Chapter 14: The Night to Change All (Part 1)

Brittni was crouched down, and stared, her lip quivering at the scorpion stinger that nearly hit her head. She switched her gaze at the source of the stinger. As the tail slowly retracted back to its host, the source slowly stepped into the light. And at that moment, Brittni realized whom it was: Force Captain Scorpia. Scorpia was a human-scorpion hybrid. The human parts of her included her fade haircut that rested upon a human head, her torso, and her legs. She had no hands, but instead what would have been hands were replaced with claws. These claws were often the butt of many jokes, since it was hard for Scorpia to grasp things. Her stinger needed no introduction, but it was something to be admired. The stinger was a quick, medium range attack that would exude a venom that would completely incapacitate an opponent. Scopria wore a burgundy-red sleeveless shirt. She had pauldrons that were made from the red carapace that covered the scorpion parts of her body. Scorpia was some kind of an anomaly in the Fright Zone. Whereas the majority of all the soldiers were gruff, decorous, and stern, Scorpia was bumbly, affectionate, and rather kind. However, she was not to be underestimated. When it came to those that would be marked as one of her enemies; especially those whom would try to harm her friends, Scorpia was merciless. When Scorpia stepped forward and got a good look at Brittni. She put her claws to her mouth and gasped. She pointed with her right claw at Brittni as she analyzed her up and down. Because of the crouched position, and Brittni's all black outfit; especially the mask, Scorpia came to one conclusion.

"A ninja! Oh, I knew this day would come! Everybody said, 'Oh, Scorpia, you're being ridiculous, a ninja will never make it into the Fright Zone!' Well, what do we call this?!" Scorpia said, her gaze being taken off Brittni and seemingly going towards space as she continued to ramble on. Brittni cocked her eyebrow and started slowly creeping towards the wall that was to the left of the magic door, hoping to sneak out while Scorpia was distracted by her own monologue. The trick didn't work, however. Scorpia gasped as she turned her head to Brittni again. Scorpia then thrusted her stinger again, just barely missing Brittni's head.

"Whoa! Hey!" Brittni yelled as she was dodging the scorpion stinger being thrusted at her multiple times. One thrust was aimed at her head. Duck. The next aimed at her torso. Pivot to the right. The last, aimed at her feet. Jump.

"Scorpia! Stop!" Brittni yelled while waving her hands in the air, in protest. Scorpia gasped.

"Oh, no… The ninja knows my name! How do you know so much?!" Scorpia demanded, frantically. Brittni groaned then pulled down her mask.

"It's me, you overgrown hottentotta tamulus!" Brittni yelled before diving to dodge another tail swipe.

"Nobody calls me a hot... Hotten... W-Whatever you said!- wait." Scorpion started, before retracting her tail and taking a closer look, "Brittni, is that you?" Scorpia asked, sheepishly.

"Yes! That's what I was trying to tell you-ack!" Brittni started before being interrupted by Scorpia's world famous hug. Scorpia wrapped her claws around Brittni and picked her up. Being a foot and a half taller than Brittni, this was rather high for Brittni to be off the ground. Brittni squirmed against Scorpia's embrace while she nuzzled Brittni's neck.

"Oh, Brittni, thank goodness it's just you! I would've felt just absolutely awful if I actually stung you!" Scorpia said, all bubbly. Brittni started coughing.

"Scorpia… could you… please… put me down…" Brittni wheezed out from being held too closely. Scorpia gasped.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Brittni." Scorpia said, sincerely, gently putting Brittni down. Brittni started gasping for air and lightly patting her chest.

"It's okay… thank you…" Brittni coughed out. Scorpia put her claws on her hips and looked at Brittni with concern.

"So, what are you doing out at this hour? And why are you dressed as a ninja?" Scorpia inquired. Brittni knew how incredibly gullible Scorpia was, so she very quickly thought of an excuse for her being there.

"Oh! Uh, well, Brett just got promoted to Infiltration Saboteur, and… well, I'm kinda trying out for that position! Yeah! And, uh, the way to do it is for me to sneak around the most highly secure location in all of Etheria! The Fright Zone!" Brittni said, quickly. Scorpia put her claw up to her mouth and eyed Brittni, suspiciously. Brittni then continued, "but, I guess it looks like you caught me. Darn, I guess you're just too perceptive for me. I'll have to work harder at this." Brittni finished, putting her mouth into a frown and batting her eyelashes at Scorpia. Scorpia narrowed her eyes at Brittni and slowly moved her head forward, about a foot from Brittni's face. Brittni started sweating and gave a light, nervous chuckle. Scorpia then smiled.

"Well, gosh, that's okay! I mean, pfft. I am quite perceptive. I mean, nothing gets passed me!" Scorpia said proudly as she got into a boxing stance and started shadow punching. Scorpia then stopped and put her claw, gently on Brittni's shoulder, "oh, don't you worry, you'll make it one day. I mean, it took me forever to make Force Captain. They said something about me being too naive and too gullible. Well, I've shown them a thing or two tonight, huh!?" Scorpia finished, with a grin. Brittni forced a smile.

"Uh… heh, heh, you betcha, Scorpia. Uh, anyway, I think that's enough training tonight. I'm gonna head to bed now. Thanks, good night!" Brittni said, briskly, before walking away rather quickly.

"Hey, if you see Catra, give her a big hug for me!" Scorpia said, jubilantly. Brittni gave her a thumbs up, then pulled her mask back on.

"Oh, I will." Brittni muttered, cryptically, "sooner than you think…" Brittni muttered, almost prophetically. She headed back towards her quarters, plucking the pictures off of every security camera on her way. She hugged the walls in order to stay out of the camera's sight. As she plucked the picture off the last camera and stuffed it into her bag, she let out a deep sigh of relief. She continued to hug the wall until she was certain she was out of sight. When she arrived at the four way, hallway intersection, Brittni looked around. Seemingly finding nobody around, she pumped her fists in the sky and quietly giddied herself.

"Yessss!" Brittni squealed. She danced around in place for a few moments with her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes, her heart sank.

"Boo." Brett uttered, facetiously, a foot away from her face.

"AH!" Brittni screamed as she fell on her bottom. Brett started laughing, holding his stomach.

"Oh, man, that was way too easy." Brett said, continuing his laugh. Brittni narrowed her eyes at Brett and growled. Brett slowed his laugh and held out his hand, "c'mon, I'm sorry."

"Hmph. I don't get it, how could I not have noticed you?!" Brittni objected, but still accepted his hand, pulling her up. Once she was up, Brett got a full look at her.

"Oh, please, I saw your little dance a mile away. You always close your eyes when you do that, so I knew you wouldn't see me coming." Brett said, grinning. Brittni blinked at him a couple of times then groaned. Brett continued, "so, what's with the ninja look?" Brett inquired, folding his arms. Brittni scoffed, trying to hide her nervousness. Brett cocked his eyebrow then narrowed his eyes, peering into Brittni's eyes, raising her anxiety.

"Er… Ah…" Brittni tried to sputter out. She then groaned heavily, "Ugh! I hate that you know me so well!" Brittni snapped, pointing at Brett. Brett chuckled.

"We're the Observation Twins and I grew up with you. That's two factors working against you, sis." Brett said, grinning. Brittni chuckled along with Brett. She then looked around.

"Look, let's get back to our quarters and I'll… I'll tell you everything." Brittni whispered. Brett nodded and they headed to their quarters. Once inside, Brittni sat down on the couch, taking her mask off. Brett sat opposite of her.

"Okay, so spill it, what's with the whole ninja get up? And sneaking out after dark?" Brett whistled, impressed, "that's something I never thought I'd see; you breaking the rules." Brett then leaned back in the chair, hands behind his head. Brittni, on the other hand was on the edge of the couch. Brett took notice.

"Well, you're tense, so this must be something pretty big." Brett deduced as he lounged in the chair. Brittni took a deep breath.

"Okay, this is gonna sound about as, or maybe even more crazy than our experience at the castle." Brittni said, distantly and looking away. Brett's interest piqued. He folded his hands and rested his chin upon them, giving Brittni his full attention. Brittni turned her head back towards Brett and gave the full account of everything regarding the crystal ball, including going into the Monumental Room, twice. After she had gotten done explaining everything, the room was quiet for what seemed like an eternity. Brett sat straight up in the chair, his arms resting on the rests, his eyes gazing at the wall to the right. He was definitely thinking deeply. Brittni was rubbing her knees forward and backwards, trying to keep her anxiety in check. Brett stood up and walked over towards the window, staring out at the darkness on the outside. Brittni didn't want to interrupt his thoughts, but she was about to explode. Finally, as though recognizing that Brittni couldn't take the silence anymore, Brett spoke.

"So…" Brett began as he turned around towards Brittni, "that… crystal thing told you that something major was going to happen tonight? Brittni nodded, almost a little too rapidly. Brett paced around near the window, holding one arm behind his back and the other to his chin. He stopped his pace, "how do you know you can trust this thing?" Brittni shook her head.

"Honestly… I don't exactly know." Brittni said looking down. She then looked back up at Brett, "but, this thing seems to know me, somehow. I dunno… I can almost… like, feel the truth. I kind of just want to give it a chance. If it's wrong, I lose nothing, if it's right… well, it said that a big change was going to happen to the Horde…" Brett scoffed, then sat back down on the chair.

"I'll be honest, Brittni. I do not trust this little crystal ball at all. For that matter, anything that has to do with magic is evil. I don't think it's a good idea for you to go. This very well could be a trap." Brett cautioned. Brittni leaned back in her chair, a little disappointed, but unsurprised in Brett's response.

"But, Brett, this is Adora and Catra. Adora's the most loyal Horde soldier in all of the Fright Zone. And Catra… well, she's nice when Adora's around, anyway." Brittni said. Brett leaned back in the chair with his arms folded and exhaled a loud groan.

"Look, you're your own person. I'm not going to try to stop you… I guess I just want you to be sure about this whole thing before you do anything." Brett cautioned. Brittni sat up in the chair and looked at Brett, intently.

"Brett, there's something major that's going to happen, and I want to know what that is. I know that crystal ball reached out to me for a reason. If I have a chance to prevent something bad happening to all of us, I'm going to take that chance." Brittni said, confidently. Brett looked at Brittni for a moment then sighed, putting his head down and folding his hands.

"Alright, go fulfill your little prophecy." Brett said, sarcastically, "I, on the other hand am exhausted from today." He mentioned as he let out a yawn. Brittni went over and sat down on the right arm of the couch, and put her left hand on Brett's right shoulder.

"I know you don't approve, but I… I have to do this." Brittni said, looking at Brett, with conviction. Brett moved his eyes to Brittni without moving his head, then looked forward again.

"I trust you, Brittni. You haven't let me down yet. If this is how you really feel, then go ahead. Who knows? Maybe you're right. But uh... I'm gonna head to bed, though." Brett said, reassuringly. Brittni cracked a slight smile and wrapped her arms around Brett. He chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah, alright, you love me, whatever." Brett said, sarcastically and chuckling. Brittni leaned over and kissed Brett on the cheek, "blegh! Okay, I'm really going to bed now." Brett then wriggled out of Brittni's hug and stood up, walking towards the bedroom. Brittni fell into the chair, giggling. Brett did his evening routine, brushing his teeth and changing into more comfortable clothing, then went back into the front room. Brittni was knelt down on the floor packing some supplies into her bag. Brett walked over to Brittni and knelt down next to her

"Brittni…" Brett started. She looked up at him and he continued, "if something really does go down, I want you to have this." Brett said as he handed her a radio, "if you need me, give a ring, and I'll be there." Brittni smiled.

"Thanks, Brett. I will." Brittni said, gratefully. Brett smiled as well, then pulled out a long baton from the back of his pants, then handed it to her. Brittni eyed it, admirably, but was still shocked, "Brett… we're not supposed to have weapons unless-" She started before being interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, you follow the rules as if your life depended on it. Look, this is among the mildest weapons I keep in my arsenal. Not only is it a personal defense weapon, you can also use it to confuse the robot patrols, buying you a minute or so." Brett said, winking. Brittni blinked a few times.

"You've been stashing weapons?!" Brittni inquired, dismayed.

"You don't?" Brett asked, winking and chuckling a bit. Brittni started laughing.

"Okay, well, thanks… I'll use it if I need it." Brittni said, stuffing it into her bag. Brett stood up and laughed.

"Ha! There's never a wrong time to have a weapon. Now, with the bots, they only have sight scanners, meaning that if you hide in the shadows well enough, they won't be able to make out your figure." Brett advised. Brittni nodded.

"Thanks Brett, that actually helps a lot." Brittni said, gratefully. Brett then began stretching.

"Anyway, kiddo, I'm going to bed. Good luck on your little adventure." Brett said. Brittni narrowed her eyes at Brett.

"Kiddo? We're twins!" Brittni protested. Brett started walking away then looked back.

"I'm older by a minute." Brett said, giggling. Brittni's mouth went agape, and she stammered her next sentence.

"Older by- What? How can you- Ugh, forget it." Brittni said as Brett continued to laugh. Brittni then stood up and slung the bag over her shoulder. Brett turned his whole body towards Brittni again, and gave her a more serious look.

"Brittni… Be careful." He said, with concern. Brittni looked at him and observed the true concern on his face. Her mouth was slightly agape, but no words came out. The two stared at each other for a few moments. Brittni then nodded.

"I will. Thanks, Brett." Brittni said. She then walked over to the front door, opened it and walked out. Brett leaned against the wall and sighed.

"Be safe, sis." He muttered, as he walked to the bedroom and headed to bed.

Brittni snuck around the Fright Zone feeling exposed from her all black get-up and mask. Nevertheless, thanks to her observation skills, she was easily able to move passed any guards assigned. She saw Jenson at one point, and waved at him. When he saw her, he immediately turned 180°, moving the other way. She smirked upon seeing him avoiding her. Aside from Jenson, This area was completely patrolled by robots. The tiles on the floor indicated where something was located, based on the color. She walked down the green floor which lead to the barracks. Taking the green path and avoiding the bots by hiding behind wall corners and other doodads in the hallways, she found herself in a corridor that lead to the barracks where Adora and her squad slept. She noticed that the door to their room was open.

"Doors are to be shut during night hours…" Brittni thought to herself. Curious, she decided to investigate. She hugged the wall, trying to stay in the dark. There were light fixtures, but to save energy, they were dimmed and spaced out during the night hours. Creeping towards the door, she stuck her head inside and scanned the area. To the right, on a top bunk, laid Kyle with one leg hanging off the bed. His snore sounded like a chainsaw chewing through a tree. Below him was Rogelio, the lizard man, curled up, literally, into a ball. Moving her eyes to the left, Brittni saw that Catra was missing from her top bunk.

"Heh, she's probably sleeping with Adora-" Brittni started thinking until her eyes moved down. To her astonishment, neither Adora, nor Catra were in that bed. This made Brittni a little worried,

"Okay… So the crystal ball was telling the truth." Brittni thought to herself, astonished. She then wondered where they could be, "Adora would never break the rules… I mean, Adora was wrapped around Shadow Weaver's fingers… but she's more wrapped around Catra's. Catra must have convinced them to sneak out." Brittni concluded in her thoughts. Knowing that the crystal ball actually had given Brittni the correct information, she was convinced that she had to find Adora and Catra. Increasing her stride in finding them, Brittni went to observe all the locations that Adora and Catra would usually tuck away to. She checked the railing overhang, nothing. She checked the locker room, zilch. She even checked a janitor's closet, with nothing to be found but cleaning supplies. Brittni groaned, quietly. She pulled the mask down to breathe a little easier.

"Where could they be? And why couldn't that stupid crystal ball be a LITTLE more specific?!" Brittni began thinking before being interrupted by footsteps. She quietly gasped and looked around for somewhere to hide. The footsteps sounded very close, so with quick thinking, Brittni put her arms up on one wall, and her legs on the opposite wall, and used all four limbs to climb up, hoping that the footsteps coming wouldn't look up. Doing all that climbing put a strain on Brittni, as she started sweating. She tried to stifle her grunting and breathing. Once atop, she quickly unscrewed a lightbulb, diminishing the light. The footsteps got closer and closer, until the figure came into view. She couldn't get a good view from the darkness, and their vocal frequencies were too stifled to know who they were. As the figure walked by, Brittni held her breath. However, she began feeling a tickling feeling falling down her hair towards her nose. It was a sweat drop.

"Oh, no, oh, no…" Brittni protested in her mind. The drop of sweat didn't listen, however, and fell, as if in slow motion, onto the head of the figure. Brittni's eyes widened as if she were about to be killed. The head that Brittni's sweat hit jerked towards her and hissed. In one swift motion, the figure jumped up, grabbed Brittni's torso, and pulled her down. Brittni fell on her hands and knees and winced at the pain. Before Brittni could react, the figure grabbed her. Brittni was about to scream, when she felt a partially furry hand clamp on her mouth. She was then pushed against a wall. It was then, Brittni finally realized who the figure was: Catra

"Shhh! You wanna wake up the entire Fright Zone?!" Catra demanded of Brittni. Although Catra was attempting to stifle her own words, they still came out rather loud. Brittni glared at Catra, and pulled Catra's hand away from her mouth.

"Whoa, hold on a minute. You're the one that hissed at me and slammed me against a wall!" Brittni accused, also trying to stifle her yelling. Catra took her hands off Brittni, stood back, folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at Brittni.

"What are you doing up?" Catra demanded, looking Brittni up and down, then added, "and why are you dressed as a ninja?" Brittni scoffed.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Brittni snapped, then quickly added, "n-not the ninja thing… just the... oh, you know what I mean!" Catra grinned and narrowed her eyes.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were sneaking out." Catra accused, chuckling. Brittni opened her mouth for a moment, but no words came out, just a slight breath.

"Just… Look, was Adora with you?" Brittni inquired. Catra's narrow eyes suddenly became wide open, and she looked away.

"I mean, probably at the barracks." Catra said, unconvincingly. Brittni took a couple steps towards Catra and put her hands on her shoulders. Catra looked back at Brittni, glared, and let out a slight hiss.

"Catra, listen to me, if you know where Adora is, you need to tell me." Brittni said, desperately. Catra pushed Brittni's hands off.

"I told you! She's probably asleep in the barracks!" Catra said as she started walking away.

"Catra, wait! She's not! Please, tell me!" Brittni protested before hearing a whirring electronic noise coming from the corridor that Catra was walking towards. Catra and Brittni let out gasps. Before they could react, the bot spotted the two. It was about to sound an alarm before Brittni quickly pulled out the shock baton and fired a jolt of electricity at the bot, stunning it. The electrical current surged over the bot, causing it to fall over and shut down. Catra looked back at Brittni, mouth agape.

"I'm out of here! That thing's gonna call for backup!" Catra then got on all fours and ran down the corridor back to the barracks.

"Catra! Ergh…" Brittni groaned. She didn't have time to wait around, though. She put the baton back in her bag and started running the opposite way that Catra went. Brittni looked down and noticed that the tiles were blue. That indicated that Brittni was heading towards the vehicle docking area, as well as the exit of the complex she was in. Brittni continued running, thankfully not seeing any robot patrols. She found the door to the vehicle docking area, and opened the door. Creeping in, she hid behind a couple of barrels to catch her breath. The docking area was a wide open, warehouse-looking alcove that held the majority of the Horde's skiffs and tanks. It was mostly dark in the room, but she was able to see that all the skiffs that were lined up in rows. Since this was the area that was closest to the barracks, Brittni decided to take a quick look around. There were no signs of life, just a bot or two roaming around. They were easy to avoid, thanks to the overall darkness of the place. After searching behind and around each skiff, Brittni let out a big sigh.

"Where in the heck could Adora be?" Brittni thought to herself. She leaned against a skiff, and it slightly moved. Brittni let out a little yelp and jumped back. She took a look around the skiff.

"Skiffs are supposed to be locked down… and based on the heat radiating from this skiff, it was used recently." Brittni also noticed some minor scrapes on the skiff. Peering closer, she noticed that it wasn't metal but wood that scraped it.Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Brittni's head, "Catra and Adora must have jacked this skiff and gone into the Whispering Woods!" Brittni thought, excitedly. Then, she thought about it more, "but… why would Adora go back after coming home? Well, whatever the case, I need to go find her!" Brittni concluded. She made her way out of the vehicle dock and towards the doorway that lead out of the Fright Zone. Although she wanted to go get her armor, there was no time. She raced to the doorway and opened the doors. She then took a step out and beheld the scenery.

"Geez, has the Fright Zone always looked this depressing?" Brittni muttered to herself. She then shook her head, "gotta stay focused." She started running out of the Fright Zone and towards the Whispering Woods. When she had made it to the opening of the Whispering Woods, she looked back. She felt naked without her armor, alone without her squad, and afraid without Brett. Nevertheless, she stiffened her upper lip, narrowed her eyes at the Whispering Woods, and walked confidently into it.

Hey, everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I actually really loved writing the part that had Scorpia in it. I'm pretty sure from here on out, there's going to be nothing but interactions with canon characters. I know it took 14 chapters, but here we are. Thanks for reading! :)