Personality Matrix

Echoes

As the winged figure disappeared through the gates, Catra began moving slowly towards the ruin, followed by Scorpia. They remained open, though no trace of the figure could be seen anymore in the hallway they opened to. Catra sighed and looked at Scorpia, waving her hand.

"Contact Bright Moon. Adora and Sparkles will want to see this. I'm gonna check the door"

Scorpia nodded and took out her pad to record a message. Melog walked around, smelling the ruin with interest, though it's attention constantly shifted between the ruin and the butterflies that flew around the flowers.

Catra walked slowly towards the gates and placed her hand on the cold stone, following the trace of runes that decorated it. Without thinking much about it, she walked into the hallway.

"Okay, they say they'll be here soon. We better stay put until they arrive Catra. Those ruins are daaaangerous"

Catra chuckled and looked at Scorpia.

"Come oon. I'm just looking around this hallway. What could possibly go..."

Before she could say the word "wrong", the gates shut before her, leaving her in complete darkness until a red light shone over her head and a laser began scanning her.

[Unauthorized presence detected. Security measures deployed]

"Aww come on!"

Catra put her back against the wall and sprung her claws, ready to fight whatever the ruin would throw at her, but only silence ensued. Silence...and a faint annoying hiss. Catra frowned and looked around, looking for the source of the hiss, but the walls were perfectly plain.

By the time she discovered the gas spewing vents on the ceiling, it was already too late.

Catra woke up in a strange metal room. She didn't know where she was. Or how she got there. The room was dimly lit, with a greenish tone to it. She slowly incorporated from the bed she was laying in and looked around. This was... the Fright Zone?

"No...no..."

She spun her head quickly, and indeed. There it was. The doodle she and Adora had made when they were kids. Catra could feel her heart skipping a beat and without hesitation, she got up and started running towards the door.

Behind the door, though, there was only a chamber. A chamber with a big crystal on it. And this time, she wasn't alone.

"S...Shadow Weaver?"

The figure turned around and looked at her with eyes of pure spite

"Ah, there you are Catra. Late, as always. Do you ever tire of being a disappointment?"

The words hit her in the gut with full force.

"But... You...Where am I?"

Shadow Weaver laughed.

"Where you belong. I called you 20 minutes ago. And yet you are late again."

Catra shook her head. This couldn't be real.

"You are not Shadow Weaver. How do I get out?"

The shadows in the room began growing inmensely and closing around her.

"You always fail, don't you? You always hurt the people you love. You don't deserve to be happy, Catra. You only deserve to suffer"

Catra recoiled and ran away from the room, as Shadow Weaver spat more insults towards her. She felt the warmth of tears running down her cheeks, but she didn't care at all. She ran through the hallways. But at the end, what she found made her loose all control of her emotions.

A figure stood at the end of the hallway. And at its feet...Adora. Bloodied and...dead?

"N..no. No, please. Not you"

Catra backed off as the figure dropped Adora's beaten corpse and turned around. She could feel every inch of her body screaming for her to run. But terror kept her on a leash. Anxiety oppressing her chest as she stared in complete panic at the figure.

"Hello Little Sister. We meet again"

Catra's mind gave up. Flashbacks coursing through her and tears streaming down her cheeks as she stepped back against the wall.

"Catra...Catra...CATRA"

Horde Prime walked towards her, calling her name. But she wasn't just going to let this monster break her again. She lunged at it and slashed at its face, screaming in anger. Three scratches started bleeding on its cheek. But Horde Prime just smiled and kept walking.

"CATRA...PLEASE"

That last word caught her off guard. That wasn't Horde Prime's voice. Where was she? What was she hearing? Why was this happening?

"CATRA!"

It was too much. Catra collapsed to the floor.

A few minutes later, Catra woke up once again. She was disoriented as she slowly opened her eyes. And there they were. Those eyes she constantly found herself getting lost into. Those...watery eyes? They were crying? And there was red...Blood?

"A...Adora?"

Adora hugged her tightly against her chest.

"Catra... I was dead scared you dummy"

Catra incorporated a bit and looked at her face...specifically at the three scratches. Wounds she had inflicted herself while hallucinating.

Her ears lowered as she realized what was happening and she tried to break free from the hug, as the intrusive thoughts overwhelmed her mind again.

"I...I...always end up hurting you. I'm sorry. I... I should"

Her words where silenced as Adora's lips pressed against hers. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She was sorry. But now... all Catra could focus in was the warmth of her embrace, the soft of her lips. And that feeling. That stupid tingling she felt every time she rediscovered that Adora was home.

The rest of the team found them still like that a couple of minutes later.