Chapter Nine: After All This Time
Both Scorpia and Micah walked down the path towards the ramshackle village, hands over their heads under threat of being bitten by hundreds of scraper beetles. Black–or rather, Mosquitor, as he called himself–looked rather pleased with himself as he led them there. "This is a nice staff you have made for yourself, Micah," he said, admiring the item in question. "I think I shall keep it as a trophy. A token proving that my nemesis has finally been vanquished!"
Micah rolled his eyes. "I'll bet he wishes I was his nemesis," he said quietly to Scorpia. They both grinned, only to be jolted back by some of the beetles giving them a flyby.
"No camaraderie for captives!" Mosquitor hissed. The five of them continued walking, soon reaching the Mutant village.
As they entered the gates, Scorpia was surprised by just how many people lived here. Hordak had banished his fair share of people to Beast Island, but she had no idea it was this many. Either Hordak was even more ruthless than she thought, or someone else had been bringing them here–and with what little she knew of Modulok, either option was just as likely.
As the tribe's name suggested, all of the Mutants bore some form of, well, mutation. Some were recognizable as various races from all over Etheria, while others resembled creatures Scorpia couldn't have imagined, most of them some breed of nightmarish. But they had built their own little civilization here, and she couldn't decide if that was inspiring or foreboding.
"Halt!" Before she knew it, they had reached the ship. All of them stopped as it loomed over them, like some kind of effigy carved from obsidian. "You will show respect to our master when he makes his appearance." To illustrate his point, Mosquitor had the scraper beetles fly a little closer to them.
"What, does he want us to bow?" Scorpia asked.
Micah shrugged, little more than annoyed at their predicament. "Who knows with this guy. I wouldn't be surprised if they worship that freak."
With a loud hiss, the ship's ramp began to descend. "Silence! Master Modulok approaches!" All of the Mutants quietly awaited their master's imminent arrival, eagerly waiting for the doors to open. When the ramp locked in place, he descended, with Scorpia slightly recoiling at his appearance. However, he was joined by another figure, one that had the two of them shocked by her appearance.
"S-shadow Weaver…?" Micah said, stunned. The sorceress in question descended the ramp, standing beside Modulok at the bottom. "But…what…why? How? What are you doing?"
Even from behind her mask, she looked amused. "Surprised to see me, dear boy? I can't imagine why you would be. You yourself said I'm only after power, did you not? And with the Horde in shambles, the Surgeon is now the most powerful person on Etheria."
"And soon to the most powerful person in the universe," Modulok added smugly. "But enough boasting–Black, do you have the sample?"
Mosquitor stepped forward, looking much meeker in the presence of his master. "I do, sir. Here you are, sir." He held out his hand, and from under his armor–at least, Scorpia hoped it was under his armor, and not his skin–his namesake insect crawled, full of blood. Modulok held out a small glass canister, into which it went. "Ice princess was the hardest, as my children can't survive up there for long. We had to wait for her to be somewhere warmer."
Hang on, is he the reason the mosquitoes have been so bad recently? Scorpia thought to herself.
Modulok took a moment to examine the insect. "Yes, this should be enough. Double Trouble, would you put this one with the others?"
Much to Scorpia's surprise, a third figure had appeared from the ship, one which she hadn't noticed at first. "Why certainly!" said Double Trouble, taking the canister. "It would be my utmost pleasure!" They offered a grandiose bow, before heading back up onto the ship.
"Now, that makes light, wind, ice…I do believe we have them all," Moduok said. "All except for one. One which, to my pleasant surprise, you have brought right to me, Black." His gaze was fixed on Scorpia.
She looked around. "Uh, me? A-and what exactly do you need with me?"
"Nothing you need to be concerned about," said Modulok, producing a large syringe as he approached her. "For clarity's sake, let's just say I'm completing my collection of princesses. Indirectly, I assure you." She shied away from the device as it came closer to her arm.
"Thing about that is, ah, I'm not big on needles," she said. "Especially when some weird guy wants my blood for reasons I don't know, and–Yah!" The sudden jabbing of the needle into her arm caused her to jolt, knocking Modulok away with her claw. The two guards went over to help him, as Mosquitor angrily brought his bugs closer. "Sorry, sorry! It's a reflex!" Shadow Weaver did nothing to help him, simply watching as he fell, almost amused.
As they helped him to his feet, Modulok shoved off the guards. "Get away, get away! I'm not so helpless I need you fussing over me like a child! Merely a fleshwound." It didn't look like a fleshwound, as there was a sizable gash down the length of his face. But he didn't seem to care in the slightest, simply examining the syringe. "No matter; this should be enough."
"What shall we do with these two?" asked Mosquitor. With the way he glared at Scorpia, it was clear what he wanted to do with them. The beetles buzzed hungrily.
Much to Scorpia's surprise, the cut on Modulok's face had already begun to heal. Within seconds, there wasn't so much as a scar left. He waved his hand dismissively; "Do what you will with the princess, but Shadow Weaver has requested that Micah be brought along. Load him onto the ship."
The two guards did just that, bringing him closer to Shadow Weaver. She noticed his dissatisfaction, gently stroking his cheek. "Oh, there's no need to be upset, dear. Now things can finally be how they were supposed to. I can teach you everything you ever wanted to know about magic–I've learned quite a few new tricks in my time."
"I've learned all I need to know, thank you very much," he growled. "But if you want to take me off this accursed island, fine–as long as she comes too!" He looked over at Scorpia.
Modulok impatiently shoved him up the ramp. "Not a chance. We're not taking the brute with us. Black, please handle this."
"With pleasure!" Mosquitor directed his bugs towards her, corralling her in place. She looked around for an escape, but she was completely surrounded. He apparently wanted to savor the moment, as instead of siccing them on her all at once, he instead had the swarm slowly draw closer and closer. Individual beetles zipped past her, leaving sizable cuts where they bit into her skin. She swatted at them with her claws, but they were too small, and too numerous.
Seeing his new friend in danger, Micah made quick work of the guards holding him. He elbowed one in the stomach, pushing him into the other before shoving past Modulok. "Let her go!" he yelled, running towards Mosquitor to retrieve his staff. Unfortunately, he was halted in his tracks as many shadowy hands grabbed onto him, pulling him back towards Shadow Weaver.
"I didn't come all the way here to watch you run away again," she said, watching as he struggled. "You should be grateful: if not for me, you would be sharing her fate."
Micah glared at his former mentor. "And why should she have that fate?" he asked. "Her time with me, her loyalty to the Horde, to you, that means nothing?"
Her eyes narrowed. "No. No, it means nothing."
Things weren't looking good for the pair. Scorpia was about to be devoured, and there was little Micah could do without his magic. "C'mon, Scorpia, do the thing!" she said to herself. "Just do what you did last time!" She tried to remember when she was attacked by that monster; all the culmination of emotions she had felt at the time. Right now, she was afraid, concerned, angry…and that seemed to be enough. Her eyes opened, glowing red.
All of the nearby shadows flowed into her, covering her like armor. Then they became armor, as her body began to twist and distort, nearly tripling in size. Everyone watched her in awe, and no small amount of terror, as she became a gigantic scorpion.
Mosquitor wasted no time in sending the swarm at her, but it was no use; her carapace was too hard for the scraper beetles to bite through. They collided uselessly with her form as she rushed him, unable to stop her from knocking her master away with a swing of her tail.
As Scorpia fought off the Mutants trying to subdue her, Micah was momentarily forgotten by his captors. "How long has she been able to do that?" asked Shadow Weaver, using her magic to try and tie the behemoth down. But Scorpia simply shrugged off her magic, just as she did the guards' attacks.
"And here I thought you were something of an expert in the Black Garnet's power," Modulok said. He produced another device, this one resembling a small metal crossbow. He took aim at Scorpia, firing a small syringe filled with an orange liquid. However, he ran into the same problem as his subordinates, as the needle shattered against her hard shell. His failure was met with a glare from Shadow Weaver. "Ah. That's somewhat embarrassing."
With everyone preoccupied, Micah had managed to sneak away, heading for his discarded staff. Just as he reached down to grab it, another hand grabbed hold as well. "I'm not about to let you slip through my fingers again," Mosquitor hissed, "especially now that you're right within my–"
Rather than any sort of magical attack, Mosquitor was felled by a sucker punch from Micah. "Save it, would you?" he said, reclaiming his staff. A sigil appeared in front of his hand as he unleashed a blast of magical fire, knocking all of the Mutants off of Scorpia. "Come on, Scorpia, it's time to go!"
The two of them met, and Scorpia lifted Micah up onto her back. With surprising speed she ran from the village, the king launching magical projectiles at any Mutant who tried to follow them. She tore a path through the foliage, heading out further into Beast Island and leaving their captors behind.
Modulok growled in frustration. "Yet another endeavor failed due to incompetence." He was quick to calm down, heading back up to the ship. "No matter–we got what we came here for. Black, contact me if and when you apprehend those two."
"Gladly, Master Modulok," Mosquitor said. He and an army of mutants set off in the direction the escapees had gone.
Shadow Weaver refused to board the ship. "You're giving up? One slip-up, and you're willing to abandon the entire reason we came here?"
He sighed, turning to face her. "No, Shadow Weaver, I'm willing to abandon the entire reason you came here. My objective was obtaining the blood of the princesses, which I have done. Reuniting you with Micah was simply a bonus, one which I am no worse off to be without. Now come–there is still much we have to do."
Disappearing into the darkness, Shadow Weaver reappeared in front of him. "And what," she asked menacingly, "is stopping me from making you stay?"
If Modulok was intimidated, he didn't show it. "If I recall, my end of the deal was giving you Adora, not Micah. And I will deliver, but do not forget, you have your own end to fulfill, as well. The Mutants will handle the deposed king, now might we be off?"
Reluctantly, Shadow Weaver stepped aside. "Yes. We may." She continued to stare daggers at Modulok as he went past her, her patience with their 'deal' growing thinner by the day. As long as he was useful…
Mosquitor and his Mutants followed the path after Scorpia. Not that it was hard, given that it was like following a bulldozer, given the amount of destruction she had left. But over time, the path of broken trees and torn-up underbrush got thinner, with Scorpia returning to her true form. There was still a sizable path to follow, however, and follow it they did. "Hunt them down!" he bellowed. "I want the king in chains, and her stinger mounted on my wall!"
The hunting party passed over a small creek, only a few bothering to glance over at the waterfall near its source. But even if they had given it a closer look, none of them would have seen the cave hidden underneath it. The cave had been obscured by a quick spell from Micah, as he and Scorpia watched anxiously as the Mutants headed past.
They both sighed in relief once they were safe–for now. "Okay. I think they're gone, but let's stay here a bit longer, just in case." The two sat in awkward silence for a bit, only the sound of trickling water filling the cave. After a bit, he spoke again. "So…you didn't tell me you could do that."
"Didn't know I could until a few days ago," Scorpia said. "After that, I, uh, kinda had other things on my mind." She was silent for a bit as well, running her claw through the dirt. "So…you know Shadow Weaver too, huh?"
"Know her? She was my mentor back in Mystacor," he said, smiling, which didn't last long. "Back then, she was known as Light Spinner. Back before she sort of betrayed us by learning forbidden magics and running off to join the Horde. I wonder how she got involved with someone like Modulok."
"I don't know all the details, but I know she and Hordak had something of a disagreement a few years back," Scorpia said. "Then she escaped from prison, and nobody's seen her since."
This didn't seem to surprise him. "History repeats," he said. Scorpia recognized the look on his face. It was the same look she had on hers when thinking about Catra. About how she had betrayed her and left her here.
"Is she who you were talking about?" Scorpia asked. "Back when we met, you said you knew what it's like to have someone choose power over you. You were talking about Shadow Weaver, weren't you?"
He nodded solemnly. "But we can't focus on that now," he said, getting to his feet. "Right now, we need a plan to bust into that village and steal that ship! With my magic, and you gargantuan-ness, there's no way we can fail!"
"Yeah!" A thought occurred to Scorpia. "Wait, wasn't Modulok just about to leave? He'll be long gone by now, won't he?"
"No, no, his backup ship," Micah explained. "Modulok's not the type to let himself be backed into a corner. I have it on good authority he has a second ship hidden somewhere in the village, just in case something were to happen. That ship's our ticket back to Brightmoon!"
Scorpia got to her feet as well. "Great! Then let's…" She trailed off. "Hang on, you said 'back to Brightmoon?' Does that mean I…I'm coming there too?"
"And why not?" Micah sounded confused. "Given everything that happened to you, I doubt you'd want to go back to the Fright Zone. And if you've got nowhere else to go, then…why not come back with me? We are friends, after all, right?"
Scorpia almost teared up at this gesture of kindness. "Yes. Yes we are friends." She walked over and wrapped her arms around Micah. "I promise you, you're majesty, I'm gonna get you home to your daughter."
Clearly feeling the sentiment, Micah hugged her back. After a bit, they stepped back. "I appreciate that, Scorpia. You don't know how much I do. Now come on–let's get to work!"
"Is it weird that this feels so…official?" asked Lars, walking into the throne room. "I mean, back before Glimmer was queen, her asking to talk with us would just be sort of 'Oh yeah, what's up?' But now, it's a summons from the queen herself! You know?"
"...I predict I will have no idea what Lars is talking about," said Padparadscha.
Glimmer had summoned for the Off-Colors, but for what reason, she hadn't specified. Whatever it was, it was likely important, so they had all hurried to see her. With them assembled, she got off the throne to approach.
"Good, you're here," she said. There was a slight urgency in her tone. "I know this is short notice, but I'd like to keep this under wraps if possible."
"Ooof cooourse," said Fluorite. "Whaaat dooo you neeeeed, yoooour hiiiighneeess?"
"I'll keep this brief: I sent a team to repair Mara's ship out in the Crimson Waste. Seeing as how all of you know your way around piloting a ship, and have recently lost your own, you seemed like the best choice to give this one to."
"Wow, a new ship!" said Rhodonite. "...Hang on, why do we need to keep this a secret?"
Glimmer hesitated, as though knowing this question was coming. "That's… Let me put it this way. You don't have to keep the ship a secret, but…I'm not giving to you for free. There's a certain mission I'd like you to run, one that I'd rather nobody else know about. And no, I'm not telling you any more than that. Just know that it's classified, strictly need-to-know."
"Um…well, not to come off as insubordinate or anything, but if we're doing this mission, wouldn't we need to know?" Lars asked. "Just sayin'."
Before Glimmer could snap at him, someone else entered the room. "Uh, Glimmer? I mean, Queen Glimmer?" Mermista approached, but something was definitely off. She seemed much more anxious than usual, as though walking on eggshells. "We've got something of a problem…"
She groaned, teleporting over to her. "How much of a problem is it?"
"Well, it's…" She looked over at the Off-Colors. "It's the kind that maybe we don't want them hearing about."
"Whatever it is, we won't tell anyone," said the left Rutile sister. "Yeah, we've got lots of practice at keeping secrets!" added her right sister.
Thinking for a moment, Glimmer grabbed onto Mermista and teleported them both up to her room. "Okay, so what is it?" she asked.
Once Mermista got her bearings, she told her the news. "So, I just got word that there was a tavern brawl in a town on the edge of Salineas. That sort of thing happens all the time, but it's who was involved that got alarm bells ringing. One of the witnesses provided a sketch."
She showed Glimmer the drawing, which, although not a dead ringer, definitely implied someone they knew all too well. The woman's most striking features were her pointed ears and her mismatched eyes, both of which were unmistakable. Glimmer was quiet for a time as she examined the picture. "You're sure this is her?"
"Who else could it be?" replied Mermista. "I don't know why she's here, or why she's starting bar fights, but…Catra's on Etheria."
More silence from Glimmer, who rolled up the parchment and handed it back. "Round up every soldier you have, and hunt her down," she said, eerily calm.
"I will," Mermista said. "But don't you think that–"
Glimmer teleported back into the throne room, startling everyone with her sudden appearance. "Okay, to recap: you're getting a new ship, which you can tell everyone about, but you also need to fly it on a certain mission, which you can't tell anyone about. Dismissed." With that, she left the throne room behind, heading for the war room.
Everyone was left confused, with more questions than answers. "What was that about?" asked Lars. "Pads, you see anything?"
The Sapphire peered into the past. "I can see…someone returning. But it's too murky, I can't see who. It could be Glimmer, or it could be us."
"Or it could be one of our greatest enemies, returning from beyond the grave to seek vengeance!" said a worried Rhodonite.
"Nooow nooow," assured Fluorite, "leeet's nooot juuump tooo coooncluusions."
Lars nodded. "Yeah, that could mean anything. Let's focus on the important things now: like the fact that Captain Lars and the Off-Colors are starbound once more!"
As Glimmer paced through the halls, she silently seethed with rage. Why was Catra back? What was she planning!? Whatever it was, she would not let her catch her by surprise. This time, she would make the first move. And this time, she would hold nothing back.
