Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Scorpia and Perfuma stood before the imposing metal door of Crypto castle, and Scorpia found herself terrified “I can’t do this” she turned away just as the door opened “Ms Scorpia and Ms Perfuma welcome, what brings you here” at first they thought it was Hordak but realized the clothing and way of speaking was off “wrong Hordak?” he turned to Perfuma “I go by Erick now, but yes” Scopia continued the conversation “I thought you moved out” Erick dusted himself off “I have yes, but with Hordak Junior having just been born last month i've been staying to help, I take it your here to see Hordak” Perfuma grabbed Scorpia’s claw “yes we are” Erick held the castle door for them “please try to be quite, the baby and Entrapta are asleep” . Erick walked them through the metal castle right to one of the many workshops, and saw Entrapta holding a baby as the both slept on a couch, leaning against Hordak “hello, I assume this is about all the technology left in the Fright Zone” Perfuma nudged Scorpia forward “I wanted to know about my family, but we did also bring most of the technology” . Hordak managed to get up without waking Entrapta or their son “Erick can you watch over Amelia for me” Amelia popped her head up from some machine she was tinkering with, only to watch her father walk away. “I've already forgave you for killing my family, I just” Scorpia was cut off by Hordak as he found a safe and forced it open “here you go, I don't know why I didn't destroy it all those years ago but im glad I didnt” Scorpia took the book and opened it, finding hundreds of photos of her family, Hordak continued speaking “I did kill your grandfather and your uncle, but your parents had already been killed by the time I found myself on Etheria, much less in the care of your grandfather” eventually Scorpia found a family photo, it had her grandfather in the back with both of her mothers in front of him, and who she presumed was her uncle was of to their right, so the left if your looking at the photo, to her uncles right was a Magicat and to his left was a short masked man with a sword “who are these two” Hordak looked at the photo for a minute and realized he hadnt bothered to remember her name “never meet the masked man, he was off helping your uncle hunt down your parents murderer and the Magicat was a guard who was close with your uncle” Scorpia and Perfuma continued to flip through the book, searching every picture as close as possible for every detail possible. Eventually Hordak had to ask “so why now, you've had years to come and ask me these questions, what made you finally work up the courage” Scorpia passed the book to Perfuma and put her claw over her stomach before she spoke “i'm pregnant” Hordak found himself happy for Scorpia, which surprised him “congratulations, I know we aren't the closest but I am happy for you” . Hordak walked them to the gates and watched them leave, he felt bad having kept some things secret from them but was sure it was for the best, he turned around and went back to his family and contemplating his existence. 

16 years later, on a space station built by Horde Prime, now repurposed by a common criminal. 

A ship docked with the station, no one was concerned about this since the ship was perfectly on time. A group of robots walked towards the doors, ready to remove all the illegal substances on the ship, but once the doors opened two short swords came flying out and impaled two of the robots, then a shimmer of glitter as two figures teleported over the dead robots, one grabbing their swords while the other started unloading into the robots, her guns filling the air with gunpowder and noise. A large cobbled together robot with 5 legs and multiple lasers ran in, ready to attack the two figures but before it could fire a third figure walked out of the ship and launched a grenade right at it, sending the pieces of the robot scrambling to the floor. Caster reloaded his grenade launcher and slung it on his back “Glint, Finn, why didn't you wait for me, its less than a minute to get from the bridge to the hold” Finn cleaned off they're blades as they sheepishly answered “the door automatically opened, what were we supposed to do, get caught” Caster inspected his staff before speaking “well let's get this over with before our parents all start wondering where we are” Glint reloaded her pistols “so we have a map, shouldn't be to hard” Caster just looked at her “I mean we don't know what alterations they've made to the station, so finding their boss and getting out of here won’t exactly be easy” . The station was sparsely populated, small groups of robots with one or two actual people leading them, the best friends squad decided to  avoid most of them and found themselves before a blast door. Glint was gonna teleport, but Finn stopped her and motioned toward Caster “Junior, if you will do the honors” Caster unslung his grenade launcher and blasted the door off its hinges “mister Lye, good to finally meet you” . A bunch of robots started blasting at them, so Finn jumped and went straight for Lye while Caster and Glint focused on the robots. Caster blocked a melee attack, which was just the robot slamming its arm down, but as he blocked the attack he felt pain, so much he collapsed from it. Finn threw one of their swords at the robot as they ran over to check on Caster while Lye called his robots back and ran away “attention everyone, evacuate the station, and don't leave any robots behind or product behind” Finn and Glint helped Caster up as he leaned on them as they walked back to their ship, and Glint was the first to break the silence “well have to get you checked out by a doctor once we get home” Caster didn't talk, then they made it to where there ship was docked, and Caster wasn’t happy “just great, the ship we stole got stolen right back back” Finn’s voice was unsteady and nervous “ok, they had to of left some ships behind, right” . Glint came back from teleporting around the station “good news and bad news, bad news is Im drained so we have to walk, good news is Lye left his personnel ship, other bad news is that its on the other side of the station” Caster stood up from sitting on the ground “k, let's get going” and so the three walked through an abandoned space station and realized just how creepy the place was without any people, and Caster was even taking notes “my next play will be glorious and terrifying” , Glint was the next to speak “so Finn, hows Petunia, you two still doing good” Finn avoided looking at Glint “were doing fine” Glint took the hint but Finn was annoyed “what about you, still trying to get a second date ever” Caster put all 4 feet of him between them to stop them from fighting “please don’t fight, your both pretty” Finn was quick with a response “how do you have any teeth left” Glint laughed as Caster answered “because I always throw the first punch” . 

2 Months later.

Packing for the trip wasn’t hard, after all Caster had been to the Crimson Wastes many times before, after all it was where he was planning to die. Caster looked at himself in the mirror, fixated on his now purple skin and hair “well at least now I look like a Hordak Junior, no sense in staring at my own reflection” of course before he left he ran into his sister, Amelia “you're not coming back after your trip, are you” Caster looked at her and found that he couldn't lie to her “no im not, look I don't want to lie in a bed and die, ok” Amelia walked with him as she gave her last words, possibly the last words she’d ever speak to her brother “and do your best friends, the two accompanying you on this journey know about your intentions?” Caster stopped for a bit “no” he then started walking faster to avoid his sister.

Finn had finished packing and preparing the skiff mark 5, or the cat attack as they called it “bye mom, bye mom” both Catra and Adora waved goodbye as their child drove away “are we one hundred percent sure this is a good idea, just letting them go to a deadly desert alone” Catra started walking inside “did wonders for me” Double trouble walked out “if you never went, we would never have meet” Catra looked like she was ready to strangle a bitch “scratch that, this is a terrible idea” Double Trouble then handed Catra a hot chocolate to appease the homicidal magicat.

Glint hugged her parents before she left “love you mom, and you too dad” Glimmer hugged her daughter “did you remember to charge at the Moonstone” Glint rolled her eyes “yes mom” now was Bow’s turn to be annoying and over concerned “did you remember to pack extra ammo as well as extra clothing and snacks” Glint pulled away and slung her backpack as she answered “yes dad” with that she walked out and hopped on the skiff.

Chapter Text

A journey that would’ve taken two to three months only took 3 weeks with the skiff, even if it broke down beyond repair upon getting there. Their the three stood at the center of the Crimson Wastes, looking down into a hole “so what are we looking at” Caster turned from Glint to Finn “you know how your parents shattered reality, here is a portal to that shattered reality” Finn leaned closer while Glint stepped back “I thought they fixed reality” Caster walked away and started setting up some device “you don’t punch a hole in reality without leaving a few cracks” Caster walked back and pulled Finn away from the ledge “time for the two of you to take the teleporter home” Finn nodded towards Glint before they responded “nope, your coming with” Caster rubbed the bridge of his nose before responding “Look I can walk the rest of the journey myself, ok, you two don’t need to come along” Glint put herself between him and the teleporter “we didn't need to come along on any of this, we did because we're your friends, now tell us the truth” Caster looked up at the cloudless sky, fighting back tears before he spoke “i'm not going home, I heard that the Crimson Waste eventually meets the ocean and thats where im heading, if I die before I get there thats ok” Caster couldnt keep standing, and was failing to fight back the tears as well “I don’t wan’t to lie in a bed and die, watching everyone else watch me die, I wan’t to feel and see the world” they sat there both hugging Caster for a bit before he stopped crying “If I die before we make it to the ocean, just please leave my body where I fall” Finn was the one to answer while Glint went to disassemble the teleporter “we’ll try” . The teleporter activated in a flash of light, and there stood a figure in all emerald green.

Glint tilted her head “I think something went wrong man, you're in the middle of the Crimson Wastes” Green didn’t even speak, just blasted Glint with what looked like one of Horde Prime’s wrist blasters, thankfully trying to blast a teleporter is hard. Caster unslung his grenade launcher and hit Green dead center in his chest “and, he survived, shit” Finn drew theyre swords “seriously, why do your parents let you swear so much” Glint teleported besides them “we know its because his parents just don’t care” . Glint kept teleporting around, shooting Green until Finn and Caster charged in, Caster turned his staff into a scythe to slash at his front while Finn ran past and attacked at his back. Finn’s blades couldn’t cut through Green’s armor, but Caster’s scythe could, so he slashed Green then revealed the hidden blade in the haft to stab him but Green grabbed the scythe and threw Caster back. Green revealed a rocket from his arm, but before he could fire it at Caster Glint jumped in and hit him with a glittery elbow right to his face, which stopped him from attacking Caster “seriously, why” Green ignored Glint. Caster tried to stand up, but his leg gave out and he collapsed onto his knees “dammit, why now” , Green walked towards the downed Caster, and Finn tried to stop him only to get their tail grabbed and thus thrown pretty hard into the ground. Sending sand flying everywhere and shattering the ground beneath it, then he continued on towards Caster while Glint was standing there frozen in fear. Caster slipped his brass knuckles on before Green got in melee range, then he punched Green square in the throat, but It didn't do much sadly “fuck you” Green paused at the sheer hate in Casters voice, which let Caster jump off him as he fired a grenade from his launcher and reloaded when he landed, but Green launched the rocket right into Casters shoulder, blowing off his right arm and sending his grenade launcher flying away. Caster found himself on the ledge, somehow still alive for right now, so he jumped in, “I came here to die on my own accord, and you won’t take that from me” .

Finn tried theyre hardest to not cry, and Glint teleported around to grab Caster’s grenade launcher and staff, then grabbed Finn and went to the teleporter Caster had set up. Glint launched the grenade upwards as she activated the teleporter, saving them and leaving Green stranded there. Finn turned around and shook Glint “why, we should have stayed and done, something” Glint just hugged them “he’s dead ok, he's gone, we couldn't save him and staying there would have only gotten us killed” Glint finally looked around to see where they were and found them in the courtyard of Brightmoon, and Finn continued trying to be the leader “we need to tell Hordak and Entrapta what happened, and our parents, Greens going to get back and we need to stop him” . 

Adora, Catra, Bow and Glimmer walked into the courtyard only to find them standing there beaten up “what happened” Finn turned there head towards Catra “someone jumped us and murdered Caster while we were in the Crimson Wastes, just blew him up and threw him in a pit” . All the four of them could do is hug their children, I mean what else are you supposed to do when your children just watched their best friend get murdered.

Chapter Text

Finn stabbed theyre swords into the ground as they doubled over and started punching the ground until their hands were bloody “hey kitten, what's wrong” Finn looked up to find Double Trouble sitting on a tree branch “hey Auncle DT, it's just. No matter how much I train it won't change the fact that I wont be strong enough to hurt that bastard” DT stared at Finn for a second “language child, your mothers won't approve of such vulgarity” DT climbed down “your mothers are She-ra and She-ra’s greatest nemesis, Caster will be avenged” Finn wasn't listening until they spoke “I have a plan and I need your help” DT couldn't even respond as Finn started dragging them away. “Crypto Castle, let's hope someone answers the door” Finn then proceed to mash the doorbell until the door opened, and Amelia was the one to answer “hello Finn and Double Trouble, I wasn't expecting you, what brings you here” Finn just kinda let themselves in “the vault” Amelia just stared at them “the Vault that only caster can open” Amelia and Finn both stared at the floor for a bit before DT tried to move things along “uh Caster was working on some manuscripts and I was hoping to get them so I can finish and perform them” Amelia left to get the manuscripts, and DT continued “I do need those, but we needed her gone didn’t we” Finn just nodded as they walked away and found the vault “just transform into Caster and open this up” . Finn looked away, unwilling to see Caster’s image even for a moment “ok, can’t be that hard” Double Trouble had never had to be so precise with a transformation before, scanning face, eyes, hand and a full body scan, but DT managed to succeed “the vault, so what's in here Kitten” Finn walked in and found a rapier with a ornate snake hilt, and took it and answered as they continued searching “weapons they built that Caster deemed to dangerous to ever be used, like a sword meant to replicate She-ra” Finn grabbed a few other weapon looking items around the vault before leaving. DT managed to grab the finished and unfinished plays that they would perform, if they could finish them, that is, there's a reason DT doesn't write their own roles. 

Finn found Glint waiting for them when they got home, and tried to brush past her but Glint grabbed them “Finn” Finn didn't turn around “i'm trying, just give me some time” Glint let go “it's been two weeks, and we haven't even spoken to one another since” Glint didn’t or couldn't finish the sentence and so chose a different topic “Petunia called me to check on you, you should really go see her” Finn just laughed as they walked away ‘relationship advice, from you” . 

Glint realized something, she needed stronger weapons but with Caster dead she’d need another weapon maker “the obvious choice is Amelia, but she probably won’t help me, especially if she spoke with Finn. ugggghhhh, I have no choice do I” she did not in fact have any other choices, so she grabbed a Skiff and made her way to Crypto Castle. “Two visits in one day, what a surprise” Glint decided to make this quick “hello Amelia, I need a favor” Amelia opened the door wider and gestured for Glint to enter “sure, what do you need” Glint grabbed both of her guns by the barrels and held them “I need stronger guns, something that can puncture heavy armor” Amelia took her guns and walked away “looking to personally avenge my brother, are you” Glint stared at the floor “yes” [BOOOOOM] Amelia was unconcerned and spoke “dad’s testing a new armor, he also wants to personally kill the person who murdered Caster, and it's not going well. It will take a week or two to build you new guns, I’ll mail them to you when their done” with that Glint took her cue to leave.

Chapter Text

Finn was too tired to react when theyre training was interrupted by someone's hands wrapping around them “hey Petunia” Petunia just stood there for a bit “you haven't called since before you left for your trip, it's been a month since you got back” Finn couldn't bring themselves to move “I've been a bad partner, I know” Petunia grabbed their arm and lead them inside “you've been mourning, but we need to talk” Petunia sat on the couch and dragged Finn down onto the couch with her, before laying their head on her lap and started slowly rubbing it as they fell asleep “we can talk after you've had some rest” Finn fell asleep fast. Petunia continued well after Finn was asleep “you know, love, this is the most intimate we've ever been, and you're not even awake to experience it” Petunia forced the mix of emotions away as she continued to comfort Finn’s sleeping self.

Finn and Glint opened their eyes only to find themselves staring at each other. “Wake up sleepy head, we don’t have much time” they recognized that voice, and as they both shot to their feet Finn hesitantly spoke “Caster, is that you” and as they looked it was in fact Caster. “Well hello there, now time to teach you how to dance” before Finn and Glint could even react Caster grabbed Finn and waited for them to lead the slow dance, but Finn was too stunned “what, you asked us to help you learn to slow dance so you could dance with Petunia, and now's as good as any time” Caster snapped his finger and a small opalite crystal floated above them and started playing violin music. “Ouch, ok Glint you take over and lead because my feet need a break from being stepped on” the dance was tense and silent until Caster spoke “come on, were friends aren’t we” Glint started to speak “Im sor” Caster cut her off “no need to apologize, lets just dance” . Eventually they stopped slow dancing and just had fun for a bit, dancing and horribly singing along with the music. “Welp, time for you two to wake up and hopefully be friends again, since I doubt you two not talking started when you woke up here” the three shared a group hug before Finn and Glint were gone “i'd like to say see you soon, but I know that's not likely and that you visiting here again isn't gonna happen” Caster started crying as the realization truly hit him.

Finn immediately launched themselves off the couch and grabbed their phone and called Glint “Glint i'm sorry I was mad at you, I just, I, I nee, I'm sorry can you ever forgive me” the phone had the slight buzz of open air before Glint spoke “yes, and I'm also sorry” Petunia stood up and took the phone “told you I could fix this, now goodbye” she hanged up the phone “so, wanna go for a walk to relax” Finn looked at her before they spoke “how about a tour of your family's garden instead” so Finn grabbed their jacket and left for a rather pleasant date night.

Chapter Text

3 months, that's all Finn could think about during this lunch, Bow and Glitter had invited everyone to lunch and Finn was even sitting next to Petunia but they couldn't get the fact that it had been 3 months since Caster died out of their head. Once the lunch ended everyone started talking to one another, and Amelia not only gave Glint her new guns and two spare but she had also made Finn four new swords, Finn and Glint traded one spare weapon like they did before and just stared at the other weapons “huh, I just realized Caster never gave us any weapons of his, think that meant something” Glint didn’t respond, just continued to contemplate. Amelia tried to change the topic “Glint your guns no longer topload, I'm sorry. Finn you see that button on the back of the handle up near the guard, push it” as Finn pushed the button and both blades arced with electricity “I wasn't even expecting an upgrade, thanks Amelia” .

Everyone heard the sounds of fighting outside, and Kyle was sent flying through the door, Lonnie and Rogelio both tried to stab the invader, but their spears failed to pierce his armor. Green just punched both of them, and they were sent falling to the ground. Finn immediately charged towards Green and slashed with as much force as they could, but he didn't even give courtesy of being pushed back by the flurry of attacks. Finn stabbed him with both blades and electrocuted him, but It didn't do anything to him. Adora transformed into She-ra, and Finn tried to use the death blade, but all they saw was an white explosion before being knocked to the ground.

Multi limbed, bug-like robots rushed in as Green entered the room and grabbed everyone. The explosion caused by the death sword messed everything up, like Glint and Glimmer couldn't teleport levels of messed up, eventually even She-ra started having problems and randomly transformed back to Adora, and Green was ecstatic “outside, you all should die under sunlight” the robots dragged everyone outside, where they saw a massive tear in the sky. Double Trouble was ironically the one to save them, kinda “so Green is it, mind telling us why you're doing this, come on don’t you want to” . Green stared them down, then just stared at Adora “you took Prime’s light from us, be thankful im kind enough to let you all die together” Glint lost it “why, why kill Caster” he continued to walk away and prepare his blaster “to free him from his suffering” . Green left the robots holding them down as he fired the massive beam of energy at them.

A magical shield appeared and blocked the beam, if you looked closely you'd notice 5 opalite crystals generating the star shaped shield, then a figure in dark purple robes and a golden mask fell out from the hole in the sky. The figure pulled out a pistol and a sword and started fighting the robots, then he ran out of ammo and had to put the gun away, then his sword cracked when he blocked an attack so he sheathed it to avoid it breaking and switched to his bare hands, then sigils appeared in front of his hands and he started using magic, mostly lighting and sound magic, all while Green kept trying to overpower the shield, and failing. Then the stranger spoke “Hello it's me, the Scion of poetry, the Spawn of chaos, the King of magic, I'm Hordak Junior but you can call me Caster, everyone does” he gave a bow as he finished his little speech. Hordak grabbed caster literally off his feet “your alive” Caster tried to get free “yes, yes dad im alive now can you please put me down” Hordak put Caster down and he walked over to his friends “Finn, please don't ever do anything like that again, you nearly broke reality like your mother, seriously is it genetic or something” they had a group hug and Caster continued “but thanks for saving me, I was trapped” . Caster broke off from the hug and turned towards Green “now then, let's settle this one v one, shall we” .

Chapter Text

Caster woke up on a wooden bar table “wait, I know this place. Wait how am I not dead, like I shouldn't complain but I kinda wanna know” Caster looked at his chest and saw this weird black stuff with pink cracks on the edge right there on his chest “ok, really hope the pink doesnt mean its spreading” Caster hopped off the bar and started looking around, then he heard a roar, and a powerful one at that “welp that's never a good sign, lets see i've got a sword, a gun with a few clips and one brass knuckle, no scythe or my other brass knuckle so that's not good” then he saw it as the beast tore through the roof, a massive black and pink lion “nope, nope, nope, see you in Hell” Caster ran and found himself on a bridge surrounded in snow “so were just not following any continuity of space and location, maybe I am in Hell. Wait no I remember this, Adora talked about this, now how do I get out” . The lion crashed into the bridge and sent Caster falling into the gorge, but caster stabbed his sword into the wall and saw a hole in reality, then the lion start climbing “you know what take this” he pulled out his pistol and shot the lion until it fell and Caster started climbing, “I just wanted to explore the desert until I dropped dead, but no my friends wanted to come with me and support me, then some damn weirdo jumped us and nearly killed me. Oh GOD, please don't be dead” Caster climbed into the hole, and fell down the other end.

Caster hit sand and found himself in a desert “ok universe, I see what you did there, now why is it so damn cold” it was about here where he realized he wasn't hurting, he could breathe without pain. Caster couldn't enjoy this revelation for long, since he heard the lions roar “great, escaping the shattered world didn't mean escaping you” Caster stretched before he started running for his life, desperate to find some way to hide from that damn lion. 

Caster found a hole at the base of a massive dead looking tree he could crawl into, and the lion ran past the tree “okay, now how do I get out of here” the lion found him and started attacking the tree, desperate to expose the hole Caster was in and kill him “great, well at least I know you aren't that smart” caster realized he had a grenade, and rigged it to blow up before sneaking off, leaving the lion to eventually tip the tree over and blow itself up while he ran as far as he could. “Oh come on, don’t you ever give up” the lion continued chasing him as Caster kept wasting ammo shooting at it.

Chapter Text

Caster heard something crash into the ground behind him, and deciding he couldn't continue outrunning a giant lion he chose to stop and turn around, and saw a scorpioni, he stood there with one massive right claw and a spear crudely attached to the stump of his other arm. “Junior” Caster just looked at him “I am a junior, but everyone just calls me Caster” he nodded “im Steel Claw, but just Steel’s fine” Caster walked up next to Steel and the two stared at the lion as it sized them up, then charged. Steel managed to grab the lion's front right leg and stop it, while Caster ran to the side and stabbed into the held leg’s knee, then he just kept savagely stabbing and slashing until the lion tore free from Steel, losing the leg in the process but gaining its freedom. “Something tells me we've only pissed it off” Steel simply shrugged “then we’ll fight it again” Steel waved for Caster to follow him.

“Nice cave” Steel sat down and started sharpening his spear “thanks, also sorry but there's mostly just bugs to eat im afraid” Caster picked up a cockroach and popped it in his mouth “my second favorite” Steel raised an eyebrow at that “you have a favorite bug to eat” Caster found another and ate it as well “yep, Mantes or is it Mantises, either way you know what I mean” Steel just laughed “yep you're definitely Junior” Caster squinted at him “I said to call me Caster” Steel finished sharpening his spear “sure sure, im sorry” . Caster slumped against the cave wall and closed his eyes.

“Hey Caster wake up” Steel nudged Caster to wake him up “sorry, dozed off for a bit, so what’s the problem” Steel handed Caster a spear “time to be proactive” with that Caster followed him out of the cave. They found a tree and dragged it back to the cave so they could make dozens of spears and use them in traps “5 hours and were not even halfway through this damn tree” Steel had to concede that it was a slow, mind numbing process. 

Now they were digging massive holes to fill with the spears they just made “so how are we going to hide these, since the lion will probably notice wood on the ground” Steel thought for a bit, and Caster wasn't happy “you don’t know” Steel looked down “there's dirt” Caster just laughed “if we had anything else to do id go do that, but I can't even write in this damn Hell” Steel managed to finish digging and started planting the spikes “you could throw yourself in the pit, but i'm pretty sure that just leads to death” .

Chapter Text

Caster and Steel jumped on the dirt covered sticks “welp we fucked up” Steel looked down at the ground “we had to stitch the wood to close together to actually hold the wood, got any ideas Caster” Caster slammed the bottom of his left fist into the palm of his right hand “got any flammable liquids” Steel opened then closed his mouth “you're evil, sadly no I don’t know where any flamable liquid is” . Caster looked down before speaking “ok, show me this supposed death pit” . 

“So If this pit leads out how come you're still here” Steel stayed back from the sheer drop “I deserve to be here, suffering” Caster turned away from the drop and towards Steel “and people say i'm edgy and dramatic” . Before Caster could make it to Steel the lion jumped out from below ground and pounced on Caster, but f’d it up and sent them both careening into the pit. The lion dug its claws into the side and started climbing while Caster desperately tried to move towards the wall while in freefall “great” . Steel waited for the lion to climb up “hope he's good, now for you and me pinkie” the lion roared as it charged towards Steel claw, who was happy to meet the beasts challenge.

Caster survived the fall, and started walking through a series of caves, dodging magma, fire and monsters all the way. Eventually he got out of the cave and looked at the sky, seeing a dark blob with many red eyes with black X’s on them on a blood red sky. “Ok, i'm just in Hell, Steel if this was intentional that's hilarious, now where is my camera” he found it and thankfully it wasn't broken. 

After 3 hours of walking around taking photos of every cool thing he saw he found someone not a horrible eldritch monster, at least in appearance “shadow weaver I presume” Shadow Weaver raised her head, struggling against the heavy chains as she did “well, who are you” Caster felt pity, and decided to try to free her from her chains “names Caster, i'm the son of Hordak and Entrapta, now time to save you” Caster managed to break the chains, though his sword definitely took some damage in doing so “wish I had my lockpick set” Shadow Weaver stretched every part of her body, over 2 decades of suffering here left her very stiff “so, do you know a way out” Shadow Weaver starred Caster down “i've been chained to this boulder since I got here” the two of them started walking, trying to find any way out. 

“You probably shouldn't eat the bugs here” Caster ignored her and ate some caterpillar looking bug “tastes like hate and sludge, you were right” Shadow Weaver sighed “I see you are definitely Entrapta’s son” Caster sprinted next to her “and you know i'm Hordak's son from the purple skin” . Eventually they came to an ornate door “so how does one open you” Shadow Weaver sighed “with magic, obviously. Why do you even want to open this door” Caster turned away from the door as he spoke “It's the only door, and unique at that, something important has to be behind it. Now use your magic to open it” Shadow Weaver put her hands in front of her “I don’t do magic, anymore” Caster got a sly grin on his face “can’t or won’t” Shadow Weaver avoided the question “want to try doing magic yourself” Caster looked at her “sure, we've got nothing but time after all” .

Casting the spell was surprisingly easy, but Caster felt something, something he hadn’t felt since he started writing scripts but stronger “teach me more, please” Shadow Weaver was taken aback by this sudden outburst “No” Caster stared her down “you literally have nothing else to do, so teach me more magic” the two of them walked into the cave and eventually found themselves outside in some weird metal crossroads over a chasm “well this was the easiest plane of reality to escape” Shadow Weaver just looked around “so where do we go” . Caster picked her up and threw her over the railings before jumping in after her, however they fell upwards instead of downwards “that's not how this is supposed to work” .

Chapter Text

Eventually they started falling downwards, but it wasn't like gravity started working properly, more like the up they were falling was now down, confusing I know. “Do something” Caster decided to try a blast of air, which worked in slowing them down and saving them from going splat “that worked, i'm gonna lay here for a bit, ok” neither of them moved for a bit, Caster was tired and Shadow weaver was happy to truly be free. 

Two strange figures walked up to them “how’d you get here” Caster rolled onto his side before answering “we did something dumb and self destructive and it did something, now where are we” the other woman spoke “the source of all magic” Shadow Weaver was the next to speak “and who are you two” the two figures turned to Shadow Weaver “we've met before Shadow Weaver, and this is Hope” Shadow Weaver looked up at her “your alive, Angella” Caster sat up “wait, Angella, as in Glimmer’s mother” Angella nodded as Hope helped Shadow Weaver up “i'm afraid you're stuck here, wanna play go fish” .

Chapter Text

Angela, Hope and Shadow Weaver were sitting in the castle playing go fish, and Hope was the one who was exhausted “so is anyone else bored of playing go fish” everyone shot up because of a massive explosion they heard. Everyone ran towards the source of the noise, and saw a massive crystal star in the sky before they saw Caster on the ground, and Angela was the one to speak “so, what exactly were you doing” . Caster picked himself up off the ground before speaking “a failed experiment, not important” Caster looked crazy, his eyes wide with arcane knowledge. Caster started manipulating the light all around him, warping and twisting it until it took the form of a small oval shaped opalite crystal, after it formed Caster collapsed onto the ground, the crystal moved towards him and started spinning around him while Caster just laid their for a while until it stopped and fell to the ground. 

Caster finally picked himself off the ground, and looked much healthier than he had when he collapsed, he also didn’t look crazy which is an obvious plus. Hope just looked at him “so, what did you just do” Caster looked at all three of them “so apparently when I was in the shattered world and the desert I wasn’t dying, but the genetic decay continued once I got here for some reason, which means i'm still alive at least, so I used this crystal I made to heal me after my first attempt to fix this failed” Shadow Weaver just looked at him “I see my magic lessons paid off” Caster dusted the non existent dust ogg himself “yep, now who wants to play blackjack, I need a break from magic” . 

Caster stood there as his two friends disappeared, a wave of sadness flowing over him “didn’t even think that would work, be ok my friends” Caster kept trying to figure out a way out, but he was stuck “MORE CRYSTALS” the other three started groaning as he had woken them up “what, it's not like any of us can sleep with how bright it is here, it's like everything is made of light” Caster stood up and walked out of the strange castle to make a few more crystals to try to help him escape this damn prison of light. 

Caster walked into the castle and started playing cards with the others, and Anela was the one to break the ice “so, how’d your escape attempt go” Caster finished shuffling the cards and started dealing “i'm stuck here, I could try to brute force my way out but that would risk damaging the foundation of the universe, so unless I have a breakthrough or gain some new understanding about the universe I'm stuck here with you three” .

Everyone felt the world shake, and Caster felt something strange “oh, that's not good” everyone ran and found a crack in the ground, and endless chasm of black void. Caster started running “I might not be willing to wreck the universe, but I will take advantage of someone else doing the same” Caster jumped in, but before Angela could enter she froze, unable to move like she was stuck to the ground. Angela finally managed to get moving again, but the chasm closed before she could enter.

Chapter Text

Green fired a laser beam at Caster, who used his crystals to create a portal and blast Green in the back with his own laser. Amelia threw Caster the new sword and gun “thanks Amelia” . Green couldn’t focus, Caster kept getting in close and dashing out while his 5 crystals kept floating and blasting beams of energy at him, but it didn't matter, Caster couldn’t get through his armor. “Ok, F you, where do you get off having a nearly indestructible suit of power armor” Green didn’t bother responding to Caster’s rage. Caster sheathed his weapons and let two of the crystals slam into the back of his hands, then two more into his shoulder blades and let the last into his neck.

Caster put his mask on and activated all 5 crystals, turning himself golden. Green fired a laser at Caster, who just ate the attack, standing there and letting him keep firing to his heart's content. When Green finished firing Caster disappeared only to reappear behind him and punch him so hard in the chest that his armor cracked, Caster just smirked at him, then punched Green up into the air and blasted his own beam of energy at him. Green fell onto his back and managed to pick himself up right as Caster charged at him, clearing the distance almost instantly, all Green could do was put up his arms to try and block the attack, which only resulted in the armor shattering and him being knocked to the floor, leaving him without his powerful first one's cannon. Caster took a step towards him and stepped on him, his stiletto heel piercing right through the armor and destroying the power source, the only thing that saved Green was the worsening crack in the sky “I have to deal with that” .

Glint spoke as Green picked himself up and readyed his spear ”aren't you going to run” Green sharpened his spear as he answered “your own cowardice is why you expect such from others” before anyone could respond to that Caster fell out of the sky and hit the ground with a thunk. Caster removed his crystals and used them to open a portal and get his scythe “time to end this” . Caster crouched lower while he held his scythe behind him, ready to slash while Green pointed his spear at a downward angel. The two charged at each other, Green managed to puncture Caster’s shoulder, but Caster let himself get pushed back as he swung his scythe, and took Green’s head clean off. “Goodbye, and may you find peace” .

Chapter Text

Caster shot awake in his bed “oh right, im back” Caster got out of bed and put his clothes on, he used magic to make a golden pair of pants and shirt, while putting his dark purple robe on over it to cover his admittedly tacky golden outfit, then he put his mask on. Caster grabbed his phone and called his friends “hey Finn, remember that ship you crashed? Well the three of us are going to go fix it” so the friend group met up, had breakfast and went to work.

Caster took his robe off to get to work fixing the engines while Glint searched the ship and Finn kept reading the records on the ship for any information “welp i'm pretty sure I know where we're targeting next”   Caster felt happy doing something he was used to doing, and before he realized anything had actually happened he had finished fixing the engines. Caster crawled out of the crevice he had shimmied into to fix the engines and put his robes back on “first things first, you really need to learn how to pilot, seriously you crashed our skiff and this ship” Glint walked into the room “nothing, absolutely nothing except Lye’s porn stash and tacky heart shaped bed, also can we be more careful with our ship” Finn tried to be positive “look on the bright side, we got a bigger ship, besides we love doing projects” . Caster was smiling behind the mask “Glint, help me get the bed removed” Finn left to grab supplies, mostly paint and beeding.

The ship was two floors, with the main bedroom being right below the cockpit, with the only other thing being on the bottom floor being the galley and fridge/freezer area. “Dear god who the Hell welds a bed to the floor, just use bolts like a normal person” Caster and Glint had to use a cutting tool and a grinder to remove the bed, which took longer than they had hoped. “So, why didn’t you use your crystals to cut the legs off” Caster facepalmed before speaking “i'm an idiot” Glint picked herself off the floor “so, what do we do next” Caster walked through the door “let's check the kitchen, see if anything their needs work”  

Finn returned to the ship carrying a few bedrolls, two cans of paint and some ingredients so they could make lunch “so, rock paper scissors, loser makes lunch” Caster turned to Glint and smiled “or you could make lunch” before Finn could respond Glint piled on with him “yeah, were get to work decorating while you cook” Glint grabbed Caster and teleported the two of them away, Caster used his crystals to open a portal and grab a gas mask for Glint “here you go, now let's get spray painting” they got it done with minimal paint covering them, which Caster fixed with a little magic “so, is there anything your magic can’t do” Caster just shrugged as they left the bedroom “i'm gonna go grab a few bookshelves for us to put up upstairs” .

Caster returned and started putting the bookshelves up and mounting them to the walls so they’d stay put, “hey, foods ready” Caster put the hammer and drill down “awesome” .

Chapter Text

Finn woke up from the alarm blaring in their ear, and threw the alarm at Caster who wasn’t awake to catch it so it just slammed into his head “ouch, what did I do” . Finn started getting changed while Caster rolled face down into his pillow and tried to get back to sleep. Glint walked in with a coffee, and handed it to caster “what’s got you in a hurry” Finn finished getting dressed and started checking her phone “Petunia’s parents are going out for today and tomorrow, so me and her have a date night planned today” . Finn decided the classic cheese and bread for their breakfast “tasty, see you two later” Finn skipped their way out of the ship and off to their girlfriend, while Caster kept tossing and turning to try to get to sleep while Glint kept trying to wake him up. 

Finn and Petunia were snuggling on the couch, Finn’s back to the backboard of the couch while Petunia was trying not to fall off and onto the floor “so, what movie did you decided we'd start with” Petunia smirked “it's a horror movies about an alien that replaces people, set in some frozen research outpost” Finn should've expected horror “how, nice” they really wanted something more romantic. 

A character on screen was holding a flamethrower at his coworkers while he did something to their blood, some kind of test or something, Finn wasn't really paying attention to the movie, ironically they weren't great with horror. Finn screamed as a bullet went through the back of the couch and right into their right shoulder, Finn just thought it was the movie, then she saw the blood as Finn pushed them both onto the floor “what’s happening” Finn managed to get their swords, though they had to stretch their legs to get them “I think someones trying to kill one of us” Finn turned the movie off and started listening “and he's entering the house” Petunia was scared “ok, give me your phone” Finn didn’t do that, instead they got off the floor and got ready for a fight “nope, give me your phone, were calling your friends, and maybe your parents” Finn still refused to hand over their phone “fine, i’ll do it myself” Petunia left to grab a landline.

Finn knew they needed to jump the assassin, they were injured and needed to level the playing field. Finn had their swords stabbed into the ceiling to help them stay up as they waited, then when the assassin slowly walked under them they pulled out their gun and shot him, missing most of their shots but getting him in the leg, and jumping down to capitalize on his wounds. “Why are you here” the strange man ignored Finn as they clashed. Finn was hoping he would have forgotten or overlooked bringing a melee weapon, but he hadn’t. Their injuries enhanced their differences, Finn was already faster and more agile while the assassin was stronger than Finn. Finn had both of their swords crossed as they blocked the assassins sword, slowly losing as the assassins sword slowly crept lower towards them, then Finn kicked his injured leg as the dropped lower and stabbed him, before retreating.

Finn found Petunia in the kitchen panicking “give me your friends number” Finn fought back a laugh “you forgot you don’t know their numbers” Petunia was not happy “their number” before Finn could respond the assassin ran through the doorway and slammed Finn into a countertop, Petunia leaned over “give me their numbers for pets sake” Finn took the corded phone from her and started strangling the assassin with it, then Petunia manipulated some plants to hold the assailant. Petunia was pissed “GIVE ME YOUR PHONE” Finn finally handed over their phone “look, I had this” Petunia ignored them as the phone ringed “hey Caster, can you grab Glint, her parents and Finn’s parents and get to my house, someone tried to kill us” Caster took that news in strides “sure” . “So this was because you wanted to show off” Finn nodded enthusiastically, and Petunia pitched the bridge of her nose “you're an idiot, now let's get that wound patched” Finn followed her “sure love” .

Chapter Text

Caster even went and grabbed Petunia’s mothers, who were quite concerned about their wrecked house “Petunia dear, what happened” Scorpia tried to calm down her wife, and kinda failed “dear, maybe just calm down, deep breaths” Perfuma wasn’t happy “our house is wrecked and our daughters partner is bleeding all over our floorboards” Petunia put herself in between her parents to stop this argument “im fine, someone tried to kill us but im fine” . They all stared at the would be assassin and Glimmer had a simple answer “ok, time for a truth spell” Caster stopped her “wait, I wanna try something” all 5 of his crystals spun around the assassins head for a bit before him and Caster passed out.

Caster shot awake as the assassins eyes seemed blank and empty “fuck, fuck, fuck” Caster put his arm up and blasted a laser beam clean through the assassins head, making his body as dead as his mind was “welp, that didnt work” Finn was the first to ask “WHAT, what was that” Caster brushed himself off “I tried to enter his mind, and accidently fried his fucking brain” . Petunia wasn’t happy “so you got nothing” Caster just nodded. Everyone decided since they were already there they might as well help fix the house. 

Caster and Glint were away from the others talking “are you ok” Caster just stared at her, unsure how to answer “I felt his brain fall, no, I felt his mind, his consciousness get torn apart” Caster walked out and stared at they sky for a bit “I tore his mind apart by accident, I just wanted the knowledge inside but instead I fried his brain” Caster did everything he could to not cry, and managed to succeed if barely. 

Finn was lying on the ground as Petunia kept tending to theyre wound “damn your cute when your worried” Petunia wasn’t happy “flirt when you don’t have a hole in your shoulder” Finn continued on “if I stopped being romantic every time I was injured we'd never have a moment together” . Finn leaned in for a kiss and got it simply due to how surprised Petunia was “ok, I think the plants and blood loss are messing with your head” Petunia tried to ignore the fact that that was their first kiss and focus on the fact that her partner was going loopy.

Chapter Text

Finn and Petunia decided to have a picnic, since their last date was interrupted by an assassin “how’s your shoulder doing” Finn waved her off “its fine, now lets eat” both pulled out a picnic basket “I thought I was packing the basket” Petunia started laughing “I said I was packing the basket” they decided to eat the lunch the other had packed for them. A light drizzle started “wanna just wait it out” Petunia snuggled closer to Finn “sure”  

From the shadows behind some trees sat another assassin, readying his rifle when a hand grabbed the barrel and shushed him “se Caster, told you” Caster grabbed onto Glint as she teleported the three of them away.

Finn looked around, sure that they had heard Glint teleporting. “You heard that, right” Petunia also looked around “I didn't hear, and don't see anything” the two continued to snuggle and to try to put the whole assassin thing out of their minds.

Chapter Text

Caster was just walking through town when he got a phone call “hello, Hordak Junior here, watcha need” Petunia was on the other line “hello, ah, this is awkward but wanna hang out” Caster realized something, “sure” .

Glint was busy studying “dad, I know for a fact mom didn't do any of this” Bow stared his child down, then looked around to make sure it was just the two of them “yeah, but she was also really unprepared for ruling, like you should've seen the first month of peace, she had no clue what to do” they both laughed for a bit before Bow started talking again “ok, back to learning first ones language” Glint let out a sigh as her father continued rattling on about first ones language. 

“Ok, hope this works. Till Death I’ll Fight” the sword shimmered as Finn transformed, taller with better hair and a bladed tail “ok, reality isn't collapsing around me, good” Finn just sorta walked around, did a few jumping jacks and even a few pushups “really was expecting reality to collapse again, ehh how do I change back” Finn started looking for their phone “damnit where'd my phone go” Finn feel onto the ground and saw theyre parents looking down on them, Adora just looked at them before shrugging “don’t look at me, I don't know how I change back it just sorta happens” . Finn just stayed laying down until they transformed back “ok, took long enough” Catra helped Finn up “so, are you actually gonna tell us next time you go out on an adventure” Finn was in trouble “uh, me Caster and Glint plan to go after Lyce in a few days, you know, finish what we started” Catra hugged them “stay safe dear” with that the three of them went in to grab a snack. 

Finn and Glint were waiting on the ship “did Caster forget that were supposed to leave” they heard a noise and Caster spoke “hey, I didn't forget” the two of them walked out of the bridge and into the storage only to see Caster and Petunia their “she wanted to come along” Petunia threw her fist up into the air “lets go hunt a crime lord” Glint just shrugged “welcome to the friendship squad, I guess” . 

“Finn, im never letting you drive or pilot anythine ever again, you fucking crashed us into a swamp” Finn got out of the pilots seat “the planets 90% swamp, of course he choose a swamp planet to hide on” Caster opened the bay door so they could exit “he better still be here or I swear to every god and monster” Glint interrupted him “calm down, were find him” . The 4 of them walked out of the ship and closed the door, then made sure to lock the ship this time, Glint found herself having to lead because Finn was distracted by Petunia “ok, Lyce’s camp is due north”

Robots literally crawled out of the mud and started attacking everyone, and Caster was sinking "I'm up past my knees in mud, I literally can’t move” he swung his scythe and cut one robot that got slightly to close to him in half, and Glint decided to get quippy “probably shouldn’t have worn heels in a swamp then” Caster flipped her the bird “you wish you were this fabulous” . Petunia manipulated some trees to crush a few of the robots “I certainly wouldn't mind some indestructible heels” Finn managed to stab the last two robots “everyone good” Caster just started walking north “he better be on solid ground” everyone easily managed to catch up to Caster. 

They were right outside Lyce’s camp, and Finn had finally gone back to being the leader “ok, so he clearly knows were here, Glint take Petunia and teleport into the camp, cause chaos while me and Caster go in and grab Lyce, ok” the others nodded as Glint grabbed Petunia and teleported away. 

Petunia sent roots everywhere the second she appeared in the m idle of the camp, tearing every robot and binding every person she could, but Lyce was quick and cowardly, running away with the few robots he had left, and Finn and Caster got onto the ship as he flew away. Caster started fighting the robots while Finn moved to deal with Lyce “just surrender man” Finn drew theyre swords, but Lyce wasn’t gonna surrender "I've got too many enemies to just surrender" . Lyce pulled a knife and tried to stab Finn, who easily knocked the knife aside, then Lyce went to grab them by the neck, only to get stabbed through the chest "should've just surrendered” Caster walked in “oh, you, you good” Finn nodded yes “lets go home” . They landed the ship and dropped his body in the mud as the 4 of them walked back to the ship, leaving him to sink and disappear.

Chapter Text

The best friend squad went back to Petunia’s home to get drinks “god I needed this, seriously its all just cakes back at Crypto Castle” Caster downed another glass of juice, then filled another as they walked out of the kitchen. 

Scorpia and Perfuma were sitting in their throne room as a small group walked in carrying a massive covered painting “hello my queens, behold a gift” the strange robbed woman pulled the sheet off and revealed a very special painting, Scorpia’s grandfather's coronation painting. Scorpia couldn’t speak, just standing there staring at the painting, then Caster and the others walked in and the hooded lady immediately walked over to him.

“Well if it isn't the self proclaimed King of Magic, its an honor” Caster wasn’t happy “what do you mean self proclaimed, I am the king of magic” she continued “if you say so, by the way you did die, right” Caster was thrown of, and she kept circling around him as he answered “it’s complicated” she continued on, pushing “well I mean theirs was a funeral for you, could you do it again, I mean you surpassed death and your so selfish as to keep it to yourself, then again what should we expect from the son of Hordack” the woman and her entourage left, not even getting payment as Caster just stewed in his anger. “Finn, get everyone together, Scorpia can I use your yard” she just nodded “thank you” . 

Caster created a massive giant circle and started carving a magic circle into it, then once he was done he created a smaller stone circle and started carving the exact same circle “Steel Claw, this better fucking work because otherwise I won’t be able to live with myself” Scorpia and Perfuma walked outside “so, what are you trying to do” Caster put the stone down, walked over to the larger one and started pouring his blood into the carved groves “im going to tear reality apart a little, reach into the land between death and life, and pull Scorpia’s uncle Steel Claw back into the living world, I can only do this because he hasnt fully moved on, since I don’t know how to get to the true afterlife, YET” he finally filled the groves with his own blood and moved to the smaller stone and did the same thing. Both of them looked at each other then stared at Caster, then they went to set up seats for the show. 

Everyone was sitting in chairs when Caster walked out without his robe “lady’s, gentlemen and the good folk with the sense to do away with it entirely, welcome to the spell that will prove im the king of magic” . Caster slammed his hand into the smaller stone, and the larger stone cracked as the blood filled with light.

Steel was setting up another trap for the lion when he saw strings of blood wrapping around him and dragging him away, he struggled as much as he could against the strange phenomenon but it was to no avail.

Steel Claw appeared right on the stone circle, and Caster was ecstatic “I am the king of magic” he threw both hands up into the air “oh” Caster passed out. In the audience Shark, son of Mermista and SeaHawk was the first to speak “no way, no way he just did that” .

Chapter Text

Glimmer and Bow were arguing ‘I'm telling you, salmon tablecloths are the best” Glimmer retorted “its pink, besides purple is better” Glint pushed her parents out of the ballroom “I’ll handle setting up the Princess Ball, ok” . As Glints parents walked out she realized that they literally hadn't done a single thing, so she looked around before speaking “fuck, 1 week to plan everything. Invitations first, then let's stick with salmon tablecloths since dad already ordered them” she got a few of the guards and got to work setting up. 

Glint was losing it “where the Heck am I gonna get a band on such short notice, oh mom’s not gonna be happy about this” Glint pulled out her phone and called Double Trouble “I need a favor, I need you to perform for the princesses ball, music that is” . “Awesome” Glint scratched one item off the list “ok, lets get catering and drinks while the guards finish setting up”

“Two days, TWO FREAKING DAYS, huh cool down Glint, you got catering, now you just need a bartender” Glint didn’t know where to find a bartender, so she grabbed something that should've been useless, the yellow pages “thanks grandpa” .

Chapter Text

Finn, Caster and Petunia were walking around Castle Bright Moon trying to find Glint, and eventually they found her crying underneath a table, and no one mentioned that the party was tomorrow. The three of them looked at each other before Caster and Petunia walked back to let Finn handle it “nope, you two are coming down with me” they grabbed Caster and Petunia and pulled them under the table “hey Glint, you ok?” . Glint managed to stop crying “I couldn't find a bartender, they messed up the tablecloth order and the musician is Double Trouble for Pete's sake” . Finn knew something was up “ok, well I know a bartender, their all the way in the desert but Caster can get them quick” Caster opened a portal “sadly I can’t fix Double Trouble, but I can fix everything else” not only did he get the bartender, but he also changed the color of the tablecloths so they'd all match. 

Caster was the first to finish getting dressed and had to wait for the rest of his family to get dressed, an agonizingly slow wait that eventually ended as the others met him at the gate “time to party everyone” . 

Glint was still setting everything up when her parents grabbed her and dragged her out “come on, you need a break” and with that the three of them left to get cookies and tea. 

“You are not going as She-Ra” Adora was not happy “but the hair, the amazing hair” Finn just sat back and let them argue until they were ready to leave, which didn't take long “ok, lets get going” . 

Steel Claw went to talk to his niece, Scorpia “do you mind if I take Petunia for a walk, we’ll meet you at the party” it was Perfuma who answered “sure, please don’t be too late” . With that the two of them left. “So why are we heading to some random flower shop” Steel claw kept looking around “I got a letter, somehow asking to meet outside said flower shop” . Steel Claw saw a female Magicat waiting, and recognized her “Flame Claws, is that you” she looked at him, and walked forwards “your back, so it did work” they hugged “I thought you died when we lost” she looked up at him “nope, I just got old” . The three of them walked away so Steel and Flame could talk to one another.

Chapter Text

The friendship squad V1 and V2 were sitting around waiting for the others to show up, and Caster decided to be the first to drink some of the punch. Caster doubled over and managed to throw the punch onto the ground before collapsing onto the ground, then he became golden and managed to pick himself up “someone poisoned the damn punch” It was at this point when people realized the bartender was missing, and then he ran in with blood on his head “someone knocked me out” Glimmer had two of the guards take him to a doctor.

A stranger showed up in a puff of smoke “seems I added a little too much poison, oh well the bombs will deal with you” they then disappeared in a puff of smoke. 

Finn just stared at the spot where the stranger had been “bombs, as in multiple explosives” everyone broke off from the group to search the castle for explosives. 

Hordak, Entrapta and Amelia stayed in the ball room to disarm all the bombs while everyone searched and brought the bombs to them, eventually they had searched everywhere and decided they'd found every bomb, and had to cancel the party. One explosion went off, and Bow was the one to figure it out “that sounds like it came from the garden” . The figure showed back up and giggled “you missed one” Catra jumped at the stranger while Bow slung an arrow, but the figure disappeared, leaving Catra to crash onto the floor. Catra picked herself up and dusted herself off “so what do we do now” Glint picked up a note dropped by the stranger “find me, im hiding in the castle. Theirs some sort of poem as well, the first night, imprisoned but not chained, free for the first time but still not free” Double Trouble finally decided to involve themselves “well thats obvious, Adora dear, do you remember where the room you were imprisoned in when you first joined the rebellion is” Adora did not, no one did “it was decades ago. Plus  2 remodels” Double Trouble was leading the group “please don’t remind me how old we all are” eventually they found the room and saw the man standing their, and Perfuma noticed something “hey, Steel Claw and Petunia never showed up, where could they be” Catra was the one to rage “were about to fight a stranger who tried to perform a mass poisoning and that's what goes through your head” Caster walked past them and kicked the door open “lets deal with this, then we can find them” everyone noticed how Caster almost fell over  when he kicked open the door. The stranger looked at them, and then they noticed three bodies slumped on the ground around them, Petunia, Steel claw and an unknown Magicat “Adora, you better not transform or things might get messy, Caster please disable your little golden trick” Caster did nothing for a sec and the stranger pulled out a gun and put it to Petunia’s skull “fine, you win” Caster returned to normal and fell onto the ground. The stranger giggled some more “damn she was right, this is going even easier than expected, sure the poison plan failed, but we did get Caster out of the fight. Double Trouble, walk forward please” DT did as they were told, and the stranger removed their mask and DT recognized her “hey sister” the stranger shot DT right in the chest “goodbye, and enjoy digging up the second set of bombs” the stranger and her three hostages disappeared. Glint and Glimmer grabbed everyone and dropped them outside of the castle, then started teleporting everyone inside the castle outside while the others tried to keep Double Trouble alive, Caster managed to get up and use his crystals to open a portal and fell through it.

Caster’s scythe unfolded as he dropped on the stranger, who effortlessly avoided it “I can see the future, my br” Caster punched her in the throat “I might hate DT, but im still not gonna let you just insult them like that” she looked at him “a lucky shoot” . She was right, Caster couldn’t manage to hit her but he could keep up the pressure and hope to try to overwhelm her, he had the advantage that she didn’t know how to fight, so even exhausted he was still winning. The Magicat woke up and clawed at the strangers back, causing her to reel and turn, giving Caster his opening to end the fight “thanks” Caster collapsed to the ground, relying on his scythe to keep himself even partially up. Steel Claw woke up next and shook Petunia awake “Jr can you take Petunia to her parents, I need to escort Flame home” Caster was too exhausted to argue and left with Petunia.

Steel looked away “why” , Flame tried to play dumb “what do you mean, I” Steel turned and stared at her “you really think i’d believe you actually got surprised, you tried to murder my niece and grand-niece” Flame picked up the dead woman's gun as she drew a sword “you know why, and your niece was only a necessary casualty, besides she's a traitor” Steel readied himself for battle “the only traitor I see is you” . The fight wasn't fair, Steel was over 50 years younger than her. Flame dodged back while firing her gun, and Steel dodged forward and towards his right, then he closed the distance and tore her in half right at the waist. He looked up at the starry sky “the past should stay in the past, I hope you find peace in death my friend” . He started walking, he'd find his way home eventually.

Chapter Text

Steel walked into the castle, went to the garden and hosed the blood off of him, and Perfuma found him “it’s really late” Steel finished cleaning up “sorry” Perfuma started gardening “so, you and that lady you were with, what's that about” Steel tried to change the subject "couldn't sleep. She, she won’t be coming around anymore, some wounds even time can’t heal” . They garden’d for a bit before heading off to sleep. 

Caster was puking his guts out ‘god, what poison did they fucking use” he managed to focus long enough to try something, and he wished he hadn’t, everything burned “ok, time magic, never doing that again” . Caster cleaned up and went to bed.

Caster was knocked out of his bed by the shaking planet “2 hours of sleep, great” he called the others “did you three feel that as well” Glint stared at her screen “the massive earthquake that collapsed what was left of my home, yes we all felt that” Caster hanged up and tried to go back to bed, not even getting off the floor. Finn called him back nearly immediately. “did you try to go back to sleep” Caster picked himself up off the floor “yeah” Finn was expecting more “you good” Caster opened a portal “yeah, just tired, lets go do something” . 

5 earthquakes was enough to get them to try to fix this “Caster, how do we stop a planet from shaking itself apart” Caster swirled his crystals in the air “no clue, lets find out” . Caster still didn't know what was causing this “welp, the massive gun that is our planet's core isn't about to fire, so thats good but im out of guesses” this quake was massive, sending everyone to the floor as they just stayed there until it stopped. Petunia laughed “were all gonna die aren't we” Caster stared at the ceiling “death. Life, existence. Oh shit, I really hope I'm wrong about this” the earthquake stopped and everyone got up “we need to get everyone, now” . 

Caster looked at Steel Claw, then to everyone “so I made a mistake when I revived Steel Claw, now a giant pink lion of death is tearing through reality to get here, and I can’t stop it” Adora wasn’t that scared “nothing we can’t handle” Steel Claw shrugged “its immortal, and probably invincible” Caster sat down “and if this keeps going its gonna tear our world apart” DT was the one to speak “so just open another portal for the lion, you did it once” Caster stood back up “this is gonna hurt” they got moving, needing to find an open enough field to set up.

Chapter Text

The massive pink and black lion burst through the portal, and Caster passed out. Mermista was the first to speak “so, Caster is out cold” Adora was the one to point out the obvious “relax, he’ll be fine and we can deal with this, easy” Glimmer took care of getting Caster as far away as she could “sit tight” . 

Steel Claw and Scorpia were able to hold the lion down while the others just kept bashing it, then She-Ra decapitated the beast “see, easy” they heard the Lion roar, and Steel Claw was prepared “yep, saw that coming” Perfuma was angry “so its immortal” Steel looked away “I was hoping that was a part of purgatory, guess not” . Seahawk was the first to propose a plan “lets light him on fire” Shark wasn’t happy “father, why is fire your first response to everything, more importantly how are we supposed to light that on fire” Seahawk drew his sword “I, I don’t rightly know yet” . Finn was about to lose it "You're She-ra, and your getting beat by a damn big cat” Adora got flung up into the air by a swipe from the lion "I've never had to fight an immortal, plus cats are my weakness” Bow managed to pin one arm down “maybe someone should go wake up Caster” Hordak just kept blasting the lion to keep it off balance “can we not bother my unconscious son” Steel Claw got stepped on repeatedly by the lion “not like he knows what's going on any more than we do” . Eventually Glimmer gave up “Glint, go wake Hordak Junior up” .

Caster just wouldn't wake up, no matter how hard Glint tried “come on man, we could really use that arcane knowledge of yours right now” eventually Glint started slapping Caster, which also didn't work “oh please work. Hey Caster’s crystals, don't suppose you could wake him up for me” Glint saw Caster shake like a bolt of electricity went through him, and he woke up “ouch” Glint was ecstatic and hugged him “oh thank god that worked” . Glint pulled away “so, how do we stop that lion” Caster just looked around “no clue, I have 1 plan but it’s so dangerous I don’t want to do it”

Catra dodges a claw smash “can’t we lock it away somewhere” Finn jumped next to her “this lion broke through the barrier between reality, you really think we can make a cage that could hold this, much less while fighting it” Caster popped up from a portal “were going with plan O, keep it busy” Caster disappeared to set up while Glint explained “O stands for Omnicide, since that's what’ll happen if this goes badly” . 

Caster finished getting every Runestone set up floating in a circle “hope this goes well” Caster wanted to sever the princesses connections, but failed. Caster appeared amongst them “you see that circle of runestones, get the lion inside and keep it there” .

Chapter Text

They managed to force it into the circle, and through She-ra, Hordak, Scorpia and Steel Claw holding it down they kept it there, and Adora wasn’t happy “why couldn’t he have made the circle larger” Scorpia tried to keep them calm “im sure he would've if he could” . Everyone heard Caster scream “get clear” everyone jumped for their lives as a hole in reality opened in the center of the Runestones and dragged everyone in anyway, Glint was so confused “whats happening” . 

3 ladies sat playing cards when they felt everything shake, and saw a hole open in the sky and people fall out of it, and Shadow Weaver gestured towards Angella “looks like Hordak Junior came back to save you” Hope pulled out a spyglass and looked “nope, their fighting some giant pink and black lion” finally Angela picked herself up off the floor “we should start making our way there, im sure there be done fighting by the time we get there” . 

Glimmer managed to stand up “I fear like I could blow up a mountain” Caster also managed to stand up “everyone, welcome to the wellspring of all magic, from She-ra and the Runestones to every small ember spell ever cast, most of you can’t truly feel it but the power coursing through a mages blood while their here is exhilarating” . Casters 5 crystals started spinning around him as he prepared “everyone sit back and let me handle this, enjoy the show” . 

The lion jumped at Caster, who promptly launched it into the air, he didn't even need to really focus on casting spells “I feel like I could fight a God” . The lion finally hit the ground and Caster was floating around avoiding all of the attacks while blasting every kind of magic he could at it, just shredding the lion apart as it reformed almost as fast as he could blast it. Caster opened a portal as the lion fell through “lets see you survive this” .

The trio caught up with the others just in time to see a massive blast of light crash into the horizon, and Shadow Weaver just couldn't help herself “I think he just dropped an actual star on something” Hordak looked at her “hello Shadow Weaver, long time no see” . Glimer saw her mom, and immediately hugged her “I missed you so much” Angela just hugged her daughter “so im assuming she's my granddaughter” they continued to talk amongst themselves. Adora kept staring at Hope “Light Hope?” Hope laughed “nope, just Hope, but I see you met the AI we made, my associate handled most of it I just supplied my face and voice” . 

Caster popped back up “and that why im the king of magic” everyone just sighed, then a pedestal rose from the ground with a crown on it “see, even the source of all magic knows im the king” Caster put the crown on and celebrated, then a serpent made of shadows jumped from the pedestal into Caster, he immediately hit the ground and started seizing while the others ran to try to catch him. The crystals ejected from Caster’s body right before he got up, and then he tried to grab them before blasting them and they disappeared through a portal “strange, but oh well” everyone knew something was up and Finn spoke “Caster, you “ he cut them off “no, not Caster, call me Demiurge, sorry about destroying your friends soul but this body was a little crowded” everyone was shocked, especially Hordak “what, what did you just say” Demiurge used magic to change his eyes to pitch black “I said that I destroyed the soul of the person who previously inhabited this body, I take it you really didn't like that answer, I'm sad to say he did suffer” . Double Trouble was the one to ask the question “so what was with the crystals?” they locked eyes and DT felt true horror “they protected the fragments of his soul, took them somewhere else, somewhen else, but that doesn't matter, you're all be dead” .

Chapter Text

Demi got tired of the stalemate that was him trying to blast them and them avoiding dying “ok, try surviving this” Demi opened a portal and brought their Runestones here, and started trying to crush them with said Runestones. Finn managed to get in close, but Demi avoided the slashes and stabs “wasn’t sure id be able to move like that, thanks for the encouragement” Finn managed to stab Demi through the neck while he was talking, then dropped their sword from the shock while he healed “oh, so that's how he does that, neat” . Finn was doing everything to get close while Demi kept jumping back and blasting raw magical energy at them “you are incredibly annoying, why won’t you just die, you can’t win I’ll just heal from everything you do anyway” . Glint popped in and saved Finn from a whole field of lasers “so, do we have a plan” . The pink lion appeared and took all of Demi’s attention, which allowed them to gain some space and think “welp, not a plan but close enough” .

Shadow Weaver looked at them, then decided to speak “I have a plan, of sorts at least” Catra looked about ready to shank her “well, spit it out” . “The crystals housing parts of Caster’s soul went through time, simply go and get them, now that he won't be blindsided im sure my protege will easily be able to win” a number of people fought over who got to speak, with Finn coming out on top “first, don’t call him your protege, second how are we supposed to time travel” Shadow Weaver looked frustrated “were in the source of all magic, more power than anyone on Etheria or any other planet has ever had, someone just needs to cast the spell” . Casting the spell was easier said than done as it turned out, because SW refused to cast it herself, and Glimmer was having some trouble managing to cast it. Finn grabbed Shadow Weaver by the collar “you do it, and please hurry” just one problem, SW either couldn’t or wouldn’t cast the spell, and Angela knew why “what happened to you isn't gonna happen again just because you use magic, your not suddenly gonna start starving for magical energy again, now please cast the spell before he finds a way to defeat that damn lion” . Shadow Weaver ripped open a portal “ok, who's going and who's staying” . 

Amelia and Entrapta went through first, while Hordak senior decided to stay. Double Trouble went through, while Finn threw Petunia through. Steel Claw pushed Scorpia and Perfuma through as well “safer wherever you wind up” . Angela whispered to Bow, and Bow and Glimmer went in. Finn went in while Catra followed them. Glint was about to go through when she remembered something, and decided against it “so, we keep him busy” .

Chapter Text

Bow and Glimmer found themselves together, and on the floor “honey, where are we” Glimmer got up “so I could make the and when joke, but im not” after walking a bit they realized they were in Mystacor “so no Light Spinner in the hall of sorcerers, so before all that” Bow looked around “I wonder when we are, oh right doesn't matter, find Hordak Juniors crystal and hope it can get us back” . Thankfully it was night, so sneaking around was easy, and they found Caster, or at least a version of him in the library “hey, and I thought I was the only one awake at this hour, please tell me one of your children isn't one of my students, at least i assume your the parents of a student, I certainly haven't seen you around before” . Caster went back to reading while Bow and Glimmer walked into a corner “so, what do we do Bow” Bow looked at Caster “I don’t know, I thought we’d be retrieving some crystal, not talking to Caster who doesn't remember us” . 

Bow walked up and sat across from Caster ‘so, what you reading” he put down the massive tome “healing magic, as well as healing phenomena, I took a nasty injury and don't quite know how I survived” Bow pressed this advantage “what kind of injury” Caster looked at him “I blew myself up, was trying to control raw magical energy and it didn't go well, also might've killed some of my fellow professors” . Glimmer had an idea, an insane and violent idea, she found a closet and took a mop and was able to break it “hope this works” . Glimmer motioned for Bow to keep him distracted, then stabbed him in the neck, and was surprised when no blood flowed and the body disappeared as a crystal hit the ground, before the body reformed “what the HELL, you tried to murder me” she just pointed at the bloodless makeshift spear “explain, before I yell for help” Bow tried to stammer out but Glimmer cut him off “your an idiot, got your soul torn apart and launched through time and space, and now we need to help put your soul back together so you can stop some wannabe god” Caster reached out and opened a portal and saw the danger “guessing that's the guy” Bow peered into the portal “yep” Caster stepped through “I think we should go help them” so they did go to help their friends fight.

Chapter Text

Scorpia and Perfuma fell into some closet in a stone building “so, Caster’s crystal should be somewhere nearby” Perfuma tried to find a door “probably” . They both heard the sounds of a quick fight, and opened the door only to find a stranger in a mask carrying a sword “another Scorpioni, a traitor to the king” Scorpia raised her hands ‘wait, were not your enemies, so what are you doing” the stranger looked around before sheathing his blade “Im Junior, and im on a mission to save king Steel Claw’s baby sister from a madman named Hordak, and avenge the king’s murder, go the way I came it should be safe” with that he ran away to try to finish his mission. Perfuma started walking the opposite way “welp, time to go find Caster’s crystal and get out of here” Scorpia followed “think he’ll succeed in his mission” Perfuma finally stepped out of the building “you grew up in the horde” Perfuma couldn't finish the rest, and Scorpia grabbed her and dashed into an abandoned building to wait “so we wait until things calm down, then hope to find what we're looking for” . 

They were woken up by some guards kicking down the building “come, an execution is being performed and everyone must attend, hurry” . They got up and gathered with a crowd, and Perfuma was surprised “Isn’t that the guy we saw” Scorpia was incredibly shocked “he’s from the painting, I knew I recognized him” . The figure was kneeling and chained with his hands behind his back, and unmasked revealing a face that was unmistakably Caster’s “Hordak, you betrayed the king, he gave you a home, invited you into his and you shot him in the back” Junior broke free and took the blade from his executioner and cut him in half at the waist before going for the others, he was able to cleave 2 more people in  half before they stabbed him to death, and he puffed into a crystal opalite and one of the guards screamed “he escaped, find him” the man threw the crystal off the stage, and Perfuma used some roots to grab it “well, that was easy” . Scorpia had a thought as they went back to the abandoned building “how do we get back” Perfuma laid the crystal on the ground “we wait, and figure out how to convince him” . 

It was the middle of the night when he reformed, and was trying to escape quietly when a plant grabbed him “Fuck, let me out. I need to go and find Steel Claw, I'm immortal, with this revelation I could survive any battle, win any mission” Perfuma didn’t let him go “hes dead, him and his followers charged after your execution, they were all cut down” after a second he kept struggling “Steel Claw and the rest of the army is with her, she stayed behind and continued the siege on Plumeria, if I can make it back we can mount a counter attack, route the traitors, avenge Steel Claw and rescue princess Scorpia” . Perfuma asked a question she shouldn't have “why were you sieging Plumeria?” . Junior was angry as he spoke “they murdered the queens, there the reason Steel Claw’s father had to return to being king as he went out to avenge them, I still remember the screaming from the king about how he should've stayed and not started a war” . There were tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke the last part.

“So I'm a part of someone else's soul, housed in a magic crystal, launched through time and space” . Perfuma was surprised at how well he was taking this, while Scorpia was looking out a window “one problem, I don't know magic so I can’t send you back” , Scorpia turned around "aren't you literally a magic crystal” Junior looked around a bit “ok, time to try” .

Chapter Text

Amelia was dropped into some random bathroom, and caught her mother “so, find a crystal and get back, mother please try not to get lost” Entrapta was already opening the door “time to get looking Amelia dear” they walked out only to find a number of guns pointing at them and a man who looked like Caster staring them down “so, what you doing here, let me guess some of Dave’s cronies sent to spy on us, search them for listening devices” 2 ladies walked closer and searched the completely stunned strangers and found nothing “there clean, King” . King paced for a bit “so, why are you here then” it was Entrapta who managed to save them “to help you” King laughed “you want to help us stop Dave from turning Etheria into a weapon, why” Entrapta kept staring into his eyes “my son” King kept searching her eyes “I know my sympathies mean nothing to you but you have them all the same, but I have no interest in getting a grieving mother killed fighting a mad man, go home” Entrapta had to convince him, and figured out how “we can help, we know weapons” that got his attention “ok, worse case scenario we just kill you” he laughed as they walked.

Entrapta was running around the table reading every detail she could, she was reading the actual blueprints to turning Etheria into a weapon, the margins were filled in with notes from this Dave person, all of his fear about everything and some mentions to an ongoing war. Amelia looked at the schematics while King spoke aloud to her “so is she always like that” Amelia paused reading “yeah, im sorry” King leaned against a wall and pulled out a small book and started writing “its ok, it feels strangely homey for some reason” . He chuckled and went back to writing. 

They moved quick, mostly because they had to, Dave had nearly finished his project, but some things needed to be dealt with “you all need to deal with stopping Dave, I need to keep She-ra busy so she can’t get in our way” Amelia spoke up next “and how are you going to do that” King just laughed “explosives, a few hostages and mind games, I've fought She-ra repeatedly and always survived, now I just have to buy time” . 

Entrapta and Amelia were with 5 people, 3 men and 2 ladies all of whom seemed very comfortable with guns and killing, Amelia just had to open her mouth “so, soldiers im guessing” one of the men spoke while they were running through a hallway “not all of us, just me and jane here, we trained the others, you sure you can stop this without destroying the planet” . Entrapta nodded as they opened a door and came face to face with Dave “fuck, I knew when those bombs went off something was up, you dont understand, this is necessary to crush our enemies” . The same man decided to answer “you're just a coward, who doesn't care how many worlds he has to destroy to finally feel safe” . Entrapta whispered to Amelia “trust me” Entrapta got to work, then 10 minutes later She-ra burst down the door followed by King, who immediately shot Dave in the stomach “so was their a reason you decided not to shoot him earlier” King never got that answer, Entrapta motioned King over, and once he got close enough she hit a button and the three of them were dragged through a portal to the magic dimension.

Chapter Text

Double Trouble and Petunia were running in the rain “I think he went in here” Double Trouble followed her inside the Inn and spoke to the manager “hello deary. You seen a man about yay high” the man stared at them before deciding he just didn’t care “up stairs. Third door” Double Trouble was picking the lock while Petunia just stood there “quite staring, it's been awhile since i've needed to pick a lock”. They finally made it through, only to see a nose hanging and a crystal on the floor “thats dark, so how do we get back” the crystal formed a man, who immediately started examining the rope "didn't snap, so how’d I get on the floor, I swear if this is a sign it’s a bad one” Double Trouble couldn't help but interject “come on, a confounding mystery to keep you alive and distracted” he turned around “names Scion, please get out of my room”DT didn’t have time for this “look, your a magic crystal, we need you to open a portal so we can stop a wannabe God” he had the look of someone who was just too tired for this shit “and why should I help” Petunia stepped in “you might die, look is hanging yourself getting you anywhere” he stared at the nose for a bit “ok, lets go” he managed to open a portal that all three of them got dragged into.

Finn and Catra were having trouble breathing “mom, just how high are we?” Catra needed a minute before she could speak “no clue, but below us are clouds so id say very high”. Their conversation was cut off by a man under a tree “hello, im Spawn” Finn got themselves up “were looking for” he raised a hand to silence them “a fragment of your friends soul, thats what your looking for, and to answer your question the fragment fused with the crystal and created me and my fellows, and to answer where we are, a planet that doesn't exist yet” he handed Finn a seed “when Caster takes you here, climb this mountain and plant that seed please, you’re know where when you see it” he opened a portal and went through.

Chapter Text

Demi fell forward as the crystals surrounded him and started spinning. The same black snake-like thing that launched into Caster’s body was launched out and flew into the sky while Caster got his body back. Caster turned toward the group “thanks for saving me, and sorry for the problems i've caused” before anyone else could speak the crystal star exploded and a body fell to the ground “huh, so that did work” Demi picked himself up “round 2?” Caster walked up to him “here” he put his hands on Demi’s head, and he screamed in pain “so, was it worth it Dave” Dave picked himself up “no, no it wasn’t” the two started at each other for a minute, then Caster spoke “got a preferred weapon” Dave materialized a cane sword “no, I can do it myself”. 

Caster made the first strike, but Dave deflected it and went in for a punch, which Caster meet with a punch of magical energy that disintegrated Dave’s arm, only for him to get impaled by dozens of spikes, including one through his face and two through his neck “good fight” the spikes retreated as Caster stayed standing “not over yet”. The hope left Dave’s eyes as he realized he couldn’t win “you gave up your arm for that attack, risky move, need me to regrow that” Dave regrew the arm himself as the two readied their weapons for another attack. Dave went for a stab while Caster dodged back and slashed his hand, disarming him and firing a beam through his chest, only for Dave to launch himself forward and punch Caster in the face one last time before he died “you escaped your fear, enjoy your peace” Caster took the body and made it disappear. Finn stared at him “did you just make a planet with his corpse” Caster chuckled “he did tell you about that, lets go home shall we” Caster opened a portal “wait, still have a few things to do” Caster snapped his fingers “ok, the formerly dead can now come back to life, also I de-aged your husband Angella, just seemed fair” everyone else was too stunned to give a response.