Mysteries hidden in the dark

"You disgusting freaks, you won't hypnotize us like those poor monsters." she screamed into the darkness above them, and threw a cloud of icicles around them. There was a frightened squeak, not very scary and quite harmless sounding.

- Frosta, calm down, he's not a Inhabitant of the City, he's an Imp, I remember him from the Fright Zone. Hordak created him from his DNA. But he spoke in Lonnie's voice," Catra said in a worried voice.

"Lonnie? Isn't that your horde buddy. she asked her friend." She remembered her from visiting the Fright Zone when they freed Adora , and she remembered her helping Catra and Scorpia when Glimmer was kidnapped…it was mean, but then she became friends with Scorpia and Catra. She can also be friends with Lonnie.

"The problem is that Lonnie has joined, or rather founded, a People's Rebellion and wants to send me to Beast Island and take power from the princesses. Including you." said the feline woman, looking around. The cave was huge and the imp 's voice echoed everywhere, so that it was impossible to determine where it was.

"Hey Lonnie, come over here!" she shouted at the top of her voice, and her scream echoed through the ruins until dust rained down from the ceiling.

"The ice has obviously breached the ceiling over the millennia." Lance said, but then Entrapta called out

"Imp! Great to have you here Imp ! Long time no see! I never got to know you well, but I know you've always been very important to Hordak! He misses you so much. Come with us! "she screamed happily, until a stalactite bigger than her fell and stuck into the ground next to her . Wow oHordak! He

"Couldn't we stop screaming before we were buried by a few hundred tons of rock ?" Nettossa said in a hushed voice, and Catra added.

"For now, Lonnie isn't here, or at least I can't see her. Let's quickly do what we have to do here and get back." Catra said, looking around warily. She turned to the painting of the octopus-headed creature.

"Who is that catuku ?" she asked

"We're not exactly sure." George said. "We didn't read that book thoroughly because it seemed awful."

"My grandfather was very fond of her, but he was strange. I was a bit afraid of him myself." Lance added. "I remember that Great Cthulhu was supposed to be a powerful and ancient being, one of the Great Old Ones.

"Oh, he's like She-Ra! Is She-Ra the great Old One?"

The men looked at her shocked.

"No, definitely not." said George in a terribly serious tone.

"I heard about him." Catra has broken. "His name was mentioned by Aize , a person from Eridani. It was supposed to be described in that book you were talking about." she said, her voice strangely gloomy.

"Our book must be a copy of that work." George wondered, but Catra shook her head.

"From what I understand, both the Book of Dead Names and the Thousand Thousand Masks were created simultaneously in many places in the galaxy." Said Catra

"But what does this creature have to do with dead names?" Netossa asked. Meanwhile, Entrapta was scanning the murals.

"It's not about such dead names. They are names that have been forgotten for countless eons, which is, in a sense, made them dead." George explained.

"I see." Netossa said looking at the painting of the tentacle-headed giant and shuddered.

These discussions bored her, so she decided to move away. She went deeper into the cave, illuminating her path with chemical light. It was damp and smelled of fungus and mold. She considered turning back to the others, but decided she wasn't a little girl afraid to get a little dirty. So she walked on and suddenly she saw something moving among the stalagmites. She ran there, and saw a small fluffy creature. Curious, she walked closer and saw a small bird covered in down. He was blind and walked on four spider legs. From its wide beak, in which there were long hooked finches, a spiked tongue shot out. She winced in disgust, but then a toad the size of a small dog jumped out of the rocks and swallowed the bird-creature whole with a mouth full of sharp fangs . She squealed and jumped away from him, freezing everything in that part of the cave at the same time, but she slipped and hit her butt against the hard stone floor.

"Are you okay Frost?" Netossa exclaimed fearfully.

"Yep!" she said, rubbing her tailbone. She realized with disgust that she got dirty with something awfully, but then she lit the wall and, widening her eyes in amazement, called everyone.

"Come quickly! I found something really cool."

They were standing in front of a huge painting. This time, in addition to white, a shimmering blue was added to it. It depicted She-Ra driving away the cone-shaped creatures and the many-eyed monsters with her light, some of whom were freed, but most were killed by their masters, who then hid underground.

"Catra, you of us know it best. Does She-Ra have blue hair and four crystal eyes?" Because it's starting to worry me… - said Netossa.

"I'm more concerned that someone is apparently cleaning this." Catra said.

She barely suppressed a disappointed sigh as she saw that Imp had returned safe and sound. "This Frosta really must be the most bumbling of the princesses if she can't even kill that filthy monster" she thought as Rogelio hugged Imp and Kyle looked reproachfully at the embarrassed Lonnie. Of course, that was actually a good thing, because the death of the mascot might have sobered the Comrade General at this point, and that was against the plans of Creeping Chaos, but the idea of a white-skinned freak being pierced by ice spikes was too tempting. She hated him with all her heart, but it was a common feeling between… Siblings? Because that's what their relationship was supposed to be.

"You didn't have to send him there! You only did it to annoy Catra!" Kyle shouted indignantly. At first she despised him as a useless weakling, good for nothing but good looks He was a pathetic coward. He was… a defect. But he had unwittingly turned out to be her greatest rival in the People's Rebelion. He was the voice of reason that kept Lonnie from the most aggressive actions. Her conscience, which was able to sow doubts in the heart of the Comrade General. It was useful at times, but slowly became a problem. She had to limit his influence somehow… which she had been doing for some time.

They were in side tunnels that stretched around and above the city. They were plain, unadorned, save for strange inscriptions in the form of sets of dimples that she recognized as Elder Things' speech. Unfortunately, she didn't know much about this ancient race, she didn't expect to come across any remnants of it during this journey.

The trip was unexpectedly prolonged and she was beginning to worry. For now, she held out in Scarlet's body, but she already felt some discomfort, and there was still a way back. He will survive, he must, but the sooner they return to Castle Crypto, the better.

They entered the tunnels by a side entrance, following the road that started at the foot of the mountain and went around it. It was wide and almost not eroded, it was only covered with sand and sometimes rubble. There they found the entrance to the anthill-like interior of the underground part of the settlement. It was damp darkness all around, though here and there they could see traces of green phosphorescent fungi, although it was often overgrown by the ubiquitous crab spiders , and grew most densely on their corpses, so they agreed it was better not to approach them. The part of the city located in the cave was only a small part of the entire metropolis. There were hundreds of ledges and galleries on the walls, and a veritable maze stretched in the walls and smaller caves. There were warehouses and other rooms, perhaps workshops or greenhouses. Some of the tunnels were too small for a creature larger than a cat to squeeze through. There was at least one in every major room. At first she thought it was some form of pneumatic mail, but when she saw the many hooked hooks for climbing, she began to guess what these tunnels really were. Her suspicions were confirmed by Kyle when he pointed to a small picture of a multi-eyed monster.

"What is this creature? One like this supposedly killed She- Ra!" Kyle screamed in fear .

"It's Shogoth . A servitor race of the Elder Things, created and controlled by them. she explained to the boy, as if explaining that fish swim in water. "Probably used these tunnels to move around the city without blocking traffic. They were huge and extremely dangerous."

"Are there… could there be any more here?" There was horror in Kyle's voice. She made a thoughtful face and shrugged.

"Who can know?" she asked rhetorically and inwardly laughed with cruel joy as Kyle shuddered.

So now, as Dr. Moors reported to Lonnie on his espionage trip, she silently waited for an opportunity to use it for Crawling Chaos' plans.

"I have to admit that Hordak's former right-hand doesn't seem bothered by your presence." said Dr. Moors, using exactly the words he should have used to arouse Lonnie's ire. The brain in the cilinder went off on its own after the Imp returned to them with horror in his eyes. He could move with surprising agility when he felt like it. Now Rogelio looked at him reproachfully, for he had been carried him on his back for most of the trip. Lonnie pursed her lips angrily and asked.

"What does she do?" asked Comrade General.

"I think he mostly looks at the paintings, historically interesting enough, but pretty useless to you." said Dr. Moors in that polite metallic voice. She didn't trust the Horde scientist, though she didn't trust anyone after Scarlet's death, but for now he was very useful. She just wondered how much he or his buzzing overlords were aware of her true nature or Nyarlathotep's plans , though was there anyone in the entire cold universe who knew them?

Lonnie spun around, fists clenched and panting heavily. It wouldn't have been an insult to anyone else, and Catra certainly didn't mean to offend Lonnie, but Comrade General was in a wonderfully lousy mood, perfect for her plans.

"Who else was there?" she asked terribly calmly. L o

"I've never seen any princess except for Scorpia and Adora with… my own eyes, but from the descriptions I've heard, they were Netossa, Frosta." Kyle shivered here . "And Entrapta."

When he mentioned that last name, Lonnie turned sharply to the doctor. She felt like she didn't fully understand something. When the doctor mentioned Entrapta, he seemed to want to say something else. As if he reminded about something that Comrade General didn't like very much. Had Lonnie made some commitment to Mi-Go that she had no intention of fulfilling? What could the mushroom -beetles want from her that she didn't even tell her closest friends and lovers. Very interesting.

"Is that all, no guards?" she asked in a voice as hard as granite.

"Onlytwo men, middle-aged and not giving the impression of travelers or posing any threat." said the doctor.

"So they're outnumbered us. No point in messing with them," Kyle said , relief evident in his voice, but Lonnie shot him a stern look.

"Enrapta never fights anyone, and these two don't look like warriors…. " She answered the blonde sharply.

"They have a elemental princess…" Kyle interjected .

"One and it's Frosta ! Who cares about Frosta?" Lonnie growled

"I care a lot about her." Kyle said . "Netossa was the main strategist of the rebellion, and Catra…" He bit his tongue.

"Catra has always been the best at using others. First us, now her girlfriend. No matter how she protests, she will always be Shadow Weaver's apprentice." drawled Comrade General with icy fury in her voice. "We have weapons that this planet has never known, and most importantly, our cause is just.

Kyle wanted to add something, but she felt the discussion beginning to tire her.

"Our advantage is surprise. Not only do they have no idea we're armed, but they don't even know I have magic. If we play it right, we can win." she said with absolute certainty in her voice, hoping to convince the others to take action.

Lonnie thought for a moment, then nodded.

"It's settled, let's just try not to hurt anyone, not even Catra, unless we're forced to." said Comrade General.

"Especially watch out for Entrapta. We cannot afford to lose the greatest…mind on Etheria." Dr. Moors said , and then she guessed what the secret deal between Lonnie and Mi-go was all about, and even she felt uneasy about it.

"Who do you think she was? And also what she was…" Netossa said quietly, and then she reflected and explained. "In terms of what species she was."

George rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he looked at the painting of the previous She-Ra and said.

"I'm not sure, it has features typical of the Etherian fauna, but I've never heard of a similar people"

She stared at the image for a moment, so close and so alien at the same time. Slowly she realized who that being was, and an infinite sadness gripped her heart. She looked down, tears streaming down her face. –

"I know who she is...was and who her people were...Adora once told me that Razz said she was always She-Ra... Only Mara wasn't fully She-Ra because she needed a sword to transform, like Adora in the beginning. The First Ones didn't create She- Ra ... She was always here..." She turned to her friends. "They stole her power, but in order to do that they had to kill the real She-Ra, and with her all her people... They weren't the First colonizers of Etheria... They were her first conquerors. They... murdered the original inhabitants of Ethetia ... erased all memory of them..." She opened her eyes to look at everyone's faces. Now their horror was reflected as they fully grasped the significance of the discovery they had made. There was silence in the darkness, to her cat eyes full of shades of gray. Her companion approached her and put his head under his hand to comfort her. She knew she should feel despair and shame, some sense of guilt over the tragedy that had befallen the true inhabitants of the planet. She breathed air and drank water that never really belonged to her. "But this planet was never mine, was it?" she thought bitterly.

"Entrapta , could you scan this place with your satellite, I don't want to stay there any longer." she said in a hoarse voice. The former Lady of Drill blinked and looked at her datapad . After a moment she said.

"Weird, Suzan says she can't detect anything here, as if something is masking everything here... It actually makes sense if the place is easy to find, it's the First Ones..." The violet-haired woman paused.

"Then they would destroy this place to hide all traces of their Crime. Even Mara probably didn't suspect anything, at least until very end." she said quietly.

Suddenly her ears heard a grinding on the ceiling, saw movement in the gray gloom, then a metallic voice.

"Indeed, wonderfully correct Analyze Catro . I always thought Shadow Weaver underestimated your intellect. Mine too, which didn't stop her from sending me to the border with Dryll , but it was good. I met new friends there who gave me this wonderful body."

She saw a black cylinder of black metal descending on metal tendrils from the ceiling.

"You probably don't recognize me in this new form, but I am Doctor Moors ." he said, moving closer to them. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and Melog began to growl all blue.

"Oh! A bot with the personality of a true scholar! Why didn't you ever tell me there was someone like that! It's fascinating!" Entrapta called in an excited voice.

"Not quite." the Doctor explained, and then a small flap slid open and through the thick glass they saw that there was a brain inside. Now came a moment that no one expected. Entrapta was speechless at the sight of this new technological marvel, and not from delight. There was pure disgust on her face. She wasn't surprised.

"Well, from the greatest scientist on our planet, I expected a much more open mind. As the saying goes, you shouldn't get to know your heroes. But this bitter disappointment was compensated by something else... The scanners and other apparatus my friends gave me gave me a lot of fascinating news about you Catra, though..."

"What do you want and what are you doing here?" she asked, wanting to change the subject because she guessed what the nightmare scholar was referring to.

"I would like to say that I am here talking to you driven by scientific zeal and the desire to better understand the reality around us, but with sincere sadness I must admit that I am only here to distract you." and sprang towards Entrapta with tentacles outstretched.

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and turning to see Kyle holding some strange weapon in his hands that looked like an creature wrapped around his forearm. She rushed towards him, and when he saw it, he screamed in fear and began to back away. In fact, he'd never really been afraid of her, because although she often teased him, she never did anything to him. Now she was really annoyed, she hadn't felt this way in years, and she looked pissed offness personified. He shot at her without even trying to hit her. Several shots hit the floor, which was covered with frost. "Where did you get such a weapon?" she thought in surprise. She sprang towards her former Horde comrade-in-arms, hoping to somehow disarm him, but then Lonnie stood in her way, clutching a strange metal staff.

"Leave him bitch!" She screamed and hit with all her might. She dodged, the staff's swipe accompanied by a wail that made her ears ache. As the staff slammed into the stone floor of the cave, it shook so hard that dust and small stones rained down from above.

"You're about to blow it all up! she shouted to the Comrade General, but she just smirked and continued to attack her. With each blow, the entire cave trembled. During this time, Entrapta effortlessly freed herself from the grip of Doctor Moors, whom Lance, George, and Melog were now fighting, and turned unexpectedly to Kyle .

"Biotechnology is really amazing! Where did you get it from?"

Kyle he looked at his gun and scratched his h" ead.

"I guess you can say that we bought them ...said the blond boy in a pensive voice.

"Kyle, would you kindly not fraternize with the enemy!" Lonnie snarled, then hissed as she slipped on the ice formed by Frosta, hitting her knee painfully. The Ice Princess laughed loudly, but then screamed and froze paralyzed as she was hit with a spell. She saw a woman in shadow with crimson hair holding a sorcerer's staff in her hands. "Scarlet? When and where did you learn to do magic?" she asked herself when she saw a friend she barely remembered. At that moment, George cut off the Doctor's tentacle with his sword, which, judging from his expression, surprised himself, but the terrifying scientist snatched the weapon from his hand and hurled it at Kyle, narrowly missing him. Netossa threw an energy net at Lonnie, but Lonnie just smiled and jumped towards the energy barrier and disappeared for a moment, then appeared in front of the ruler of Armori and hit her shoulder until they heard a loud crunch and the white haired woman screamed. Then she jumped on Lonnie and tried to cut her, but the general's companion only hit the stones painfully with her knees and one of her legs twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Enough Lonnie, give up!" she snarled menacingly and pulled out her claws, but her former cadet smiled crookedly and said.

"You don't give me orders anymore!" She touched it with the tip of her staff. Then she felt her mind go limp, bliss taking over her, she just had to give in to the external pressure. She knew that feeling all too well. Horde Prime had done the same to her, much more forcefully and brutally, but it was still a violation of her being, an assault on the sanctity of her self. Melog yelled and backed away from fighting the doctor. With violent fury, she pushed it away and slashed Lonnie's startled face with her claws. Then loud gunshots rang out. She saw Rogelio striking blindly with some heavier weapon. Everything started shaking

"Grab Frosta , the whole cave will collapse soon. Netossa shouted. She turned towards the youngest member of the expedition, who had just regained control over her body and trapped Scarlet's legs in the ice, but the sorcerer cast another spell and the blue-haired girl began to look around as if she did not know where she was. She reached out to pull it out, but Frosta looked at her and she screamed furiously.

"Hands off Horde scum." and hit her hard in the face with an ice fist. Then the cave collapsed...