Hey, y'all. I am so sorry about how long it's taken for an update. It's been two months, and I'm sorry. Life has thrown a myriad of curveballs at me, from work to a little online schooling, to taking care of my homeboy. But, hey, you didn't come here to listen to me complain, you came to read the next chapter! Much love, and enjoy! :D
Chapter 44: Ghost Town
Just as Brett had indicated over the radio, the Fright Zone seemed to be completely abandoned. As the three stood at the gate, there were no guards, no workers… it was a complete ghost town.
As they entered the gate, Brett took note of a large, three-clawed slash that had been carved into one of the walls at the gate. Old, dried blood seemed to be plastered right under the claw marks. He let out a shudder as he knelt by it and felt the marks and the blood.
"This… this blood is over a week old…" Brett muttered. Catra and Entrapta were already in the outer yard, surveying the area. What they found was… disturbing, to say the least.
There were corpses littered across the outer yard. Horde soldiers, workers, and… also foreign corpses. A few of them were those demon bull things that were on the ship that our heroes were trapped on. Other bodies seemed to be more clones of Horde Prime. Amongst all of these, there were other unforeseen creatures, most likely used by Horde Prime.
To the left were the vehicle bay and armory. Some tanks and skiffs were outside the bay, collecting rust. One of the tanks had one of those demon bulls on the mouth of the cannon, a large hole gaping through its torso.
There was another, unfamiliar monster that took the shape of some kind of land octopus. It had several laser holes in it, though it was draped over a few Horde soldiers. In each tentacle, razor-sharp barbs were sticking out of multiple suction cups. They were used as both melee and projectile attacks, as evidenced by some Horde soldiers with barbs stuck in them.
To the right was the training yard that seemed to have the most casualties. In addition to the Horde soldiers, there were many Prime clones wielding laser rifles and other, unidentified abominations of Horde Prime's design.
Catra pulled out her baton and aimed it cautiously wherever she set her gaze upon. Her teeth were chattering from the morbidly chilling atmosphere that the Fright Zone now encompassed. Even Entrapta, despite her usual optimistic quirkiness, was uncharacteristically anxious from the horror that the trio was witnessing.
"What...happened?" Brett demanded as he picked himself up and joined the duo. Without looking back, Catra hissed.
"Horde Prime happened, that's what," Catra muttered. Although Brett did not want to believe that, it seemed like a likely cause. Still, he stiffened his upper lip and focused on the mission.
"I can't believe he managed to do this to the Fright Zone... We need to find any survivors," Brett advised. Catra and Entrapta nodded, with Entrapta's cautiousness being very out of character. The two moved on into the main building. Upon entering it, they found the same horrors from outside of the entryway. Corpses littered the place, both Horde soldiers as well as Prime's monsters and clones.
Not wanting to bring these abhorrences to Brittni's mind, but still wanting to check in, Brett made the call to Brittni.
"...What do you mean it's empty?!" Brittni demanded into the radio.
"I… I…" Brett stammered. Catra then grabbed the radio.
"Horde Prime invaded the Fright Zone! Everyone's dead!" Catra shouted. Brett growled and grabbed the radio back.
"Look, we don't know that! I… I mean, there's gotta be survivors." Brett muttered, almost dismally. Brittni shuddered into the radio.
"...Keirnan...?" Brittni inquired, somberly.
"If anyone's gonna survive, it's him," Brett assured. Brittni's voice cracked in sadness a bit but she sniffled up and took a deep breath.
"Alright... find him and bring him back, big brother." Brittni adjured. Brett nodded.
"I will, sis. I gotta go. I'll update you more, later." Brett said, putting away the radio. While Brett was pondering what they would do next, some of Entrapta's characteristics came back. She was hunched over a clone, taking a scalpel to the skin and placing some blood into a vial, and some epidermis tissue into a plastic bag.
"Fascinating..." Entrapta muttered as she rubbed her chin with her hair.
"Only you would find this fascinating..." Catra muttered. She then let out a sigh. "Hey, if the Fright Zone was under this heavy of an attack, maybe they sent out a distress signal? Or maybe Hordak left a message for anyone stationed at different outposts?" Catra suggested. Brett nodded.
"Okay, yeah. Good deal." Brett agreed. He then turned to Entrapta, "find anything interesting?" Brett inquired. Entrapta stood up and stared hard at the tissue and the blood.
"Hmmm... there's a large number of electrical signals traveling rapidly through the synapses..." Entrapta muttered. Brett cocked his eyebrow and moved towards her.
"Like... they run off electricity?" Brett inquired.
"Possibly. I'd have to run some tests, but-" Entrapta began before being interrupted by Catra.
"Hey! Nerds! What's that supposed to mean?" Catra demanded, her hair frizzing up. Brett turned to Catra.
"We might be able to know their weakness..." Brett muttered. Before Catra could respond any further, the three heard a stomping noise followed by the ground quaking.
"I think that's our cue to leave," Catra advised. Brett nodded.
"Okay, I say we head to Hordak's lab and check his cameras and any communications he sent out," Brett advised.
Per Brett's suggestion, the three moved up the stairs of the entryway and into the halls towards Hordak's lab, continuing to find the grisly macabre that made up the Fright Zone. Making their way to Hordak's lab, they found that the door had been broken down.
"That's comforting…" Catra said sarcastically, with a hint of fear. The three made their way into the lab and found that most of the lights and tubes of neon green fluid illuminated the area.
The lab had been ravaged, however. Desks had been flipped over, broken glass littered the area, laser holes were burned into various walls, and a few clone bodies were sprawled throughout the ground. Making their way to Hordak's main communication hub, they found that it was, fortunately, still intact. Brett sat at the computer that had a list of all recent communications and was stunned to see that the most recent message was over a week ago. Catra stood behind him while Entrapta went off to explore.
"Sheesh… we were in that stupid simulation for a week? Who knows if anyone from the Horde is still even alive?!" Catra anxiously speculated, not wanting that to be the truth.
"Welp, only one way to find out." Brett reminded as he opened the oldest 'recent' message. Upon opening it, a Horde sentry's voice was sounded.
"Alright, this is the North sentry, we're picking up some… unidentified signals. It doesn't look like Rebel or Night Moon… something's jamming its coordinates." The sentry spoke, "wait, hang on… I think- wait, WAIT! Attention all Horde military! There's some kind of giant… airship that's headed towards the Fright Zone! Activate the anti-air turret- AGH!"
During that communication, the sounds of explosions and lasers could be heard, implying that the ship fired upon the sentry's nest.
"That's Prime's M.O." Catra muttered. Brett nodded and clicked on the next communication.
"This is Force Captain Octavia! We're under heavy attack by an unknown- KSHHHH. Send help, immediately! I repeat, the Fright Zone is compromised. I- Oh, no! They're breaching the door! I can see its horn! KILL IT! KILL IT!"
The sounds of roars and screaming of Horde soldiers followed Octavia's remarks. The more recordings Brett and Catra listened to, the more chills ran down their spines. Nevertheless, they pressed on until they found a recording from Hordak:
"So… Horde Prime managed to track me down. I always knew this day would come, and yet, I held onto a false hope that he would not find me. No doubt in his conquest of the universe, he's merely going to add this planet to his collection." Hordak then let out a sigh then continued, "What's done is done, I'm afraid. His forces; made up of his clones, beasts from planets he's conquered, and abominations he's created through the use of splicing DNA, have officially attacked us. I issued the evacuation order and managed to inform our outlying outposts to consolidate their forces and go to our last bastion of safety… Fort Glenmar. There, we will have to make our final stand against Horde Prime." Hordak then shuddered into the microphone but stopped himself from showing his melancholy voice. His tone became stern, "With the last of our soldiers and resources, Horde Prime will know that we did not bow down to his will. We will fight to the very last person… This is Hordak, supreme ruler of the Horde of Etheria."
As the message ended, Brett and Catra merely stared at the monitor for a little while, digesting everything they had just heard.
"So… everyone's in…" Catra began.
"Fort Glenmar…" Brett finished, "That's a pretty defensible structure… but still, if Horde Prime was able to do this to the Fright Zone." Brett muttered.
"It's our only lead. We should get-" Catra began before the two of them heard Entrapta's excited voice.
"Whoa! Would you like at the biotechnological splicing they've done on this creature! I think-" Entrapta began saying as she touched a creature's metallic parts. However, when she started touching it, the creature's eyes lit up neon green. Entrapta stared at it wide-eyed, stammering, and taking a few steps back. "Uh… nice extradimensional creature?" Entrapta said as the beast slowly picked itself up.
Brett and Catra looked over to find Entrapta backing away from some kind of cybernetically enhanced monster. It was shaped like an upright snake with a pentagonal-finned head, bearing razor-sharp teeth. It also featured two arms that looked like scythe blades. Surrounding its body were several armor plates as well as a device attached to its head. It looked like some kind of micro-computer that had been surgically implanted. From the computer, several wires were injected into various parts of its body.
As Entrapta moved back, she slipped on a metal pipe and fell on her butt. Letting out a scream of fear that Brett never thought he'd hear before, he ran over to her. Once the monster focused on Entrapta, it let out a shriek and the computer implanted into it began making noises. The monster opened its jaw, a ball of green energy began forming in its mouth like a cyclone. As the ball of energy flew out of the creature's mouth, Entrapta waited for the inevitable end…
… That did not come.
Brett quickly moved in front of Entrapta, using his armor to block the damage as the green cyclone of energy slammed into his armor. Although his armor stopped the blast, he still felt the force of the energy blast which felt like somebody hit his back with a car. Groaning, Brett was forced tohis knees.
"Brett!" Entrapta shouted, very somberly. She wrapped her hair around him, attempting to pull him up, though his armor was heavy.
Time was running out, though. The monster slithered towards the two very quickly, all the while, snarling. Brett attempted pushing himself up, but he the pain in his back was too great. The monster was then within melee range and raised one of its scythe-like arms with the intent of plunging it into Brett.
Right before that happened, however, Entrapta heard the creature let out a screech. Looking up, they saw green bolts of energy flying at it.
"Go! C'mon!" Catra shouted as she aimed her energy baton at the two, letting loose a flurry of green laser beams. The creature screeched and slithered away behind some cover, charging up the energy ball in its mouth again. Entrapta, with all the strength her hair had, lifted Brett and drug him, rather quickly, away from the beast.
Catra fired a few more rounds until she heard a click in her baton. She ejected the magazine and attempted to put in another one, but saw a ball of green energy flying towards her. She dove out of the way, as the green ball flew at a machine, causing a massive explosion. The creature then went back on the hunt, slithering towards Brett and Entrapta as they ran.
Brett was seeing double for a few moments but shook his head, regaining his sight. The creature was once again within melee range and was ready to strike. Brett, however, brandished his right wrist and activated his flamethrower. As the flame flew towards the creature, the beast ignited, full blaze, writhing, and screeching in pain. It flopped on the floor attempting to put itself out to no avail. The creature burned to a crisp, giving Brett and Entrapta some breathing room to stop running.
...At least for a moment. Catra picked herself up, and her ears began twitching. She listened intently and heard more of the same creatures coming through Hordak's door.
"There's more. We have to get out of here!" Catra shouted, running over to Brett and helping him up. Brett groaned and looked around the room. He observed that most of the walls were made of a titanium-steel alloy, but he observed that some of them were not so reinforced. He finally found a perfect wall, made mostly of thin plaster, and pointed at it as the two dragged him.
"Over there… we can knock down that wall…" Brett advised. As the trio ran towards the wall, Catra raised her energy baton and popped off a few rounds, blowing several holes in the wall. When they were close to the wall, Catra shouted.
"Alright, get ready to kick it in!" Catra advised as the trio jumped towards the wall. When within kicking range, and using their momentum, the trio raised their legs and broke through the wall. Once through the wall, however, the trio forgot one very important detail.
...They were falling from a second story.
Catra and Entrapta were screaming at the top of their lungs, though Brett seemed unphased about what was going to happen. While Catra and Entrapta believed their lives were about to be over… they landed in a heap of garbage bags.
"Gah! What the- Did you-" Catra sputtered around as she looked to Brett who held his thumb up. Catra growled as she grabbed his helmet and ripped it off, "did you know we were going to land in a bunch of garbage?!" Brett shrugged, grabbing his helmet and putting it back on.
"I figured it'd be easier to get you to jump through the wall if you didn't know what was on the other side." Brett offered. Entrapta let out an 'Ooo'
"Fright Zone, log 49, the Horde is using an outdated recycling system. After all-" Entrapta began speaking, picking up a tin can, "this could be used to line the barrel of the Hordes-" Entrapta was then cut short by Catra.
"Both of you, shut up! Let's get out of here!" Catra growled. The two nodded and picked themselves up, though Brett needed a bit more help. After jumping out of the dumpster, they looked around and found themselves near the Western wall, close to the Whispering Woods. Not wanting to rile up any more potential monsters that remained in the Fright Zone, they remained quiet.
Using the cover of shadow, and quick movement; (and keeping Entrapta from inspecting every single creature she came across,) the trio made it out of the Fright Zone and headed towards the Whispering Woods.
Fort Glenmar was a major outpost of the Horde that was situated within the Whispering Woods. It was a former Rebellion town that had been converted into a bastion for Horde soldiers traversing through the Whispering Woods. If there was one place to make a final stand against Horde Prime, it would be there. Additionally, the Horde trio would also find the Rebellion; (and Night Moon) members in the woods.
Sure enough, as the Horde trio were traversing through the woods, they indeed heard sounds of a battle raging, followed by a shout, saying:
"For the honor of Grayskull!"
"Yep, that's Adora," Catra muttered.
"They're in the middle of a firefight, let's go!" Brett adjured. Sure enough, crossing through a sea of trees, they came across an open field where She-Ra, Bow, and Frosta had just finished up fighting some of the creatures that were found in Horde Prime's army. Upon rushing in, the Rebel trio turned towards the Horde trio, brandishing their sword, bow, and ice fists at them.
"Whoa! Hey, we're friendly…! Right now, anyway." Brett adjured, holding up his palms at head level. The Rebel trio relaxed and let out a sigh. Upon placing his bow on his back, Bow spoke.
"We're glad you guys are alright. What did you find in the Fright Zone?" Bow inquired.
"Nothing good…" Catra muttered. Entrapta moved into the center, holding up her tablet and using her hair to raise herself up
"Are you kidding?! I received LOADS of data on creatures not native to our planet! Oh, my, I-" Entrapta began before noticing everyone narrowing their eyes at her in frustration. "Oh, sorry." Entrapta then set herself back down and moved in behind Brett.
"Well, we found out that the survivors of the Fright Zone made their way to Fort Glenmar at the edge of the Whispering Woods. It'll be best if we head there." Brett explained. Adora spoke up then, changing back into her regular self.
"We're not going to be welcome there…" Adora cautioned.
"If it means beating Horde Prime, I'm in." Frosta muttered, bitterly, folding her arms and leaning against a tree.
"Adora, it's the only plan we have right now and Glenmar is a lot closer than your little Rebel headquarters." Catra snapped. Adora opened her mouth to speak but then closed it, realizing that Catra was right.
"Alright… Glenmar it is."
Meanwhile, back at Oracle's home...
"We've gotta do something, Mom!" Brittni protested waving her hands in the air as she was sitting in one of Oracle's chairs, devouring Oracle's plate of cookies. Oracle, in the chair opposite of Brittni nodded.
"Indeed, we do... hmmm..." Oracle muttered as she placed a hand to her chin and rubbed it. "Perhaps I could consult with the Crystal Ball..." Oracle began until the mother and daughter heard the door fly open.
"Lady Oracle! I- Oh, hey, Brittni." The Horde technician that had helped Oracle said as she came in. Brittni cocked her eyebrow.
"Jovia? Oh! You came from Elberon, huh?" Brittni inquired. Jovia nodded. Oracle then stood up and turned towards Jovia.
"What is it, Jovia- wait." Oracle began until her yellow eyes began glowing and she let out a gasp. "Oh, oh, I see. A spaceship just landed near us, didn't it?" Oracle inquired. Jovia gasped and nodded again.
"Oh, man, I will never not be excited when you do that. You saw the future, huh?" Jovia declared. Oracle shook her head and chuckled.
"Actually, I could hear it. Spaceships are quite loud." Oracle smiled. Jovia blinked her eyes.
"Oh, uh, right." Jovia then went outside and bade Brittni and Oracle to follow. The three then embarked towards the sound of the crash, and also the black smoke in the sky. It did not take long before they saw the trees that had been dropped and splintered in all directions. Finally, pushing passed the vegetative debris, the trio found the shiny, building-sized spacecraft, clumsily wedged between a large number of trees, barely even touching the ground. Brittni moved to the side of it, analyzing a way in.
"Hmm... Jovia, give me a boost so I can get the door open." Brittni suggested. Jovia moved over to help until Oracle held up her hands and smiled.
"There will be no need for that, daughter. Glimmer is already here." Oracle declared. Brittni eyed Oracle suspiciously.
"Glimmer?!" Brittni demanded, "you mean this is the simulation ship?!" Soon enough, the trio heard the ever so familiar electronic windchime noise. Turning towards the sound, which was behind Oracle, there appeared Glimmer. Brittni and Jovia let out gasps, while Oracle merely smiled.
"It's good to see you, Princess Glimmer..."
Hey! Me again. I realize how short this was. Again, I apologize for the slow update and the length of the chapter. I'm going to try and be consistent again. Love y'all! :D
