Future in the Stars | Catradora

9 - Blue Marble

Bow's POV

The next few days went by quickly. We passed by a few planets, but either they had a stable source of magic or there wasn't any magic at all. We didn't want to cause any more damage to the galaxy, so we made sure to stay far away from the "dead" planets—the ones with unstable magic but no signs of life.

"Argh, this is taking forever," Glimmer complained as we passed by yet another dead planet. "We went on this trip to restore magic to the universe, but so far all we've done is destroy it."

"We can't give up hope," Adora said, but it seemed like she was trying to convince herself as well as everyone else. "Not yet."

"Hey, Adora?" Catra called as she stared out the window. "Is that normal?"

We all came running over to her.

"Oh, no," I muttered, and rushed towards the center of the control room to activate the steering wheel.

"What's going on?" Glimmer asked.

"Worm hole," I explained. "We have to get away from here before it gets any bigger. Otherwise, we'll be sucked into it."

"What happens if we get pulled in?" Adora asked.

"Nobody knows," I said. "But I'm guessing it isn't good."

I turned Darla's blasters on, but before the engine could go full power, I started to feel resistance on the ship.

"Uh, what's happening?" Catra asks worriedly.

"Hang on!" I shouted.

"We're not moving!" Glimmer exclaimed.

"No, we're definitely moving," Adora cried. "In the wrong direction!"

"Crop Top! Get us out of here!" Catra yelled.

"I'm trying!"

It didn't matter how hard I pushed on the steering device, I wasn't able to make Darla move forward. I suddenly heard a cracking noise, and the next thing I knew, I didn't have control over the ship anymore.

"Hold onto something!" I cried.

We all screamed as Darla was rapidly pulled into the worm hole. I lost my grip on the chair, and went sliding into Catra. The ship jolted, but Catra grabbed onto me before I could slide back to the other side of the ship.

"I'm so sorry!" I called to everyone, my voice breaking. "I didn't get us away in time."

"It's not your fault, Arrow Boy," Catra assured me. "Now, grab this!"

She shoved me up towards the handle she was holding onto, and let herself slide down to the captain's chair.

"What are you doing?!" I shrieked over the system's blaring alarms.

"There's no way we're getting out of this, but I can at least give us a chance at surviving," she explained, as she activated the steering mechanism again. She turned the ship around, and I could see the determination on her face as she drove us further and further into the worm hole.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Glimmer asked.

"Nope, not at all!"

I glanced across the ship and out the window, watching us zip past whirling matter. Despite my doubts, we eventually made it out of the worm hole and back into clear space.

"You did it," Adora breathed, then threw herself onto Catra. "We're alive!"

"Of course we're alive, dummy. There's no way I'm letting you guys die."

"Uh... where exactly are we?" I asked, looking out the window. "I don't recognize any of these planets."

"What do the energy readings say?" Glimmer asked.

I checked my tracker pad. "There's not a trace of magic on any of them... and only one of them has life."

"Should we go there, then?" Adora asked.

"I guess," I said. "I'm in favour of taking a break from space."

"Me too," Catra said. "You wanna drive, Crop Top?"

Catra's POV

Bow took the wheel, and directed us towards the third planet revolving around the star in the solar system. I studied the other planets from afar as we passed them, giving some of them names, like Ice Cube, Mood Ring, Fireball...

"Blue Marble," I dubbed the planet we were heading towards.

Adora snickered.

"What's so funny?" I asked, punching her arm.

"That's a dumb name."

"It is not!" I defended. "That's what it looks like! A blue marble."

"Uh oh," Bow said suddenly, as a notification appeared on the arm of the chair.

"What is it?" Glimmer asked.

"The landing gear has been damaged," he explained. "You might want to grab ahold of something."

We crash-landed onto the planet, and skidded across the ground. I held onto Adora as the ship rocked back and forth, until it finally came to a stop. I breathed a sigh of relief; we survived.

"No need for space suits," Bow informed us after checking the meter on the control panel. "Come on—we should go check out our surroundings."

We lowered the boarding dock and exited the ship. There was smoke coming out from the engine, and the sky was dark. The sound of fast moving vehicles filled the air. There was a short but long and steep hill close to us, and lights were moving above it.

"Well, it's official," Bow announced with a sigh, after doing a circle check around the ship. "We're stranded here."

"What?" Glimmer wondered.

"Darla's in no condition to go back into space. We need some replacement parts in order to repair her."

"I vote we go that way," Adora said, pointing towards a hill. "Where there's lights, there's a settlement."

"Are we sure we want to come across the people on this planet?" I asked. "How do we know they won't try and kill us?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," she assured me, but her eyes went wide as we climbed. No wonder the sound was so deafening; there was a huge line of vehicles speeding across the top of the hill.

"Where are we?" Glimmer wondered as we stared at the landscape in front of us.

Buildings covered the land, and automobiles with red lights were racing along black strips with yellow lines on them. Noisy aircraft flew above us, their flickering lights making me nervous.

"It's like the Fright Zone," Adora said. "Only way, way bigger... and only slightly less terrifying."

Glimmer gasped. "Do you think this is another part of the Horde?"

"Well," Bow started, taking a step forward. "There's only one way to find out."