Miraculously from Ninjago | Stranded in Etheria

41 - Ripple's Return

Y/n's POV

Catra was still crying, but her breathing was a little more controlled now. I looked around the room, but we were alone. I remembered hearing the door close a few minutes ago, so I assumed my friends had left to give Catra some space.

"I-I'm sorry you had t-to see that," Catra stuttered as I pulled her up into her feet.

"Don't be," I assured her. "It happens to the best of us."

She wrapped her arms around herself, and dug her claws into her skin.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I asked, pulling her wrists away from her arms. "You're gonna hurt yourself."

"I deserve to hurt," she whispered faintly. "I've done the same to so many people."

"You can change," I said. "You have a good heart. You just have to show it more."

"How am I supposed to fix what I've done?"

"Well..." I started. It took a couple seconds of thinking, but then the solution became clear. "We can start by getting you out of the Horde."

—————-

We met up with the rest of our friends in Entrapta's lab. She wasn't done working on my miraculous, but she said that she was getting close.

"Come on," I said to everyone. "We're leaving."

"What?" Scorpia questioned. "But Entrapta's not—"

"She's coming, too," I said. "And so are you."

"Huh?"

"The three of you are being wasted in a place like this," I said, gesturing to Catra, Scorpia, and Entrapta. "We need to get you out of the Fright Zone... and to Bright Moon."

"What?!" Catra shrieked. "I can't face Adora!"

"You can, and you will!" I said sternly. "I may have just gotten to this planet, but I know that it's saveable. With the help of two Force Captains and a technological genius, the rebels will finally stand a chance against the Horde."

"But what about your miraculous?" Catra asked. "Don't you want to go home?"

"Ninjago and Earth are currently both safe. They'll be fine without us," Lloyd said with a shrug. "We have enough time to be of use here."

I smiled, glad that he agreed with me.

"Yeah, we've saved worlds before, might as well do it again," Kai said.

"I'm in," Adrien said. "Zephyr?"

"I guess," she sighed. "It's not like I can go anywhere without Typoon anyway."

"Then it's settled," I said. "Pack up your things and let's get mov—"

"Force Captain Catra?" a voice asked from the doorway.

"What do you want, Kyle?" Catra growled.

"Lord Hordak wants to speak with you."

"What? But how did he know I returned?"

Kyle shrugged, and leaned against the wall. "Not sure. But you better get going before he gets mad."

Catra seemed confused. She looked at Kyle up and down, then crossed her arms.

"Kyle would never talk to me that way—he'd be cowering behind Rogelio."

"Huh, good to know," Kyle said, but in a different voice. The cadet then transformed into Double Trouble.

"What are you doing back here?" I asked.

"I just came to see if you changed your mind," they asked innocently.

"Oh, we changed our minds alright," Catra said. "But nothing about anything that concerns you. If you want a job, go talk to someone else. I'm not interested in doing anything for the Horde anymore."

Double Trouble seemed shocked for a second, but then they applauded her. "Bravo. You really had me going there!"

"What are you talking about?" Kai asked, then turned to me. "Y/n who is this?"

"I'll tell you later," I promised.

"As if I'd believe that Catra could change," Double Trouble continued. "From what I've observed of your character so far, you never do anything to help others; you only care about yourself, kitten."

"That's not true!" I defended. "She's used to looking out for herself—that's not the same thing."

"Exactly!" Scorpia agreed. "Catra is just... misunderstood."

"No, they're right," Catra said, glancing at the floor. "I'm not capable of changing."

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but you just proved yourself wrong," I said. "The Catra I met earlier today would have never admitted to that, but look at you now!"

"Ah, ha!" Entrapta suddenly shrieked.

"What? Did you fix the miraculous?" Lloyd asked.

"I think so! I can't be sure without a test run, though."

Entrapta handed me the shell clip, and I brushed my thumb against it. I saw something glimmer on the surface of it, and then Ripple appeared next to me.

"You're back!" I gasped, holding out my hands so Ripple could rest on them. "I missed you so much!"

"What happened?" the kwami asked. "Where are we?"

"I got struck by lightning and my miraculous broke by absorbing the shock," I explained. "But then we made some new friends, and thanks to one of them, you're all better."

I gestured to Entrapta, and Ripple turned around to thank her.

"Go on, try it out!" Scorpia urged.

I looked at Ripple. "You ready?"

She nodded.

"Okay, then... Ripple, fins up!"

There was a flash of white and blue light, and then I became Dauphine Bleue.

"Whoa!" Zephyr exclaimed. "That's kind of cool."

"My, my!" Double Trouble said. "I didn't know I wasn't the only shape shifter here."

"I'm not a shape shifter; I'm a superhero," I said, but something didn't feel right.

"You okay, y/n?" Catra asked, noticing my concerned expression.

"Yeah, I'm—"

Another flash of light surrounded me before I could finish my sentence. I could see it flickering, and I could hear everyone shouting something at me, but I couldn't see anything.

I felt someone grab my hand, and another person try to take the miraculous out from my hair. I didn't know what to do—I just stayed frozen in place.

The light grew brighter, and the sound of something exploding rang through my ears. When I finally opened my eyes, I wasn't in the Fright Zone anymore.

"Where are we?" someone asked.

I turned to my left to see Adrien standing next to me. Lloyd was on my right, looking equally as confused.

"It's some kind of city," Lloyd said.

We were standing on the side of a road, staring at the cars as they drove by. There wasn't anything unusual about the city, but I didn't recognize it at all.

A scream got my attention, and I turned around to see a giant human-ish person stomping around the streets. People were pointing and shouting, while some other giants were trying to ensure the civilians were safe.

"What the hell is that thing?" Lloyd asked, pointing at the giant who appeared to be harming other people.

"I don't know, but I don't like what he's doing," Adrien said.

"We should be helping!" I said. "Come on, let's go!"