#mantisaur

She ducked to avoid a lateral slice that grazed her hair and then sprang up with her ponytails to land on the creature’s back. She rode and wrangled it, hanging on with every limb for dear life. When it swung one leg towards her she grabbed and wrestled with the claw, before plunging the sharpened knife through its neck. Mantisaur gurgled like a dying engine and fell forward into the dirt. Its head rolled away from the crumpled carcass, the neon light in its eyes dimming into darkness.

Entrapta breathed heavily. She realized how tightly she was still gripping the mechanical insect’s body and slowly stood up to take a shaking few steps. Oil leaked onto the ground like blood. She paused when her foot struck the sparking head and turned to look. She considered the frightening face from more than one angle.

Its visage was beaked and armored, only a little bigger than a human head. Two bulbous, glassy eyes protruded from the front. A crack ran through one of the lenses, but otherwise it remained in remarkable condition. Ponderously, her muddied hair curled up to reach for her improvised tools. She needed a new welding mask.

Waste not, want not.

—

Entrapta’s nimble fingers danced on numbers, coaxing secrets out of ancient underground computers. The deeper she went into the island the more she found. In one day she learned as much as she had in her entire career researching First Ones tech. She saw the lines and wires that ran through Etheria, connecting it all. She came to understand what the old invaders had planned for this world.

The titanic machine had been eating the planet’s children and stealing thunder from its magical heart for millennia. Entrapta felt her heavy torso heave and hurl at the thought of what a weapon like that could do. Her eyes welled with tears. So much data, destroyed in an instant. It was too much to comprehend. She felt numb.

“Fascinating,” she said.

Despite the horror, curiosity continued to draw her in. It was as if her mind was drifting away from her body. She lost herself in information.

There was nothing else she needed.

—

Panicked feet flickered like fire over the tangled ground. Even in this toxic place there were still living animals, and the savage danger only made their hearts and legs pound faster.

A predator with dozens of purple tendrils pursued them. It had almost grasped the weakest and slowest of the herd when the whole wild hunt crashed through the trees into a clearing and landed on top of a burning campfire.

The animals scattered. Entrapta fell back and scrambled away from the flames, her boots smoking. Startled and wide-eyed, a short, bearded man in ragged clothes stared at her from across the clearing. A smoky spire rose between them.

The man screamed first. “Get back, creature!” he yelped, brandishing a staff that crackled with magical energy.

“Wait!” Entrapta tried to say, but she was drowned out by the blast of an aggressive enchantment.

“Don’t come near me!” the man bellowed. “You’re just one of the island’s tricks! Get back!”

Entrapta didn’t try to stay and argue. She turned and retreated into the depths of the island, loping on long legs of hair. After a few minutes of running she paused, panting, at the edge of a stagnant pond.

Looking into the reflective water, Entrapta suddenly realized why the stranger had reacted so fearfully. Staring back at her was a many-limbed monster with an insectoid face, covered in grime and filth. She barked out a haggard laugh.

“Beast Island log, day, um.” Entrapta said aloud when she had caught her breath. “It appears I’m not the only person here! Unfortunately, it would also seem that I have neglected my personal appearance to the point where other humans perceive me as a hideous monster. Perhaps I could, um.”

She trailed off. Her mind felt foggy and it was suddenly hard to see. The planet will burn if you don’t warn someone, a somber thought said. And why should I care if it does? growled another.

She tried to press through. “Perhaps it would be better if I…”

If you what? her thoughts snapped. Made yourself more palatable? Ignored their ignorance? Suffered patiently? Like you did with the princesses?

Like you did with Hordak?

That was it. She balled her hands into fists and yelled as loud as she could in rage and frustration.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut the fuck up!”

It was hard to breathe. Everything seemed so far away. Entrapta shut her eyes and screamed until she couldn’t hear herself think anymore.