Catra stared at Scorpia. She had giant handcuffs around her claws and was looking up at her with such a sad expression that it broke Catra's heart. And yes, she had a heart, though she was loathe to admit it. Scorpia then spoke again:
"Hello? Who's there?" Catra was reminded that Scorpia could not see her through the cell's force field, and every bone in her body urged her to just leave and stick to the plan. Surely the few hundred soldiers of the Horde took priority over Scorpia? But Catra did not move. Scorpia had been the person who had given her the push she needed to finally make the right choice. She owed her so much, and she had still not apologized to her for everything she had put her through. Catra decided the Horde could wait. She took a deep breath and pressed on the force field again so Scorpia could see her.
It had been close but Bow and Entrapta had just managed to get the landing process started as Darla had entered Etheria's atmosphere. They had successfully landed in the heart of the Whispering Woods and were now heading towards the rebellion's camp. They had chased their three prisoners away, not wanting to lead them to their friends' location. That being said, they soon realized they had had no reason to worry. The camp had long since been abandoned, and it was clear its occupants had left in a hurry.
Glimmer looked around at the mess and groaned in frustration. Why did she have to go and get captured? If she had never been imprisoned by Horde Prime, she could have helped to stop this and Adora would still be here! She teared up at the thought of her best friend still on Horde Prime's ship. She was determined to go back for her. She was not sure how, but she would find a way to save her. Bow then walked up to her holding his tablet.
"There's an old Horde base not far from here. According to my readings, someone just turned on its main computer. Maybe they've gone over there?" Glimmer glanced at the map on Bow's tablet and her eyes went wide. She recognized that Horde base. She had been the one who destroyed it.
After Catra's last personal log had finished playing, the room had descended into chaos. Perfuma had begun to lecture no one in particular about how everyone deserved a second chance – even Catra. Frosta had countered that by describing the many ways Catra had ruined Princess Prom.
Netossa had then backed her up by reminding everyone of the First and Second Battles of Brightmoon. Mermista had said nothing and simply stormed off once the video ended. Sea Hawk had run after her. King Micah had turned to Swift Wind and had started to ask him loads of rather uncomfortable questions about Catra and her relationship with Adora. For once, Swift Wind was at a loss for words. As for Kyle and Rogelio, they were running around the control panel trying to catch the imp who was still looking for Hordak. Lonnie, meanwhile, could not believe what she had just seen and was frozen in her seat. Was it possible that Catra was not, in fact, a bad person?
Adora had found the entrance to the old Horde base where the members of the rebellion were currently located. She told the clones to surround the place and prevent anyone from escaping. She then turned to Spinerella who was crouching in the undergrowth beside her. "Come on, princess. Let's go and have some fun."
"Catra?!" Scorpia could not believe who she was seeing. Not only was Adora working for Horde Prime, but Catra too? Her face fell and she turned away. She could not cope with any more betrayal. Also, as glad as she was that Catra was alright, she did not want to see her. She was still very hurt from the way she had been treated by her. That was why her heart skipped a beat when Catra finally spoke:
"I'm sorry, Scorpia." Scorpia looked back at her former friend incredulously. Catra had tears in her eyes. She continued:
"You were right! I'm a bad friend and a terrible person! I don't deserve forgiveness for all the horrible things I've done." She took a deep breath before concluding:
"But I'm done being bad! And I'm not going to leave you here! So, please, come with me?" With that, Catra unlocked the force field. After a moment's hesitation, Scorpia gave a giant smile and wrapped her handcuffed claws around Catra – pulling her into one of her famous bear hugs. For once, Catra did not resist and hugged her back. She was actually crying now. This was the very first time Catra had experienced forgiveness. It was such a beautiful feeling. Of course the ship's alarm had to go and ruin the moment.
As the rebellion continued to process what they had just seen, Swift Wind suddenly felt an odd sensation. It felt as if Adora was near, and yet it was not her. Whoever it was was not fully in control - as if something or someone had corrupted them. Before he could interrupt King Micah to tell him about it, someone blew open the front door of the base. Everyone went silent and turned to see Despara and Spinerella standing at the entrance. Despara waved her sword menacingly.
"Hello princesses! You miss me?" With that, Spinerella sent a gust of wind towards the control panel and everyone near it got thrown across the room. Despara was about to rush forward when she realized she could not see Mermista. She turned around and was hit in the face by a torrent of water. She fell over backwards and Mermista leaned over her menacingly. She replied for the group:
"Not. One. Bit."
Glimmer teleported Bow, Entrapta and Wong Hordak to the old Horde base, and, as soon as they materialized, they were surrounded by clones. Glimmer screamed and quickly teleported everyone inside the base. She quickly wished she had not, however.
Perfuma, Frosta, King Micah and two ex-Horde members were lying semi-conscious against a wall in the far corner of the base. Spinerella and Netossa were having an intense and evenly matched fight in the other corner. Next to them, Mermista and Sea Hawk were fighting some unknown girl dressed like Hordak with a giant sword.
Suddenly, a third ex-Horde member, a girl who Glimmer vaguely recognized, ran straight at the Hordak wannabe and rammed her against one of the many large pieces of debris which adorned the dilapidated base. The armour-wearing girl did not even flinch as she collided with the giant metal girder. She easily pushed her attacker off her and turned back to face Mermista.
As Glimmer was about to go and help, she felt a familiar horse's nose nuzzle the back of her neck. She turned around to see Swift Wind. Bow was already hugging him.
"Swift Wind!" she gasped in relief and surprise. Swift Wind smiled briefly before saying:
"Bow, Glimmer, I'm so happy to see you, but right now we've got a major problem. You see that scary girl dressed like Hordak?" Everyone turned to watch as the girl in question tried to stab Mermista, only to be prevented from doing so by Sea Hawk. Glimmer and Bow nodded nervously. Swift Wind then dropped the bombshell:
"I think that's Adora!"
Catra ran down the now familiar corridors of Horde Prime's ship, and Scorpia followed her. She still had her cuffs on – Catra had been unable to get them off. They ran into the teleportation chamber and Catra wasted no time knocking out the two clones waiting for her there. She then pushed Scorpia onto the teleportation pad, like she had done to Glimmer so long ago. As the green force field went up, she ran and locked the doors. She then headed for the control panel, and, as she did, Scorpia began to plead:
"Catra, what are you doing? How will you escape?" Catra closed her eyes and tried to shut out Scorpia's voice. She would not escape. As soon as the clones entered, she would have nothing to look forward to but death. Horde Prime would not even consider chipping her this time. But she had to do this. She would not let Horde Prime hurt Scorpia, just like she would not let him touch Adora. Catra finally spoke up as she began to type in the co-ordinates of the old pulse-bot factory.
"Don't worry about me. All I do is hurt people. There's no one left in the entire universe who cares about me." Scorpia gasped and then yelled:
"Catra, no! That's not true! I care about you!" Catra felt a tear roll down her cheek as she looked up and smiled at her former friend:
"That's really sweet of you, Scorp, but you have new friends now – friends who are much better than me." Catra cleared her throat before continuing:
"I'm sending you to where I was going to go – the old pulse-bot factory in the Whispering Woods. There shouldn't be any clones there. As soon as you arrive, go and find the rebellion! They'll help you get those cuffs off, and, once they have, please tell them that what's left of the Horde is in the old Horde outpost in the Crimson Waste. They're being besieged by Horde Prime and won't last much longer. If Sparkles feels she owes me anything for saving her, tell her that saving them will make us even." She paused as she tried to think. Was there anything else she wanted Scorpia to tell them? Her thoughts turned to Adora.
"Also, please tell Adora…" What did she want to say to Adora? What were the magic words that would fix everything that had gone wrong between them? Her thoughts were interrupted by the noise of clones hurling themselves against the doors. She had to think fast. She finished her sentence:
"Tell her I'm sorry – for everything." With that, she sent Scorpia on her way – her cries of protest lost in the static. Seconds later, the clones burst in.
"What?!" cried Glimmer in utter disbelief. Bow pointed at the girl dressed like Hordak:
"That can't possibly be Adora!" Swift Wind whinnied in exasperation. He tried to explain himself:
"You know Adora and I have this magical bond, right? Well, I'm feeling it right now! But it feels twisted – corrupted! I think Horde Prime must have captured her and taken control of her!"
The trio watched as Despara engaged in a vicious sword fight with Sea Hawk. Mermista was preparing to throw yet more water at her, but was thrown against a wall by one of Spinerella's powerful gusts of wind. Netossa took advantage of her wife's brief loss of focus and jumped on her. She hit her hard on one of her legs, which caused Spinerella to cry out in pain. She then collapsed and found herself tied up in one of Netossa's nets. At this point, the newly recovered Perfuma rushed forward and secured Spinerella in her vines.
Glimmer turned back to look at Despara. She was winning the fight against Sea Hawk and looked like she might kill him when King Micah came forward and cast a spell to freeze her where she stood. Glimmer gasped as she recognized her dad. She had been vaguely aware of his presence before now, but had not fully registered it. She could not help herself as she stepped forward and yelled:
"Dad?!" King Micah turned and stared in amazement as his daughter approached him. This distraction cost him, however, as his magic weakened and Despara broke free. She stabbed Sea Hawk in the side. As he cried out in pain, Mermista screamed in anger. She sent another torrent of water at Despara, only for her to jump out of the way and start running for the exit. She had realized that she was now too outnumbered to win.
Glimmer then materialized before Despara blocking her escape. After that, Bow fired one of his arrows, covering Despara in a sticky green substance that held her in place. Despara roared in frustration as she tried to break free. Glimmer leaned over her and tried to pull her helmet off. Unfortunately the sticky substance prevented her from doing so. Swift Wind then came over.
"Adora? Can you hear me? It's Swift Wind!" Despara stopped struggling and stared at him incredulously.
"Is that horse talking?" Before anyone could react to that, Lonnie's voice rang throughout the base:
"Hey guys! Frosta's not doing so well!" Everyone turned to see Lonnie holding an unconscious and bleeding Frosta next to the control panel.
After Lonnie had been pushed away by Despara, she had decided to leave the fighting to the Salineans and had gone back to check on her squad. Kyle had spent the entire fight holding the imp close to his chest, while Rogelio had been shielding both of them from the debris thrown around by Spinerella. Perfuma and King Micah had got up to join the fight as she arrived, but Frosta had not moved. After a while, Lonnie had gone to check on her only to realize that she had hit her head badly when Spinerella had blown everyone against the wall - and now she was bleeding.
Without a moment's hesitation, Perfuma rushed over to them and began to help Lonnie bandage Frosta's head. Netossa stayed by Spinerella's side, inspecting her and finding the chip. She yelled:
"Hey everybody! I think I found how Horde Prime is controlling people!" For the first time since they had arrived, Entrapta spoke from where she had hidden with Wrong Hordak:
"Is that tech? Let me see!" She rushed over to Netossa and Spinerella, dragging Wrong Hordak along with her. King Micah prepared to shoot some fire at him but Bow got in his way with a sheepish expression:
"Believe it or not, he's with us." King Micah then gave a big smile and pulled Bow into a hug.
"It's so good to see you again!" Mermista then yelled:
"Hey, you can say hello later! Sea Hawk is dying!" Sea Hawk then spoke up:
"Don't worry, love. At least I got to see you before I go." Mermista then began to cry:
"Why…why are you like this?" With that, King Micah began running towards them:
"It's okay! I know some healing spells!" Glimmer stared at him as he ran off. She still could not believe he was there. Her thoughts were then interrupted by Despara, who was still stuck to the floor and had been quiet this whole time:
"I'm still waiting to hear how the horse can talk." Glimmer went red and leaned over Despara menacingly.
"You better be Adora under there. If not, I will not hesitate to destroy you like I destroyed the last person I fought here." Before Despara could respond, multiple cries could be heard outside. There was a fight and a clone was thrown through the front door of the base. Someone then ran in after him. It was Scorpia in handcuffs.
"Oh, hey guys! Did you know there are, like, a ton of clones outside?"
As Catra was led before Horde Prime for what felt like the hundredth time, she did not bother to focus on how she walked, nor did she try to appear stronger than she actually was. She no longer cared what Horde Prime thought of her, and she was not about to spend her last moments trying to earn his validation. Like last time, the clones forced her to her knees before Horde Prime's throne, and, just like last time, Horde Prime sat and stared at her for an uncomfortable amount of time.
Suddenly Horde Prime snapped his fingers and the screen behind him came to life to show the interior of the old pulse-bot factory. Everyone was there. Everyone except Adora. Horde Prime gave a particularly insidious grin as he then stood up and approached Catra.
"It seems you have decided to turn against me yet again, little sister. Before I end your miserable existence, I thought I would let you watch the demise of those you chose over your destiny." Catra's eyes went wide as another screen lit up with a five-second countdown. Horde Prime was going to fire a "missile." Catra sighed – when would she catch a break? Was it too much to ask for a simple execution?
As Horde Prime was about to snap his fingers, Catra, using strength she did not know she possessed, sprung forward and successfully knocked the creepy metal device on Horde Prime's forefinger off his hand. Before she could do anything else, however, she was brutally subdued by the two clones behind her. Hordak, who had been standing next to Horde Prime the entire time, helped to hold her down. Horde Prime slowly leaned down to pick up his device. He laughed as he held it in his hands once more:
"Did you seriously think that that would work? I see all! I know all! You are nothing more than a speck of dust in the light of my greatness!" Catra struggled under the weight of three clones on her back, but there was no way she was going to let Horde Prime get away with this. She yelled defiantly:
"Oh really? You're not great – you're pathetic! You sit up here, in this ridiculously creepy space ship, surrounded by literal copies of yourself, as you destroy everything and everyone that doesn't fit in your perfect world! And why? Because you're an egotistical maniac with a god complex who's probably never had an interaction with anyone that didn't end in you betraying them!" Horde Prime's expression changed from one of amusement to one of horror. Catra then felt Hordak's weight shift on her back. Ignoring her impending doom, Catra resolved to die doing what she did best – fighting a losing battle. She continued:
"And you aren't even a competent leader! You let me free not one, but two, of your prisoners from right under your nose! I mean, you're literally the only reason I went near either of their cells! Not only that, but you've believed every lie I've ever told you – even after seeing my memories and controlling my mind! And believe me when I say that I've lied a lot!"
Catra fought to catch her breath after speaking so much while lying flat on her stomach. She was wondering why Hordak had not killed her yet, or at least knocked her out. All she could see from her position was Horde Prime's increasingly furious expression, and his fingers still holding the device. On that note, why had Horde Prime not put it back on and snapped his fingers yet? Were her taunts really that good? As soon as she got her breath back, Catra closed her eyes and continued to yell:
"You don't see all! And you certainly don't know all! You're nothing more than a fraud - a power-hungry tyrant whose evil makes me look like a saint! And you know what's worse? You've actually made me one! You're so bad that you made me good!" With that, Hordak's arm cannon finally went off and there was silence.