Authors notes: I'm back folks, sorry for the long delay. But now we're back with heroes of power, I will confess this chapter was rather difficult to write as far as Bens aliens go but I've selected a few that maybe suited to this one. Now let's begin.
Ben 10 (c) Cartoon Network
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (c) Dreamworks
:Ties that Bind:
In the kingdom of Dryl within the Crypto castle, home of Princess Entrapta, the Horde was there in force. Banners with their insignia rose as Catra stood atop the castle overlooking the Hordes encampment.
"The cities forces have all fled. Dryl is ours." Catra reported on her tech tab.
Scorpia meanwhile was inside the castle walking down the hallways. Looking at some of the paintings as well. "All right." She cheered. "I mean I guess it, kind of, was already ours since their Princess is on our side and all, but the banners, they really make it feel official."
"Where are you?" Catra asked.
"That is a great question…" Scorpia answered on the coms.
"..and the answer is "I do not know". Yea, this place is some kind of maze." Scorpia said as she was standing above another hallway, most likely the same one she was in before. Not surprising as Entrapta's castle was not just her technological sanctuary but also a complete maze. Luckily she hadn't run into any booby traps. Yet.
Catra just rolls her eyes at that. She then activates the location device in her Force Captain's badge, which sent a signal to Scorpia's tech tablet which showed her a map of the complex.
"There. That's me. Follow it out when you're done. And hurry up we have work to do." Catra relayed as Scorpia looked at the map.
Back outside the castle Catra leaped down from her vantage point. However little did she know she was being watched. From the rocks on the outskirts of the kingdom was Rook. He wore a brown cloak concealing his face. He surveyed the area from looking through his binoculars.
After he and Bow recently discovering that Entrapta was alive, he had to find further evidence so he traveled to Dryl under cover. After seeing the vast numbers of Horde soldiers there it was all the confirmation he needed. He quickly retreated from the area as a Horde Banner fell from the castle tower.
He was soon in the Proto Truck in its space ship form returning to Bright Moon. He opened a communication line to Bow. "Bow get Glimmer and meet me in the war room, we may have a situation." He reported.
Meanwhile:
Deep in the Whispering Woods, loud clanking sounds echoed throughout the woods. Suddenly a large claw snapped a tree in half. It was revealed to be EKS which fired an energy laser from its head. Suddenly a loud slash knocked the robot down slightly.
It looked around and saw below it was She-Ra, swinging her sword ready to fight. The sword glowed as it turned into what looked like a grappling hook. She fired it at the tree above her. Leaping out of the way of the robots eye blast. She leaped from the tree and delivered a crushing kick to the robot head destroying it.
The area turned read and disappeared revealing it to be a simple simulation. She-Ra reverted to Adora as she placed the sword on her back looking rather smug.
"Whewh, getting pretty good huh?" She said to Light Hope.
"You have shown improvement." Light Hope said to her. "But your attack would have been 57% more effective if you had support from your steed. It is time to bring Swift Wind into your training."
Adora on the other hand seemed a little disagreeable on that. "Um, shouldn't I work on mastering my own abilities first?"
"As She-Ra, your sacred connection with your steed is as important as any of your physical abilities." Light Hope explained as she showed a holo diagram of She-Ra and Swift Wind to emphasise her point. "He is a part of you, your destinies are intertwined."
"They sure are! Hi, Adora!" Swift Wind called as his head passed through Light Hopes head.
"AHHH!" Adora jumped in surprise.
"I've been here a while but there wasn't a good time for me to make my grand entrance, until now." Swift Wind said as his mane flew in the air.
"You mean you were waiting until Light Hope stopped talking." Ben then appeared in the room.
"Ben what are you doing here?" Adora asked.
"Swifty here wanted to come here too. So I decided to tag along to see how you were doing." Ben explained to her.
Adora smiled knowing her friend was concerned about her. "I requested Swift Winds presence." Light Hope said ignoring Ben. "Ben Tennyson's presence is inconsequential." Much to Bens irk.
"The time has come for the two of you to forge your sacred b…." Suddenly Light Hope crashed on them. They looked at each other rather surprised.
"Uh was it something we said?" Ben wondered.
Bright Moon:
"What do you mean? Entrapta's alive!" Glimmer was in the war room with Bow and a dismantled bot, Bow had just told her his and Rooks recent discovery.
"I couldn't figure out how the Horde was making such big technological advances. But it all makes sense now." He explained. "They must be holding Entrapta prisoner. Rook and I found First Ones tech in this bot. This is what Entrapta was experimenting on before she…"
"Before we left her behind in the Fright Zone." Glimmer said with a hint of guilt in her voice.
Bow could see Glimmer felt some responsibility about what happened to their fellow princess. He sat down next to her trying to comfort her.
"We didn't know." Bow said.
"It doesn't matter. We should have gone back for her. We should've tried. She got captured trying to save us." Glimmer was clearly saddened, but it was in that moment she came to a decision. "Well, we're not just leaving her there now. We've got to rescue her."
"How? We can't just walk into the Fright Zone. That's how we got in this mess in the first place." Bow reminded her.
"You need not have to." Said a voice and the two looked to see Rook enter the room.
"Rook? Where have you been?" Glimmer asked.
"I went to do a scout mission to Dryl, upon learning Entrapta was still alive I had a suspicion where she would have made those new robots." Rook explained. "And well, when I arrived, the Horde was already there in force."
Bow and Glimmer gasped at that very revelation. "No the Horde took Dryl!" Bow gasped.
"Yes, thankfully the people of the Kingdom did not come to harm, I had some scouts relocate them to Bright Moon for their own safety." Rook finished.
Glimmer took a minute to take all this in but then started to think. Soon she managed to put the pieces together. "The Horde has Entrapta, now they have Dryl. The timing can't be a coincidence."
Bow was beginning to get the idea too. "Of course. They're making her use her own lab."
"Indeed, remember her lab was full of left over First Ones technology that could be utilised to build more machines for the Horde." Rook said. "However, the Fright Zone is full of machinery she could utilise so why take the kingdom?"
"It doesn't matter! We're going to Crypto Castle, we'll find Entrapta and bring her back. No Princess left behind." Glimmer eventually decided.
"Yes! Totally on board. Let's get Adora." Bow agreed before Rook could say anything as he followed them out of the council room.
"Adora is out training with Light Hope." Glimmer said to him.
"What about Ben?" Bow then asked.
"He left with Swift Wind to help her." Glimmer said.
"Glimmer, I understand you wish to help Entrapta but we must think rationally." Rook reminded her. "The three of us storming into Dryl would be suicide, we should at least go with the rest of the Princesses."
Glimmer looked at Rook with a mixture of guilt and regret. "Entrapta got taken trying to save us, Rook. I'm not going to be responsible for losing anyone else. I just can't."
Rook and Bow could see that Glimmer felt guilty after the loss of Entrapta. All because she Bow and Rook got captured by the Horde at the Princess Prom. In truth, Bow and Rook felt the same regret as well, especially the Revonnahgander as it happened on his watch.
He placed a hand on Glimmers shoulder and looked at her determined. "I know Glimmer, as is the responsibility of a leader, so it will be just us, no one else. But perhaps it best I take point on this operation."
Glimmer smiled knowing that Rook was behind her and Bow stood behind him nodding in agreement. "Okay. Just us." Glimmer finally agreed. "I'll teleport us there."
"No you may wish to save your power for the field, we will take the Proto Truck." Rook motioned which the two friends nodded in agreement.
The Crystal Castle:
Meanwhile back in the Crystal Castle, Adora, Ben and Swift Wind were having trouble with Light Hope who had just frozen on them. "Uhhh, Light Hope?" Adora said waving her hand in front of her face.
"Did I break her? Was it when I went through her head?" Swift Wind wondered looking at the hologram.
Ben snapped his fingers in front of Light Hopes face. But no response. "Its like she's crashed or something." He said.
Adora moved to poke Light Hope, then suddenly she glitched loudly startling the group. Eventually she went back to normal. "The time has come for the two of you to forge your sacred bond…" She then noticed how spooked everyone looked. "I…Is there something wrong?"
Swift Wind was hiding behind his wings whilst Ben sat on the floor spooked, and Adora stood in a karate like pose. They calmed down as they looked to Light Hope.
"Well, I, yea. You kind of froze there for a second." Swift Wind explained.
"Yeah when was your last hardware update?" Ben asked.
"Are you okay?" Adora asked out of concern.
"Forgive me, my system is overloading. I may have to delay today's training so that I can rest." Light Hope said out of regret.
"Is there anything that I can do to help?" Adora asked.
"Yeah I mean if your having some system overload troubles isn't there someway we can fix it?" Ben asked, for Adora's sake.
"Perhaps." Light Hope then showed a hologram of Planet Etheria and a section of it highlighting a certain point. "This is the Watchtower. Once it allowed me to access my planetary mainframe. But it was destroyed by Mara when she lost control and attacked Etheria." The hologram showed the Watchtower being destroyed. "I have been functioning at only a fraction of my power ever since. If you can repair the Watchtower, my capabilities will improve, and training can commence."
The group listened intently. "Fix the Watchtower, got it." Adora said.
"Okay well judging by the map, it's not too far from the Whispering Woods, we can be there in no time." Ben observed, having spent some time with Angella and her general studying the maps so he and Rook have a better grasp of Etheria.
"Only then…" Suddenly Light Hope made more glitching noises which muddled up her face putting her eyes and mouth in the wrong place.
The group were all but creeped out by this by now. "Okay, so we're just gonna... We're just gonna go."
With that Swift Wind, Adora and Ben slowly left the room leaving Light Hope alone. Just then Ben nipped back and quickly took a selfie making a goofy looking face and a two finger symbol behind the holograms head. He snickered as he looked at the photo, he just couldn't resist. Suddenly Adora grabbed him by the jacket collar and yanked him away.
Dryl:
Meanwhile at the Horde occupied Dryl, Rook, Bow and Glimmer had just arrived. They kept their distance from the entrance, not just for the guards but also for the traps the last time they were there.
"Glimmer, search the Castle for Entrapta. Bow and I will infiltrate the camp." Rook whispered to the princess.
"On it." Glimmer said teleporting away.
As the guards inside the kingdom patrolled the camp. Rook and Bow snuck around the armoured huts. The Revonnahgander signalled the master archer to move forward quietly. They moved quickly and quietly to avoid detection by the guards.
They waited by one of the huts on the far side. Just then Glimmer teleported in behind them. "Any sign of Entrapta in the castle?" Bow asked.
"Nothing. And as usual that place is impossible to navigate." Glimmer groaned in annoyance remembering how hard it was navigating the castle labyrinth the last time they were here.
Suddenly they heard a yawn from close by. Rook suddenly noticed Catra yawning as she was walking by. He quickly pulled Bow and Glimmer to the side to avoid being spotted.
Just then Catra heard a beeping noise from her tech tablet. She answered it a communication from the Fright Zone namely from a panicking Kyle.
"Hello? Please say you're on your way back." Kyle called in.
The Fright Zone:
Back in the Fright Zone Kyle was in Entrapta's lab having problems of his own. "I need backup! Entrapta's new invention has lost it!"
Entrapta was chasing said invention of hers that was throwing things all over the lab. She was trying to catch it. "Bot #437 seems to be having some sort of existential crisis. Down, boy, down!"
Dryl:
Catra just looked rather bored by the rampage. Unaware that the rebels were listening from close by. The group nodded to each other and stepped closer hiding behind the crates. Rook slowly drew his Proto Tool ready for anything.
"Pull it together Kyle, you're fine." Catra said to him.
The Fright Zone:
Entrapta was struggling against the strength of her own creation, grabbing the different arms with her hair and pushing back with her feet.
"Stop it! Please, why are you doing this to me?" Entrapta cried.
Dryl:
Glimmer, Bow and Rook heard everything and to them it sounded like their comrade was being tortured. "Entrapta, she's really alive." Bow gasped.
"And they're hurting her." Glimmer growled.
"Glimmer, we cannot act rashly, wait for my signal and we will.." Before Rook could finish that sentence Glimmer teleported away.
"Glimmer wait!" Bow exclaimed.
Catra was caught completely by surprise as Glimmer suddenly attacked with her energy blasts. "Where is she?!" She demanded as Catra hissed and kicked her away.
Glimmer blasted Catra right against the wall with a concentrated energy blast. Scorpia had only just arrived on the scene. She growled as she charged at the Bright Moon princess and slammed her claw into the ground to crush her. Glimmer teleported away to the side.
Bow and Rook just looked in frustration. "So much for stealth." Rook said as he formed his Proto Tool into a sword.
Glimmer attacked Scorpia who swung her tail to try and swat her only for her to teleport reappear and struck a fist to her face as she teleported away again as Scorpia tried to strike her again. Glimmer appeared and landed a blow in the ribs.
Catra had recovered and tried to attack only to be intercepted by one of Bows arrows. She looked and saw said archer to her left looking confident. Catra merely growled as she lunged towards him. Bow fired arrow after arrow but each was either deflected away or dodged by Catra.
She leaped up and pinned Bow behind his weapon so he couldn't move. Bow struggled to push her off, and Catra growled showing her fangs. Rook saw his friend was in trouble and saw an arrow close by. He formed his Proto Bow and fired it towards Catra. She looked up just as it hit her dead in the face covering her face with tear gas.
She choked as she was blinded. Rook took advantage shifting his bow into a sword and slashed at her. Catra quickly dodged as she managed to regain her sight. She slashed at Rook who ducked and planted a spin kick, as well as some dodging moves from his fighting style of Revonnah Kai.
Scorpia meanwhile was looking all around as Glimmer teleported in and out landing punches and kicks on the scorpi Force Captain. Until finally Scorpia was able to grab her by the leg. Only to receive a goop arrow on her free claw pinning her down to the ground.
Rook was pushed back to Bow as they stood back to back weapons at the ready. "Bow get Glimmer we need to fall back!"
Bow nodded and he picked up Glimmer as they made a run for it. Rook quickly covered them with a smoke bomb from his belt. He tossed the bomb and it blew up a plume of smoke.
"Get them!" Catra yelled to Scorpia who pinned down by the goop on her claw couldn't move. Catra seething with annoyance simply ran after them.
As Bow, Glimmer and Rook fled through the camp, Catra leaped from structure to structure, then jumping to try and catch the fleeing rebels who teleport away just in the nick of time.
They reappeared in a hallway of the castle. Glimmer groaned in annoyance as she teleported the boys away. Only to appear in a hallway decorated by paintings, groaning again as she teleported into yet another hallway which seemed rather small. They were cramped against each other.
"This is a very strange castle." Rook said simply as Glimmer screamed in annoyance as she teleported them away.
They stopped teleporting in another hallway. But then Bow noticed something. "Wait. Isn't this where we started?"
Rook looked around their surroundings and agreed it looked rather familiar. "I believe it is Bow. I can see why Ben had difficulty navigating this place."
"GAHH! I hate this place!" Glimmer exclaimed. Catra arrived and casually leaned on the wall.
"I see the rebels have sent their finest." Catra simply laughed at them as she attacked.
Glimmer and Rook blocked her attacks. As the Revonnahgander blocked Catra slashes with her claws Glimmer attacked then teleported away from her. Rook formed his Proto Tool sword and slashed at Catra who just slashed back.
Bow readied his arrow trying to get a good target on Catra but their movements made it hard. Rook decided to change tactics. He switched his Proto Tool to its blaster form and the shined a red light to the ground. Catra looked at the light, and she didn't know why but she was entranced by the light on the ground.
"Whats that light?" She said intrigued as she leaped for it and grabs it. However its not in her hand she sees its next to her and she tried to grab it again but misses. "Hey come here!"
"Now Glimmer!" Rook exclaimed. Glimmer a bit bewildered by this acted quick and blasted Catra to the side with her powers.
"We need to move!" Rook called as the two ran to Bow. Catra hissed as she ran after them. Glimmer grabbed Bow and Rooks hands but Catra grabbed her cape before they teleported away.
Suddenly they reappeared in the sky tumbling towards the ground. Glimmer had her eyes closed. "Glimmer wake up!" Bow cried when they heard a girl scream and saw Catra was teleported with them.
"What did you just do to me?!" She cried. Before Glimmer kicked her off. The group tumbled to the ground. Rook landed on his feet and caught Glimmer and Bow. While Catra just landed flat on her face, with her tail standing on end.
"Whoa, nice reflexes." Glimmer said impressed.
Catra growled as she leaped towards them, Bow was the first to see her. "Get back!" Bow exclaimed as he fired an arrow from his namesake. The arrow launched a net which trapped the feline Force Captain.
"Whew!" Bow said relieved as he Rook and Glimmer stood over a snarling Catra who hissed. This left the trio wondering what to do next.
Elsewhere:
Meanwhile Ben, Adora and Swift Wind had arrived at what was supposed to be the location of the Watchtower. However their surroundings consisted of floating rocks. The winged steed flew above singing while Ben and Adora walked below getting a little annoyed.
"Adora, Ben and Swift Wind, on an adventure. Fix'n a thing that Mara broke." He sung whilst Ben and Adora walked in annoyance. "When she went nuts."
"Swift Wind, could you not do that?" Adora said.
"Yeah dude granted you have singing talent but we've got a job to do." Ben agreed.
"Just trying to keep us entertained while we look for this Watchtower. Any sign of it?" Swift Wind said as he descended down.
"The only thing I'm seeing are floating rocks and dead grass." Ben stated looking around. "You sure Light Hope got these coordinates right?" He looks to Adora.
"Maybe Light Hope got the location wrong." Adora said as she looked through the grass. However her steed thought differently.
"No, I don't think she did." Swift Wind said. "I definitely sense something here, something ancient and magical." He focused closing his eyes.
"Where?" Adora wondered.
"I'm not sure. Perhaps if we were to combine our efforts, my intuitive powers might increase." Swift Wind suggested rather noble.
Adora wasn't so sure. "No that's ok. I just, just have to keep looking. It has to be here somewhere."
"Uh Adora, there is such a thing as teamwork." Ben then said. "Like your First One Fairy God mother said, you and Swifty need to work together to forge this sacred bond thing."
"Yeah I know but I know I can find it somewhere." Adora said ignoring him. However both Ben and Swift Wind could tell somethings wrong.
"I could be wrong, but I'm sensing something's bothering you." Swift Wind simply said.
"I'm just really focused on fixing Light Hope. Like you guys should be." Adora said serious.
"Hey who said I'm not focussed?" Ben questioned.
"You mean like that goof selfie you took with Light Hope?" Adora questioned.
"Hey that was an opportune moment!" Ben defied.
"No Ben I think she's troubled about something else." Swift Wind said.
"How'd you guess?" Ben wondered.
"As her magnificent steed I am attuned to her emotions." Swift Wind explained as his main fluttered in the wind.
"Hm must be the whole blasted by the sword thing." Ben wondered remembering the story of how Adora accidentally transformed Swift Wind during week one with the sword.
"Guys!" Adora said getting their attention. "Okay, Swifty can you stay out of my head, please?"
"I'm not in your head." Swift Wind replied as his horn was tangled in Adora's hair as he looked her in the eyes. "You're just very bad at hiding your feelings. Is it about me?"
"I'm fine and no, it's not about you." Adora said as she pushed her steed back.
"Is it about Ben?, Rook?, Bow?,Glimmer? Catra? The Horde?" As Swift Wind listed them horse versions of their friends and enemies appeared in a bubble above his head. Ben could see this was pressuring Adora a little. "The crushing weight of your new responsibilities as the saviour of Etheria and trying to get our new friends home?"
Before he could say anything else Ben clasped the steeds month shut. "O..kay thats enough out of you. Look lets take a minute to think, this Watchtower thing is here somewhere so let's split up and take a look. Swift you take the air while me and Adora search below."
"We will?" Adora said taken aback.
"Yes we will." Ben said simply.
"Okay. I'm gonna do a few loop-de-loops." Swift Wind said as he took off into the sky.
Now they could talk out of his ear shot. "Okay why do I get the feeling you want to talk about something?" Adora asked.
"Cause we do." Ben said. "Adora look Swifty's just trying to help and isn't this the point of the whole sacred bond thing. Look if somethings bothering you you can tell me."
"Ben I'm fine, really I just need to focus on fixing Light Hope okay." She said a little sternly.
Ben wasn't convinced but before he tried to get her to open up, he noticed something on the rocks. They looked like blue lines in the shape of a circuit board.
"Uh Adora." He said.
"What?" She asked and noticed Ben was pointing up at the rocks. She looked up and saw what he was pointing to.
"Hey! Swift Wind." Adora called to her steed who was still doing loop-de-loops.
"What's up?" Swift Wind called.
"I think we found the Watchtower." Adora replied.
"Its in pieces." Ben saw. "We need to take a closer look." Ben activated the Omnitrix and from the selection screen selected an alien. He slammed the dial down and Adora was blinded by a green light.
The light faded and saw he was no longer there. "Ben? Where are you?"
"Down here!" Called a voice. When Adora looked down she saw what looked like a grey skinned frog like bipedal alien about four inches in height, with large green eyes and rectangular pupils. He wears a green and black jumpsuit with the Omnitrix symbol located on his back.
Bewildered Adora picked him up by the Omnitrix and looked at him. "Whys this alien so small?"
"Well believe it or not this is Grey Matter, what he lacks in size, he makes up for in brains." he said tapping his head. "Now lets take a look at those rocks." Adora was a little confused but chose to roll with it.
Meanwhile:Somewhere far from Dryl:
Catra sat on a rock tied up in ropes and chewed her tongue then spitting. Meanwhile Bow and Rook were lecturing Glimmer.
"Glimmer, I told you to wait for my signal! You cannot just disappear off and attack without a plan. We could have been captured." Rook scolded her lightly.
"On top of that we took a hostage!" Bow added in. "We're supposed to be the good guys. Maybe we should just let her go…"
Glimmer couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Let her go? Did she let us go? No! She let the Horde torture us."
"Uh, yeah, because she's a bad guy." Bow reminded.
"Or bad girl in this instance." Rook included.
"Okay look maybe I acted on impulse but they have Entrapta and torturing her to build the Horde robots!" Glimmer exclaimed to them. While they were talking Catra scratched herself with her foot and then snored out of boredom. "We didn't mean for this to happen. But it did, and now we should use it to our advantage."
Catra sniffed her foot as Glimmer addressed her. "We're taking you to Bright Moon. If your people want you back they'll have to give us Entrapta."
"Entrapta? Who's that?" Catra said in a faking way.
Glimmer grabbed her by her shirt collar and looked right at her face. "We know you have her! Where is she? What are you doing to her?"
"Glimmer." Bow said to her telling her not to stoop to their captives level.
Glimmer dropped Catra onto the rock. "Ohhh, Entrapta. You mean the Princess you left behind to die? Ha." Catra said. "Don't worry. We're taking good care of her."
"Now why do I find that hard to believe?" Rook said in question.
"On your feet Horde scum." Glimmer demanded sternly. Only for Catra to keel over onto her side.
"Whoops. I can't walk. Unless you want to untie me." Catra hinted.
"Nice try. I'll just teleport us there." Glimmer decided.
"Glimmer, a moment please." Rook said pulling her to the side.
"Just what are we doing, you know we cannot make deals with Hordak." Rook questioned. "They do not seem like the kind of people to negotiate with."
"They will if we have one of their Force Captains held hostage." Glimmer reminded.
"Even if we did what guarantee do we have they will uphold their end, they would deceive us just like they were planning to do when they had us captured." Rook said.
"Rooks got a point." Bow agreed.
"I know but we have to do this to get Entrapta back." Glimmer said.
"You're letting your emotions get the best of you, it is playing to Catra's advantage." Rook said.
"Even so Bright Moon is pretty far away." Bow then said. "Shouldn't you wait until we get closer to teleport us there? You don't want to run out of power and get us stuck out here." He then pointed to Catra. "Especially with her."
"We will take the Photo Truck back to Bright Moon." Rook decided. "It will be quicker."
"UHHGH Fine." Glimmer groaned which left Catra with a mischievous smirk on her face, and she may have an opportunity.
The Watchtower (Whats left of it):
Back at the ruins of the Watchtower. Adora rode Swift Wind up to the rock pieces floating above the ground. Grey Matter was on her shoulder as they approached. They gasped after seeing one of the larger stone pieces had First Ones writing on it.
"Wow. Mara really did a number on this place." Swift Wind said.
"Yes, it would have taken the equivalent of nine hundred neutron bombs to destroy a structure like this." Grey Matter agreed. He leaped off Adora's shoulder and climbed up Swift Winds mane and horn to get a closer look at the rocks.
"Hm, judging by the cracks and design of the rocks they look like they assemble the Watchtower." Grey Matter analysed the rubble. "If its like some of the other First Ones ruins we've encountered so far maybe the sword can interact with it."
Adora knew what that meant. "So, let's put it back together." She drew the sword and held it in the air.
"For the Honour of Grayskull!"
She was then transformed into She-Ra. Swift Wind flew closer to the rock and touched the First Ones symbols with the tip of the sword. They glowed for a brief moment before the glow died. Nothing seemed to happen.
She-Ra sighed in disappointment. While Grey Matter wondered what could've happened. "Hm…maybe we missed something."
Swift Wind tried to defuse the tension with a little song. "She-Ra and Swift Wind. Forging a sacred bond. Fixing a magic tower. With a magical sword."
Grey Matter looked from their vantage point and noticed something about the remains of the tower. They seemed to be gathered in a circle, almost like it was around something.
"Hold on." He said getting their attention. "Look at the rocks, they seem to be around the centre of the field, almost as if their surrounding something in the eye of a magnetic centre."
She-Ra looked and could see what the Galvan was talking about. "Maybe thats the key."
"Centre of the rock circle here we come!" Swift Wind sung as they descended down.
Meanwhile:
Back with Rook and the others, they had taken their prisoner Catra to the Proto Truck which Rook had called with his remote. They were now in the air flying towards Bright Moon. Rook was driving while Glimmer sat upfront and Bow sat in the back with their prisoner.
All was quiet while Bow kept his eyes on Catra. "Heh sweet ride." Catra simply said.
"Thank you I like to think so." Rook simply said.
"So whats the deal with this thing anyway?" She then asked.
"That is classified information." Rook simply replied.
Catra could see that the young Plumber wasn't going to divulge anything about this craft. Just then Bow spoke up. "So you okay? Not airsick or anything?" Bow genuinely asked.
"Like you care." Catra simply scoffed.
"We do, actually. The Rebellion treats it's prisoners with compassion." Bow explained. To which Catra just scoffed.
"You princess-types have to be about the bleeding hearts don't you." Catra said. "Everything with you is about the 'power of friendship.' How's that working out for you?"
"Come on. I bet even the Horde has friends. What about Adora?" Bow asked friendly like.
Catra just scoffed at that subject. None the less Bow pressed on. "You two grew up together, right? What was she like as a kid?"
Catra snarled showing her fangs. "Bow it is typically not a good idea to make small talk with prisoners." Rook advised.
"Oh come on Rook, its the best way to get to know people." Bow insisted.
"Be that as it may, it is also a means of prisoners to get inside our heads, with mind games." Rook said remembering his own experiences with prisoners such as when Ben transported Vilgax to Incarcecon when General Attea attacked with Six six, Seven Seven and Eight Eight.
"Gee why didn't I think of that." Catra teased.
"Rook, Bow don't give her ideas." Glimmer seethed.
None the less Bow persisted with small talk. "Glimmer and I have known each other forever too. She'd teleport to the roof to get my lost arrows when I was learning to shoot."
"Wow, you two must be really close?" Catra said rather intrigued. Or so it seemed. "Sounds like Glimmer would do anything for you, huh?"
"Absolutely. She's my best friend." Bow said. "So's Rook."
"Good to know." Catra smirked. Then suddenly she sheathed her claws leaped up, grabbed Bow and tossed him right into the control console of the Proto Truck knocking him into Rook causing him to swerve the wheel causing the ship to veer off course.
"Bow!" Glimmer exclaimed and saw Catra was trying to find the rear door controls.
She growled a she fired a magic blast towards her which Catra dodged quickly. Rook meanwhile fought for control of the craft. However the fight was making it difficult to control the ship.
Glimmer fired another shot but missed and it bounced into the controls causing a short circuit. "Ooo bad shot Princess."
"GAHHH! How are you such a nightmare?!" Glimmer exclaimed.
"Ah years of practice." Catra smirked. However there was worse to come with the controls fried Rook couldn't maintain control.
"Glimmer! That short circuit has fried the controls I cannot maintain control we are going to crash!" Rook exclaimed.
"Yeah so maybe we should discuss this when we're not crashing to our deaths!" Bow yelled in panic.
"You know what? I'm ready to see if cats really do have nine lives!" Glimmer said refusing to teleport them to safety.
"Please don't do that we're in the same ship!" Bow exclaimed.
"He is right Glimmer we must eject!" Rook exclaimed and tried to activate the rear door and ejector seats. Sadly when he pressed the button it didn't work. "The shorts disabled the ejector seats and rear doors! Glimmer teleport us out of here!"
Glimmer however refused to teleport anyone away as she just stood there glaring. Despite the danger that was awaiting them.
"GLIMMER!" Bow and Rook cried.
"GAH Okay!" Glimmer said as she grabbed, Bow, Catra and Rook and teleported them away.
They reappeared in a stream of water where they fell in and got caught in the current. To Catra this was her worst nightmare as they surfaced.
"Not a fan of water huh?" Glimmer smirked only for Catra to wrap her arms round the princess to stay afloat. "Get off of me!"
"Glimmer help!" Bow cried who was swept up in the current. Rook surfaced and swam to him.
"Hold on Bow I am coming!" Rook called and managed to grab the archer and latched onto a nearby log. "Glimmer catch!" He fired a grapple line from his Proto tool on his shoulder.
"Got it!" Glimmer called grabbing the line and pulled it grabbing onto the log.
"Okay, ready to be rescued from this whenever you are." Bow suggested as they floated on the log in the water currents.
"I just need a minute to rest." Glimmer said exhausted. However Bow saw something very concerning ahead of them.
"Um, what could you do with ten seconds?" Bow said and the group looked to see what he saw. It was a waterfall a very deep one, with the likelihood of sharp rocks at the bottom.
"Oh dear." Rook gasped.
Catra just laughed. "Seriously? You guys are terrible at this."
Glimmer just groaned, Rook knew that she wouldn't have time to recover. "Everyone grab onto me!" He called and so Bow and Glimmer grabbed onto him and Catra stayed holding onto the princess.
The log then toppled over the cliff and they screamed, only for Rook to fire the grappling line from the Proto Tool which latched onto the tree branch high above. They screamed as they swung from the tree and crashed to the ground close to the water. The grapple line retracted back to Rook. They all groaned after that crash.
He looked up and saw his Proto-Truck crash down into the canopy a distance away. "GAH!" he groaned. "I just had that overhauled!"
Catra just laughed almost taunting them. "At least we're all in one piece. Can't say the same for Entrapta."
Glimmer growled as she readied another magical blast, only for her to collapse from exhaustion. Bow and Rook went over to her in concern. "Glimmer, are you okay?" Bow said with concern.
"She looks weak from all that teleporting." Rook diagnosed. "With the Proto Truck out of action it will be a long walk to Bright Moon."
"Aww. What's wrong? Sleepy after all that magic?" Catra teased as she shook her head drying her hair.
The princess was about to act until Rook stopped her. "Glimmer, do not let her get to you."
Glimmer took a deep breath and then picked Catra up by her collar. "I'm fine. You're not worth my time. C'mon, it's a long walk to Bright Moon." She walked away but then Catra simply licked her arm much to Glimmers disgust as Catra fell backwards.
"Put more ropes on her!" Glimmer said angered. However they didn't notice Catra touching her badge activating the locator beacon.
Dryl:
Meanwhile back at Dryl, Scorpia was pacing around having a panic meltdown as Lonnie and Rogelio watched.
"What do you mean there's no sign of her? Where could they have gone?" Scorpia panicked. "Think, think Scorpia. Do we tell Hordak? Send out a search-party? Put up posters?" She asked grabbing Rogelio by the shoulders. Looking him dead in the eye. "How are we gonna find Catra? I mean if somebody has touched a hair on her head, I don't know…"
All of a sudden she heard a beep coming from her tech tablet. It showed her that Catra's locator beacon had been activated. Scorpia gasped with relief.
"Oh, she's signalling us. We can follow this right to her. Catra, you beautiful genius, I'm coming!" She cried grabbing Lonnie and Rogelio by the waist and ran out of Dryl.
The WatchTower (Whats left of it):
Meanwhile in the centre of the remains of the Watchtower, She-Ra stood in the centre of the rock circles. Ben after turning back from Grey Matter stood and watched her focus her energy into the sword. It started -Ra's hair flowed as she breathed in and out as her sword glowed bright focussing its energy.
"Try concentrating. Focus the She-Ra." Swift Wind then interrupted trying to help but She-Ra was getting more and more frustrated. "She-Ra…"
"I can't concentrate when you're distracting me!" She-Ra yelled at Swift Wind. "This worked in Salineas."
"Yeah but that was when we had a giant sea gate in front of us." Ben reminded. "And so far we're getting nowhere fast what are we even looking for?!"
"I don't know!" She-Ra exclaimed. "But your right before we had the sea gate something to focus the sword through but now we don't!"
"Well if this is like the sea gate maybe theres some kind of, I don't know receptor or something?" Ben wondered.
Swift Wind then decided to lighten the mood. "Hey, you know what might help? Loop-de-loops, with me. Get on my back."
"Swift Wind, you're not taking this seriously." She-Ra said annoyed it looked like she was at breaking point with her steed.
"I'm just saying everything's better with loop-de-loops." Swift Wind said unfazed.
Just then they felt like they were floating, they looked and saw they were indeed floating. They looked and saw Ben now Gravattack suspending them in the air.
"Okay!" Gravattack said sternly. "Swift Wind go fly around and look for any clues about this thing!" Swift Wind did a solute with his wing and flew off out of Gravattack's influence. He lowered She-Ra back down to the ground.
"And you, for the sake of getting my own head chewed off. Taking out your frustration on your steed isn't gonna help us solve this." Gravattack then said to her.
"Yeah well neither is taking this mission seriously, I mean seriously Ben you of all people should understand!" She-Ra said to him sternly.
"Yeah I do, and Swifty's only trying to help and so am I, but it's like your trying to do them by yourself." Gravattack pointed out.
"Well I seem to be the only one around here who's focused on fixing Light Hope!" She-Ra exclaimed.
Gravattack had just had about enough of Adora's stubbornness. "Okay whats your master plan?"
She-Ra then changed her sword into a rope and lassoed it around one of the rocks trying to pull it in. It was then Gravattack saw what she was trying to do.
"So your going to lasso them together?" Gravattack said confused.
"Yes its fine I've got this!" She-Ra denied but the rock just pulled her away from him. "Still got this."
Gravattack just pinched his forehead, and grumbled. He had a feeling this was going to take time. "Oh boy I hope Rook and the others are having more fun then I am."
Meanwhile:
"I hope Ben and Adora are having more fun than we are." Rook grumbled, as now Glimmer was dragging a tied up Catra up the hill to the forest. While Bow and Rook could only watch. Catra on the other hand was enjoying taunting her captors.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat. Getting held hostage is so much work." Catra teased stretching her legs as Glimmer growled and groaned going up the hill. "Almost as exhausting as torturing Entrapta every day."
Glimmer was almost at breaking point. "Just ignore her." She gritted.
Rook meanwhile was stuck in his own thoughts, he was wondering about Entrapta, not just her safety but something else. He knew how smart she was, and if she was taken prisoner she could've escaped on her own. He knew this from past experience of his own when dealing with Kundo when he took over Plumber Headquarters. However, he knew Entrapta had a weakness, namely the tech the Fright Zone had. Given how much Perfuma complained during their rescue mission how she told him Entrapta seemed more interested by the tech in that place, getting off task. He was beginning to wonder.
"You seem rather arrogant regarding the capture of Entrapta?" Rook questioned.
"Oh yeah you could say she fell right into our laps." Catra said smugly.
"Entrapta is rather smart though, she could have escaped could she not?" Rook then asked.
"Yeah she did multiple times but theres no escape from the Fright Zone or the Horde." Catra said smugly.
"We managed to." Rook said suspiciously.
"Once! That happened once!" Catra said sternly.
"Rook! Talking to her is not helping!" Glimmer seethed through her teeth having heard all of it. Catra giggled as she leaped up pulling Glimmer backwards onto her back while Bow caught the feline Force Captain in his arms.
"You're looking pretty tired too princess." Catra was pretty heavy as Bow was struggling to hold her up. "Running out of glitter?"
Eventually Bow dropped her to the ground. Glimmer had just about enough. "Bow, can't you and Rook keep her mouth shut?" Glimmer questioned.
"I tried, but she bites." Bow said showing his hand which was clawed and scratched. Catra winked at that statement.
"Not to worry I have a simple solution to this." Rook stated.
"Oh like what?" Catra questioned. Rooks response was activating a red light from his Proto Tool. Catra was immediately enthralled by the light like back in Dryl she couldn't help but admire it.
"Ooo its that light again! You won't get away this time!" Catra leaped and tried to grab it but when she looked it wasn't there. She looked to her right and leaped for it. Glimmer and Bow were completely surprised.
"How in?" Bow asked.
"Feline creatures on earth have a weakness for shining red lights, making them chase it." Rook explained. "Given Catra's feline like nature it seemed logical the same principles would apply. Bens Catnip gas gave me the idea."
Eventually it tired Catra out and the light stopped shining. Catra snapped out of it. "Wow. I gotta admit that was good exercise. Just like torturing Entrapta for weapons."
At that moment Glimmers patience finally gave way. "GYAAHHHHH!" She shouted. "How did Adora take years of this?"
"I would think with patience." Rook guessed.
"Well you know what I'm starting to think she didn't run away from the Horde, she ran away from you." Glimmer said to Catra.
That stung Catra pretty hard. "And where is she now? Off being She-Ra with Benny boy Get used to it." Catra said angry. "You think she's not going to leave you behind, too, Sparkles?"
Glimmer growled. "Oh yeah like being with you and Shadow Weaver was any better no wonder she was ready to be rid of you from what I heard!"
"Oh and what about Tennyson, you think he won't leave you behind?! You know from what I heard he's not of Etheria and when he finds a way home what then? He won't be here!" Catra snapped.
Before Glimmer could say anything however. "Don't move!" They looked and saw Scorpia, Lonnie and Rogellio standing in a battle stance.
Rook and Bow quickly readied their respective weapons while Glimmer stood in front of Catra. They were in a Mexican stand off glaring each other down with their weapons and claws at the ready. The question was who would make the first move.
The Watchtower (Whats left of it)
Things weren't going so well with reassembling the Watchtower either. She-Ra had managed to tie up the different rocks together. While Gravattack for the sake of argument tried using his powers to pull the rocks together. She-Ra grunted as she threw another one of the rocks at the tied up pile. Leaping on it she then placed it under the rope.
"How's that look?" She asked, Swift Wind meanwhile was sitting on the rock ledge.
"You know what? I don't think that one goes there after all. In fact, it might be upside down." Swift Wind pointed out. "Maybe you should take it all apart and start again?"
She-Ra looked very annoyed at her steed, he wasn't helping in the slightest. She looked to see Gravattack was using his powers to attract the rocks. However he wasn't having any luck.
"Ben come on I thought you could control gravity in that form!" She-Ra yelled.
"I can!" Gravattack said as he struggled. He focused all his powers to manipulate the gravity on the rocks but it was like something was pulling them back into place.
"I don't get it Gravattack controls gravity! But its like somethings pulling them back again!" He growled and foccused his powers but had to be careful for too much could lead to disastrous consequences.
She-Ra had decided to try and force the rocks together pushing them into place. Swift Wind then flew down. "You seem stressed." Swift Wind noticed. "Why don't we list all our favourite things until we feel better? I'll go first. Apples, hay, toppling unjust hierarchies, apples... Wait, I said that already."
She-Ra just screamed in frustration as she kept pushing. Suddenly she felt another push on the rubble. It was Swift Wind trying to help put the tower back together.
"What are you doing?" She-Ra growled.
"I'm helping! I'm She-Ra's steed and that's what I do." Swift Wind tried.
Gravattack then came over and tried using his powers to help hold it together. But all this pushing and pulling wasn't keeping it together and it certainly wasn't helping She-Ra's ever growing frustration.
"This isn't helping! Can you just…" She-Ra said in frustration as this friction and tension wasn't helping and finally the rope broke and the rocks scattered catapulting the two away leaving Swift Wind still standing.
"Adora! Ben!" He called. Gravattack crashed to the ground just as the Omnitrix timed out reverting him back to Ben.
"Ow! I officially hate First Ones ruins!" Ben groaned getting up from the ground.
"Hey you okay Ben?" Swift Wind asked coming over to him.
"Great! But this is getting us nowhere! We're no closer to fixing this goddamn thing than before!" Ben eventually vented his frustration.
"I know I'm seeing it." Swift Wind said.
"Swift, I'm trying to be calm but could you please take this mission seriously and just help!" Ben said getting more frustrated.
"I'm trying to!" Swift Wind said.
"Oh and how is this helping me!" Called a voice. They saw She-Ra more frustrated than before. "All you've been doing on this mission is doing loop de loops and goofing off! If my steed is supposed to help me then why haven't you!"
Swift Wind looked quite hurt by that. "Adora! Thats enough you've not exactly been letting him help you!" Ben defended him. "When are you going to get it through your head that your not alone in this! This whole thing was about forging a bond between the two of you but you've ignored that all day!"
"Maybe cause I don't need it!" She yelled which took the two aback and looked a little hurt. "If you guys won't take it seriously I'll do this myself!" She stormed off in the opposite direction.
Ben and Swift Wind looked at each other, it was then the steed did feel some guilt over his goofing off. Ben stroked his head in comfort. He knew this was the time for an intervention.
Meanwhile:
"Catra, are you okay? Did they hurt you? I will crush them." Scorpia said viciously with her claw up as everyone faced each other down weapons at the ready.
"Your Force Captain is completely unharmed." Rook pointed out.
"We want to make a trade. We'll release Catra if you release Entrapta." Glimmer said holding Catra's restraints.
"I have a better trade." Catra said rather serious as she looked them in the eye. "You release me right now or we'll finish Entrapta off once and for all."
Bow, Glimmer and Rook looked worried they wouldn't dare harm their captive. But then again this was the Horde. "What?" Bow gasped.
"She's bluffing!" Glimmer denied. Rook stayed silent, he could see her expression was a serious one, but something seemed off to him.
Catra just glared at her captors and then turned to her fellow Horde comrades. "Scorpia, get Kyle on the comm."
So thats what happened. Scorpia took out her tech tablet and activated the communications line. Upon opening the sounds of screaming could be heard. To Bow, Rook and Glimmers horror it was Entrapta screaming.
"No, no, no! Wait! Oh no. AHHH!" Entrapta screams. Kyle managed to get through long enough to answer.
"Force Captain, I knew you'd call me back. What do I do?" Kyle asked.
"If you don't hear back from me in thirty seconds, take Entrapta out." Catra ordered in a serious tone.
The Fright Zone:
"What?" Kyle said confused while hiding behind a table.
Meanwhile Emily (Entrapta's robot) was fighting the renegade creation. While Entrapta herself was trying to fix this. "Just relax. We'll figure this out. Everything's okay." Entrapta said with some assurance. While Kyle ducked behind the table.
The Woods:
Catra just smirked at the sounds of the screaming which to the rebels were the sounds of torture. This was the last straw for Glimmer she yelled and pinned Catra to the tree by her collar.
"Two can play at that game." Glimmer threatened. The Revonnahgander didn't like where this was going one bit. But kept his weapon trained on the Horde soldiers as did Bow.
"Catra! If you touch her again…" Scorpia threatened. "Easy there Big Gal, she's not going to try anything. They're noble rebels after all. They play by the rules." Catra assured knowing the princess would never cross a line.
Glimmer just growled, and when Bow and Rook looked back to her. The princess was readying a magic blast in her hands with every intent to hurt her captive.
"Glimmer stop!" Bow exclaimed.
"No!" Rook agreed. "This is not the way you know this is not right!"
Glimmer just scowled at that. "This isn't fair. After everything she's done? After what she did to us? We're just supposed to let her go?" She said frustrated while Catra just looked with a taunting smirk.
"There is no argument for what she has done." Rook said. "But what good is stopping the Horde if we stoop to their level in the process, there are lines we do not cross. The code we live by may not be an easy one but it is the right one."
"How do we know they'd really get rid of Entrapta, guys? They need her." Glimmer then voiced.
Bow looked a little unsure, whether the Horde would get rid of the only one supplying them with robots. Rook however took this into deep consideration, it was in that moment he put two and two together.
"We can't take that chance." Bow simply said but Glimmer still wanted to hurt their captive with all her power. "We're not them."
With those words she stood down her arms and freed Catra. Rook then took her by the arm and pushed her forwards. "We will release her." Rook said. "But you must give us your word that you will guarantee our safe passage, and of Entrapta's safety."
"How do we know you won't double cross us rebel!" Lonnie questioned.
"You have my word as an Agent of the Plumbers and of the Great Rebellion, we do not betray our ideals unlike the Horde." Rook said much to Catra's snicker.
"Okay fine just let her go." Scorpia finally agreed.
Rook complied and let Catra walk to her comrades while he and Bow kept their weapons trained on the Horde soldiers in case of any tricks. Glimmer just had her back turned scowling.
"Oh. Oh! Come here! Come on." Scorpia said extremely worried as she untied her friend. "I'm just so glad this nightmare is over."
"Wow. I didn't think you'd actually buy that." Catra said laughing while the rebels maintained their serious expressions.
"We held up our end of the bargain. Now, show us that Entrapta's alive." Glimmer said.
"You and Adora are perfect for each other, I'll give you that. Earnest, naive, ridiculously easy to manipulate." Catra listed before changing her tone. "It's adorable. And it's why you're never going to win."
"Neither is threatening your captive when you clearly are not." Rook then said which got Bow and Glimmers attention.
"What?" Bow said.
"Rook what are you talking about?" Glimmer asked. "They're torturing Entrapta to make robots for them you heard the coms?"
"Are they though?" Rook said finally piecing it together. "Think about it, we know how smart and innovative Entrapta can be, she was smart enough to turn her castle into a labyrinth. So she could have escaped from the Fright Zone after we assumed she was dead." Bow and Glimmer listened with intent, they didn't like where this was going. "However I then remembered that Entrapta has a weakness towards technology, something the Fright Zone has, given how she strayed away from Perfuma during the rescue mission. No doubt after capture she assumed we left her behind. While Catra taunted us about her I could tell by her micro expressions that she was lying when she said she was torturing her."
Everyone listened to Rooks deduction, before he finished. "Entrapta is not being tortured to make the robots, she is building them of her own free will. Is she not Catra?"
Bow and Glimmer looked in horror at this revelation they just couldn't believe it. Catra just smirked impressively.
"Hm your clearly the smart one of the bunch aren't you." Catra then motioned for Scorpia to give her the tech tablet which she complied and she opened the com line. "Kyle, if you actually took me seriously just then, call it off."
"Kyle isn't available at the moment." Entrapta's voice then sounded.
The Fright Zone:
She was right Kyle wasn't available because he was being swung around in circles by one of Entrapta's robots. Then flung into the corner screaming. "But I've got it under control." She pressed a button which shorted out said robot. "Don't worry, this was just the prototype. The next model will be much, much bigger."
Bow and Glimmer looked at each other they really didn't want to believe what Rook suspected. They had to know for sure. "Entrapta? What's going on?" Bow asked.
"Oh hey. You wanna talk to her?" Catra said flipping over the screen so Entrapta could see them.
"Oh, hi Bow. What are you doing there?" Entrapta waved.
"Just hang on Entrapta, we're going to rescue you." Glimmer assured despite Rooks words.
"Oh good! Rescue me from what?" Entrapta wondered.
"From the Horde!" Glimmer exclaimed.
"Oh, well, that's nice of you." Entrapta said. "But all of my stuff is here now, so probably I'll just stay. Thanks anyway though."
"Yeah your blue friend there was right." Catra teased.
Bow and Glimmer couldn't believe what they were hearing. They looked with horror and confusion. Rook was shocked that his suspicion was proven true. For once he wished he was wrong.
"Entrapta…y.. you really are on the Horde's side now?" Bow said horrified.
"I'm on the side of science." Entrapta proclaimed as she worked on her robots. "But I am living at the Fright Zone now, and the Horde is supplying me with tools and materials for my work. So, yes? I guess?"
"Entrapta?! Th…this is treason!" Rook stuttered. "The Horde are using your creations to destroy this planet! You call that science!"
"Oh thats rich from the people who left her behind." Catra snarked.
"They are using you princess, once they get what they want from you, they will cast you aside!" Rook yelled.
"But why did you leave me behind?" Entrapta said.
"We didn't know you were alive!" Bow exclaimed.
"Oh well don't worry about me." Entrapta then said. "I love it here. I've made unbelievable progress in my research. And the Horde has been so supportive." Glimmer just turned away in shock whilst Bow looked down in shame as Rook glared. Glimmer rubbed her eyes trying to hold back tears. "I'm getting closer every day to unraveling the mysteries of Etheria. Hacking the Black Garnet was just the first step."
Bow looked in shock, someone he considered an equal was the one behind the elements being out of harmony. The very thing that nearly won the Horde, Bright Moon.
"That was you." Bow gasped.
Catra then cut the com line. "So much for the power of friendship." She said.
Rook took in an angered breath before he spoke. "You think our friendship weakness, at least we have something to fight for! While you fight for nothing and that is why you will never win!"
Bow looked with a defiant glare as he knew Rook was right this wasn't the time or place. "Glimmer, Bow lets go we are done here." Rook said as he turned away and Bow went up to Glimmer.
"Come on Glimmer, lets go." Bow said to her. Glimmer however said nothing. "Glimmer?" Glimmer looked at Bow with a look of hatred as he swatted his hand away and much to the surprise of everyone charged forwards yelling.
The Watchtower:
Back at the remains of the Watchtower, Ben and Swift Wind went looking for She-Ra. Just then they saw her reverted to Adora. Then out of nowhere she simply collapsed they went over to her in concern.
"Adora!" Swift Wind called.
"Hey, you okay?" Ben asked only to find her staring at the sky lying on the grass.
"I don't know what I'm doing." Adora finally admitted as they came over. "I don't even know what this Watchtower is supposed to do or how it's supposed to help." Ben and Swift Wind sat/knelt down next to her, it was time to find out what was really going on.
"Okay Adora, no more of this one princess show act, whats really going on? I know something else is bothering you." Ben said.
"Yeah I mean why are you doing this?" Swift Wind agreed.
Adora knew there was no hiding it anymore. "I need to be a better She-Ra than Mara." She finally admitted. "I need to know how to control my powers so I don't hurt people like she did." She looked at the sword as they listened. "Light Hope is the only one that can teach me, and she's broken."
"You're really freaking out about this Mara thing aren't you?" Swift Wind noticed.
"How could I not? She ruined everything." Adora said sitting up. "And I don't know how to fix it."
Ben could see this Mara situation was having an affect on his friend. "Well, don't you think thats part of the problem?"
Adora looked at Ben a little confused. "I mean whenever you say She-Ra you always mean the other one. You said it yourself your not her, no one's gonna tell you how to be a better hero. Thats something you need to discover on your own." Ben explained while Adora and Swift Wind listened. "I mean I get it she couldn't handle the power and your worried it could happen to you, but I'm like that with the Omnitrix. I get worried that I may get corrupted, I've been to loads of alternate dimensions where I lost control heck even turning into a psychotic time traveller."
Adora listened with intent at this point remembering how Ben told her and the others about his counterparts and of Eon. "But I tell myself I'm not them and I learn how to be better by my own decisions and on my terms." He placed his hand on Adora shoulder. "Adora I know you want to be better, but you're She-Ra now, and you can fix this. Your way, but that doesn't mean you have to do it alone."
Adora could tell by the tone in Bens voice that he meant it. She believed every word he had seen alternate timelines and had been through this before. That was something she couldn't help but admire about him.
"Yeah he's right Adora." Swift Wind finally spoke. "I'm sorry I didn't take this mission more seriously." He admitted. "The truth is, I'm just so excited to be your steed. I guess I just got carried away."
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this with me. You were just a horse before I accidentally zapped you with my sword." Adora apologised and Ben remembered the story of how Swift Wind became what he was in the aftermath of the sword being found.
"If it weren't for me, you would've been able to live out the rest of your days carefree in a nice pasture in Thaymore."
"Adora, I wouldn't trade my voice and my wings for anything." Swift Wind said in honesty. "I've got the chance to change the world now. To make it better than when I found it. I can't imagine ever going back. Can you?"
Adora smiled at that as did Ben. "No. I don't think I can." She finally admitted.
"We all may have become what we are in different ways, but we always find a way to work through it…Together." Ben said to the two of then pulled both her friend and her steed into a hug for comfort.
Meanwhile:
Glimmer yelled as she attacked Catra grunting as she threw punches at her. The feline Force Captain dodged every one of them laughing and cackling as she did. She slipped away and Glimmer received a swat from Scorpia's tail catapulting her across the ground. Lonnie and Rogelio then ran to attack her.
"Glimmer!" Bow and Rook exclaimed. They drew their weapons and attacked. Bow fired a rope arrow and swung from the tree branch to knock Rogelio to the ground.
While Rook formed his Proto staff and swatted Lonnie away with one strike. Knocking her to the ground into the shrubbery. Suddenly Catra grabbed Bow from behind restraining him in a head lock.
"Forget the princess, she's got no power! Get them!" Catra said as Scorpia readied her stinger.
"I would not advise that!" Rook said getting their attention. "Unless you want to be blown to atoms!"
Catra and Scorpia just laughed at that statement. "What with that puny blaster, nice try."
"No." Rook said as he tapped on the tools Omnitrix symbol bringing up a holo screen. He then flicked a certain switch on the side of it. "But with the safety limiter disabled the core inside by Proto Tool will overload and if discharged will do a very good imitation of a fusion grenade, creating a blast crater half a mile wide."
Scorpia and Catra were a little spooked by that prospect as were Lonnie and Rogelio. Glimmer was more than surprised by what Rook was threatening to do.
"You wouldn't dare! You'd blow yourself up thats not very by the rules is it?" Catra said not buying it.
"You want to put that to the test or would you rather disappear in sparkling atoms." Rook said but Glimmer noticed a hinting tone in that last part she got the message.
Just before this escalated Glimmer teleported to Rook and then teleported him and her to Bow and Catra. Who was taken by surprise.
"Turns out I saved a little magic, just for you!" Glimmer said blowing a raspberry and they teleported away just as Scorpia attacked with her stinger but it struck Catra in the arm instead.
"NOOOOOOO!" Scorpia cried scaring the birds out of the trees.
Soon the trio reappeared on a cliff edge. Just as Glimmer collapsed from exhaustion into Bows arms. "Good job Glimmer." Rook said.
"So you were gonna blow us all up!" Bow exclaimed.
"Of course not Bow." Rook chuckled shaking his head.
"B..but the… the limiter? The overload? and…" Before Bow could finish Rook brought up his weapons holo screen and flipped the switch again.
"That my friend was the silencer for the Proto Tool not the limiter." Rook said. "I was I believe the humans call it bluffing. I needed time for Glimmer to regain her strength so she could teleport us away."
"Oh whew!" Bow breathed. However they noticed how Glimmer was rather hurt not physically but emotionally.
"Glimmer?" Bow said.
"I..I just can't believe Entrapta would betray us like this, all for the Horde!" She said placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.
"We did not know." Rook said.
"But thats just it we never know!" Glimmer exclaimed. "I could've ended Catra then and there but I didn't I could've shown the Horde not to mess with us but I just couldn't."
"That is why we are different than them Glimmer." Rook said to her. "Catra believes our compassion to be weakness but it is our strength, knowing when to spare a life even if it is the life of an enemy. I do regret Entrapta's betrayal her curiosity got the better of her, and we cannot change that. Nor can we win every battle." Rook continued as Glimmer and Bow listened.
"However when we allow our emotions to control our actions, we give the enemy an added advantage." Rook finished.
Glimmer nodded in understanding and realised how she came close to crossing a line today. She embraced her friends in a comforting hug as they walked along the mountain side to track down the Proto Truck and return to Bright Moon.
The Watchtower:
Back at the Watchtower, the group were still hugging each the moment was interrupted by a shining light getting Bens attention.
"Uh guys. Swifty's horn is glowing." he said it was then that Adora and her steed noticed this and they gasped.
"Is this…?" Adora guessed. "Our sacred bond." Swift Wind realised it too.
Just then the group heard a thrumming sound. It was coming from above them. When a boulder flew by Ben noticed something among the rocks.
"Guys look up there!" He pointed and the two looked and saw what looked like a piece of First Ones technology It was a glowing prism with blue lines.
"This is it. This is what I've been sensing. This is the epicentre." Swift Wind realised.
"So thats why Gravattack's powers were useless that prism must be keeping some kind of balance with the rocks thats why they resisted." Ben realised.
Adora looked at her sword and knew what she had to do. Ben could see that look in her eye. "She-Ra destroyed this place, now it's up to She-Ra to fix it."
"Well don't let me stop you, just say the magic words!" Ben said encouragingly. So Adora raised her sword and did just that.
"FOR THE HONOUR OF GRAYSKULL!"
One flashy magical transformation later Adora turned into She-Ra, who then mounted her loyal steed. Just then they began to glow in a golden aura, this meant their bond was at its strongest and so they took to the sky. Ben looked up with pride.
"Never gets old." He said.
Swift Wind flew through the rocks and rubble of the Watchtower and eventually reached the prism. She-Ra raised her sword and the tip of the blade touched the prism and began to react with power. A shockwave of light was released from the prism, then all of a sudden the lines on the surrounding rocks began to glow and were being drawn towards the epicentre.
"Its working!" Ben gasped.
However She-Ra and Swift Wind noticed they were in the way of the approaching rocks. "Don't worry I got this!" Swift Wind said determined.
The winged steed soared into the air and performed. "Loop-de-loops!" He proclaimed as She-Ra laughed in enjoyment. "WAHOOO!" She cheered.
From their vantage point in the air they saw the structure reassemble itself into a tower with three pillars. Ben chucked proudly as he ran towards it just as the prism inserted itself into the core surging power through it.
Swift Wind and She-Ra in tow landed and were amazed by the structure. The centre glowed as the circuit lines were exposed in the ground. A blue light surged through restoring life to all the dead grass.
"Wow, nice work you two." Ben said. "You make one heck of a team."
"Yeah we do." Swift Wind agreed. "Looks like we're getting the hang of this." She-Ra responded to that by hugging her steeds neck.
"Yeah cause someone gave us the spur to succeed." She-Ra agreed. "We'll fix this together." To which Ben smiled.
"Thats my girl." He thought to himself.
Crystal Castle:
Back at the Crystal Castle Light Hope was still frozen. Until the holo map registered the Watchtower was back online restoring her full functions. Her face was restored to normal.
"Then I will be back to operation…" Light Hope noticed that her students weren't there and looked at the holo map. "My sensors indicate they fixed it. Good."
Bright Moon:
Bow, Glimmer and Rook after recovering the Proto Truck and making some quick repairs returned to Bright Moon. They were now in Glimmers room lying on her suspended bed. They were tired and filthy from the fight. They were thinking about todays revelation.
"At least we know for sure that Entrapta's alive, and working for the Horde, making weapons to wipe us out." Bow said.
"Indeed but that does make our efforts rather more difficult." Rook agreed.
All was quiet, but just then the door opened. "Hey guys we're back!" Ben called as he and Adora entered the room to see them.
"You'll never guess what Swift Wind, Ben and I did today." Adora said rather excitedly while brushing grass off her. "We restored a First Ones' Watchtower so Light Hope can balance the planet, and we brought a whole field back to life and…" Just then they noticed how worn out and filthy their friends looked.
"What happened to you?" Adora wondered.
"Yeah, you guys look like you just went five rounds with Vilgax?" Ben wondered also.
Bow, Glimmer and Rook looked at each other, knowing that the two of them needed to know what happened. "Oh Adora, Ben we've got a lot to catch you up on."
The latter looked at each other with raised eyebrows in confusion. "O..kay what did we miss?" Ben asked.
"It is a…long story partner." Rook simply explained.
As the birds settled into a tree branch in the setting sun upon the beautiful kingdom. The silence was shattered by the bellow of a distressed call.
"ENTRAPTA'S WHAAAAAAT!"
Authors Notes: And thats a wrap on that chapter, now The Best Friend Squad know Entrapta is alive and working for the Horde, which isn't all good news. Fortunately though with Bens help Swift Wind and Adora have forged their sacred bond making them stronger than ever. Now at the start I did say I wasn't sure what aliens to use so I decided to go for Gravattack and Grey Matter to help and analyse the wreakage.
I've made some changes to the canon such as using the Proto Truck to take Catra back to Bright Moon and have Rook be the guiding figure to Bow and Glimmer in this chapter. As for the anti Catra element. I had considered an arrow with a cat nip gas capsule from Gutrot but I decided on the next best thing. The classic shining red light trick.
In other news for those who follow my Tumblr blog under the same name (Hero Central) You will have seen the cover art for my next fanfiction with the twin of the Sword of Protection in a rather be-W.I.T. tale. This will be done once I have my other stories out of the way.
Now onto the next chapter where the BFS go investigating an outpost only to find it haunted.
Until the next time.