Query: How does one chart a place that is not a place, a plane of existence utterly devoid of any fixed points of reference, or indeed any material reality?
Initial examination of the 'Phantom Zone Projector' acquired during my recent technological exchange with the Kryptonian Science Council has confirmed my original hypothesis: the Kryptonian 'Phantom Zone' does indeed correspond to the same shadow dimension encountered by various other mortal civilizations throughout the annals of galactic history; the A'thyr of ancient M'arzzian lore, the Timeless Void of the Pretherian ophidians, the Unspace of the mechanoids of Gorlam Prime.
Given the Zone's nature, it is hardly surprising that the Kryptonians would use it as a means of sanctioning their most intractable malefactors. More curious is the Kryptonian's insistence that the exile in the Zone serves as a 'humane' alternative to conventional incarceration or capital punishment.
Compared to the psychic trauma of being forcibly stripped of corporeal existence, all while remaining fully and acutely conscious, then being cast into a plane actively deleterious to sanity; many mortals might regard death as a mercy.
-From the scientific logs of Metron of New Genesis.
[-]
DESPONDOS
- -, -:- -
Catra hit the floating crystalline islet with a shuddering thud; the rough pseudo-quartz scraped and stung her translucent skin. The grim wraith that was Horde Prime towered over her, a ghostly white silhouette against the black-purple void. The right side of his phantom face was a mass of open bloodless wounds, his remaining lone eye smoldering with icy hate.
"You have no concept of how fortunate you truly were, Little Sister," Horde Prime taunted. "For a millennium, the magics of Etheria shielded you and the rest of your degenerate kind from the full depredations of this realm, a safe cocoon of time and materiality. But now you have no such protection, and a naked mortal soul is ill equipped to endure the ravages of eternity."
"I'm not the one who's going to need protection!" Catra pounced with flashing claws, only to pass through Prime's transparent form like mist. "Wha-"
Prime sent her reeling with a casual backhand, his fist once more distressingly solid.
"Will is the only metric of power that matters here, child," He stalked towards her like a predator about to make the kill. "And the Will of Prime is absolute!"
[-]
THE IRON FIST
June 28, 17:43 UTC
The throne room of Prime's flagship was - as a friend of Tigress might have said - a complete disaster zone, heavy on the dis. Kalibak was laid out unconscious on the polished command platform as Entrapta and the Hordaks tended to him. The son of Darkseid sprawled like an exhausted puppy, if said puppy was an eight-hundred-pound immortal alien berserker. Prime's three 'Graces' - Mary, Barda and the so-called 'Supergirl' – stared blankly at nothing without the New God's mind to guide them, like abandoned dolls.
Artemis?
M'gann? Tigress replied. We lost the psy-link for a while; are you guys okay?
We're fine, just ran into… unexpected resistance, Miss Martian answered. Cyborg's in the server room crashing the Horde Hive-Mind. Superboy and Glimmer took a glancing psy-blast, but they should be fine in an hour or two. Terra's helping with the clean-up.
A psy-blast?
It's… a long story; I'll tell you all about it when we get back to Darla.
Tigress could feel M'gann's mental walls going up, but she didn't have time to press the issue; she had a more immediate problem.
"We have to go after Catra!" She-Ra cried
The Princess of Power was distraught, not that Tigress blamed her. If the love of her life had just taken a dive into a Boom-Tube to the Phantom Zone while tackling a genocidal space-fascist, she'd be Hell of a long way from trought too.
"We will, Adora," Tigress said. "But Halo's completely wiped, we need to get them to-"
"No!" Halo stood straight but unsteadily on their feet, one hand on a shoulder high Melog for balance. "We can't leave Catra with that monster a moment longer."
"Vi, are you sure you're up to this?" Tigress asked warily.
Halo nodded wordlessly, their brown eyes steely and determined. Tigress couldn't help but be proud, even through all the worry for what Halo was about to put themselves through.
Ever since their first mission to Etheria over a month ago, Violet and Catra had managed to strike up an unlikely friendship. Artemis couldn't help taking a shine the feline Etherian too; something about a young cat-themed heroine with parental issues and a whole plank of wood on her shoulder spoke to her.
"Alright, but you better power down, Adora," Tigress said, all business again. "No telling how the Phantom Zone will mess with your She-Ra powers."
She-Ra did as instructed, reverting to Adora. Meanwhile Tigress unhooked a long length of monofilament wire attached to a spool on her belt, a variation on ye old bat-rope. She hooked one end to Adora's own belt while anchoring the other to Prime's throne.
"Give two tugs and we'll pull you back," said Tigress.
Adora nodded. "Got it."
"Remember, Halo can't keep the Boom-Tube open forever. If it looks like it's about to collapse, I'm pulling you out… with or without Catra."
Adora's expression was iron. "I understand."
Tigress gave Halo the nod. The young hero steeled themself, indigo aura flickering about them like sparks trying to kindle a fire. And then…
BOOOOOM!
[-]
DESPONDOS
- -, -:- -
Catra couldn't breathe, which had less to do with the total absence of air in the Zone and more with Prime's transparent yet all too heavy boot pressing down on her ribcage. She trashed and clawed futilely, pinned to the quartz skerry as much by the sheer force of his will as any physical weight.
"I do so look forward to watching your mind shrivel in upon itself over the coming centuries, Catra" Prime gloated, exceedingly pleased with himself. "I wonder how long before the Sickness that pervades this realm leaves you a broken murmuring husk? A terrible thing, to be betrayed by one's own mind."
"Hey, genius," Catra gasped through gritted teeth. "You're stuck in here too!"
"For now, perhaps. But my disciples will come for me, inevitably. It may take a century, a millennium, but I can afford to wait. What is time to a Go-?" He was cut off by a mocking, wheezing laugh from the prone Catra. He gazed down at his prey with disdain. "And what pray tell is so amusing?"
"You…" Catra wheezed through a twisted grin. "You seriously think anyone is coming for you?! I know your type, Prime. If anyone ever really cared about you, you used them up and tossed them away a long time ago. All that's left are a buncha mind-chipped drones and toadies who'll never stick their own necks out for you. You're a parasite, 'Big Bro'. And now for the first time in forever, you got nobody to leech off. So c'mon then," She barked another shallow bitter laugh. "Let's see who breaks first!?"
"Yes…" Prime hissed viciously after a long tense moment. "Let's."
Catra gasped as the pressure on her ribcage slowly begin to increase, edging closer to the breaking point until…
BOOOOOM!
Prime's head cocked upward, momentarily surprised by the swirling indigo vortex in the upper void, his concentration broken for the most fleeting of moments.
That was all Catra needed. Her claws dug deep into the translucent flesh of Prime's ankle, severing tendons and eliciting howls of pain as the New God staggered back. With a single blur of motion, Catra back-flipped onto all fours, every muscle taut as a coiled spring.
"CATRA!?"
Catra risked a glance back. Adora floated through the void like a diving angel, tied back to reality by a slender silver cord. Her hand was outstretched, her eyes pleading.
Catra was off with a running start, a snarling Prime lurching after her. She leaped from the edge of the quartz skerry, breaking the bonds of its ephemeral gravity like cobwebs. She reached for Adora as she catapulted through unspace.
Prime had said that only 'Will' mattered here, Catra recalled. If that was true then she had to want this, want it more than anything in her life, want it with everything she had. She had to push every other thought and doubt aside, focus on nothing but Adora.
It doesn't matter what they do to us, you know? You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.
You Promise?
Hey. I miss you, too.
Wha-? I don't miss you. Get over yourself!
Not until you admit you like me!
Don't you get it? I love you! I always have! So please, just this once, stay!
"Gotcha!" Adora cried, clasping Catra's hand, pulling her into a tight embrace. "So uh… hang out here often?"
Catra snickered, nipping Adora's cheek. "You're such a dork."
With her free hand, Adora gave two sharp yanks to the silver monofilament; the gleaming line began to immediately contract, drawing them back to the universe of light and materiality.
Below, three-quarters blind and hobbled, Horde Prime stood at the very edge of the crystalline skerry. He seethed silently as his enemies crossed the threshold of the distant indigo Boom-Tube, before it collapsed forever, leaving him alone in a cold empty void.
"That's it! Flee, you degenerate cowards! Flee Prime's righteous wrath, for all the good it will do you! Do you hear Me, She-Ra!? Prime shall rise again!" He was shrieking now, trembling with apoplectic fury. "And when I do, I shall bring a cleansing fire such as the universe has never…"
A strange intuition suddenly seized Prime, a cold certainty that defied all his reason: He was no longer alone.
He turned slowly. The figure was only a few feet behind him, not a translucent specter but as seemingly solid as any flesh. It was slender with grey skin like soft leather. It stood back to Prime, stripped from the waist up. Down its bare back ran twin jagged wounds, open sores seeping dark green ichor.
"By the Pit…" All Prime's pride and arrogance had suddenly deserted him. Even before the figure turned, he knew exactly whose face would confront him.
"Anillus?"
The blank eyed ghoul made no sound as it stepped towards Prime. Not simply Anillus Kur, but Hec-Tor, Seferus, the gaunt Sorceress of Horokoth and all the winged folk of that nameless cavern world stalked inexorably closer.
"S-stay back, I command you!" Prime stepped backward, hand raised imperiously. "I am still your Go-"
The edge of the skerry gave way under his armored boot, sending him plunging into the abyss. So, Horde Prime – Emperor of the Known Universe and Lord of Apokolips – tumbled screaming through nothingness, harried by the shrieking shades of a murdered world.
[-]
THE IRON FIST
June 28, 17:52 UTC
Adora and Catra clung tightly to each other as they rolled across the command platform, coming to a halt at the foot of Prime's empty throne. As Halo's Boom-Tube collapsed behind them, as did Halo themself. Tigress and Melog caught the fainting hero before they could hit the ground.
"Easy, Vi," Tigress whispered. "Ya did good, kid."
"Are they okay?" Catra asked, panting worriedly.
"They're fine, just wiped," answered Tigress. "Nothing a quick rehydrate, plenty of protein and a solid eight hours won't fix."
The lights of the throne room momentarily dimmed before resetting.
Alpha squad? Tigress inquired over the psy-link.
No need to panic, Beta, Cyborg replied, his thoughts cool and confident. We just crashed the Horde Hive-Mind.
"Then its over," said Adora breathlessly. She cupped Catra's cheeks as they help each other to their feet, staring into her love's glittering sapphire/gold eyes. "We finally won!"
[-]
THE WARWORLD
June 28, 17:53 UTC
"Reading multiple outgoing Boom-Tubes across Etheria's orbit," Cassandra reported, confirming what the Warworld's sensors had already told her father. "The Horde fleet is withdrawing; we've won."
"Craven as well as treacherous," Desaad rasped scornfully. "I should have expected no better from Vundabar's tin toy soldiers."
Vandal ignored the God of Torment. "And the Iron Fist?"
"Unresponsive," Cassandra answered.
"What about her shields?" Desaad's voice had a predatory edge.
Cassandra hesitated, looking to her father. He nodded.
"Off-line," she answered.
"Weapons?"
"Also off-line."
Dessad's bloodlust was inflamed by the thought of prey that could neither defend itself nor retaliate. "Then we should blast it out of the skies while we still have the chance!"
"The Team and their Etherian allies are still aboard," Cassandra said, her tone carefully level. "And we are under truce with them."
"A truce I entered into in good faith, Desaad," Vandal intoned, his voice equally level.
"Please, Savage, don't start pretending you're above stabbing an ally of convenience in the back now." Desaad allowed himself a wet chortle before his voice went deathly serious. "Unless… you value your compact with the Earth whelps over that with Apokolips?"
Cassandra rounded on the Apokoliptan. "You will not address Vandal Savage with that tone on his own-"
Vandal flashed his daughter a warning glare. "Cassandra!"
Her head bowed contritely. "I- Forgive me, Father."
Desaad leered with smug self-satisfaction.
Vandal rose from his command throne, the Warworld's vast arsenal once more thrumming to life as he brought all his considerable will to bear on the listing Horde flagship.
[-]
THE IRON FIST
June 28, 17:56 UTC
This time when the lights flickered, they never came back. The throne room was plunged into a blood-wash of emergency lighting as the entire ship lurched to one side under a teeth-shuddering impact.
Alpha, what's happening!? Tigress demanded.
Not sure! Cyborg replied urgently. External sensor are scrambled! I may have triggered somekinda booby-trap!
Figure it out later! Everyone get out no- Tigress' concentration was broken by another juddering impact, causing one of the pseudo-organic pylons arching over the command platform to come loose.
"Look out!" Adora managed to shove Catra aside just as the pylon came collapsing down on them, but not in time to save herself.
"ADORA?!" Catra spun on her bare heels to find the love of her life pinned beneath the broken wreckage of the fallen pylon. She fell to her knees by the fallen girl's side. "Adora? Adora, say something?!"
"Cah… Catra…?" Adora's voice was weak, her gaze unfocused. Something black and sticky in the red emergency light trickled down the side of her head, matting her dirty blond hair.
"She must be concussed," Tigress muttered, kneeling to examine the fallen Etherian. "Adora, listen to me: you have to stay awake! Do you understand? You have to stay awake!"
"We need to get her out of here!" Catra cried, her plea punctuated by the rumbling of distant explosions.
Halo and Kalibak were still out. Hordak might normally have been able to lift the debris, but his exo-frame had been badly damaged in the battle; now he could barely lift himself. And Beta Squad was still on the other side of the ship.
"Cahtra… iss okay," Adora slurred, slipping her hand into Catra's. "Go… I'll be fine…"
Another lurch of the ship.
"Catra, I don't know how long we can stay here…" Tigress trailed off.
"Then go," Catra pressed Adora's hand tight to her lips, eyes downcast. "I'm staying."
"Yeesh, you guys are so melodramatic," a new voice spoke as the wrecked pylon miraculously began to shift and rise.
A dumbfounded Catra and Tigress gazed up as Kara held aloft one end of the ruined Pylon, flashing a brazen grin. Beneath the other end of the pylon stood Big Barda, muscles tensing as she shifted the debris over her head.
"Get her clear!" Barda barked.
"R-right!" Catra instantly snapped back into reality; she and Tigress dragged Adora clear before the two Furies tossed the wreckage over the lip of the command platform and into the pit below.
"Where's Black Mary?" Barda asked.
Kara scanned the throne room with x-ray and infra-red vision, finding no sign of her erstwhile teammate, or General Vundabar for that matter. "Typical."
"Never mind that," snapped Tigress, as she and Catra braced Adora between them. "Someone grab Halo!"
"Got them!" Barda said, carrying the unconscious human-Motherbox hybrid.
"WAIT!" Entrapta squealed, helping Wrong Hordak support Right Hordak with her prehensile tresses. "We have to help Kalibak!"
"Do we really tho?" Kara drawled.
"Kaara!" Adora chided groggily.
"Uggh, fine!" Kara groaned, casually slinging the unconscious Apokoliptan over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "Now can we go?"
[-]
Warning klaxons blared throughout the spiraling red-lit corridors of the Iron Fist as it shook again. The occasional Parademon loped frantically through the halls or clawed desperately at the bulkheads, seeking any escape. Without the guidance of their new master's voice, they had reverted to pure animal panic.
A tawdry lack of discipline, thought Virman Vundabar. He crouched in a shadowed alcove amid the chaos, working a small panel with seams so fine they were virtually invisible. The general had helped oversee the construction of Herr Prime's new flagship; naturally he'd installed a few 'contingencies' of his own.
The panel finally came loose with a soft hiss. Vundabar reached into the black abscess, retrieving a sleek grey Fatherbox. "Ah, guten abend, mein freund."
Ting!
"No backtalk!" Vundabar snapped, addressing the living computer. "I am an officer and a gentleman and will not stand for insubordination! You should be grateful I came back for you at all!"
Ting!
"That's better." Vundabar smiled smugly, adjusting his monocle. "Now, I believe the time has come to execute an orderly tactical withdrawal."
"Couldn't agree more," Black Mary spoke from behind him. The startled Vundabar didn't even have time to turn a complete one-eighty before she socked him across the jaw.
Mary snatched Fatherbox out of mid-fall with Mercurian speed, faster than gravity. "Get me out of here, NOW!"
BOOOOOM!
Mary was about to step into the fiery vortex when she glanced down at the unconscious Vundabar. One thing she'd picked up in the last year: Apokoliptans weren't nearly as indestructible as they'd have mere 'mortals' believe. Vundabar would likely be reduced to cosmic dust once the ship blew.
She groaned with distaste, heaving the general by his collar like a sleeping puppy. "You owe me, Vundabar," she hissed before tossing him through the Boom-Tube like a ragdoll. She was about to follow when a familiar voice stopped her short.
"Mary!"
The Fury turned to find Miss Martian staring at her. The Martian's amber eyes were soft with the usual judgmental condescension she somehow thought came across as sisterly concern. Behind Morse's right shoulder, Terra and Cyborg were supporting a groggy Glimmer and Superboy respectively. Over her left, a spindly white Martian floated unconscious in a telekinetic grip.
Mary snorted. "Well, looks like someone had a wild night?"
"It's not too late, Mary," M'gann said. "We're not giving up on you."
Mary's eyes narrowed coldly as she turned back to the Boom-Tube. "You gave up on me a long time ago, Morse."
A moment later the Boom-Tube was gone, taking the woman who had been Mary Bromfield with it.
[-]
DARLA
June 28, 18:08 UTC
Bow was still trying to get Darla's sensors back online when Alpha Squad came staggering onto the bridge. Or at least, Miss Martian, Cyborg and Terra did.
"Where's Glimmer?!" Bow asked worriedly before adding "And Superboy?"
"They're fine, Bow," answered Miss Martian. "Just resting in the infirmary."
Bow was about to leap out of his chair when Miss Martian stopped him short.
"No, Bow, we need you ready to go the moment Beta-"
Tigress, came dashing onto the bridge that very moment, followed by Supergirl and Big Barda.
"Furies!?" Miss Martian cried as she, Terra and Cyborg instantly shifted into a battle stance. The former Furies instantly reciprocated.
"Whoa!" Tigress stepped between the two parties, raising her hands placatingly. "It's cool! They're cool!"
"Tigress?!" Miss Martian blurted. "Where's the rest of Beta? And what are they doing here?"
"In reverse order: long story; in the infirmary, which is frankly getting kinda crowded. Was that your brother down there?"
"Long story. We need to get out befo-"
The small ship began to tremble as though being slowly shook apart.
Bow immediately leaped back into the command chair, fingers almost blurring as they danced across the holo-interface. "Releasing docking clamps! Brace for launch in five…"
[-]
"Four…" Bow's voice echoed over the intercom.
Catra and Melog held Adora upright in the shaking ship's infirmary, pressing an ice-pack to the back of her head. Glimmer, Halo, Superboy, Kalibak, and a spindly ash-white creature lay on what few beds could be found in the tightly packed chamber, tended by Entrapta and the Hordaks.
"Three…"
Catra held tight to the barely conscious Adora.
"Two…"
Another lurch of the ship, more violent than any before, and everything went dark.
[-]
THE WARWORLD
June 28, 18:11 UTC
Vandal watched as the Iron Fist's Radion reactor finally went critical, consuming the Horde flagship - and every living thing left aboard - in a silent bloom of blue-white flame. The cosmic fire blazed for only a few scant seconds before being consumed by the eternally hungering vacuum of space, leaving only void and semi-molten slag.
Cassandra consulted her pad. "Horde flagship destroyed, no bio-signs detected in the debris."
"Obviously," Desaad drawled. "Though I am curious, Savage: the Warworld's Grand Laser could have destroyed Prime's vessel with a single shot; why use your missiles to trigger a delayed reaction instead?"
"At this range, the Grand Laser would have likely devastated Etheria," Vandal regarded the pink-green globe that stretched out below him like a shimmering tapestry. "And we may still find a use for this world."
Desaad snorted derisively. "You hoard mortal lives like a miser."
"Perhaps, but since when have you ever been one for a quick kill, Desaad?"
The God of Torment chuckled hatefully. "Point taken."
Vandal sighed wearily, removing the control-crown from his brow. "Cassandra, take us out of orbit and lay in a course for Apokolips. I will be attending to our other guest."
[-]
BRIGHT MOON
July 04, 19:52 UTC
The day moons were just beginning to set, turning the rosy pink skies a dusky purple. Below them, the blue-green canopy of the Whispering Woods murmured dreamily, true to their name. Between forest and firmament, a giant floating tree drifted across the sky, the youngest of the ancient world's many satellites.
Adora leaned over her balcony at Castle Bright Moon, soaking in the view. So much had changed since she last stood here; so much had changed her. And that scared her.
Bright Moon was – like herself – healing but not yet whole. Much of the ancient edifice was still under repair after Prime's invasion. Adora and her friends had returned to find the castle ransacked. The occupying Parademons had despoiled everything of value they could find. Relics and tapestries - preserved since before the coming of the First Ones - had been reduced to broken shards and tattered shreds.
The royal library hadn't been spared either. Countless scrolls, parchments and tomes had been piled in the castle courtyard and put to the flame. Centuries of art and history had been destroyed in a few moments of malice. Adora wondered how much of had been mere instinct on the Parademons' part, and how much had been Prime's own overriding spite whispering in their minds.
With Prime lost in Despondos and the Hive-Mind crashed, the Apokoliptan Horde had fallen into complete chaos. Those forces which hadn't managed to Boom-Tube off-world had fled into the dark desolate places of Etheria. Licking wounds and nursing grudges, Adora didn't doubt. She wondered if Etheria would ever be the same again.
Adora touched the bandages wrapped around her cranium. The healers from Mystacor did good work. Halo had offered to heal it themself of course, but Tigress had put her foot down. After what happened on the Iron Fist, the leader of the Earth heroes had pointblank forbidden Halo to use their powers until they'd had a few days to fully rest.
There was a soft rap on the door.
"Come in."
Catra slipped quietly into the bedchamber, Melog padding along behind. "Hey, Adora."
"Hey," Adora replied, sitting on the edge of the bed, beckoning Catra to join her.
Catra did so, resting a head on Adora's shoulder. "Big Earthling Goodbye Party's about to start."
"Cool," Adora spoke with a certain lassitude.
"We don't have to go, if you don't want to? We could just stay here and…"
"No, I need this. I'm starting to go crazy pent up in here," Adora slipped an arm around Catra's waist. "What about you; you still want to go through with this?"
They'd spent the last day or two discussing Catra's plans for the future. Adora had been dismayed at first but the more she thought about it, the more she realized Catra needed this. She deserved her chance to be more than just an ex-Horde Force Captain or She-Ra's girlfriend.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Catra answered. "But I can wait until your-"
"No, that'll only make it harder," Adora sighed, stroking Catra's cheek. "And I am so proud of you."
They leaned close, close enough to feel each other's lips brushing their cheeks.
"Come on," Adora finally rose from the bed. "We better be going."
Catra reached for the satchel, still hanging from her belt after all this time. Her heartbeat raced. Should she ask the question she'd wanted ask almost two months ago? "Adora?"
Adora paused, framed in the light of the doorway. "Yes?"
No, not now, not yet. That wouldn't be fair. "Nevermind."
[-]
Bright Moon had risen.
Music and laughter rang throughout the castle's courtyard. Prismatic fireworks rose to join the stars above. Representatives from almost all of Etheria's many and far flung kingdoms had arrived to wish the heroes of Earth well wishes and safe travels. All of them had lost something over the last few days; none thought the rebuilding would be easy but for tonight, they celebrated.
"So you're a Rock Princess?!" asked the dark-skinned princess clad in blue and silver called Netossa. "That's pretty neat."
"Now that I think about it, it's kinda weird we don't have one of those?" Spintwit mused thoughtfully, arm in arm with Netossa.
"Ehh, the rock thing and the princess thing aren't really related." Terra shrugged, scarfing down another slice of bright-blue cake.
Tigress and Superboy were chatting with Glimmer and Bow at the next table over. Superboy was happily chowing down on a bowl of squirming grey cubes.
"What you call this again?"
"Spoo," Glimmer answered, somehow losing her own appetite. She wasn't sure how that barrel had got into the palace larder in the first place.
Superboy munched another cube approvingly. "It's great!"
"Why don't you take the whole barrel!?" Glimmer suggested, a little more forcefully than she had intended.
"Seriously?" Superboy practically beamed. "Thanks, M'gann will love that!"
"Ah, the wonders of a half-Kryptonian digestive system," chuckled Tigress.
"Where is Miss Martian?" Bow asked.
Superboy's face fell slightly. "She's down in one of the guest rooms."
"Prison cell," corrected Glimmer.
"Riiight. Anyway, she's down there… checking on M'comm."
[-]
M'gann had been in more than her share of prison cells over the last eleven years, but never one to include a four-poster bed, vanity table and indoor fountain. She wished any of that made this easier. Conner had offered to come with her of course, but M'gann knew that wouldn't be fair.
Her brother wouldn't want anyone else to see him like this.
M'comm M'orzz sat cross-legged on the plushly carpeted floor, playing with a set of handmade figurines depicting the heroes of Etheria. He moved them in slow deliberate circles, like a silent dance.
M'gann reached out with her mind. How are you feeling, M'comm?
?
Inquisitive, confused. Like a Martian infant, M'comm's telepathy was limited to flashes of mood and instinct. It would be a long while before he could communicate in more complex thought-forms again.
With patience and care, M'gann was relatively confident she could eventually reconstruct M'comm's psyche, restore him to what he once was. Which left only one question…
Should she?
[-]
"Are you sure you're able to Boom-Tube?" Halo asked Cyborg. "Because I can still-"
"Seriously, Vi, I'm fine," Cyborg tapped the side of his metal skull. "I already had Bow and Entrapta double-check my self-diagnostic to make sure interfacing with the Horde's systems didn't leave any nasty surprises."
Halo was about to protest when Tigress placed a hand on their shoulder. "Listen to the man, Vi, just enjoy the free ride back to Earth. Right, Conner? Conner?"
Superboy was glaring daggers at Kalibak from across the courtyard. The Son of Darkseid was currently sharing a plate of tiny sausages with Entrapta and the Hordaks, smiling for all the world like a great big harmless teddy bear.
"Are we seriously okay with this?" Superboy demanded hotly.
"That's just how they do things here," Tigress shrugged. "And trying to take Kalibak in might just create more problems than it solves at this point."
"So that's it? One of Darkseid's most brutal enforcers gets to have a happy ever after 'cuz he what, discovered the power of friendship?!"
"Believe me, Conner, I hear you. But maybe instead of getting worked up over things we can't change, we should focus on the things we can." Tigress gestured to another table across the courtyard, where two figures in the uniforms of Apokoliptan Furies were deep in conversation.
Big Barda piled another thick meat cutlet on her plate. "What did you call this gathering again?"
Kara dangled her legs over the edge of the table. "A party?"
"Par-tay?" Barda rolled the word over her tongue, savoring the taste of it.
"So whatcha going to do now?"
Barda thought for a moment. "A long time ago, there was someone who tried to make me see Granny Goodness and Darkseid for the monsters they were. I think I own him an apology. You could come with me, if you like?"
Kara fell into a sullen silence, broken by a polite cough. She looked up to meet the older boy's eyes. She'd occasionally caught sight of him around the castle of course, but this was the first time he'd actually approached her. He seemed painfully uncomfortable.
"Um hey… Kara isn't it?" Superboy asked.
"Yeah," she answered laconically.
"My name is Kon, Kon-El; I think we might be related?"
He looked so much like uncle Jor-El, and by extension Kara's own father. The two brothers had been so much alike they could have been twins. Kara glared at the scarlet crest emblazoned on his black t-shirt. "Ya 'think'?"
Superboy was still trying to put together a response when Kara abruptly brushed past him.
"Dez! I mean, 'Dora!" She trilled, throwing her arms around Adora and lifting her bodily from the ground.
"Kuh-Kara!" Adora gasped, locked in a Kryptonian bear-hug. "Buh-breathing!"
"Oh, Sorry!" Kara carefully placed Adora back on the ground.
At Adora's side, Catra tried to repress a snicker as Melog chastised her with a gentle head-nudge to the posterior.
Tigress sidled up to Catra. "So, you all packed yet?"
"Packed?" Glimmer asked, a puzzled looking Bow by her side. "Packed for what?"
"Wait, you didn't tell them?" Adora asked, suddenly wrong-footed.
Catra groaned. "I was putting it off 'cuz I knew they'd get all weepy and huggy about it."
Bow frowned with concern. "Weepy and huggy about what?"
Glimmer's eyes suddenly went wide as she shook Catra by the shoulder. "OHMIGOSH! Are you dying!?"
"What!? No, I'm not dying!" Catra snapped indignantly, disentangling herself.
"Then what?"
Catra took a moment to compose herself, exhaling a long deep sigh. "I'm going back to Earth with Violet and Artemis," she finally admitted. "I'm joining the Team."
Glimmer and Bow's blurted response came in unison.
"WHAT!?"
[-]
WHISPERING WOODS
July 04, 23:52 UTC
They gathered at the edge of the woods under the silent stars, the heroes of two worlds. On one side stood Tigress, Miss Martian, Superboy, Halo, Cyborg and Terra: along with a sullen Supergirl, an impassive Barda, and an unresponsive M'comm. Opposite the Earthlings stood Adora, Glimmer and Bow. Between the two groups, Catra waited, Melog by her side and a heavy duffle bag slung over her shoulder.
"You sure this is what you want?" Tigress asked.
"I'm sure." Catra hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.
"You realize, of course, you're going to have to do a lot to earn our trust after the stunts you pulled?"
Story of my life, thought Catra. "I understand."
"Guess today's a new start for a lot of us," said Superboy, turning to Supergirl. "Right, Kara?"
"I'm not going back to Earth," Kara said curtly.
"Excuse me?"
"I don't even know you, why in Rao's names should I go anywhere with you?"
"Because we're family?!"
"Oh, and exactly how are we related again?"
Superboy stumbled. "I… It's complicated, okay."
"Yeah, well this isn't," Kara strode across the divide to stand beside a suddenly awkward Adora. "I'm staying here!"
"You're a child!" Superboy started to lose his cool. "You're not capable of making that kind of-"
Conner, don't! M'gann psychically cut him off.
But M'gann, we can't just leave her here?
Kara's already had two worlds ripped out from under her, and Adora's the only shred of continuity she has left to cling to. If we try to take that away, she will never trust us.
"Alright…" Conner exhaled deeply. "If that's what you want."
Adora placed a protective hand on Kara's shoulders. "We'll take care of her, I promise."
Superboy shot her a warning look. "You better."
Big Barda stepped forward, offering Adora and Kara a stiff salute. "It's been an honor, Cadets. Glory to your names, and swift death to your enemies."
"Uh, thanks, Captain Barda," Adora saluted back, trying to take the well wishes in the spirit they were intended. "Umm… you too?"
Tigress extended a hand. "Adora, Glimmer, Bow, it's been real."
Adora took the proffered hand gratefully. "Likewise and thanks, for everything."
"And sorry for kinda going behind your back and launching a desperate commando raid on Apokolips without telling you," Bow added sheepishly.
Tigress smirked. "I suppose that's just Karma. And I'm sorry we treated you guys like sidekicks and didn't keep you in more the loop. I guess after over a decade of playing constant chess games with Vandal Savage and the Light, we still have some trust issues to work through."
Glimmer frowned. "Should we be worried about him?"
"Now that Etheria's on his radar; most definitely."
[-]
APOKOLIPS
July 05, 00:00 UTC
It would be impolitic to say the reign of Horde Prime, Lord of Apokolips, had ended. Indeed, it would be downright suicidal to allude to it ever having occurred at all. Already, official histories were being redacted to erase all reference to Prime, Grayven, or his ill-conceived coup. Soon, it would be as though the third Son of Darkseid had never existed.
The mass of Hunger Dogs, herded into the great square of Armagetto by snarling Parademons, understood this. They knew well that history, truth, reality itself was unmade and remade with every new edict from on High. And woe betide any who dare contradict the divinely ordained Truth.
Truth now stood before them, overlooking the seething sea of life from a high balcony, His granite fist raised to the ochre smog-choked skies above.
Lᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀsᴇ ʜᴏᴡʟ ɪɴ ᴅᴇsᴘᴀɪʀ, ғᴏʀ I ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʀᴇᴛᴜʀɴᴇᴅ!
The Voice of Darkseid rolled over the dagger-spires and gutter-valleys of Armagetto like a crashing wave, drowning the will of all who heard it. The retching wailing mass of Hunger Dogs below instantly fell to their knees, prostrating themselves before the Once, Future and Eternal Lord of Apokolips.
Tʜᴏsᴇ ʟᴇᴅ ᴀsᴛʀᴀʏ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴄᴇɪᴛs ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Eɴᴇᴍʏ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴘᴀʏ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴀᴘᴏsᴛᴀsʏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛᴏʀᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴜɴᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ! Tʜᴏsᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ғᴀɪᴛʜғᴜʟ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ɢʀᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏɴᴏʀ ᴏғ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ʏᴇᴛ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ sᴀᴄʀɪғɪᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ɢʟᴏʀʏᴏғ Dᴀʀᴋsᴇɪᴅ! Rᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛʜɪs ʟᴇssᴏɴ ᴡᴇʟʟ: ғᴇᴀʀ Mᴇ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀs! Fᴏʀ I ᴀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ Rᴇᴠᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ! Tʜᴇ Tɪɢᴇʀ-Fᴏʀᴄᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏʀᴇ ᴏғ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜɪɴɢs! Dᴀʀᴋsᴇɪᴅ ᴡᴀs, Dᴀʀᴋsᴇɪᴅ ɪs ᴀɴᴅ Dᴀʀᴋsᴇɪᴅ sʜᴀʟʟ ᴇᴠᴇʀ Bᴇ!
DARKSEID IS!
DARKSEID IS!
DARKSEID IS!
The figure took a moment to bask in the adulation of the chanting masses. Granite lips curled in an uncharacteristically sly smile, as though at some private joke, before withdrawing into the all concealing shadows of the Divine Palace's interior. Once hidden from the eyes of the Hunger Dogs, 'Darkseid' couldn't resist giving an overdramatic twirl as their form was enshrouded by glittering shadow.
"TA-DA!" Double Trouble trilled, taking a proud exaggerated bow. "So… How did I do?"
"Frankly, I thought you overplayed your part," Desaad said icily.
Double Trouble pouted sulkily. "Hmph, everyone's a critic."
"Perhaps…" Vandal Savage stepped from the shadows. "But the Hunger Dogs seem to have found your performance convincing enough. As far as anyone outside this room is concerned, Darkseid's reign shall continue uninterrupted."
"I suppose that's all that matters in the end." Desaad extended a hand to Savage. "Business as usual then?"
Savage's own hands remained firmly clasped behind his back as he eyed Desaad coldly. "Not exactly."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Double Trouble and I have come to an understanding." Savage shot the changeling a slight conspiratorial smile. "If you wish to retain their services, you'll have to go through me. And I believe it is well past time my original Pact with Apokolips was… renegotiated."
Desaad's laugh was short and sharp in response. "And what's to stop me going to Durla and simply finding another shapeshifter to replace the Ma'alefa'ak?"
"Nothing, I suppose," Savage conceded, before lowering his voice to a wolfish growl. "Just as nothing prevents 'Darkseid' from marching back onto that balcony and revealing themself to all of Apokolips."
"Oooh, I can't resist a curtain call," Double Trouble trilled, draping themself over Savage's shoulders.
Somehow, Desaad's clammy pallid flesh turned a shade paler.
"You- You wouldn't dare!" he stammered, his normally sadistic leer twisting into an expression of absolute dread. "The Hunger Dogs would go berserk, they'd tear down half of Apokolips before they can be put down!"
"That would be unfortunate…" Savage pierced the God of Torment with an iron gaze. "For you."
Desaad fell quiet, stripped of his godly arrogance.
"I'm glad we understand each other. Now…" Savage drew a long list from his great coat, clearing his throat. "Item One…"
[-]
WHISPERING WOODS
July 05, 00:16 UTC
"ARRRGH! GERROFFME!" Catra hissed, clutched in Glimmer and Bow's weeping embrace.
Bow bawled tearily. "Not until you say it!"
"Uuuhgh, fine!" Catra finally relented. "I… I'll miss you guys, okay? Happy now?"
"We'll miss you too," sobbed Bow, wiping his eyes as he and Glimmer reluctantly released Catra.
Catra finally turned to Adora. "So, I guess this is it?"
"Yeah, I guess it is," said Adora somberly.
"You ready to try the long distance thing?"
"Sure, I mean, Bow and Cybrog set up a sub-space link for my weekly sessions with Dr. Quinzel, and Entrapta's already working on her own Zeta-platform."
"HA! Good luck finding volunteers for that!" Catra snorted, before leaning in to kiss Adora deeply. "Be safe."
"You too," Adora whispered tenderly.
Catra stepped back, emotionally bracing herself. "Hey, Sparkles, you and Arrow Boy look after this idiot for me, okay?"
"Sure thing, Horde Scum," sniffed Glimmer.
"Well, I think that's everyone," spoke Tigress, turning to Cyborg. "Vic, would you do the honors?"
"Don't mind if I do." Cyborg raised a hand, the Mobius tech built into his body humming to life.
BOOOOOM!
M'comm recoiled in wordless fright from the roaring vortex. M'gann silently took his hand, psychically projecting a wave of reassurance and well-being into his unformed mind.
"All aboard the Boom-Tube Express!" hollered Cyborg.
One by one, the Earth heroes and their various travel companions stepped into the golden portal until only Catra and Melog remained. Catra stood on the cosmic threshold, turning to give Adora one last longing gaze.
"I'll be back."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Catra stepped deeper into the Boom-Tube, followed by Melog, and suddenly she was gone. The thundering portal collapsed on itself, leaving only the dreamy murmuring of the Whispering Woods.
Adora felt her knees almost give out beneath her, tears blurring her vision. Glimmer, Bow and Kara immediately rushed to support her.
"Are you okay?" Glimmer asked.
"Yeah, I think I will be," Adora smiled sadly, wiping her eyes as she gazed up at the stars scattered like sparkling sand across the velvet night. She gazed at those shining specks all through the night, wondering which one was Earth. Until they were inevitably washed out by the rosy-pink light of dawn.
Never the End
Catra will return in Young Justice: Facets
