided the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the kingdom, she couldn't be doing simple stuff like playing "Hide-'n-Seek" or throwing parties whenever she wanted to. She sole life affected the lives of everyone, and even if she didn't want to at times, she had to grow up for the sake of everyone.
These kids, however? Did they really have to be throwing their lives away by working as soon as they could run, much less walk? There weren't many, if any, kids that looked to be any younger than six, but this was different to her. To her, these were everyday people who were being taught to grow up as soon as possible, to train to become fellow members of the Horde as early as possible. Was this really the life for these kids? For anyone growing up in the Horde?
Noticing the lack of enthusiasm emanating from the blue princess, Scorpia gave her a small comforting smile, trying to brighten her mood. "It's not as bad as you think. Most of these kids are just going through the basics of everything. They get to have the most fun around here."
"Oof!" The two were briefly caught by the sound of a small girl with brown pigtails falling to the ground. Thankfully, she appeared to be fine, even happy as two of her friends came to her side as they helped her up, even if it meant going back in the middle of their run."
"In the Horde, we believe you're never too early to train. With these training courses and classes, we teach the kids the basics of everything, so that they all have an opportunity to accomplish some task when they're old enough to fight. We also do it early to see how well some of the kids excel in the courses, because if they do a good enough job, they get promoted to the advance programs. I probably never would've met Adora if she wasn't so good at what she does!" She said with a sense of pride.
Frosta guessed she could understand that, to some extent. Seeing how gifted a child is was a normal thing in the world, with some becoming prodigies or just naturally gifted in something at such an early age. She could also understand the idea of training someone in all fields of knowledge, from science, to math, physical education, and so forth. Perhaps that much she could agree with as she continued to watch.
As she contemplated said thoughts, it became a little more evident at how much was taught to these kids as the same girl from earlier noticed Frosta watching them. Seeing her, one by one, the other kids who were running the tracks slowly came to a stop as they all noticed the princess watching them, staring at her in a state of disbelief. For a moment, Frosta looked behind her in confusion before realizing it was her that they were all staring at.
"What?"
"Ahhhhh," the first girl screamed in high-pitched terror, "it's a princess!"
"Ahhhhhhh!" Immediately, all the kids began to scream as they ran away from the track, covering behind their instructors legs as they all stared at her in fear.
"Calm down, calm down! She's with us!" The instructor tried to soothe as he explained.
The feeling became a little dreadful to the young princess as her expression dropped a little. That one scene of fear and dismay instantly told the princess just what exactly they were being taught as children, watching them as some of them sniffled, others with tears in their eyes, as they complained to the instructor about the evil princess that occupied the room.
Feeling the tension rising through the air, Scorpia gave off a nervous chuckle as she patted the princess's back, leading her out the door. "Heh heh, uh let's go explore somewhere else." She suggested, trying to keep the tour under control as they left. The young princess halted as the doors closed behind them, staring back at the metallic door with unease. Two things bothered her at this point.
First, their reaction at simply seeing the young princess. She wasn't unfamiliar with the Horde's viewpoints on princesses and whatnot. After all, the only "good" princesses that seemed to be roaming through the halls of the Fright Zone were Princess Scorpia and Entrapta, the latter of which she hasn't seen since the tour began. Even without her, the children considered something that should be feared, a monster. She was the most terrifying being to them at such a young age, and one capable of sending a few of them into tears simply by looking at her.
The second thing that bothered her? How much of this tour was legit. Maybe there was a reason Scorpia started off the tour by showing her all the boring places of the tour- they were less occupied. It was bad enough to get a couple of weird glances from the hallway from time to time, but to be seen as a terrifying monster to a bunch of children in a small room, while doing nothing more than watching them play around?
Awful. Terrible. It was the worst feeling in the world. And there was no telling how much the rest of the Horde was like as long as Scorpia was the one leading things here.
"So, you ready for the next stop?" Scorpia offered, taking the lead as she walked ahead a little.
The young princess stared at the ground in contemplation before lifting her head to her. "Say, Scorpia? Is there any chance we could, I don't know, take a break or something?"
"Are you getting hungry? I know it's been awhile, but we could still have a late lunch if we head straight over to the cafeteria."
"No, I mean... why don't we just take a short break. You know, just walk for a little bit, stretch our legs."
Scorpia blinked as she tapped her chin at this. "I'm pretty sure we've been walking this whole time, but sure! That's fine. There's a tracking field on another floor we could head to if you want-"
"No, like, walk by ourselves, take our minds off the tour for now."
"Oh. Um, I don't know. Adora was pretty insistent on sticking together throughout the tour and all that, so I'm not sure if-"
"That'd be great then!" She insisted. "I'll walk around for a bit, and you can check on how Adora's doing. She was supposed to be on this tour with us after an hour, right? It's been awhile now."
"Mmh..." Scorpia was at a loss on how to proceed. If she took her advice, Adora might get mad at her, but on the other claw, she was getting worried about how her friend was doing. She seemed a little out of it earlier this morning, and it has been several hours since she saw her. "Well, I guess that's okay then. We can meet back here later then, okay?"
"Sure!" The princess replied with slight enthusiasm as she walked off. "I'll see you later then, okay?"
"Okay!... Oh! And make sure you stay out of Hordak's room. That was Adora's number one rule!"
"I will!"
Scorpia smiled as she waved off, heading in her own direction as she searched for Adora. Waiting for Scorpia to leave her view, a more determined look of certainty crossed Frosta's expression as she went down her own hallway, her faithful guards still sticking by her all the way.
It was time to see what a personal tour would do to enlighten her.
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...
The four friends continued to search the outpost on their guard, sword, magic, arrows, and horse at the ready.
The journey through Alwyn was proving itself to be a little more disturbing than first impressions initially let on, and those told them the place was deeply disturbing to begin with. With an eerie sky blanketing the town with shadow, the sound of silence and wind being the only thing talking to them, and an abandoned outpost with nary a soul or person, alive or otherwise, to greet them, and there was no telling what mystery had befallen this place.
It was their mission to investigate the disappearance of the outpost's communications, the site going silent throughout the last week. So far, the only thing greeting them was a darkened sky, a hollow mist that swept the village, and their own nerves standing on edge after every step. The ground itself was practically shouting at them as they stepped, the village was so silent! Their mission also came with another personal mission which involved the majority of the group.
What to do with Catra.
The girl had a personal vendetta against a purple-haired scientist from the Horde, one she wasn't going to ignore without getting her claws on her. Throughout most of the morning, even now into the afternoon, the girl hadn't given up her thoughts of revenge against the one person who betrayed them, the girl Catra agonized with guilt over for several weeks, and she wasn't about to anytime soon. The problem was, with this quest for vengeance, Catra was losing a part of herself.
Metaphorically and literally.
With every hour that vengeance swelled her mind, another portion of She-Ra's power, the very thing connected to Catra's heart, was depleting. Despite all the work the girl had done throughout the last week, all that power she obtained by bettering herself, she was selfishly losing it. She cared little about how things would turn out if she stormed the Fright Zone to find her, and with every thought she had about getting payback, a fraction of She-Ra's power was going down the drain. She was becoming her own worst enemy, and she was losing the power of She-Ra along with it.
The only thing keeping her from continuing her vendetta against her was her deal with Glimmer. If she helped complete the mission, doing what she could to speed it up, then Glimmer promised to help her get to the Fright Zone and out. It was obvious to the both of them that it was simply a ploy to take her mind off of things, but with her diminishing power, it was getting harder to get to the Fright Zone as the others physically forced her to keep her from going. What other choice did she have than to accept for now?
At least she was finding her own little source of amusement around here.
"I still can't believe she hit me..." Bow mumbled, rubbing his bruised right cheek.
"To be fair, you were the one who asked her if those ghost stories made her wet the bed as a kid." Swift Wind reminded, peeking his eyes through the windows of a house.
Glimmer gave her sore friend a small grin at this. "But if it makes you feel any better, she didn't say yes or no."
"Heh, yeah...WHOA!" Immediately, Bow's eyes lit up as he quickly ducked himself and Glimmer out of the way of a rocketing apple that just flew over his head and into the building behind them.
*Splat!*
"I can still hear you!" They knew better than to push their chances with the girl with sensitive hearing, the warning had been clear.
"This doesn't make any sense to me." Swift Wind commented as the two continued to explore. "I feel like something is here yet I don't see anything."
"Maybe they're still in hiding?" Catra shrugged before taking a deep breath. "HELLOOOOO!"
"Ack!" The terrified shriek of a thirteen-year-old girl came from the throat of the magnificent stallion she walked past, jumping from his front two hooves briefly before trying to regain his dignity. "I mean, Uh, who was that? Bow, man, you gotta pull yourself together."
Ignoring the boastful horse, the archer gave a quick peek through another window before knocking on the door of a house. With no immediate answer being given, the others gathered near as he opened the door slowly. And like everything else, it just had to come with the creepy creaking sound one would expect to find in a haunted house, ones where the ghost would happily add any trespassers to their "family".
Not seeing anyone through the small crack in the door, he turned back to see if anyone else was more eager to go into the house first than him. No matter how brave of a front Catra put off, it was clear that she was still as unsettled as the rest of them were, her tail jerking occasional for a split second as if she was about to jump.
"I'll, um, wait out here in case anyone tries to sneak up on you." Swift Wind bravely announced as he backed away into the bushes. It was definitely because he was looking out for their well-being, not because he felt like he was going to take off the moment something popped out at them! "Also, this door is too small for horses, which is rude." Was the last thing he mentioned before disappearing.
"Okay." She was going to have to take charge, no matter how scared Glimmer felt about this. "On three." Catra and Bow turned to the door, drawing their weapons at the ready as Glimmer charged up her magic. "One... two... th-"
"WAIT!"
"Ah!" Bow nearly jumped out of his shoes as Catra suddenly yelled. "What is it?!"
"...Do we go on three, or after three?"
"ON three!" Glimmer yelped back, her heart still racing from the cat's shout.
"Alright, alright, jeez." She couldn't understand how touchy some people were as she drew her sword again.
"Let's try this again. One... two... three!" Without any hesitation, teleporting herself, the three burst into the room, weapons pulled back to make the first strike at-!
Apparently nothing. Less than nothing, perhaps. Lowering their weapons, from initial observation, there didn't seem to be anything life threatening to greet them with. It looked like any run-of-the-mill house, from its average dinner table, a shelf filled with books, a sink of dirty dishes, and a well-balanced meal waiting for a family on the dinner table. Take out the terrifying atmosphere this place spread, and they would've felt right at home.
With the danger-less danger averted, the three sheathed their weapons and magic as Catra approached the dinner table as she sniffed over the food, grabbing onto one of the tomato slices left on a plate. Before Glimmer even had the chance to stop her, the magicat took a bite of the fruit, eating it as if nothing about this place gave her any sign of warning.
It was gross enough to almost make Glimmer forget about the creepiness of this place. "Ok. Catra? That was gross, even for you."
"I was just checking it to see if it was still fresh!" She snarled, although a near-silent rumble in her stomach told them otherwise.
"And what if it was poisoned?!" Bow fretted, checking around it.
"It couldn't be. Noting else was bitten out of and there would've been bodies if anyone died from it. Plus I would've smelled it from the slices if something was off." She explained. "Weird thing is, most of this stuff is still okay. Whoever made this meal would've been here awhile ago."
"There's no sign of the Horde, either. And there's no sign of a struggle at all. It's like they all just... left." Bow had never been so confused before about the sight of an empty village as he was now. No bodies, no signs of destruction, Horde technology. What was going on here.
"It's just like the story of the Bone Snatcher."
"Oh, come on, not another story..." Glimmer moaned.
"She was a princess who grew so consumed by power, that it turned her into a terrifying demon with a never-ending appetite. She'd sneak into the houses of those who stole from their superiors, suck the bones right out of their body, leaving behind only empty husks of flesh!" Staring at one another for a moment, the three slowly turned their heads to the floor, sighing with relief. For a second there, they almost thought they were going to see a bundle of rag-thin piles of skin tossed around the floor. Good thing there was nothing to scare them-
"What'd you find?"
"Ahh!" The three screamed in unison as Swift Wind popped his head through the door, Catra accidentally smacking Bow off his feet before catching Glimmer who jumped onto her, hanging from her neck for dear life.
"Heh. Sorry," he apologized, "I don't like being out here by myself."
It took the two a few seconds to realize they were holding onto each other, their expressions slowly changing. One with a look of nervousness as she smiled, and one looking a little more annoyed as her eyelids dropped halfway.
"Eh heh... thanks for catching me, Catra."
"I didn't."
*Thud*
"Ow!" She should've expected as much but it still hurt her backside as Catra dropped her again, rubbing it soothingly as she rose to her feet along with Bow. At the same time, the magicat glared a little to the supposed "Noble Steed", still noting how his intrusion made her jump. Hoping to break the tension before Catra grew another vendetta, Glimmer continued, "We should probably check out the other buildings."
There was still tension within the air as they traveled together, looking from one house to the other as they tried to unravel the town's mystery. So far, everything else looked the same. From the windows they scoped, they saw the insides of houses were still perfectly in tact. Some of them still had food on the tables while other people went the extra mile and boarded up some of their windows.
On the bright side of things, the longer the mission took, the less occupied Catra seemed with getting her revenge. She was less focused on the task as the atmosphere continued to darken, and the twisted feeling of unease continued to rise around them. Then again, with what little they found, it was hard to tell if any of this was actually getting to her.
"Hey, guys!"
"Ahh!" Simultaneously, both Glimmer and Catra yelped in surprise at Bow's shout, Catra pulling the smaller girl towards her as she drew her blade in the opposite direction. It was a bit awkward given the previous interaction the two had with Catra dropping the girl when she jumped for her. She did what she could to maintain her demeanor as she quickly pushed Glimmer away a little.
"Sorry. What did you say?" She asked, turning around to the pointing archer.
The three turned to the direction he was facing as they observed the momentous obelisk that drew his attention. It stood tall and proudly between several of the houses, covered in the sickly dark-pink vines that surrounded some of the other houses.
"Does that seem familiar to you?"
"Beats me?" Catra scratched the back of her head, feeling like the answer was on the tip of her tongue. "Maybe it's-"
*BANG*
*BANG*
"Ahhh!" It was almost a record at this point for how many times the team screamed together. No matter how many times a sword was drawn, an arrow was pulled back, and the princess teleported herself from fear, nothing seemed to calm them as one noises jumped out at them after the other.
Even if it was something as harmless as a window shutter blowing open from the wind.
"I-It was just a stupid window." The diminishing-She-Ra coughed, trying to maintain her composure. "Hey, where's Pin-"
*swish*
The princess appeared right next to her before she could even finished, still hunched over with her eyes snapped shut out of fright. "Glimmer?"
The young princess took a small gasp for breath, trying to calm herself as she smiled. "I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that."
Because you were scared, perhaps? Catra thought to herself as she looked around. "Is it me or is this place getting weirder by the second? Like the Chasm of the Spindling Princess?"
"S-Spindling Princess? That doesn't seem so bad."
"Are you insane?!" Catra jumped, grabbing her shoulders as her eyes widened. "She was the only story that actually scared me as a kid!" Whoa. This was bad. If Catra wasn't afraid of admitting that something scared her, then Glimmer knew it was serious. Shifting her eyes around, the cat circled around the shivering princess as she regaled her story.
"They say she was a wicked princess who was thrown into the deepest chasm of Etheria's history, with nothing but a spindle for her amusement. They said she slowly grew insane as all she ever did was spindled, using strains of her ever-flowing hair as string. In the Fright Zone, they always told us that if you ever lied to an officer, you were already marked by her sinister thread."
"There seems to be a theme with obeying your superiors with these stories." Bow commented, listening intently as he crossed his arms.
"If you were marked by her, your fate was already sealed. Slowly, she'd drag things around you when no one was looking, driving you insane as nobody would believe what you tell them. They say eventually, you'd be driven so insane, that you would be ensnared by her own thread, helplessly dragging your feet to the very cliff that she was thrown off of, until you jumped from the cliff yourself! And at the very bottom, all you would be met with, are a pair of glowing red eyes, and her terrifying, massive pair, of ferocious- AHHHHHH!"
"AHHHHHH!"
*swish!*
"Ahahahahahahahaha!" In no time at all, Glimmer found herself teleporting from her spot immediately after Catra grabbed her by the shoulders screaming, and reappeared, still shaking in her boots as she hugged onto Bow for dear life. It took her several seconds of hearing Catra laughing at her before she realized she'd been had, blushing profusely as she glared back.
"T-That wasn't funny, Catra!"
"Hahahahaha!" Catra was almost brought to tears as she laughed, holding her sides tightly. "You're right, it was hilarious! Hahahaha! Phew, I can't believe you actually fell for that!"
"So all of those stories were fake?!"
"Are you kidding? I wish I made those stories up, but each of them were real and told to us in the Fright Zone."
"So that really was a story you were scared of?"
"Pfft, of course not! Do you know how stupid you'd have to be to believe any of them-"
"Catra!"
"AHHHH!" In no time at all, the magicat leapt off her feet as she immediately hugged the branch of the tree seven feet above her, her skin still shaking on its end as her eyes nearly bugged out. It took several seconds for her to realize how she looked before she blushed, glaring down at the irritating horse that screamed out of nowhere as Bow laughed.
"Em... You had a spider on your back... sorry..." If he wasn't one of the very few people she liked, which went down on her liking-meter after that little stunt, she would've happily knocked some sense into him as she jumped down to her feet, brushing the leaves she obtained out of her hair.
"Can we please stop messing around?" Glimmer felt like she was the only one of the four officially taking any of this seriously. "We have a mission to do here. Something happened to these people that forced them from their homes, and we don't have any leads. The longer we goof around, more danger they could be in. We have to get to the bottom of this."
Still a little irritated at the recent scare, Catra decided to roll with it as she went off with the others, hoping to put that little stunt behind her. As annoying as this mission was becoming to her, it would've been a lie to say she wasn't a little concerned for the disappearing citizens, at least ones that contributed so much to the Rebellion's war efforts.
It was only after several steps that another sound caught her attention again, quickly glancing back with a keen focus. Just like before, she was met with nothing approaching them or moving from them, as if the air was simply playing a trick with her. She couldn't tell if the stories really were affecting her as much as Glimmer, or if she was just letting her nerves get to her. All she knew was one important detail.
Whatever caused these people to disappear was definitely still around.
...
...
"Ethical dilemma number, uh... 63!" Entrapta declared as she spoke into the tape recorder.
So far, she had kept her promise to Adora perfectly! She promised her she wouldn't bother Hordak, and she wouldn't go to his lab, or his inner sanctum as it was called, which alone was driving her giddy with excitement. She intended to keep the promise to her friend after all she did for her, yet at the same time, she was finding herself presented with a problem as she paced outside his door with Emily standing near.
"I told Adora I wouldn't go into Hordak's lab. But, if she never find out, does it count?" She flailed about as she dragged herself around with her hair. "I could just go in, grab the tool, and pop right out. And no one would ever know!... But I'd know. I shouldn't do it. Or should I? No, I shouldn't." The girl wanted noting better to do than to pull her own hair out right now with her own hair! "What do I do-"
"Entrapta?" A familiar voice perked up, catching the studious scientist by surprise. All tension and suspense dropped from the girl's shoulders at the sight of her miraculous savior approaching her curiously with her two guards. "It's been awhile. I haven't seen you since-"
"Ah! Frosta! You're a lifesaver!"
"A lifesaver? What are you talking a-Ack!" The young princess was powerless, and taken by surprise yet again, as the leading woman grabbed her with a bundle of hair, carrying her over until she was in Entrapta's right arm, being held by the neck.
"I need your help." She began as she paced back and forth in front of the door, Frosta struggling to pry loose from her suffocating grip. Just like before, the two guards were powerless to assist the girl, in this case thanks to the efforts of a certain droid named Emily who seemed to stare at them, blocking their path as she followed everywhere they went.
"What is with you people and hugging?!"
"I have a crisis on my hand, something that could affect the very balance of the universe itself, and I need your input on it! To put it simply, I made Adora a promise that could compromise the sanctity of my friendship with her. I told her I needed a tool that I couldn't locate anywhere within my given vicinities, and suggested to myself that I might be able to find it somewhere within Hordak's lab."
"Nghhhhh!" Frosta could see parts of her life flashing before her eyes as her face started to turn darker and darker shades of blue by the second, the suffocation from the hug making Scorpia's seem like child's play.
"The trouble is, Adora was very hung up about me not going into his lab! ...Or was it bothering him?" The scientist paused as Frosta continued to kick her feet. "Now I can't tell which one sounds more important..."
"Can't... breathe..."
"Anyway, I need that hex driver if I'm to continue making any progress in my lab on the various things the Horde needs from me, and I obviously can't just make the hex driver myself. If I can't do that, then I can't contribute to the Horde, and if I try to do it, I'll be breaking my promise with Adora. I don't know what to do."
"D-Dying..."
"I know, this is killing me to. I just can't decide!" With that, salvation finally came to the suffocating princess as Entrapta threw both her hands in the air. Fresh air never felt so good as it flowed freely through the girl's throat, her face returning to the same shade of pink it once was. Before she could retaliate, verbally or otherwise, she felt herself being picked up once again by Entrapta's soft hair, being placed atop of Emily as she looked into Frosta's sweet, innocent, eyes. "What do I do?"
The princess continued to rub her throat for a bit as she processed what the girl had all said through her perilous suffocation. There were a lot of things Frosta was thankful for when it came to the scientist. As with the alliance her kingdom forged with the Horde, it wasn't just situated to benefit them. The Kingdom of Snows benefitted from the advanced technologies crafted by the Horde's primary chief scientist, Entrapta, Princess of the Kingdom of Dryl.
Thermal shieldings that could make encampment possible through the snowiest of mountains, allowing explorers to pitch camp wherever they saw fit and creating an area where it was constantly room temperatures. Machines that could dig through mountains in a matter of minutes without disrupting the mountains in anyway that would cause an avalanche, creating safer means of traveling through the kingdom and discovering new resources. The Horde proved invaluable to the kingdom and vice versa.
So when she saw Entrapta's deep, pleading, eyes, it was hard to stay mad at her. She owed her immensely for the technologies they provided, even if she also created a droid that nearly killed her. Mentally sighing to herself, the young princess crossed her arms as she sat cross-legged on the droid.
"If I help you out, can you help answer something for me? It's about the Horde."
"Yes! Anything! You name it!" She sparkled, squeezing her hands pleadingly as she nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright then. Um, well what was the promise you made to her in the first place? To stay out of his lab or not to bother him?"
"Um, I can't really remember anymore. Maybe it was both? I know the lab was involved, at least."
"Well, what were the terms of the promise you made, then?"
"I promised her I wouldn't go into his lab, which he calls his inner sanctum, which is the greatest thing any scientist can call his lab!"
"Is the lab his entire room, or is it only a part of the room?"
"That's... actually a good question. I haven't seen it for myself except for a few times, and they were always with Adora. But, I think, it was actually in another portion of his room, if he doesn't consider the entire sanctum his lab."
"Well, if it's really important to you, you could do both without breaking any of Adora's promises."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, like, you could go in there and refrain from going into his lab if you found the part outside of his actual lab, right? And technically she said not to bother Hordak, but she didn't say anything about letting him see you right? So, even if he does see you, if you're not doing anything to bother him, then you can still keep your promise. Does that make sense?"
"...Haaaaah!" The ends of Entrapta's hair rose as her eyes glistened with light again, her fingers squeezing into her palms as she understood everything. "It's perfect! You're a genius!"
"Well, I don't wish to brag, but..." Frosta gave of a smug grin as she brushed off her arms. Of all the things Frosta was, she was a kid at the very first. And if there was one thing a kid was the ruler of, it was the ability to find a way around a promise or an agreement they made, and how to do something they weren't supposed to without getting caught.
And the ability to trick gullible scientists after nearly suffocating her to death.
"I'll in in and out of there within seconds, Adora will be none the wiser, and nothing will be broken! Bye!" The scientist perked as she sped towards the door as fast as her hair could carry her.
"Hey, wait! What about my question?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Sorry, I almost forgot!" Just as eager as she had been to resolve her issue, she was also just as eager to support the young princess as she lied in mid-air, still hanging casually by her hair. "What's your question?"
Now it was Frosta's turn to be unsettled as she slid off the mechanical pet that was Emily. "Well, based on your person experience here... What's it like in the Horde? Is it any good?"
"Are you kidding me?" Entrapta gasped with excitement. "It's great!"
"Really?"
"Uh-huh! I remember everything like it happened since yesterday! Ever since I got caught by the Horde, they've been nothing but nice to me!" The scientist lifted up a bundle of hair at a time as she went off. "They gave me tons of food when I was found, they gave me my own lab, provided me with tools, I got to do a lot of experiments as long as I didn't try to scan people's brains as while they were asleep."
"But what is the Horde like?" She clarified as she examined Emily behind her. "What are the people like around here? What kind of things have you made for them?"
"The people? Oh, they're fantastic! Adora's been the kindest person I've ever met around here, and really supports all the work I've been doing! Scorpia is a little... clunky, but she has a good heart. Plus, she's great whenever I need help with the heavy lifting and all my other droids are currently under maintenance, or destroyed. Usually, both."
"And the others?"
"The others? Oh, man, I can't begin to tell you! They're-!" There was a pause in Entrapta's expression as she started to tap her chin, curiously. "...Huh... now that I think about it, Adora, Scorpia, and the droids are pretty much the only interactions I have with people around here, unless I get called by scientists down in the labs for something important."
"And what kind of stuff do they make in the labs?"
"Oh, you know, the whole nine-yards. Droids capable of running undetected into enemy territory and dismantling structural support, tanks I've upgraded with an firing range that can travel nearly a mile without losing its firepower, precision demolition equipment that can topple buildings purely with sound-waves, increased all the troops' weaponry by tuning up their tools with an increased thirty-percent armor penetration rating, and-"
"So weapons?" Frosta piqued. "You've just been making weapons, and nothing else?"
Once again, the scientist found herself pausing at Frosta's intellectual way of looking at things. "Oh, wow. Guess I hadn't really thought about that, but yes! I've been building more than enough weapons than I ever thought I possibly would within half my lifetime! You know, when I'm not making tools and equipment for your kingdom, heh heh!" It was at this time Entrapta finally noticed the glum look on Frosta's face, making her wonder if she struck a nerve or something. "Why are you asking all these questions anyway?"
"Huh? Oh! N-No reason! I was just curious." She lied, giving off her best fake smile as she shook her hand. She couldn't tell if her acting was on par with the world's greatest performers or not, but it seemed to be enough to the scientist as she just smiled, happy to enlighten the mind of the curious. "A-Anyway, I should go. I have some more stuff to see." She stated as she marched off with her two guards close behind her.
"Okay! Thanks again, Frosta!" Entrapta quickly said before popping into Hordak's sanctum.
The details and revelations Entrapta provided were a little more revealing than Frosta would've hoped for. Based on everything she said, it sounded like the Horde's primary and only goal was to create destruction on a world-wide scale. She was certain enough not literally everything she made was for the sake of destroying everything, yet it didn't deteriorate the train of thought she had come to realize.
The Horde was more than willing to wipe out their enemies if an opportunity presented itself. Even if that was technically the goal of all wars, it still didn't comfort Frosta anymore to know just how determined the Horde was at this. They wanted to unite the world under their banner. She was fine with that as long as it wasn't in any aggressive means as Adora explained to her. But even with that, why was she feeling such a sake of unease within her heart? Like something telling her this was all wrong?
Pushing the thoughts away, Frosta continued to her next and last destination before she determined just how good this tour was to her.
...
"A six-sided hex driver!" Entrapta whispered to herself as she viewed Hordak working from afar.
So far, the establishment was just about everything she could expect from an inner sanctum. The room gave off a nice sense of class as the distinguished entryway was more than enough for any scientist's leading doorway. Trailing along the room, she came across the very leader of the Horde and his imp as he worked on another of his creations, blocking the view of it from where Entrapta crouched along the corner of the room.
Just get the hex driver, then get out, and don't bother him if he sees you. Got it. This was going to be simple, she was sure of it! He seemed too invested in whatever project he was working to notice Entrapta as she neared one of the work tables behind him, keeping her own eyes glued to the tool that was within hair's reach. Creeping up to the table, she could feel her skin getting chills from the excitement she was growing! She would keep her promise, be back to the lab in no time, and- What was that?
Her eyes were suddenly drawn to the small flash of light coming from the center of his lab. She lost all train of thought as she raised her head a little over one of the large pipes she was hiding behind, watching the creation of raw energy that took the form of a sphere, the lightning within it reflecting off her pupils as it danced within its realm. Never, in the history of Entrapta's life, had she ever seen such a beautiful work of science, especially one she hadn't created herself.
"This is amazing." She couldn't help but whisper. It was thanks to a small clunk to her head by Emily's robotic arm that she remembered why she was here, and why she needed to keep her head down and quiet. She didn't really mind it personally. As long as she got to watch the wonders of technology by the Horde's very own leader, she would've gladly stayed silent for the rest of her life.
*bzzzzzzzt*
Sadly, her amusement ended sooner than it began. Within a few seconds of the device possibly preforming any amazing feat, it all came crashing down as the circuits could be heard destabilizing, the wondrous work of electricity vanishing into thin air until it was nonexistent. "Oooh..."
"Nooooo!" Like Hordak's previous testing, the leader found his anger boiling past his limits as he slammed his fists onto the table, Entrapta barely avoiding his gaze as she ducked, and scattering the table's contents in an angry swipe. Nothing he did seemed to be working, all his testing, once again, came to a grinding halt. Every time he tried his experiment, it failed. Whenever he made progress, it failed. If there was one word he hated within the confines of his own lab, it was FAIL!
Blinded by fury, he stormed off out of his sanctum, Entrapta barely avoiding his detection again as she pressed her back into the table and covering her mouth. She waited until he passed through the mechanical doors, his imp trailing close behind him, before she crawled out. Now that he was out of the lab, she means inner sanctum, there was no possible way for her to bother the great scientist!
...Then again... she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the genius.
"Well, there's no reason to get huffy because an experiment failed." She declared, casually walking over to the marvelous machine. "Failure is a vital part of all scientific endeavor." From behind her, Emily hummed in approval as Entrapta petted her with her magnificent hair. Smiling, the scientist came to a new line of reasoning as she grabbed her desired tool. "What if I had given up on you after the first explosion? Or the 50th?"
Emily continued to whir behind her, communicating in such a way that only she understood. "I know, I know. I promised Adora I wouldn't bother him and I should leave. But I can't!" She cheered to herself as she raised a fist. "For Science!"
...
...
Empty, empty, and more empty. With each new house the gang inspected upon, each house somehow felt emptier than the last. They had yet to find any signs of life, and, fortunately, not death, as they continued their exploration. With each unsettling home they peeked in on, the chill in the air intensified, and the silence became overwhelming. It was starting to reach the point where their own heartbeat could be heard to themselves, and with each beat they heard, their anxiety deepened.
It was during the present house Bow and Glimmer peeked in on that Glimmer finally discovered something. Not within the house of darkness, but from the reflection she caught in the window. It was just for a mere second, and by then it already vanished before she could turn around. But it was the first sign of anything within this creepy village, save for the four startled allies.
"Hello?" She called out. Nothing to the left. Nothing to the Right. She was positive there was something there. She just couldn't figure out what. "Catra? Was that you?" Still silent. "Catra, I swear, if this is another one of your tricks-"
"You called?"
"Ahh!" Okay. In fairness, that was a pretty casual way for Catra to greet her, still annoyed and bored as always, as she appeared right in her face. What she hadn't counted on was her appearing to her upside down, finding her hanging from Swift Wind as he flapped several feet above them. "What are you doing up there? I thought we agreed you wouldn't go to the Fright Zone until after we finished the mission?"
"Would you cut me some slack, already?" Honestly, Catra could only put up with so much nerve as she hopped to the ground, Swift Wind's hooves meeting with it from behind her. "I was just trying to get a better view of the place, but the dumb mist was too thick. I already promised I wouldn't try to sneak off, remember?"
"Yeah, and I wouldn't take her even when she did ask me!" The horse hastily shifted gears as he earned Catra's small glare at this. "Not that, uh, she's asked me already... eight or nine times..."
"Well could you at least stop popping up out of nowhere like that? We need to search together." The conversation drew Bow closer as he finished his recent inspection. "This place is totally abandoned."
*Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr~*
"Ngh!" Whatever made this place so abandoned in the first place was getting to Catra and Swift Wind again as she clenched their ears tightly. Just as before, their senses were assaulted by the high-pitched screech of a mysterious force, one that lasted a few merciful seconds compared to before. "Please tell me you guys are getting that already?"
"Yes!" Swifty nodded, shaking the rings out of his ears. "Finally. I told you. It's a weird sound."
"It's like someone's whistling the most obnoxious song I can think of."
"I-I-I don't hear anything." The princess's teeth chattered a little as she backed away. "It's probably just the wind!"
*whhhhhssssss*
Okay. That was definitely not the wind. Worse, it was starting to become clearer. All around them, they began to hear the echos of moans swirling around them, the group bracing themselves for whatever possible threat was about to lunge out at them next. All of them felt the tension boiling around them, their bodies shaking every other seconds as they prepared their weapons.
"Okay. I'm hearing something, too." Bow gulped as he slowly backed away closer to his friends. It could be anything! A monster. A ghost. A witch. Some other ridiculous horrifying story that Catra hadn't told them yet. Anything!
"There!" At long last, Catra spotted something. Beyond a small wall of bricks that barely came up to their thighs, they could see it. A hollow, white, translucent being that slowly moved beyond the trees. A part of her was grateful that she finally discovered the source of this mystery, and she could start her trail to the Fright Zone in a matter of minutes.
The other ninety-percent of her was terrified that one, or all, of her ghost stories were possibly true. With a slightly fear-induced heart, the girl raised her sword to the air, prepared to say the sacred oath. "For the Honor of Grayskull!" It took a simple flash from beyond the trees for the hero to emerge. Within seconds, Catra had leaped greatly from her friends, landing upon the small wall of pricks with fire in her eyes.
While it was some relief that the power of She-Ra would keep them safe, it was also with some disappointment as they saw her current state. Nothing had changed for the worse since they last saw her, but nothing was better, either. She still had on the basics of her outfit, from the tiara, the white clothing and skirt, and her powerful sword. But that was it. She still lacked the other fundamental features of She-Ra, from her pants, the elegant red cape that flowed from her back, and the beautiful bracers she once wore.
The fact the bracers were missing were the worst of all at this point, considering it was something Catra had gained since her first transformation into She-Ra. the fact she was missing something that she had by default already proved how much of She-Ra's power she had lost. It almost made them tremble at the thought of how much she had left to lose before She-Ra's power was forever from her reach.
None of it bothered the magicat as she continued on her way. She would finish her mission, get her revenge, and then everything would be alright. Without missing a beat, she quickly jumped from her current spot as she continued to chase after the mysterious figure, leaving Bow and Glimmer behind with each other before they realized she taking off into uncertain danger.
"Catra!"
Wait!"
...
...
*clak*
*bzzzt*
Ah, the music of science.
There was no better sound in the world to the young scientist as she plugged and unpluggged various wires connected to the machine. With Etheria as her witness, she swore she would get the machine up and running, if not for her, then for the sake of all scientists everywhere!
She was so enamored by the wondrous machine that she became just as ignorant to her surroundings like Hordak was earlier as a figure approached from behind. Mysterious people would have to wait, all senses were focused solely on the task ahead of her. Donning her mask, she watched as the ends of the wire sparkled as she connected them together, all while a familiar shadow grew from behind her.
Hordak was not amused as he grumbled. Nobody was to interrupt his work. Nobody was to speak to him without matters of importance. Failures and traitors were something he would never tolerate within the Horde. But most of all, if there was one thing he couldn't allow, one thing that would guarantee the death of even his most loyal generals, it was those foolish enough, stupid enough, brave enough, to mess with the machines in his own lab!
"Hello." Entrapta greeted, lifting her head up without turning around. "You're blocking my light. If you could just step aside..." Raising her helmet, she turned to the source of the light-stealing creature that stood terrifyingly behind her.
And that was his trigger.
Somebody giving him orders in his own lab!
"Get. OUT!"
"Well, just a sec. I'm almost done." Hordak blinked. He was taken aback by that. That was a new reaction to his outrage. He expected loyalty, cowardice, anything other than what the scientist greeted him with. He was a being that was to be feared and respected by everyone within Etheria, and yet she just greeted him as if she was saying "Hi, how are you" in the most common manner of speaking.
With a final click, the scientist smiled as brushed her hands proudly, turning away from him as she waved him off without a second thought. "All done. Okay, bye."
"There will be dire consequences for this flagrant breach of conduct!" Perhaps she simply didn't know her place, a problem he would gladly rectify given the next opportunity.
"You were using uninsulated cables. I, uh, replaced them for you. Try again." She would've wanted to stay and test how her improvements bared fruit if Emily wasn't pushing her out the door. "It should hold a charge now!"
Huh? A second time? She didn't just go about her business as if he was nonexistent, she was talking to him as if he was one of the plebeian races off this minuscule, backwater, planet. Did she truly not know who Lord Hordak was, or was she just so foolish that she didn't care. And then the machine, she...
Wait. What did she do to the machine, again? His skepticism and hatred vanished in a solitary second as he approached his device once more. It was slightly taller than it was before, appeared to be reestablished with a new type of alloy that held the pillar together, and appeared to be as good as new, the way it was before his previous experiment failed.
In a twist of fate, his curiosity got the better of him as he started up the machine. He would test how badly the machine failed first, and punish her after. That would be her fate. Pulling the lever, he stared at the device as he expected nothing less than failure.
And what do you know? He got nothing more than failure. His disgust was matched by his anger as he stormed off, preparing the numerous possible ways he would punish this insubordination, the people who would suffer with her for allowing him to breach his inner sanctum.
And then it happened.
His hatred that continued to scale without end came to a grinding halt as he was taken by a bright flash that grew behind him. Turning around, his eyes widened in shock.
"Huh?" The machine. The very machine he had spent weeks trying to improve and perfect, was suddenly running perfectly. The energy grew to a magnificent size before stabilizing, nearly doubling to a size that took him over a month to grow even a half to. The energy radiated in a flawless flow within its perfect sphere, the bubble of energy no longer collapsing as it had done in his previous failures. It was genius. "She was right."
"Of course I was right." Continuing to surprise him, the purple genius never appeared to have left the lab as she spoke right next to him. She was smiling to him with achievement as she casually tossed the hex driver within her hands, right until the little imp cheekily swiped it from her grasp, chuckling as it ran off with it. "It's beautiful. It's a power source, isn't it? What are you building that needs so much power?"
He never got the chance to so much as hiss to her as he lifted his finger before she took off in another direction. Her eyes were instantly glued to the schematics displayed on one of the various computers in the lab, marveling at such a magnificent drawing. "I recognize these formulas! You're experimenting with portals. But that's-" Her heart raced as she processed this information. "I mean, I'm familiar with the concept, but multi-dimensional gates are purely theoretical. No one's ever come close to actually achieving one! Right?"
"...Obviously someone from a backwater planet such as yours couldn't possibly comprehend it."
"Hey! All right. I'm the one who got your power source working, so tell me everything!" Now she had the audacity to demand things from him? What sort of trivial creature was this?
"Portals aren't theoretical, they're real. And I'm going to open one."
"You arrrrre?" She gaped. All inventions started with a dream, and she has never heard of such a remarkable dream such as this. "Ahhhh! Can I help you?" Hordak circled around her as he examined the creature that came from this planet. "Just think of the possibilities! You could transport troops, and weapons, a-and whatever you need, from one side of the planet to the other!"
"You think too small. Unsurprising." Granted, it would be a lie to say he wasn't fascinated she came this far. "You can't begin to understand the potential a device of this nature will possess." Watching him walk away, Entrapta's eyes widened. So many questions came to her mind in such a short amount of time, it was unfathomable! Why hadn't she entered Hordak's lab weeks ago? Or months? Or broken in and tried to years ago for that matter?! And the most defining part of his conversation is what really intrigued her.
"Wait!" She pleaded, hasting up to him. "If Etheria is a backwater planet, then does that mean that there are others?"
"Of course there are." He casually replied as he continued work on his modules. "There are countless galaxies filled with countless other worlds. Etheria is the only planet I ever encountered that does not seem to understand that."
"Other planets?" Did he possibly mean, like, inhabited ones? Ones she dreamed of ever since she made her first twenty-four models of a solar system when she was three-years-old?! "And you've... been there?" For the first time ever since meeting a new person, he grinned.
Respect. Since arriving on this primitive planet, he met someone worth a simple fraction of his respect, and that was more than he came close to ever giving anyone since his arrival. This girl had the intrigue of a curious scientist, the knowledge of portals that she could only grasp through theoretical processes, and the ingenuity to improve vastly superior machines she's seen only once in her life by simply watching it preform.
This girl was amazing. Compared to every other creature he's come to know since first landing on this planet, she is the only one who truly intrigued him. She had such a roundabout way of her planning, the ideology to accept the impossible practices of science, and was more than eager to help in any way that benefited the Horde greatly, and just because she thought it was fun.
Indeed, the idea of fun did strike him. She was willing to do anything without asking for a reward, ready to accomplish an impossible task that seemed foolish to those whose intelligence rivaled that of a grain of rice to him from this planet. Most of all, she wanted to do it because she wanted to, not because anyone told her.
And he could use that to his advantage...
...
...
...
A/N: And another chapter completed, which means one more to go ^^. Another thing which to keep in mind to some folks is that when I do my chapters, the parts and all, they're what I get out of the show for every five minutes of the show = 1 part. I usually like to add my own little shtick to it to help make the episode more fun and differ from the episode, but ones like this are rather hard to go by. Luckily, we have Frosta's interactions to work off with, but even that doesn't break it apart enough for this kinda episode. I honestly can't tell if this is one of the more "worse" (not necessarily bad but) episodes I've done, or still enjoyable in the end. I don't know, someone lave me some thoughts.
Speaking of thoughts, i hope you're ready because my goal today is to submit not just this one, but ANOTHER chapter around the evening tonight! If that is the case, I might be able to pull 2 chps at a time for awhile (or just one since i was already half done with this by this morning when it started), but either way stay tuned later tonight and keep your fingers crossed :D!
Either way, with that said, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!