Origin of a Hero Read online

  There’s a first time for everything, Glimmer thought just as they emerged at the top of the tower and caught a glimpse of the approaching Horde.

  Six gigantic, spiderlike robots led about two dozen troops. They weren’t a huge army, but with their robots, armor, and laser weapons, they might as well have been two hundred.

  Glimmer looked at the other towers. The three sentries had their bows loaded and arrows pointed at the incoming threat.

  “Aim for any weak spots you see,” Glimmer said to Arturo. “I’ll try to jam their circuits.”

  “How will you do that?” Arturo asked, getting into position.

  Glimmer grinned. “It’s a princess thing.”

  “They’re advancing!” one of the sentries called out.

  The Horde robots scrambled down the hill on their metal legs. They stopped and scanned the forest edge with laser eyes. Then they aimed their cannons at the sentry towers.

  A barrage of arrows shot down as the cannons’ lasers flew up. Some arrows harmlessly bounced off the robots. One lodged in a port behind one of the spider-robots’ heads, sending sparks flying.

  “Hit the ports!” Glimmer yelled. “And watch out for me. I’ve got to get closer.”

  “Princess—” Arturo began.

  Glitter closed her eyes and concentrated.

  Pop!

  She teleported from the top of the tower down to the hill. Her whole body tingled with energy as she landed. It was the first time she’d teleported since she’d left Bright Moon. Her home kingdom was the source of her powers, so she didn’t want to waste them in Elberon unless she really needed them.

  Like now.

  As Glimmer found her bearings, a robot leaned over her.

  Zap! She hit it with a blast of sparkles. The robot froze, then began to sizzle.

  “Yes!” Glimmer cheered.

  “Glimmer, watch out!” Arturo called from the tower.

  Glimmer spun around just as a robot fired a laser blast from one of its cannons.

  Pop! She quickly teleported a few feet away. Then she zapped the robot with a sparkle blast, stopping it in its tracks.

  Suddenly, a loud cry filled the air, and the Horde troops stormed down the hill.

  “So you’re not gonna let your robots do your dirty work for you, huh?” Glimmer called out. The soldiers all trained their blasters on her.

  Pop! Glimmer teleported behind enemy lines.

  Zap! Zap! Zap! One by one, the confused soldiers fell to the ground, hit by her shimmering blasts.

  Between Glimmer’s sparkle powers and the well-aimed arrows of the sentries, the hill had become a heap of sparking, smoking metal and fallen troops.

  “We did it!” Glimmer cried.

  Then she heard a thundering noise behind her.

  Another wave of robots and soldiers crested the top of the hill—twice as many as before.

  “Uh-oh,” Glimmer said. She balled her hands into fists and flung them out to hurl another sparkle blast. But only a few weak sparkles came out. Glimmer frowned. “Double uh-oh.”

  A robot had already trained its cannons on her. She closed her eyes and concentrated all her energy on teleporting.

  Pop! She appeared back in the forest, behind the sentry towers. She needed time to think—and plan.

  Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled onto a horse. The rider flung Glimmer up behind him.

  “Hey!” she yelled.

  The mayor rode up on a horse beside them. “We must retreat, Princess.”

  “No!” Glimmer cried. “We can’t give up now! The arrows are working, and we—”

  “We cannot win!” the mayor said. “But I can succeed in one thing—in my promise to your mother. I will get you back to her safely.”

  She nodded to the rider seated in front of Glimmer. “Take her to Bright Moon.”

  “No!” Glimmer objected.

  The rider spurred on the horse. Glimmer watched, helpless, as one of the sentry towers crashed to the forest floor.

  I may not have stopped the Horde this time, she thought. But next time, I will.

  “Lights out!”

  A buzzer sounded in the barracks of the Horde cadets, and the lights shut off. Streams of moonlight shone through the one tiny window on the metal wall, basking the room in a yellow glow.

  Adora lay in bed, turning over the perfectly round stone in her hands. Catra dangled down from the top bunk.

  “Whatcha doing?” Catra asked. Then she gracefully slid into Adora’s bunk and sat cross-legged, watching her friend.

  “Just thinking,” Adora replied. “Have you ever felt a connection to something and you don’t exactly know why?”

  Catra frowned thoughtfully. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, sometimes I feel like I want to know our world better. All the people in it, but also the planet itself.” Adora held up the stone to Catra, imagining it was Etheria. “Like how we got here and stuff.” She shook her head. It sounded weird now that she’d said it out loud.

  “I know how we got here,” Catra replied. “Nobody wanted us, so they dumped us here.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Adora said. She sighed. “I can’t wait until we go on missions. We’ll finally see what’s outside this place. We’ll go to places we’ve never been and take them back in the name of Hordak.”

  “Yeah, that’ll be amazing,” Catra said. “Because the Fright Zone is totally boring. I almost fell asleep in Cobalt’s class today.”

  “That’s because class was boring,” Adora said. “Except for Octavia being a jerk. Her whole team is so negative. If they were more confident in themselves, they wouldn’t need to trash-talk everyone else.”

  Catra grinned. “Don’t worry. Those guys won’t be bugging us for a while.”

  Adora sat up. “What do you mean?”

  “Aaaaaaieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

  A loud scream rang through the barracks.

  Catra’s grin got wider. “Octavia must have found the little surprise I left for her.”

  “Catra …” Adora said, raising an eyebrow at her. “What did you do?”

  Adora flipped on the lights and ran to Octavia’s bunk. The other cadets were awake, thanks to Octavia’s scream.

  Octavia had jumped out of her bunk and was pointing to the bed.

  “Snake!” she yelled.

  Adora spotted a skinny black snake curled up on Octavia’s pillow. She and Catra had often seen black snakes in the weeds next to the armory, and she knew they were harmless. But Octavia’s eye was flashing with anger. (The other eye was hidden behind a patch, thanks to another incident with Catra years ago.)

  “It won’t hurt you,” Adora said to Octavia. “I’ll get rid of it for you.”

  She reached past her to grab the snake, but Octavia pushed her.

  “Your little friend is responsible for this!” she yelled. “And she’s going to pay!” She sprinted toward Catra.

  “Get her, Octavia!” someone yelled, and soon the loud cheers of the recruits filled the barracks.

  Not again, Catra, Adora thought. Can’t you stay out of trouble for just one day?

  Adora picked up the snake and dropped it out the nearest window. Then she ran back to her bunk to find Catra and Octavia in a wrestling match on the floor. A circle of recruits surrounded them.

  “Scratch her other eye out, Catra!” yelled one girl.

  “Show her who’s boss, Octavia!” shouted one of Octavia’s teammates.

  Catra yanked on Octavia’s hair.

  “Ow!” Octavia shrieked. She grabbed Catra by the ankles and lifted her above her head.

  “Body slam! Body slam! Body slam!” the cadets began to chant.

  Catra tried to kick out of the hold and almost succeeded, but Octavia’s teammate joined the fight and pinned Catra’s arms behind her back.

  Adora glanced over at Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle. They were cheering on the fight, but nobody was moving to help Catra. Adora couldn’t stand by and let Octavia win an unfair fig
ht, even if Catra had started it.

  “Yaaaaaaa!” With a cry, Adora jumped up and pulled the guy off Catra. Then she delivered a double kick to the back of Octavia’s knees. Octavia buckled and loosened her grip on Catra, who tumbled to the floor.

  Adora grabbed Octavia from behind and wrestled her to the ground.

  “Get off me!” Octavia shrieked.

  “Hold her down, Adora!”

  Adora’s head snapped toward the sound of Catra’s voice. Her friend was crouched on the top bunk, ready to spring.

  Catra leapt. She landed on Octavia and pinned her down by the shoulders. One of the recruits dropped to her knees and tapped the floor with her hand.

  “One … two … three!” the girl cried. “Catrawins!”

  Cheers and boos erupted in the barracks. Catra jumped up and pumped her fist in the air. Adora let go of Octavia’s arms.

  “I got rid of the snake,” she told her.

  Octavia snarled and stomped away. The other recruits returned to their bunks.

  Catra grinned at Adora.

  “That was fun,” she said.

  Adora shook her head. “If Shadow Weaver’s going to choose a new force captain soon, we need to stay out of trouble. It’s a good thing she didn’t—”

  “Didn’t what?” Shadow Weaver’s voice cut in.

  Adora froze at the sound.

  Great, Catra said to herself. Doesn’t Shadow Weaver ever sleep?

  “I find it difficult to believe that you cadets are making noise when there is a training exercise tomorrow,” Shadow Weaver said in her deep, spooky voice. The commander floated a few inches off the ground in the doorway of the barracks. As always, her black hair swirled above her head, a dark mask hid her face, and flowing, deep red robes covered her body.

  “We were training for the exercise,” Catra lied.

  “If only I believed you, Catra,” Shadow Weaver said. “Adora, couldn’t you have stopped your fellow cadets from this nonsense?”

  Catra rolled her eyes. Here it comes.

  “Everyone is just excited about the exercise tomorrow,” Adora said.

  Catra shook her head. One thing you could always count on was Adora sucking up to Shadow Weaver.

  “That’s enough excitement,” Shadow Weaver said. “If I hear another noise tonight, there will be consequences!”

  Shadow Weaver swept out of the barracks, and the girls quickly climbed into their bunks. Catra slid under the covers and let herself purr at the memory of tonight’s events. She was just about asleep when Adora’s head popped up next to her pillow.

  “Did you have to do that to Octavia?” Adora whispered. “You almost got us into trouble.”

  Catra stopped purring. “Relax. Shadow Weaver’s bark is worse than her bite. Besides, it was worth it, wasn’t it?” She propped herself up on an elbow. “I will never forget Octavia’s scream.”

  Adora giggled. “That was pretty funny.” She did a couple pull-ups on the edge of the bunk. “But now I’m all hyped up. I need sleep so I can do my best tomorrow, but how am I supposed to sleep after that?”

  Catra ran one claw along the edge of the bunk near Adora’s face. “Oh, come on. You’ll hardly have to try tomorrow. Shadow Weaver thinks everything you do is great.”

  “That’s not true!” Adora protested, but they both knew it was. Once, both girls had climbed to the roof of the weapons foundry, and Shadow Weaver had caught them. She’d scolded Catra for breaking the rules and praised Adora for her climbing skills.

  “Whatever,” Catra said. She grinned. “You may not need to rest for training, but you do need some beauty sleep!”

  “Very funny,” Adora replied. She tossed a pillow at Catra before ducking back down to her own bunk.

  Catra settled into her bed and stared at the ceiling. Now she couldn’t sleep.

  The relationship between Catra, Adora, and Shadow Weaver had always been a complicated one.

  Catra couldn’t remember anything from before she arrived in the Fright Zone, a tiny girl in a big place filled with people and noise and machines. The first friendly face she had seen was Adora’s, a face her own height, with big blue eyes.

  Catra learned that Adora had come to the Fright Zone as a baby, and Shadow Weaver had taken Adora under her wing. And when Adora had latched on to Catra, Shadow Weaver became Catra’s mentor, too.

  Maybe if I’d been here before Adora, I’d be Shadow Weaver’s favorite, Catra mused, not for the first time.

  She rolled onto her side and grabbed the end of her tail—something she did whenever she couldn’t sleep. A spot near the end was always tender, left over from that time their cadet team had dared each other to see who could get closest to the incinerator. After Catra burned her tail, the others had scattered. But Adora held Catra’s hand all the way back to the barracks, and then snuck into the infirmary to get supplies to treat the burn.

  Adora sucks up to Shadow Weaver, Catra thought. But she’s been nice to me when nobody else was. What would I do without her?

  Catra drifted off to sleep, listening to Adora’s breaths beneath her.

  Beep! Beep! Beep!

  Adora had set her alarm to go off before dawn. She sprang out of bed, excited for the training exercise ahead.

  I’ll prove to everyone that I’m serious about this, she thought as she brushed her teeth in the cadets’ locker room.

  She spun around, delivering a roundhouse kick to a punching bag hanging from a metal beam on the ceiling. Then she spun back to the sink, spat out a mouthful of gray toothpaste, and rinsed with the always-ice-cold water that came out of the tap.

  She quickly suited up into her Horde uniform and slicked her hair back into a ponytail.

  As she jogged out of the room, she passed another punching bag, this one with an image of a princess on the side.

  “Hey, Princess! You lookin’ at me?” Adora asked it.

  She spun around again, delivering a roundhouse kick to the princess. Her foot smacked into it with a satisfying sound.

  Punching bags are fun, Adora thought, but real princesses will be even better!

  A red light flashed on the wall as a siren blared throughout the barracks. Then a voice rang out over the speakers.

  “All squadrons, report to the training area immediately for evaluation.”

  Adora darted out of the locker room. She raced through the hallways to the training course, where she quickly slipped into her gear: arm and leg guards, a glowing breastplate, a weapons belt with an extendable staff, and special training goggles that allowed the cadets to see the holograms in the training arena.

  Lonnie and Rogelio arrived next, followed by Kyle, who was puffing and panting with the effort of getting there on time. They slipped into their armor, too.

  “Anyone seen Catra?” Adora asked.

  The rest of her teammates just shrugged.

  “Not again,” Adora groaned.

  Catra doesn’t take anything seriously! We’ll never get assigned to a squad if she keeps this up!

  Adora and her teammates stepped up to two metal doors at the entrance of the training arena. A Horde sergeant approached.

  “At attention, cadets!” he barked, pacing back and forth in front of them. “Your simulation is about to begin. Here’s your scenario. You’ll be passing through the treacherous Whispering Woods to reach the heart of the rebel insurgency, Bright Moon.”

  Next to Adora, Kyle gulped. Every recruit knew that the Whispering Woods was one of the most dangerous places on the planet. But Adora wasn’t afraid.

  “Your mission is to defeat the queen of the princesses and liberate Bright Moon in Lord Hordak’s name,” he continued. Then he stopped. “Where is Catra?”

  “She will be here. I promise,” Adora said.

  The sergeant scowled and made a note on his data pad. “Mm-hmm,” he said. Then he raised his voice again. “The Whispering Woods is full of princesses—vicious, violent instigators. They will take you out if given the chance. Don’t give in to them.
Good luck, recruits.”

  Adora’s heart raced as the metal doors slid open. She stepped into the training arena, followed by Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio.

  They cautiously walked into a forest of metal columns standing in for trees. Adora tensed as a rumbling sound filled the room. A troop of round-bodied robots rolled through the trees, projecting princess holograms. To the cadets, it looked like the princesses were shooting laser blasts from stun guns on their chests.

  “Watch out!” Adora cried.

  She dodged a laser. Kyle gave a frightened yelp but managed to get out of the way, too.

  Zap! Zap! Zap! The princesses shot their lasers.

  Adora and her team expertly shielded themselves as they made their way deeper into the forest.

  Then …

  “Ahhhhhhhhh!”

  Kyle let out a scream as a stun bolt hit him dead-on. He fell to the ground, his body crackling with energy. His glowing chest plate flickered out, replaced by a red X.

  “Aw, dang it,” Kyle said.

  “Seriously, Kyle?” Adora asked.

  Kyle’s eyes got wide as he looked past them. Adora, Lonnie, and Rogelio spun around to see four robot-princesses behind them.

  “Run!” Adora yelled.

  The three remaining team members took off, racing past the forest of columns and through a metal door. On the other side, they found a floor covered in a pattern of large tiles. The doors closed, trapping the robots behind them.

  Adora and her teammates scanned the room, searching for some sign of their next challenge.

  “Adora!” Lonnie yelled.

  Adora leapt aside just as the tile beneath her feet flashed red and then dropped away, leaving a hole. More tiles followed and the hole got bigger.

  Before Adora could think what to do next, an enormous robot floated up from the pit. It landed on the arena floor with four metal, spiderlike legs. The center of its body was a silver ball topped with laser cannons. It projected a giant hologram of a pink princess with an evil grin.

  Boom! Laser bolts shot from her fingertips, and the team scattered. Where the lasers hit, the tiles dropped away.

  This must be the queen, Adora thought. Well, bring it on, Your Majesty!