Catra and Adora stood facing one another, Adora with her sword aimed at the ready.
"I don't have time for this right now," Adora said coldly. "Get out of my way Catra."
Catra didn't move. She couldn't take her eyes away from Adora. There was so much fight in her, so much hatred in her eyes. How was she supposed to make this right?
"Whatever," Adora shook her head, pushing past the girl. Despite her curiosity, she really didn't have time to ask why Catra wasn't at the Horde. "You should get out of here. It's not safe."
"Adora wait," Catra grabbed Adora's arm, pulling her back. Adora turned to her, pulling her hand away harshly. She faltered when she saw Catra's expression. Why did she look so different? She only just now noticed the sadness in her eyes, the missing Force Captain pin, the new scar on her forehead clearly visible without her usual mask.
"Adora," Catra pleaded. "Don't go to that castle."
Adora looked at the building in the distance, at the streams of energy erupting from the ground. "I have to stop Light Hope."
"You'll die trying," Catra's voice wavered.
"Is that a threat?" Adora's eyes narrowed.
"No," Another voice came from the bushes. "It's the future."
Adora turned to see Bow walking towards her, followed by Glimmer and Double Trouble. Shouldn't they be at the Horde too? Adora thought.
"What's going on?" Adora asked. She turned to Catra. "Why are you with them?"
"I know it's crazy," Catra said, "But we don't have a lot of time to explain everything. We're from the future, Adora. We're here to save you."
Adora laughed, looking to the others expecting to see them responding the same way but their serious faces left her even more confused. "You...you really expect me to believe that?"
"She's telling the truth," Glimmer said. "We're trying to help you."
"Help me?" Adora glared. "Well maybe you shouldn't of set off the alien super weapon in the planet. Did it ever occur to you to maybe stop that from happening instead?"
"Believe me when I say I'll pay for that decision," Glimmer said. "But you shouldn't have to."
Adora looked to Bow, feeling as though he was the only one she could even talk to right then. The way he looked at her though seemed to be confirmation of everything on its own. Still not understanding completely, not knowing how it was even possible, Adora realized at the very least they believed what they were saying.
"So the future," Adora finally said. "I'm not in it?"
"That's what we're trying to change," Bow said. "Because otherwise, you'll die sacrificing yourself in the Crystal Castle. A-And I don't think I can watch that happen again."
"Again..." Adora looked down at the sword. Truthfully, there was a part of her that always assumed she'd die in this war. Mara had. It's not that she wasn't willing to make the sacrifice but it's not like she was in a rush to see that happen. Now she was being told that death was on her doorstep. Her friends, people who had never worked together before as far as she knew, had traveled through time to stop it from happening.
"I'm sorry," Adora took a deep breath. "But I have to stop Light Hope. Even if it ends the way you say it will. You can't stop me from going to the castle."
"Then don't go alone," Catra placed a hand on Adora's, "I can't lose you again. So no matter what happens, I'm not leaving you."
Adora felt her face heat up. She had never seen Catra so vulnerable. "Alright," She said softly, trying not to wonder if this was one of the last moments she would have with her old friend. There were so many things she wanted to know, so much she had apparently missed. It wasn't clear if she'd ever get those answers, but she had to hope.
Leading the way, Adora took the four to the Crystal Castle. "Here's the plan," She explained. "I'll keep Light Hope busy and buy you all some time. You four get to her core processing unit and try to shut her off. There will be a crystal that you need to destroy. If we can disable her, maybe we can stop the weapon."
"I'll keep watch," Double Trouble said. "I'm not much of a fighter after all. This way if any unwanted visitors come by, I can lead them in the wrong direction."
"Fine," Glimmer said. "But make sure you're here when we need you."
"Why exactly do we need them?" Adora asked. Up until that point she really hadn't understood why they were there in the first place.
"We needed them to be you." Bow explained how their past selves needed to believe Adora died. Adora understood, though she wasn't thrilled with the idea.
"One more thing," Catra said, reaching behind her. "You're going to need this."
Adora felt like her brain was going to break in two when Catra took out the sword. Looking down at her own, she wasn't sure what to make of it.
"How..." She took Catra's sword, feeling the same power radiating off of it, except it was older and had a stronger pull.
"We don't know why," Catra admitted, "But we think that's the sword you're meant to take in there."
Adora decided to give her original sword to Catra. "Use this one then."
Catra took it, shocked that Adora would trust her with it. They didn't have time to dwell on it though, and headed into the castle.
Light Hope was standing at the front of the room, focused on the Heart of Etheria controls in front of her. Turning around to face Adora, she reached out a hand.
"I am glad you are here," Light Hope said. "Now we can begin."
"You won't do anything to her!" Glimmer shouted, sending a shockwave of magic at the woman. Light Hope wavered, irked by the minor annoyance.
"My sensors tell me that you three should not be here," Light Hope frowned. She was detecting two energy signatures from Glimmer, one in the castle and one in the Fright Zone. That shouldn't be possible. There were also two swords, complicating things further. She recognized that the one in Adora's hands was older than Catra's, and therefore much stronger. She would need to channel the weapon through that one.
"Did you really think we'd let Adora do this alone?" Catra growled. She knew she couldn't hurt the hologram itself, but her eyes were already scanning for the processing unit.
"Over there!" Adora shouted. The others followed her gaze and saw what they were looking for. "Go!"
Light Hope raised her hand, creating an army of spiders. Glimmer and Bow charged forward, fighting their way through the creatures. Catra, however, fell back, protecting Adora.
"What are you doing?" Adora asked her.
"I told you already," Catra grinned back at her. "Whatever happens."
"Whatever happens," Adora echoed, a warm feeling washing over her. She turned back to Light Hope, prepared for the worst.
"Your weapon is useless," Adora shouted over the fighting. "You can't reach anyone in the empty dimension."
"With the connection between the runestones restored, portal capabilities are back online," Light Hope brought up more controls. "Preparing the jump out of Despondos."
"You had to give her that idea?" Catra complained, slicing at spiders with her new weapon. Did she feel weird using She-Ra's sword? Oh yeah, definitely. She half heartedly wondered if Adora would let her keep it when they were done.
Glimmer and Bow were almost to the panel when the castle started shaking. They could feel the planet moving through space.
"The time has come," Light Hope said. "The Heart of Etheria will be fired." Adora screamed as the power streaming into the castle was directed into her body. She fell to her knees, light pouring out of her.
"Adora!" Catra cried. A spider knocked the sword out of her hand, slashing her arm. Slicing it away with her other hand, she rushed to Adora's side.
"Y-You can't," Adora whispered. She couldn't fight this for long. "I'll hold her off. Go. Help Glimmer and Bow."
Catra looked to the other two, seeing that they were being overpowered. They weren't going to make it. Turning back to Adora, she felt her eyes brimming with tears.
"Go," Adora reassured her.
"Promise you won't leave me again," Catra begged. "Promise you'll stay."
Adora smiled, trying to ignore the tears streaming down her own face. "I promise."
Catra stood up weakly, hesitant to take her eyes away from Adora. Pulling herself together, she ran away to Glimmer and Bow's aid. She didn't know where the sword went but she figured she'd have to make due. Part of her wished she had brought another grenade.
Adora gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stand back up. She kept the sword as low to the ground as she could, bleakly aware of what would happen should she fail.
Catra slashed at the spiders on top of Bow, then Glimmer, freeing her to teleport them as close to the processing unit as possible.
"We got this," Glimmer yelled, covering Catra's back. "Go!"
Catra knelt by the unit, a large wall with a crystal sticking out of one of two slots. Gripping the crystal, Catra tugged with all her might to pull it loose.
Light Hope, who only just realized how close they were, turned her attention to Catra and the others. Adora yelled at Light Hope, desperate to continue distracting her but she could only focus on so many things at once. The sword was her main priority.
"Almost...got it," Catra grunted, feeling the crystal almost come loose completely before Light Hope blasted an electricity wave at them. Catra shrieked as the blast hit her back, letting go of the crystal which lodged itself back into the slot before the wall slid into the ground, disappearing completely.
"No!" Bow shouted as he saw Light Hope ready another energy blast. This time, however, instead of aiming it at anyone in particular, she sent it across the room, splitting the castle in two and forming a barrier.
Catra, Glimmer and Bow were stuck on one side. Adora was alone on the other.
Remembering the memory they saw in the crystal castle, the group realized they had been in this situation before: stuck behind a force field only to watch Adora die.
It was happening again.