Chapter Text
The artillery across Avalor continued to boom loudly, as did the beam cannons on the S.S. Moonboon, with Kitty at the helm. The steam-powered sky vehicles of a huge armada, the GSA, numbering at least 100 ships in all, were more advanced than anything in this magical land. Making matters worse, the land-based cannons could not reach them with their projectiles. Even so, the beam cannons, coupled with Zary's electric shock arrows, swirling forward rapidly, were able to down a few sky vessels. A zeppelin flagship, headed by the Arch-Druidess, led the GSA forward. Beyond anything in Steamland's history, this fleet was the steam-powered city's biggest undertaking. However, to make it a reality, most of these crafts were built quickly. Many angry workers, under guidance from revolutionaries in the sewers, engaged in sabotage. They often built in features which would cause a craft to explode if it reached a specific speed or temperature. None of those aboard the crafts were aware of this. None at all.
Elena looked at the approaching enemy in fear. She remained confident thanks to support from her new friends like Adora, Catra, Zarya, and Kitty, her sister Isa, the Royal Guard, and her wife Naomi. The sailors from Norberg, forces from the Avaloran countryside, Enchania, Paraíso, and Cariza, constituting EPCA UF, were also a tremendous help. She remained concerned that they were vastly outnumbered, due to the number of enemy vessels. Only a miracle of science, engineering, or even magic, could save them. At least, that's what Elena thought. Unlike in the past, when her emotions caused her to bring dreams and objects to life, this time, she tried to stay calm despite the impending danger.
The enemy’s steam-powered ships finally came into range. The pilot of the GSA's flagship shouted down to the Arch-Druidess. "Ma'am, we are encountering heavy flak. How do you wish to proceed?"
Scratching her chin, she pondered their next steps. She remembered something she read once. She had an idea to catch Elena and her friends off guard, creating a distraction.
"Order a squadron of the steamer bombers to peel off and attack the city, then…the royal palace of that tyrant," she hollered back. "The rest of the fleet will move forward as planned."
The pilot understood completely. He communicated the instructions, via radio, to the others steering their vessels. The main fleet fired their steam dispensers, creating a steam screen in front of them. This lasted about 30 seconds, allowing the bombers to slip into the clouds above Avalor City undetected. Those in the city, and its protectors, were not prepared for the devastation to follow.
Zarya, Kitty, and the cannoneers had a tough task ahead of them. They remained the first line of defense for the city. If they failed, the enemy could overrun the city, with their machines causing the soldiers inside the city to surrender without much of a fight. The cannoneers were a little terrified of the enemy. Even so, they kept their cool, continuing to load the gunpowder, then cannonballs, one at a time, down the bore with a ramrod.
Kitty looked at Zarya with concern. "Z-Star, how long do you think we can keep this up?"
Zarya shook her head. She had never expected the enemy fleet to be this large.
"I don't know. I hope we have some sort of miracle,” she began. “Because there are so many more of them than us!"
Zarya scoffed. She couldn't believe her girlfriend had become such a pessimist.
"Come on, Zar," she said, using another of her nicknames, "you fought that whole army led by Dreadbane, the forces of Necrafa, and even my sister, Tazma."
She rolled her eyes. "These planes are nothing." Zarya realized her girlfriend was right. She had been overestimating the enemy's strength.
She sighed. "Thanks for setting me right, Kitty."
She blew a kiss to her girlfriend. "This one’s for you!"
Kitty opened her hand and closed it. She snickered. "Aw, you…cute little pirate."
Meanwhile, inside Avalor City, the sound of propellers from the steam bombers seemed to be coming from everywhere. Elena could not use her powers of farsight, which allowed her to see where those on her mind were. She couldn't use "blaze," a power allowing her to blast something for an extended period, either as the crafts were not visible. She grumbled in annoyance. Her friends, and allies, within the city remained on guard. Not even the Science Academy, outside Avalor City, with its huge telescope, could see the incoming enemy. They all waited in anticipation.
The cobblestone streets of the city were often bustling with activity. This time they were not. All the residents were in underground bunkers. Shoe stores, restaurants, bakeries, the club known as Meow’s Delight, and even the Trading Guild, formerly owned by Dona Paloma, were shuttered. The same was the case for dwellings which occupied most of the city. The port, filled with ships, coming and going from Avalor's trading partners or going on expeditions to explore the Ever Realm, remained quiet. A cool breeze blew through avenues and thoroughfares, patrolled by the Paraíso Mounted Brigade, and a unit led by Rico Villalobos of Avaloran countryfolk. Elena hoped they could protect the city against any ground assault by the enemy. She realized this was foolhardy since the enemy had an air armada but no ground forces.
Beige stucco houses with wooden shingles, adorned window displays of purplish flowers or hanging baskets, lined the streets. Blooming trees stood next to each of the homes. While someone walking on the city's unimproved, and dirt, streets might have said that the houses were plain, each house was a piece of Avalor. There were family mementos, memorials to those who had passed on, and proper rooming arrangements. For years, Naomi spearheaded a city beautification campaign, encouraging residents to keep their houses clean, tidy, and attractive to onlookers. She always politely asked to enter homes and did not come in unless invited. Her efforts had been a resounding success. That morning, as the enemy approached the city, the homes glistened in the sunlight, a byproduct of her efforts. This beauty did not last. The enemy fleet readied itself for devastation, no matter the cost to the city, the residents, and the royal family.
Suddenly, the steam bombers came into view. Unfortunately, the cannons around the city were facing the opposite direction, away from the city, and outward into Avalor Bay. Turning them around would be impossible without significant effort, and it could leave the city in even more danger. Even worse, very few of those on the ground were archers, or even had bows or arrows, so they couldn't shoot down, or damage, the flying mechanical menaces. Their bomb bay doors opened and canisters, with an elevated level of kinetic energy, fell to the ground with incredible swiftness. These cans were simply accumulators with hydraulic pumps. When colliding with a person, a building, or another structure, massive destruction followed. The water inside these canisters was superheated. When pressure inside these falling cylinders reached a critical level, they blew up. In the resulting detonation, hot water, steam, expanding bubbles of steam, and a spray of droplets, headed in all directions, scalding, or burning anyone in its path. It could even vaporize buildings if the pressure was strong enough.
Elena could only watch as these steam-powered bombs boomed in the distance. At first, she only saw steam coming from the city's downtown, then plumes of smoke. She knew what that meant: fire. This confirmed her worst fears. She realized that the nightmare, the one she had all those weeks ago, about Steamland attacking Avalor City, was coming true! Not wanting to weaken the city’s fortifications from the approaching enemy fleet, she decided to handle the problem herself. Adora held her sleeve, trying to hold her back.
She pleaded for her to reconsider. "Elena, you can't do this alone. We are a team, remember?"
She realized her blond-haired friend was right. She remembered the time she tried to confront Shuriki herself in the royal palace after being released from the amulet. She failed miserably. When she came back with friends, she was successful. Shuriki eventually fell off a cliff in defeat. While the evil witch later returned, trying to wreak havoc on Avalor once again, she realized, that day, the importance of friends and allies. Not everything can be done by yourself.
"You are right Adora," she remarked. She put her hand on her friend's shoulder and patted her on the back. A smile came across her face. Adora knew what that meant. Before she could say a word, Catra butted in.
"Enough with the cute bonding, lets cream these steamy jerkwads."
Elena and Adora nodded. Right after that Adora teased her girlfriend about calling her bonding with Elena "cute." Her face became a little reddish and warm. She said, clearly embarrassed by Adora’s teasing, "shut up!" They both giggled and walked toward the city’s center. Elena told them she had something "important to do," and would be joining them later. They accepted her reasoning and kept walking to the docks.
Elena walked over to Isa, whispering to her about having to move the cannons to cover their absence from the frontline. Understanding what her sister wanted, she listened and complied. She loved the city as much as anyone else. If it fell into enemy hands, she'd blame herself. She and her sister were glad to see that the enemy can completely avoided attacking the hydro-gondolas, coaches with latched doors, one of Isa's star inventions. If another wave of bombers had hit the city, after the ones which set the city afire, these gondolas could have suffered high damage. For instance, steel wire ropes strung between supporting towers, and stations, driven by bullwheels, allowing the gondolas to across the city, might have been snapped. Bombs would have destroyed the engines, powered by the Avaloran waterfalls, tied to the ropes, allowing the gondolas to move with ease, or even the control panels. If that had happened, there'd be silence. No mechanical sounds of rattling machinery, and workings, lurching when they left the ground. The joy some got from sitting on top of the gondolas, or the dramatic views of the city from inside, would disappear if the bombs had caused damage.
Elena caught up with Adora and Catra, who were attempting to climb a stucco house and put out the blaze. She shook her head at her friends, who had managed to get to the top of a house, even as they struggled to put out the flames. Taking her scepter out of its holster, she pointed it at hanging plants on one of the windows of the stucco house and bellowed: "BLOOM!"
Unfortunately, this did little to stop the flames, as the flowers shriveled up with the extreme heat. Catra scampered down from the roof in fear after the flames singed some of her fur. From the ground, she growled in frustration. Adora followed not long after, protecting her girlfriend from any danger that might befall them. Elena had a different reaction. She stood dumbfounded. While her scepter had amplified powers that cause something to glow, light on fire, reveal a hidden passage, envision something, illuminate a cave, cause one to be invisible, show a truth, or fire a blast of energy, none of these could extinguish the blaze.
While she could have used the "seal it" power to turn the flames into crystal, like she had with the Chispa, she didn't remember the name of the spell. It had been so long since she had used the power. Standing and watching the city burn in front of her eyes, with nothing to do, made her feel hopeless. This feeling soon faded away, however. She put her scepter back on her belt and fumbled in her pocket. She found a conch shell and held in her hand. She blew on it. While the sound that came out was loud, with a tone only audible to one species in the Ever Realm: the Sirenas. With Marisa now the queen of these merpeople after the passing of her mother and father, she expected imminent help, especially since Marisa had always been sweet on her. She had become, in some ways, Elena’s second girlfriend, after Naomi.
With the problem "solved," Elena motioned to Catra and Adora. She pointed up at the steam-powered bombers. Without saying a word, she aimed her scepter in the direction of these metal beasts. Somehow Adora understood and did the same. Both shot their magical weapons into the sky. Elena yelled "BLAZE!" while Adora pointed her sword upward.
With almost pinpoint accuracy, the bombers were torn to shreds, one after another. Catra, annoyed, stood, beside Adora, not knowing what to do because she did not have a magical weapon. Seeing her dismayed girlfriend, Adora came up with an idea. She asked Catra to help her aim the sword and hit the targets. She agreed and they had a grand-old time, together.
One bomber remained, en route to the royal palace. Elena spotted the enemy ship. She knew that if the bomber dropped its payload on the palace, it would obliterate her home. The royal guard would be so demoralized that they'd stop fighting and flee, even if some of her friends, like Gabe, stood and fought to the end. She planted one foot on the ground and raised her arm to the sky. "BLAZE!" she shrieked.
Although the ship was far away, she maintained the energy flow. The boost from the Crystal Well of Takaina all those years ago has supercharged the scepter and in her powers. Her blast easily reached it.
The cannisters aboard ignited and the ship shattered into a thousand pieces, plummeting to the nearby waters. Scattered parts from the ships littered the city. She walked to the frontlines with Adora and Catra, so they could all fight off incoming airships, which almost reached the docks, making their way across the bay. Zarya and Kitty had been moderately successful in wiping out the fleet. Half of the skyships remained, even with the constant bombardment from cannons controlled by Isa and cannoneers. Catra, Elena, and Adora couldn't get there soon enough. Using her magic sword, Adora aimed at the underside of steam planes, weakened by Steamlandian workers to rupture on impact from an intense burst of energy. Even though the fleet was falling apart, the Arch-Druidess demanded they continue forward and double their pace.
This did not happen. Their ships halted, instead of accelerating, with a loud screech, and began to burn. Elena sensed an opportunity.
"Destroy those ships! Hit them one by one!" she shouted.
As such, the cannons began to open fire, she used her scepter to blast some of them, as did Adora with her sword. Each ship fell into the ocean. Terrified, the Arch-Druidess dictated a command to her fellow soldiers: "Full retreat!" Her ever-loyal soldiers tried to do so but could not. The reverse controls had been jammed and their ships went up in flames, falling into the water. Soon, only the flagship remained.
Elena realized that the Arch-Druidess could escape and come back with a new army. Half-way to the S.S. Moonboon, she roared. "Follow that ship! We can't let it get away!"
Zarya and Kitty heard her loud and clear. Before they left, Zarya wanted to say something. She cleared her throat and then began speaking.
"It was an honor to serve alongside you, Ms. Elena Castillo Flores! And we wish you, your wife, and all Avalor, the best."
Kitty bowed her head. As a sign of gratitude, Elena went down on one knee and bowed.
"I am forever grateful for your service to Avalor. We will always be in your debt."
The soldiers across the city, Naomi, and Isa, and others, took off their hats in reverence.
Elena soon picked herself up and shouted, "good luck out there, you two!"
Zarya and Kitty nodded.
"Thank you for everything, Elena," Zarya remarked.
"We will always remember you, Elena, and Avalor."
As she waved goodbye, a tear streaked down her cheek.
"You are always welcome here. Come back anytime!"
"We will!" shouted Zarya and Kitty in unison.
Frontward cannons of the S.S. Moonboon began firing, following the flagship of the Arch-Druidess in close pursuit. On board, the Arch-Druidess sneered.
"Those rascals wrecked our damn fleet. They haven’t seen the last of us!"
The pilot expressed his doubts. "Ma'am, Mr. Gunderson will not be pleased to see our lack of progress."
He added a personal note. "I fear for your safety, ma'am. I recommend we do not return to Steamland…at least not now."
She pondered this idea. While it made sense, she worried about the fleet's next destination.
In the meantime, the zeppelin was smoking. Booms rocked the zeppelin. The Arch-Druidess snarled. "Make for the other dimension!"
The pilot agreed even though parts of the ship began to crumble due to blasts caused by S.S. Moonboon's beam cannons. Zarya put her arm around Kitty and stood beside her.
"We will get this woman and defeat her, if it’s the last thing we do!" she declared.
Kitty hugged her girlfriend back and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Z-Star, I’ll go with you anywhere and do anything…I promise you…we can defeat this woman…together."
Both women embraced each other as they watched their cannons bombard the enemy vessel. The S.S. Moonboon moved forward on autopilot into the great beyond and across the galaxy.