2293/Spirit Ember: Worth

Spirit Ember: Worth
Date of Scene:	04 February 2025
Location:	Penguin Park - Island Shrine
Synopsis:	The climax of the Spirit Ember Plot. When the Spirit Ember temple rises in Penguin Park, Catra, Adora and Amy explore it - only to find someone else has already tried to claim the runestone. Entrapta was there just to get readings, not drama. Catra finally steps out on her own and claims the stone from the flames. What happens next? That's Catra's path to follow.
Cast of Characters:	Bow, Adora Rainbowfist, Catra, Amanda Faust, 281
Tinyplot:	Spirit Ember

---

Bow has posed:
The pull on Catra was rough. Her dreams, her thoughts, all the trials that she has been through, they have eventually brought her to the park. And what was a cool day in the park, cloudless and peaceful has started to change with her arrival.

The air shifts. A low hum rolls through Penguin Park, deep and endless. The sky darkens, the bright blue fading into an unnatural orange, thick and heavy like a storm waiting to break. Birds fall silent. The wind dies.

Then, the rumbling begins. It starts as a tremor beneath the feet, a whisper of movement under the earth. But it grows. The ground shakes. Water ripples violently around the island shrine at the park's center. Cracks split across the stone, racing through the foundation. The shrine groans. With a final, deafening snap, the earth shatters.

The shrine is gone. In its place, the land heaves upward, stone and dust raining down as something ancient forces its way into the world. Like an ancient titan awakening from its slumber, the structure emerges, stone grinding against stone, dust cascading down its carved surface. Towering pillars jut from its sides, giving it the presence of a fortress embedded within a mountain of its own creation. The temple's walls are adorned with intricate carvings of flames, their swirling patterns flickering in the dim, unnatural glow now engulfing the park. Massive cauldrons, each as tall as a man, stand on either side of the entrance, their fires roaring to life, bathing the surroundings in a flickering golden light.

Above, the sky has twisted into a malevolent shade of dark orange, as if the very heavens recoil at the temple's arrival. Shadows stretch unnaturally across the park, the once-lush greenery now bathed in an eerie, foreboding glow. Power spills from within, thick in the air, crawling over the park like a second shadow.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
A lovely afternoon in the Penguin Park. A great place to get some good exercise in! Which is what Adora was doing at the moment, wearing a pair of comfy leggings and a tank top. Yep, she was jogging around the park. She took an embarrassingly long time to notice the changes beginning too, sure, it was warm and suddenly she was sweating more but it wasn't until she stopped by a watering fountain that she paused.

Looked up.

"...Huh."

"That's weird."

She pauses, glancing at the bracer on her wrist. Is this a time for She-Ra? Or is this some weird event? Japan does weird events sometimes. ...She thinks. ...Okay no that's way too ominous to just be a weird event and DEFINITELY not White Day themed. Probably. Maybe.

... Just in case, she starts heading towards that island, though it's kind of a slower approach, taking cover behind trees as she goes and peeking around them. She MIGHT be quietly humming spy music under her breath on her slow approach, turning the Sword of Power into the most bougie of super soakers on the way.

Catra has posed:
Since arriving on Earth, Catra has struggled with the sheer... loudness of this place. It's not as it the Fright Zone wasn't loud, but it had its places of quiet and it was a background noise she'd grown up with and learned to just tune out. But here, it's just... jarring. The Fright Zone wasn't populated like the contents of ten tins of sardines stuffed into one, either. So although Catra has come here, it doesn't mean she's come willingly, and she's got music blaring loudly from her earbuds as she walks along, disguised as Rachel Miller, hoodie drawn low over her head and hands thrust deep into her pockets.

Deep in the night, boundless violence will seethe with the danger
Our laws collide not allowing another contender
When the wine drinks itself, you will burn to a cinder

So the sky is turning orange. Whatever. That's probably just some weird Earth thing she hasn't heard about yet. Maybe the whole damn city is about to explode and then none of it will be her problem anymore.

Is there a way to turn the mind of a barbaric stranger?
Eternal days awaiting for you to awake, my avenger
A cruel fate now condemns us to burn to a cinder
Are we too late, running on empty?

The ground is shaking. Whatever, they get earthquakes here. But can she not get peace and quiet? Just once? Just once, even if people can't leave her alone maybe the goddamn ground could learn to give her three minutes of peace, but no. No, not that easy.

Catra pulls out her phone, at war with herself for a moment, before finally sighing and sending off a message. She still has her identity set to appear as 'anonymous', of course. But Adora will get a text. << Sky orange, ground shaking, watch out for earthquake. dork. >>

With the message sent, Catra stuffs the phone back in her pocket and finally looks up, at where that insipidly pretty shrine is... supposed to be...

And promptly gets shaken right off her feet as the earth cracks, and she ends up sprawled out on her behind as... something... else is rising up out of the ground.

The surprise flips her out of her illusion; Rachel Miller falls away to reveal Catra, clad in a Horde Jumpsuit with her Crimson Wastes jacket, Powersend in a scabbard hanging off her left hip, and... she just... thumbs off her music.

Alright maybe it's not an earthquake.

Bow has posed:
The temple doors groan as they push open, the darkness inside giving way to a flickering glow. Adora and Catra stand at the threshold, the weight of the moment pressing down on them as firelight stretches long shadows across the stone floor. The air is thick, humming with something old and restless.

Beyond the entrance, the hallway stretches forward, lined with torches that burn steady and bright. The flames guide the way, but their light reveals more than just the path ahead. Along the walls, tapestries hang, their woven images telling a story neither of them have seen before.

At first, the images show a faceless princess, her hands raised as she commands fire, shaping it into something powerful, something good. The flames swirl at her fingertips, bringing warmth, protection, even creation. But as Adora and Catra move forward, the story changes. The flames grow wild. The princess struggles. The fire consumes her. Her form twists, the once-controlled power raging beyond her grasp. The last tapestry shows nothing, only a blackened ruin where she once stood.

And then, at the hallway's end, a pair of gilded doors. They stand shut, but something about them feels expectant, waiting. Whatever lies beyond, it has been sealed for a long time.

Catra may also notice what's missing - the two familiars that have been with her since the flames first appeared. There is no sign of the cats, or the cat-like girls.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
And there's Catra. And it's fiery. An ominous sky. Adora's lips press to a thin line for a moment as old habits tell her that CATRA did this that CATRA is the one that is the source of this and this is somehow a plot to defeat her and the princesses and ... and...

She takes a deep breath.
Catra is just as surprised as everyone else at the appearance of this.
Catra is trying to do better. She's DOING BETTER.
...She thinks.

Adora shakes her head and moves forward to push open those doors. "Hey, Catra. I think your princess-ness is calling you." Adora says, pushing her doubts down in the form of a joke. A hallway stretches forward in front of them, and she's still holding that Sword of Power-Turned-Super-Soaker (That she definitely filled with water from the drinking fountain) at the ready, pressing against the wall to peer around that corner.

Nothing in the hallway though. Just tapestries. Adora's eyes flit around the area regardless, just to be safe. "Hm."

She starts to approach the end of that hall, taking cover behind pillars and edges of the walls, just to be safe.

Yeah Catra is probably staring at her like she's hit her head again. Shh. It's fine.

...Eventually she does stop doing the spy thing to instead just calmly walk towards those gilded doors. "It feels like it's waiting Catra." She stops, looking towards her best enemy.

A small voice in the back of her mind screaming that she should stop this. That she should keep Catra as far away from this as possible because if Catra gets stronger then can she still defeat her can she still save the world from her will she be able to be saved is all of her progress a lie just so that she's not stopped from obtaining this power.

A voice pushed down again. "So, looking forward to being Princess Catra of the Fire Nation?" She jokes.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Things just keep happening in Penguin Park; a fact that does not escape Amy when she plans to go on patrol.

    She's been going on patrol a lot lately. Her thoughts keep drifting to recent events, and she can go on a walk (or a rooftop run, rather) on autopilot more easily than she can do her homework.

    The ground shakes. She suddenly notices the orange sky. Dusk already? Have I been out here that long?! she thinks, and also: Earthquake? Or Magic?!

    The mountainside temple that's suddenly in the park suggests the latter. Amy wonders if the ground has truly reshaped, or if this is some coterminous other dimension stuff going on. She approaches the temple, looking around for whether civilians are reacting to any of this, or are mysteriously absent as if a barrier or the like is in effect.

    Text to (multiple contacts...): A temple just appeared in Penguin Park. I'm taking a look.

    She comes in behind Adora and Catra. The tapestries tell a story.

    She hears Adora's words up ahead and is briefly confused, because yes, the words 'Fire Nation' make her think of a cartoon from her youth -- which she only watched in its entirety years later, when the sequel was well underway -- and she has to remember Adora is not from Earth and so there is no such additional context to read into her comment.

    "Is that... okay?" Amy asks, uncertainly.

    "Um, congratulations? I guess? Is this how someone becomes a princess on Etheria? I'm uh... I think there is a bunch I don't know."

    Beat.

    "...Is the Fire Nation a specific nation, on Etheria...?" It could be!

    But she's picturing the Avatar one, plunked down on a planet amongst... Crystals and magitech. And a bunch of moons in the sky but no stars. She doesn't have a very clear picture of Etheria, come to think of it.

Entrapta (281) has posed:
The new sensor is broken. It can't be registering what it's registering, so she knows that it's broken.

"I mean, it clearly can't be showing that," she tells herself. Then pauses. "Buut, I have seen a lot of things so far that didn't make sense. So maybe."

Naw.

And yet, she still picked it up and walked out her dorm room door, following the sensor. She's staring at the fluctuations of the crystal in her hand, wandering out the door of the building.

Guess where she's heading? If you guessed 'into danger' you clearly have seen her series.

Half an hour later she's wandering around, late, and not looking at...anyone. She's staring at her readings, and walks past in the background, entirely missing everything everyone has said and done and ...

Is this a scooby doo episode?

Catra has posed:
As Adora is pushing the doors open, Catra is standing up and dusting herself off after having literally just fallen on her butt. Did anyone see that? Nobody saw that. Nobody better not have seen that. Nothing happened. She didn't have a clumsy moment. What are you looking at?!

"I'm not a princess," she grumbles, as she walks up to the doors and stalks through while Adora is busy playing Call of Duty against the wall. Her ears flick; she notes that Amy is here, and as she enters the strange temple she stops just inside the threshold, one hand resting on Powersend as she lets her eyes adjust, yellow and turquoise flashing in the flames, and listens.

And then while Adora is playing spy-girl against the walls and behind the pillars, Catra just resumes stalking straight down the middle. "Is that helping?" she inquires. "There's nobody here and even if you were trying to hide from me, you're about as subtle as a boulder with a neon sign above it that says 'Caution, Boulder'."

But still, Catra takes it in as she walks, and stops to stare at the final tapestry. "Oh, fantastic," she declares, pointing at the imagery it depicts. "Is this how it works? 'Become fire princess, it'll be great, then at some point you burn to a crisp because of reasons of some sort.' Yeah, that's really selling me on it."

But then, that means they're at the end of the hallway. And Catra really has been plagued by dreams, nightmares, and waking visions that have been increasing ever since this started. And on the other side of the door... Who knows. Maybe a way to make it all stop. Maybe something that'll help her shut the world out, or if not, at least quiet one part of it back down. So whatever. Here she is again, doing what other people want because they won't leave her alone until she does it.

Catra takes a deep breath, and heaves a great sigh. "Whatever," she grumbles, and puts her free hand to the door, keeping the other one on her sword as she pushes.

Bow has posed:
Catra places her hand against the gilded doors. The metal is cool under her palm, but the moment she touches it, something clicks within the mechanism. A pulse ripples through the air, low and steady, before the doors unlock and begin to part. The heavy slabs of gold groan as they swing open, revealing the antechamber beyond.

The floor is tiled in red and gold, patterned like dancing flames. The air inside is thick with heat, though no true fire burns---except for the flickering embers on the pedestal at the chamber's heart.

There, resting atop smooth stone, is an object. Cracked. Dull. It has the shape of a flame, or at least, it once did. Time has worn it down, but even in its broken state, the power it once held lingers in the air.

Then, the flickering flames on either side of the pedestal stir. They twist and stretch, shifting like liquid fire until they take form---two women, born of flame. Their bodies flicker, heat rolling from them in waves. Normally, this is where there would be a test, a question, something to ask of Catra before she steps forward.

Catra barely has time to step inside before the air shifts. One of the flame-women flickers, her form twisting as she speaks.

"The Ember has been claimed." she says, her voice remorseful.

The words settle like embers in dry grass, sparking something unseen.

Before Catra or the others can respond, the chamber flares to life. Another flame ignites, this one brighter, sharper, coalescing into a figure. The heat pulses outward, and for those who remember, there is no mistaking her... Chaar.

Outlined in fire, she stands before the runestone, her hands gripping it like a lifeline. The cracks in its surface seem deeper in her grasp, but she doesn't care. Her eyes burn with something hotter than flame, determination. Desperation. Fury.

"With this... I will get my revenge for what happened in Paris." Her voice trembles, not with weakness, but with the sheer force of her conviction. "I will return my friends. We will be powerful again! I will have the life that I want!"

The fire around her surges, casting long, jagged shadows against the walls. The air is stifling now, thick with the weight of something ready to break.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Nope!" Adora responds to Amy, not really specifying which question it's to. Adora herself isn't really sure to be honest. She has no real explanation further than that as well, that's all she says.

"And uuuuhhh I think most people become a princess by becoming attuned to one of the gemstones like I think I'm technically attuned to the gemstone in the Sword of Power and stuff." Adora says with a helpless shrug.

"But honestly Princess is kind of just 'person with magic' too I think because there's princesses that aren't attuned to gemstones too I think honestly Bow would know more because I was on the wrong side of the war to learn the specifics for too long." Adora adds.

...Also is that Entrapta just suddenly there? Huh. Adora kind of pauses just to watch her wander around for a bit. She looks ... younger?

...At least she's okay. Also just wandering around in the mysterious castle of fiery doom. ... Eh it's Entrapta she survived the Fright Zone she'll probably be fine. Maybe. SHe seems focused on something though, so it's probably important!

Which is shy she just walks up behind Entrapta to peer at her crystal. "What'cha doin'?"

Now that there were distractions other than Catra being there, it was a lot easier to be calmer and not freak out. "...It's Horde Infiltration 101 were you no-- oh right you ignored that class because you can just climb on the ceilings and stuff." What is Catra, some sort of spider-woman?

"I mean there wasn't a fire princess on Etheria so far as I know so that could be why? Maybe she couldn't control it or something?" Adora muses out loud. "...It's fine you probably won't burn to a crisp, your personality is too fiery to allow for that." This is definitely logical. Yep.

"I mean you can just turn and leave if you want, too. You don't have to do ... whatever this is." Adora adds. "I could just go She-Ra, break everything, and everything could go back to normal."

That's what she /should/ do.
Catra getting power isn't good for anyone.

Stop it, Adora.

The door opens. There's someone gripping the runestone.

"For the honor of greyskull."

There is no hesitation, as Adora immediately initiates the transformation into She-Ra, holding the Super Soaker of Power above her head to initiate the quick transformation into She-Ra, which turns into the Sword of Power in a smooth motion.

There is no Balance here. It feels Wrong. Heavy. Not like it should. She-Ra steps forward, sword in hand. "Revenge won't help you. Especially not if it leaves you like... like... that." She says, looking at the fire-engulfed person. It might just be her power, maybe, but even to Adora, who is usually not the most observant...

That person is burning themselves up. Even if figuratively.

And then the She-Ra glow settles in, and the playfulness, the talking goes away. The personality-suppression of the Sword of Power in full activity as she moves towards the threat to Balance. Ready to fight.

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Holding her crystal up higher, Entrapta walks into a wall. This distracts her enough to allow her to be aware that there are people around. Then she turns away from Adora, who was speaking to her, to look back the way that they'd come. Then the other way, the way they were going.

"Do I know you?" she asks, but in an uncurious tone of voice. No, she instead looks at her tools which have 99.99% of her attention. And likely to keep it. You have met her, right?

"I've detected a new variant of Etherian magic. Somewhere around here."

Someone bursts into flames in front of her, and she looks up for a second. About the amount of attention it warrants.

"Yeah, that'll do it," she adds, before getting out of the way of the suddenly glowing tall lady.

"You know what, make that two new variants. Huh. Busy evening."

Catra, Amy? Not even on her radar yet.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy just nods slightly at Adora and Catra. "Entrapta?" She's surprised to see the girl here, but then the door is opening and things happen very fast.

    And then she sees and hears someone that makes her blood run cold -- the memory of seeing people burned, and of seeing people enraged and attacking, so like those under Metallia's sway in the memory bubble, the memory of foolishly trying to attack the DG Girl as a tiny doll and getting flung into the asphalt so hard she could feel her body almost crack.

    Amanda has spent her life absorbing stories; she is 95% sure this is not the real Chaar or her ghost or anything (wait, isn't the real one alive and depowered...?) and that the artifact is manifesting Chaar from her memory, or memories gathered from others previously, for a test.

    And Entrapta doesn't realize she's in danger.

    Amy puts her hand on the princess of Dril's shoulder. She hisses, "Stay out of sight of her. The girl on fire. that one. Hopefully if Catra's on fire later she's good."

    Amy had already transformed before walking in. She glares at the spectre of infernos past. "You won't threaten anyone anymore. You should've stayed gone. You have a life now! You can be happy! No more torture, for you or those you'll hurt!"

Catra has posed:
Hold up. Someone else claimed the Ember? Catra is not done refusing to take it yet. Who the hell is this person, presuming to claim what's been promised to her, even if she doesn't actually want it? I mean seriously, who would want it, especially after all those stories told by the tapestries, that ended with, y'know, spontaneous human combustion. (Or spontaneous feline combustion, as the case may be.)

And it's Chaar. Catra never really met Chaar, but knows well enough who she is -- or was. A Dark General under a failed Witch who died in Paris. And now here she is... clearly unhinged.

"Sorry... who are you again?" she asks, hand resting on her sword without actually drawing it. Adora's got that covered, turning into She-Ra; and even recently that would've resulted in an instant battle between her and her former best friend, but not today. It just... She still hates She-Ra, hates that she took her best friend Adora away from her, but the glowing coals of that particular rage have cooled somewhat. Well, or she's just really got much more immediate fish to fry right now.

"You absolute moron. Went to Paris, got yourself de-powered, and now you think that you can claim that stone and just go off on some murder-rampage? I mean, I like your style, truly I do, but no." Catra slinks forwards, ears laying flat as she moves softly, putting one foot in front of another, shoulders hunched, tail stretched out behind her. Adora would recognize her stance; she's hunting.

"Adora, stay back," she growls. "Watch Amy and Entrapta, they're morons and they'll get themselves hurt." Only now does she draw her sword; draw it, reveal the blade, and then... slam it tip-first into the floor, lodging it in a tile and leaving it there, quivering, as she extends her claws. "This one's mine." Her eyes narrow, as she approaches Chaar and begins to circle her, tail lashing behind her and hackles risen, "And you've got two options; you can put that stone down and get out, or I can take it from whatever's left of you when I'm finished."

Bow has posed:
Chaar laughs, the sound sharp and crackling like a fire devouring dry wood. The glow of her form pulses, the flames around her body shifting, growing wilder. She clutches the broken runestone tighter, her fingers curling around it as if she can will it whole again.

"You don't understand." she says to She-Ra. Her voice is layered, as if something else speaks with her, something deep and restless. "I don't care if it burns me. I don't care if it consumes everything. It's worth it. They were worth it."

The fire around her flares, sending heat rolling through the chamber. The tapestries lining the walls curl at the edges, the air thick with the scent of smoke and old magic. Chaar takes a step forward, her flame-woven form flickering like it might break apart---or explode.

"I don't need Balance. I need power." Her grip tightens. The runestone pulses weakly, the cracks spreading like fractures in glass. "I need to make things right."

For a moment, something else flickers across her face. Grief. Rage. The hollow ache of loss buried under fire and fury. But the flames swallow it just as quickly, and she raises her hand, fire curling around her fingers as she forms a whip of flame.

"And I won't let you stop me."

Chaar's flames pulse, flickering erratically as She-Ra---stands firm. But then Entrapta starts talking. Chaar's fire surges, her body flickering with intensity. "Stop talking!" she snaps, her voice raw. "You don't get to stand there and analyze me like I'm some kind of---"

She lashes out. A whip of flame erupts from her hand, cutting through the air toward Entrapta. The fire burns hot and wild, moving faster than thought, a reaction fueled by burning will and anger. Which means, now, with Amy in the way, the whip cracks directly towards her. "I can't be happy! You and yours took away my friends! They don't remember me! And this is the only way to get them back!" And even if this is not the real Chaar, that whip is very real and very hot as it lashes out.

That's when Catra moves in and defends with Powersend, causing the DG Girl to recoil. "Oh, so now you care?!" she snarls, her voice a roar of heat and anger. "Now you decide to step in, when it's too late, when everything's already been taken?!"

Her fiery form flickers, shifting with every breath. The chamber groans, heat distorting the air, the flames licking at the stone walls. Chaar's burning gaze locks onto Catra, seething, challenging.

"You think this is about power? About some petty little rampage?" She steps forward, the runestone trembling in her grasp. "No. This is about justice. This is about all the things stolen from me, from my friends. And if you think---"

Her flame whip snaps to life, the fire twisting as she lashes it toward Catra. "---that I'm just going to let you stop me, then you're an even more unworthy than I thought!"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Yep Entrapta was doing Entrapta things. That's good. Some things never change... and that's strangely comforting. Something that was just how she remembered it. Entrapta fully absorbed in her love of technology. There is, momentarily, an almost introspective look on Adora's face before she went all She-Ra.

That was gone, now. The Eternian Magic of the Sword of Power doing its job. Another thing that was strangely comforting for Adora at the moment. Amy was taking care of Entrapta, so that's handled. She could focus on the thing that barely requires thinking, doesn't require worrying about if she's doing the right thing or if this is wrong and doesn't involve that ache in her heart that just won't go away.

She steps forward. It doesn't matter if the girl has a life now, it doesn't matter if she can be happy now.

Stay back, watch Amy and Entrapta. They'll get themselves hurt.

Wouldn't the easiest way to do that be to simply defeat the threat? She-Ra glances towards Catra for but a moment, that glow remaining in place... unresponsive as she stands firm, holding that blade in front of her...

That is very suddenly a shield when a lash of flame shoots out towards Entrapta, and She-Ra is suddenly There, shield held resolute against that whip of flame, swiping the fire away and to the side as the Threat acts.

And she leaps towards Chaar. It doesn't matter if Chaar is Catra's. That shield is coming down towards Chaar in both hands, the edge of it being brought down towards Chaar as the whip lashes out towards Catra.

And she attempts to smash the fiery figure down into the ground with a strike aimed for the back of her neck with full intent to bring her down to the ground with that glowing shield of Power.

Ah. She's in her 'doesn't listen and just focuses on fighting' mode now apparently.

Entrapta (281) has posed:
As she's led to one side, Entrapta babbles. About her data. Because she's herself.

"Of course, the new one is actually an old one, but one that I haven't seen before on this level of intensity. Minor variations in the First Ones tech that I've seen and nobody will let me have yet but I'll get my hands on some of it.." She's actually grumbling! Hee!

Then she looks at Adora directly, and says, "You're abnormally tall."

Before Amy gets her back, to safety. Because of course she had to say it.

"Should I be doing something" She asks, from behind a pillar. Because muffled voices are best voices when it's a noncombatant.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy winces slightly at the mention of Chaar losing her friends. "You can make new friends now. Better friends. I am given to understand you were not nice people, even after."

    And after more words, that whip lashes out! "Watch out!" Amy calls, standing in front of Entrapta and turning to shield her-- A rushed motion, she was about to take a bad hit to her arm but She-Ra is there! Entrapta takes cover, thank goodness, and Amy turns to face Chaar again.

    Catra says she's a moron and will get herself hurt. "Hey! I'm fine." For emphasis, the blisters and welt heal, and her costume reforms the burned parts, once again pristine. "I'm a Puella Magi."

    But, Catra invokes 'this one's mine' and Amy is inclined to at least give her a chance, and takes a few steps back, watching and not manifesting a weapon.

    Entrapta asks what she should do. "Watch. Figure out how all this works. And figure out how to turn it off if it doesn't play fair."

Catra has posed:
"RRrrrraaaaaagh!!" Catra lets out a growl of deep, angry frustration as of course She-Ra can't help but ignore her demand for single combat, and immediately jumps in to attack Chaar. Catra, however, isn't about to let that stand, and she's flying through the air right after her, to attack...

She-Ra.

Catra lands a flying kick square in She-Ra's back, and despite the difference in size between her and the Princess of Power, sends her flying into the nearest wall. And then, Catra splits into two; one of which, slightly transparent and clearly an illusion, stands with her arms folded over her chest, beside where She-Ra is currently making a dent in the wall.

"Adora," says the illusion, quite patiently, "I told you to look after those two, and leave this to me, and I meant it. Please just this one time, relinquish your love of being The Hero and just let me take care of business. I am perfectly capable. And those two," she jerks a thumb towards Amy and Entrapta, "Need you to protect them. At least one of them is the type to hold a fork up in a lightning storm just to test the voltage."

The real Catra, meanwhile, stalks back and forth now that the field has been cleared (and might even stay that way) as she waits for Chaar to stand back up again. Well, assuming she needs to, but She-Ra is quite accomplished at knocking people down. Boulder, afterall.

"Now, where were we? Oh, that's right; revenge. I like your style but you taking revenge probably means taking it against people I actually sort of like. So we'll be having none of that." Her eyes narrow and she grins, showing her teeth as she springs forwards; an obvious attack, but then nothing is really ever obvious with Catra, as she sails over the pedestal the Spirit Ember had been resting on she kicks it to change course, aiming to sail past Chaar and land behind her -- but not without raking her claws from both hands and feet across her in the process.

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Blinking thoughtfully as she looks at her scanner, hidden away as well as anyone can, Entrapta peeks out for a second. "Seriously? I've been here for less time than any of you," she says in response to what's been just said. "And I can already tell, it's not going to play fair. What level of genius do you think I am?"

She harumphs, then slides down the pillar to check readings. "Seriously people, when I can read the room you have no excuse not to."

And she taps the side of her crystal, trying percussive maintenance on it for funsies. "Work better!"

Bow has posed:
She-Ra slams into Chaar, sending her back, as the Sprit Ember comes with her, the pair of them crashing down to the ground under the might of the Maiden of the Runestone. And instead of getting angry, Chaar laughs in response to She=Ra's actions. Chaar doesn't move. She doesn't fight. The flames around her still flicker, but her grip on the runestone steadies. Her eyes stay on She-Ra, watching, knowing.

"There it is," she says, voice low, but it carries. "Doing exactly what you're meant to do. Putting yourself above her. Making sure she stays small. Weak. Beatable."

Her fire doesn't lash out this time. It burns steady, coiling around her like something patient, waiting.

"You don't trust her. You never have."

She tilts her head, eyes shifting toward Catra, then back to She-Ra.

"You could have let her handle this. You could have let her stand on her own. But no." She gestures toward the sword in the ground, toward the way Catra stands ready. "You had to step in. Had to make yourself more important."

Chaar's fire dims slightly, but she doesn't falter.

"Maybe I don't need to fight you. You'll prove my point for me."

Chaar watches Catra move, her steps measured, hunting. But there is something else in her, something deeper, and Chaar sees it.

"Is this how it's always going to be for you?" she asks, her voice steady. The flames around her shift, but she doesn't move. "Always bending to her? Always playing your part in her story?"

She tilts her head, embers crackling in the silence.

"You say you've changed. That you're your own person. But look at this." She gestures toward She-Ra, toward the way Adora stands---steady, unmoving, the sword still planted in the ground between them. "This is where you always end up, isn't it? Stuck in her shadow. Letting her decide."

Catra strikes, and her claws tear through the flames - but Catra can feel it. Beneath the flames - there's no skin to cut into - no sinewy muscle to rend. It's all flame.

Chaar takes a step back, not in fear, not in retreat, but to watch.

"Maybe you don't mind. Maybe this is just what you want. Maybe you don't know how to exist without her towering over you." She lets the words settle, lets the fire burn slow, controlled. "Or maybe... you're just afraid of what happens if you step out of her light."

Welcome to your final test.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She-Ra is in fact abnormally tall. Very much so! Frankly she barely fits in most rooms, She-Ra is very much an Outside Form in japan for the most part. She's also significantly less talkative than she had been before transformation. Fascinating!

The upside to being mid-air means that difference in size and height ... makes it significantly easier to do things like send She-Ra flying, mid-strike sent flying to a nearby wall where she leaves a She-Ra shaped impression, having flipped and turned mid-air to face the attacker, the aura around her causing an aggressive focus on Catra in those few moments, that look of someone about to fight back --

And then impact. And that glow fades, She-Ra shaking her head for a moment as she pushes out of that impression in the wall. Ugh.

Please just this one time, relinquish your love of being 'the hero'. Thoughts and feelings bubble up inside of Adora's mind, words that she wants to just scream and yell out at Catra in response to that.

Forced down again.
This isn't about her.
This isn't about her and Catra's relationship.
This is about ... whatever this is going on right now.
And thinking about it makes her heart ache and burn with an anger not unlike the flames in the room.

But ... but that's not what all of this is about right now. "..." She shakes her head, but doesn't respond, the Sword of Power staying in shield form as she starts to make her way towards Entrapta --

And then Char starts to talk to her.
Talking about their relationship.
"..."

That rage that had been forced down bubbles up again. This time directed in a direction that she didn't care about upsetting. "Making her small? Weak? BEATABLE?! You don't even KNOW what we've been through! What we've been dealing with OUR WHOLE LIVES! From day ONE we were being manipulated, forced to act a specific way! Told we were one thing and expected to follow!" You could have let her stand on her own.

Had to make herself important.
She wasn't even thinking then.

"You... you don't know ANYTHING about us! Catra's never been in my SHADOW, she's always been by my side! And for NO REASON she's had to fight twice as hard as anyone to be there and it's all because of a Shadow Weaver."

She was glowing again, her hair floating around her as she lets suppressed emotions flowing. Not thinking again, but in a different way. Not acting purely on instinct like before. "Catra is the STRONGEST PERSON I KNOW!" She steps forward, the ground cracking under her feet with the stomp. "She doesn't let me decide even if I WANTED HER TO! If she /had/ she'd be by my side now instead of... instead of my worst enemy! Instead of the person who nearly erased me and everyone I care about!" Another step. Another cracking footstep in the floor.

She's not helping. She knows she's not helping.
But she can't stop herself.
Angry tears flowing freely down her cheeks in the sheer rage she's directing at Chaar.

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta is looking at her readings, staying out of this. And then, she gets up. "Whelp!"

She looks around the corner, then rolls her eyes. "Seriously. I'll be the first person to say that I don't know everything. Any good scientist should be able to."

Pause.

"But what the fuck, people."

Then she gets her things, and sprays Char once with a water bottle she had, she's put a cap on for spraying. "Bad."

Looks to Adora, and says, "Why did you turn it into a shield the watergun would have been more effective." Then she stomps toward the exit, mumbling as she hugs her equipment. "Data messed up by emotions, nobody respects the process anymore. Going to have to ....mumble mumble mumble."

So..apparently she's off? Hey that was a swear!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy stood back, but She-Ra went in. Entrapta says Chaar--or whatever it is--won't play fair, and she nods.

    But she's expecting that means the apparition(?) will manifest so much power it takes them all to stop it.

    She doesn't expect it to do this.

    She doesn't know Catra well.

    But she knows the feeling of knowing you're supposed to be independant, and prepared for anything, and in control, at all times; a social role forced on her, treated as so assumed and natural she never questioned it; she might not have lived up to it in a typical way, but she coped by telling herself she was an intellectual, prepared in other ways than physical prowess, with the smarts to solve anyone's problems -- save those that stump all of civilization -- if only she had the resources, the power.

    She feels the shame of that kind of pride, being told, being shown, one is not independent, of how shameful it is to be anything less than equal to the other.

    It's not even gendered! So Amanda turned out to be a girl; Then she's supposed to be a strong, independent woman, isn't she?

    But Radiant Heart and her friends haven't pressured her, and it hasn't felt so important to maintain that mask.

    Who knows what Obsidian's done to Catra, or this 'Shadow-Weaver', though; maybe that's even her genuine ideal rather than one forced on her?

    Amy has to say something, but wha--

    Adora TEARS into Chaar, verbally. Adora knows Catra, and can say... whatever there is to say, better than Amy ever could.

    And so she's left only with a thought from her knew life. "But how does Catra feel about it?"

    Amy looks to the... enemy? That she doesn't know very well. "I know Chaar's words cut. The, the fire, whatever this is, is playing you. Trying to put you in it's shadow, instead. There has to be another path... I think it must be with your friends, but... this is clearly for you to decide."

    She remains stood apart, in a noncombative stance, looking a bit sad that she can't do more in this battle of feelings.

Catra has posed:
Catra lands, after a slashing strike with her claws that proved to be deeply unsatisfying. Normally, when she slahses someone like that, she at least expects her claws to bite all the way down to the bone; afterall, she can use her claws to destroy armored robots, nevermind some paltry human made of mere flesh. But Chaar isn't made of flesh, she's made of flame. Half way through setting up a follow-up strike, Catra abandons the notion. Her illusory double flickers and vanishes, and she takes a deep breathing, heaving an audible sigh.

"So that's how it's going to be." She starts walking a slow circle around Chaar, watching and listening while She-Ra lays out their history (and Entrapta swears about it). What She says might even be complimentary, if it weren't for all that about being her worst enemy. Still... it wasn't really inaccurate.

Come on Catra, put that tactical brain of yours to work. You were on track to defeat the entire Rebellion. Surely one firey twerp with a rock can't be that much of a challenge. Of course, the cat is immediately thinking of just blasting the firey apparition with all the shadow energy she's got, but it doesn't feel like the right course of action.

Instead, she just changes course, to approach Chaar and walks straight up to her.

"Tell you what," she drawls, adopting that tone Adora will be all too familiar with, dripping with poisoned honey. "Stop worrying about them. Look at me. See these eyes? That's right. Here's the thing; I was on track to defeat the entire Rebellion, before I ended up here. I did beat Shadow Weaver, took her Runestone and threw her in jail. I was planning to do the same with Hordak. I didn't need them. I don't need you, I don't need anyone." Her eyes narrow, before her stance softens, just a little. "It's... actually good to have friends. But even if I didn't have any," she continues, her voice hardening, "Even if I never have any again, I can stand just fine on my own, thanks. I've never had anything given to me and I don't need hand-outs."

Once again, Catra's claws extend, and she adopts a low, defensive stance, without retreating an inch from Chaar. "Give me what's mine," she snarls. "Or fight me for it. Here, now. One on one. Stand back, Adora. Keep out of it, Amy, Entrapta. I'll handle this."

Bow has posed:
As Catra moves to face her directly, Chaar's flames shudder. The heat in the chamber shifts, no longer wild, no longer consuming. She looks at Catra, then at She-Ra, and she smiles. It is not kind. It is knowing.

"You want the Ember? Then take it."

Her body splits, fire peeling away from itself. The shape of two figures emerges, the guardian spirits of the Spirit Ember, their flames twisting and separating as the illusion of Chaar dissolves. What remains is the runestone, hovering, waiting.

The moment Catra reaches for it, the flames lash out, but they do not burn. They wrap around her, coil through her body, sink into her bones. The dark energy that clung to her, that lurked in the edges of her mind, burns away. It does not fight. It purifies.

When the fire settles, the stone rests in Catra's palm. Small. Smooth. A relic of what it was, but still hers. The flames do not fade. They dance along her claws, flickering as she flexes her fingers. They do not burn her. They obey her.

Chaar's voice lingers, echoing from the flames, at once one, and then a pair - the two girls that have been with Catra on every step of the journey.

"You always had the power."

And then, they are gone.

With their disappearance, the temple shudders, moving, starting to collapse in on itself. The group will barely have time to exit before it falls... and the barrier that the Spirit Ember erected for this final exam fades, leaving the Island Shrine as it was.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She-Ra takes another breath, shaking with the unfettered rage towards Chaar, ignoring everything, ignoring Amy, just venting feelings she'd been struggling with for far longer than just this. And then... then...

Catra was talking again. Talking to Chaar. Taking on that poisoned honey tone. And then telling her to stand back again. Keep out of it. She shakes her head, and then... the Sword of Power becomes a bracer again. She didn't need She-Ra right now. This wasn't some... some fight, this was a test.

This is a test. For Catra. Not her.
...She didn't even need to be here.

And being here is ... actively betraying basically everyone she knows and cares about if she just stands by and lets Catra get this power. "..."

She turns and starts to walk towards the doorway again, starting to follow after Entrapta after the spraybottling and telling her the watergun would have been more effective. "...Yeah."

Oh well.

Adora doesn't even pause to watch the results. She just starts to walk away. Catra doesn't need her. She never needed her. This is just another case of proving that.

She's not even there anymore when the temple collapses on itself, she's just leaving.

.o(...I guess I'll see what plot she comes up with when we end up fighting next.)

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy simply nods and waits for the outcome. She doesn't know if she'll have to fight Entrapta after or not, but she won't interfere with her agency.

    And then Catra becomes the Fire Princess.

    "So, what do you do n--"

    OH THAT WAS A LOAD-BEARING TEST

    Amy runs!

    There's not really much else for her to do but not get crushed by collapsing rock and/or pocket dimensions!

Catra has posed:
There's a pause; a hesitation. Does she really want this? She's spent this entire time protesting that she isn't a princess, doesn't want to be a princess, can't be a princess, won't be a princess, isn't any sort of princess material, and on and on ad infinitum. And yet, here's a Runestone, offered to her. Or perhaps it was earned. Or perhaps it was always her.

"Shadow Weaver, you absolute fool," she murmurs, as she reaches out to take hold of the Spirit Ember...

...And immediately feels the flames wracking through her body. Being purified is not a pleasant experience at the best of times, and Catra has been wallowing in dark energy for months; she's only been purified once before, and that was when Adora swapped herself for a different Adora with a portal and--

Don't... think about that. Not that not thinking about it is much of a challenge, as Catra finds herself on her knees, arched spine and eventually realizing that she's screaming as the flames course through her flesh, all the way down to her bones. But eventually, it finishes.

Catra breathes heavily, clutching one hand to her chest, and the stone in the other. It's small; and she knows it's much smaller than it should be. How does she know that? You always had the power. What's that even supposed to mean?!

fire dances across her skin, mingling with her fur and long hair. Her eyes seem brighter, somehow, like they have their own light; she holds out one hand, palm up, and a little flame appears in her palm.

She has no time to think about it though, as the temple starts collapsing; she jumps to her feet and runs for it; on the way she grabs Powersend and slams the katana back in it's scabbard as she runs, catching up to and passing Amy, but as she's nearing the exit --

"Wait, where's Adora?! Did she--" The feline stops and looks around, and for a moment as she wracks her brains it looks like the cat might be about to run back in. But there isn't time anyway, and she definitely wasn't in the chamber at the end, and she wasn't hiding behind a pillar or a tapestry, Catra would have heard her even with all the noise of a stone building losing a game of janga, which can only mean...

"She left." Catra stands outside, not bothering to turn around to watch the temple finish collapsing behind her. "As usual. She left." She looks down at her hands, and looks at both Spirit Ember and flame -- her flame.

"...Fine then."