Nevermore.
She grunted as she tried to push another boulder.
"It's no use. None of us will lift this boulder." She said to her companions, panting heavily. She wiped her forehead.
"Nonsense!" cried Entrapta. " We just need to prop it up somehow or maybe make some explosives to blow it all up!" said the purple-haired girl and opened Alice, and then started throwing more items out of the bot. It's strange how so much stuff fits into such a small machine.
"How do you hide everything there?" she asked her friend.
"There's a space-time micromodulator. Thanks to this, the inside of Alice is ten times larger than the outside." Entrapta explained without taking her eyes off the gathered tools. "It's like an inverted black hole. Almost harmless."
"Almost?" Netossa asked, jumping up violently and wincing as she felt the terrible pain in her broken arm. The woman's arm was broken so that the bone was sticking out. Her and Lance, being the most medically trained of them all, set her up with some difficulty and put her in makeshift slates. The new drugs speeded up healing, but even so, there was little Lady of Armoria could do to help them get out of their prison. "It won't heal until the wedding." She thought bitterly.
Things were a little better with Lance and George. They had some bruises and scrapes, and George had a slight limp, but they seemed to be more concerned about something else.
"It's a bit of a shame about this sword. He's been in your family for six generations, hasn't he? George asked his husband.
"You said he was ill-balanced anyway. To be honest, I don't really remember how it came into my family's possession." Lance wondered. Entrapta emerged from the entire encounter unscathed, at least physically. What happened to Frosta was a complete mystery
Half the city was buried under the rubble that fell during the fight with Lonnie. They were trapped in its central part, near the painting of the former She- Ra. They were cut off from the exit and did not know how or if they would get out. To make matters worse, Frosta was trapped in another part of the underground complex and they didn't even know if she was alive. "It's all because of you, Lonnie. Next time we meet, I'll scratch more than just your face." She vowed to herself, looking at her claws covered with the blood of her former companion, although she wasn't even sure if Comrade General was alive. Knowing her luck, she certainly survived. Their relationship was always not the best ... Lonnie was constantly picking on her, treating her with contempt. She was called a cunning cheater and a mean egotist. In the first case, she was absolutely right, she had never been ashamed of her cunning. And when she became Hordak's right hand, she was very mean, she couldn't deny that either. But it was one thing for them to have a private rivalry, which she could accept, and quite another for her friends and all of Etheria to be involved in the conflict. "What about Kyle and Rogelio ?" She knew from Scorpia's stories that the three of them had become very close by the end of the war. A bit weird, but nothing really surprising. After all, they grew up together and shared all the hardships and miseries of life in the Fright Zone. Besides, she had neither the right nor the intention to judge them, not for that at least. But if anything happened to Frosta because of Lonnie ... She wouldn't survive the next time they met.
And then there was Scarlett. She hardly remembered her friend with red hair. The girl was genuinely lazy and was constantly getting minor punishments that she didn't care about. However, she was smart enough to stay away from Shadow Weaver. Considering she was a sorcerer, it was a really good decision… There were grim rumors in the Fright Zone about what happened to Horde citizens who were discovered to have a talent for magic. They were going to be sent on Beast Island… at best. But it wasn't the cadet's newfound abilities that bothered her. She may not have liked sorcery, but she could deal with it. But what Doctor Moors had become and the new, completely unknown weapon at their disposal... and those allies that the scientist from nightmares had mentioned. This was a really serious problem that he had to let all the members of the alliance know about ... but in order to do that, they had to save Frosta first and get out of here.
Melog came to her from a reconnaissance trip. She patted her companion on the head and read the pictures he had sent her. She sighed and turned to the others.
"The situation is as follows. Melog found a passage outside." Everyone was happy, but she added in a serious tone. "It is very narrow. Only Entrapta and I will be able to squeeze through, but I will with difficulty, and only because I have movable clavicles, the advantage of being a cat girl." She smiled slightly and looked at the purple-haired woman, but she didn't even look at her.
"Entrapta , what do you think?" she asked her. Entrapta looked at her, and spoke in a calm voice, much calmer so than usual.
"I'm staying here, I'm pretty sure that if I think about it a bit... I have a feeling that the solution is at hand... Maybe we can reverse gravity..." She started looking for something in Alice again. she sighed.
It's good that you're trying to help. It's always better than sitting on your ass doing nothing. But first of all, we must think about how we will free ourselves. Then we'll somehow reach the Silverwing and call for help, or we'll just fly for it. She calmly explained to her friend. The Former lady of Dryll covered her face with a mask and spoke in a hard voice.
"We're not leaving Frosta. We won't leave anyone else behind. Not this time."
She pursed her lips and looked down at her toes. Entrapta was left behind in the Fright Zone during the mission to rescue Glimmer. Though the rebels had only left her because they believed the inventor was dead, Entrapta felt betrayed… which she later used diligently to recruit her for the cause of the Horde. The purple-haired woman had suffered a lot in the aftermath of these events, and she didn't want the same to happen to Frosta. The girl was perhaps brave, but also sensitive. It is unknown how he will endure being trapped alone in the dark, if he is still alive. "No, we can't think about that"
"Okay, Melog and I will go to Silverwing and notify someone in Brightmoon or Ice Palace. I'm the fittest of us all, and we can get there in one day if we work hard. You'll have enough supplies here for a few days. she said with a friendly smile and started packing.
"You know, maybe don't push yourself in your condition. We can wait a bit. Or just Entrapta will make up her mind and go alone after all. I'm sure I can do it too, this hand doesn't hurt that much. I may not be that young anymore, but I'm in great shape and I can pull my belly in. I know that Frosta is the most important right now, but can we rethink it?" Netossa said carefully.
"What do you mean by "My Condition". I'm fine…" replied the Grand Marshal, looking at the Lord of Armoria. Netossa sighed heavily.
"Well, in the Fright Zone probably didn't explain such things to you, but a pregnant woman shouldn't overextend herself." she explained to her.
For several heartbeats, she watched Netossa silently, mouth open, until she spoke.
"Pregnant... Why do you think I'm pregnant..."
Netossa looked at her, smiling radiantly.
"Well, you don't have to hide it from us anymore. You know, you have weird cravings, you have morning sickness, you're plotting something with Entrapta , because Adora is a First One and you're a Cat girl, and that can be a challenge."
Lance and Georg's eyes lit up when they heard this news. They walked over to her and almost hugged her.
"It's amazing! You will be moms!" Lance called.
"And Bow and Glimmer will be uncle and aunt... Again." said George thoughtfully.
Even Entrapta broke away from her calculations and ran to her.
"Child! It's great! How did you make them." she exclaimed, and Netossa looked at her in surprise.
Only Melog looked as confused as she was. She took a deep breath and screamed.
"I'm not pregnant!" she said and everyone fell silent.
"So you're ill? Was that your secret? Netossa looked at Entrapta in horror. The inventor looked pleadingly at her, so she knelt down and said.
"I'm not sick and I'm DEFINITELY not pregnant. We only talked about it once or twice. No… it's just that… She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. "That I'm not from here ..." she said and clarified "I'm not from Etheri ..."
She finally said it aloud, though not in the company she had originally intended. But she felt relieved anyway.
Except for Entrapta , who had known all this for some time, the others looked at her with a mixture of shock and disbelief.
"But how ... after all, for a thousand years we were locked in Despondos ... No one could get here." Netossa finally called, but George said in a pensive voice.
"It's not so sure, if we take into account some stories and legends ... We all know two people who ended up here despite being cut off from the rest of the universe ... One of them was summoned here by Light Hope, and in the case of the other, her involvement is highly probable." he said, eyeing Entrapta meaningfully , but she just shrugged.
"Hordak... he doesn't remember much from before he came to Etheria, and what he remembers he can't trust. For example, he remembers a battle with warriors in black armor who summoned terrible monsters to help. Some were Imp-like, others monstrous and terrifying. I never encountered Light Hope while she was active, and after the sword was shattered and she deactivated, her core self-destructed so I couldn't examine her." The purple-haired woman explained thoughtfully
She snorted contemptuously. When ancient artificial intelligence was mentioned
"You have nothing to regret, but it's definitely not that mean bitch that brought me here. I came here in a carton of applesauce from a place called Kesler. I have no idea who sane would send a baby to another planet by putting it in a cardboard box? It wasn't the cardboard box that got me suspicious. I did genetic testing, you know, the usual pre-marital testing. And… did it turn out that I'm not from Etheria. I asked Entrapta to confirm it, and it turned out that the tests were done correctly, so… I asked Scorpia for the medical records of the cadets. I found very little about myself. Only Dr. Moors, the same one we met today in his own canned persona, suspected something, but he was also interested in Adora , so Shadow Weaver sent him to the Drill border, which was an act of great mercy for her. As we've seen, he seems to have done worse to himself than Hordak's deputy could think of. Our "teacher" obviously didn't bother to look at my test results, but maybe that's a good thing. Sometimes I think that I wish she was alive just so I could see her face when she finds out what secret was right under her nose and she didn't see anything because of her arrogance and prejudice." she laughed bitterly.
"Does… Adora know about this?" Netossa asked, who apparently had not yet recovered from the recent news. She shook her head and explained.
"I haven't had time to tell her anything. At first I wasn't sure about anything myself, and then she flew to Icarus , and I was gathering information. I promised myself that she would be the first to know everything as soon as she got back, but it turned out a bit differently… She smiled bitterly. There was silence for the next few minutes. She wasn't sure what else to add. So cuddle Melog behind the ears, and he was purring softly. Despite the difficult situation in which she found herself, she felt that her heart became lighter. Lance finally said.
"It must be hard for you."
She thought for a moment and shook her head.
"Actually, no… You know, I didn't have a past outside of the Horde anyway. Was I abandoned by my parents in the Fright Zone, or was someone sent me here for a purpose known only to them, what does it change for me and Adora? We've always been together, and nothing's gonna change that." she said firmly. It wasn't entirely true, because her origins might prove important in the future if they ever found whoever sent her here, but it was rather unlikely... "But this dream... No, it's just my fears, my fears that created it, nothing more".
She got up and walked over to the painting of the previous She- Ra and added.
"Actually, we're all strangers here." We all live on a planet that has been taken away from its rightful inhabitants. She clapped her hands suddenly and turned to the others with new energy in her voice.
"Enough of this idle talk! We have to save Frosta . We will not abandon anyone. Entrapta, do you still have that plasma heater packed?" She looked at the inventor, on whose face a wide smile appeared again.
"Oh, so we're going to make explosions after all?"
She smiled too and said.
"No, let's break some ice. At the top Melog could see the entrance to those side tunnels Lonnie had come in through, only it was blocked by a block of ice. If we melt it down, maybe we can get around this rubble. If not, we'll find another way. We will try until we succeed. Let's never leave anyone alone again. Nevermore"
She winced as Rogelio dragged stitch away, and regretted it as a spasm of pain ran all over her scarred face. The lizard growled apologetically, but she waved her hand to show him that he did nothing wrong.
"Even with a damaged tentacle, I'd better stitch you up." murmured Doctor Moors, sitting in the corner, welding a damaged limb.
"Not that I don't trust you, doctor ... but I don't fucking trust you." She groaned, ignoring the pain.
You should, I'm a doctor. said the brain in the top hat, and burst into a surprisingly cheerful voice.
"You're a fucking talking can, not a doctor." she groaned and let Rogelio treat her to the end . As she did so, she thought about recent events. "It was a failure. Damn failure." She thought as rage boiled in her veins. "I should have known Catra would resist the staff's charm. She was chipped by Horde Prime, and after that Shadow Weaver certainly used mind controlling magic on her. I should have foreseen that too Kyle won't hit anything," she thought, looking at her blonde-haired friend. He avoided her gaze and just leaned against the wall and watched as she got under her feet. In his hand was the idiotic ornate sword they had taken from the two elderly men. They couldn't use it very well, but Kyle couldn't use properly anything at all. She gritted her teeth furiously. That sword was their only gain from the quest... In exchange, they lost Scarlet, their only sorcerer... and damn Catra clawed her face. "I forgot how sharp they are." She thought a bit absently. "I hope it's not a fever, if it is, we're screwed"
They hid in one of the side corridors, which turned out to be completely intact. She had to admit that the whole disaster was at least partly her fault. She shouldn't have slammed her staff against the walls of the cave with such force. She shouldn't have given Rogelio that sonic weapon, she shouldn't have pissed Catra off with mind control, and most importantly, she shouldn't have gotten involved in this fight at all. Everyone advised her against it, but she didn't listen to anyone. And now Scarlet was missing and possibly dead. It wasn't even that she was their only sorcerer, and a damned valuable spy in Mystacor. She was her comrade-in-arms, her right-hand man, and…damn, her lover. In fact, she didn't even like her much. She was strange, repulsive in her own way, sometimes reminiscent of Shadow Weaver, Entrapta, or even Hordak. But she was their companion, a cadet who had shared the hardships of growing up in the Fright Zone under the watchful eye of a dark sorcerer. He won't leave her here to die.
" Kyle , show me that sword of yours," she ordered as Rogelio finished his treatment and saw herself in the shining surface of the blade. She didn't even flinch when she saw what Catra had done to her face. The three long scars looked horrible and hurt just as bad. There will be scars for sure. She had heard once that Shadow Weaver scars were the price of power. She thought it was nonsense. The scars were the price of defeat, a reminder of failure. She knew that lost limbs could be replaced these days, let alone remove scars. Even Adora, with her She- Ra's power in all her arrogant benevolence, would probably cure her if she would just humble herself and apologize for fighting for justice. Only… she wouldn't remove them. They will be a reminder of her ineptitude and mindless resistance.
"What we do? Kyle asked." "I know it would be wisest to find a way out and get out of here. But we can't leave her here. Scarlet... I know she and I didn't like each other, but she's one of us. We can't leave her here."
She closed her eyes and spoke in the most confident voice she could muster now.
"Of course we won't leave her. While Glimmer was being rescued, Entrapta was abandoned in the Peril Zone, and that's where all the trouble started. We are different, better. Nobody will be left behind. Never more"