Ben 10 & She-Ra Heroes of Power Chapter 9: The Beacon, a Ben 10 + She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Crossover fanfic

Authors Notes: Well folks heres the next chapter of Heroes of Power, and I thank those reading story to be patient with me so without further delay let us begin.

Ben 10 (c) Cartoon Network

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (c) Dreamworks Animation

:The Beacon:

Things have taken a turn for the worst for the Rebellion. Despite the successful rescue of Glimmer, Bow and Rook Blonko, it came at a cost. Entrapta the Princess of Dryl had been lost to the incinerator in the Fright Zone while she and the alliance escaped to the vehicle bay. Now whats left of the alliance fled the evil of the Fright Zone in grief.

The Proto- Truck lands in a quiet area of the Whispering Woods. Inside Adora, Ben, Bow, Glimmer, Perfuma, Mermista, Rook and Sea Hawk all hung their heads still in mourning for the loss of their friend. They were silent until Adora spoke again.

"How could I let this happen?" Adora said in sadness.

"Adora, it's not your fault." Bow tried.

"It IS my fault. Entrapta's gone because of my plan." Adora said loudly.

"It wasn't just your plan Adora, it was mine too." Ben then said. "If anything I should have gone with them to make sure this never happened, but if I did I wouldn't have been able to save you or Glimmer."

"Ben is correct, none of us intended for this to happen, these are the consequences of war, there was no possible way to determine the outcome." Rook agreed. "But maybe if had acted sooner I could have prevented this."

All were valid arguments however Mermista thought differently. "This only happened because we were all together."

"Mermista's right, being together makes us vulnerable." Perfuma said with tears in her eyes and legs crouched up to her chest.

"Perfuma you can not possibly mean that?" Rook questioned in genuine surprise.

"Maybe there's a reason the Princess Alliance fell apart before. Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea." Mermista then said.

Ben couldn't believe what he was hearing from the princesses. They were having second thoughts because of one loss. He understood sure but he also knew there were other ways of dealing with this kind of grief. Glimmer couldn't believe what she was hearing either, their first mission as a team and it falls apart before it even begins.

"Mermista, no, you can't say that." Glimmer tried shaking her head but it was no use, it seemed clear that Mermista was strong by her decision.

"Whatever. I don't want to be a part of it anymore." She finally said and Glimmer just gasped in horror. Ben however just scowled.

"So thats it?" He said standing up getting everyones attention. "You're just giving up because of one loss?!"

"Look around you watch boy! We failed because we were together just like our parents. My dad was right this was a total disaster, I guess history just loves to repeat itself." Mermista said but Ben wasn't having it.

"Really, Mermista? Then tell me when did the princesses suddenly become cowards!"

Everyone was taken aback by what the Omnitrix bearer had just said. He was calling the princesses of Etheria cowards, Perfuma couldn't believe this and neither could Glimmer or Adora. Bow, Sea Hawk and Rook just gave each grimace looks as they knew where this was headed.

"What! You dare call us cowards! We protect our lands from the Horde with all our power and you call us cowards!" Mermista exclaimed getting in Bens face.

"Yeah I do, keeping to your own kingdoms to protect them, but ignoring what the Hordes doing to the other kingdoms! Thats the act of a coward and you know it!" Ben then said loudly.

"You know I heard that the last alliance fell when they suffered a loss, and they gave up, but that just let the Horde do whatever they wanted to this planet I thought you all wanted to be better than them to fight for your planet!" Ben said.

"And it cost them everything!" Mermista argued back.

"No not everything, they were heroes and they stood for something, they stood for hope and so can you!" Ben continued. "By succeeding where they had failed and fighting for whats right!"

"What could you know about that your not even from this planet, in fact things like this never happened until you two came!" Mermista said which struck Ben and Rook hard the most Glimmer couldn't believe what she had heard.

"I know more than you know! I've had losses like this before I've been through more than you can ever know!" Ben said even louder. "But you know what I've learned through all my losses? I've learned that you have a choice, you can let this one loss define you from now on, or you can learn from it! Because if we don't do something about the Horde, then they win and Entrapta will have died for nothing!"

Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Sea Hawk and Perfuma hung onto every word of this speech. It was clear to them that the Omnitrix bearer had been through this once before and that pain has remained with him but also has the power to overcome that loss and continue fighting. Ben was a true hero. Rook just looked amazed and smiled proudly he could tell that his partner had learned a lot since they first met and even before took a moment to calm down before he spoke to the princesses again.

"But if your standing by your decision then we understand. We can take you back to your kingdoms." Glimmer gasped again after that speech he was still letting them walk away.

"But Ben…" "No Ben is right." Rook interrupted Glimmer. "No one should be forced into something they do not choose to be apart of."

"Look all I'm asking is that you consider this….Are you really prepared to let one kingdom fight all your battles, or are you willing to stand up and fight for what you believe in? Get on board or get out of the way." Ben finished.

Mermista took a lot of time to take in what he had just said but all the same. "Whatever, just… take me and Sea Hawk home."

Sea Hawk looked down with a mournful look and Adora looked down in grief as well. She turned and saw Perfuma crouched up behind the passengers seat of the truck and briefly looked to Rook and the Revonnahgander could only look at her sadness as he too was in just turned his back and leaned on the wall of the truck. Glimmer eventually just lowered Rook took a breath and then started up the Proto Truck and set course for the Princesses kingdoms.

Selanias:

Upon returning to her Kingdom Mermista rode the waves and sealed the sea gate behind her. Her subjects looked to her as she surrounded herself with water and disappeared into the depths.

Plumeria:

In the kingdom of Plumeria Perfuma had erected a vine statue of Entrapta, as a memorial to her fallen friends memory. It was blooming with flowers as her people looked in remembrance.

Perfuma looked at the vine memorial of her fellow princess, but she balled up in tears and sobbed in sadness.

A distance away Rook wanted to say something to her but he.. just couldn't. He turned away and headed back to his truck. His eyes were shut and from his right eye a lone tear fell, this was the first time he had shown this kind of emotion. It was if his own heart was breaking not of grief, but of sadness.

Kingdom of Snows:

In cold winter of the Kingdom of Snows, word of the loss of Entrapta had reached them as well. Princess Frosta now in her princess attire which was a blue jacket with white fur, a dark blue belt, light khaki pants and fir lined boots in light and dark blue.

She turned her gaze to her rune stone and sealed her kingdom in an inpnatrable shield of ice. However all the same she kept thinking of the last words a certain Petrosapien had said to her.

"Looks like your kingdom isn't as safe from the Horde as you thought." Diamondhead's voice echoed.

The alliance it seems was all but shattered.

Bright Moon:

Soon the rest of the group returned to Bright Moon, Rook landed the ship on the bridge to the were all saddened, the alliance was broken before it even had the chance to get off the ground. Bow helped Glimmer across the bridge whilst Ben and Rook walked with Adora. Ben could tell she still felt guilty and wanted to say something to her but before he could.

"Oh, Glimmer!" Cried a voice and it was that of Queen Angella who wasted no time embracing her daughter in a hug.

"Are you hurt?" She then asked looking over her daughter before hugging her darling little girl again, a bit tight.

All Glimmer could do was groan. "Mom, you're crushing me."

Bow couldn't help but look with joyful eyes and laughed as he joined in on the hug. Adora was a little wielded out, but seeing that Angella was glad to see her daughter alive and safe was enough to make Ben smile as did she it did perk them up but not a lot.

Soon inside the castle Glimmer was trying to escape her mothers tight embrace. All Ben, Adora, Rook and Bow could do was watch.

"Mom, I'm fine, cut it out!" Glimmer insisted but her mother didn't see it that way.

"I will not cut it out." Angella said as her daughter finally freed herself from her embrace "I've been beside myself with worry."

However in that moment the Queen had noticed something about her daughters behaviour. "You usually teleport out of my embraces. What's going on?" She asked as she held her daughters face.

"Nothing, I just need to recharge. That's all." Glimmer insisted trying to cover up something.

"Of course," Angella said before addressing her guards. "Guards, carry my daughter to the Moonstone Chamber at once."

"I don't need to be carried, I can walk." Glimmer insisted as her mother called off her gauards. "You're embarrassing me." She said quietly.

Ben couldn't help but snicker a little he'd seen over protective mothers but this really took the cake.

"Fine. Then you have time to tell me what happened." Angella said. "I received word of Entrapta's loss." She said sadly.

They very mention of that made the group look down in grief and shame. This didn't go unnoticed by the Queen who needed a straight answer.

"Well, Glimmer? Ben? Bow? Rook? Adora? Someone tell me what happened." Angella said waiting for an explanation.

Adora, Ben, Rook and Bow all talked at once saying in their own words what happened Adora was blaming herself Ben was trying to defend her and explain, Bow tried telling the truth and Rook was trying to explain the whole situation. Eventually Glimmer had enough.

"Leave my friends alone!" Glimmer said to her mother. "Give us a minute."

"A minute? You were being held by the Horde." Angella reminded as she paced the room. "I've been going mad. Telling myself awful stories about what could've happened to you."

"Gee thanks for your confidence in us." Ben said to himself. Adora heard him but chose to say nothing.

"Jeeze, mom, relax." Glimmer said trying to be cool about this situation "I'm fine. We'll talk later."

She then walked away but Angella wasn't letting her daughter have a final say. "This conversation isn't over!" She called.

With that the rest of the group took their leave. Bow bowed to the queen as he left as did Rook. Adora just walked away before she turned back to the Queen.

"I'm... I'm sorry." She said sadly as she ran off leaving only Ben.

"Look it'll be fine your majesty Glimmer's been through a lot just give her some space and she'll be fine." Ben assured. "Trust me I've seen this before."

He then took his leave after the others. As Glimmer turned a corner she groaned in pain as she glowed red and started glitching just like she did upon her escape from the Fright others saw this and were very concerned for her. She stopped glitching as they came over.

"It's happening more often." Adora realised.

"Does it hurt?" Bow asked.

"No, not much." Glimmer answered.

"Look Glimmer I'm not an expert at magic but this looks serious you've been glitching ever since you helped me stop Shadow Weaver." Ben said in concern.

"We need to tell your mom. She'll know what to do." Bow suggested as he placed a comforting hand on his friends shoulder.

"No!" Glimmer said as she walked along the wall.

"Glimmer, Shadow Weaver did something to your powers. You can't teleport and, whatever this is, keeps happening." Adora voiced in concern.

"She is right this could be something that requires immediate attention." Rook agreed.

"I don't want my mom freaking out anymore than she already is. Okay? Besides, I always feel better after I recharge, so…" Glimmer insisted as she forced a smile acting like this isn't a big deal.

However Bow, Adora, Rook and Ben looked at each other, they didn't seem entirely convinced about Glimmers condition.

"Then it's agreed. I'll recharge, stop glitching. Then my mom never has to know." Glimmer said smiling. So they go to the runestone to recharge her powers.

Ben however was unconvinced he had seen this look before, because he had the same look on his face a couple of times before when he was a kid.

"This is gonna come back to bite us isn't it." Bow realised.

"Yeah I think it is." Ben said. "Glimmers to afraid to tell her mom the truth, so she's hiding it I should know I've done that a few times too."

"Most likely to cover up her guilt about this situation." Rook agreed. "Which is.. something that can be said for all of us."

Bow and Adora could see Rook was taking this hard too but not only for Entrapta but for how he saw a certain flower princess.

"You okay Rook?" Bow asked.

"Ah yes I uh I just need to tend to my wounds from my interrogation." Rook covered up as he headed for his quarters.

"He's still upset about Perfuma." Adora realised.

"Yeah I noticed." Ben admitted, this had to be the first time he had ever seen his partner heartbroken over something before. It was times like this he would turn to his Grandpa Max for guidance but of course he couldn't. But something else was on his mind too something that happened he just couldn't wrap his head around.

The Fright Zone:

In the deep darkness of the Fright Zone all the Force Captains including Catra, Scorpia and Grizlor were present along with Shadow Weaver. They were in Hordaks throne room he had recently heard of the recent escape of the he was enraged more by information that his trusted second in command had been keeping from him.

"Not only did you lose the princess known as Glimmer, but I've learned that you've known Adora was She-Ra all along." He said from the shadows of his domain.

Catra couldn't help but smirk at this her abusive mentor was busted.

"Now you see why I felt it was so important to bring her back." Shadow Weaver tried to explain but Hordak didn't want to hear it.

"All you did was invite attack from an enemy combatant with detailed knowledge of our operations." Hordak explained as he revealed himself from the shadows as his eyes glowed red. "If I had known, I never would have agreed to your foolish plan."

Catra just chuckled to herself she was loving this. "Yeah, bad plan."

"Wasn't it your—?" Scorpia was about to blab out if Catra hadn't elbowed her in the ribs.

"On top of everything else, your negligence of the threat presented by this shape shifter Ben Tennyson!" Hordak said.

"But my lord I told you of the boy, but he was of minimal threat to…"

Shadow Weavers plea was interrupted when Hordak brought up some screens and showed his forces some footage. It was from a certain mine that had been destroyed after a certain substance was destroyed.

It showed Ben as Armodrillo breaking into the mine with Bow, Rook, Adora and Glimmer then another screen showed Frankenstrike fighting a mutate Grizlor though the Force Captain had no memory of this happening.

Then most of all the footage of the mine being smashed by a giant fist the camera glitches but then shows a certain To'kustar bearing a familiar hourglass symbol as it crushed the mine.

The Force Captains and soldiers couldn't believe what they were seeing multiple monsters with the same symbol crushing their operations like they were nothing. And to Shadow Weavers horror the worst was yet to come.

For then the monitors displayed the footage of her fight with Feedback. It showed the Conductoid plug into the Black Garnet and then blast her into the walls of her domain with an almighty blast.

Catra just snickers at that part, it had to be her most favourite part. Then it showed the footage of the sorceress terrified and afraid when she was face to face with Toe Pick. Catra couldn't believe this, it had to have been the first time she had seen Shadow Weaver so afraid in her life. Shadow Weaver herself was completely frozen to the spot she had no way of defending herself in the face of all this evidence.

"You call this minima!" Hordak then shouted. "The Rebellion now has a weapon more powerful than anything we have seen before, a weapon capable of crushing our forces with a sleight of hand! Furthermore an airborne craft of unknown make was sighted leaving the Fright Zone completely undetected by our scanners!"

Hordak showed the footage of the Proto Truck leaving the Fright Zone a craft even they had not seen before.

"But my lord I…" "I ordered you to forget about Adora!" Hordak just swatted Shadow Weaver in anger sending her flying across the floor.

"But instead your mindless agenda has resulted in the loss of our hostage and the majority of our arsenal crippled by the enemy!" Hordak said as he looked over his poor excuse for a second in command.

"There is one thing you have shown me since Adora's defection from the Horde…YOUR INCOMPETENCE!" Hordak then said getting right into Shadow Weavers face. "Deceive me again and your next punishment shall be your final punishment!"

Catra just smirked in enjoyment out of all this, however little did everyone know they were being watched. For in a vent to large circular magenta glowing eyes were visible in the vent.

Bright Moon:

Back in Bright Moon. Glimmer now cleaned up and in her princesses attire was resting under the glow of the Moonstone letting its rays rejuvenate her powers. She smiled contently, but she felt like she was being watched and she was.

"I can feel you watching me." She said and Bow now back in his archers attire was indeed watching the princess as she recharged.

"I am not." Bow denied but his eyes were full of worry.

Glimmer opened one eye to see he was watching and Bow just backed away and sat on the ground. Adora meanwhile was training Rook had recently changed into his Proto Armour and was training with Adora blocking her punches and then she drew her sword and swung it at him which he blocked with his Proto Tool. Whilst they trained Ben just watched Glimmer under the Moonstone as it recharged her.

"So this is how she recharges her powers? Just lie here underneath it?" He asked Bow.

"Yeah thats pretty much how it works for some of the Princesses." Bow confirmed. "So what do you do when the watch is recharging?"

"Uh I just wait till it beeps green?" Ben said and almost as if on cue he heard a beeping noise from the Omnitrix and he could see it was flashing green. It had finished recharging.

Rook and Adora broke away from their training and he felt more calm about things. "You are a skilled fighter Adora you were trained well."

"Then why do I feel like I should have trained better." She said quietly to herself. In that moment Glimmer breathed a relaxing sigh as she stretched her arms and legs, sat up and stood up to see her friends. So far nothing happened.

"See, I told you. Just needed to re—" Suddenly she glitched again and it seemed to last a lot longer than usual. Bow and Ben gasped in horror.

"Glimmer!" Ben said as he tried to touch her but just got a sting from her. Rook and Adora hurried over to them just as Glimmer stopped glitching.

"It didn't work." Glimmer said shocked.

"Work?! It made it worse." Bow said out loud.

"Gee you think!?" Ben said sarcastically. "Cause the sting I just got ain't from when I go Buzzshock!"

"Glimmer?" Called a voice Adora and Rook looked over the side of the chamber to see Queen Angella was coming towards them "Are you up there?"

"Oh dear" Rook said simply. Adora just squeaked and hid behind the wall, then dragged Rook down with her.

"Uh, guys? We have a problem." She said scared.

"The Queen is coming this way!" Rook agreed.

"We cannot let my mom see me like this!" Glimmer said shaking away the sparkles from her glitch then she looked to Ben and grabbed onto his arms.

"Ben quick do something!" She begged shaking him.

"Like what?!" He asked.

"I don't know turn into Big Chill and turn me invisible or something!" Glimmer exclaimed.

"Thats not how it works!" Ben exclaimed through his teeth.

The Queen flew up to the Moonstone with using her wings and landed in the chamber. There she found her daughter lying on the table with a forced smile with Bow, Adora, and Ben leaning on the table smiling innocently. Rook just stood and bowed greeting the Queen.

"There you are, Glimmer." Angella greeted. "Are you feeling better?"

"Whoa, Mom, can't a girl recharge in private?" Glimmer chuckled. "Anyway, we were just leaving. Bye!" She and the others quickly ran away whilst Rook stayed a while.

"Uh good day your majesty." Rook said before Bow dragged him away.

"Is everything all right? Glimmer? Glimmer, do not walk away from me!" Angella let out her wings "I just wanted to talk." She said a little disheartened.

The Fright Zone:

Catra was walking with Scorpia in the hallway talking about Hordak's recent outburst at Shadow Weaver for her unauthorised side activities.

"Boy, Hordak really let Shadow Weaver have it. Did you see the look on her face?" Catra said in pleasure.

"Yes." Scorpia agreed chuckling. "Well, I mean, I think. It's kinda hard to tell with the mask and all"

"And did you see how she was screaming like a baby when Tennyson scared the hell out of her with that ogre thing Ha priceless!" Catra said. "Oh it's gonna be all the more sweet when I get that watch!"

"Uh yeah about that I'm starting to think thats a no go." Scorpia said which made Catra glare to attention.

"Why?" She asked in a knowing tone.

"Well I tried to get it at Princess Prom but when I tried it gave me a shock, I think that thing isn't coming off." Scorpia explained.

"Thats because you tried to take it from him in his alien form the trick is when he's human and completely helpless." Catra explained to her. Just then they heard a beeping noise behind them they turned around and saw one of the Horde bots looking away slightly.

They ignored it and continued walking. "Serves her right." They walked passed a vent and the magenta eyes appeared. "If she wants to take credit for my plans, she can take the blame, too." Catra said.

However she soon grew suspicious of the bot that was following them, and she stopped with Scorpia bumping into her. "Oh! What is it?" Scorpia said surprised.

"Shh" Catra told her to be quiet.

"Oh, sorry. What is it?" Scorpia whispered.

Catra just ignored her and then strangely began sniffing around with her nose. She was trying to find something in the hallway. She sniffed the walls and the pipes.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's... That's concrete." Scorpia said smelling it.

Catra then got onto all fours and started sniffing around the floor. She crawls up to one of the vent grates and sniffs. She senses something and slashes off the grate with her claws. Falling out of it much to everyones surprise was Entrapta who was not dead at all.

"Hii…" Entrapta waved innocently leaving the feline Force Captain just growling and sighing.

Bright Moon:

Adora, Bow, Glimmer, Ben and Rook were now in the princesses room still working out how to deal with this whole glitching situation. Bow was cleaning up things whilst Glimmer paced the room.

"Maybe it's like a cold. I've never been sick before." Glimmer said.

"Wait you've never been sick once in your life?" Ben said with curiosity.

"Having an immortal mother has some advantages. What do you do when you have a cold?" She then asked Adora and her friends.

"Remain out of sight." Adora said striking a fearsome pose. Bow, Glimmer, Ben and Rook just looked both surprised and confused.

"Display of physical weakness are strongly discouraged in the Horde." Adora explained.

"Understandable Adora, but during my time at the Plumbers academy if any cadets ever fell ill they are to immediately report to their supervising officer. It is standard protocol." Rook explained in a by the rules way. "And on Revonnah my mother would often make her famous Amberogia soup the best cure for colds."

"Uh ways that don't involve telling anyone?" Glimmer reminded.

"Grrr! But they're right. I haven't been training enough, and look what happened!" Adora vented in anger as she started punching the light shade. Ben and Bow quickly stopped her.

"Hey hey easy tiger what you got against that lampshade." Ben said trying to ease the situation.

"They're not right!" Bow agreed then got back to the subject. "Okay, cold. Um... Lots of liquids and, uh, rest. I'll make soup!"

"Well I would suggest something my Grandpa gave to me when I got a summer cold, but I wouldn't recommend it." Ben then said.

"Why not?" Bow asked.

"Because unless you want Glimmer to drink something that tastes like rotten onions, your better off sticking with a cold." He answered remembering the remedy his grandpa mixed up after he got a summer cold when he was ten, which actually turned out to be very useful when fighting Clancy's bugs.

Glimmer just shook at that prospect. "Okay no stinky cold remedies. So I'll nap. I bet when I wake up I'll be as good as new. Yeah, just gotta let it run its course." She seemed confident but Ben wasn't so sure. Glimmer was about to go to bed but then realised how high up her bed was.

"Why did I make my bed so high?" She groaned.

"That is an excellent question." Rook realised.

"Not helping Rook!" Give me a boost?" She said to Bow.

The next thing he knew Bow hoisted Glimmer onto his shoulder and she tried to reach for her bed but Bow lost his balance and fell just couldn't help but chuckle at this comedy act but his laughing came at a price when Glimmer yanked him over and stood on his shoulders instead but sadly with the same result.

Adora meanwhile was waving her sword at the air and swinging it around whilst Glimmer was trying to jump up and reach her bed to no avail. Then Ben used the Omnitrix and turned himself into Ditto and duplicated himself into about eight clones to make a stair case. However Glimmer was a little heavy for the clones and one lost his balance and fell to the ground.

This caused him to turn back into Ben. Bow then pulled up a chair in the hopes Glimmer could use it as a step. She climbed on it as Bow helped her to balance. However it didn't work though Glimmer managed to grab onto her bed she couldn't hang on and fell Ben tried to catch her but she just ended up landing on his back.

"Ow!" Ben groaned Rook just face slapped himself and Adora turns round and gasps.

"We're not letting anything run its course. You're getting worse." She said helping the princess to her feet.

"No, I'm not." Glimmer denied but on cue she glitched and groaned in pain as she did so collapsing to the ground, and it stopped. "Okay, maybe a little."

"A little more like a lot!" Ben said. "Look Glimmer we need to fix this."

"Bens right. You got sick because of whatever dark magic Shadow Weaver made with the black garnet." Then Adora had a brainwave that might just work. "Maybe the sword can heal you. She-Ra healed the trees in Plumeria."

"You mean when you first recruited Perfuma?" Ben asked remembering the stories he'd heard. Though no one noticed Rook look a little disheartened when he heard her name.

"Yeah I used the sword to heal the trees and Plumeria's runestone." Adora confirmed.

"Uh... Sort of, not really." Bow said rather sheepishly.

"Say what?" Ben asked.

"Well technically she did but it was just a heat of the moment thing." Bow said.

"Well, She-Ra definitely fixed the Sea Gate." Adora then reminded.

"Okay that I could vouch for." Ben agreed.

"Glimmer's not a piece of machinery. And you don't know how to fully control She-Ra's powers yet. No offense." Bow said.

"I agree it would be unwise to tamper with something that we do not fully understand, something I am sure you agree with Ben." Rook agreed.

Ben had to admit they did have a point, he knew it was unwise to mess with powers they don't fully understand. If his own experience of learning how to use the Omnitrix let alone use it when it was damaged was anything to go by.

"I gotta side with them Adora I mean we really don't know that much about what She-Ra can or can't do." Ben said as gently as he could. But all Adora could do was frown.

"This is a great idea." Glimmer dismissed excitedly. "She-Ra will fix me, and then everything will be back to normal. Mm-hmm. How hard can it be?"

"Did no-one here what we just…"

"FOR THE HONOUR OF GREYSKULL!" Adora cried as she used the sword to transform into Bow could do was face slap himself and Rook just shook his head.

"Oh brother." Ben groaned, in a way this reminded him of how he was when he first learned the Omnitrix, and they learn as they always do, the hard way.

The Fright Zone:

Entrapta found herself shackled to the wall of a prison cell. From her feet to her arms and her long hair. She slipped a strand of her long hair out of the shackle and used some of her tools to pick the lock. She succeeded.

However at that moment the door beeped and opened to reveal Catra and Scorpia. The feline Force Captain was armed with a shock stick.

"Prisoner." Catra said smacking her stick in her hand.

"That's Entrapta." Scorpia pointed out.

"I know her name! I was just.." Catra whispered back to Scorpia a little irritated. "Ugh, never mind. Lord Hordak himself tasked me with your interrogation. So, there's no use resisting."

As Catra spoke Entrapta kept tampering with the shackles. Which opened and closed when her hair tools interacted with and Scorpia looked at each other and the feline Force Captain proceeded to fire a shock stick at the wall close to Entrapta, thankfully it missed.

"I don't care what it takes. I'm going to drag the Rebellion's plans out of you." Catra got right into Entraptas face as a form of intimidation.

Entrapta responded by pushing Catra away with her hair and used it to grab the taser looked at it all fascinated.

"Ooh! What's that?" She asked.

"What? Hey!" Catra exclaimed but Entrapta pressed a button and the taser stick fired and blasted the ceiling.

"Catra! Oh!" Scorpia protected Catra from the falling rubble. "Oh, oh, there you go." Catra walked away from Scorpia and to her prisoner.

"Fascinating." Entrapta breathed as she examined the shock stick.

"Give. It. Back!" Catra snarled snatching the stick from Entrapta's hair hand.

"Oh, I like that thing. Can I have it?" The tech princess asked as Catra walked away.

"No. And stop. I'm interrogating you!" Catra exclaimed as she pointed the shock stick at her prisoner.

"Well, okay, then." Entrapta said openly. "What do you want to know?" Catra and Scorpia looked at each other, was their prisoner willing to surrender information?

"Why were you hiding out in the Fright Zone?" The Feline Force Captain then asked.

"I was waiting for my friends to get back. They had trouble finding me before." Entrapta explained. "So, I figured I'd make it easier for them and just stay put right here."

Catra could see she was left behind by the Princesses and Adora when they fled the Fright Zone. She couldn't help but empathise a little.

"They left you." She said softly as she approached the restrained princess.

"No, no, they're my friends, they'll be back." Entrapta denied as she freed herself from her shackles and then went to examine Scorpia's tail.

"Say, your tail secretes some kind of paralyzing agent, right?" She then touched the tail with her hair hands. "Do you think I could have a sample, to study?"

Scorpia just pulled away a bit mad and held her tail close. "Hey, you can't just touch another woman's tail without asking!"

Catra then proceeded to stroke Entrapta's hair. "Some friends. They left you, and they're not coming back." She said and the princess listened with confusion. "Isn't that just like Adora? She left me behind, too. Like I was nothing."

"And me. I mean, I didn't want to go, but she could've at least asked." Scorpia said openly.

Catra twirled some of Entrapta's hair in her finger as she spoke. "Adora got her precious Bow and Glimmer back. All these princesses care about is people who are just like them." She said softly. "Tennyson isn't a princess yet they liked him because of his power, But you're not like them, are you?"

Entrapta hung her head low as she held her hair. She was deep in thought and she had to admit Catra did raise a valid point. If her friends the princesses were coming for her they would have done so by now, and yet they never appeared.

She activated her recorder device and made a note. "Fright Zone log, hour 45. Is that right? I don't know if that's right, it was hard to tell in the walls." She said quietly "Hour 45, that's— That's too many hours. This angry feline person seems to be correct. They're not coming back for me." She couldn't help but shed a tear at that notion. Catra's tail wiped away that tear.

"You wouldn't have to pretend to be something you're not with the Horde." Catra took advantage of this princesses predicament. "Think of what you could accomplish here. What we could accomplish, together." Scorpia nodded at that notion.

Entrapta was silent as she considered all that had been said to her. It would seem that she had no place with the princesses and the Fright Zone had much more to offer in terms of advanced technology. Maybe there was more for her here than there was out there.

"I've made more progress on my work in secret here than I did in a whole non-secret life out there." Entrapta realised. "They should see. Horde technology gives me SO MUCH to work with. Emily's the most advanced bot I've ever built."

"Wait, who's Emily?" Catra asked surprised.

"Oh! How rude, allow me to introduce you." The tech princess clapped her hands twice.

Suddenly out of nowhere the wall glows and hums. Scorpia looks in horror as she sees its a laser blast and quickly tackles Catra to the ground as the laser blasts a hole in the wall.

"Catra! I gotcha, I gotcha, I gotcha!" Scorpia repeated as she held onto her fellow Force Captain but Catra could only groan in annoyance.

In that moment a certain Horde Bot walked past and stood next to Entrapta it was the same robot that was following them in the hallway. Entrapta pets her robot friend on the head.

Catra and Scorpia just gaped at the hole left by the laser blast caused by the Horde Bot. They aren't even supposed to be that powerful and yet this princess increased its power ten fold.

" Tennyson and those princesses have no idea who they've left behind." Catra said as molten acid dripped from the hole and sizzled with smoke.

Bright Moon:

In Bright Moon another issue was still trying to be resolved. Adora now She-Ra was trying to see if she could cure Glimmers glitching with her powers. Bow, Rook and Ben despite their protests could only -Ra holds the sword close to her face and concentrated then took a breath before waving the sword around.

"The.. Eternia.. Heal!" She said holding the sword in the air but nothing happened. She then held the sword close to Glimmer. "Heal.. Glimmer."

Ben could only face palm and shake his head, he couldn't believe they were actually doing this. "I have a few concerns that need to be noted." Rook then said.

"Who's ready to stop messing around with sharp objects? Hey, look, I am!" Bow insisted raising his hand in the air.

"Dude I don't think they're listening." Ben just groaned.

Glimmer and She-Ra were still trying to figure out how to activate the swords healing powers. "Maybe if you point it at me?"

"Or unpopular opinion, don't point a sword directly at our friend." Bow voiced as he came over.

"Yeah since we have no idea if it's safe or if we shouldn't mess with anything we don't understand." Ben hinted as well.

"It's fine, I got this." She-Ra assured.

"Ben has said that multiple times in the past, but I still remain skeptical even now with your actions." Rook voiced.

"See he gets it!" Bow agrees.

"Yeah not the part about me but still." Ben agreed.

"Maybe it's like a motion?" Glimmer said making a motion with her hand. "Like a jabbing motion? Or a strike."

"A strike are you serious right now!" Ben exclaimed.

"Yes that is ill advised!" Rook agreed.

"Do you want to get hit with a sword?!" Bow added in a panicking way.

"Can everyone please be quiet?! I have it!" She-Ra shouted as she tried to concentrate.

She took a breath and placed the sword above Glimmers head but Rook and Bow still had some concerns about this whole situation. Ben just watched as he knew this wouldn't end well.

"Am I the only one who cares about sword safety around here?" Bow said mostly covering his eyes.

"I just can't watch,I just can't watch." Ben said mostly covering his eyes too. She-Ra concentrated then all of a sudden the swords blade began to glow. She gasped as this looked like a good sign to her.

"I think it's working!" she said as she tapped Glimmers head with the sword and it made a sparkling humming noise.

Glimmer opened her eyes and saw she wasn't glitching. "Yup, definitely working. I'm pretty sure I feel something."

Sadly that something she was feeling was her glitching again, she growled and cried out from the pain she was feeling. Bow, Ben and Rook looked concerned for their friend as she sat down on the seat near her window and stopped glitching.

"I somehow knew that would be the most likely outcome." Rook voiced.

She-Ra just growled in frustration as she threw the sword into the wall out of frustration.

"SWORD SAFETY!" Bow shouted.

Ben just looked a little freaked by her outburst. "Thats harsh what you have against that wall?" He tried to joke but that didn't help everyones spirits.

The Fright Zone:

Scorpia was busy placing all the bricks knocked down by Emily the robots laser blast. Said robot was now restrained next to Entrapta it beeped with a little sadness. Catra meanwhile was pacing the floor.

"Honestly, I don't think anybody's gonna notice." Scorpia said admiring the repair job only for a lone brick to fall out of the slot and onto the ground.

"Sorry again. About the wall." Entrapta apologised thinking she was in trouble.

"Don't worry about it." Catra said pacing back and fourth softly.

"You're not mad? People usually get mad?" Entrapta said in surprise.

"Ah Are you kidding? I'm impressed." Catra said in her normal energetic voice. "You rebuilt that robot, I mean, Emily, all on your own? While living in the vents?"

"Sure did." Entrapta released herself from her shackles as she explained. "Not only that, but she's better than ever. Stronger, increased weapons capabilities, and affectionate, too."

Emily responded to that by stroking her leg as she showed affection to her creator.

"Who knows how much more powerful she could be if I just had access to a little First Ones tech." Entrapta stroked Emily with her hair before getting back into her shackles. "You don't have any here, do you?"

"First what?" Catra asked whilst Scorpia kept trying to repair the damaged wall.

"First Ones tech. You know, advanced technology left behind by a lost civilization? Makes our modern innovations look like children's toys?" Entrapta explained whilst Catra had no idea what she was even talking was still trying to mend the wall but every brick she placed back in another came out.

"I've been attempting to integrate First Ones tech into my experiments for years, but my understanding of their code is still rudimentary. If I could just find the key to their language, there's no telling what I could build. Such a find could yield almost unlimited power." Entrapta then cackled almost like a mad scientist. Catra began to show some interest including the unlimited power part.

"And where would one find this tech?" She asked with anew interest.

"It's buried all over the planet." Entrapta explained "It gives off a signal that can be traced. Lately, I've been tracking the strongest signal I've ever seen. It must be a massive stash." She empathised with her hair hands.

"WHERE?!" Catra asked with sparkling eyes but was then interrupted when she heard the sound of falling bricks and it was from Scorpias failed repair job.

"Ugh!" Scorpia groaned out of annoyance. "Huh." She quickly covered up the hole herself and gave off a sheepish giggle.

"I mean, uh, where?" Catra then asked Entrapta in a calmer tone.

"I've triangulated the signal to somewhere in the Whispering Woods." Entrapta explained. "The whole shifting landscape thing makes for a complicated variable, but I've created a map that's accurate within two quadrants."

Catra just smirked with determination. "How do I get my hands on this map?"

"Like any good scientist, I carry everything I need on my person." Entrapta then used her hair hand to reach into her back overall pocket and hand Catra a tablet.

However said tablet seemed to show only static no presence of a map what so ever. Catra tried pressing a few buttons to no avail. She was beginning to get used her hair hand to tap the tablet screen which then showed the map much more clearer than before.

Catra smiles at the tech princess who moves her hair back in her shackles. The feline Force Captain then moves over to Scorpia and confers with her quietly.

"I'm not sure if we can trust her yet. But if she's telling the truth, this could give us a huge advantage over the Rebellion." Catra said as she waved the tablet around. "She might even be the key to getting that watch from Benny boy. Hordak will finally see how much more valuable I am than Shadow Weaver."

"I bet he'll promote you to.. To.. What comes after Force Captain?" Scorpia then wondered as she didn't exactly know what was a higher rank than Force Captain.

"Keep an eye on Entrapta while I go see if this pans out." Catra said to her and suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder and she looked to see said princess out of her restraints.

"I hope it does, I wanna build something b… iiigggg!" She said excitedly quiet.

Catra looked at Entrapta and then her restraints as the prisoner was supposed to be in said restraints. The Princess could see that Catra was frowning about that.

"Oh, sorry, my bad." Entrapta said as she went back and examined her restraints. "Which hair part was in which thingy?"

Bright Moon:

Progress was becoming painfully slow the Best Friend Squad still hadn't figured out a solution to Glimmers glitching problem. She-Ra paced back and fourth around the room frustrated she couldn't heal Glimmer as Adora and now she couldn't with her powers.

As Bow and Rook cleaned up Glimmer lay on the window bench and Ben just watched as the Princess of Power voiced her frustrations.

"What good am I if I can't even heal one princess?!" She said as she kicked a cushion across the floor. She then went to recover her sword.

"Why even carry a sword?" She questioned.

"Hey welcome to my world sister, I was just as frustrated when I first got this thing." Ben explained gesturing to the Omnitrix but before more could be said they heard a knock on the door.

Glimmer just gasped at the sound of the knocking. She looked to the door and went to answer it. "Everybody, just act normal." She whispered to the rest of the group.

Glimmer opened the door and found it was her mother on the other side. "Mom, we're busy."

"I won't be long. You are requested for dinner with me tonight. Alone." Angella informed her daughter.

"But… Mom! I'm really tired. Can't I just stay in my room and rest?" Glimmer replied trying to find a reasonable excuse for getting out of this mess.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I said request. It's not a request." Angella insisted rather royally. "You are required to have dinner with me because I'm your mother and.. I'm also the queen, so I can make you."

"Yikes. She's playing the queen card." Bow whispered to Ben, She-Ra and Rook.

"I know dude my moms played that card a few times too. Minus the queen part." Ben whispered back.

Ben just grimaced he had seen that look before from his own mother. Not to mention the same its not a request line from when he was ten not just by his parents but by his grandfather too.

"No need to answer. I'll see you in an hour." Angella said as she left the doorway. Glimmer shut the door but the cried out as she started glitching leaned on the door when it stopped again.

"This is becoming quite a concerning crisis now." Rook voiced.

"That's it. I can't stay here and be useless. Bow is right. I don't know how to use my powers."She-Ra said facing reality.

"I didn't say that. Or not that exactly." Bow tried to assure.

"Dude thats totally what you said." Ben explained. "But look Adora I get it I know how frustrating it is to have all the power to put things right but don't know how. Thats how I felt when I first got the Omnitrix."

"Wait Ben couldn't one of your aliens heal me?" Glimmer then guessed.

"Glimmer it doesn't work that way, I mean sure the Omnitrix can heal genetic damages to people but this whole runestone magic thing. Thats more Gwen's department." He replied knowing this magic situation was more his cousins area of expertise.

"Look the point being The Horde has a lot of things wrong." She-Ra said. "Okay, pretty much everything. But one thing they are right about is training. And how can I train if I don't know anything about She-Ra?"

"Its like me and the Omnitrix, these things don't come with instruction manuals we just need to figure it out for ourselves." Ben pointed out.

Rook was deep in thought whilst they discussed the matter, then he remembered something from their first mission in Selainas. What was the one thing that connected She-Ra and the sword.

"But perhaps there maybe a way we can find out." Rook voiced getting everyones attention.

"What do you mean Rook?" Bow asked.

"You said the Sword of Protection was made by the First Ones, and how this planet was settled by them and they left their technological secrets behind when they disappeared?" Rook explained to which they nodded. "Perhaps there maybe something within these ruins that may provide Adora with answers on the Lore of She-Ra ruins, schematics, anything that could provide us with clues."

She-Ra realised that Rook was right and she remembered something she saw when she first came to Bright Moon.

"Your right so, I'm going to go somewhere so I can learn. And then I'm gonna fix you, Glimmer." She said to her friend.

Glimmer gasped at that notion it was the first break through since this mess started. "How? Can you do it in an hour?"

"Probably not, since I'm not totally sure where I'm going. I need to find the place Madame Razz took me." She-Ra explained.

"Whos Madame Razz?" Ben asked not being up to date on the people of Etheria.

"Oh she's this old woman I first met in the forest after I ran a way from Bright Moon when I first came here." She-Ra said to him. "I.. it's some sort of beacon. I can't explain it, but I-I know I can get answers there." She looked out the window in the room.

"I don't know this sounds like a long shot Adora." Ben said.

"Running away. Great idea. Then I won't have to go to dinner with my mom. I'll get my things." Glimmer chuckled and breathed in relief.

"No." She-Ra said putting her hand on Glimmers shoulder. "I have to do this on my own."

With that She-Ra ran out of the room and exited through the window crashing down into the trees below. Bow and Rook looked outside to see if she was okay.

"Ow!" She said silently as it wasn't the best of landings.

"She's okay." Bow said relieved.

"Though I question why she did not simply use the door?" Rook said.

"I hope she stays that way." Glimmer said in concern.

"Oh let her go." Ben said casually which everyone was more than surprised by.

"What?"

"And I'll follow at a safe distance of course." Ben then said. "I mean she can't stop me from watching. Besides I got a feeling she's gonna need some help."

"Then I shall accompany you." Rook offered.

"No partner this time I'm doing this solo, besides your needed here." Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix and dialled in an alien.

"Ben you sure about this I mean what if Adora sees you and the woods isn't an easy place to navigate." Bow questioned.

"Bow relax." Ben selected the symbol of Ghostfreak on the selection dial. "With Ghostfreak I'll just be an invisible shadow."

Ben slammed down the dial and was surrounded by a blinding light as he transformed. However instead of Ghostfreak he was now a small blue furred alien monkey with three pairs of green eyes, flipped up hair two white stripes on his tail. He had four arms with three fingers on each hand and three toes on his foot. He has a dark blue chest and the Omnitrix is located on a green double sash worn across his chest.

He looked over himself and saw once again he was given the wrong alien. "Gah! Why does this thing even have a dial oo ha oo ha!" He said chirping like an ape.

Regardless Spidermonkey leaped out the window the same way She-Ra did but spun a web line from his tail and grappled onto the trees.

"I sure hope they'll be okay." Glimmer said with worry.

"Do not worry they will be okay." Rook assured.

Fright Zone: Force Captain Barracks:

Meanwhile in the quietness of the barracks Catra was packing some supplies into her back pack. She was getting ready to leave on her mission to follow Entrapta's First Ones tech in the shadows was a certain sorceress who saw her student was packing up for something.

"Going somewhere?" She said but Catra didn't even face her.

"Like I'd tell you. I've got a lead on something big, and I'm not about to let you take all the credit again." Catra explained as she packed her things, and let out a small chuckle. "Not that it worked out so great for you last time."

Just then she looks at Shadow Weaver leaning on the bed post, she looked a little weak and her flowing black hair was down. She breathed heavily. It would seem that Hordak had dealt out a serious punishment on the sorceress for her deceptive behaviour.

Despite how she treated her Catra couldn't help but feel a little empathy for her abusive teacher. "Don't worry about that thing with Hordak. I've got loads of experience being yelled at. Mostly by you, actually. You get used to it."

Catra picked up her back pack and was about to take her leave. Until Shadow Weaver grabbed her by the arm with a rather angered look in her eyes.

"I will not get used to mediocrity like you. And I certainly don't need your pity." She said Catra just looked with frustration she was trying to be nice and this is whats she gets.

However Shadow Weaver then looked away with some shame in her eyes before speaking again. "I was hard on you, I won't deny it. And I won't apologize. I just wanted to prepare you for the world. I wanted you to be strong."

Catra was silent as she turned away from Shadow Weaver before she turned and spoke to her. "Yeah, well, congratulations. I'm plenty strong now. And I don't need you." Catra said as she walked away. "And soon I'll be stronger than you can imagine."

Shadow Weaver was left alone in the barracks as the crystal in her mask glowed faintly. For some reason the words that Ben had spoken to her kept echoing in her mind.

"Catra seemed to have more brains than you, I think you underestimated her."

Bright Moon:

Some minutes had passed since Spidermonkey and She-Ra had departed. Bow, Rook and Glimmer were still in the princesses room and Bow was just pacing the floor as Glimmer sat crosslegged on the window seat. Rook was leaning against the wall close to her.

"Listen, Glimmer, I appreciate you trying, but you can't protect me anymore. We have to tell your mom." Bow finally said.

"I agree with Bow, it could be sometime before our comrades return and hiding from this problem from the Queen will not help anything." Rook agreed.

"We're not telling anybody's mom!" Glimmer said annoyed but then picked up on something. "And, what do you mean, protect you?"

"Isn't it obvious? This is all my fault." Bow explained as he paced back and fourth explaining. "If I hadn't gone to Princess Prom with Perfuma, then we wouldn't have been separated, and then I wouldn't have gotten kidnapped, and you wouldn't be sick. See? All my fault!"

Bow sat down on the window seat rather upset by this notion.

"You could not have foreseen this my friend, there was no way of knowing that Catra and Scorpia would crash the ball." Rook said with an assuring hand on his shoulder.

"Rooks right, that's crazy." Glimmer said before confessing her own guilt. "This is obviously my fault! I let myself get distracted. I shouldn't've been so weird about you hanging out with someone else. I should have listened to Ben just because you meet new friends doesn't mean we shouldn't still be friends I should never have taken it out on you. I'm sorry, Bow."

"You can't be sorry when I'm tryin' to be sorry." Bow said with tears in his eyes as he looked to his friend.

"Yeah, but your sorry is wrong, and mine is right." Glimmer pointed out with tears in her eyes.

"I think we can all agree we have our own equal share of the blame." Rook said as a conclusion.

"Ya know what? Let's just hug." Glimmer said as she and Bow embraced in a hug, and Rook couldn't help but smile at that.

However Glimmer groaned as she started glitching red again. "I'm glitching aren't I?"

"It hurts..so much!" Bow cringed trying to hold in his pain. Eventually Glimmer stopped glitching and they broke the hug.

"How am I going to get through dinner without my mom noticing?" Glimmer said then a sudden idea struck. "We start a fire in the castle, and my mom'll have to cancel!"

Bow looked with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow as did Rook saying thats not an idea. "Just a small one." Glimmer insisted.

"Glimmer." Rook finally said. "I understand you want to protect your mother but I think it is best if you just tell her the truth, I know what it is like to shield ones self from a parents disappointment but at the same time they can surprise you if given the chance."

The Bright Moon princess could see what Rook meant and he was right she didn't want to face her mothers disappointment after the alliance fell apart and everything else that followed. But she knew deep down she would have to find out eventually.

"I..I guess your right." Glimmer accepted. "I'll try and tell her."

Rook looked with a proud face as he then got up and was about to leave the room. "Where are you going?" Bow asked.

"There is something I must attend to." Rook said but as he was about to open the door.

"In Plumeria?" Bow guessed which made Rook stop dead in his had a look of surprise on his face. How could they have figured it out?

"Come on you've been pretty obvious about it since we got back." Bow pointed out.

"I.. I just, I feel like I got distracted at the Princess Prom and it was mostly the cause of our capture and I.. I am just confused." Rook said. "I just need to try and talk to Perfuma and make this right."

"Rook you have nothing to apologise for." Glimmer said to him. "And even if you can't convince her to come back to the rebellion you still need some closure right?"

"Not to mention right now she may need to see a friendly face." Bow said. "She needs a friend Rook."

The Revonahgander could see that his friends understood everything. In reality they were right if this was something he needed to do he should just go and do it. It was also a chance for him to get his feelings straight too no matter the outcome.

"Thank you my friends." Rook said as he took his leave leaving the two friends alone.

"He's so.. starting to crush on her." Glimmer said in a teasing way.

The Whispering Woods:

Meanwhile deep in the dense undergrowth of the Whispering Woods, She-Ra was still trying to find the structure that was shown to her by Madame Razz some time ago. She moved through the trees and stopped to get her bearings.

"It was definitely this way." She looked around and the landscape seemed mostly familiar but not a lot. "I think."

She continued forwards and moved through some of the shrubbery in the undergrowth. She pushed a tree branch aside only for her cape to get caught in the plants behind her. She-Ra was able to snag herself free, then she noticed something.

It was a rock in the trees. "Oh! That rock looks familiar." She said as she approached it, and in actual fact it was the same rock Ben had marked when he first arrived on Etheria with his Plumber partner.

She looked closer and saw why it looked so familiar. "Because I passed it an hour ago." She realised.

She-Ra drew her sword and marked the rock with an 'X' so she could mark her trail through the undergrowth of this mysterious land. She continued forwards in the hopes of finding the structure.

Not two minutes later Spidermonkey came swinging through the trees thanks to his agility and landed in the clearing. He looked around but couldn't find any sign of his friend.

"Oh man even with Spidermonkey I still can't get my head around this forest." He said groaning. Just then he noticed a rock that was very familiar to him indeed.

"Aw no no not this again! ah o ah oh!" He bounced in frustration. However he noticed something about the rock.

"Wait a minute." He took a closer look at it and noticed there were two 'x' marks there now instead of the one he left.

"There weren't two marks here before." Then it hit him. "Adora she must have come this way YES! That means I'm on the right track o ah oo ah ooo."

He jumped up and down in excitement but then the Omnitrix beeped a familiar sound and reverted the Arachnachimp back to Ben again.

"And it chooses now to time out on me." Ben groaned in annoyance. "Well its like Grandpa Max says use my head and revert to basics." He said as he moved deep into the green depths of the forest.

Bright Moon:

Back in Bright Moon, Rook had departed from Plumeria but inside the castle dining room Angella was now alone with her daughter with a feast laid out for them. The table itself was set for two with such a majestic arrangement.

"I gave the staff the night off so it could be just us." Angella said to her daughter as she arrived. "And I made your favorite."

Glimmer took a rather questionable look at the food and then smiled towards her mother wondering if she had actually made it.

Angella was quiet before she spoke. "Well, I didn't make it. But I had the kitchen make it before I gave them the night off." She then explained smiling sheepishly.

"Thanks." Glimmer simply said. It quickly got awkward between the two of them and she moved to look at the shrubbery in the baskets on the pillars.

"We've hardly had a chance to talk since you returned." Angella said as Glimmer picked a leaf from the shrubbery she did grimace a little trying to make sure she didn't glitch.

"Not much to talk about?" Angella questioned loudly. "You were kidnapped! And you lost a friend when you escaped. And…."

Glimmer grimaced as she tried to keep from glitching but it just grew stronger. "I get it, Mom! I failed!" Glimmer exclaimed as she faced her mother.

"That's not what I'm…" Suddenly Glimmer started glitching again this one was stronger than before, she cried out in pain as she collapsed to the ground. Her mother looked greatly concerned as she rushed over and cradled her in her arms.

"Stop! Make it stop! Glimmer, what's happening to you?! What aren't you telling me?!" Angella shouted to her daughter who eventually stopped glitching.

Glimmer pushed her mother away and stood up. "Don't yell at me! I know I messed everything up, okay! I know, I'm a big disappointment!" Glimmer said as she sat at the dinner table.

The Queen had absolutely no idea what her daughter was talking about she was still in shock from the glitching. "What are you talking about?" Angella asked as she stood up.

"Entrapta died trying to rescue me, and the Princess Alliance is over, and Shadow Weaver did something to my powers!" Glimmer explained sobbing leaving a rather shocked look on her mothers face. "I'm sorry I couldn't be perfect like you! You have no idea what it's like to be such a screw-up!"

"I don't know how you feel?" Angella questioned with a darkened look "I got your father killed!"

She suddenly winced realising what she had just said there was a moment of silence as Glimmer shared the same look of shock on her face after hearing this.

After a minute Angella spoke. "I ordered the battle that your father perished in." She turned away in guilt "I've never forgiven myself."

"I …I didn't know that." Glimmer said.

"Yes, well ... you never talk to me." Angella turned back to her daughter and kneeled down to her level. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

"Because I was ashamed. I acted without thinking. The exact thing you're always telling me not to do. I teleported right into their trap." Angella listened as her daughter confessed her guilt. "The alliance is over. And I'm to blame."

Glimmers eyes filled with tears as the Queen put a consuming hand on her cheek.

"Oh, Glimmer. I'm the one who failed. If I hadn't let the first alliance fall apart after your father's death, none of this would be happening." Angella admitted holding her daughters looked with genuine surprise at her mother she felt the same way she did after the loss of her father and the first alliance.

"You feel like a failure?" She said in surprise as her mother stood up.

"Don't make the same mistake I did. I should have kept fighting. You should, too." Angella said renewed courage.

It was in that moment that Glimmer remembered something that Ben had said to the other princesses. "Because I can either let this one loss define me from now on, or I can learn from it."

Angella was rather surprised to hear these words of wisdom come from her daughter, but realised where these words came from.

"Wise words indeed, no doubt from your friend Ben I take it." She guessed.

"Yeah he tried to explain that to the other princesses, but they still quit." Glimmer explained. "You don't think the rebellion is done?"

"With my daughter leading it." Angella said as she gripped her daughters hands into hers. "Not. A. Chance."

"And young Ben clearly sees that too, he does possess wisdom beyond his own years. And maybe it's time we both started listening to it for a leader must also learn when to seek the council of others." She then said.

Glimmer smiled at that notion. "Even if my powers are gone?" She still questioned in doubt.

"We'll figure it out. Together." Angella said embracing her daughter in a hug, and Glimmer gradually returned the embrace.

The Whispering Woods:

As the moon hung over the whispering woods deep in the undergrowth She-Ra ran through the forest determined, she leaped up and landed on one of the tree roots in the forest and then leaped down again.

In another part of the woods not too far away Ben still in human form was making his way through the undergrowth. Previously he had turned into Jet Ray to try and find Adora from the sky to no evail so he then used Fasttrack to try and look round the forest quickly but even that didn't work. So he came to the conclusion that he had to use the old tracking methods he'd learned from his Grandpa and from when he first met Kai.

He looked around getting his bearings then jumped over a root and moved forwards.

On the outskirts of the Whispering Woods, Catra stood at the very edge of this foreboding place. She sensed something was amis. But she came here looking for the First Ones tech Entrapta told her about and she wasn't leaving without it. So with newfound determination she entered the forest.

In the woods She-Ra slid down a slope and looked around her surroundings for any sign of the beacon, but still nothing.

Ben a long way away was looking down on the ground for any sign of foot prints. He had thought of using Wildmutt but realised he could just be following the scents of other animals. Never the less he moved deeper into the forest.

Catra walked through the woods trying to follow the tracker pad given to her but all it showed was static. Catra began to get more and more frustrated.

"Grrr this thing is useless!" Catra growled. She looked around and was a little creeped out by her surroundings but kept going through the forest.

Eventually Ben had reached a clearing and thought this would be the best place to get his bearings. But instead of finding a clue he only saw something else. It was the same builder he had passed before.

"AW COME ON SERIOUSLY!" Ben shouted in frustration. "I've spent hours here flying and speeding around and now I'm back where I started! WHATS WRONG WITH THIS ACCURSED FORREST!"

His yell echoed all over the forest but eventually the Omnitrix bearer had another idea. "Wait Grandpa told me that if I ever get lost I could follow the North star and…."

However when he looked up he realised he couldn't because. "But there are no stars in the sky!" he groaned and eventually yelled in frustration he had to concede defeat.

He sat down on the nearby root and looked down in shame. "Grandpa, what do I do? How did I end up so far away from home and now fighting in an all out war. I.. I would always count on you Gwen, Kevin and Rook for help but.. Now I'm all alone, I'm all alone." He was greatly saddened and it was clear he had taken his grief more than he realised. "We've lost a friend and now theres no hope for the alliance and she tries to bear it alone. I want to help her but I just.. I just don't know what to do."

Ben then remembered what his grandfather said to him when he was in the Null Void during the High Breed conspiracy.

"Then help me I need you." He heard his own voice echo in his mind.

"Not anymore Ben you proved that today." He heard his Grandfathers voice.

"I can't lose you again." Ben said.

"Never happen, we'll find our way back when our work is done here." Max's voice echoed. "And besides…I'm always with you."

Ben looked down and a lone tear streamed down his face and he looked at the Omnitrix and then he realised he couldn't just let this forest get him down. He chose to stay here and help those who needed help.

"I'm not giving up!" He said with new found confidence as he stood up and spoke out to the forest.

"I'm going to help my friend and if you want to stop me you can try, just help me! Send me a sign…a hint anything!" He exclaimed out.

Suddenly he heard what sounded like the bashing of pans close to where he was. He jumped in fright and could hear the sound coming from somewhere close by. He walked through the trees looking around.

"Adora?" He soon arrived at some bushes and he noticed a small hut like house underneath a small hill where a tree was all but curious who would live in a place like this.

Then someone came out of the old hut it was an old woman with a broomstick. She had large round glasses, bushy grey hair wearing a green neck wrap over her purple robes. She had moth/butterflies flying around her hair and dark skin.

She was singing to herself brushing up the outside of her home when suddenly she sensed something in the air.

"Did you hear something?" She said to someone. "Yes I did too." she said then looked around for someone holding her broom defensively.

"Who's there?" She demanded. Ben cautiously stepped out of the bushes and faced the old lady of the forest.

"Ah hi I didn't mean to scare you, I mean you no harm." He explained. "Listen I don't know if you get this a lot but have you seen a girl taller than me and rocking a sword and a cape with vegas shoulder pads?"

The old lady adjusted her glasses and looked at the stranger. She then smiled. "Ohh you must be a friend of my Mara aren't you dearie."

"Uh who?" Ben wondered. "Look I'm a little lost I'm trying to find my friend Adora."

"Come come now no time to waste." Razz said as she lead him into her hut. Ben was just confused but he decided to play along.

"Uh no time for what?" Ben asked as he entered the hut

"For berry picking of course, I had planed to go with Mara but she is very late so you could help me instead." She explained gathering up baskets and the essentials.

"What, look lady I think you got it all wrong I don't even know you?" Ben questioned.

Razz looked at the stranger and then realised something. "No you don't know Madame Razz do you? You're new to this land but you are good friends with the one who carries the sword aren't you."

Ben suddenly picked up on something she said. "Wait, Madame Razz, your the one Adora met aren't you so you know where she is?"

Razz just laughed as she handed the Omnitrix bearer a basket. "Oh well your here now so we can go pick berries together, and we may even run into Mara too." she said.

Ben just couldn't believe it what had he landed himself into now. Soon they were wandering the woods passing by rocks and the landscape of the woods. Ben still had a mission to fulfil and he knew this old hermit of the forest may hold the answers.

"Hey you said something about Adora, you lead her to this place to pick berries right well any chance you could direct me there?" Ben asked.

"Oh you already know the way there dearie Mara has shown you it loads of times before. Its the best place to pock berries." Razz explained.

"I gah look I'm not looking for Mara I'm looking for Adora, you know Adora like Adorable." Ben explained but then realised what he'd just said out of embarrassment. "Uh not that I think she is adorable or anything."

"Ohohoho I can see why my Mara likes you, you are quite the joker." Razz chuckled to herself.

"Uh okay I gotta ask how long have you been staying in this forest by yourself?" Ben asked just for the sake of argument.

"Alone me oh ho no I'm not alone. I've got broom here" Razz gestured to her broom. "Oh and my friend Looki too but he's always hiding." She whispered as they continued their walk through the forest.

"Oh ho ho great." Ben said chuckling a little nervous. "I ask for a sign and I get a kookie old hermit. Well at this point what do I have to lose."

He followed Razz through the forest and soon arrived at a field of bushes in a clearing. There were berries in the bushes to pick. "Ah this will be the ideal place to start." Razz said.

"Hold on I thought Adora said the place you took her was the place to pick berries?" Ben said confused.

"Oh yes but these look very fresh today." Razz said having a taste of them. Ben just decided to play along and started picking berries. Soon they had full baskets and were about to move on until suddenly they heard a shake in the ground.

"What was that?" Ben asked.

"Oh that must be Mara coming." Razz said but sadly it wasn't. Emerging from the forest was a gigantic beast with crab like looking legs. It looked angry. With glowing blue eyes.

"Look out!" Ben said tackling the old woman to the side. Before the creature could crush her with its front legs.

Ben looked at Razz and saw she was okay. "You alright?" He asked.

"Oh yes just winded Mara used to do the same." Razz explained. However the beast roared and turned its attention to them but Ben wouldn't let anyone else get hurt.

"I'm not letting anyone else get hurt not this time!" Ben activated the Omnitrix and dialled in an alien and knew what to do. "ITS HERO TIME!" He slammed down the dial and began to transform.

In a void of green and white molecules his arms were growing veins all over him and when he opened his eyes they glowed green. He was now more muscular then all of a sudden an extra pair of arms grew under his own. He was now a four armed muscular being with red skin with three short spikes on his head with four green eyes, and had a moustache like black stripe on his face, red spikes on his upper and forearms. He has fingerless four fingered gloves with green cuffs at the wrists and wears a black tank top like shirt with a large green stripe in the middle black pants with a green and white belt on his waist and the Omnitrix rests in the middle. He let out a roar as he was fully transformed into Four Arms.

Razz looked in amazement seeing this being before her now. The Tetramands attention turned on the monster stomping towards him.

"Okay crab legs come and get some!" He exclaimed as he charged at the monster and let loose a punch on its leg tripping it up.

The beast quickly recovered and swiped at him with its front leg. Four Arms was sent flying into a tree leaving quite an indentation in the wood. He shook his head and recovered. The beast charged towards him and like wise he did. The two collided and were trying to push each other back Four Arms used all his strength but he was beginning to fade.

"You can do it, do not give up!" Called a voice and he looks to see Razz as she threw berries from his basket at the creature. "Don't give up would my Mara give up!"

Four Arms looked at her and though she did seem crazy she was right he couldn't give up despite his losses not when others need him.

"I ain't giving up, not when my friends need me!" He let out one last effort and pushed the beast back.

Then he slapped his hands together creating a seismic clap from his four arms the shock wave sent the creature hurling into the trees. It landed on its legs and scurried away into the undergrowth. Four Arms collapsed to his knees in triumph and in an instant the Omnitrix timed out and reverted him back to Ben.

"Whew." He breathed. Then Razz came over to him. "Hey thanks for that, I..I'm sorry about your berries." He said.

"Oh no worries dearie berries will grow again." Razz said.

"Yeah too bad I can't do the same, I mean I'm a long way from home and I don't even know if I can go back." Ben confessed. "I mean I want to help these people, but how can I if they won't stand and do the same, I want to help my friends they've lost so much already and now the alliance is done, and Adora feels this is her fault, but its mine too I want to help her I just.. I just don't know what to do anymore."

Razz listened to every word of Bens speech and could see he too was facing much of a challenge as Mara/Adora.

"This new path you travel on is never an easy one." Razz said. "The Horde creep ever closer every day, and all we have to rely on are the princesses but, these days they keep to themselves."

"They hide when they should protect this planet it's their home!" Ben agreed.

"Yes dearie but when they see the threat they face they lose hope in the fact they can take back their home but refuse to." Razz said. She then sighed. "You are much like my Mara and Adora you know, brave, loyal and good of heart. But afraid."

Ben was taken aback by that statement. "What? Who says I'm afraid I don't fear anything."

"Dearie.." she chuckles "You got yourself lost in the woods and asked the first old lady you see what you should do. This life you have chosen is not an easy one and no-one can tell you if you can go back to what you once knew. So stop waiting around and decide what you should do in the time given to you." Razz said and Ben listened it was almost as if he was listening to Grandpa Max.

"What do you think?" She asked him.

The Omnitrix bearer took in everything that was said to him, and he realised this old lady was right. He knew his path was never an easy one and the foes he faced were just as strong as the last but he never gave up in the face of doubt. He kept going, sure he didn't know if he would go home but there was one thing he always stayed true to.

"I think.. I maybe on the other side of the universe but one thing doesn't change." He stood up. "Putting others before myself. This planet and the rebellion need my help and She-Ra too, we can show the people of this planet we can't let the Horde take what they want no matter what we're up against or what we lose."

"So what are you going to do now?" Razz asked.

Ben knew what he needed to do. "I'm going to find Adora we're gonna heal our friend and if the princesses won't stand up and fight the Horde then we will. Together!" He said with renewed confidence. "Just as soon as I find away through these woods."

However that came sooner than he expected, as he heard a familiar voice. "I'm trying to help! Why are you stopping me?!"

He knew that voice already. "Adora!" He breathed. However when he looked back to Razz he saw she was leaving.

"Hey wait!" Ben called.

Razz then turned back to him and gave him a smile. "Look after her dearie, many great challenges lie ahead for you, if she should ever need me she'll know where to find me."

Ben gave a grateful smile to the old lady of the woods. "Thank you." He then took off running towards the sound of the voice as Razz went back into the undergrowth of the woods.

"Who was that boy?" She said as she walked away.

Elsewhere:

Catra was still lost in the woods. As she worked her way through the undergrowth she accidentally tripped on a root and fell to the ground. She got back up and growled in frustration tossing the tablet into the tree.

"I should've known better than to trust a princess!" Catra said in frustration.

Suddenly she heard the whispers of voices in the woods as glowing lights surround the canopies of the trees. She whimpered as she looked around and realised she was now completely lost.

Meanwhile:

She wasn't the only one who was lost. She-Ra looked all around her as she called out. "Just let me fix this, please! I... I can't let anyone else get hurt."

However all that she could hear was the eerie silence of the forest no one was answering her she had to concede.

"Fine. You win." She-Ra changes back into Adora who tosses her sword on the ground. "You want me to be weak? Well. I am. And I'm afraid." She crouched down with her knees close to her face. "Because, I …I'm no good at any of this."

She lowered her head down in shame as the forest was ever quiet. Just then she felt someones hand on her shoulder.

"Adora?" She looked up and saw Ben kneeling down next to her.

"Ben?" She said in genuine surprise. "How, where how in…"

"I followed you, but I got lost ran into your friend Razz who kept calling you Mara and I saved her from a monster and she helped me find you." Ben explained.

Adora wasn't sure what to make of all that. "So you met Razz?"

"Yeah." He said but he could see that Adora was upset. "Look I heard what you said and well this life we lead is never an easy one."

"But these people are counting on me and it seems all I've done lately is cause nothing but grief." Adora said. "Entrapta's gone because of me and my plan, I couldn't save her and I don't know how to fix whats happened to Glimmer I.. I just… I just don't know what to do, sometimes I wish none of this ever happened."

Ben could see Adora was consumed in grief and fear the same grief and fear he felt when he lost the Omnitrix or when he thought he lost his Grandfather.

"Adora, look I get it, people wish these things never happen I mean sometimes I wish I never found this watch." Ben explained as he helped her up and held her hands in his. "And whenever I use it or whenever I go up against the monsters I fight, I get scared too."

Adora was most taken aback by this in all the time she knew him she's never known him to be afraid. "You scared?"

"Yeah I may act all confident like I know what I'm doing but the truth is, I'm terrified. I wonder if I can ever come back from this. But I choose not to let that get to me especially if my family and friends rely on me." Ben explained.

"I know you didn't ask for this and you want to help your friends Adora but this doesn't have to be your burden alone. Losing Entrapta is just as much on me ,as it is on you, so let me share the burden with you."

Adora realised that Ben was right this was a tremendous burden and one that can often come at a heavy price. She could see that Ben had been though the worst of it before and in a situation such as this so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to share her burden with someone who she saw as a kindred spirit.

"Your right, let's fix this…together." She finally decided.

"Together." Ben said with a proud smile.

Then all of a sudden a bright light shone on the two of them they gasped and saw it was coming from the roots that were nearby. They went over to take a look, Adora picked up the sword and when they looked through the shrubbery standing before them was a marvellous sight.

It was a tall spire like building surrounded by tree roots and other structures hidden in all the moss and trees. The design and architecture was similar to the First Ones ruins. Adora smiled knowing she finally found what she was looking for. Ben could defiantly see this was the place and so they moved forwards.

Not too far away Catra was still trying to find her way through the forest to get what she was looking for. She went through all the bushes moss and vines. She was caught in vines and managed to break free she yelled out in frustration.

"Augh! I'll never find this "magical tech!" If it even exists in the first place!" She said in frustration. However just as she was about to walk away she sees a light in the gloom and could just make out a couple of figures heading towards disappeared into the light.

"On second thought." She smirked evilly.

Catra leaped into the tree and climbed to the top using her claws to climb the tree. She stood in a crouched position in the trees. She looks down and sees Ben and Adora below approaching the mysterious structure. She chuckled evilly as she saw an opportunity.

"Hey Adora. Hey Benny boy."

Authors Notes: Oh boy this doesn't look good. The Princess Alliance is broken and now it seems the mysteries of the Lore of She-Ra need answering to help the glitching Glimmer. And Ben has had his first meeting with Madame Razz. The idea for this came up in writing this chapter as I felt Ben would be feeling grief over the loss of Entrapta as well, and doesn't know what to do without his family and friends to help and guide him. But naturally a throwdown with a monster and Razz's berry picking wake up call snaps him back to action and share this burden with Adora.

I was originally gonna use Ghostfreak to follow Adora but it seemed to me that Spider-Monkey would feel more on his turf in the Whispering Woods. Also I was saving Four-Arms for the Promise chapter but I thought what the heck. Also Rook showing some genuine upset tears over not saying something to Perfuma. Because in all my knowledge of watching Omniverse I never once saw Rook shed any tears of sadness so this would be a first especially if its someone close to him.

Now next chapter we get a good look at whats going on back on Earth in Ben and Rooks absence.

Until then For the Honour of Greyskull!