Chapter 8: Trust
Adora let out a soft grunt as she attempted to get loose from the binders locking her hands behind her back, while at the same trying to avoid falling off the back of Road Queen's bike which was on the move again.
"You might as well give up," Road Queen said over her shoulder. "You'll only hurt yourself if you keep this up."
"Maybe so," Adora snarled. "But you aren't giving me much of an option."
Road Queen sighed and shook her head. "You're the one making this necessary Adora. If you would just agree to cooperate with me, we could avoid these little inconveniences."
"Oh I'm so sorry to be making this difficult for you!" Adora snapped with no attempt to mask the sarcasm.
Again Road Queen sighed. "I've already explained that I have no ill intention towards you. You know you're going to come out of this all right, so why don't you just make it easier? If not for me than at least for yourself."
Adora stopped struggling for a moment and considered Road Queen's words. If she had been telling the truth then everything would turn out fine in the end and it would make more sense to just play it out. But that was, of course, a very large "if". Adora cleared her mind. Something in her brain kept making her want to trust the mysterious biker. She had to constantly remind herself that she had no reason to.
"What makes you think I believe anything you've said to me? You claim you have no intention of hurting me but you've already shot me three times!"
"You gave me no choice," Road Queen scoffed. "Besides, I only hit you with a low stun beam."
"Yeah well it still hurt!"
Road Queen pulled her bike over to the side of the road and stopped. She climbed off in a huff then turned and pointed her gun in Adora's face.
"Look princess, I'm trying to be nice here, which as you may have guessed is not something that comes naturally for me. If I wanted to do this the really easy way I could just hit you with a high stun beam right now so you wouldn't wake up till long after I've delivered you to Hordak."
This threw Adora for a surprise. Now that she thought of it, it did seem odd that Road Queen would choose to bind her when it would have been simpler, and less risky, to just render her unconscious. Again she found the desire to trust Road Queen creeping back into her brain.
"Look, just go along with me on this," Road Queen said changing her tone so it was now soft and almost comforting. "I promise I won't hurt you or let anyone else harm you. Just trust me."
Adora had almost given in when those last words hit her.
"Trust you? Why should I trust you? You obviously don't trust me. If you did I wouldn't be shackled right now. If you trusted me you would have told me your whole plan. You'd explain exactly what you're up to."
Road Queen lowered her head slightly. Clearly Adora's words had not fallen on deaf ears. But just how much had they affected her?
"We each have our own secrets we keep," she said finally.
"Yes, but that's just my point. I don't have any secrets with you. You know everything there is to know about me but I know nothing about you."
Road Queen sighed and turned away. She stared towards the horizon and the setting sun in silence for a long time before speaking again.
"I don't go around talking about myself," she said in a low voice. "I'm not good at trusting other people. It's just the way I've been forced to live."
"Well," Adora said standing up and taking a step towards the bounty hunter. "If you want me to trust you, you're going to have to start trusting me. Give me a sign of good faith. Tell me something, anything. Where you come from? Why'd you become a bounty hunter? Even if you just told me your real name."
Road Queen turned around to face her with a confused look. "My name?"
"I seriously doubt your parents named you Road Queen."
"I… I never knew my parents," Road Queen said but got no further before a loud rumbling sound drew both of their attentions. Suddenly a massive Horde tank came swinging around the sharp bend in the road barreling towards them.
"Get on the bike!" Road Queen shouted.
Adora took a few small steps back but hesitated unsure of what course of action to take. She wasn't sure if Road Queen could be trusted though she was sure that she did not want to tangle with whoever was in the tank. But then, wasn't Road Queen going to turn her over to the Horde anyway? So why was she backing away from the approaching tank cautiously? Adora considered running into the nearby thicket but she wasn't sure what dangers waited within. Also she remembered that Road Queen still had the Sword of Protection tucked away in her coat. She needed to retrieve that somehow.
The tank came to a sudden stop and the top hatch opened. Adora drew back more as the Horde force captain Catra climbed out and sneered down at them. Glancing to one side Adora saw that Road Queen too did not seem happy to see her.
"Well, isn't this an unexpected pleasure?" Catra purred. "The traitor Adora already bound and ready for delivery to Hordak."
"Yes," Road Queen snarled. "And I'm the one making the delivery. Everything's under control here so why don't you just get out of my way and move along now?"
"Don't you get smart with me bounty hunter!" Catra hissed. "I know who you are and I'm not impressed. If you know what's good for you than you'll hand Adora over to me and be gone before I decide to throw you in a Horde dungeon as well. Frankly, I don't understand why Hordak hasn't had you put in a slave mine already!"
Road Queen glanced at Adora then back at Catra. "Do you have my bounty fee with you?"
"Of course not!"
"Then piss off!" she smirked. "No one's collecting on Adora but me!"
Catra let out a sound that was a half hiss, half meow then shouted, "Troopers!" Instantly nearly a dozen of the robotic soldiers poured out of the tank and surrounded them.
"Take Adora aboard," Catra shouted. "If the bounty hunter resists, kill her!"
"I'll kill every last one of you if I have to," Road Queen shouted.
"You may be a fast draw," Catra sneered. "But you can't possibly take on all of us at once by yourself."
Road Queen looked around at the Troopers then to Adora, then back to Catra again. "You know something Catra? You're absolutely right."
With lightning fast reflexes Road Queen reached into her coat and drew out the Sword of Protection. Within the same movement she pressed a button on her wrist device causing Adora's shackles to open and fall off in a clatter.
"Defend yourself!" Road Queen called to Adora and tossed the sword right to her. Though startled by this unexpected turn of events, Adora managed to catch her sword and swung it back slicing the robot trooper closest to her in half.
Road Queen then opened fire on the troopers herself while flipping a cartwheel to avoid their return fire. Unlike in "The Shady Pub" the robots did not fall over in a pile of scrap. The bounty hunter had not had a chance to switch her gun's setting yet and thus was still firing stun bolts that did not pack enough power to blast through their metallic bodies.
Adora meanwhile had managed to dispatch four of the troopers on her own. Two she cut down with her sword's blade. A third she reflected a laser shot back at. For the last one she flipped over it's head and sliced through an outstretched tree branch mid flip. The branch fell directly on top of the trooper smashing it open.
Sensing someone behind her, Adora spun around ready to strike but found herself face to face with Road Queen. There was only a brief moment to make a decision. She could strike the bounty hunter down. This could be her chance to escape. But she had just helped her. She had released her bonds and given her back her weapon knowing full well that Adora could use it on her as well. Not only that, but Road Queen knew what Adora could do now that she had the sword back in her hands. Then again, she was still planning to deliver her to Hordak.
Mere seconds dragged on as Adora pondered her choices. In the end however there was only one thing to do. The young princess spun around standing back to back with the bounty hunter ready to face the danger together.
"There's still four of them and two of us," Road Queen said.
"Hardly fair now is it?" Adora muttered.
"Yeah, maybe we should let them give up now."
Adora couldn't help but chuckle. If only things had been different she could see Road Queen and herself as close friends.
"Watch your back," Road Queen said. "I'm switching my gun's setting. I don't want to hit you accidentally."
Adora nodded then lunged for the robot charging her head on. A moment later the robot was still charging forward but it was no longer head on as its head was now off. Road Queen fired at two more of the troops and now, with her gun reset, the shots went straight through their armor leaving the air filled with the smell of burning wires. Adora found herself thankful for the warning she'd been given. If that's what it did to a robot she did not want to imagine the effect it would have on raw flesh.
All this time Catra had stood back and let the troopers do the fighting but now she found herself growing angry. "Traitorous rebel!" She shouted at Adora. "I'll rip out your heart and serve it to Hordak on a platter!"
With that she lowered her magical mask over her eyes. Instantly Catra's body began transforming itself until she had turned into a large purple panther like animal. Hunching down on her paws she launched herself towards Adora. The young princess had no time to react. Catra came at her in a blinding speed, claws aimed right for her throat. It looked to be the end when suddenly Catra stopped in mid air and was jerked back just enough so her paw swiped a mere hair's length away from Adora's flesh.
Adora looked up and Catra looked back to see the reason. Road Queen had dropped her gun and seized Catra by the tail yanking her back at the last second. The quick movement had been all that saved Adora from certain death.
Road Queen looked up at the princess and shouted loudly, "Run away Adora! RUN!"
Adora hesitated for a moment then took off into the brush followed by the remaining trooper. Catra turned to Road Queen and growled deeply. "You! I'll kill you for this!" Since she was now an actual feline, Catra had the reflexes and agility of a cat. Turning swiftly she swiped away at the bounty hunter and gashed her side with razor sharp claws. Only Road Queen's equal if not greater reflexes prevented her from having her intestines ripped from her body.
Road Queen dove for her gun but Catra beat her to the punch and swiped again this time cutting Road Queen across the back of her hand. As the young biker drew back Catra hunched down again ready to make the killing pounce.
Road Queen held her bleeding hand up to her face and whispered something inaudible. Catra either didn't notice or thought nothing of it. Letting out a feral cry she leapt towards the wounded bounty hunter…
…and was slammed into by Road Queen's hover bike which collided with the Horde captain and sent her careening into a large tree. The impact knocked the mask from Catra's face and she reverted to her human form. Catra tried to get up but found herself unable to move due to the excruciating pain she was in. Glancing down she could tell that her leg was severely broken just by looking at it.
Looking up Catra found herself staring into the face of Road Queen who had retrieved her laser pistol and was glaring down at her with an expression of absolute fury.
"I should kill you here and now," she said. "For what you've done to me, and for what you almost did to Adora, you deserve to have your head blown clean off your shoulders."
"What do you care about Adora?" Catra moaned, then grabbed her chest in pain. Apparently she had suffered several broken ribs as well.
"All you need to know is that Hordak gave strict orders that she be brought in alive! You almost killed her. And that," she added with a sinister grin, "is the only reason I'm not going to kill you."
This of course made no sense to Catra at all. As she tried to comprehend, Road Queen turned and climbed aboard her hover bike. As she revved the engine and prepared to leave Catra finally spoke up.
"You may think you've won. But when Hordak hears about this…"
"Exactly my point," Road Queen said. "When Hordak hears about this he'll learn how you disobeyed his orders and tried to kill Adora. That's why I'm not going to kill you. I'd be showing you mercy if I did."
With that she sped off in the direction Adora had gone leaving Catra lying in pain with a look of horrific realization on her face.
Adora ran as fast as she could go. Luckily by this time her leg had recovered from Road Queen's shot and did not hinder her. What did slow her down however was the thick underbrush and marshy ground. This wasn't exactly the garden spot of Etheria.
Glancing behind her Adora could see the Horde Trooper closing in fast. There was no way she could outrun it in this place she would have to fight. But not as Adora. Now that she had her sword back and had gotten away from Catra, there was no reason she could think of not to transform. Even if the Horde Trooper saw her it was a simple-minded robot. And one that was about to get destroyed anyway.
Raising the sword over her head Adora began, "For the honor of… aaah!"
For the second time that day Adora found herself cut off as the once again the sword was shot out of her hand. The weapon flipped through the air and landed with its tip stuck in the ground nearby. Rubbing her sore hand Adora raced over to retrieve it only to have the ground suddenly vanish beneath her.
Within seconds Adora found herself up to her chest in a swampy glop. In her haste to get the sword back she had stumbled head on into a pit of quickmarsh. Quickmarsh was even worse than quicksand because the thick sliminess of the mixture had a tendency to weigh the victim down, pulling them to their doom all the faster. Remembering her survival training, Adora tried to relax her body to avoid sinking further. It was not an easy task. Between the prospect of drowning in the disgusting mixture and the Horde Trooper approaching her, there was plenty for her mind to panic about.
If the Horde Trooper had an actual face it would have been beaming as it closed in on Adora. For a moment the young princess clung to a vain hope that the robot would enter the quick marsh itself and be pulled straight to the bottom by it's heavy metal body. Luck was not on her side though as it stopped just short of the pit.
"Give yourself up rebel and I might just pull you out of there," the trooper laughed. "Then again maybe I should just stand here and watch."
Adora tried to wade to the opposite side and grab her sword but the movement only caused her to sink up to her shoulders. She couldn't believe it. After all she had survived it came down to this. Killed by a stupid swampland.
But just then the roar of an engine came barreling down on them. The trooper turned around just in time to see Road Queen's bike headed straight at him before he was rammed into and knocked headfirst into the quickmarsh. The robot sank like a stone, which in turn actually caused the marsh to push Adora up out of it slightly, but not enough to escape.
Road Queen brought her bike down next to the sword, which she once more tucked into her coat then turned to Adora. "Glad to see you didn't get too far. Come on let's get out of here."
"As you may have noticed," Adora snapped, "I'm in a bit of a situation here!"
Road Queen held out her arm. "Grab my hand, I'll pull you out."
Adora started reaching for her then stopped and stared at the bounty hunter. Her mind was suddenly filled with uncertainty.
"You're still planning on giving me to Hordak, aren't you?"
"We've been through this, Adora. I've got it all planned out just trust me."
Adora drew back slightly, which in turn caused her to sink again. She didn't have much time left to make a choice. Road Queen had just saved her life and was now trying to help her. But was it out of genuine concern, or simply because she needed her alive to collect the bounty?
Road Queen saw Adora's hesitation and suddenly her face became riddled with panic. "Adora, please! Don't do this! I promise you'll be all right. Just take my hand. You've got to trust me. Please Adora. I don't want to see you die!"
Adora could not remember when she had been so confused and riddled with doubt. "I… I just don't know… how can I trust you?"
"It's Reina!" Road Queen shouted suddenly.
"What?"
"You asked what my real name was. I'm telling you. It's Reina."
Adora stared at the young biker's face. Her heart was telling her to trust Road Queen but her brain was telling her otherwise. In the end though Adora did what she always did when faced with a choice like this.
She went with her heart.
"Thank you," Road Queen said as she pulled Adora onto the bike behind her.
"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Adora asked.
"I mean thank you for trusting me. You won't regret it." With that she revved the bike's engine and they headed away at a moderate pace. Much slower than before.
"So," Adora said, "Reina huh? Anything else you want to tell me?"
"Not really," she laughed.
