Chapter 48: What If...Adora Stayed?
"Tigra had talked to us. Entrapta built a shutdown. Worse case scenario is that Entrapta shuts it down."
…
"Finally, after decades of work, it will work!"
…
A loud scream as pink and purple swarmed her vision.
_________
Adora shot upwards and gasped. Her breath was short and rapid as she looked around the room.
Dark green and gray met her vision as she felt the thick blanket covering her being bunched up in her hands.
"Adora? Are you good?"
She looked in the direction of the voice.
"Catra? I swear I heard…"
Catra rolled her eyes and playfully poked her head with her claw.
"Whatever you heard, you dreamt dummy. I figured you would have realized that after you woke up with your breath escaping you. Guessing that it was a nightmare?"
"I…I guess?" Adora admitted, despite feeling the adrenaline slowing down through her body.
"Careful getting out of bed though. Last time something like this happened, you nearly cracked the drawing we made." Catra told as she headed to the restroom to finish getting ready.
Adora looked at the wall and saw the cartoonish faces of her and Catra.
Before it…glitched?
For the briefest second, Adora swears she saw a third face on the other side of Catra. She could only tell that it was outlined in purple before the face disappeared, as if it was never there.
Adora blinked before shaking her head.
"Man, I must still be tired." She grumbled, getting out of bed and heading to her wardrobe.
Missing how the face appeared again but with a purple crack going in between Catra and the third face.
_________
Adora fixed her Force Captain badge where she usually had it as it was crooked.
"How do you do, fellow Force Captain?" Catra spoke, causing Adora to look over.
Catra hadn't really changed her outfit in the last 3 years she knew her but the only big difference is the matching Force Captain badge on her shirt.
"I'm doing exceptionally well this morning, fellow Force Captain."
They looked at each other before they both broke down laughing, before regaining composure and walking through the halls.
"Man, I just can't believe we both managed to become Captains so quickly."
"Oh yeah, how did we do that again?" Adora asked, slightly confused.
She knows that she should know that, seeing as it was a big deal but nothing came to mind.
"It's them! Adora and Catra!" A cadet in armor muttered to someone.
For a reason Adora couldn't understand, that caused some of them to start cheering.
"You don't remember? We took Thaymor." Catra nudged her shoulder. "When that Princess with sparkles showed up, you and I held her off long enough that she had to retreat. Thanks to us, we lost 12 soldiers instead of the expected 40."
"Didn't someone take Geotan with less losses?"
Adora swears she remembers someone doing that, yet she couldn't remember the name at all.
"What? We just took Thaymor. There's no way someone could have taken Geotan already. It's in the talks but we don't even have anyone planned to go there yet." Catra denied.
"Really? I swear…"
"Are you still sleeping? You're usually more aware of yourself by now." Catra asked.
"Yeah. Yeah. I must still be waking up."
"Well, I know something that will wake you up. We were planning to meet the Squadron in the locker rooms. You do remember that, right?"
She did not.
"Yeah. But why are we going the long way? We could take the side door-huh?"
Adora was looking at a wall.
'I KNOW that there should be a door here.'
"Adora? They removed that side door a few months ago." Catra reminded. "We griped about it since it made us need to leave 3 minutes earlier now. Even Kyle complained about it inconveniencing us."
"Oh…"
"Are you okay?"
Catra grabbed Adora's chin.
"Do you have a concussion or something? I know you get hit on the head a lot, but I figured your dumb little hair poof would cushion the blow."
Adora almost made a remark.
"You're not brain damaged, are you?"
For a brief moment, Adora was no longer looking at Catra.
Her one blue eye had turned amber yellow like her other eye. Catra's light brown fur is replaced with orange. Her dark brown mane was replaced with slightly shorter black.
Before she was staring into Catra's heterochromatic eyes.
"I'm fine." Adora took her head out of her hands. "Don't make me show you that, even as weird as I feel, I can kick your butt."
Catra laughed. "You? As if you could."
Adora leapt at her, causing Catra to release a light shriek before the two of them were running through the halls.
Adora chasing Catra, both missing the brief flash of purple cracks in the sky.
_________
Catra ducked into a room with Adora on her heels before finding herself in a loose headlock.
"What now?" Adora asked, wearing a large smirk.
Only to yelp when she felt a claw poke her side, causing her to instinctively release Catra.
She only smirked as her tail whipped behind her.
"Now? This."
"Surprise!" Came two voices and a hiss, taking Adora back.
In front of them were Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio in their basic clothing they wore when they weren't getting ready to head out on a mission.
In their hands was a cake made out of gray and red rations, the two colors that they liked more than the others.
"What is this?" Adora seemed surprised.
"Well, we all know that we couldn't have taken Thaymor without either of you. The two of you prevented the monstrous Princess from annihilating our troops and almost actually managed to capture one of them." Kyle told.
"You also managed to convince Shadow Weaver into letting the three of us join you two on your mission. We were part of the attack Company that secured a town inside of Brightmoon's territory." Lonnie expanded.
"It was our idea to throw this for you two. " Rogelio hissed and growled out. "Don't forget about us now that you're Force Captains."
"As if we could forget your scaly self." Catra scoffed. "We'd have better luck forgetting you collapsed in class that one time."
Rogelio groaned the best he could while Kyle seemed slightly embarrassed.
"What? When did that happen?"
Adora didn't remember that happening.
"Adora…we've made fun of that several times." Catra sounded concerned now. "What? Did you finally run into a wall head first?"
"Why would I be running hard enough to impact a wall head first?"
"You're always running." Catra pointed out.
However, while making it a statement, Adora heard it for a moment.
Catra was confused about her own statement as well now.
Adora briefly looked at the "cake" before seeing something.
Mara.
Her eyebrows furrowed before she felt Lonnie nudge her shoulder. She looked over and Lonnie's hazel eyes and expression seemed to be asking if she was fine. All the while, Catra was holding Kyle in a headlock, seemingly trying to keep Rogelio back by "threatening" Kyle with a glob of ration.
She looked back at the cake and only saw her and Catra's faces on it.
"I'm good. Today just seems to be an off day."
A small shriek caught their attention as Rogelio apparently managed to get close enough to squish the three of them together before they all had some red and gray ration on their faces.
Which caused Adora to chuckle as Catra brushed the ration off of her with a look that promised retribution in the future.
"Girls." An older voice spoke, drawing attention.
"Shadow Weaver." Adora addressed.
"Clean yourselves off. As the new heroes of the the Horde-"
A figure cloaked in flames appeared for a brief second, standing as if they had just subdued a force of nature.
"-you must look your best at all times."
"Yes, Shadow Weaver." Catra complied, brushing off the last of the ration.
"Come along you two. I have something of importance to speak with you."
Weaver turned and walked away.
Adora and Catra left quickly, leaving the Squadron behind.
_________
They were walking through a hallway until they stopped at a large window, allowing them to look over most of the Fright Zone.
"I will admit," Weaver started. "I wasn't sure your Squadron was ready for this. Kyle has always been lower than almost everyone with his only good quality being a decent medic. Lonnie is a front line fighter only, seeing as she only selected fighting courses and basic first aid. Rogelio is an engineer that relies only on his strength in a fight."
Weaver looked at the two of them.
"But you two, you've exceeded my expectations. Catra, you've shown that, despite your attitude in the past, you are capable of becoming serious and mission focused at the drop of a hat. Your hand to hand ability is only tied with Generals and Adora. Keep on improving your strategies and skills and I see no issue you'll face in the future with becoming a Force General."
Catra seemed to preen at that before seeming to freeze and see something, as if in a flashback.
"And Adora. Your potential is only matched by your fellow Captain. If you lag behind, she'll leave you behind. Your staff skills are one of the best in the Horde but you'll want to continue working on your other skills. Someone who focuses on one skill may as well only be using a hammer. Good for a wide amount of situations, but will never be able to be used in circumstances requiring a light touch."
"Keep up the good work and you should be able to continue going far."
Weaver reached out towards Adora.
Hands clad in red lightning arcing around her head. Those same hands were electrifying a small magicat, who could only scream.
Her hand rested on her shoulder.
"I'm proud of both of you."
"Keep those strays in line. I am not able to protect everyone in your Squadron from Hordak should they get out of line. They may eventually be put down if they don't learn respect."
'Of course she found a Horde damn loophole.'
The sky flashes purple and Adora swears there are cracks in the sky. They splintered like a lightning bolt, yet it seemed as if instead of being made of electricity, whatever it crossed over just either stopped existing or vanished.
Then…it's back to normal. Not a trace of whatever she had just seen.
"Don't forget that a Force General is waiting to debrief you two."
Catra and Adora looked at each other before hurrying off.
Neither noticed Weaver disappearing.
_________
They sat down in two chairs alongside several other Captains, yet Adora sat next to a Scorpioni gal.
Who narrowed her eyes as she looked at her.
"I don't know why, but I just don't like you. Which is strange, seeing as I like almost everyone. Yet, when I look at you, all I can imagine is an injured tiger."
A magicat slumped over a sword in her hands.
"Welcome…back…Ado…ra."
A soul shattering scream.
Adora winced as she held her head.
"Can you lay off?" Catra growled lightly. "Usually someone has a reason to try to start shit."
"I mean nothing by it!" The Scorpioni - Scorpia - clarified, waving their claws back and forth. "It's a weird gut feeling. I'm more curious than anything, seeing as I tend to get along well with almost anyone."
"Settle down," A General announced, ending all discussions currently happening between Force Captains and began the meeting. "Thanks to the efforts of soldiers, we were finally able to take Thaymor again. With this, we regained a foothold into taking Etheria. Our next location is the Sea Gate, separating Horde controlled waters from the Rebellion. We take that down, we can cut off their naval support and cut off their supply lines at the same time."
A screen flickered before Mara revealed itself for a moment and changed to show the Sea Gate in full working order.
The Sea Gate was barely holding on. It wouldn't take more than 5 Ship shots to cause the Gate to likely fail.
"We have only a week to plan before it's go-time people. Now, it is possible that you'll have to go up against a Princess. They're powerful and completely devoid of consciousness. They are dangerous creatures that prey on empathy and mercy. Make no mistake on the field: They will do their best to either put you in the ground or try to convince you that they are people as well. Do not make the mistake of trusting them, for it will be your last mistake."
"But, didn't I?" Catra muttered.
Only for the area to…glitch?
_________
When Adora could see again, she found her and Catra on top of a building, a spot that the two of them spent many nights on.
"What the heck is going on?" Adora spoke aloud, looking around. "Weren't we just?"
"Adora? We were just in a meeting, right?" Catra asked, unsure. "And now we are suddenly at our spot?"
Adora's eyes widened as she spun to look at Catra.
"You're noticing it too!?"
"What?"
"Strange things have been going on all day! I've been seeing visions of things I can't remember but I know I should. I've been seeing a name, Mara, and I can't remember why that is important!"
The sky cracked open as the horizon turned pink as the cracks continued across the sky and ground before suddenly returning to normal.
"And THAT keeps happening! Cracks forming in the sky and ground, eating or making anything swallowed by it to disappear; all the while a pink light seems to keep getting closer!"
Adora had both hands on the sides of her head.
"To make it worse, something's missing! I don't know what, but I know something is missing!"
"Adora!" Catra yelled, getting her to stop. "I've noticed those as well. The feeling that something is missing, things are changing from what I know, and yes, I'd have to be blind to not notice the purple cracks in the sky along with that pink light across the horizon."
"Okay. Okay." Adora tried to calm down. "That means that I'm not crazy and that something is going wrong."
"We just need to think and try to remember something." Catra started. "Something that we know is true but isn't here. We've teleported and I'm guessing you haven't noticed that time isn't working right either?"
"What?"
"My clock on my pad is telling me that we had that meeting a week ago. We just now appeared up here and a week is gone. Time and Space aren't working right."
Mara appears as a hologram. Warning not to use Portal. Portal activates with her Sword in the middle of it. A scream of absolute agony.
"I think I remember! None of this is right. We're not supposed to be here."
"Explanation, please?" Catra asked, leaning against a railing. "Because while I understand that something is going on, you sound insane at the moment."
"Mara is the previous She-Ra; that's why her name is so important. I'm the current She-Ra! She warned about how there could be catastrophic issues if a Portal was opened. We…I thought that…No, someone thought that it may just have been an enemy they had at the time. What if the warning was about this? From what I vaguely remember, a Portal reduces the space between two points until they are practically in the same place, thus creating something similar to a wormhole. So, if we are teleporting around, Space itself must be getting messed with. And since Time isn't right, even that is being messed with."
Catra finished her thought.
"Whoever activated the Portal didn't do something right and now Space-Time itself is coming undone."
The area glitches again.
_________
The two of them find themselves outside the Zone.
"Where are we?" Catra asked, looking around.
"Hello, Mara dearie!" An old voice called out, causing them to look over.
They came face to face with an elderly woman with long, lavender hair that went around her purple face. She wore large glasses, along with purple robes with a green neck wrap. In her hands was a broom.
"You even brought Purrah with you. I haven't seen her in what feels like years."
"Who are you? Why do I know you? What are you doing at the Fright Zone? Is all of this actually real?"
The old woman looked solemn.
"I'm afraid so, dearies. But there is still time to fix it! You two need to find me in the woods!"
A purple crack runs across the ground, causing the two of them to step back.
"Find me in the woods!"
They glitched.
_________
They reappeared in the Zone and groaned.
"Catra? Adora!? Where have you two been!?"
"Lonnie!" Adora exclaimed. "We have to get out of the Zone. Where are Kyle and Rogelio?"
"Who?"
That filled them with dread.
"Our squadmates!" Catra exclaimed. "We've known them since we were kids! Where are they?"
"What? But, we've always been a three man squad. It's why Shadow Weaver was hesitant to send us out, because she didn't think we would be able to handle the situation with less numbers."
Then, Lonnie narrowed her eyes.
"But…wait. I spent my time with them."
Her eyes widened.
"What happened to them!?"
A purple crack appeared behind Lonnie.
"The fuck is going on!?"
"No time to explain! Follow us!"
Catra and Adora start running towards the garage before they hear a yell.
They look behind them and see Lonnie falling into the purple light before…
Practically disintegrating into purple particles until she was gone.
"Don't let it catch us." Catra determined.
The area glitched again.
_________
They appeared back in the garage where Adora groaned.
"Get on the Skiff!" Catra yelled, jumping onto it and messing with the controls.
Adora gets onto the skiff before a purple crack appears on the door and walls.
Until they shot forward, Catra having pushed the controls as far as possible.
They shot forward before leaving the Fright Zone.
They both looked backwards and watched as the entire Zone was covered in purple light before nothing was left of it except a wall of purple and pink light.
"Fucking magical bullshit." Catra growled. "And don't you dare say that it is just tech bullshit. Lorde knows that I still can't believe that the Ruins are just tech, Tigra."
"Hey, that's not right. The Ruins are both technological and…What did you just say?"
Catra hummed as if she wasn't really listening.
"I said 'Fucking magical bullshit.'"
"No, at the end. You said 'Tigra.' That's-"
They both were slammed with memories.
Someone who looked out for them just as much as they did her. Focused on getting faster. A prodigy when it came to learning magic. Captured Geotan. Defeated Bolt. Almost took Brightmoon. Princess of Fire. Slumped over a sword.
Her life is like a game.
Adora blinked before her eyes widened and looked at Catra.
Who was reacting just as bad as her.
"Adora…where's Tigra!?"
_________
*Elsewhere*
_________
Twin pairs of amber eyes opened slowly as morning moonlight streamed across her face. She leaned forward before yawning wide enough to show her fangs.
"Py'ra! Breakfast is ready!" A feminine voice yelled.
"I'll be down in a second, Ma!" T̷̬̾ȋ̷͙g̶͖̋ŕ̷̹a̶̼̍ Py'ra yelled back.
Py'ra pushed her crimson red and gold blanket to the side before getting off the bed. She walked over to her dresser before grabbing her red kimono top with blooming flowers over it and black pants.
She about headed down before hitting her palm against her forehead lightly.
"Can't forget that. Last time I did, I got an hour-long lecture about the History of the kingdom. As if I can't recite that by memory now." She grumbled.
She headed over to her desk before grabbing a golden tiara.
"Py'ra! You better hurry! Mom is about to take your food!"
"She better not!" Py'ra yelled back, running out of the room now that she was dressed.
Not noticing the metal bracelet with three faces on her nightstand.
Nor it glitching to only show one face with a purple crack going through the top of the head to the bottom of the chin.
_______
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone