Out of the Frying Pan

In the Shadows of Mystacor Part 2

"It's the beach!" Glimmer announces. "Here, take a towel."

And they're just supposed to...lie there? Adora holds herself perfectly still, muscles pulling tighter and tighter.

"Oof!" Catra has flopped across her stomach.

"Stop thinking about relaxing," Catra advises. "Think how dinner's coming soon so we gotta hurry and get sleep while we can."

Adora laughs. It sounds so reasonable when you put it like that. She closes her eyes.

Then she wakes to find there's no longer a weight against her. Her eyes open and she bolts upright. "Catra!" she screams, jolting Glimmer and Bow awake.

"I'm over here," Catra calls from the doorway across the room. She sounds subdued, and her ears are at a worrying tilt.

Adora sprints over to her. "What's going on? Why did you leave?"

"Hypothesis testing," Catra says, like that's an answer.

"What if Shadow Weaver showed up?"

"She did," Catra says, flat. "That was the hypothesis tested. She shows when we're alone." Her face isn't quite even. One side is swelling up from a blow.

"But -"

"It's fine. Nothing I hadn't heard before."

"What do you mean? What did she say? What did she do? Catra, why did you go off on your own, how am I supposed to -"

"Like you'd do anything," Catra interrupts. "I handled it, okay? Not like I've had no practice."

Adora flinches.

"Is this still about what happened at Entrapta's?" Bow asks delicately.

"Yes," Adora says as Catra says, "No."

"Hrm," Glimmer says.

Catra snarls, "No! You think it's a surprise that Adora didn't fix things for you one time? That's normal. Deal with it! You didn't even have to put up with her telling you the robots had a point."

"It won't be like that this time!"

"Adora..." Catra groans. "Don't make empty promises."

"I won't let you down this time, I won't, really!"

"You wouldn't know where to begin," Catra says. She isn't looking at Adora. "It's not a big deal. There's nothing she can say she hasn't already."

"That's not fair." Her voice breaks. "It shouldn't have to be you again! What good am I if I'm still getting you hurt?'

"You're not getting me hurt, it just happens!"

"Catra," Glimmer interrupts. "What can I do to help?"

They stare at her. After a moment, Catra manages, "Uh..."

"You know more about the Horde and their princess than I do," Glimmer says. "I shouldn't have invalidated your experiences. If you two say the princess is here, then I believe you, and I'll do whatever you need me to do."

"Uh," Catra says again, looking at Adora.

"You're the one who knows her best," Adora tells Catra. "You're in charge of what we should do."

"Okay..." Catra takes a breath and looks around, like she's gathering her thoughts. "Okay. The shadow thing turned into her, all the way, but I don't think it's actually her here. It's here and it can touch stuff because one of the shadows hit me but I think she's running it remotely. She has that water pool thing, remember? This is probably what that's for."