I Have the Power!

Chapter 1

Kyle muttered angrily to himself as he scrubbed the training room floor for the third time that day.  "First Rogelio has a nose bleed, then Lonnie spills her soda, and now Catra tells me to mop the floor again for no reason. I mean really!"

Well, it wasn't the first time that something like this had happened. People on his team always bossed him around. Any time something needed to be done, Kyle was the one who had to do it. Whether it was mopping the training room or bringing spare spy bots on missions, it was dumped on Kyle as just one more chore to add to the list of things he was already doing.

Everything was dumped on him. That meant that if anything went wrong, it was his fault.

Catra failed a mission: his fault.

A Hoard outpost gets destroyed by a mob of crazy princesses: also his fault.

Lonnie dumping her soda on the training room floor: totally his fault.

Even if he tried to defend himself, it never did any good. He'd always get brushed off with comments like "Oh, Kyle, it's because you're so puny. Of course you're a burden to us!" or, "If you weren't such a hopeless crybaby you might actually be good for something!" It was always the same story. The worst part of it all was that they weren't entirely wrong about him. He wasn't strong, and little things did tend to get under his skin. He wasn't an asset to the team. In fact, it was probably a good thing he'd been demoted to an errand boy. He really couldn't do much else.

Still, not everything was his fault. He had some good points too! And he had done some good things for the team. But nobody ever recognized his good points these days. Not since Adora left the team and joined the rebellion.

Lately, he'd found himself missing Adora more than he would have ever guessed. She'd never been the kindest of people, but she wasn't mean spirited like Catra or judgemental like Lonnie. She was nice. And she kept Catra busy. The two of them were always competing and using chores as a penalty for losing, so there was less for Kyle to do. He had more time to himself. Now that Adora was gone, Catra had only a few different hobbies. Sucking up to Hoardak, bossing people around, and dissing on the rest of the team.

Shadow-Weaver had wanted to bring Adora back, and, for once, Kyle actually agreed with her. Of course, Shadow-Weaver no longer had any influence in the Hoard. In fact, Shadow-Weaver wasn't anywhere to be found. Catra and the others were actually out on a mission trying to find her, but as far as Kyle knew, they hadn't had any luck. He'd been left behind because, in Catra's words, he was "A waste of energy and would only slow the whole thing down." Instead, they'd left him to scrub the training room. Again.

He was actually pretty happy he'd been left behind this time. What if the team did come across Shadow-Weaver? Then what? The very thought of it sent shivers down his spine. Besides, he wasn't much use on missions like that one. Normally, he'd just carry all the supplies and trip over everything. He'd usually break something, and everyone would laugh at him and then taunt him about how useless he was.

Kyle glanced around at the now sparkling training room floor. He sniffed indignantly. "Try telling me to clean that again Catra," he grumbled. Kyle set the mop against the wall and stalked out of the training room. He intended to go down to the barracks so he could get some sleep when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Kyle! There you are; just the man I was looking for!"

Kyle froze. He knew that voice anywhere and avoided the source of it like the plague. He started to run, but he knew it was no good even before he felt a long rope of purple hair wrap itself around him. He was lifted off the ground and carried, struggling and kicking, all the way to Entrapta's lab.

"Here," she said, shoving him into a strange looking chair. "Stay still while I crank this baby up!"

He had no choice but to stay still, as Entrapta had locked him in place. "Um... Entrapta?"

"Mmh?"

"What does your, uh... 'baby' do? Exactly?"

Entrapta beamed. "Oh I thought you'd never ask!" She patted the machine fondly. "I'm not going to tell you though because it could spoil the results, but... let me just say the results are electrifying!" She pulled some kind of lever and the machine. "Now, tell me a lie. Anything will work. Come on! Come on!"

He didn't want to know what Entrapta meant by "electrifying," and he wasn't sure he wanted to. "Listen, Entrapta, While I'd love to stay here and test out your device with you, I-" he was cut off as a huge shock was sent down his spine. He screamed in pain. Entraptas device definitely worked, and well.

"Hmm..." she mumbled. "That's not right. It shouldn't zap people for telling the truth." She released Kyle, who jumped up and bolted out of the room. Best to get as far away from Entrapta as he could before she told him she had something  else she wanted him to test. He turned a corner and ran straight into Lonnie. "Gah!"

They both fell to the floor. "Watch it punk! Can't you do anythin' right?"

He responded with an "Ow." Looking up he saw Catra, Rogelio, and Scorpia were also back. "You guys done already?"

Catra sniffed. "Hoardaks postponing the mission to find Shadow weaver. Entraptas first one's tech detectors have detected something powerful in the Whispering Woods. He wants us to go investigate."

Kyle gulped. "Does he want me to come this time?"

"Yes," Lonnie huffed. "There's no point in leavin' you here this time."

"We don't want odd numbers if we have to split up," Catra said irritably.

"Odd numbers?" But that meant...

"Alrighty! I'm all set! Let's move out people!"

Kyle groaned as Entrapta came bouncing towards them. Of course she was coming. After all, they were her detectors.

"Great, looks like we're all here," Catra observed. "Lets head out."