A/N: Final Word Count: 9.2k Pre-A/N's. And weeeeee're finally here folks! Part one of the season 3 final showdown and OH DEAR GOD I HATE DOING DISTORTED DIALOGUE X*(! It was one thing to use bolds in here and there and whatnot, but mix that with capitals and whatnot, and it became a nightmare to go through all of this and edit and bolden everything- I ended up with 300+ * marks i used to find the spaces where to bold everything and whatnot, i practically re-read the entire story out of it T_T
But it does make the story more fun, and at least towards the end I dont have to worry about capitalizing words as much anymore ^^ (you'll see what i mean when you get there). Also, some bits of this might feel jumbled- halfway through this I completely had a space-out with my brain cause i forgot where I was, what I was doing, or where I was going with this, and everything just kind of jumbled all together. So if something is repeated constantly and whatnot, I apologize X/.
But with that said, it's time to get on with the show! Enjoy!
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*Wham!*
"Ngh-!" Catra gritted her teeth as she slammed against the hardened wood of the table. Her head was still ringing from the aftermath of what she had just been through, let alone Adora's inexplicable return.
The world was being destroyed around them. Not just some matter of a war bringing devastation all around the world, not some anarchy where people were going crazy for no good reason and destroying everything around them. The world was LITERALLY being destroyed. By a white void of the portal that had been chasing Catra all throughout the world.
After reaching Entrapta at long last with a list of questions for her, she went into detail all about how the gateway and the portal was working. With the gateway acting as a sort of door, it could only be closed from the inside, this side, of the two realities that were being erased. On paper, that sounded easy enough, right? Just close the door or find whatever it is they needed to in order to shut down the portal for good and return to the real world.
Oh, how she wished it was that easy.
As it turns out, the one who closed the portal from the inside would be trapped between dimensions from this world and the real world, forever. Someone would have to sacrifice themselves to close the portal for them, someone willing to risk their life for the greater good. In addition, the reason the portal was catching up to them so fast was because it was following Catra, the magicat who blamed herself for all of this.
Everywhere she went, the portal followed as it tried to consume her. Everywhere it went, Adora was right on their trail, reappearing and disappearing between space itself and showing up in whatever direction the portal was going. The person who had a grudge against Catra since she realized her true colors, the one that Catra saw being sucked into the portal, and the very person Catra once called a good friend, who knew she was responsible for the path Adora had fallen.
This, however, was way beyond the realm of "the fallen". Following the tragic disappearance of her friends, Bow and Glimmer, and Entrapta beforehand, Catra was at a loss. With her friends gone, she could no longer consider sacrificing herself to the portal in the hopes it would save them, knowing the portal would either freeze where it was or disappear completely if it got what it wanted; her. Unwilling to let her friends disappear and die like this, she decided to pick herself up after a brief cry, knowing the only way to save them and everyone was to fix the portal once and for all.
And that's when Adora showed up.
"Hmm?" Catra looked around with confusion as she took note of her surroundings, such as the actual table she landed on.
She appeared to be back in the Crimson Waste, the place where her problems went from bad to worse. The place where Adora captured Catra and her sword. She saw she was back at the tavern they had first encountered on her exploration there with Bow and Glimmer, except there wasn't a single soul in sight. It filled her with a sense of unease, contemplating the possibility that she was one of the last few people left in this disappearing world.
"How'd I get here?" She was still rubbing the small bit of pain above her right eye, still feeling the impact of when Adora bashed her in the head with the butt of her palm.
Speaking of which...
*SHNK*
"Ahh!" Catra screamed as she scrambled off the table.
Barely an inch away from her right thigh, several massive white claws burst through the underside of the table, stabbing through it with ease as if it was paper. She jumped across to the next table as the claw cut across the flat table, giving a quick look back to catch a glimpse of the transformed girl as she stood.
Strangely, there wasn't any indication that Adora was under it. She somehow moved away from under the table before Catra had a chance to look back. Examining the room around her, everything else was still the same, and she failed to pick up on Adora's scent for some reason, much less hear her.
*SSSKKKTTT*
And it was with what sounded like fabric being torn to shreds behind her that she understood why. She just didn't have the time to respond as she looked back.
*BAM!*
*Crash!*
"Agh!" Catra yelped as a massive clawed fist punched her square in the face, shooting her back against the bar and crashing her into the table she had jumped from. The force of it was enough to bring the table crashing down as she landed back on top of it, wincing a bit as she landed painfully on the jagged cuts atop the table. It was a stroke of luck that she didn't cut herself in the process.
Gritting her teeth, trying to bare through the pain, Catra looked back, seeing the familiar, menacing, grin coming from her former friend as she stared back right in her face. She had her legs planted firmly against the wreckage of the table, standing right over the girl, as she stared at the troubled She-Ra, or ex-She-Ra in this case. She was taking an unusual sense of glee from the pain she inflicted on her friend and how she managed to catch her by surprise twice, a feat people could never claim to do so fast.
"HeeEy, CAAAtrA." Adora's fun had only just begun with the girl as she chuckled to herself. "WhaT happeNd to AlL your friends?" She brought the tip of her claw to her lip with a curious frown. "Did they aLl abbandon you?" Whatever sense of care Adora feigned in friend of the girl lasted as briefly as it appeared as she grinned back, pushing herself away from the cat.
Before Catra could get up from the wreckage, she let out another scream as the deformed soldier grabbed her right ankle, pulling her through the wreckage before rising her up to her feet. She didn't give so much as a nod to the magicat as she immediately threw her behind herself without a care, slamming Catra's back into... a metallic wall?
Like before, the girl hissed to herself a little in pain, especially from the unexpected force that collided into her back suddenly. Opening her eyes again, she saw that their environment had changed completely again.
Now, she was standing within the Fright Zone, within its massive gaping hallways that lead into the prison sector of the area. Like before there was nobody else in sight, nobody that could come to her aid, as Adora continued to walk towards the girl without a hint of fear.
"OhHh, that's rIGht, I FoRGOt. You DON't haVe ANy friendS."
A fear that Catra was willing to bring back to her as grumbled. "Ghhhhh!" Stretching out her own set of claws, she lunged for the girl. She didn't care if half of Adora's body from her waist, her right arm, and the right side of her face was deformed from whatever happened to her. She didn't care if it made her look menacing as it glowed with an eerie whiteness, one that had a blue aura leeching off of it like a roaring flame.
She wasn't going to allow anyone to talk down to the two friends she had recently lost.
Adora took this with a spot of humor as she chuckled, casually leaning to the left as Catra attempted to swipe from above her, then a step back as she nearly scratched at her face, barely breaking a sweat in the process. With the split second she left herself open, Adora grabbed the back of her wrist, squeezing it tightly as she as she spun the girl around a little bit until her left wrist came flailing back to her, grabbing onto it with her other hand. With both wrists gripped firmly from behind, she pushed down on the magicat, forcing her to her knees as Catra grumbled.
"ALL You havE is pEOple yOu manipulate." She echoed, delivering a solid kick from the butt of her boots to the center of her back, forcing Catra face-first into the solid metal in front of her.
*pomf*
... Or into an unexpected blanket of snow as her head was buried in it.
Realizing the immense freeze surrounding her face, Catra quickly pulled back, shaking her head fiercely as she realized Adora had released her grip from the girl. Looking around, she saw she was back in the Northern Reach, the last place she went on an adventure with Frosta and Sea Hawk. She appeared to be in the familiar area of the outpost, seeing the emergency lights and the Horde base right next to it.
She didn't care much for where she was as much as she did for the sudden freeze giving her goosebumps as a gust of wind blew past her. She got up to her feet as soon as she could, trying to ignore the freezing snow under her toes as she looked around, trying to find any sense of her missing enemy. The one who was getting the drop on her in every angle, the one who was casually smiling to her as she saw Adora leaning against a lamppost crossing her arms.
The enemy Catra had yet to ever beat on her own.
"PeOple you Can uSe. PeoPLE you cONSidEr usEfuL untIL theY BOrE you." Unsurprisingly, Catra, having yet to learn that she can't beat Adora, ran for her again, grabbing a handful of snow along the way as she attempted to surprise her. "THat's why aLL of thIs is happENIng, you know?"
With Adora shaking her head playfully at the girl, she completely ignored the wadd of snow that Catra threw into her face, covering her eyes as if it was nothing, before Catra pulled back her right claw. She was going to scratch that stupid smirk off her friend's face before this fight was over, she guaranteed it! And Adora?
Well, she was quite bored. Bored with a toy she just started playing with mere seconds ago. Going by the sound of the win, and having a good assumption on Catra's speed and direction, she easily blocked the swipe with her eyes still closed, catching Catra off guard instead as she pulled her around. In a near-full swing, she slammed Catra back into the lamppost itself, pressing the right side of her face against the cold metal as she leaned closer to her ears.
"BeCAuse all of thIS IS your fauLT." And with Catra's own arm still pressed against her back, Adora pulled. With more than enough strength to lift the magicat's entire body, Adora lifted and slammed her behind herself, slamming Catra's back into something other than the snow, something different than the environment. It was something Catra had become accustomed to at this point as she braced for the impact.
It didn't mean the pain hurt any less.
*WHAM!*
"Geh-!" She nearly choked a cry as her back was slammed against a hard flat surface, groaning to herself as she rolled over. She rubbed her sore spot as much as she as could to ease the tension, which, in this case, was her entire back.
Getting a good look for herself as to where she ended up this time, she was surprised to find herself back in Bright Moon, the land that should've been destroyed. Then again, reality was collapsing and she was just in the Fright Zone not two areas ago, so it wasn't implausible.
Based on her surroundings, seeing the familiar chairs lined up around her in the enormous table she landed on, she discovered she was lying on the giant table in the meeting room, one complete with it's holographic map and everything. It would've brought a sliver of relief to the girl to wind up in some location she had grown accustomed to, but there was just one problem with it. A problem that made the room more unsettling than comforting.
Half the chairs were gone. The seats she had come to know as each Princess's, each of the chairs that were their designated sitting spot, were missing. Instead, the surrounding chairs were spread evenly to make up for this lack of absence, sitting evenly spaced from each other as if they had always been that way.
As if there was never any Perfuma who rambled on about the beauty of the Universe and tried to make everyone get along with each other. Like Mermista wasn't the one lazing about in the corner chair of the table where she would usually just sit through the meetings and ask questions about what happened after it was over. It's like Frosta never existed as her missing chair was nothing more than a waste of empty space.
And... there were two certain spots that meant something to Catra at the time, two particular seats missing from the end of the round table near the door. Bow's and Glimmer's, two individuals who had been here since the beginning. Neither of their chairs were present, not the chairs that mattered the most to the Rebellion.
Or Catra.
*SSSKKKTTT*
Ears twitching at the sound of the familiar rip, Catra rolled back again, looking on in horror as she saw the familiar white claw tearing through the fabric of reality. Like it was a giant blanket that she was pulling herself out of, Adora pushed through the hole with ease as she casually stepped out of it, the tear in reality closing up and sealing behind her.
"H-How are you doing that?" Catra stuttered, crawling backwards along the table as she gaped in horror.
Taking the moment for herself, Adora gazed over her new glowing appendage, all that was deformed and monstrous about her. Unlike how she used to when her right arm was rotting and being corrupted in the real world, here, she took on her new appearance with stride, smiling to herself as she wiggled her fingers in front of the open air.
"DO you like iT?" She asked, slyly smiling back as she shifted her eyes to her. " It leT's mE crosS throuGh the portAL fOr a short time witHOuT faDInG awaY. A nICe litTle sidE EFFECT FrOM our lasT EnCounter. You KnoW, whEn I Fell intO thE PortAL?" Her brow narrowed with disgust as she marched over to the feline backing away from her.
"Th-That had nothing to do with me! You're the one who let go on your own, I tried to save you!"
"HmMm, you know the fUnnY thing iS, I dOn't caRe. I ReAllY doN'T care for Once." She scraped the tip of her thumb's claw between the sharp claws of her forefinger and middle finger, listening with amusement as they scraped against each other like knifes. "BECcuSe I'm noT here foR thaAt. I'm heRe foR You."
"For me?" Catra tried to think for herself as she neared the edge of the table. "But what do you want with me?"
"WhAt do you THinK?" At this, Adora stretched all five of her claws as wide as they could go, Catra's pupils shrinking at the sight of what she knew was to come. "To mAke yOu SuFFeR!"
"Whoooa!"
*clamp*
Before Adora could land the solid attack, before she slam her palm against the feline's head again, Catra ducked. More accurately, as Adora was about to attack, the magicat fell over the side of the table completely by accident, an accident she was blessed to receive as Adora blinked at the curious tumble.
Leaning up a little bit, she could see her ex-friend picking herself up from her side before looking back at her, using the only opportunity she had to crawl away back under the table. While it may have been somewhat cute to Adora to see the big bad kitty cat crawling away from the "big scary monster", she found it quite humorous at the same time.
"AwWwW, iS the sAd litTle kiTTy ruNNiNg away?" She cooed, slowly and casually getting to her knees as she slowly leaned over the edge of the table. Her hair dangled under her as she smirked, lowering her head further and further until she was looking directly under the table itself. "WheRE Are you CaTRa?"
"Right here!"
*BAM!*
"Owgh!" Adora shouted in pain as she pulled back, rubbing her nose and everything around it as the pain spread in every direction,.
There were many tricks she was prepared for when it came to Catra. She knew the way in which she fought, she knew of her underhanded tactics like when she tried to grab the snow earlier to blind Adora, and she knew the selfish way she had of blaming everybody else for the problems she clearly caused herself!
So when she saw her scurrying away, for one moment, she didn't think much of it. She didn't think she had a plan, could even come up with one, with all the fear driven into her eyes. And, given by the amount of flush she felt around her deformed face, she realized how wrong she would be.
The very next thing Adora was met with after she leaned over the table was a foot. A thick, sturdy, solid, foot that was just waiting for her to lean her head down for it. She wasn't prepared for the solid mass to meet her down below, and the brief hesitation she had at the sight of the strange object were the two seconds Catra needed to dive her foot right into the blonde's face, catching her off guard and presenting Catra with an opening.
With the girl rubbing at her face still, she let out another small yelp as she felt the table shake beneath her knees, catching herself from falling over it as she gripped onto the edge she was atop of. That one choice resulted in Catra's favor, as it turned out, as from beneath the table, Catra was grumbling. She might not have the strength of She-Ra on her side, but she was still plenty strong. She was fast, she was reckless, and she knew anyone caught between this thing was going to be in a world of hurt.
Giving herself a great push with her knees as she squatted under it, Catra pushed the table over from underneath her as she managed to flip it, giving it just enough of a push to land it a few inches over it's side. Letting gravity do the rest, she listened as Adora let out a small scream as the table came toppling over her, pinning her to the floor from the table's solid frame.
Seeing the small that kept the table partially over the floor, Catra used the opportunity to get a quick breath in, keeping her claws at the ready as she neared the table itself.
If Adora was going to come crawling out of there, she would've had to poke her head out first. The moment she did, Catra was confident enough to launch another follow-up attack, knowing the girl's arms would still be pinned under the table long enough to keep her from defending herself. As long as Catra kept catching Adora off guard like this, or kept her from fighting back with that arm of hers, she knew she could maintain the advantage.
"..." The feline furrowed her brow as she kept her claws at the ready, waiting for the eerie silence to pass. "Come on out, Adora," she muttered to herself, "make the first move..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
*sskktt*
*thud*
"Huh?" The magicat tilted her head slightly at the strangeness in front of her. Following another ripping-like sound, the table in front of her suddenly dropped, flattening against the surface of the floor. Did the table actually squish Adora or something? How could it...
With curiosity over the cat, the warrior ran to the table, keeping her guard up just in case, and grabbed for its side. Giving a small heave as she lifted the large slab, her worries were confirmed as she saw a small white crack within the ground slowly closing up, as if it was repairing itself from the damage it caused.
Or the damage Adora caused by tearing another hole in the fabric of reality.
*skkkt*
"Huh- Ahh!" The same soldier showed no signs of giving Catra a break as another tear ripped open from right under the girl's, catching her by surprise in the direction of the least expected of places- right under her. With swiftness, she felt a firm grip around her right ankle before she found herself falling through the tear in reality, and into the void itself.
For a moment, Catra's heart began to panic as she saw all around her. There was nothing but a white expanse of nothingness in all directions, covering the girl's vision in every direction, seeing the gravitational pull of the portal sucking in more wildlife of fauna, boulders, streams of water, everything. And for every second of their existence, a little more of them were erased by the portal's destructive force.
The only direction there was something different was the view right under her foot. There, she saw Adora pulling her through for a few seconds following the sudden tear she pulled her through. Looking back up, Catra was amazed and startled by the sight of the same tear in reality sealing itself up.
Adora had complete control over the void around here, enough to navigate through it safely for her own desires.
That very desire lead her to rip open another hole in the void with the same white claws she had come to know since seeing Adora for the first time, cackling to herself as she fell right through it, dragging Catra with her.
It was during that moment she pulled through the tear that Catra noticed part of her hands disappearing in front of her eyes. She realized that if she remained within this portal for too long, she risked disappearing all the same like everything else did, and if Adora wanted, she could simply throw open a tear in space and toss Catra right in there. So why didn't she?
Questions and answers were the least of her concerns, for now, as she finally came out of the white void of nothingness, finding herself back in the same ballroom of the Kingdom of Snows, the very place she found Frosta the first time, before Adora popped out like before. With the tear of reality disappearing over Catra's head as she finally fell through it, the crazed soldier yanked Catra's foot with both her hands, giving the girl a firm swing as she tossed her harshly against the ground, slamming her against the sturdy slabs of ice fifteen feet below them.
Catra could only brace for impact as she collided with the solid mass, painfully slamming atop of it as she slid against the slippery floor. She used her own claws as she struggled to stop herself from sliding any further, panting a little bit from the air that burst out of her lungs upon impact, and gazed back at the Force Captain who landed with ease in front of her on her own two feet.
"Huff... huff..." Wobbling a bit from the sores, Catra took a defensive stance as she glanced at her right hand. Thankfully, like expected, her hand started to become solid once more as it returned to its original state, not a hint of transparency within its skin. As long as she didn't spend too long in the void, she knew she'd be safe.
"AWwww, dOn't tell mE yOU're gETting tiRed aLREAdy?" Adora chuckled, tapping her claw against her bottom lip in a playful manner. "We hAven'T even goTten to thE fun Part yet."
"Fun? What fun part?" If only as a means to recover her stamina, Catra decided to play along as she stalled, asking questions that Adora might prefer responding to. "Why are you doing all of this? Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"WhY? Huff. OH CaTrA, CaTRa. You ReAlly haven'T leaRNed a tHing, havE yoU?" The translucent white blonde shook her head in disappointment, sighing from the scenery surrounding her. "I'm doINg thIs to make you unDErsTanD." Grinning, the Force Captain casually approached the girl, raising her flexing claws threateningly with every step. Still trying to recover some of her stamina, the magicat backed up, keeping her own claws out as she waited on the defensive. "To undeRstand whosE faULt tHis is!"
Raising her right claw casually to her side, she smirked as she began ripping an entirely new hole in reality as a fountain of light poured through it. Coming to a stop, Adora watched the look on Catra's face shift to worry as the rip tore itself open for her, casually pushing her way through it and closing up behind her before Catra could stop her. Catra looked in all directions as she backed up, making sure to keep her backside at the ready too just in case.
The ability to tear open a point in space, to be able to cross between rips from wherever she was now to wherever she was going to end up, was a terrifying power to behold. It reminded her in some ways of Glimmer's power when she used to train with her often on, with the pink princess trying to get the drop on Catra a handful of times, and managing to get her by surprise on the occasion.
This, however, was incredibly different. Unlike Glimmer, there was no indication of where Adora was going to pop out of next. With the ability to pop out of anywhere and everything, she didn't need to worry about something being in her way, like a wall or a pillar or a person like Glimmer did. She could teleport right through it with ease like a hole in the wall. And unlike Glimmer, as far as Catra was aware of, there didn't seem to be any limit for how often Adora could do this. She could use her powers indefinitely if she wanted without having to recharge.
*SSSKKKTTTT*
"To uNderstand whAt I'Ve bEEn throUgh." Catra barely had the opportunity to turn to the right as she earned the tar opening beside her before she found a fist connecting to the side of her face.
*BAM*
"Ah!" The girl nearly fell off her own feet as she trembled a bit from the impact, rubbing the side of her face with a hiss as she watched Adora coming through the portal. Refusing to give Adora the edge, Catra rushed to her with her claws at the ready, preparing to sink her claws deep into the monstrous girl if only to knock some sense into her.
"WhY youR acTIons aRE the cause oF all this." Like before, Adora easily anticipated the swipe from the right, including the underhanded knee to her stomach that Catra tried to catch her off guard with. She gave Catra a small smirk as Catar looked at her with surprised by the sudden counter, and the weightlessness as Adora lifted her from the ground. "Why you BEcoming She-Ra waS thE worst mistaKe in hisTORy." With a swing like before, Adora tossed her behind herself as she threw her to the counters near the small bar-like setup at the side of the ballroom floor.
This time, Catra at least managed to anticipate this as she prepared herself, turning herself as much as possible so she could land with as much grace against the floor as possible, landing on her feet. The one moment of relief she had that she prepared herself so diligently lasted no longer than that as the next thing to fill her vision was another face smacking straight into her face, and shoving her straight into the counter top.
No sooner did her back collide into the counter did she feel another firm grip around her neck as it squeezed around her. Unable to resist, Catra opened her eyes to see the glare-filled gaze of her friend staring back at her. "AnD wHY You could never, wiLL nevER bE, tHe HeRO!" And with firm yank, Adora tossed her to the ground behind her, landing the magicat on her back.
Catra groaned quietly as she worked her way back to her feet, getting tired of the sensation of something beating against her back. "The... hero?" Something about the word twitched Catra's ears for some reason. Shaking her head from the slight dizziness, she backed up again as she saw Adora approached. "What does any of that have to do with what's going on?"
"It has everYThing to do wiTH ThiS!" She couldn't tell if it was just her eyes playing tricks on her or if it was from the beatings she was taking, but she could swear that just for a second, the aura leeching off of her burst a little wider, as if flaring up with her emotions. "YoUR stupiD selfIshness cost this woRld!" With a burst of speed, the Force Captain rushed for Catra, raising her hand high into the air for all to see.
Seeing the overhead strike, Catra shot both her hands up as she grabbed at both ends of Adora's hands, struggling to keep the maniac from cutting her into ribbons. Despite all the effort she was putting forth just to keep Adora's cutting into her, Adora didn't seem to be the least bit fazed by this, as she just stood there.
"You'RE the one whO wAnTeD to a sTUpiD KIngDom!" With both of Catra's hands pushing against her claws from within, it gave Adora the easy opening she needed as she lifted her corrupted arm back up, surprising Catra as her arms suddenly left her open to Adora's uppercut from her left fist. Being knocked into the air, temporarily disoriented, the cat was not at all surprised as she found herself falling onto something other than the solid sheets of ice.
Instead, she landed on a rather comforting and soft bed of flowers that took up the brunt of her landing. Surprised by the soft landing, it took the feline a single sniff of the air before she felt a small tingle in her nose, discovering herself in the land of Plumeria, or at least the dreamworld of it. Like everywhere else, it was devoid of people, devoid of a bubbly princess, devoid of anything save for the flora and empty houses that were once occupied.
*tug*
"Owww!" Catra yelled as she felt a painful pull on the back of her mane. Against her control, she was pulled along the ground as the white arm of the ex-friend dragged her to who-knew-where.
"You'Re tHE One whO was ONly interesTed in heRSelf!" With another pull, Catra was thrown against what first appeared to be a tree, and wound up becoming wall. The scenery had transitioned again through Adora's anger and emotions as they found themselves back within the Crimson Waste. This time, they were outside the familiar spaceship belonging to Mara, outside the door that only Catra could open.
The one that allowed Adora to follow her and kidnap her and the sword, something Catra should've been more than prepared for if her emotions at the time weren't distressed by Mara's lack of information.
Just like Adora said.
"You'rE the one WhO dragGed everyOne else intO yoUr tRoubLes!" Pulling back another fist, Catra barely had the time to duck out of the way this time, causing Adora to slam her fist into the solid sheet of metal behind her as the cat girl ran past her, trying to distant herself. She needed to cool her nerves, get a deep breath out of all this anxiety Adora was causing her, even if-
...
"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."
"-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."
...
... If she was partly right about all of this. About her own selfishness desires for being a better She-Ra took priority from her point of view. She just wanted to be a better She-Ra, to... be a stronger one... Did she still retain the same selfishness she's always had? Even if it was to protect her friends, her desire for the strength to protect them were more important to her at the time than the friends themselves.
*ffffssshhh*
"Wh-!" Catra didn't get a second to herself as she fell through the ground again. This time, it wasn't caused by Adora's own ability to rip and tear holes in the fabric of reality. It was caused by Catra's own foolishness, her distraction into her inner turmoil, as she never noticed the small ripple of sand she crossed in her escape until it was too late. Sand as far as the eye could see, sand burying up to her head, was all that was left in Catra's vision before everything turned black.
Then, it turned wet. Somehow, throughout the sinking sands, the very crumbles of dirt and rock that had engulfed her had turned into water, one that lead her several feet below the surface if any of the lime-colored light above her was any indication. Refusing to ponder while her lack of oxygen was at stake, she swam to the surface as fast as she could through the shivering waters, coughing for fresh air as she came to the surface.
And into Adora's awaiting grip.
"Ngh!" Catra tried to struggle out of her grip once again as she flailed her arms about. Between the freezing waters and the intense grip pulling her to a large rock along the side of the Kingdom of Salineas, there wasn't anywhere she could escape from.
"You onLy careD aboUt ThAt stupiD sWord, aNd what you goT out Of iT!" Catra couldn't understand how Adora sounded like she could be shouting in her ear and whispering at the same time. All she cared about was the lack of air she was about to receive as Adora shoved her head underwater again.
Was that just her selfishness speaking through her again?
...
"I don't care about Adora anymore, got it? I don't care about that stupid fight we had a month ago. I don't care if we have to fight these stupid bots for the rest of our lives, I don't care if I can turn into She-Ra or not, and I don't care if we never beat the Horde at this point in my lifetime."
"You know what I do care about these days? Nothing! But it doesn't mean I need a constant reminder about my life or my problems on a daily basis. I need people to mind their own business, I need people to focus more on robots than me, and I need little shrimps like you to stop acting like a stupid BRAT!"
...
"I told you three to get out of the way!" Catra yelled, barely even seeing Glimmer as she focused solely on the path before her.
"Come on, Catra, at least listen to reason!" Glimmer begged. "Even if you made it all the way to the Fright Zone on foot, how do expect to reach Entrapta who's at the center of it all?"
"Simple- I'll tear down every wall and toss away anyone that gets in my path. Now LEAVE!"
...
"Call it what you want, I already said I don't care. I'm working for the Rebellion now, with the only few people I care about, to stop the Horde for my own reasons. I don't care if you call it selfishness, stupidity, or anything. I'm not about to let someone change how I remember someone, how I look at them. If I forget everything I joined the Rebellion for, then there's not even a reason for me to be here, is there?"
"...Catra-"
"Just get me out of here." Catra interrupted, lowering her head to them as she turned away in anger. "I've had enough of this stupid place."
...
What about her had changed? HAD anything changed? All throughout her adventures, no matter how close she got to the two, she still put her own priorities before theirs, even going to the lengths of venturing into the Crimson Waste unprepared.
Through reasons she couldn't comprehend, she could still hear Adora's voice clearly as she spoke above her. "ANd wheN thAt wasn't enOugh, you wAntEd MOre!" Raising her to the surface, Catra gasped for breath again as Adora continued to taunt into her ears. "You hAd a sword thAt couLD DO all of thIs, and weRe you saTIsfiEd? NO!" Catra was powerless to pry her grip from her mane as she was plunged down again. "YoU juSt wanTeD MORe!"
She couldn't drown her out, she couldn't block out the noise as she kept trying to pull away from her underwater. She couldn't tell if her heart was racing from the lack of air or if it was from the possibility that she was right about all of this, right about her. She was her mortal enemy at this point and she still knew more about Catra's selfishness than Catra herself.
Being lifted through to the surface again, she wound up in another familiar place, a place that Catra had seen plenty of times before in her life. It was the Throne Room of Bright Moon, the place she had called home for several months now.
With a sudden force, she was thrown back into the stairs leading up to the two thrones, the rightful seats of the King and Queen of Bright Moon. Ironically, the recent force appeared to be just what Catra needed as she coughed the water out of her mouth, finally taking in the fresh air again at long last, gazing up to the approaching Force Captain as she did.
"AnD all yoU've dOne for yoUr seLfiSH grEED has goNe on to mAKe my lIfe miserABLe." Snarling at the girl, Catra rolled out of the way in time as Adora sunk her claws into the third step of the stairs, grimacing as she looked back from her missed prey. "FRoM yoUR misSions, from YOur LIfE. All you'VE doNe, you'vE DOne tO hurT Me!"
"I-I did not!" Catra tried to argue, even if she lacked the same conviction as before. "I was just trying to help everyone-"
"To bE usefUL to everYOne? BecaUsE you wanted tO wIn?" In disgust, Adora spat to the floor, squeezing her clawed hand into a fist. "WhEN you did a misSion, you dId it just To win. WheN I trIEd to succeEd a missOn, it waS to SuRvive!"
Catra's ears lowered at the statement as she saw the look in Adora's normal-looking eye. Even with all she's done so far, she still felt remorse at the look Adora had in her eye as the blonde winced. "To... Survive?" Adora turned her head away at this.
Nothing had changed. Not in her eyes. Catra was still the person to only think of herself and those she wanted to use, just like the day she met her. "You oNLy evEr care aBOut yoursElf and WiNNIng, don'T you?" She scoffed. "NeveR thinkIng of thOse around you, nEvEr about those you meEt. Just the herE And now... juSt lIKe ARoDa said!"
The name brought Catra a never-ending sense of confusion as she stared at the sudden statement. "Aroda?" She questioned. For some reason, this brought a small chuckle to Adora's lips as she covered it a little with her left hand.
"Oh, THat's riGht, whERe are mY manNErs?" Honestly, she felt like her head wasn't on straight sometimes. "I havEn't even introduCed you tWo yet, hAve I?" It was as if Adora had been waiting for this moment the entire time as her grin widened. Out of all the people in the world, out of anybody in existence to meet, this was the one person Adora desired to introduce to somebody, especially someone like Catra.
A person that was actually trustworthy.
Still grinning, Adora stood herself straight as she focused. All the raw energy that had been welling up inside of her, all the power that had been driven and taken by the void, had come to this. Focusing all of her power with such a simple thought, a simple desire, Adora's right arm began to glow as the aura surrounding it began to darken. It was as if the flames itself were the source of her powers, a factor Catra was smart enough to ignore, as it grew around her. Taking in the power within Adora, the Force Captain did the unthinkable before Catra's eyes.
Specifically, from where the arm glowed, right down the middle of Adora's corrupted half, the space surrounding her began to distort around her, almost as if static was taking place between Adora's two sides. There was a bit of confusion as Catra watched this process until she saw something that made her jaw drop.
She split apart.
With a great flash that nearly blinded Catra as she shielded her eyes, something emerged from Adora that shouldn't have been possible, something Catra believed was a trick of the blinding light before it started to move on its own.
Shifting right off of Adora's right side, standing there with the same provocation, same menacing grin, was another Adora. One who shouted with an aura of smugness as she placed her hands at her side, looking exactly like the Adora right next to her with an added hint of what appeared to be pride, stood before the magicat, taking in every detail of Adora right down to the same glowing clawed arm that she had.
Catra," Adora began, speaking with a voice that appeared to be less distorted as the girl split from her other half, " meet Aroda. Aroda, someone of little concern."
She greeted with a sly smile, wiggling her fingers childishly. "Hello. I'm Adora's guardian angel... or demon. Whichever floats your boat~"
"Y-You're... Aroda?" Catra stared at the girl from head to toe, trying to take in everything from the girl from her appearance, the sound of her voice, even down to the black and yellow eye that Adora had.
"What? Do you need to be told a fourth time?" She chuckled, gesturing to her with her thumb as she grinned to Adora. "Man, you were right. She is kind of slow." Catra was still in disbelief as she watched her, listened to her, breathed in front of her as if she was the very same Adora.
"No, you're..." And it was only with a memory that she knew who Aroda really was.
...
"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.
...
"You're the parasite!" Catra gasped. The mention of it was enough to draw Aroda's curiosity and surprise, neither of which went on to tarnish the grin crossing over her face.
"Wow! Mabye you're brighter than I thought!" Her grin became more menacing as she stretched her claw before her. "Let's put that theory to a test. Haaaah!" With a roar, the one known as Aroda charged at the girl, pulling back her claw as she was prepared to swipe at the girl with everything she had.
While Catra could admit she had the same flow of movement as her, she noticed that the fake self was sloppy in terms of stance and attacking as she charged for her. Her form was completely off, completely predictable, as she prepared to cleave Catra into little shreds of string with one hand. Preparing herself for the oncoming strike, Catra took a stance, bracing for the impact as she defended herself with her own two claws, and grabbed-
*swiff*
"Huh?" Catra blinked, looking at herself before turning around. There, seven feet behind her, she saw Aroda, giving another playful tease as she waved at her with her corrupted hand. The girl had just passed right through Catra like she was nothing, not even air. "How did-"
*Wham!*
The girl was physically cut off as she turned back, meeting Adora's own fist in a sense of Deja vue that she's experienced up to three times by now. Being smashed through the air, the magicat as completely defenseless this time around as she slid against the ground, letting out a small cough as she tried to get her senses straight again after the solid strike against her forehead.
Looking back, she saw Aroda still grinning at her as Adora walked to the copy's side... or, was it Aroda walking to Adora's side now? She couldn't tell as both individuals appeared to be closer, the violence permeating through the air dulling her sense of smell as she failed to pick up on the real Adora's scent.
"Hahahaha!" Aroda bellowed with laughter as she held her side. "Oh my gosh, she thought I could actually hit her! That's hilarious!"
"Huh?"
"Hahahaha... ahh..." The illusionary figure wiped a tear from her own eye dramatically as she shook her head. "I hate to rain on your parade, but... Acutally, I take that back! I love raining on your parade! But I'm not really here, at least not entirely." Grinning to the originator of the copy, Aroda playfully teased as she poked at Adora's forehead, leaning on her shoulder. "Everything I am, I am from in here. We've been good neighbors with one another since day one. Right roomie?"
"Shut up." Adora spat as she swiped her hand away. Evidently, Adora and Aroda could touch each other, to some extent, even if Aroda couldn't touch Catra herself.
"See? The best!"
Okay. Catra could partly see how Adora's gone crazy if this thing was living in her head for the past several months. Catra had just met the girl and already she wanted to strangle herself if it meant getting away from this girl, this parasite-thing, for good. But at least her new companion was apparently stupid.
Why did Catra come to that conclusion as she got up? Because the illusion just gave away a big piece of her mystery and her capabilities right in front of her. She revealed that nothing she did could affect Catra, and, even if she couldn't get a scent from either of the two at the time, she knew she only had to worry about one of them at all.
The one that could hit her.
"Tch, it doesn't matter to me how buddy-buddy you two are." Catra scoffed, claws at the ready again as always. "I'm not gonna let you destroy everything just because you have a grudge against me!" No matter how much Adora hated her, it wasn't an excuse to make her friends, ESPECIALLY every other person on this planet, suffer because of her.
At this, the two "Adoras" looked to one another, looking unsurprised, uncaring, and both raising an eyebrow to her. "You're not gonna let me destroy the world?" Adora, or whoever was on the right, asked.
"And why would someone like you care?" The other asked, presumably Aroda by how she was leaning against the other again. "It's not like you're the hero here."
"Y-Yes, I am! I'm She-... I mean... I was..." Why was she struggling to admit what she already knew? Why couldn't she just say "I am She-Ra", or "I became She-Ra" or anything of the sort? Why couldn't she call herself the hero that she knew herself to be?
Because, as of right now, she couldn't.
All of this, regardless of reason, was happening out of selfishness. A selfishness to keep what she cared about from leaving her, a selfishness to beat the enemy at any cost, a selfishness to preserve anything she had left.
She wanted all that she had with a determination, one that drove her to rush through her training, to complete any of her missions without fail, in order to maintain what she felt was rightfully hers. Even if those came in the form of the lives of others, she still refused to let anything part them from her, such as an evil army by the name of the "Horde" who wanted to conquer the entire world.
Nothing she had done was out of the intention of goodness, of being a hero.
Just selfishness.
"It's like I told you before, Catra." Adora grabbed her attention again, snapping the cat out of her stupor. "You were never meant to be the hero, nor could you ever be one."
"..." Catra lowered her head a little as she tried to find a valid argument.
Since day one, the sword was never meant for her. She was reminded constantly about how Adora was the one meant for this greatness, how she was always the one who was designed to inherit the sword. It probably didn't matter anymore if she was a First One or not either by this point. As long as she still held that selfless desire to do good, even if it was twisted beyond recognition at this point, she was still more suitable for the sword than Catra could ever hope to be.
"... Eh... I... I..." The words left Catra's throat before she could even say them, the sorrow beginning to plague her mind already wracking her with guilt.
Just like Adora wanted, if only to begin the process of making her suffer.
"Aww don't pout about it too much, kitty~" Aroda teased, twirling a finger in the air in a circle. "After Adora reclaims what is rightfully hers, it'll all be over for you."
"R-Reclaim?" Okay, just because she was depressed didn't mean she was oblivious... sort of. "What do you mean reclaim?"
"The sword, silly." She cooed. "Once Adora touches it, everything will be allllll better. You know, when she becomes She-Ra, like she was supposed to be?"
"What... What are you talking about? Adora lost her chance the day she left me at the Beacon! The sword designated me as She-Ra after... after... af... ter...!" Slowly, surely, a grand design of cogs and wheels started to spin within Catra's mind.
All these tragic and terrible events that had befallen her.
All that was affected by the portal and all that was to happen.
All that had lead up to this exact moment. This beautiful, proud, amazing moment, that Aroda had been dreaming about since day one.
"I'm sorry, but what are you talking about?" Her grin confirmed everything that Catra had come to realize. "If I'm remembering correctly, you never joined the Horde in this world, right? Which means you and Adora never went to the Whispering Woods and found the sword."
"This... This whole time, you were planning to..." Catra still couldn't believe it, was almost sickened to believe it, as she felt herself stepping back in pure shock. Everything revolving around the three of them was leading to this moment almost perfectly, in a way that benefitted Aroda in every manner of speaking.
"SO! Since neither of you found the sword to begin with, what do you suppose that means for the both of you?" At this point, Catra swallowed a lump in her throat as she hesitated to speak.
In this world, Catra was no longer She-Ra. She never found the sword of the First Ones, never became the hero of the Rebellion, and never gave Adora an excuse to go into the woods on her own in the first place. This meant that neither of them had touched the sword the first time, leaving it without an owner and leaving it up for grabs. All Adora needed to do was to find the sword first, to touch it, and then it would be over.
The Parasite would have exactly what it wanted.
And all the power within the sword, the power that managed to rewrite reality in this world of fantasy, would be within Aroda's grasp.
She would become more than just "one with the Sword", like she's always dreamed of.
She would be like a god.
In a world of Nothingness.
...
...
...
A/N: Eeeeep! She's here! She's finally in the show too now! Everyone's absolutely 100% guaranteed FAVORITE character.. ARODA :D! Ah, it's about time someone as marvelous and glorious as her got a spot in the sunshine, no ^^? Man, I'm so excited to see her win in the end, and i know the rest of you are too! Yes, we do have to put up with boring old Catra here and there throughout the next chapter, but mark my words, I- I mean, Aroda will FINALLy come out on top ^^!
Speaking of yours truly, the honorable and not-as-wonderful-but-a-close-second-to-Aroda Wonderful Petie has made an FREAKING AMAZING OMG PICTURE of a corrupted Adora! For those of you wondering what her new appearance looks like, head over to petie doon's instagram page to check it out right now! It's freaking creepy, amazing, horrifying, and awesome, all bundled into one ^^! I swear i can not express my gratitude to him for all he does, especially since its for free. Make sure you guys leave the love for him too, he deserves it for all the hard work he goes through (like putting up with monoku- I mean ME, throughout the process...)
So with that said, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review, and hope to see Aroda win soon ^^!... I mean, hope to see you all soon, yes, that's what I meant...