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Of all the places that Catra had expected to set foot on, Beast Island was at the very bottom of that list. She had heard the stories of this place as a child, but Adora's description of what the island was actually like had somehow made the place even more horrifying than any Horde children's story could have made out. So naturally, she was currently there with Entrapta and Scorpia on a "field trip" for whatever reason. Though Catra would freely admit it had been a while since she had done something with Entrapta and Scorpia together, the super pal trio finally reunited, but couldn't they have chosen somewhere better?
As they walked through the dense jungle of rotting ancient tech, polluted plant growth and other such techno-organic horrors, Catra felt a deep sense of dread and unease fill her. Even with the knowledge that the Heart of Etheria had shorted out a lot of the technology on the island, the fact she was here at all was giving her the creeps. She felt there were hundreds of hungry eyes watching her at every moment, monstrous creatures imagining the three of them as their next meal. Coming here was not exactly something for the faint hearted... which was probably why the Horde would send its worst prisoners here. They weren't expected to come back.
"Oh wow, isn't this place great, Wildcat?!" Scorpia chimed in, trying to keep Catra's spirits up. "All this... weird, ancient stuff! Doesn't it just fascinate you?"
"Scorpia, I know you're trying to help, but I don't think your usual peppy optimism is gonna help in a place like this," Catra admitted. "There's a reason this place is called Beast Island."
"Yeah... To tell you the truth, I'm a little sad I didn't get to come here the first time around. I mean, from what Adora and Bow told me, they could have used my muscles on a trip like this!"
"Technically, you were still the rebellion's prisoner," Catra reminded her.
"True and I don't think I'd have hit it off as well with Perfuma if we hadn't bonded during that time," Scorpia admitted.
Entrapta was merrily skipping ahead of the two of them with Emily in tow, oblivious to the terror her surroundings seemed to be instilling in her friends. She spun around and grinned at her friends. "Keep up you guys, we're almost there!"
"Don't worry Entrapta, we're keeping up!" Catra called back. She looked at Scorpia and whispered. "Did she uh... tell you the reason why she dragged us here?"
"Not really, I was just happy she wanted us to come along," Scorpia whispered, a little embarrassed. "But you know, I'm sure Entrapta has her reasons."
Catra sighed. "I still hate that we sent her here. No one deserves to get sent to a place like this."
"Hey, you and her made up now," Scorpia again tried to brighten Catra's spirits. "You and her couldn't be better."
"That still doesn't erase the horrible guilt I still feel over it all," Catra replied. "It's honestly a small miracle Entrapta survived in this hellhole. I feel like everything on this island seems to be designed to kill you."
"Well you know, Entrapta's a tough cookie for someone who is... smaller than both of us."
"Still doesn't justify what I did..." Catra's mind flashed back to the day she opened the portal. Everything in her gut told her she should have listened to Entrapta when she told her that opening the portal would be a disaster... but the felid's heart had been filled with so much hurt. From Adora telling her that Shadow Weaver had escaped to Brightmoon, to the witch herself having chosen Adora over her and casting her aside again... Catra had just broke. And nearly broke the world along with her. "I was a fool. A stupid, broken idiot. You should have stopped me, I wasn't in my right mind when I... When we..." Catra started to cry a little. "Damnit, even Shadow Weaver didn't deserve to get sent to a place like this. We sent Entrapta here to die and thank the stars, Adora and Bow found her alive."
Scorpia hugged Catra tightly. "You do not need to keep beating yourself up about all this, Wildcat. You aren't that person anymore."
"And yet I keep seeing her every time I look in the mirror."
"I FOUND SOMETHING!" Entrapta's voice suddenly interrupted the two of them.
Catra was brought out of her depressive episode for a moment. "What... What did you find?"
"I'm getting a signal on my tracker pad!" Entrapta chirped, before pointing with one of her hair tendrils. "It's coming this way!"
"Is it First One's tech?"
"Not quite, but don't worry, she's friendly!"
"She?" Catra asked, but then the ground shook heavily.
Loud stomps came from the trees, the ground quaking with every thunderous sound. Catra leapt into Scorpia's arms protectively, fearing some monster was about to attack them. Just then a giant mechanical gorilla-like creature emerged from the undergrowth, slightly battered but still intact. It seemed to have been constructed from many pieces of junked ancient technology that had been scattered across the island, yet still had the signature purple look of a certain scientist's robotic creations. Catra was ready to pounce if this creature tried to attack them... only for Entrapta to jump in front of her and Scorpia.
"CHRISTINA! YOU'RE ALIVE!" She squealed.
Scorpia and Catra gave each other a puzzled look, as the mechanical goliath knelt down and Entrapta hugged her. "You know this thing, Entrapta?" Catra asked.
"Of course, I do! I built her to help me survive here on the island!" Entrapta explained. "She's the reason we came here. When Adora and Bow rescued me, I was forced to leave poor Christina behind and she's been alone ever since... but I promised to come back for her!" She petted the mecha's head and her large cockpit then opened up like a massive jaw, allowing her creator and Emily to hop inside. "Come on in, there's plenty of room!"
Her two friends then climbed aboard and the cockpit closed up and Entrapta grabbed Christina's controls. She set Christina on a course back the way the three of them had come, to the beach where Darla was currently parked. As Scorpia curled up in the side of the cockpit, her head pressed against Emily's body, she chuckled. "Bit of a tight squeeze for a big girl like me."
"Are you sure your friend here will fit onboard Darla?" Catra asked Entrapta curiously. "I don't think I've ever seen a robot of yours this big."
"If she can't, she can at least ride on top of the ship," Entrapta explained. "I equipped her with magnetic clamps to help scale some of the steeper inclines on the island."
As Christina arrived at the beach and stopped in her tracks to allow her passengers to disembark, Entrapta hopped out and waved to Darla, the ship waiting in the water nearby. She petted Christina again, grinning. "Oh you're going to love it in Dryl! We might need to expand some of the corridors for you to fit, but I think you'll manage!"
Looking to the side, Catra then spied a crashed Horde Skiff on the side of the beach, encased in the mutant growth of the island. A horrible realisation hit her. "Entrapta... is that... is that the one you were on?"
Entrapta nodded. "It's fortunate that the island's signal caused the skiff to lose power when it neared the island, otherwise I might have been killed on impact!"
Catra twitched and Entrapta then realised her friend was upset. Hopping over to Catra, Entrapta hugged Catra tightly, with her hands, legs and hair. Catra relaxed a little, hugging Entrapta back. "I'm so sorry, Entrapta... I didn't know this place would be this bad."
"I'm not upset anymore and I already forgave you, Catra," Entrapta reminded her.
"And I still hurt you!" Catra sobbed. "I genuinely thought you were a friend and I still hurt you. I sent you here to die!"
Entrapta squeezed Catra's hands. "I know I'm... not good with people and I'm getting better, but I know forgiving you was the right thing to do, because you're my friend too, Catra. It was hard on this island and despite my mind hyperfixating on all the technology around me... it was so lonely for me at first, scavenging to survive. I built Christina so I would have a friend here. There was even a time when... I thought no one was going to come for me." She smiled fondly at Catra. "But I'm glad someone did come for me and I got to see you again. And I'm glad you're my friend again too."
Catra blushed and wiped her tears, before hugging Entrapta back as tight as she could. "Thank you, Entrapta... I'm so glad you're my friend again too."
It was then that Scorpia grabbed the pair of them into one of her crushing embraces. "SUPER PAL TRIO GROUP HUG!"
Laughing, Catra nestled into the embrace of her friends, knowing that nothing would ever tear the three of them apart again. "I love you both so much," she whispered. "Now let's get off this freaky island already. I think we've all had enough bad memories of this place."
Entrapta hopped out of Scorpia's embrace and skipped over to Darla, watching Christina leap on top of the ship and magnetically clamping herself to the hull. As the three friends boarded the ship and it took off back to the mainland towards Dryl, Catra took one last look at Beast Island, hoping that for as long as she lived, no one would ever be sent to such a horrible place ever again.