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

95. S3 Episode 1: The Price of Power Finale

A/N: Final Word Count: 17.1K Pre-A/N's. Dear GAWWWWWWWWWWD this was an exhausting endeavor, but a legitimately enjoyable one ^^ Its very late so i'm not going to sugarcoat anything here, but I will express my thanks beforehand to Gunter, Star, and Petie for assisting with the proof-reading in some of the exposition stuff I struggled with.

No it wasn't hard or anything. In fact, it was relatively fun making it out ^^ The hard/struggling part of it came in the form of being unable to tell if the exposition/story-explanation would've proved credible or at least good enough to be somewhat seem as canon, like if it was believable/entertaining enough or if it was downright stupid and ridiculous. Obviously since I wrote it, I couldn't consider it for myself XP Shocking or not, when an author writes his own work, he's going to generally assume it sounds good to themself everytime XP

Hoooof! But with all that said, thanks again for the assistance. It's time to read the grand finale behind everything, and see just where the origins of this Spell of Obtainment and its uses within the fanfic will finally take us!

Enjoy ^^!

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...

"The Spell of Obtainment?" Catra questioned, blinking with confusion that the long night had continued to bring.

If it wasn't one mystery, it was another. For every answer they got throughout the evening, they got two more questions in its place. This was the basic system that Catra and her friends had to suffer through for the last several hours of the night, a night that was turning out to be a mix between excitement, anger, jealousy, and so forth as the hours drove on. And what was at the heart of the matter that kept bringing these emotions up within the atmosphere, within Catra?

Shadow Weaver.

The wicked witch, the sorceress of darkness, the blemish on Mystacor's past. She was the root cause behind everything that happened tonight, sneaking into the very student's chambers without nary a sound, awakening the magicat who promptly beat the stuffing out of her with glee. She got the payback she was looking for, the state she was in, and she was excited to continue doing it if she didn't found out the very next thing.

She was dying. The mentor she hated, the one who abused her all her life, was dying, and she didn't know how to process it. Happy? Sad? What? Nothing became an answer to the young girl as she tried to contemplate all the feelings welling up inside of her. She wanted to feel happy, she wanted to feel relief that she was leaving this world in some form, yet all her experiences up to this point, everything she's been through, confused her.

To make it worse, the old crone came specifically to Catra under the idea that she would heal her, could heal her, in the form of She-Ra's magic. It didn't go off without a hitch, naturally. Despite needing the girl's help, she constantly mocked and ridiculed the girl throughout the first attempt, mocking her and spiting her even though she was just trying to help her. Needless to say, it infuriated the girl, continued to break her focus, and eventually collapse under her own weight.

From there, she had to press on, hinting about the destiny she stole from Adora since day one, how she was supposed to be destined for greatness and not the other way around. In addition, she went out of her way to make her understand that she was not of this world, a detail that brought Catra to the Crystal Castle to understand just what or who she was by Light Hope. And, with the revelation that she was, in fact, a First One, how did she feel about it all?

Angry. Complete, miserable, anger. Anger that there was nothing different about the girl besides her birth, anger that she had to suffer a miserable existence because Adora was the one who was naturally gifted, the one chosen to be the hero. Add to the fact that for every day of peace Adora seemingly-lived within the Fright Zone, it added another day of despair and misery to the girl who had to push herself constantly, the one who envied the attention that Shadow Weaver gave her.

It wasn't until a heart-to-heart with Swift Wind that Catra came to an understanding, a sort of agreement in thought, as to why she should save Shadow Weaver after all she's done. Not for Adora, not for Shadow Weaver, but for herself. To prove her wrong. To show Shadow Weaver that everything that the witch said about her was false, a lie. Even if it meant saving her life, a life she still cared a little for, she'd rather have her live than die without giving Catra the chance to ever prove herself again.

And in the end, she did. She proved her wrong. With the shadow of her fear hanging over her head waning away, she managed to push herself enough to finally heal Shadow Weaver, to save the woman's life as she lied on the brink of death.

All that remained was for her to keep her end of the bargain, to bring this long confusing night to an end. And it all started with the very first line that Shadow Weaver had to say.

And MAN was it confusing.

"What's the "Spell of Obtainment"?" Bow asked curiously. As Glimmer was about to open her mouth to speak, she was hastily interrupted in anger as Castaspella stepped forth.

"Shadow Weaver, you didn't!" She grumbled, squeezing her fist to contain the rage.

"If it means anything, it wasn't intentional, I assure you." She replied in a casual manner, sitting as comfortably as one could when you were in an eight-foot-radius-sized barrier.

"Intentional or not, what you subjected that poor girl to is atrocious." Angella stated, feeling her own anger boiling right now.

"Mom?" Glimmer spoke, never seeing this side of her anger before from just one spell. "I don't get it. What's the big deal about this Spell of Obtainment?"

"Everything's a big deal about the spell!" Castaspella snapped. "It was forbidden for a reason. It's the very spell your father tried to keep Shadow Weaver from completing that got her banished from Mystacor in the first place!" Glimmer's eyes widened in shock at the news, turning to Shadow Weaver in dismay.

"My... dad?"

"Micah was young at the time, child." Shadow Weaver commented, remembering the past. "He was quite gifted in what he did, though, clearly that didn't keep him from falling, now did it?"

"How dare you speak to her that way." The queen was fuming. She could allow her to speak her petty insults as much as she wanted to toy with Angella, but she refused to allow her to direct them to her daughter.

"Would someone just tell us what the stupid Spell of Obtainment is already?!" Catra yelped, getting annoyed with all the background talk and the lack of answers that came with it. The two older women looked at each other in worry, knowing that they couldn't keep it to themselves for very long, not when the reveal of it was already out there.

With a heavy heart, one of shame, Castaspella answered. "The Spell of Obtainment is what it sounds like. It's a spell of tremendous power that can empower the caster's strength tenfold. It's a forbidden spell that causes it to leech power from the user's surrounding, drawing it for themselves and amplifying their strength like never before."

"What, seriously?!" Catra replied with a bit of excitement, a smile across her face at the thought of it. "Why the heck would you make a spell like that forbidden? It sounds awesome!"

"Because the aftereffects are what make it so dangerous." Angella answered in Casta's place. "It doesn't just leech power from the user's surrounding, it draws power from the individual themselves, siphoning off the user's life force if there isn't a source to draw power from. It could easily kill an individual, even the most gifted of casters."

All the excitement emanating from Catra dropped at an instant at the announcement. "The user's life..." Her eyes burned with anger as she glared back at the former mentor, the person she just saved. "YOU!" Knowing what their friend was about to do, Glimmer and Bow quickly grabbed the girl's arms, Angella gripping her right shoulder tightly, keeping her from undoing the recent saving that she just committed. "You rotten- You killed Adora, didn't you!?" She shouted. The tears didn't have enough time to well up in her eyes before Shadow Weaver spoke.

"Adora isn't dead, idiot." Shadow Weaver hissed, a little insulted that Catra would instantly jump to that. It was just enough to make Catra stop long enough to let her get a word out. "Nor was I aware that the spell transferred to her."

"Transferred?" At the raised brow, her friends finally released her, keeping their guard at the ready just in case she jumped again. "How do you transfer something without knowing you did in the first place? Why'd you even give it to her at all?"

"Huff, it's a bit of an explanation." Shadow Weaver sighed, knowing there was no use hiding it. "The Spell of Obtainment isn't like other spells that exist. It is an amalgamation of energy, a parasite of living magic that feeds and nurtures the host it inhabits as long as its sated. When it inhabits a host, they become the same parasitic creature that the parasite is, drawing on from any and all sources, including itself."

"Which is what makes it a danger in the first place." Casta added. "Unless the host dies, the spell itself can only be destroyed or banished by magic, the very means that drew it into the world to begin with."

"But what would it want with Adora?" Glimmer asked, unaware as Catra squeezed her fist at this knowingly. "Her own magic's been draining her since she got it, so it's not like she has an unlimited supply of energy-"

"It's because she's a First One." Catra stated bluntly, surprising the individuals, save for one, surrounding her. "Isn't she?" Everyone stared at the girl as if she had lost it, which was saying a lot since she just answered a question.

"A First One?" Bow looked to the others to see if anyone else was aware of this, including the witch currently behind enchanted bars. "Catra, the First Ones died out over a thousand years ago. How could-"

"I'm afraid Catra speaks the truth, for once." Shadow Weaver interrupted, irritated that she had to admit when said former student was actually right. "It was years ago, when Hordak attempted to perfect his portal technology." Even now, she could remember the girl's crying face, the way she brushed its tears away fondly. "It was only for a moment. And in that moment, a child came through. That child was Adora. She was brought here from another world."

"You're lying!" Glimmer instantly accused the moment she could get a word in. "You're lying like you always do. I mean, the First Ones? Portals? None of that makes any sense!"

"I gain nothing by lying, princess." She assured, finally getting to her feet as her energy continued to return. "Adora is different from the rest of us. Why do you think she was bequeathed with a sword, a gift that could bring a dying woman back to life?" Grimacing, Catra looked to her sword at this.

It still angered her when she thought about it. Thought about how Adora was the favored one because she was just born differently, how Catra was the one who had to suffer day in and day out just because she wasn't her. Now, she had something else to worry about, and more to come.

"I knew she was different from the moment I laid eyes on her, just not the true nature of her origin until recently." She continued. "I thought it was a gift at first, a trait she had that drew me to her. It wasn't until later I discovered it was-"

"Because of the parasite." Angella crossed her arms as she spoke, still revolted with the woman now more than ever before. "Because it wanted a new source of power, right?"

"Could you imagine it?" Shadow Weaver actually hoped they could picture it. The perfect symbiosis between parasite and host. "A girl born with a greater power than the likes that any Etherian is naturally born with. One that produces just enough power to satiate the parasite's hunger at all times... barely."

"I knew the spell drew me to her, but it was the reason for it that left me questionable for a time." She recalls the days she spent with the girl. Teaching, raising, training, all through as Adora grew up through the years. "I thought it wanted me to use the girl, as I intended to. To turn her into my greatest accomplishment, greatest weapon that the Horde had ever known." Her eyes lowered a little in sadness as she turned her head away. "It wasn't until a few years after Adora was taken by the Horde that I began to realize its true intentions."

"Realize it's intentions?" Catra turned to her two friends, wondering if they were following along any better than she was, before looking back. "What do you mean realize its intentions? It's just some parasite thing, isn't it? How could you know what it wanted specifically?"

"The parasite is far more complicated than you can understand, Catra." Castaspella replied in Shadow Weaver's place. "It doesn't just draw people to sources of power. It speaks with them, guides them to possibilities of newer and greater power."

"At first, it was manageable." The witch continued. "It came to me in a form that I could tolerate, being seen and heard only within my mind. It would throw out a suggestion here, an answer to a question that eluded me there, and continue to sniff out a sufficient source of energy for me at all times. It even started to affect my surroundings for a time, which did so under the guise of my own magic acting of its own accord."

"The drain it had on me until I perfected a connection to the Black Garnet proved unbearable for a time, but I managed to work through it." As she said this, the once-powerful sorceress pulled back the flap of her glove, revealing the same condition to the rest that she witnessed in Adora. "Though, suffice to say, it still left its mark on me."

And Catra thought she was ugly looking before! Well, she still was to her, but that's besides the point. The three friends looked at the revolting hand in disgust as she exposed it. Looked as if centuries had past within the limb itself, leaving it rotten, dried up, almost like a husk.

Thinking back on it, Catra could still recall the time she caught a glimpse of Shadow Weaver's face the one day she and Adora snuck into her Black Garnet chamber. If that was as bad as she looked back then, she didn't want to picture what lied behind the mask now.

"That's disgusting." Catra commented, sticking out her tongue at the sight.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Bow added, feeling like his lunch was fighting with itself between whether or not to throw up.

"And it was when Adora was a young child did I realize how vile it truly was." That was the first time Shadow Weaver finally disagreed with it, the first time she ignored, disobeyed what the parasite wanted. And she still couldn't get red of the memory of how she loomed over Adora's bed. The girl she was so drawn to since infancy, the person she spent her life caring for.

The innocent girl who saw Shadow Weaver as a mother figure, the only one she ever had in her life. It was the first and only time Shadow Weaver cared about something other than her lust for power, backing away from the innocent creature before Adora's curious eyes could pop open to her, leaving nothing to the imagination of those who listened to her memory.

"Y-You..." Catra trembled to speak a little. "You were going to... to..."

"But, wait, that doesn't make sense." Glimmer said, catching the attention of the rest. "You said the parasite was drawn to her as a baby, right? Adora didn't have her magic until recently, so why was it drawn to her then?"

Slowly, surely, Catra's eyes widened in understanding as she raised the sword to the three of them. "It... It knew. It knew she was-"

"So you finally understand, I take it?" Shadow Weaver felt it was about time she understood. "When the moment came, I finally realized what it wanted. It didn't want me to use Adora's power for my own sake. It wanted me to transfer Adora's powers to myself, to take control of it by any means necessary."

"It knew at first sight that Adora had a connection with the sacred sword. It wanted the limitless potential of the blade for itself." Shadow Weaver confirmed. "It gave me all the knowledge of what I would need, all the materials I would require to perform a ritual that would do it. A means to steal one's connection, a chance to obtain the sword. But I chose against it."

"You chose against it?"

"I assume you know what the word "choice" means, Catra." She teased lightly. "I disobeyed the parasite for the first time on that day, and it didn't take my choice too lightly in the process. It tormented me constantly, siphoned off more of my energy faster than it used to. It was going to drain my body dry of its own life until I gave it what it wanted. For years, I kept it locked away within myself, until-"

"Until it switched to Adora in the process." Angella answered for her, knowing where it was going. She was still angry with the woman as she walked around the barrier a bit, meeting Shadow Weaver at eye level as she took the moment to stare back at her imprisoning queen. "You almost sacrificed a girl's life in exchange for power... How can you live with yourself like that?"

"Rather easily," she replied in a slight snarky tone, "considering I didn't do it." It didn't make a potential murderer sound any better just because they didn't go through with a murder to begin with to Angella. "To keep it contained within me, to prevent its voices from trying to influence me any further, I had it sealed away, shut off within the far recesses of my mind where it could never tempt me again.."

"But what does any of this have to do with Adora?" The magicat was getting impatient as the backstory continued for what seemed like forever, without any explanation about the present. "What's it doing affecting her? Why is it in her in the first place?"

Shadow Weaver took the moment to sigh as she gathered a new fount of thoughts to explain. She's barely covered half the story she needed to so far, and that was just related to Adora. There were still many details she had to get through about the Horde's current objectives.

"That... is the one regret I've made in my life." She stated, sitting against the ground again on her side. Looking back on it now, she realized how foolish it must've been, questioning to this day whether she was truly free of the parasite's influence or not. "When I made the headband for Adora, the one that gave her the ability to draw in and use shadows, I gave her a fraction of my powers in the process. This included the very parasite as well."

"How do you call something like that an accident?!" Glimmer stammered, puffing out her cheeks a bit. "There's a big difference between accidental and intentional, you know!"

"It's not in the same way that you're thinking, child." Shadow Weaver lamented, shaking her head. "With the ritual I performed to transfer it, I used a portion of the Black Garnet's own rune stone as a container, entrapping the parasite along with my powers so it could never break free."

"You used the rune stone itself to contain the parasite?" Casta questioned, never once determining if such an event would prove feasible.

"Just a tiny piece of it. I could easily imagine the creature gorging itself on the Black Garnet's raw power until it destroyed the stone itself if I ever did something so foolish." She could easily see a catastrophe like that. Seeing the creature run rampant within the garnet itself, siphoning the rune stone of all its power, and eventually shattering it to pieces within mere minutes of entry.

"With the power of the rune stone, my magic, and the parasite mixed together, it created the perfect tool for the girl. It amplified her physically and emotionally, allowed her to draw in the shadows like a fuel source to feed the parasite within. And, in exchange, the parasite gave her the mastery she needed to control her new magic, a way to become a soldier of darkness."

"Well great job on that stupid bandana, idiot." Catra scoffed, crossing her arms in frustration. "Unless you didn't notice, your stupid bandana didn't work. Adora kept her powers even after it was destroyed, and the parasite with it." With the pieces slowly coming together, it fueled the fire of anger the girl had for the one known as Shadow Weaver.

To think, everything that happened, everything that sent Adora down this path, was because of one stupid headband, a forbidden magic, that turned Adora into whatever is happening now. There was no telling how much of it affected her since the day in Salineas when she first used it.

Maybe she wouldn't be as corrupt as she was now? Maybe she would've joined the Rebellion if the stupid power didn't amplify her emotions? With a power of something like that amplifying one's own being, including their emotions, there was no telling what sort of reactions it would have on the user. Especially, one who wasn't a gifted sorcerer or sorceress like Shadow Weaver who could bind the parasite's influence itself.

... Maybe she would've forgiven Catra months ago without the influence of the band itself...

Though, she acknowledged what the magicat was trying to point out, Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes to the girl. "Do you truly believe me so stupid that I would allow the parasite to affect her without any precautions?"

"Tch, you really don't want me to answer that." She spat, rolling her eyes.

"The parasite was fully incapable of penetrating Adora's mind, no matter how powerful it grew. If the headband was going to be destroyed, the parasite would have died along with it. Without a direct vessel to inhabit through magic, it never could have entered Adora's body."

"But that should still prove impossible." Casta continued to argue. "Without the alignment of the planets, even the most skilled magic users would've struggled to seal the spell within someone without a greater source of power. "

"Not to mention the fact they would've had to get past Adora in the first place to get the headband. Much less know about the parasite-thing to begin with." Bow brought up, scratching the back of his head as he tried to think. "How could anyone transfer the spell to her without anyone realizing it?"

"... Huh!" Glimmer let out a terror-filled gasp as she came to realize it. The only opportunity one would've had to get close enough to Adora, the power needed to perform such a spell, or magic in this case, and the one chance anyone would've had to get Adora and the headband together to bind the two. "No..." Her friends and loved ones looked to the girl at this, noticing the slight tremble the girl was giving off as she realized the truth.

"Glimmer? What's wrong?" Bow asked a little worried.

"You figure out who's responsible?" Catra blinked in wonder.

Slowly, the Princess of Bright Moon turned to face her feline-friend, lip trembling a little as she squeezed her hands a little nervously. "Ca-Catra..."

"What?" She stared at her in wonder, trying to figure out what the girl suddenly realized. It didn't come to her, not at first, but eventually, between the awkward stare the girl was giving off and the vibe she was spreading across the room, she finally raised her ears, tail wagging behind her with unease. "Y-You mean... me?"

"It would appear so, wouldn't it?" Shadow Weaver confirmed.

The girl looked all around. Save for Glimmer who continued to look worriedly, the others gave Catra the same questionable look of confusion that she had on her own face. "That... That doesn't make any sense! Even if I knew about the parasite, why would I ever... why would... I..." As she spoke, she tried to contemplate any and all interactions she had with Adora in the past before the headband was destroyed, slowly coming to a stop as she realized the one chance she had to do any of this stuff.

When someone had enough power.

When someone had a chance to get close enough to Adora.

When someone had the opportunity necessary to transfer the parasite to Adora in the first place.

The Battle of Bright Moon.

...

"Goodbye... Adora..." And with that, Catra screamed. With every last ounce of strength she could draw in from her sword, from her friends, she took a step forward as she unleashed a powerful blast of pure light straight into the darkness, the darkness doing nothing to slow down the terrible power of light that shot across the ravine, towards the defenseless Force Captain who could do nothing to move, not with all the shadows she was drawing to herself.

Within that one moment, right as the light was about to hit, the redness faded from Adora's eyes, as an expression of confusion and wonder crossed Adora's face. "Catra-?"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

The tunnel of darkness and light had finally ceased as Adora was encased in a powerful dome of light, one roared with life as it surrounded everything ten feet from her in a miraculous display. Catra let out a gasp of exhaustion as did her two friends, the glowing aura that once radiated among the princesses finally extinguishing. Never had they seen anyone preform a miraculous feat such as Catra's before, and chances were very unlikely they ever would again.

With her energy spent, the magicat's form finally came to an end as Catra dropped the sword, panting out of breath as she returned to the endearing, shorter, magicat they came to know her as. None of them could blame her for being so out of energy like she was now, not after that stunning performance of magic.

With her powers drained, Catra lifted her head slowly, along with the rest of them, as they saw the dome starting to diminish around the Force Captain. There she stood, Adora, with her head held back and her arms drooped behind her, as the shadows that used to surround her slowly dissipated into nothingness, burning away from the light's pure energy.

At first, there was nothing but fear on Catra's end. Even if she was supposed to stop her friend, that didn't mean she had to end her existence to do it! Thankfully, she noticed a small twitch coming from the Force Captain, the now fully-blonde girl pulling her head forward where it slumped.

Upon her head, the others gasped. The headband, the grand source of Adora's legendary power, started to crack. Along with a single tear that grew from above and below the sacred jewel from the Black Garnet, the headband itself started to rip before their very eyes. Eventually, the entire thing tore itself apart as the gem of Adora's power shattered into dust, blowing across the wind as the shredded remains of the headband flowed lifelessly to the waters around her wobbling feet.

Adora's power, was gone.

...

"Remember what I said about channeling your emotions, Catra?" Shadow Weaver would've been seen with a curious look if the mask wasn't in the way. "When you regretted having to fight her to the bitter end, and desired to attack her at the same time, it did the unthinkable. You managed to destroy the headband itself while sealing the essence of my magic within Adora's mind. Including the parasite."

"N... No..." The memory played back in Catra's mind as she looked at her own two trembling hands.

She did it. She's the one who did it to Adora. She's the very reason Adora was infected by the parasite that started everything wrong with this headband, the reason she maintained her shadow powers after the Battle of Bright Moon.

It's not like she was completely oblivious to the fact Adora still retained her powers. Up till now, she, everyone around her, thought it was a side effect from using the headband too much, or that she acquired a portion of the headband's power after infusing herself with the shadows that spread across Bright Moon, the ones caused by the very clouds that blocked out the sun thanks to Entrapta's experiment on the Black Garnet.

But fate wouldn't be that kind to the girl, apparently.

It was still her. It was all on Catra. The fact she still had her powers, the reason she was a threat to the Rebellion. And, now, the very reason Adora looked so sickly and weak whenever she used too much of her powers.

"Y-You... You mean... I..." She didn't know what words to say, just a sense of anger that was rushing to her veins as the guilt began to grow.

"I must admit, even I was surprised when Adora retained her powers." Shadow Weaver said, remembering the number of times Adora showed off her own shadows in front of her, refusing to let Shadow Weaver mock her because the headband was destroyed.

"At first, I thought that was all she retained. Any princess with a connection to a rune stone can easily tell you that they need a constant connection with their power source to channel their magic. Isn't that right, princess?"

"Mmh..." Glimmer moaned irritably at the woman, a sentiment shared by her mother who was still on the side of Shadow Weaver's prison.

"When she became weak from overusing her power, I thought nothing of it. I assumed it was just a side effect of Adora using too much of her new magic, but I was wrong. It was the parasite that was feeding off the shadows from within her own body, one who hungered for more of the girl's power as time went on. It wasn't until Adora confided within me that she started hearing voices, voices telling her to obtain more power, that I realized that the parasite was still alive, and it was within her."

"... Wait." Any instance of Catra furthering her own guilt was immediately put to a halt as the girl's eyes opened brightly. "If... If the parasite was in Adora's body or head this whole time, then...!" She ran past her friends before they had a chance to react. She dashed to Shadow Weaver's side, kneeling down to the woman's height. She was only held back from going any closer as Angella grabbed her shoulder, refusing to let the girl enter Shadow Weaver's cell in whatever haste she was in.

"It's the parasite, isn't it?" Catra asked, almost begfully. She didn't even specify what she was referring to and Shadow Weaver already knew what she was going to ask. "I'm right, aren't I? It was the parasite this whole time. It's the thing that's been controlling Adora since day one. Right?" She prayed for the first time that she was right, she wanted to know that she was right about this more than anything.

Thoughts were already swarming in her mind one after another at the proposal. If Adora was being controlled by this parasite all along, then it was responsible for everything that happened, and not Adora! She was the innocent one here, not the cruel enemy that loathed Catra and her friends!

If it was true, then Catra wouldn't have to feel the guilt anymore. Sure, she would still feel a little responsible for putting the parasite in her, but that would be the end of it. If the parasite was making Adora do things against her control, then she couldn't be held accountable for anything she did. Catra could begin to fight her without holding back, without fearing of what would happen to Adora once they win the war, or if they captured Adora!

The queen would have to understand that, she would make her understand it! At worse, what would happen? A year or two of service in recompense? A single week to a month in a cell at most? She couldn't pin the entirety of the blame on her old friend, she couldn't judge Adora fairly for what was against her control, especially since Catra was partly responsible for putting it in her in the first place.

This... This was perfect! And she just needed to hear the words from Shadow Weaver's own mouth, and everything would be better!

"..." The previously-dying woman remained silent as Catra continued to stare into her eyes, the current She-Ra giving a small hiss as her claws scraped against the ground.

"Tell me!" She shouted, leaning a little closer to the sorceress's cage as Angella continued to hold her back.

"... Why bother asking me for? You know I would just lie to you." She turned her head to the direction of one of her previous students. "Why don't you ask her." Catra instantly shot a glance up at the figure known as Castaspella, Glimmer's aunt. The older woman was looking beside herself with a small frown, unable to look at the hopeful warrior directly.

Her silence spoke louder than words to the cat who rose to her feet again. "... You're serious... aren't you?" Catra spoke, emotionless. Lowering her head, the queen released her grip from her as Catra made her way over to the wall. Knowing the answer as well, Angella didn't give it much concern as Catra rose her right hand against the wall, slowly clawing it down as she tried to temper the anger rising in her.

Her two friends looked to the grown women around the room, wondering and dreading the very thing they already knew.

"... The... The parasite is capable of suggesting things to people, according to past studies." Casta admitted, rubbing her elbow to soothe her nerves. "It knows what they know, retains knowledge of a previous host if transferred. It uses the host's memories against them at times, toying with their deepest emotions to convince them to do their work for them... B-But..."

"Ultimately, the choice is always and forever on the host it inhabits." Angella admitted, feeling a bit of regret for Catra's current feelings. She didn't need a bond with the sword or She-Ra like Swift Wind to know what she was feeling. "It's completely incapable of forcing the user to do what they don't want to. It has no control over their actions."

"Nor would it ever lie to her." Shadow Weaver had to point out. "It wouldn't do itself any favors if it didn't have the trust of the host it inhabits. As such, there is no trickery involved, either." It almost felt intentional that Shadow Weaver had to say that to Catra, the magicat figuring out the minor detail for itself. And still regretting the reality of the situation.

Adora was in full control of her actions, of what she was doing. The parasite was nothing more than a mere conscious on her shoulder, an angel and devil whispering to her at once, telling her how to do things and what she should do, but never forcing her to do both.

It was the very realization that made her friends feel sorry for the warrior as they watched her continuing to scrape a claw against the wall in despair. There was no possible way to be lenient towards Adora if she was ever captured or if the Rebellion won this war.

She would be held accountable, in every extent of the laws.

"So now you know what we're dealing with." Shadow Weaver said softly, eyeing the rest of them as they took in the story of a forbidden spell. A spell capable of empowering its host, a spell that siphoned off the very essence of energy, including one's life. A parasite that drew strength from its victim's power, and their possible connection to a power source. "Every day that parasite continues to dwell within Adora, it will grow stronger. Adora will grow stronger. And each day, its hunger for the sword will grow."

"... How long does Adora have?" Bow bravely asked, knowing those around the room who would hiss in response. "Is the parasite a danger to her? Even if she's a First One?"

"As I've said, the fact Adora is a First One, and it's the only reason she continues to survive as she does. Any regular person infected with the parasite would've been drained of their life within a few days." She exclaimed.

"Because of her connection to the sword, she already provides a constant source of energy for the creature, however small, however minuscule, too keep the parasite sustained." She recalled the moment she discovered Adora's current state, the sickly state of her hand, and possibly how much the rest of her arm looked in comparison.

"But it will only sustain the parasite for so long. Eventually it will crave more power from her, in one form or another. And each time she fails to or disobeys, it'll siphon an excess amount of her power."

"Are you kidding me right now?!" Catra yelled, glaring as she walked back to the person she just saved. "You knew all of that, every detail, and you still came here instead of warning Adora herself? You didn't bother spending two minutes to tell her that she's in danger?!"

"And what exactly would I have told her, pest?" Shadow Weaver quipped. "That I infected her with a parasite created through forbidden magic? That I'm the reason she's hearing voices within her mind? The parasite would've easily convinced her that I was lying, without any proof. A proof I can no longer obtain after losing my magic."

"Lost your magic?" Catra was taken back a little at this. "How'd you lose your magic? I thought you said that Garnet thing was still allowing Adora to draw power from it?"

"It was... before Adora betrayed me." With all the time that passed, with all the seconds spent staring into the sorceress of darkness's eyes, only now did Catra and her friends finally noticed the shattered remains of her mask's jewel, the connection she had to the Black Garnet.

"Adora... betrayed you?" All this time, Catra was still under the assumption that she was working with Adora freely like she always did, telling the girl how to run things, proposing to the girl how to do what she did. It was either that, or she was still in a bit of denial that Adora turned into the person she was today because of Catra.

Never has Catra felt herself holding back so hard to stifle a laugh, or a smirk, when she knew the situation was more than serious.

A laughter Shadow Weaver knew she wanted to let out. "I bet you're trying to imagine the moment yourself, aren't you?" Catra bit her tongue at that as she looked away a little. "For the last several months, I've been rotting away in the Horde's prison. As far as I'm aware of, the only other person who knows how to mess with that stone would be the new scientist Adora introduced to the Horde some time ago."

"Entrapta!" Bow deduced correctly. They were all aware of how intelligent the girl was, how her advances in science lead her closer than anyone else to find a connection between science and magic itself.

"Thanks to her, She's managed to find traces of the Black Garnet's essence within Adora and the rune stone, finding a way to force the power back into the girl whenever she needs to recharge."

"Like a rechargeable battery." Bow also deduced. "She keeps infusing and restoring her power with the rune stone. She puts in her powers and takes it back out as good as new."

"Impressive," Shadow Weaver actually complimented a little, "you would have done wonders in the Horde with that kind of ingenuity."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?!"

"And this is why I come to you." The sorceress stated, turning to the group as a whole. "If I'm to have any chance of stopping Adora and the parasite, then I need your help, the help of the Rebellion."

"Get real." Catra scoffed, crossing her arms. "Even if we believed a single thing you said about this obtainment thing, why should we believe you about anything else in the first place?"

"Because the information I have concerning the Horde itself outweighs a greater danger than a simple parasite among a First One."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"LIke another portal. Multiple ones that can carry entire armies over across the universe." Everyone stared at this intensely. She already mentioned this once before, but they didn't think that such things were entirely possible, not until Catra confirmed Shadow Weaver's First one story.

"Hordak has been working for years to build a machine capable of opening a portal through the fabric of space." The woman stood with a presence as she explained the greater of threats to them. "He intends to bring the rest of the Horde's armies through this portal and use it to conquer Etheria, once and for all."

"Armies?" The queen spoke with shock. "There's more of the Horde?"

"A force so large, you cannot even comprehend it." She warned. "You have struggled to hold off Hordak's paltry troops for years. You will stand no chance against the full might of the Horde."

"Says you!" Catra snapped back, the queen holding her by the shoulder again as she attempted to approach. "Portal or not we just need to get the Princess Alliance together and the Rebellion. We'll have more than enough firepower to fight back!"

"Oh, Catra," she sighed, leaning a palm against her own cheek, "your naivety was the most amusing part about you." Catra couldn't tell if that was supposed to be embarrassing or an insult, just that it was still annoying. "Everything that the Rebellion has fought up till now, all the years of countless struggle, constant violence," she held up her pointer-finger, "has been nothing more than the first wave." The comparative size of the Horde's scale was enough to shock even the best of them.

The Horde has been at war with Etheria for decades now, with the rest of the planet struggling just to push them back. Entire kingdoms have fallen in the past, countless lives lost by the hundreds of thousands to near-million. The Princess Alliance itself consisted of the Rebellion's forces and three other kingdoms, four before Entrapta changed sides. And it was still a struggle to achieve what victories they could, in part thanks to Adora's handiwork.

Now, they were warned about the size, the true vastness of the Horde, the likes of which they couldn't possibly imagine. To have an entire army where everything they fought up till now was just the first wave? It was terrifying to believe, incomprehensible to even the Head Sorceress of Mystacor. Even Catra was willing to admit that anything of that caliber was more than enough to crush them.

They stood no chance.

"T-That... That still doesn't mean anything!" And Catra still refused to believe it. "You said it yourself, it took him years to make one that brought Adora here, and it was barely functional. What makes you think he's going to finish the portal anytime soon?"

"Because now he has something he didn't have before." She claimed. "A princess who knows how to combine First Ones technology with the Horde's machine." None of the friends needed to verbally state the person she was referring to. The one Bow brought up minutes ago, the very reason Adora is continuing to last as long as she is with the parasite.

Entrapta.

"That's why she's been after all that First One's tech." Bow realized, shaking his head in sorrow. It was disappointing to think that the person they once considered a friend was the very same that would bring about the end of the Rebellion, the world for that matter, with an army she helped bring herself.

"When the Horde crushes the Rebellion, Hordak will achieve victory. You'll all be wiped out, you'll all rot away in one shape or form. And there'll be nothing standing in his or the parasite's way." She squeezed her fist before them as her eyes narrowed. "Which is why I want to help you. I want to take them down for their betrayal, and to banish the creature within Adora before its too late. Helping you is the best way to do that." With these final words said, her explanation came to an end, and the truth was laid bare before them.

A parasite that wanted an endless amount of power.

A portal that could open gateways and holes across the realm of space.

And bring an army of incomparable size to Etheria.

Troubling didn't begin to to come close to the word to describe their current situation. And none of them were sure of how to proceed with this information. They were looking at several ways that the world could come to an end, between a power-hungry spell that was never sated to an army capable of anihilating all of Etheria, and anyone that stood in their way.

Doom spelled out for all of them.

"So... So what happens now?" Catra finally asked, lifting her head up again.

"Now?" For a change, the mistress of dark waved her hand, crossing her arms uncaringly. "I suppose that remains up to the rest of you. Let me out to help. Keep me in here to help. It doesn't really matter to me. All that matters at this point is getting payback to the Horde. Whether I have a hand directly or otherwise is for the rest of you to decide."

Catra turned to her friends a bit discouraged at the information as Glimmer's mom and aunt returned to the children's side. There was trouble in every detail that Shadow Weaver explained to them, without a single hint of good news or plan to help them with. They couldn't risk saying something without Shadow Weaver shooting it down with details, and it was pointless to begin any discussion without all of their allies present.

At the very least, they all silently agreed with one another that Shadow Weaver couldn't be released, not for the time being anyway. Threat or ally, she still proved dangerous in her own way, capable of turning the rest of the friends and family against one another with just a few choice sentences.

Not to mention the fact over half of their problems, pertaining Adora that is, were her fault to begin with.

"Bow?" Glimmer spoke up a little, the archer's mood looking as down as the rest of them. "Any ideas?"

Angella turned to the children, studying each of their faces and their expression thoroughly. They were the Rebellion's best people, the best and the brightest, but they were still children first and foremost. None of them should be subjected to the harshness that this reality had to offer in this lifetime, or the next. Taking a deep silent breath through her nose, the queen offered a smile to them as she patted Glimmer and Bow's shoulder. "I suggest we reconvene in the morning, after a good night's sleep."

"I'll notify our allies in Mystacor." Castaspella said, making her way to the door. "They might be able to provide answers that'll help us with the Spell of Obtainment." She smiled to the rest of them as she opened the doorway to the lit halls outside of them. "I'm confident things will work out." She added before finally leaving. Her message wasn't just for the rest of them to hear, it was for Catra who needed the words most, given how much of it concerned her friend.

"She's right, I assure you." Angella agreed, smiling to each of them as she spread her wings. "Come along now, off to bed." She ordered, leading them to the doorway with a gentle nudge. It wasn't until Catra slipped through her wings that she paused for a moment. "Catra? Come along, you've done enough with her for one day."

Catra lowered her head, squeezing her hands tightly. The girl didn't look to them as she turned her head a little to the side, showing a light frown over her face. "Can... Can I just speak to her for a minute?" She requested. "It won't take long, promise."

The queen was uneasy with the requests presented to her. After all Catra had to put up with tonight, everything regarding Shadow Weaver, she more than earned a personal favor for a few minutes alone with somebody else for a discussion, provided that was what she wanted.

Yet she still felt apprehensive over the idea of her talking to Shadow Weaver of all people, one of the worst people to come out of the Horde. Even when she was healing her, she chose to mock and berate Catra, as she found out from Glimmer. Picturing Catra alone with anybody that cruel to their own rescuer was just unsettling, unnerving. She couldn't possibly leave her alone with the woman, and she knew Catra wouldn't bother chatting with another adult present.

Shifting her eyes to one another, with a quick slip out of her wing, Glimmer teleported to Catra's side, smiling to the two with a small wave. "I'll keep an eye on her. I promise." She said. Her mother gave her a small smile and a nod as she agreed to her terms, taking Bow along as she continued for the door.

"Come along, Bow." She said calmly, much of the archer's annoyance.

"Awww, why do I have to go?" He said, pouting a little.

"Because someone has a pile of cards to clear out of the hallway." Her reasoning was weak no matter how much merit it held. "I won't be having my guards slipping and getting injured because of a harmless card trick."

"Oh come on, no one ever slips on these things..." His groan was the last thing the remaining party heard before the door closed.

With all non-essential personnel vacated from the premises, Catra stepped forward, walking up to the very edge of the barrier, keeping a solemn look in her eyes and her voice as she spoke to the woman staring at her.

"Can... Can I ask you a simple question?" She wondered, actually sounding a little sheepish for the first time to Glimmer.

"I told you all that I know about Adora, if that's what you're wondering." She assured, though her credibility was debatable.

"No, it's not that, it's..." With the nerves running across her skin, she rubbed the side of her elbow, trying to ease the tension running through her. She never thought she'd have a conversation like this with Shadow Weaver of all people. "Why..." Her ears lowered, along with her head. "Why did you treat me the way you did? Why was I never good enough for you? Really, I wanna know."

"Catra-"

"No!" She cut off. "I don't want any lies, or excuses!" Glimmer prepared herself in case Catra was ready to jump the woman, even if her expression told her she wasn't ready to. "My whole life, you treated me like I was nothing. And I just saved your life, and I deserve to know why!" She crossed her arms, wincing a little in thought. "Was... Was it just because I wasn't "born differently"? Because I wasn't Adora? Is that it?" She deserved to know. She told herself she deserved to know.

So many years of wastefulness, being jealous of Adora for reasons that weren't even real. She held a small resentment for her friend as they grew up, a twinge of it the size of her pinkie nail. Barely anything, barely there, and still existing.

If it was because of a stupid reason like she wasn't Adora, then she deserved to hear it from the hag's own mouth, the very one that neglected and abused her for all this time. Anything the woman did to her she was undeserving of. She didn't deserve the constant hate, all the people that turned on her, all the reasons she hated her existence for.

After all that was said and done today, she deserved to know. Deserved the truth.

"I did everything you ever asked of us, I pushed myself to my limits when you kept pushing me down. You always ignored everything I did for the Horde, did for you, All I wanted was a little bit of approval, of respect. And you treated me like I didn't even exist. And I deserve to know why, Shadow Weaver!"

"You want the truth?" Shadow Weaver questioned, narrowing her eyes. "Because, you were pathetic." The girl winced once more as Glimmer gave a stern look to the woman. "You were filled with ideals that the world was better than it seemed. You were brave enough to try and face what you were against but weak and simple that you never succeeded." With her ears lowering further, Catra stepped aside from the cell, still hugging herself a bit as she forced herself to listen, all while Shadow Weaver stood in place.

"You tried to bring others in to your troubling little ways, you wanted people to help you when there was only one person willing to hear you out. As you grew older, you became arrogant, aggressive, tried to do things your own way that endangered yourself and those around you, those deemed important enough. You weren't looking for approval, you were looking for someone to praise you, to motivate you. But most of all," Catra closed her eyes, refusing to tear up or feel the tears that could've erupted at any moment, "... it's because you reminded me of myself."

All at once, Catra's eyes and ears flashed open as she heard this, Glimmer growing surprised by the sudden turn the conversation took, as Catra looked back.

"I... reminded you... of you?" She muttered, slowly walking up to the woman who kept her eyes closed.

"You always have." She nodded, opening her eyes a little. "Nothing was ever easy for me either. I thought I knew enough that the world would hear me. I wasn't born with power like Adora and these princesses. I had to earn my power. Fight for it. Why should it be any different for you?"

"I was a child when you took me in." Her expression was filled with pain as she spoke, yet elevated at the same time. "What could I have possibly done to deserve the way you treated me? I am nothing like you. You are bitter, old, and weak."

"Ah, but you are like me." She grinned behind the mask, Catra realizing the woman was holding her arms the same way she was. "You wanted approval when you didn't deserve it, you wanted reward for doing what everyone else was capable of." She turned her back to the young girl, the one still turning to her for some form of appreciation. "You were selfish no matter how much you insisted otherwise, you ignored the words of those you didn't care about. And threw yourself at whatever came to you, ignorant of how much strength you had or lacked."

At this, the woman turned her head to her. "You made all the mistakes I did. The only difference is that you didn't receive any praise that slowed you down, that kept you from being greater than what I am." The woman walked to the edge of the cell, raising her hand as close to the barrier as possible without touching it. "And you never did." Seeing this, the magicat did the same, placing a similar hand just inches away from that separated the two of them.

"You don't need foolish words to know how gifted you are." She cooed. Catra could've sworn, just for an instant, there was a softness in her eyes, a pleasant one. "The path ahead of you isn't going to get any easier, even with mere praise. It'll get harder, more dangerous than you could possibly imagine, and you'll continue to suffer along the way."

"But I meant what I said earlier. I always respected you for your resilience, Catra. Even when everything was against you, you never backed down. I want you to remember to always hold on to that, to always push through the trouble ahead. Do that, and nothing will stop you."

Catra... Catra was left speechless at these words, feeling the tipping point of water coming to the corner of her eyes that could never get over the edge. The tenderness of Shadow Weaver's words, the calmness in her voice. The eyes telling her every word she spoke was the truth. It was breathtaking to hear after so long, whether or not she cared about them.

"D... Do you really mean that?" Catra mumbled, wondering if this was a dream for a moment.

"How should I know?" With a jest, she turned away from the magicat again, refusing to give her any more attention than was necessary. "I'm the master of deception, remember? You tell me."

"... Heh. Right." With those two words, Catra said all she needed to as she turned away, walking for the door. There was a very tranquil, very light, blush over her face as she repeated those words endlessly in her mind.

She didn't care about the words or the praise anymore, she was sure of herself at this point. Yet, for all it was worth, it still felt... good, to finally hear them. To hear something from the old cro- from Shadow Weaver, that wasn't petty or insulting.

Maybe it was all just a lie she wanted to hear, or maybe it was the truth. Whichever the case, she still had to say them, to say all of them. Reaching the door, the girl paused for a moment, scratching behind her hair to the side of her face, and took the first big step that would lead her to the next day.

*swiff*

"Ack-!"

*Thud!*

"Ow!" She could be heard yelping as the door slowly closed behind her. "What's with all these stupid cards here?!"

"Sorry!" Bow apologized, scrambling across the ground as he continued to collect them.

It was a warm sight to see for Glimmer as she smiled at the cat. To have any sense of the praise she wanted for so long, any motivation from the one whose heart was blackened with mistrust and deceit to the rest of the world, and the one who mistreated her after all these years. It was nice to finally see a smile across Catra's face since Shadow Weaver's appearance, no matter how trustworthy the witch truly was or not.

Still, it didn't mean Glimmer was ready to start forgiving her even if Catra was open to the idea. For all the pain, for all the suffering she put them both through. None of the information mattered to her as much as the way she treated everybody, continued to treat everybody. With Catra gone, she was going to give the sorceress a piece of her own mind.

"You know, I might now know much about Catra when she was a kid, but I do know one thing." Glimmer began, crossing her arms with a look of anger. "She deserved a lot better than you gave her. She didn't deserve to be ignored, or the insults, and she deserved to be acknowledged more than you gave her. She deserved better than you." With her mind spoken, in a huff, she turned around as she proceeded to the door too, refusing to let the blemish of Mystacor have the final word.

She barely got halfway to the door before Shadow Weaver did something to annoy her in response.

She chuckled. "Ahahahaha..." She shook her head as Glimmer looked back. "What would be the point?"

"Huh?" Glimmer stood where she was as the woman glanced back at her.

"If I started giving her the praise where she wanted it, what would have happened?" She asked, knowing the answer for herself.

"What do you mean?" It felt so obvious to her as she counted off. "She would've been happy, she would've felt accomplished, she would've-"

"Started to slow down," she cut off, "would've let the experience go to her own head. She would've thought she had reached the limit of her potential every time, that she wouldn't have had to push farther than she already had."

"Pushed... farther..." Glimmer lowered her head in thought, feeling a recent memory bubbling to the surface as she became aware of her meaning.

...

"Gah-!" Catra gasped as she huffed, feeling as if she was holding her breath for over an hour. In response, the light aura that had grown around the girl was instantly snuffed out, practically bursting in a small stream of light that dissipated within a single second. Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes at the girl as she watched her sweat, the magicat looking briefly at the sword before looking a bit cross at the dying woman. "W-Wait, let me try again."

"I think you've done enough." She muttered, turning her head away from the sight that disgusted her.

"N-No! I can do it!" She complained, retaking her stance again as she held the sword before her. "Concentrate... Concen-"

"I said, enough!" Shadow Weaver hissed, taking the girl's attention again. "You're incapable of doing it." She coughed a little. "This was a waste of my time..."

...

"You... were the worst thing... to ever happen to her..." And it was then that the witch finally collapsed to her side, chest heaving heavily as she struggled to remain alive.

And with the final squeeze of her sword, Catra finally broke.

"Nghhhhh!" With a cry-filled growl, tears streaming from the corner of her eyes, Catra rushed. Not towards the woman who was already on death's bed, but out of the room, squeezing the sword tightly as she ran.

...

Another way came.

All heads, those that could move, turned to the door again at the sound of the large crash, all to find a familiar figure staring back at them with a stern look in her eyes.

"Catra?" Glimmer and Bow said in unison.

The magicat didn't say anything or give any of them her direct attention. Instead, she walked. She walked straight ahead without any intention of stopping for them, walking past a surprised immortal and head sorceress who knew what she was doing.

...

Glimmer blinked to herself, her eyelids slowly rising as the truth became clearer. "Every... Every time you insulted her, she... she-"

"Came back more determined than she was before." She answered. "Was willing to push herself past what she was capable of previously. She wouldn't allow anything to slow her down until she got what she wanted, even a little bit."

This was... Startling, surprising, to say the least, as Glimmer came to realize. Everything she did. Every insult she threw at Catra. Whether Catra exceeded or failed in her expectations, she would never admit to them. Why?

Because it pushed Catra to try harder. For her.

To hear the sweet praise she's been longing for, to grab a sense of what Adora felt like just once in her life, and then to be done with it. Shadow Weaver was aware of the feature, this detail, since the moment she met the girl, knew of her. To give Catra the praise she wanted wouldn't meant she would try a little less harder to earn it, would only try as hard as it took the first time to hear the same words of comfort over and over again.

She was cruel to Catra, intentionally, to make her the strong warrior she was today. At least, that's what Glimmer came to understand.

"W-Well you still didn't have to be so cruel to her!" Glimmer tried to find another reason to be irritant with the woman. "You could have at least said something after all this time. At the very least you didn't need to torture her when-"

"Torture her?" Even to this, Shadow Weaver found a reason to laugh as she brought a hand to the head of her mask. "Hahahahaha, is she still going on about that? Haha. Tell me something. Are you referring to when she hurt Adora several years ago?"

"Y-Ye-Yes! And probably some other times too!" She wanted to feel confident that she pointed out a cruelty behind Shadow Weaver's mysterious ways of "teaching" someone. She'd enjoy seeing a possible explanation behind this!

"Hah... Oh, Catra." She shook her head. "She really doesn't let anything go, does she?"

Or not.

"O-Of course she wouldn't! No one would! Two days of straight torture? How could you be so cruel to a child?!"

"I wasn't." She gave the answer to her straight and to the point. "At least, not in the way you and her are thinking of it. Haven't you once wondered why or how a person like that, or anyone, could possibly go two days straight of torture without any scars? Physical scars, anyway?"

"Eh? U-Um..." Looking back on it, like when they were in Mystacor at the Hot Springs, she did remember how Catra looked when she was in her swim wear. For someone who suffered a torture that lasted for two days straight, there wasn't a single injury or scar noticeable on her body. "W-Well... I, uh..."

"There wasn't a scar because there was no physical torture." She revealed. "I won't pretend I wasn't angry with the girl, or that I didn't harm her for a period of time for what she did to Adora. The fact she almost risked her life when I trusted her with it. For ten straight minutes, I did assault her with my magic, and that I will not apologize for, or regret."

"You... You only tortured her for ten minutes?" It felt a little awkward for her to be commenting on how someone's torture wasn't as long as she expected, but there was still a mystery behind it that left her confused. "Then what were you doing for the rest of that time?"

"Simple," she raised a hand uncaring, "I used my magic to put her in a deep, endless sleep, subjecting her to a plague of never-ending nightmares of her worst fears."

"Never ending..." She shook her head at the mention. "But that still doesn't make it right! It hurt her in her dreams and scarred her! How do you apologize for that?!"

"I already told you, I don't apologize for it or anything I did to her." It felt pointless, needless, and useless to do so otherwise. "As to whether or not she could feel pain in her dreams was a play of the mind. I can't say what she experienced went without her feeling pain, but it didn't leave a physical scar on her body. Period. And it still wasn't without reason."

"You mean like a good reason to torture somebody?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." At least, it seemed good to her, and that's all she cared about. "Every time she was subjected to her fear, she eventually had to face it during the duration of the nightmare I inflicted upon her. And what do you suppose happened every time she over came a few of hers?" Only now did Glimmer come to understand the underhandedness of her tactics, a small trait Catra shared with her own trickery.

"She encountered a new fear, a new nightmare to replace it." Shadow Weaver continued for her. "I don't know how many fears still remain within the girl, or if she got over any of them, but I can assure you, one way or another, the only thing she truly fears in this world right now is me, as it should be."

Glimmer grumbled to all the details she was hearing, still just as sickened and disturbed by the various methods Shadow Weaver inflicted on her dear friend. Even if she saw the reason behind some of it, none of which she agreed to, it finally explained Shadow Weaver's character.

She was insane. Plain and simple. The type of insanity that always had a reason behind everything she did. From being a cruel and subjective person to a young girl who wanted nothing more than praise, to filling her with never-ending nightmares until she had nothing left to fear except for the one who put her through the torture, Shadow Weaver was completely insane!

"That doesn't make anything you did right." And Glimmer refused to look at her in any other light. "You're still a monster."

"Perhaps." Shadow Weaver showed no signs of arguing to it, somehow seeming to care less to her insults, as the two turned to the door. There, they heard a bit of a scuffling, most likely Catra still roughhousing with Bow out of anger over her recent slip-up. "But Catra wouldn't be nearly as strong as she was today if it wasn't for me."

"Ghhhh..." Hissing, Glimmer marched her way over to the door, refusing to listen to another word of Shadow Weaver's senselessness. "That doesn't change anything. Everything you did to her was cruel and vicious, pain or no pain."

"Face it, princess," Shadow Weaver's tongue stung the air as she watched her leave, "if it wasn't for me, Catra wouldn't be half the hero she is today..."

...

...

The three friends remained silent for a moment as they reconvened in Glimmer's bedroom. With the princess hanging a top her hanging bed, Bow lounging around on the couch at the end of the room near the window, and Catra looking to be in a huff, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall, none of the three knew what to say. They barely knew what to do at this point.

A massive Horde invasion was coming to Etheria, one the likes of which their history has never known. They were going to be swarmed with Horde soldiers, advanced technologies, and weaponry that could potentially raze the ground itself. Behind it all was a purple-haired scientist named Entrapta, once a treasured friend now turned enemy, who was more concerned about the science and technology behind what she was doing than the world itself.

In addition, there was Adora. What was, at first, a Force Captain that was capable of magic, now stood a person infused with a parasitic magic, one that was trying to make her stronger, one that was willing to help her, as long as she did what it wanted. To gain more power, to gain more allies, to sate its hunger whenever it wanted.

And to acquire the sword, the very blade Catra had founded.

In some sense, the accident that started all these misadventures proved to be a blessing in disguise, as the three came to realize. If Catra had never found the sword to begin with, if she wasn't the one who grabbed the blade in the first place, Adora could've become She-Ra, and returned to the Horde with it.

Just thinking about it was enough to give them the chills. Picturing a She-Ra as their mortal enemy, working with the Horde and their advanced technology, as they attempted to wipe out any and all resistance across Etheria, and anyone who stood in their way. To make matters worse, there was no telling what would've happened if the headband was gifted to Adora then, with or without the parasite. She would be nothing of the hero that the world's legend of her had come to know.

She would be a monster, one that could never be stopped, never be quenched of its thirst for power.

"So what do we do now?" Glimmer asked, peering down at her friends.

"I don't know." Bow shrugged, hunched over as he sat against the couch. "Stop Entrapta? Stop Adora? Stop the Horde? How do we determine which one to start with? They're all connected in their own way, and whichever one we choose, we'll have to deal with the others at the same time." With his mind spoken, he lifted his head to the remaining silencer of the room. "What do you think Catra?"

"..." And continued to be the silencer. She didn't look like she was going to remain silent for the rest of the night, she just looked like she needed a second to think. Think about everything that's happened, that is happening, that's going to happen. One way or another they'll be dealing with all their problems in the future. It was just a matter of which one was more crucial for the time being.

"...We have to go to the Crimson Waste." She declared, pushing away from the wall. "That's where Mara's message went to. Maybe with it, we'll figure something out about the portals and a way to stop the Horde and Entrapta, and then-" As she spoke, she noticed an uneasy silence between the two friends, both of them looking to one another with uncertainty as they gazed back at the warrior. "What?"

Neither of them wanted to be the one to say it, not when Catra looked so determined and hopeful for the first time about a mission. They could've said anything together at this and it still would've turned the girl down from her mood.

Deciding at the same time that the best was to get it over with, Glimmer teleported down from her bed as Bow walked over, the archer taking the initiative. "Catra, we've..." He scratched the back of his head. "We've been talking about it for a bit, and, well..."

"What?" She already knew whatever they had to say she wasn't going to enjoy it. And now that she was aware they had something to say, she wasn't going to let them stop from saying it. "What is it? Tell me."

"It's just..."

"We've been thinking," Glimmer took over, "that maybe we should wait on going to the Crimson Wastes."

"Are you serious right now?" Unsurprisingly, the magicat growled, squeezing her fist. "We've got Mara's message to deal with, and we know where it leads to. The sooner we find the stupid portal thing or whatever, the sooner we can stop the Horde!"

"Y-Yeah, and we get that, and we agree!" Bow nodded along. "We weren't thinking for a long time, just until, you know. Maybe we should wait until you finished becoming She-Ra first?" The cat flinched at the suggestion, for reasons beyond what they thought were simple surprise.

"You want me to... finish becoming She-Ra first?" Her voice became hollow as her ears lowered a bit, the sense of unease spreading through her hairs.

"It wouldn't take that long, Catra." Glimmer tried to encourage with a smile. "You're already close to reaching the same level you were before! We're just talking about a few days at most."

"A few da-" Catra cut herself off as she backed away from the two. "N-No, we... we can't wait that long. We need to go now."

"You mean tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, sure, whenever. L-Let's just go when we can, soon."

"But Catra, the Crimson Wastes is going to be extremely dangerous." Bow argued, trying to cut the magicat off as he headed for the door. "This won't be like our other missions. Just traveling to where we need to go is going to be dangerous in itself."

"Y-Yeah, I know that, but-"

"And this might be our only chance to get to the Crimson Wastes to stop the Horde." Glimmer added onto the tension going between the two. The stress of the night and the mystery behind all that was revealed was already egging on to Catra's stresses, and now the belief that they might postpone the trip that Catra was actually looking forward to was making it worse. "If we fail, there wont' be anyone else to take after us. We can't endanger the rest of the Princess Alliance on a mission this dangerous."

"I get that-"

"Then why are you so worried?" By this point, the two friends were up to her from both sides, both of them pressing on and wondering what was getting into the nervous cat. "Let's just train for a few more days, prepare our equipment, and we'll be to the Crimson Waste within a week, at the most-"

"Because I might not even have She-Ra by then, all right?!" She finally snapped, silencing the room.

Secrets were Catra's forte. They made her who she was, what she is. Everything within Catra's past remained a mystery to the two, everything that the feline felt that they didn't need to know or didn't want to share. This was one of the secrets related to both.

With a bit of a stinging grown, the cat lowered her head, somewhat shameful, as she shifted her eyes away. "After what happened with Frosta, when... When Adora made me go on a rampage at the stronghold, I lost almost all of my powers at once... I returned to normal. I couldn't transform again, I didn't have any of my strength I..." She hugged her arms a little for comfort. "I didn't stand a chance against Adora."

"But... But you still have them, right?" Glimmer was more confused as to why Catra said she didn't have what they saw, and more worried about what the revelation could be.

"That's because Light Hope summoned me in the middle of the night. She repaired the sword's bond, even though it was a one-time deal. But that's not the part that bothers me. The problem..." She took her sword out, examining the rune stone in the center of it all, the center of all her power. The sword's very essence, the power that makes her who she was, all resided within the rune stone. With it, her powers were complete.

WIthout it, she was nothing.

"...The problem is, she warned me. She said I was extremely close to breaking any bond I had with the sword, and if it happens again, I..." The girl lowered the sword to her side regretful that such an event happened at all in the first place. "That I could lose my connection to the sword... and She-Ra would be gone, forever." The two went silent at this, peering at each other in concern as the warrior sheathed her blade again.

"That's why I need to find Mara's message as soon as possible. I don't know if its foolish thinking or whatever but... But if there's some sort of clue she could give me... some idea about how to finish the bond I have with my sword, then I have to take it." The once mournful frown occupying her face was quickly switched with an expression of conviction, determination. "That's why I need to go as soon as possible."

With that said, the girl headed for the door, ready to make her way to the Wastes now if necessary. "And if you guys don't want to come with me, I won't blame you." For once out of Catra's reckless decision, the princess and the bowman didn't argue or try to cut her off.

Instead, Glimmer just gave her a grin as she teleported in front of her, right in front of the door. "Catra. Of course we're going with you." She proclaimed, much to Catra's surprise.

"Y-You are?" It's not like she was going to complain about it, she just didn't think they would switch sides so fast.

"You think you could get us to stay behind?" Bow teased, patting her shoulder. "If the message is really that important to you, then we'll go with. We were just saying what we both thought of. The decision was still yours to make."

"O-Oh..." There was a light blush on the girl's face at this. For a second there, she actually thought they were making the decision without her, were going to stick by it with or without her too. She felt relief over the reality of it, relief that her friends would actually stick by her side instead of leaving her to fend for the Crimson Wastes herself.

*tug*

... Now she would really prefer the information without it resulting in a hug as her friends embraced her from both sides. She still wasn't used to these things, the awkward way they felt, or how embarrassing it was to be a part of it.

... But they didn't need to know that...

...

...

*crack!*

*rumble*

Lightning danced across the red sky over the Fright Zone, as if a symbol of things to come, a representation of the destructive energies of the Horde itself. It was here that the Horde's devices and services were carried out, where vast technologies and weaponry were built from the ground up, aiding Hordak's armies in their never-ending conquests.

And it was to the very center of this citadel that Adora was being escorted. Handcuffed with reinforced steel, grafted with the technological advances that kept princesses or those gifted in magic from using their powers. It was here that those known to her, those who had seen the ex-commander before, caught a glimpse of her, the state she was in.

The aged, rotting hand that revealed just how much she was falling apart. The skin that was covered in veins of darkness from her head to the tip of her fingers. The feverish state that left her delusional at times and exhausted at others.

She was the prime example of a soldier falling to pieces.

Of the many armored soldiers and Force Captains she recognized, she saw Kyle, Lonnie, Rogelio, looking at her with a slight hint of worry, knowing the possible fate that might have awaited her. But none of them mattered more than the frown Scorpia gave her before she looked away, Adora's sorrow-filled expression being left behind in the process.

She still regrets what she said to her friend, one of her best ones at that. She wished she didn't say the things she said, compare her to the likes of Catra of all people, yet she still felt it was without a choice. How else would she be able to convince her not to try and rescue her? She cared about the girl, she was willing to risk her life for her. She was even willing to go as far as to escape the Fright Zone and live on the run for the rest of their lives, and Adora couldn't have that.

Now, she came to a stop. Stopping before the lord of all judgement within the Horde, the one who had the final say. The one that could end Adora's life on an instant if he wished to, or draw it out nice and slowly. And, judging by how he sat in his chair, leaning against his arm, disgusted by her mere sight, chances were she would fall under the latter.

"I want you all to watch and learn." He finally said, face partly shrouded in the shadows. Rising from his throne, he marched down the very steps of his sanctum, keeping his rage-filled gaze on the Force Captain who couldn't even lift her head to look at him. "There is nothing I do not know. Nothing I am not willing to do to punish those who betray my trust. Your former Force Captain has proven to be compromised," he stood before the girl, his voice hissing in disdain as she continued to lower her gaze from him, "ineffective, worthless."

He gave her a moment to earn an ounce of his respect, to show him the bravery that convinced him to make her a commander in the first place. When there was none being shown to him, he let out a low growl, brushing past the girl without a care. "To the rest of you, take a lesson from this." He eyed the remaining soldiers that stood at attention, at respect. Before all of them, he gestured to his greatest displeasure. "This, is what happens to failures."

Failure.

Failure.

Failure.

That word that came from his mouth with a spiteful sense behind it. The words that once made Adora drip with fear, to panic every time it was mentioned to her. The word was one of the most forbidden words to Adora's own dictionary, refusing to be seen as anything but. She worked her life tirelessly, toiled around, preformed labor after labor in dedication to prove herself to him, to prove herself to all of them. And he still used the word as if it and Adora's name went hand in hand with each other.

There was a time where she would've hated hearing the word from him. She would've done anything capable of distancing herself from the thought of using the word to describe her as. To be considered a failure to the eyes of your hero was one of the most horrible things Adora could imagine.

But not anymore.

"... Y... lure..." Adora muttered. It was just audible enough that the tip of everyone's ears caught a brush of the utterance without the words themselves. Turning his head in disgust, the leader of the Horde, of all of them, made his way back to the girl who refused to give him any eye contact, even when addressing him.

She could feel his piercing gaze seeing through her skull as he loomed over her from behind, tightening his fists. "Would you mind saying that again," he lowered closer to the girl's head, "Adora." He was menacing, frightening, powerful. He had the intelligence of the world's greatest scientists put together, the technology that carried them ahead of their time.

And for the first time ever, Adora wasn't scared as she opened her eyes.

"I said..."

*WHAP!*

"YOU'RE THE FAILURE!"

Silence filled the room in every direction, every corner, so much so that it stretched to the outside world surrounding the vast citadel.

Adora, the once proud member of the Horde, the person who looked up to Hordak more than anyone, did the unthinkable; she slapped Hordak as hard as her cuffed hands could, roughly across the left side of his face.

Everyone was in shock and disbelief, eyes widened, jaws open, expressions varied of those who couldn't be seen. Of those that could, of those that were either too afraid or unafraid of showing their reactions, they were at a loss.

Rogelio nearly stepped back in response as he nearly swallowed his own tongue. Lonnie covered her mouth in shock, not wishing to say a word that could somehow land her in any water hotter than what Adora just fell in. Kyle's legs felt like jello as he barely managed to stay standing, unable to close his bottom jaw to his mouth as his body and mind froze like blocks of ice. And Scorpia, the once self-proclaimed best friend of Adora, could only say one thing as she blinked.

"... Wow..."

Hordak slowly rose as he stood up straight, feeling the back of his wrist against his struck cheek. It was still warm, still fresh, still real. Adora, this Adora, the only Adora, had actually struck the leader of the Horde in front of his many followers. The soldiers, the officers, the other Force Captains. All of them bore witnessed to what she had just done, without any meaning of the word fear behind her spiteful eyes.

His anger knew no limits as he gnashed against his teeth.

"How DARE you!" He roared, ready to strike the girl down on the spot.

"Oh, "how dare I"?" Adora smirked, actually smirked, looking nonchalant at everything she just did and said. "How dare you is more like it!" Nobody knew if this was truly Adora or not. She had all the same mannerisms, all the same voices, all the same personalities as the one standing ahead of her. And she was still the most mysterious person in the room. "You wanna know what this is "Lord Headache"? This is a sham!"

Disgusted with the girl, refraining from wasting away the last of her usefulness, the leader of the Horde held his realization, walking away from the girl down the line of the soldiers on standby, stopping several feet after the end. He turned his back on the girl, refusing to let her speak her piece.

And she wouldn't allow him to deny her.

"All of this, is a sham! Every day, I dedicate my life to you and the Horde, we all do. We're the ones who are out on missions, we're the ones risking our necks out there every time we're on a mission, and for what? Your honor? Your respect? Your refusal to accept what little we fail in? No! We do it because we care about each other here. We care about the people who've come to know who we are!" Several eyes were drawn to the girl, most notably Scorpia's as she said this.

Continuing on, the ex-Force Captain began to walk over to the leader at a verily slow pace, still having a lot to get off her chest. All the while, unseen by anyone else, Aroda grinned from behind her. "While we're the ones out fighting, what are you doing in here? You do nothing more than play with your toys, work on your gadgets, sit on your tin can everyday barking orders at us because you're too lazy to do the hard work you make us do!"

"And you wanna know something else? You're not going to get rid of me. Why? Because I'm still useful. All of us are!" Finally, the blond reached the fearless leader, the one who was losing his patience with this child. "I'm the one who knows what makes the Rebellion tick. We're the ones suffering on the front lines trying to defeat them because you don't lift a finger to help us. We're doing the dirty work you're incapable of doing yourself, and do you know why that is?" She smirked again.

"Because the fact of the matter is, if you were half as competent as the rest of us, then you would've conquered the rest of Etheria years ago!" That was potentially Adora's first and last mistake she'd ever get to experience in this lifetime.

His anger was well past his limit for any one person in the Horde. From failures to rejects, the unmentionables that he didn't bother learning the names of, they were tolerable, inconsequential. Such things were beneath him at all times.

This one, however, was different. She had the nerve, she had the gull to speak to him in whatever manner she well pleased at this point. She showed ferocity in her tone that she wasn't afraid of him anymore, wasn't afraid of the possibilities that might come to her, and wasn't afraid to talk down to the very man she once respect.

Out of all of this, after all she had said and done, she had the ability. The ability to speak what she wanted, thinking this so-called "sham" was nothing less than that and would remain that way. A place where she wouldn't' or couldn't be punished further for actions she's already committed.

He was going to enjoy proving her wrong.

"Better brace yourself." Aroda warned from behind.

Hearing this, the girl closed her eyes tensely as she saw Hordak pulling back his hand, ready to subject her to the same discipline that she used to inflict on him at the start of all this, knowing it was going to hurt, knowing it would possibly last a few minutes until he was satisfied with her injuries. With her magic incapacitated, all she could do was wait for the inevitable, hearing the leader growl as he prepared to land the finishing blow.

"Hngh-?" Adora could hear his rage beginning to subside as it sounded like it was replaced by something of curiosity. Questioning. Waiting another few moments for whatever blow to come, she felt another presence by her side, one that wasn't Aroda's. Opening her eyes, she was surprised, shocked, at the person standing beside her, one that had their arm over Adora's shoulder.

"Scorpia?" She questioned, the scorpion girl keeping her eyes on him with an emotionless stare in her eyes.

"And what, exactly, do you think you're doing, Force Captain?" He grumbled, pulling his hand away to his side.

"Um," Scorpia looked like she was trying to think of what to say while trying to say it, all at the same time, "I'm, um... not uh... gonna let you hurt my friend, sir. Sorry." With this, the protective still-friend placed another claw in front of Adora's chest, keeping her out of Hordak's range.

Adora was in disbelief as her heart wavered at the sight of this. Even after everything she said, everything she did, everything that broke Scorpia's heart, she still considered her a friend, a good friend. A friend she was still willing to help protect at the cost of her own life, her own position in life.

Adora wished she could admit it right there and then, could apologize to the girl immediately in response. Yet knowing if she did, if she expressed her gratitude as she did right now, she would have ruined the atmosphere she had just created with her own words.

All she could do was give her a small tearful smile in approval of her. One that seemed more than enough to Scorpia as she shifted her eyes to her, growing a small smile too, before looking back.

"Force Captain, are you aware that you still have a position to keep up?" He warned, walking up to the girl who nearly reached him in height. "I suggest if you want this insubordination forgotten, that you step aside.

"But Adora's right. We are the ones doing all the work." Adora turned back to Lord Hordak as Scorpia spoke. "Every day we're out there fighting for you. We're risking our lives on the line getting defeated by the Rebellion, by She-Ra. We're not doing it for some pay or any sort of reward, we're just doing it to protect our home, and..." Scorpia tried to think of anything else to say, anything that could convince Adora that she supported her in every step of the way.

When nothing came to mind, the girl shook her head. She pulled Adora away from the leader as she took about two steps back. "If you want to hurt Adora, you're going to have to go through me." She decided.

*pat-pat*

"And us." Adora shot her head back in shock to realize it was Lonnie saying it, looking as determined as Scorpia was. Very unlike the two friends, Kyle and Rogelio, she pushed ahead of herself, already declaring for them that they were helping too.

She didn't care how much Adora scared her, not when she's seen what she's gone through in body and spirit. Every day she could expect the girl to impress her with her work and dedication, always finding her friend working on endless piles of paperwork, trying to impress and motivate the young children around the Horde, and trying to work past whatever condition she was currently suffering.

She was still somewhat scary, but she was friendly scary, to say the least.

All around, Hordak's eyes watched as the rest of the soldiers and officers turned to one another, muttering among themselves about everything they heard and witnessed. Half of them looked ready and willing to take the ex-commanders side as well to everything she was saying while the other half remained questionable about doing the same thing. They couldn't tell what the other was thinking, who was choosing whose side in this argument.

All Hordak knew at that moment was that this girl, this Adora, managed to rally up a handful of them with just a few choice words. A single prisoner, a former Force Captain who showed disrespect and insufferable discontent to the leader of the Horde, managed to do this. It was truly an insulting day in his book of history.

And, admittedly impressive.

"Hmph." With a single huff, the leader of the Horde made his way past the muttering soldiers, past the Force Captain who was still determined to protect her friend. "Amusing." He commented, turning around with his hands behind his back in authority. "Unfortunately, if you had bothered to let me finish, you would have known there's been a change of plans."

"Hi, Adora!" Entrapta greeted as she descended from the ceiling. Adora practically jumped as she felt her hair suddenly brush against her shoulders, the out-of-nowhere "hello" nearly giving her a heart attack. Smiling, the scientist gave her a quick peace sign with her fingers as she rubbed under her chin, and pinched her cheeks. "I saved your life. You're welcome."

"Saved my-" This... was rather not the direction Adora expected things to go, much less Aroda as she mouthed silently to herself about the strange appearance. Turning to Hordak as Entrapta strolled to her side, Adora raised a brow. "What does she mean by that?"

"Entrapta had interceded on your behalf." He explained, gesturing to the waving girl. "You should be thanking her. Instead of the many punishments I intended, ones that would have been more severe after your recent outburst, you are being sent to retrieve First Ones tech for us... in the Crimson Waste." The announcement shocked all of them on equal footing, the look of their fear being acknowledged by the leader's personal delight.

Those that showed their fear knew their place. It still wasn't enough to make Adora's look of fear forgiveable to the rest of them.

"T-The Crimson Waste?!" The ex-Force Captain knew full well of the many stories and legends past down within the Horde, hearing the terrifying renditions being past down through her years of service. Each new story came with it a more horrific picture to the imagination, none of which were proven false by those alive. Mostly because, they never came back. "It was supposed to be a dead zone out there, and..." She looked at her hands again.

The veins still pulsated as the black veins throbbed within them. They were an example of the greater of two fears Adora had in her head right now, and in her hands. "And I wouldn't last more than four days out there, and that's provided I didn't even use my powers!"

There was no concern, no cynicism, no pause. All there was was an eerie laughter left by the leader of the Horde, one one deciding Adora's fate. "Exactly."

Thus, Hordak's judgement had been passed. Once she left the Fright Zone, she would have four days in total to complete her mission, to find the First Ones tech, before her life was consumed by her very powers. There was no other way she could recharge herself outside of the Fright Zone, not without Entrapta's machine that kept the girl alive.

From what she understood.

And it did nothing to persuade or discourage Hordak's choice of action, finding the punishment fitting. He didn't need to worry about the girl making a break for it or trying to get away from her fate. If she was still gone after the fourth day, fifth at most, then her fate would have been sealed, and the reality of what befell her being obvious. And on the off chance she did come back with the technology, then she would have proven herself once again to the Horde.

It was a win-win situation from where he stood.

And from where Aroda stood, right behind Adora's shoulder, she had nothing to worry about.

"Don't worry, Adora." She swayed, leaning closer to the girl's ears in whisper. "I'll be sure to guide you, at every step of the way..."

...

...

...

A/N: Annnnnnnd with that done, we're already 1/6th of the entire season!... idk if that should make me feel proud or not, sounds weird saying it out loud XD

Lol, anyway, not much to say here , other than thanks again for the help guys, it was a lot of fun. There might shockingly not be a post tomorrow. Why? Cause RE3-Remake comes out tomorrow baby and I'm gonna enjoy myself for a change X) Plus, as said, this chp was exhausting, probably around 10 hours in writing here, geez Xo...

Huff, but, anyway, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!