Cat-Ra

by Monokub

"If" is such a powerful word. What if the reasonings for our duo were different? What if the personalities of our two favorite females were altered ever-so slightly? And most of all, what if Catra became She-Ra? Currently Season: 4

71. S2 Episode 3: Signals Finale

A/N: Word Count...ugggh... 14.5K X_X...

Uggggggghhhhhh... if the start of this A/N isn't proof enough, I am FREAKING TIRED! From 10... to now... 7. I've been working. I've been working typing, editing what I found, etc. and etc., and all of that. Nearly 15K words in a single day- TWENTY IF YOU COUNT THE 5 I ADDED TO THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER THIS MORNING T_T please count it...

Huff. But I would be lying if I said it wasn't fun to write out ^^ I enjoyed it thoroughly with my own take on events and writing additional things left and right, especially towards the end. Please note though there are probably hundreds of types or the wrong words spelled the further down you go XP i caught like sixty typos I wrote within a minute during the last two hours, and thats just from what I caught. Who knows what I didn't get and all that stuff gahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

But, I did it! I wrote 2 chapters within a single day ^^ do not be surprised if I don't write a chapter tomorrow cause chances are I'll be dead the next day from exhaustion XP Lol.

Enjoy!

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*Boom!*

"Come on, Cadets, the Princesses would've destroyed the outpost by now!" The Fish-like instructor shouted as the teens ran through the course. "Let's speed it up, people!"

This. This right here was the final stop of the tour Frosta was given, or at least the personal tour she gave herself. And, in fairness, at first, it seemed like a basically simple training course that the several cadets were running through. They were dealing with trap-filled floors, hundreds of pillars that stretched to the ceiling, and dozens of droids that were blasting at the cadets left and right. Some were engaging them physically with strong wires bursting through their circuity, others were blasting at the cadets with their own energy.

Safely, that is.

And it didn't seem like so much of a problem at first to the young princess. It didn't bother her as much that the instructor was using someone with her title as an enemy. She knew enough from the Horde to understand that they saw most of the princesses as their enemy, granted it didn't make the sense of unease any better as she remembered how the first room of trainees feared her. It was common for an instructor to motivate the troops by using any means necessary, whether it was to insult them in order to push them to try harder, physically fighting with them to get them to stand up to their betters, and so forth. That was commonplace around here.

The part that didn't settle right with her, was everything else. So far, at least one of the six trainees were caught by surprise as the floor suddenly gave off under him, plunging him to the deep dark depths, wherever that went, below. He probably could've avoided it if he could see better through the dimmed lights in the room. The teens looked less preoccupied with working together and more focused on finishing the course in time. It was another common thing to see soldiers taking the mission as their first and foremost priority, but these cadets seemed to take enjoyment out of watching another cadet get shot down, all while trying to make themselves look better by finishing the course.

Somehow, this still proved to be the portion that Frosta could tolerate after what she came across next. Wanting to go a little deeper into the workings around this place, she snuck into the room herself as she had her personal guards wait outside the training room. Sneaking around, trying to refrain from being seen, she edged her way around the room until she came across a pair of the very same virtual augmented goggles that the cadets were wearing, turning them on to see what kind of monsters the cadets were seeing from the droids.

The results did not surprise her.

From one droid to the next, with barely any differentiation between them, all of the droids displayed a holographic projection in front of themselves to make them look like the very monsters the Horde were meant to destroy: the princesses. With a pink, transparent glow, each of the princesses were displayed with a clear outline, each of their expressions filled with the vile evilness that the princesses were supposedly known for. That was the moment Frosta finally became unnerved by all she experienced throughout the tour.

From the young trainees that were just being trained for the first time to the full-fledged cadets such as these, all of them were being convinced that the princesses were the most evil and vicious forces within the world, if not the universe. All the princesses were the same to them- evil, manipulative, full of hatred for all living things that didn't subject to their rules. This is how they saw all the princesses as.

This is how they saw Frosta as.

There wasn't a sense that these people fighting knew any better about what they were doing. Possibly since birth, they were taught that the princesses couldn't be trusted, couldn't be reasoned with. It actually made Frosta a little cold on the inside, which was saying a lot given her powers, as she realized this. The people fighting here were being brainwashed into doing what they were doing. More sickeningly, there was a good chance over half the people fighting out on the front lines realized the truth by this point, and they didn't care. They did it simply because they wanted to or didn't know what else to do with their life. And either possibility sickened her a little.

"There's one!" Snapping out of her thoughts, she discovered her presence had been revealed as one of the cadets came around one of the corners. He was a pretty simple-looking brown-haired teen, a smooth hair style coexisting with his tough-looking personality. The cadet stared at her in wonder as he fiddled with the settings on the side of his visor, still gripping his electric baton tightly. "Man, the detail on this one is really bizarre."

"It's probably just some hidden challenge they threw in here to make the test harder." Another girl said as she rounded the corner, chewing on some gum as she started up the baton. "I bet it'll be worth an instant promotion if we manage to beat it and finish the course in record time!" The idea of it was all the other teen needed as another cadet made their appearance, purple skinned and hanging from one of the large pillars with two of its four arms.

"W-Wait! I'm not a-"

"Blast her!" The girl's warning went on deaf ears as the trio of cadets immediately opened fire on the young girl, aiming their batons with perfect precision as they were all directed at her head. With no choice but to defend herself, the princess quickly threw her arms in the air as she summoned a direct wall of ice, blocking the incoming blasts that barely penetrated her thick layer of chill.

"Wait you idiots!" The instructor shouted at them as he saw the scene unfolding.

Feeling the blasts coming to a halt, the princess withdrew her wall of ice to see what they would come up with next, and was met with the sight of the four-armed assailant leaping right at her from the pillar. It proved futile for someone as experienced as the young princess as she summoned another pillar of ice from the ground. Using as little power as possible to avoid harming the cadet, she smacked away the young trainee as she was thrown through the air, colliding into another pillar directly above her, and knocking her out cold as she landed again.

Thinking she was distracted long enough, the girl took an immediate charge headfirst towards the girl, trying to exploit the girl's temporary distraction as a weakness. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't dealing with one of those fake holograms that were powered up by the droids around them.

This was the real thing.

Without missing a beat, instead of summoning another wall or pillar of ice, Frosta directed both her hands to the floor as she coated the entire pathway separated between her and her attacker in a solid sheet of ice. Before the teen could tell what was going on, it was already too late. The moment she took the next step over the solid coating, she slipped onto her back, sliding forward at great speed as Frosta just watched, taking one step to the side as the girl slid past her and crashing into the wall several yards behind her.

"Ow..." She meeped, unable to tell if landing on her back on a solid sheet of ice hurt worse than crashing directing into a wall of solid metal.

That just left her with the third cadet to deal with who remained stationary as he watched the scene unfold. Unusual powers compared to the other droids, the ability to think strategically at a moment's notice, and the ability to affect the landscape around her? Man, this was going to be an exciting win for him! He could already see himself being promoted to Force Captain if he took her out all on his own, a foolish thought that ended all too quickly as he heard a familiar whistle.

*Tweeeeeeeeeeeeet!*

"All of you, stop what your doing, you numb-skulls!" The instructor shouted angrily. With the sound of him signifying the end of the event, the recovering trio watched as the lights slowly came back on, their visors powering down, and reality beginning to dawn on them.

With the two slowly pulling themselves back to their feet, backs and legs aching from the injuries, the third Cadet finally took his goggles off for a brief moment, then put it on, then off again several times, all while the other two cadets within the room gathered around him, just as curious. "Hey, wait a minute. She's not a hologram."

*Whack!*

"OWW!" The teen yelped, rubbing his bruised skull as the instructor struck it with his clipboard.

"You morons! You should know better and take your stupid visors off if you're not sure of what you're targeting!" He yelled, the other two teens looking away a little ashamed as they rubbed their arms. "You just attacked Princess Frosta, one of the Horde's greatest allies, and somebody recruited by Commander Adora herself!"

"Aww, jeez!" The teen shrieked, clapping his hands together pleadingly as he lowered his head. "I-I'm super sorry about that! Please don't tell the commander about this-"

*whack!*

"Owwww!" The teen shrieked as he was struck again, this time softer, with the same clipboard.

"You'll be lucky if I don't tell the commander after this, you nitwit! That little stunt of yours just cost the three of you your grade, and I'll be assigning you to two additional months of basic training for this." Unsurprisingly, this went on with moans and complaints about the situation they were in, the main teen making an excuse that he couldn't tell she was real due to the light's dimness. "I expect you to have the common sense to take your visor off if something doesn't look right! That kind of stupidity can cost you your and your allies' lives!"

"Hey, has anyone seen Janice?" One of the two cadets who weren't in trouble asked.

"I'm still in heeeere!" Her voice echoed throughout the course. The instructor rolled his eyes before pointing to the four-armed girl.

"You, four-arms. You want to get a month taken off your sentence? Then hurry up and go fish her out!" He ordered, turning from the cadets as he took two steps closer to the young princess, saluting. "My apologies, Princess Frosta. That kind of stupidity won't be tolerated, nor will it happen again."

"It's okay." The young girl looked away somewhat uncaringly as she replied. "It was just an accident."

"Is there anything you'd like to say to the cadets while you're here? Maybe give them a pointer or two, or-?"

"No thanks." Frosta muttered as she began walking away. "I think you taught me plenty."

"Well, thanks prince- Wait... what?" By the time he processed what she might have said, she was already walking out the door, the two personal guards still waiting for her as they returned to her side once more. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, all he knew he had to be careful, because there was just as likely a chance this was going to affect his career too if he was deemed just as responsible for the mess as the rest of them. "Alright, everyone take five while the course resets. And no slouching!"

Frosta, meanwhile, learned plenty throughout all of this. Throughout her time in the Fright Zone, throughout the tour with and without any additional *escorts*, she managed to learn plenty. The Fright Zone wasn't as peaceful or lovable as Adora made the place out to be.

It was awful.

...

...

*beep*

The barrier to the cell slowly dissolved as a figure stepped into the room. By now, it was almost like clockwork whenever this individual would appear. At every meal, almost at the exact same time at least twice a day, bringing her food of tray with her every time and demanding information in some shape or form. Shadow-Weaver would have to give the Force Captain some props for being timely and orderly. At least, she would, if she wasn't the one who put Shadow-Weaver in here in the first place.

"Alright, here." Adora mumbled, actually tossing the tray onto the floor for a change without a care for a change, then did something that broke the repetition of what usually transpired within this room. Instead of demanding another minute's worth of answers from the lowly figure, Adora simply turned around, and began to walk away.

"That's it?" Shadow-Weaver wondered in a curious tone, slowly turning her head around. "No more asking me for information that could benefit benefit the Horde? No more questions about how I could improve your standing with Hordak?" At this, she finally caught a glimpse of the state Adora was in.

She was tired. Thoroughly exhausted, drowsy, and looking like she just ran a marathon. There were small black bags under her eyes, strands of hair falling over her face, and a sluggishness in her posture as she tried to keep everything together. It looked as if one more thing added to the girl's life would cause her to come crashing down into a million pieces.

In her hands were a bundle of different files and papers, all of which were barely organized in their respective folders, as the Force Captain gripped all of them tightly within her hands and under her arms. In fact, she appeared so overwhelmed with the work that she was using small tendrils of shadows as additional arms, holding at least two folders from her right shoulder, and a third one from her left.

"Not now, Shadow-Weaver." Adora groaned, lifting her arm in her direction a little. "I have to- Ah! Ahh!" Before the captain could give her two cents to the witch, like a row of dominoes, each of the files came falling out of her arms, her attempt to catch the first file that slipped out of her arms resulting her in loosening the grip in her other, causing two more to fall out from those. From there, it was almost like a perfectly orchestrated art-form as Adora's attempt to catch the next several seconds worth of paper resulted in her dropping one file after the other, scattering the contents to the floor.

Eventually, the second-in-command found the floor littered with dozens of paper, the one remaining folder in her hand empty of work as it slipped out amongst the rest, leaving a confounded Adora in disbelief, and beyond the realm of annoyance as her anger finally caught up to her.

"Uuuuggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!" She groaned loudly, not even caring as she dissipated the shadows around her as she dropped to her knees, angrily collecting and reorganizing the piles of paperwork she had to re-file all over again. "Stupid... papers..." She mumbled to herself, ignoring the presence that was watching her two feet away.

There was something almost amusing to the witch as she watched the young Force Captain picking up the papers in a fit of rage. Just seeing someone like her, someone so elegant and refined, who tried her best to see the greatness of the Horde, suddenly appearing to her as if her life had become a living wreck within the last day of seeing her. It was just too precious to ignore, adorable in a way, and slightly pathetic to display for a second-in-command.

For a moment, she could've sworn Adora was beginning to tear up in the corner of her right eye, something she rubbed away with her sleeve as she resumed collecting her work. It was hard to tell if it truly was a tear coming to her eyes, or just an attempt to rub the sleepiness out of it. Either way, it was a sight to watch the very girl who betrayed her now dropped to her knees and throwing a temper tantrum because of a few dozen pieces of paper.

It also gave her a sense of curiosity as she noticed one of the many files in front of her legs, eyeing it as the Force Captain continued shuffling papers back and forth into the correct files, and reshuffling several of them when she realized they were in the wrong ones. Deciding to engage in her curious behavior, she took the opportunity to open the file slowly, examining the contents of whatever had Adora so frustrated in the first place. She became even more curious as she understood why the Force Captain appeared as tired as she did in the first place.

"Come on..." She heard Adora mumbling again. "Where is it? Where is it?" The day just had to continue annoying her, didn't it?

First she schedules a tour on the same day she had several stacks of paperwork to sort through, and that was before her, putting it lightly, surprising meeting with Lord Hordak earlier on the same day. Then she had to sort through several requisition forms for every single request that had come from the front lines all across Etheria. If that wasn't enough, she was now slightly panicking as she had no idea where Entrapta had gone, specifically after making her promise not to go into Hordak's inner sanctum or to bother him, and she had heard nothing from Kyle or the others of her whereabouts.

And all of this hinged on her deepest desire, the one thing she wanted out of this day after all her hard work, not including maintaining her relationship with the Kingdom of Snows.

Hordak's respect.

He was the glorious leader of the Horde, the one who started to unite the Horde ever since she was an infant. For a man as great as that, someone who could accomplish so much in the world, the very icon she looked up to, to look down on her after all her accomplishments and call her a failure?

It hurt. It hurt so much. She needed to change that. To change the way he saw her again, and the way she was running things if she was going to make up for spreading the Horde's resources and soldiers too thin for Hordak's liking. But all of that required her finding the last file that she couldn't find laying around here and IT WAS STARTING TO MAKE HER WANT TO GO INSANE BECAUSE HER LIFE AT THIS POINT DEPENDED ON A STUPID PIECE OF PAPER THAT DISAPPEARED!

*swiff*

Adora almost flinched as it suddenly appeared from behind her. Gripped in a familiar hand partly wrapped in its red velvet, she watched as the file was shaken a little as if telling her to take it. She paused briefly as she reached for it before pulling it gently out of the grip, unable or unwilling to make eye contact with the person behind her.

"It's in the foundry."

"What?" That drew Adora's attention to her as she turned around.

"The material you seek comes from the foundry right here in the Fright Zone." Shadow Weaver calmly explained.

"O... Oh... I see..." Adora mumbled, organizing the stack in her hands so they were in order once more.

"Being me isn't as wonderful as you imagined, is it?" Her question caught Adora's attention again before she could take her first step.

W-What?"

"You thought being me meant changing everything around here, didn't you?" The sorceress guessed, casually brushing the hair out of Adora's eyes. Immediately, Adora sprang up to her feet, unwilling to let the sorceress get to her. "You thought being in charge meant making the world this whole, wonderful, place where everyone could live peacefully under the Horde. You thought being me meant you had the chance to change things for the better." She narrowed her eyes. "And now reality's catching up to you."

"F-For your information, things have been going fine! Better than ever in fact since I took charge!" She stammered back. "I've gained more allies than you ever could, established communications all across Etheria! The world is uniting under the Horde, and I'm the one doing it!"

"Then why are you so stressed out?" The bluntness of the question caught Adora off guard. "If things are going as well as you say they are, then I don't see why you would be fretting over something as little as paper. I daresay, if you had his trust, you wouldn't be as angry as you appear to be."

"I-I do-!" The longer the conversation was being drawn out of her, the harder it was to keep Shadow Weaver from drawing Adora in. "He trusts me completely! More than he ever did with you, for that matter."

"Really? Because your meeting with him appears to say otherwise." Adora froze at this. Her mouth gaped open a little as she nearly gasped, her mind trying to figure out everything she just heard.

"H-How... How did you know about this morning?"

"I didn't." She possibly grinned slyly behind her mask. "Until now, that is."

Of course. How could she have been foolish? Of all the things she ever taught Adora, being as manipulative as she was wasn't her strong suit. Sure, it helped in the past on a few occasions, but what required actual work and effort through Adora's hands was as simple as taking a breath to someone like Shadow-Weaver.

The woman who raised her since she was an infant, who trained her to be one of the Horde's very best. There wasn't a thing about Adora Shadow-Weaver didn't know how to manipulate. Something as simple as getting her to admit to something was merely a waiting game to her, a game that she always came out on top of.

She didn't even give Adora the chance to process this for long as she continued to drove on. "You really shouldn't take it personally. He never trusted me with his real plans, either."

There were times where she was being manipulated, and times she knew where she was trying to manipulate Adora. This was one of those times. Even if she didn't know why she was trying to get a rise out of her at a time, she knew enough to not react to her harshly. Turning her back to her again, Adora made her way out of the cell. "I don't know what you're talking about. He had his reasons for not trusting you, but he trusts me completely." As she reached her way for the controls again, she paused. "...Thanks for the file." And with a click and the doors sealing behind her, she was gone.

There always was a certain joy to the chats she had with Adora. From the times she was being manipulative with her to the times she was just being honest with her. They always had their own sense of amusement that made her smile through every conversation.

Take now, for instance. Throughout it, Adora thought she was trying to be manipulative in everything, yet she only did so once to know how her meeting went. Everything else before and after that, it all came from her own sense of honesty, the truth that even Adora refused to see. Even now, she admired the lone flat-screen monitor specially installed into her cell, just so she could have her own personal window to the outside world.

She thought Adora hadn't done anything for her?

"Oh, Adora..." She smiled a little to herself as she recognized the time of day, and what day, it was. "I'm the one that should be thanking you."

She was another day closer...

...

...

"Geh!" Catra grumbled as she leapt from tree to tree. She didn't know what she was chasing after around here, and she didn't care at this point. She just wanted this mission to be finished as quickly as possible.

This was all she had to do to get things rolling her way. Once she managed to find whatever this thing was and slay it, scare it off, do whatever was fastest, she could make her way on to the Horde, where some much-needed revenge was in order. Her sword had a date with a certain scientist that went by the name of Entrapta, and she couldn't wait until the two finally got to meet each other.

From the few scares, the laughs, the jumps this day's brought about, she wanted it to be done. What should've been a simple mission of looking into an abandoned outpost for a couple minutes ended up resulting in several hours behind the scenes, with Glimmer and Bow inspecting everything thoroughly in order to find clues and discover the whereabouts of the missing people.

Were they doing it on purpose? Was it supposed to annoy her intentionally? Did they just want to really find out what happened to everyone? Catra couldn't tell anymore it had been such a long day. All she knew was that the minute she finished her mission, the minute those two would have to keep up their end of the deal and help Catra navigate through the Fright Zone to find Entrapta.

Even if they didn't intend to keep their side of the bargain, as Catra expected, it didn't deter her need for revenge.

The only thing keeping her from her revenge at this point was the mysterious being who stalked this woods, one who appeared to have gotten past Catra's senses as she lost track of it. Gritting her teeth, the girl jumped from the latest branch she was on, scowling as the others rushed up from behind her.

*thud*

"Ah!

"Wah." Or crashing right behind her from the way it felt. She turned around to see Glimmer after having bumped into her, the princess checking over her friend as he tripped. There was a strange feeling in the air to the tech expert as he examined the possible cause for the strange fall, noticing how none of the roots appeared to be upright. What snagged his foot if that was the case?

Rolling her eyes, Catra reached under his arm as she lifted the archer to his feet, just as Swift Wind caught up to them. "I lost track of it around here." She stated.

*Hehehehehe~*

The four turned their backs to one another as they circled in, trying to catch the source of the mysterious voice. Whatever was causing these disappearances was now within their grasp, or perhaps they were in its more than they thought? The being that caused an entire village to disappear, to make an outpost go over a week without so much as a word. This thing brought the downfall of an entire community, and it still had control over the situation by the feels of it.

"There! It's over-" The archer froze. Not two inches from his finger as he directed the others to the sighting did the very same creature appear.

Finally, at long last, they saw the humanoid creature in all its wonder, standing tall before them within the confines of this haunted village. Not one of them initially looked at the creature without so much as a shriek, the hairs sticking on all their ends as they saw the horrifying flashing-blue ghost in all its terror.

Already worries and fears were filling their minds as each of them recalled Catra's stories, with Catra's filling the most as she had heard every story compared to the mere three she told them. Was it possibly the Bleeding-Skull General betrayed by his own troops? The Bone Snatcher that devoured people from the inside out when they stole something that wasn't theirs? Or was it the Spindling Princess, the one who ensnared those who lied to their comrades, and threw them off a cliff?!

Whichever or whatever ghost it was, Catra shook her head, trying to focus. The minute she took care of this... whatever it was, the faster she could get along with her vendetta. Swallowing the building saliva in her mouth, she straightened her stance as she shakily steadied her weapon. "Haaaaah!" In one fell swoop, she screamed as she jumped over the two, swinging down on where the creature stood with her eyes closed. And being greeted with the sight of nothing in front of her after she poked one eye open. "...Where'd it go? Did I get it?"

"No." Glimmer screeched, trembling at the thoughts of whatever this thing was. Off to the right, her pupils dilated as she saw the mysterious presence reappear, slowly approaching the four of them from the corner of her eyes. "Run!" None of them needed to be told twice as they ran in the opposite direction of it. Yet, it proved futile as several feet after, they came across another of the mysterious beings, now accompanied by a second ghost. "R-Run the other way!" She screamed again.

All of their minds were too frightened to process just what was going on, or how to stop these terrifying beings from harming them. Passing through a group of trees, the four found themselves surrounded as the ghosts started to appear one after the other, surrounding them as they walked off in different directions, circling around them and closing the distance between them with each passing second. Of all the ways they could die, none of them thoughts ghosts would be the thing that would do them in for good.

"S-She-Ra, do something!" Swift Wind practically demanded, backing closer into the group.

"And do what? Flail at them with my paperweight?" She yelled back. "I've never fought against something like this before! This is just like-!"

"STOP IT WITH THE STORIES!" Glimmer shouted, panicking. "I HAD ENOUGH OF THESE STORIES! If I'm going to die by a ghost, I rather not know all the gruesome details it involves!"

"Who am I kidding, I'm not Enrtapta!" Bow stammered, trembling as he readied his arrow for the next spectral creature to approach them. "She probably would've invented a device to blast these things by now! I can't even make my tracker pad work!"

"You guys..." Ugh, idiots. Catra was terrified at the sight of these things too, but at least she wasn't willing to go down without a fight. Were they really that scared of these things, though? Weren't they confident in themselves to keep each other safe?

...Weren't they confident enough that Catra could keep them safe? Looking at her sword, and her current attire, she guessed they had every reason to be worried. Since the day before, she'd been losing portions of her power at a time, feeling the energy that came from her She-Ra form as time progressed, and her abilities that came with it. She was less of a She-Ra than she was when she first found the sword, and that was saying a LOT given how little she had of it to begin with.

She could barely keep pushing herself forward in her current state without these three pushing her back combined, she couldn't tell if her senses were getting weaker since portions of her power started to disappear, and she wasn't sure if any of her abilities, be they magical or transforming the sword, still existed. For all she knew, each of these things had the same amount of power her previous She-Ra state did. Even if they had half the strength that She-Ra did, they could still overwhelm her with their numbers.

Still, looking around, she didn't feel much choice. These two were scared to fight, there was only so much a talking horse could do, and perhaps less now thanks to Catra's lack of power, and she was the only one willing to hit something if it came down to that. In truth, a lot of things in her mind were screaming at her that she didn't have a chance, but at the same time, she still remembered what Swift Wind told her the other day.

Don't try to be the best She-Ra she can be. Just be the best Catra she could be. And nobody was better at being reckless than her.

With a sigh, she took a step forward from the group as she readied her sword, the others looking at her strangely as she stepped forth.

"Catra?" Glimmer spoke up a little worried.

"Look, if you guys wanna cower over there all day, then do it. But I'm not letting the mission fail and letting Entrapta off the hook just because of a few... dozen... admittedly creepy ghosts." Shaking the possible fears from her mind, she steadied her sword as she focused on the one coming towards her. She took a deep breath as she prepared to charge at the cosmic horror, prepared to either take it down with ease, or to get taken down fighting. Either one seemed better instead of waiting around like a coward.

"Catra, wait-!" Bow pleaded too late as the three watched the magicat screaming, lunging for approaching one with as much force as she could. Right before she made contact with the creature, she closed her eyes tightly, hoping in this make-it-or-break-it scenario, she wouldn't be the one who ended up broken.

*zzzzzz*

*Crash!*

Catra blinked as she opened her eyes. Not only did the blade pass harmlessly through the terrifying ghost, the ground became lit with runes for a short while as her sword connected to the ground, leaving a trail stretching several feet in front of her for a short while.

"Huh?" She was more confused as she heard a buzz-like sound coming from the apparition as it strolled straight through Catra's body, practically ignoring the girl as it continued on its way, and disappearing several feet later. The others slowly rose at the sight as Catra stared at the disappearing creature, turning her sight to another one as she walked towards it a little more casually.

"It... didn't attack her?" Glimmer didn't know if she should be more relieved or confused at the given sight, being thankful either way that her friend was okay.

Staring at the strange ghostly body as it stood right in front of her, Catra stared at her empty hand for a moment before waving it slowly through the being.

Once again, nothing happened to her as she pulled out.

"Huh..." It was starting to feel silly to her as she looked back to the rest of them. "You know looking back on it, I guess you really don't have to be afraid of something hurting you when you can just pass right through it." Saying it out loud made it feel even dumber than when Catra said it in her mind. As if to emphasize her point, she didn't notice as another one of the ethereal beings passed right through her from behind, though it did make her jump a little. "They really can't hurt us."

*Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr~*

"Agh!" The group yelped as they plugged their ears again, taking in the high-pitched screeching sound of the creatures for a full eight seconds.

"I take it back! I take it back!" Catra yelled, nearly going deaf again as the ringing slowly stopped.

"At least it doesn't last forever." Glimmer commented, trying to ease the tension further.

"What are you talking about?" Swift Wind whined, gesturing into the village. "I can still hear stuff coming from the big, stone pointy thing!"

"Pointy thing?" Trailing his gaze up the village, Bow's eyes slowly lit up as he passed through the bushes. The fact Catra couldn't touch him, the strange glow when her sword touched the ground, the high-pitched screams coming from everywhere. A revelation finally dawned on him as he gasped. Still fretting a little, Glimmer teleported over to him as she held onto him, preparing to teleport again just in case. "Of course! This place is a First Ones ruins! And these aren't ghosts, they're holograms." It made him chuckle when he realized how silly it was all now.

"Holograms?" Catra repeated, waving her hand in front of one of said projections. "I'm pretty sure holograms don't move like this. Even Light Hope is more alive than these things."

"But look at them. Really look at them." There wasn't an ounce of fear in the archer's voice as he smiled confidently to his friends.

"No thanks! I'm good!" Glimmer continued to shriek as she held him, keeping her eyes snapped shut.

"They're running in some kind loop. It's-"

"It's like a recording." Catra stated for him, approaching one of the holograms for a better look.

Smiling at the sight, Bow strolled his way over to a pair of the projections as he intended to give a better example of their presence. Waiting for a bit before opening her eyes, Glimmer saw everything he knew. The way he was standing there casually matched perfectly with the way you'd expect to find an average group of people standing who were hanging out. With the example that was Bow, she could more easily make out the appearances of the holograms that they once thought were attacking them.

"Aw, she's waving." She had to admit, she did feel a little silly after all this time, deciding to wave to it herself for comparison. "Actually, you know what, it's still pretty creepy." The horse had to agree with her as he nodded in turn.

With more and more information being revealed to him, Bow grinned as he turned around. "And I think I know where they're coming from!"

...

...

"Carry that over... Split it apart with this... and then... done!" Adora sighed so heavily as she slumped back into her chair, dropping her arms to her side. "Finally!"

Eight hours of this nightmarish paperwork, and she finally had a solution. A solitary solution that she's never felt more proud of to show her contributions to the Horde to Lord Hordak. This day was supposed to be simple as ever, with a tour that was supposed to be nearing its end, possibly by now, compared to the dozens of stacks of paperwork the Force Captain had been engulfed with since the first requisition forms were given to her.

At least now she could catch her breath.

Hordak said she had been failing him, failing the Horde, as her methods of making allies were cutting away their forces from one another and scattering resources everywhere. While she wasn't as worried about the forces that were stationed along the various outposts and small villages, she was willing to admit that the amount of resources they had been expending after so many alliances did need some restructuring. The Horde was vast with the amount of areas they had, and resources that should've made the place bountiful were instead just efficient enough to keep the Horde maintained naturally.

Thus, after several hours of nearly writing her hand to the point of falling off, something that could very easily happen given its current state, she finally did it. She managed to come up with an organized solution that would allow them to double the output of their collected resources while distributing the same amount as they had been to the various places around Etheria. It was a long process that would've been easier to come to grips with if everything was more organized, but at least now she could finally have a moment's peace.

*sheeem*

"Adora!" Scorpia called out from behind her, nearly making her fall out of her chair as she jumped. Just as quickly, she sighed with relief as she smiled somewhat sleepily at the sight of her returning friend.

"Oh. Hey, Scorpia. How was the tour with Frosta?"

"Um, oh! It went great! I showed her my favorite places and everything, then the training facilities, like planned." She replied, having an awkward smile to her face, one that Adora was too tired to notice closely.

"Heh, that's good. So I take it she went back home then?"

"Well, um," Scorpira rubbed her arm anxiously, "about that, I um... don't know."

"It's fine, I mean as long as she enjoyed the-" Adora's expression froze as she repeated what she said in her mind. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, the whole tour thing. It, um... We went to one of the training facilities, like I said and you planned, and I'm pretty sure she was still having fun by that time, and then, she kind of said she wanted to take a break from everything, to stretch her legs and all that, which I thought was a little weird since we've been doing that all day, and then, um... I kind of lost track of her."

This could not be happening. No, she took that back. This actually could be happening, because at the rate this day was going for Adora, she half-expected a meteor to be striking her out of nowhere at any time now! Trying to collect whatever nerves she could, she took a deep breath, pulled herself out of the chair, then looked at Scorpia as calmly, albeit tiredly, as possible.

"Scorpia, please. I need to know," she breathed as she focused on her words, "when was the last time you saw Frosta?"

"Oh, that was about... right after the training room we visited."

"And when did you go to the training room?"

"Well, before it I thought she wanted to take a break for a late lunch, so it was around that time, so I'd say... three-ish... maybe four hours?"

Adora twitched. She had a twitch in her right eye. All of this taking place, one thing after the other, and she had a twitch.

She now welcomed the sweet embrace of a giant meteor landing on her any time now.

...

Adora panted as she ran through the walls, trying to find any trace or semblance of the girl or her guards, anywhere within the facility. She had a simple day planned out, a list of things in store, and all of them started with a meeting with Lord Hordak over how the Horde was functioning, which was supposed to start the day off running perfectly.

Instead, this. This, this, this, this this! Her meeting should've been an indication of how badly the day was going to go over for her. It blatantly was at this point after all that's transpired. If time travel ever became a possibility, she prayed she would be given access to such a wondrous device, go back into the past, and warn the past Adora of this morning not to meet Lord Hordak this morning, and pray that somehow made the rest of her day perfect!

The physical toll it was taking on the girl was all too evident by her appearance which now appeared to be reaching the end of its life suckle as Adora could practically feel her soul getting torn away. If Frosta was still somewhere around this place, safe and sound, that would be the one and only thing Adora would have left to ask anyone who was favorable enough to grand her wish.

Thus, when she caught a glimpse of something through one of the doors outside, her heart leaped with joy and relief as she breathed so deeply. Someone must have heard her prayers because right in front of her, she saw her. Frosta, standing atop a small block of ice, and her two guards protectively behind her, as the young girl seemed to be overlooking the railing, either enjoying the sunset, or as much as they could get around here, or something else.

"Ah, Frosta, thank goodness you're still here." Adora sighed, walking to the railing as she smiled to her. All that optimism vanished by one ounce at a time as she noticed the silence emanating from the girl, peering over the railing as she saw her resting her head over both her arms, staring down to the ground several floors below. "So... did you enjoy the tour?"

There was a brief silence that almost concerned Adora before she sighed. "Huff, yeah. It was pretty... enlightening." She replied.

Thank goodness! A positive sign of something after all day.

"Phew, that's a relief. Sorry about the whole absence, I was kind of buried neck-deep in paperwork all day." She smiled as she looked over the railing herself, seeing the small playground far below them were several kids were playing, all being watched by a caretaker nearby.

"It's fine. I don't think it would've changed much."

"Great!" She clearly wasn't understanding the hidden message behind her words. "So, tell me. What'd you think?" Once again, silence overcame the girl, but this time she turned her head to give Adora a clear look at her expression.

And the frown she saw upon her face as she couldn't even look Adora in the eyes gave her all the uneasiness Adora needed. "Well, to be honest Adora, I don't..." She was trying to think of how to say everything as kindly as possible. Yet, nothing came to mind. "This place is... terrible." At this, she looked over the railing again as she lied her head upon her arms.

"T-Terrible?!" That couldn't be right, it just couldn't! "W-What do you mean terrible? This place is great!" Her foolish hope was falling on deaf ears, even to herself, as she tried to encourage her, throwing her arms to her side. "T-T-The people, the places, all the things we're making in the Horde, it's-!" Adora stopped.

Frosta wasn't even looking at her by this point. She just kept looking depressed, mellowed out, as she looked over the railing. There had to be something Adora could say, something to counter somebody calling the Fright Zone just plain "terrible". She could try talking about the facilities, maybe re-examine the training rooms with her or... or...

...Who was she kidding? After the entire day Adora had been through, she wasn't in any position to argue against her, If anything, she could only moan as she leaned her head over the railing too, supporting herself with one arm as she rested her head.

"Yeah. It's pretty bad." Though she didn't turn to her, her eyes shifted a little into Adora's direction as the Force Captain recounted her own life around the Fright Zone. "Everyday, it's pretty much work this, work that, think of this, plan on how to do that, and that's just by the morning. In the afternoon you're running yourself ragged to the point of exhaustion, kind of hoping the day comes to an end soon before remembering you'll be doing the same thing pretty much the next day."

As she spoke, the two were drawn to the sound of one of the kids crying down below. Taking a peek, they saw one of the kids, a girl possibly around five years old, crying under a row of monkey bars as she held her elbow. It was pretty hard to see it without being up close, but they were pretty confident, based on the way she was holding it, that she fell and scraped herself up.

"Sometimes I often think of what the Rebellion says about it, everything they lie about. Honestly, there's a lot about them I don't believe, but there is one thing I can agree on them without a second opinion- they must have a much easier life than we do right now."

Lifting her head up, Frosta looked relatively surprised at this. The same person who always told her about how great the Horde was, or at least the Fright Zone, was now confessing that she hated it just as much all the same. "Then... Adora, if you don't like this place that much, then... why do you fight for it?"

"Honestly?" For the first time today, lifting her head a little, Adora grew a small, genuine, smile, in the corner of her mouth, her eyes looking more rested as she settled on the scenery below. "Because by the end of the day, I think of everything else about this place, and I realize... I love it."

At the same time, the two watched as the scene was unfolding down below them, Adora continuing to talk as everything transpired. "I was found abandoned as a baby when I was little, and the Horde's been my home ever since." The small girl below them sniffled as the female caretaker examined her injury along with several other children who checked on her, smiling at her as she patted her head soothingly. "I don't know anything about my real family or where I come from, or why I was abandoned in the first place."

Below, the girl winced as the caretaker rubbed a bit of medicine over the injury, wrapping it up gently in a white cloth as the cries subsided. "But since they found me, I was given a home. They took care of me, they raised me. I had nothing and they gave me everything I needed. Taught me how to read, how to fend for myself, how to do basically everything I would ever need to learn." At this, Adora's smile softened even greater as she saw the kids below trying to cheer up the injured girl from earlier, before the group started to giggle and ran off to play some more. "And along the way... I made some friends."

"Lots of them. Big ones, short ones, ones that were different than me. As I grew older, I realized everyone else was in the same picture, people who were abandoned who had nowhere to go to. The Horde didn't care for races or genetics or anything like that." She smirked a little as she looked back to the short princess. "I mean, sure, they don't like princesses or anything, but based on my history, I don't blame them. Besides, I know a few that are all right."

"Heh heh..." Frosta found herself chuckling at this as her own expression softened, lifting her head up as she listened closer.

"And even now, whenever I need to cheer myself up, I just take a look around sometimes, and remember everything I'm fighting for. This isn't just a home to me, Frosta. It's more like a fam-"

"Like a family." She girl stated for her, to Adora's surprise and joy. She was happy she was understanding some aspect of it.

"Yeah..." Again, her mood dropped a little as she looked over the railing. "Frosta, I'm not saying life in the Horde is perfect, I'm not sure anywhere is. And it's not like I don't understand from your viewpoint. On the outside, everything is rough and chaotic around here. You get your friends, you get your typical bullies, and you get people in-between." Like a certain cat she preferred to keep nameless. "I'm not saying you have to agree with the Horde, or even agree with why we're all doing this. I'm just saying I..." Adora sighed as she leaned herself again.

"I just hope you understand why it's all important to me."

Frosta was at a loss for words. Everything, practically everything, every little bad thing she herself found bad in this place, Adora had an explanation for. She wasn't doing this blindly, for some sake of honor, or just because someone else told her to do it. She did it because she loved these people, wanted to make up for the time they spent raising her as one of their own. Most of all, they were a family to her.

And that was something Frosta understood all too well. What it was like to care so much for a family, and still did.

Looking back on it, she even realized Adora was right as she remembered the tour she had. On the outside, everything was rough. People were working hard on some war they didn't understand, and some of them probably disagreed with. But even in those instances, she saw them looking out for each other, having each others backs. Like brothers and sisters, some of them were with one other, and some of them picked on each other. It was sweet in its own way, and in a sense endearing.

And it meant the world to Adora.

"...Few days from now, along the eastern reach." Adora's eyes opened with surprise as she heard her finally speaking. "The alliance is planning to invade a Horde stronghold that was captured during the last month, somewhere along the cliffs." Staring at the girl for a few seconds, Adora slowly smiled at her as she smiled back.

She showed Adora the trust she had in her, even if she didn't have any in herself at the time. She revealed a tactical detail that would be crucial in the upcoming events that the Princess Alliance was about to follow, and she did it without forcing her to do anything.

She could trust Frosta, she knew she could, and, now, Frosta was the same. They both had a similar outlook on their lives and the people they were fighting for. They may not have the same kind of lifestyle the other had, but they were willing to risk their lives for the people they cared about, and they wouldn't let anybody get in their way.

The day Adora presented Frosta with an Officer's badge was a day she would never regret.

"Thanks, Frosta." Adora replied, smiling as she looked off into the distance. "I hope the tour wasn't too boring for you or anything."

"Eh, it was alright." She shrugged, looking back to the playground. "I got to knock a couple of cadets out, so that was pretty exciting for a few minutes."

"Heh heh, sorry about that. Some of them are just so pumped up about being full-fledged cadets in that training course, they don't usually listen to reason right away. Or think of the obvious."

"And I got to meet a few familiar faces. It was nice to see Entrapta again."

"Ah, I was wondering what she was doing. Did she show you any of her inventions to pass the time?"

"No, she was actually busy doing... whatever it was, when I found her."

"What do you mean?"

"Well for some reason she was just antsy about going into some inner sanctum or something. I said it shouldn't have been a problem if she was just quick about it."

"Quick about wha-" Adora's mind just stopped as her heart sank. She realized everything she processed before her mouth could say it or her mind could think it, feeling her heart sank deeper and deeper as she could only sputter two small words. "Oh no..." Those were the last things Frosta heard before Adora took off running again.

She was pretty happy with all that transpired just now. Adora renewed her confidence about the Horde when she really needed it, and she gave her all the more reason to keep fighting for it. They had similar views of life, were fighting for people they believed were important to them, and they were doing it for the right reasons, not for the bad ones.

Mostly, anyway.

...And yet... even with that... something still bothered her. A single question kept looping within Frosta's mind as she frowned again, squeezing her hands along the railings as she felt a little tense. There was one thing she couldn't answer for herself, and she couldn't ask anybody if they had an answer to the problem.

Am I doing the right thing?

...

*bzzzzzt*

The Power Source continued to breathe beautifully with electricity, never fading since the very moment that Entrapta first perfected it. To think, he would find a person with an intellectual genius around here to match his own, somebody who had a grasp on the bigger picture of everything than just him. Even now, the girl was fiddling with several wires behind him connected to the machine, observing in fascination as the power source continued to surpass the limits of what he managed on his own.

"This is probably the max with what you've got to work with here." She said, yelling over the drowning-out sound of the machine. "If we had even more First Ones tech, we could generate even more voltage." Again, the girl continued to amaze him. Despite what little tech they had leftover, she still managed to generate so much with such a limitation.

For once, he found someone he considered worthy to work alongside him.

*sheeem*

"ENTRAPTA!" Adora's voice could be heard shouting as the doors gaped open, the Force Captain rushing into the room with Scorpia right behind her.

Turning around, the purple scientist smiled as she waved to her running friend. "Oh, hi Adora! What's-" The scientist didn't get any form of greeting in return as Adora ran past Hordak and squeezed her hand with worry.

"What did I tell you about coming in here? Do you know how much trouble you could be in right now?!" The girl panicked, still unable to believe she would do something like this. Out of any sort of promise Entrapta could make Adora, this was the ONE THING she needed her to never break.

"Huh? What are you-"

"I am SO sorry about this, Lord Hordak. She's still getting used to things here, I promise she won't do this again." She profusely apologized with a nod of her head, barely giving him any time to respond himself as she started pulling Entrapta away.

"But Adora, I'm just-"

"I don't care what you're doing right now!" She muttered, looking back to her as she continued to walk towards the door. "I told you to stay out of Hordak's sanctum! Do you know what he's like when he's angered? Don't you understand how important his work is to him?! I needed you to listen to me this one time. I told you not to bother hi-"

*thud*

Adora was cut off as she bumped into the very solid figure that she respected. And, as he loomed over her, somehow seeming more threatening than last time she encountered him, officially feared.

"The only one bothering me right now, Force Captain, is you, with your intrusion." He hissed. Just as he did this morning, he marched off towards her as Adora lost all sound coming up to her throat, backing away and doing everything she could to keep herself from cowering. "I am working, with Entrapta's assistance."

"A-Assistance?"

"Huh! Did you hear that, Emily? I've never had a lab partner before!"

Adora looked over to the girl as she continued to back away, the scientist giving her a casual smile as she stood next to Scorpia, waving with a hand and her hair. "S-Sir, I swear, if she's done something, I'll deal with it. I wouldn't let her bother you-"

"I do not repeat myself a third time, Force Captain. The only intrusion I have right now, is you, and your presence. And I'm finding them both to be nothing more than unwelcomed *variables* right now, Adora." His threat was crystal clear to the girl as she remembered his earlier experiment, and how he dealt with it said variable last time.

"I-I... I-If this is about the resources earlier, I fixed it-Urgh!" Adora nearly choked. With a swift, tightened grip, she found both her cheeks squeezed together tightly, is menacing gaze narrowing even further as his eyes looked deep into her soul. He only had the patience to deliver a third, and final, warning.

"GET. OUT!" He didn't have the care to put her down as he dropped her from his grip, hurdling her to the floor, and walked straight past her.

"Bye, Adora!" Entrapta seemed just as carefree as she strolled right past her with a wave, though in her case, it was more of the inability to read the room, one that was shouting Hordak's last order's to Adora's ears as she continued to stare at him.

"Uh, come on, let's get your feet up. That's it, there we go." If it wasn't for Scorpia's assistance as she helped the girl to her feet, there was a good chance she would've been removed from his presence in a more permanent method. Adora could barely hear Scorpia as she tried to comfort her, insisting he was just having an off day or something, she couldn't really tell anymore as they exited the room.

All Adora could do was watch as the two stood side-by-side with each other as they continued to examine the machine, discussing methods and various other details about the practicals of his current experiment. Adora couldn't figure out what to say to herself, about what she witnessed, about what she was seeing. She just continued to stare, until the sight of them was gone behind the metallic, cold, doors...

...

...

The three watched as Bow continued to examine the obelisk that stood along the center of the outpost, the holograms and recordings continuing to dance around them as he did. To think, the very village that held the most unsettling vibe around them, that freaked them out on more than one occasion, that still gave them the chills the most out of every place they've been to to date, was nothing more than the work of science and technology.

The First Ones science and technology.

"This is it. The noise is coming from here." Swift Wind lowered his head closer as he examined the strange symbols.

"It looks like Light Hope's Beacon." Catra's curiosity continued to spiral between just how much of this place should annoy her, and how much of this place should surprise her.

"It's an antennae." Bow revealed, pulling back more of the roots that covered the structure. "I'm guessing this outpost is built on some kind of First Ones communication hub." They all marveled at the device as they examined the runes going up. "When the Black Garnet disrupted the planet, it must've caused the hub to power up, it's trying to send old stored messages."

"Messages?" Catra wandered off a little as she watched one of the holographic recordings play from up close.

Within its loop, the feline watched as what appeared to be two parents were waving in her direction, as if saying hi to Catra herself. Taking a look behind her, she saw what appeared to be the outline of a little girl, running up to the parents happily before jumping into both their arms. The moment the girl reached the two, the image came to an end, right before the girl was embraced, and the loop restarting once more as if nothing had happened.

"So... these guys are actually the First Ones?"

"Yeah, why?" Bow asked as he and Swift Wind pulled another bundle of roots.

"I don't know, it's just... I thought they'd be kinda different, you know? Bigger, more important looking. Something a little cooler. Why did they bother with all of these old recordings in the first place?"

"Because they had something that mattered more to them, Catra." Glimmer replied, prying off another of the roots. "Something bad probably happened, something they weren't prepared for. And when they didn't have enough time to be rescued, they probably left a final message for the people that were left behind or leaving... a message to say goodbye."

"Something... more important?" Catra muttered. She gazed at the three as she talked amongst themselves about the possibilities of this first one as Catra looked to her sword, pondering.

Okay. So let's review the goals currently going through her head. Go all the way to the Fright Zone, find Entrapta, get her revenge, then everything will be better. Simple, easy, and to the point! ...Well... of course, she knew she was going to have to be creative in how she did it. She couldn't just knock on the front door and asked to be let in, right?

Come to think of it, how was she supposed to get out? If she made it all the way through, chances were indefinite that she wouldn't go undetected without some sort of sensor or camera picking her up. She'd be found and swarmed in no time by the mob of Horde soldiers determined to take her down, and... Boy. She hadn't even thought of it, but then there would be another confrontation with Adora. She could definitely handle an army or a lost friend, but definitely not both.

Chances were, she'd be captured, at best...

Ugh, what was she thinking about it for, anyway? Sure, the chances were she'd get captured, but the pros outweighed the cons, right? For example, she would get her revenge. Then she would feel all better! And after that, she would-!... She would... She would... um...

What else would benefit them? It wouldn't put a halt to the Horde's production of droids and weaponry since they had multiple science divisions. The Horde would most likely redouble their efforts with Entrapta's absence, and scour the world for more First Ones tech to use against the Rebellion in retaliation. The Horde would possibly go out of the way to get payback against the Horde, especially Adora who grew attached to her friends.

Not to mention, thinking about it, the Rebellion and Princess Alliance would be without She-Ra or Catra. Knowing them, Glimmer, Bow, heck, even Swift Wind would do whatever crazy hair-brained scheme they could think of to rescue her, and most likely fail without Catra's expertise. And that was just if they tried to do it. She hadn't even considered if the rest of the Princess Alliance would-

"Hey, Catra!" Glimmer called out. It snapped the magicat out of her thoughts as she blinked from her confusion, staring back at the three. "We're ready. Is something wrong?"

"...No..." Catra shook her head a little sluggishly as she made her way back over to them, standing before the pillar. Taking a deep breath, she focused as she placed her hand upon the pillar.

Gathering as much power as she possibly had in this state, she focused as her body radiated with energy, connecting with the technology as she willed the device to power down. It took a few seconds of effort, the lack of energy taking its toll on her grasp, but, eventually, the pillar glowed with a brilliant light, one that gave off a soft hum as the ground around them briefly lit up.

From the outstretches of the town, the light slowly faded, the moving holograms slowly coming to a halt before disappearing altogether. The others watched mixed feelings, all feeling senses of happiness and sadness, hoping to themselves that their messages got through to whoever and wherever they were meant to go. To the families, to the friends, to the many people they cared for.

And taking her hand from the creation, with the last of the holograms disappearing, Catra silently hoped they made it too before she sighed

*shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim~*

In a light they were all too familiar with, the others shielded their eyes as Catra's body was enveloped in a bright light. They were surprised, shocked, relieved, and most of all, overjoyed, as they watched their friend's power returning to her, however much of it as possible. Finally, the bright light faded, with Swift Wind feeling his bond with Catra strengthening once more, knowing what was already too good to be true.

"C-Catra, your back to normal!" Glimmer exclaimed. She seemed to be back to her old self once more! They could see the elegant cape flowing in the wind behind her, the bracelets on her arms as she held her sword. And as she turned over, they saw-!

No pants.

Catra groaned a little to herself before shrugging, sheathing her sword. "Eh, I'll take what I can get."

Even though he was unwilling to ruin what appeared to be a beautiful moment, Bow turned his attention back to the tracker pad, knowing that there was one bit of the mystery left. "The farmers must've fled from the ghosts when this thing turned itself on. We should be able to get them a message that its safe to return."

"Way to go!" Glimmer congratulated proudly. The Rebellion is going to do just fine with you, Master Maker Bow."

"Heh, thanks, Glimmer." He replied in a teethy grin. "Now that the antennae is powered down, everything should be back to normal-" Bow stopped as he looked at the screen, the others looking from behind him. "It's that message again. Looks like the First Ones writing."

"But we powered down the antennae." Swift Wind reminded.

"Don't expect me to read it." Catra shrugged. "Looks like a bunch of scribbles to me."

"You said it yourself, Bow," Glimmer tried to encourage, "your pad must be broken."

"...Yeah... that must be it..." It didn't settle right with the "Master Maker" as he agreed, staring off into the screen as it wavered to and fro.

"So are we done here, then? I wanna get going." Catra grumbled, marching off ahead of them.

"Going?" The princess repeated in a brief confusion. "Where do you... Wait!" Before Catra could take another several steps away, the princess disappeared and reappeared, cutting Catra off as she held her hand up to her face. "Catra, come oooon, you can't be serious!"

"You still want to go after all that's happened?" Bow panicked as he rushed up ahead, doing what he could to block her path. He wondered if he should've gotten his rope-arrow ready or not as Swift Wind flew up from behind him.

"Hey, I'm tired, hungry, and I'm just about ready for bed, so let's go!" Catra growled, walking right past them.

"But Catra, you can't just-" Any argument the princess had to make instantly became invalid as confusion overwhelmed her, her arm dropping in front of her as she just stared. "Wait a minute... what did you just say?"

"What? Are you becoming deaf yourself? I said, let's go home already, geez!"

"Home?" Glimmer's insensate blinking was met with that of Bow's and Swift Wind's as they stared at each other, then quickly chased up to Catra as they followed closely behind. "You mean as in... My home? Bright Moon? Not the Horde?"

"Am I speaking too She-Ra for you? Yes, your home!" She snarled.

"So... you... don't want to want to go to the Fright Zone and enact vengeance upon Entrapta?" The other two looked up at him in annoyance as he gave the full-bodied explanation. "What?"

"No, already!"

"W-Well... if you don't mind me saying this, then why?" Bow just had to ask, as the rest of them wanted to know.

"Because-!" Catra grumbled as she rolled her eyes, rubbing them tiredly as her form finally flashed again, and her attire had returned. "Because I'm bored, and I'm tired, okay? It's been a long day, and the last thing I need is another surprise mission popping up out of nowhere along the way there. Besides," she paused as she let out another yawn, "I haven't slept since yesterday, and I could use the shuteye."

"But, and not that we don't believe you, but... How do we know you won't try to sneak off in the middle of the night and try to get revenge on her when we aren't around?" There were only so many pranks and tricks, hopefully, that Catra could pull on them before Glimmer grew accustomed to her methods.

"What? Do you wanna sleep with me to keep me from getting out? Be my guest." She waved her hand as she continued on. "I just figured, you know, it'd be too much work at this point. I mean, I'd have to break in, then break out, do who knows how much of the heavy work while you guys just sit back and relax all day and, you know. I'm not having any of that."

"So you're definitely okay with finding out about Entrapta and don't want revenge on her anymore?"

"Oh, no, I still wanna get that pipsqueak after all she's done." She admitted. With a bit of reasoning, the others assumed this is where the lack of Catra's full restoration kicked in. Even if she was no longer willing to drive on into the Horde any longer and search for one measly girl, it didn't mean she had given up on the idea of revenge in the long run. "But I figured I might as well do it later. Maybe in a week, maybe in a month, who knows. If I run into her again, that's when I'll get her."

The others turned to one another in silence as they slowly smiled to one another. After a long, stressful, day, Catra seemed to be back to most of her usual self instead of some vengeance-driven warrior who wanted to make herself feel better for just one day. And, while it wasn't the perfect kind of Catra, it was the one they definitely preferred at this point.

At the same time, Catra, on the other hand, had her own motives for her own sudden disinterest. Yeah, she was pretty open about all the other reasons, and it's not like she told a single lie. She didn't want to do the hard stuff by herself, the others kept pulling her down, literally, to get in her way, and she didn't really have an exit strategy, and she was fine with all that stuff. There was, however, one realization that dawned on her in the mix of her thoughts that did bother her.

As she came to realize if she was captured the others would be putting themselves at risk. She was great and all that and definitely worth saving, but for these guys, they wanted to save her because they considered her their friend, even if she did so rarely in return. They would've risked life and limb for her if it meant getting her back, most likely involving something reckless that they weren't prepared for.

There were millions of reasons why Catra would get revenge on someone. Betrayal, pulling a prank on her, being a complete and utter annoyance to her, and so forth. She hated those kinds of people and was more than eager to get revenge on any one at any time of the day.

But at the same time, there were few things in this world she was willing to risk losing, things she cared too much about to let her own desires get ahead of her.

Like these three idiot.

...

...

*sheeem*

"Annnnnd good afternoon to you, young miss." Aroda's smug face was the first thing to greet Adora as she leaned within the doorway of Adora's room. To the reflections delight, Adora was pretty much how she knew she would be, what with being inside her head throughout the entire day and all. She looked exhausted, irritated, had several bags under her eyes, and a look in her pupils told her she wasn't just dealing with tiredness. She was irritated.

Whether it was with her day, or just Aroda, was the only part that she couldn't tell. Nevertheless, the exhausted Force Captain completely ignored her as she walked right through her, not even caring at this point, as she made her way over to her bunk. "Aww, come ooooon, didn't you miss me?" She teased, watching Adora plop face first into the pillow, stretching her arms over the sides of the bed with a groan.

"Go. Away." She gave her more than enough talking for one day. "You're not real. You're not here. And I don't need you here." There was a small silence that followed as Adora's curiosity got the better of her. Lifting the side of her face up a little, she scanned the area towards the door, noticing a lack of annoyance coming from the other side of the room.

"Welllllll," a chipper voice brought Adora's hope crashing down as it spoke in her's from the bunk above, "I don't know about the first two, but face it Adora." She grinned as she poked her head over the side. "You need me here."

"Ugh... I don't need you, I just need to sleep."

"Once again, wrong." Ignoring her, Adora tauntingly mimicked her movements with her hand, trying to drown the reflection out. "So tell me, Adora, how happy were you awhile ago?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about." She sighed, finally exposing her face.

"Please, you can't keep lying to me. You were angry, weren't you? Devastated. You wanted to wring your shadows around that scientist's neck, didn't you?"

"I did not!" Adora yelled slightly defensive. She sat up in her bed as she curled her legs up, staring at her knees as she hugged herself. "I'm happy for her. I was just... surprised, that he was so accepting of her."

"..." For once, a look of boredom actually crossed Aroda's face of all people, er, reflections. "Booooo, boring answer."

"I'm not here to amuse you." She grumbled. She turned her head away from her as she looked off into the room, trying to ignore the ever-growing presence. "...And even if I was a little jealous, so what? I'm happy she's found a great place to work-"

"Even if it was at Hordak's side?" Aroda grinned, even more as Adora remained silent. "Let's do the math, shall we? You've been here for... since you were a baby... and Entrapta's been here for... three months, and he's already taken in by her work compared to yours?"

"She's been here for barely a month!" Adora yelled back. As she saw Aroda grin, a small blush fell over her face as she turned away again. Not wanting to miss an opportunity of therapy, Aroda slunk herself through the bed, landing with her legs crossed on the opposite side of Adora.

"You know what your problem is, Adora? You want to know why Hordak's so taken in with her compared to you?"

"If I say no, are you going to leave me alone?"

"Nope! Your problem is, that you're too weak." For once Adora actually was a little curious at the prospect, though she didn't give it any more attention than she did Aroda. "You're weak. You lack any sort of power, you don't have any special skills-"

"I-I do to!" She insisted. "I'm a strong fighter, I can manipulate shadows, I-"

"Get weak after several days without recharging. Can't go several hours into a fight without needing one of your pwecious wistbands." She cooed, pretending to pinch Adora's cheeks as her fingers went straight through. "And remind me again who made that stuff for you? It starts with an "E", and ends with an "ntrapta"!" Adora's attempts to drown her out slowly dwindled as her efforts were in vain. "Face it, Adora. Hordak doesn't respect you because Entrapta has power over you. In fact, nearly everyone does with how much you try to be friendly with everyone."

"I don't try to be friendly with them, I am friendly because I care about my friends. I don't want any of them getting hurt."

"And that's all fine and dandy. But that just leaves you getting pushed around all day while everyone else takes the credit." She let out a fake yawn as she leaned over the bed with her hands under her head. "It's just a matter of time until Frosta betrays you, too."

*Swiff*

There was a cloud of feathers and cotton that burst into the air as Adora swiped a large, shadowy, claw over the mattress and one of her pillows. Not surprisingly, there wasn't a single scratch over Aroda's body as her reflection continued to smirk at her, looking even happier from Adora's reaction.

"S...Shut up..." She slowly drew her shadows away until her gloved hand was revealed once more. "She's not going to betray us. She's a good friend, and there wouldn't be any benefit for her."

"Not even finding out you pretty much tricked her into being allies?" For the first time, Adora choked a response as her eyes widened a little. "That you pretty much sabotaged her Princess Prom from the very beginning?"

"I-I didn't lie to her!" She groaned. "I just... I just wanted to show her how barbaric the Rebellion was, that's all. Catra proved that more than enough after she attacked her. Besides, it's not like I made Catra do anything, she just proved what I already knew."

"Catra this, Catra that. You know for a girl you pretty much want to ignore, you really do bring her up a lot."

*whiff*

Unsurprisingly again, the pillow Adora threw just went through Aroda's head, the reflection watching with glee as Adora rested on her own two hands upon the bed.

She didn't need to hear any of this, she knew she wasn't wrong. The Rebellion were the bad guys here, not her. Catra attacked an innocent girl because she let her emotions get the best of her. She wouldn't be surprised if all of the Rebellion was like her. Looking back on it, it made way too much sense that they'd take her in if they were all just as vile as she was!

Heck, after her encounter with them yesterday, she was all but confident they were!

"You know," Aroda spoke up, lying like Adora was as she floated two feet above her, "as funny as it is to watch you kid yourself, I'm the one who's going to suffer too if anything happens to you. You know you have so many personalities floating around your head, right?" Playfully, she put her hands to her mouth as she let out a bunch of cartoonish impressions. "Heeeeelp! Let us oooout! It's dark and empty in here!"

"Ugh, will you just go away?" Adora groaned, resting her eyes. "I just wanna go to sleep, okay?" At the suggestion, Aroda's brow narrowed.

"Do this, do that, your friends are being such great role models to you, you know?" Adora nearly jumped as something happened to her face; she felt two firm fingers, a finger and a thumb, grip the base of her chin softly, and turned her head to look up to her.

Aroda was actually grabbing her. She could feel her.

"I'm tired of playing in circles around here, so I'm going to just come out and give you advice." She brought her head closer to Adora's until their faces were mere inches apart. "If you want to rule anything around here, you need control. If you want to control anything, you need power."

"I need... power?" Adora repeated, blinking as Aroda grinned. The girl continued to surprise her, and startle her, as she brushed a few strands of hair from Adora's face.

"You need power if you want to control. If you have control, you can rule anything you want." Finally, to some of Adora's relief, Aroda started to fade as she disappeared slowly from her feet upwards. Yet, without even moving her mouth, she continued to hear her speak in an echo-y tone. "If you want to rule, you need control. If you want to control," swiping her hair one more time clear of Adora's face, she disappeared, "you need more power..."

"..." Adora stared as the reflection vanished, staring off into space briefly to make sure she was truly gone, before lying her head back down.

She didn't know what she was talking about, Adora was confident in her abilities to accomplish her tasks, to complete any mission. She knew just one or two minor cases of trickery weren't enough to label her as the bad guy. They were all for the sake of Etheria. Besides, she couldn't bring herself to make enemies with what was, basically, a child. If she ever fought her, she wouldn't be able to bring herself to harm Frosta.

And you know what? Good for Entrapta. She truly was happy for her, and she was glad she got Hordak's attention. She must've been really gifted if Hordak required her assistance out of anyone within the Horde. And she was the one helping Adora through her issues with her power, she couldn't ask for anyone more qualified than her to be at Hordak's side...

The Force Captain slowly brought her hand to the as she gathered a small bundle of shadows, watching them slithering across her skin. Even with her drawbacks, she was still plenty powerful. And within a few days, she was going to prove it.

She was going to annihilate the Princess Alliance once and for all.

She was going to show this voice in her head that everything she said about Frosta was wrong, that she wasn't a traitor.

Above all else, she was going to prove to Lord Hordak, make him see, that she wasn't a failure...

...

...

...

A/N: Annnnnd god, nelly, i need a vacation after that X_X unfortunately i can't take one, cause the last time I took a break from writing... I didn't come back until a week ago XP that should say enough.

With this chapter done, we reach the epicenter/halfway episode, which is everyone's favorite! I'm not going to lie, it'll definitely be different than the canon version, but i'm not going to get rid of the hilarious first half of the show, I'd be chopping my own pinkie off before I did something stupid like that Xp...wait...

Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, review if you enjoyed, and I hope to see you zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...