Whumptober 2022 Oneshots + Alt List Oneshots

Prompt 16 : No Way Out

Subprompt : Mind Control
Fandom : She Ra and the Princesses of Power
Pairing : Catra/Adora
Chronology : Post-canon
Warning : Nausea, panic attack

Catra woke up and immediately felt sick to her stomach. Surrounding her was the all-too-familiar, sterile white inside of Horde Prime's ship. The only other life near her was mindless clones, any of which could be her old boss but it didn't even matter at that point since he was just one of many now.

"No" she muttered, panicked. This couldn't be real. The war was over. She was living blissfully in Brightmoon with Adora and everything was fine and the people who hurt her most were dead and-

"Surprised?" a velvety voice asked, making bile slowly rise in the back of her throat. She turned around to see Horde Prime towering above her with that same, twisted grin on his face that he always had whenever he was winning.

"This isn't real"

"I'm afraid that is not accurate, little sister" he told her, feigning sympathy but she saw past it easily. He was pleased with himself. "I felt bad for you, being trapped here and all, so I briefly allowed you a fantasy where this was not your current predicament"

"You're lying"

"It's unfortunate that you can't see the truth in front of you, little sister"

"What-"

"But, it's okay" he assured her before his face went blank as he transferred his consciousness to her body. She let out a pained groan as he took control of her. Then, through her vocal chords, he continued. "I'm home now"

----------

Catra shot up in bed, panting heavily as a deep sense of fear washed through her body. Tears sprung to her eyes and began falling without her consent. She could hardly process anything and flinched violently upon feeling movement beside her.

"Hey, hey, hey" a familiar voice soothed, but she had a hard time placing it. Not that it matters she thought to herself. It's probably Horde Prime fucking with me again. "Catra, it's me" the voice continued in the same patient, gentle tone. "It's Adora"

"Get away" Catra begged, attempting to come across as intimidating but sounding more desperate than anything as she leaned away from the figure. To her relief, the figure nodded and scooted away a little bit. "Fuck..."

"It was a dream, Catra" the voice reassured. "Just a dream. You're okay"

"No" the hybrid shook her head frantically. "You're lying again" she muttered. "It's all a- A lie- It's- Fuck"

"Try to breathe with me, Catra" the voice instructed patiently, holding a hand out for the panicked woman to hold. Despite her state, she reached out and held that hand, reassuring herself that she could just use her claws if things went south. "In..." the voice said, taking a deep breath that Catra shakily tried to follow. "Hold... And out... You're doing great"

They went like that for a while, Adora slowly bringing Catra back down to reality. Once the brunette was lucid enough to realize what was actually happening, she sprung up and ran to the bathroom, partially because she was still a bit nauseous and partially because she was embarrassed. Adora sighed and followed her.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Adora asked, sitting behind Catra, who was hunched over the toilet just in case. She reached up and slowly started tracing circles on her back. The pajamas Catra was wearing served as a barrier between the touch and skin, which was nice because neither was sure direct contact would be a good idea while she was in such a fragile state.

"Prime" Catra replied simply, the name making the nausea worse. The blonde saw the way Catra grew tenser, her hands holding onto the edges of the toilet more tightly.

"Not your fault"

"Yeah, but-"

"Can we not talk about it?" Catra pleaded. Adora nodded.

"Of course" she agreed. "We don't need to talk about it right now" she assured. "You think you're okay to go back to bed?" A shaky nod. "Okay, let's go, kitty"

"Never call me that again"