Gracefully Broken

Chapter 8: Catra Remembers Everything

Adora and all the princesses stared at the sky in amazement. It was just like Frosta said: all of Horde Prime's ships and spires were blowing up, causing an untold amount of damage as they did so. Glimmer gasped:

"So many people are going to get hurt! We have to go – now!" Without a moment's hesitation, all the princesses and their friends ran off into the Whispering Woods – abandoning the old Horde base and Catra's badge.

As they ran, Adora could not help but look up as yet more explosions filled the sky. A tear rolled down her cheek. She knew Catra had done this, and she knew she probably died doing it. Adora did not know how to handle this information – she could not handle it. All she could do was put all her effort into helping everyone who needed saving - even at the expense of her own safety and sanity. Maybe that way she could still fulfill her destiny. Maybe that way she could forget that she never got to say goodbye.

***

When Catra had let herself fall, she had neither wanted nor expected to be saved. However, a group of clones (now controlled by Shadow Weaver) had caught her using a net, pulling her to safety two floors below the platform. Once they had her, the clones started hitting, clawing and kicking Catra – ensuring she would not escape again.

Catra howled in pain when one of the clones scratched her down the side of her face, splicing her ear in the process. Others cut her arms and legs, and Catra could feel her ribs being broken with every hit. Catra fought back valiantly, taking out at least three of them, but there were too many. Catra was overpowered and soon she was completely unable to fight back. She collapsed on the ground and let herself pass out from the pain. As she did, one of the clones leaned over her, emitting Shadow Weaver's horrible laugh as he did so. Catra sincerely hoped it would not be the last thing she ever heard.

When Catra woke up, an alarm was blaring. It took a second for her to realize that the ship was about to self-destruct. She then slowly pushed herself up, looking around. The clones had disappeared and part of the ceiling had fallen through. She also realized that there was now very little oxygen, meaning that her wounds were suddenly the least of her problems.

Using all her remaining strength, Catra began to crawl for the door. It had helpfully been left open. After what seemed like an eternity, she made it through to the adjoining corridor. She then recognized where she was, breathing a labored sigh of relief when she identified the teleportation chamber. As she began crawling towards it, more of the ceiling fell through, trapping her leg. Ready to give up and accept her fate, Catra lay flat on the floor, closed her eyes and took what she thought would be her final breath. Catra then heard a voice she would never forget:

"It doesn't matter what they do to us. You look out for me and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other." Catra grunted in agony. Adora – she had to get back to Adora.

Using strength she did not know she had, Catra pulled herself free from the debris, practically rolling into the teleportation chamber. Catra laughed internally – it had been much closer than she had thought. Taking a final deep breath (there really was no more oxygen at this point), Catra dragged herself to the control panel. The clone manning it had fainted on the controls. Catra then noticed her claw marks by his feet – this was the same teleportation chamber she had taken Scorpia and Entrapta to.

The blood loss finally began to affect Catra, and she struggled to remember where she had sent her friends. She knew it was somewhere on Etheria, and it was extremely unlikely that any new coordinates had been entered since she had been dragged out. Using yet more strength Catra did not know she had, she pulled herself up, shoving the clone's body so it began to fall off the control panel. She then leapt onto the teleportation pad and everything went black.