Darla's engine whirs as it speeds toward Horde Prime's flagship. Adora sits in the captain's chair as the ship rumbles against turbulence, an alarm beeps, and status messages glitch in front of her.
Darla's Interface warns us,
"Alert. We are being pulled in by an outside force."
Darla is pulled in to Horde Prime's ship, where it lands with a thump. An energy barrier thrums closed behind the ship.
Darla’s hatch whooshes open and a ramp thuds when connected to the ground. Adora and I both walk out, arms up in surrender, and walk slowly toward the clones. We grunts as they grab us. The clones walk into Darla to search the ship.
Adora snugly tells them,
"You won't find anything, we came alone. We hear Horde Prime's been looking for us. Figured it was time we met."
The two clones on Darla walk back up empty handed.
Horde Prime's clone, equally as smug, replies,
"Yes. You will be brought before Prime. And there you will receive your judgement."
Adora grunts when the clones holding her push her forward. I, also being dragged look back at the ship as we walk away. Suddenly, Entrapta, Bow, and Glimmer fall out of the back of Darla, grunting when they hit the ground, I sigh in relief they didn't get caught.
Bow taps an in-ear radio that beeps, informing both me and Adora,
"We're in." over the radio, he continues,
"They didn't find us."
Adora whispers back,
"Good. Be quick, and don't get caught."
As Adora and I are being escorted by clones in a different hallway, all I can hear is Adora whispering again to the trio,
"Okay, uh--everyone, just be careful."
Clones standing beside a large energy field doorway palm it, causing it to hum as it ripples open for us to walk through.
A clone steps aside from the barrier in front of me and Adora,
"You will go alone." he tells us in the most robotic way.
Bow, over the radio, encourages Adora, almost forgetting I'm with them,
"You've got this, Adora. Keep him talking."
Glimmer, also over the radio, scoffs
"Knowing him, that is not going to be a problem."
Adora breathes out as she begins to walk behind me over a singular platform, the room's ambiance is a constant low humming of voices in a choir. Adora and I step to Prime's throne.
Both of us kneel,
"Prime."
A clone steps aside to reveal Prime sitting and in-taking a green fluid through tubes which gurgles.
Horde Prime, in a menacing way, greets us,
"Welcome... Heroes."
Over the radio, Entrapta's scream is cut out by transmission buzzing, making me cringe from the loud noise.
Horde Prime apologizes
"Forgive my unseemly state. It is a tedious task," his chair hisses as it spins to let him face me and Adora.
"but a necessary one to maintain this vessel."
Adora clenches her fist and sternly tells the man,
"This is how it's going to go. We're gonna make a deal. You're gonna give us Catra, and then you're gonna let us leave again, free and clear. We have something you want. A weapon that only She-Ra and her guardian can activate: The Heart of Etheria. And if you don't do what I say, then I'll use it..." the blonde hesitates for a moment, but says it anyway,
"and destroy you and your empire for good."
A fluid tube squirts and drips as a clone detaches it from Horde Prime. Horde Prime's eyes squelch as he looks at Adora with all four eyes. He then laughs long as the monitors behind him hum high-pitched, again, making me cringe.
Adora clears her throat, beginning to be annoyed,
"Is...is something funny?"
Horde Prime, in an amused tone speaks,
"You are not going to use the weapon, or you would have already done so. You would never risk the safety of your Catra."
Adora quietly, yet angrily tells him,
"You don't know me. And you don't know what I'm capable of."
Horde Prime, seethingly, replies,
"Oh...but I do."
"Oh...but you don't." I taunt him.
A hum whirs powering-down as the clones detach the tubes from Horde Prime's neck, more tubes pull free and hiss with steam.
As his 'hair' tubes reconnect themselves and the clones do something behind his back, he explains,
"I am old, far older than you can imagine. My brothers lend me their life force, and when one vessel fails me, I simply elect another." he pets the clone before continuing,
"Thus, Prime has reigned eternal through the centuries. There is something so..." he walks toward us,
"...familiar about you, Adora and Y/N." Adora gasps as he grabs her chin.
"Faces I have not seen in a thousand years." Adora grunts as she shakes her face from his grasp.
"Not since I faced your ancestors, and crushed their once-mighty empire beneath my heel. You call them the First Ones. And you are one of them," Adora gasps softly at his statement, not thinking he'd know.
"are you not, Adora?"
Horde Prime speaks again,
"I thought the First Ones were all gone, but clearly...some fractions remain. That race of tyrants...abandoned you two on a forgotten planet in a shadow dimension. They made you their weapon, their...She-Ra, their saviors."
Adora angrily snaps,
"I don't fight for the First Ones. I fight for my home, for myself, and for my friends. Now for the last time: where is Catra?"
Catra, somewhere off-screen, fearfully calls out,
"Adora?"
Shocked by the sudden call out, I immediately reply,
"Catra?"
Horde Prime taunts us even more,
"Of course. Your Catra. She hoped you would come for her...poor thing. So all I had to was wait. As she would've said, “You are so very predictable.”"
All of the sudden he starts looking behind the two of us. He then calls out to someone,
"...Come here, child."
Two clones and a third figure step up the stairs behind Adora and me. The third figure slips back a hood to reveal a Chipped Catra, hair cut short and fully green eyes. Catra always speaks in an unnaturally blissful and passive way.
Chipped Catra greets us,
"Hello, Adora."
"Hello, Phoenix."
"Oh my God." is all I can get out. I can feel the tears building up in my eyes.
Adora shouts aggressively,
"What did you do to her?!" she tries to run for Catra, but two clones grab her and hold her back. They don't grab me, they already know that I wouldn't do anything to hurt Catra.
They also know my powers aren't as strong as they would be back on Etheria, so it'd be like a snowflake falling on them.
Catra walks to the foot of the throne, gets on her knees and bows.
Horde Prime speaks,
"I have made her anew. I saw her mind..." he reaches out for Catra's hand, and Catra takes it to stand.
"...so ensnared in grief and rage and pain...and I brought her to the light. Isn't that right..." he thumbs at the chip on the back of her neck,
"little sister?" as he says that I see Catra tensing up under his touch.
I speak up, aggressively asking,
"What did you do to her?" my eyebrows furrowed, eyes widened.
Adora then tells Catra,
"You have to fight it!"
The girl then speaks up,
"My place is with Horde Prime, Adora. I don't want to leave."
"Tell her what I've done for you." Horde Prime tells her. She walks over to us like that. She was never like this before Prime. She never listened to anyone.
"Prime has given me peace. Something you could never do." she palms the side of Adora's face,
"You broke my heart. But he has made it whole again. Don't you see? This is for the best. I'm happy here." she moves her hand to Adora's shoulder, close to the back of her neck and tauntingly tells her,
"You could be happy, too."
She then turns to me and practically hugs me. All of a sudden, I feel a sharp sensation in my neck. Out of instinct, I push her away and touch the area I'm guessing she scratched. I regret my hand from my neck once I feel stinging. I look at my hand and see my palm is covered in blood.
Adora, angrily looks at Horde Prime,
"Let her go."
A whooshing, almost whispering of voices, happens, then Horde Prime places a hand on Catra's shoulder and she gasps.
"Shall we make a deal, saviors?" he menacingly asks.
"I will give her to you, if...you want her... But first, you must do something for me. You...will give me She-Ra."
Adora and I both tell him,
"Never."
Horde Prime grins,
"Very well." he says before he snaps his fingers.
A high pitched hum is heard, then electricity zaps, static buzzes, and a high-pitched feedback happens in our in-ear radios making Adora grunt in pain, and making me kneel down from the uncomfortable feeling.
The radios fall out of our ears, practically destroyed already, but Horde Prime smashes it with his foot, making it crack.
Horde Prime teasingly mocks us,
"You miscalculated."
"I see all. I know all."
"You thought yourself worthy to challenge me...but you are nothing but false heroes, the last of the First Ones to fall at my hands. You have led your friends to destruction." at the last word, he tightens his grip on Catra's shoulder and she gasps, her eyes turning back to normal for a moment, breathing in sharply, then back to green.
Adora gasps as she notices, but I just stay still, not knowing what to do from the shock. This never happens to me. Why am I so weak?
Horde Prime, in an amused tone, states,
"Go on, fulfill your purpose. Bring out She-Ra, and strike me down."
Adora breathes out heavily, almost sobbing.
Horde Prime then continues to taunt us,
"Ah.." he pats Chipped Catra on the head, and she hums.
"but you three must have a lot of catching up to do. I will leave you to it. Let me know when you're ready to make a deal."
Horde Prime and his clones walk away, an energy door hums open. Chipped Catra's fist clenches, then her claws elongate, making a shing noise.
"Nah, this is some psychotic shit." I comment.
Adora shouts in pain as Chipped Catra punches her. The blonde dodges and attempts to restrain Catra/stop Catra from fighting her, kicking her away, grunting and shouting. Chipped Catra's claws shing as she tries to swipe, but Adora grabs her arm.
Adora restrains Catra by holding her arm. She then speaks,
"Catra, listen to me. I know you're still in there." Adora enunciates the last words,
"We're not leaving without you."
Chipped Catra strains at the hold, a sound like leather being stretched is heard, most likely caused by her outfit, Catra half-laughs.
"It's gonna be okay--" Adora gets cut off by the sound of bones cracking. I look over at the two and see Catra's arm twisting unnaturally in Adora's hold.
I let go of my neck, fighting the pain. Quickly, I blast Catra with my powers, hoping it would at least somewhat tire her out.
Adora groans in pain and shouts as Catra uses her other hand to claw her leg, ripping the fabric.
"Shiiiit." I whisper to myself, elongating the 'i'.
As Catra puts Adora into a tight hold, she speaks,
"Everything is already okay. We are with Prime now. There is no need for you to suffer," she slightly caresses Adora's jaw with a claw, Adora hisses in a breath.
"Adora. Come into the light with me."
Adora yells as she grabs Catra and throws her from behind herself, over in my direction. Catra basically somersaults her way over to me and slams her chip against the dais of Horde Prime's throne, grunting. Catra laughs, almost maniacally.
I desperately try to get her to come to her senses,
"Snap out of it, Catra. We don't want to hurt you..."
The magicat finally finishes laughing with a sharp intake of air,
"...But you have already hurt me. Prime has set me free of that pain. The pain that you caused." she steps up the stairs toward the throne.
"He will set us all free...forever. A world of peace, without end."
Silence as Adora and I stare at Catra in horror and sad disbelief. She then lunges at Adora, completely ignoring me even though I was right next to her. The blonde dodges her punch, then punches back, connecting it.
"Am I invisible or something?" I raise my voice to get the duo's attention. "
Catra returns the punch to Adora and continues swiping at her while Adora grabs her arms, grunting with effort, and throws her backward toward the edge of the platform. As I see this in action, I make my way to the two, ready to catch Catra if she falls. I fly under the ledge, beneath the cat.
Adora reaches out, shouting in concern,
"Catra!"
Chipped Catra notices the ledge, then laughs, stepping backward. Adora gasps and shouts, lunging to grab her. Adora pants and hums in relief as she pulls Catra back and embraces her.
The blonde girl groans in pain as Catra rips the back of her jacket.
Horde Prime and Chipped Catra, voices layered together, speak,
"Oh, Adora... How long will you drag this out? You will destroy the ones you love in the process."
Catra knees Adora in the stomach and Adora groans in pain, Catra then grabs Adora's collar and holds her over the edge of the platform.
As this plays out I've already come up with a plan. I stay under the platform. Right as Adora's about to fall, I fly up and I push her back to the surface.
Pebbles scrape as Adora shuffles her feet to stay on the edge of the platform. Unsuccessfully, though, Catra gets a hold of Adora and swings her over again, knocking me out of the way onto the platform
Horde Prime and Chipped Catra, again, their voices layered together, speak,
"She was afraid, in the end. And she suffered. Perhaps I will make her my new vessel...though, she would not last me long. What do you think..." voices whisper and whoosh as Chipped Catra speaks by herself,
"Adora?"
Adora grabs onto Catra's arm and screams, pushing them back onto the platform. I regain some strength. Due to the fact that I did use a lot of my energy for my powers, and because I got thrown.
I look over and see that Adora slams Catra into the monitors with a glass-cracking noise, and Catra's chip sparks and crackles with electricity.
Catra laughs hysterically, then voices whoosh again and whisper as Catra's eyes return to normal for a moment.
The magicat gasps as the voices whoosh again and her eyes turn back to green. Adora gasps softly as she watches this all play out. A large tremor booms and the room shakes, rubble falling, causing the monitors to beep and glitch out.
Adora, determined, tells her,
"I am not giving up on you, Catra!"
As the monitors beep in and out behind her, Catra speaks,
"Then you're a fool. You cannot stop Horde Prime." the monitors crackle with electricity.
"He will reign triumphant over all the universe. It is...destiny--" as electricity zaps behind Catra at her chip, causing her to scream out in pain, I realize it's the right time to take some action. I was monitoring the glass and was timing when it'd be a good time to move out of the way and I think it's about time I do that.
I get up and drag both Adora and Catra away from the monitors as they hum with a building energy, still crackling with electricity, until they shatter. The glass then explodes, pieces clattering. Adora grunts as she lands nearby on the ground. Catra's chip crackles with electricity. The magicat pants and grunts in pain, opening her eyes to see Adora, the blonde gasping slightly.
Catra, in a strained voice, looks at us,
"Adora, Y/N...you should have stayed away. Why did you come back? We all know I don't matter..."
Adora cups Catra's face and desperately tells her,
"You matter to us."
Catra smiles at that statement and half-sobs, then gasps as voices whoosh, her eyes turning back to green and pulling Adora's hand away. Catra slaps Adora, causing her to grunt. The chipped girl walks toward the ledge, then cries out in pain as the chip sparks with electricity.
I desperately, call out, my voice shaking,
"Come on, Catra! You've never listened to anyone in your life! Are you really going to start now?!"
The chip sparks and voices whoosh as Catra's eyes turn back to normal.
Catra puts on a smile,
"You're such an idiot..."
I, while half-sobbinf, half-laughing, somehow reply,
"Yeah...I know..."
Catra laughs, then the voices whoosh again, causing her discomfort which lead to her hugging herself.
Adora reassures her,
"We're going to take you home."
Catra's eyes turn back to normal,
"...Promise?"
Adora reaches out her hand as she desperately tells Catra,
"We promise!"
Catra shakily reaches out,
"...Adora..."
Before Catra can touch Adora, voices whoosh and Catra's hand retracts, bones cracking and she painfully groans, then whimpers. Catra stands straight, bones cracking.
Horde Prime and Chipped Catra have their voices layered together again,
"Disappointing. Some creatures are destined only for destruction."
Catra's eyes return to normal, she then screams as her chip zaps with electricity, causing her to pass out and fall backward.
As this happens, I try to use up as much energy as I can to save Catra, not having a care in the world if it injures me.
Adora reaches for Catra as she falls off the ledge, she shouts,
"No!"
As Adora shouts, I make my way to Catra and try to protect her from the fall. I wrap my hand around her waist and put my other hand on her head in case of impact. I don't care about my own head, cause I'm praying the wings will somewhat cushion my landing.
Even if I die, it's for a good cause, right?
Adora grunts as she reaches the edge and watches mine and Catra's forms as we fall. Adora breathes out, determined, then grunts as she jumps over the edge.
Adora groans as she opens her eyes. She grunts as she touches her head, then gasps when she sees both me and Catra laying nearby. She tries to stand, only to thud to the ground and grunt. She pants as she makes her way to us.
To her surprise I'm fine, but Catra isn't. As I frantically try to check for a pulse Adora picks up Catra's limp for from my arms as she calls out,
"Catra...?" with more intense concern, she weakly says,
"Catra? It's okay...I'm here."
Catra breathes softly, but weakly, Adora begins to pant, almost half-sobbing. She embraces Catra closer as clones surround us.
Horde Prime possesses a Clone, as Adora quietly sobs, he taunts,
"I am sorry for the needless waste, saviors. It did not have to be like this. Are you ready to cooperate?"
Adora's hand shakily straightens at the back of Catra's head, then she lowers Catra away from herself, back to me. She opens her eyes to reveal a blue magical glow, an energy field whooshing and humming around her as she stands.
"...For the honor...of...GRAYSKULL!" she shouts, magic surrounding her.
She-Ra's sword materializes in her hand magically, a light shinging up the Sword. A bright light shines, and She-Ra's form reveals itself from a starry silhouette. Catra breathes lightly in my hold. She-Ra looks over at us and gives me a look at says "magic". To my understanding, she means for me to use my magic, so I start to make a protective shield around myself and Catra.
Adora then swipes her sword at the clones, sending a wave of magical energy that knocks them backward, grunting. She elbows another clone, kicks another, flipping off him, and then blasts the possessed one with a magical beam from the Sword, the voices whisper and whoosh as the clone's eyes glare up at She-Ra.
She-Ra teasingly mocks him,
"You miscalculated."
Right before we leave Adora takes Catra from my arms and helps me walk back as well as carrying Catra.
A bright magical light hums behind the trio, Glimmer, Bow and Entrapta, causing them to shield their eyes and gasp. She-Ra appears holding Catra in her arms, her form sparkles and glows.
Bow, in an amazed tone, softly says,
"She-Ra..."
"Mommy's back, y'all." I chuckle.
She-Ra walks to them and clones appear where she came from. She hands Catra to Bow, he, Glimmer and I run into Darla as She-Ra turns to the clones. She-Ra summons her sword in a high-pitched hum, and the clones rush her, snarling, Adora carves magical energy with a few swipes in front of her, then yells, expelling the energy and the clones backward as they shout. She-Ra walks away to the ship.
As Adora returns to the ship, Catra is laying on my lap as I try my best to keep her from leaving us again.
She-Ra walks onto the bridge, Entrapta types away as an alarm beeps continuously.
Darla's interface speaks as She-Ra walks to the main console next to Entrapta,
"Shields at 30 percent. Hull compromised. Interspace travel not recommended."
She-Ra touches the console and it whirs to life, the bridge hums with power, the interface dings positively.
Darla's interface speaks,
"Administrator detected. Hello, She-Ra."
She-Ra tells the hologram,
"Hey, Darla. Get us out of here."
"Affirmative."
The ship trembles and rubble crashes, sliding off the top as Darla starts up.
"And Darla?" Adora tells her sternly,
"Make it quick."
Darla crashes through the side of Horde Prime's flagship out into space, and the engines whir as it whizzes away.
She-Ra walks over and kneels next to me and Catra, where Glimmer and Bow have sat around us. She picks her up into her arms from mine. I hide my face in my hands, not wanting my friends to see me crying. Although they've heard my sniffles, they've never seen me cry and never will.
Adora breathes in and quietly tells Catra,
"Come on, Catra. You're not done...not yet." she touches their foreheads together.
"We're going home."
A magical energy begins to encompass them, eventually silhouetting them both in a bright light as She-Ra changes back into Adora. Adora half-sobs, breathing softly, Catra coughs, breathing in softly.
I remove my hands from my eyes, not caring anymore, my only concern being Catra.
Catra leans her head against Adora's chest, she weakly greets her,
"Hey, Adora..."
Adora sobs happily, embracing Catra tightly. Catra hesitates, surprised, then returns the embrace tightly. I let out an
"Oh my God." and I practically jump on them, embracing Catra as well. I sob into her shoulder. Catra purrs as we continue to hug. I hear Adora sobbing lightly, but that doesn't even compare to what I'm doing right now.
*Babe, you're having a panic attack. Your hands are trembling. Your breathing is just...tragic.*
"I'm so, so, so sorry." I cry into Catra's shoulder.
"Why are you the one saying sorry?" Catra asks, followed by a chuckle in a tired voice.
I pull away for a second and Catra looks at me, awaiting an answer.
"I don't know. I'm just... Happy to know you're here. You're real, oh my god." I freak out again. I cup her face to make sure I wasn't hallucinating everything.
"You're actually here."
Word Count
4019 words in total.
Author: idk why but this was a very emotional chapter for me