Disclaimer: I do not own She-Ra or its related characters. All is the property of Noelle Stevenson, Dream Works Animation, Netflix, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Filmation, Larry DiTillo, and J. Michael Straczynski.

Genetic Composite

Chapter Twenty-Three: When You Wake Up

Rising to consciousness slowly. Acutely aware of body pain. Eyes opening slowly. Groaning. Catra pushed herself up into a sitting position.

Or rather, she would have pushed herself up into a sitting position if she weren't tied up and restrained.

"What the hell!?" Catra exclaimed.

She looked down at herself. Arms and legs bound together with what looked like First Ones tech. Like the cuffs the Horde used on prisoners, but far more advanced. Catra wasn't sure she could figure out how to gimmick her way out of them. But it wasn't just her wrists and ankles, strong cables were also wrapped around her arms and knees so that her range of motion was even further restricted. Whoever had tied her up wasn't taking any chances. Catra flopped for a moment. Rather like a fish out of water.

"What is this!?" She demanded of what appeared to be an empty room of the First Ones ship.

The last thing she remembered was her fight with Hordak. But… she'd won that fight. She left Hordak for dead and walked away.

No… that wasn't the last thing she remembered. After leaving Hordak to bleed out, she went outside and… Adora was there. Adora was always there. Of course she was there. Why wouldn't she be there? But Adora wasn't alone… Entrpata was with her… Entrapta whom Catra was sure she sent to Beast Island. Entrapta couldn't be here. In the Crimson Waste. That had to be some sort of hallucination. Shock from her fight with Hordak.

Except… if Entrapta really was on Beast Island, and was not here in the Crimson Waste, how had python squeezed her until she passed out?

How did Catra end up in her current circumstances?

The door to the room she was in slid open and Scorpia walked in. Scorpia. Catra hadn't seen her in almost a month. Not since the portal exploded and she fled the Fright Zone. Not since… not since Catra tazed Entrapta in the back when turned that very same tazer on Scorpia and threatened that she'd be next if she didn't do as Catra said.

What was Scorpia doing here now?

"Hey… Wild Cat…" She began awkwardly, almost hesitantly. Almost as if Scorpia didn't really know what to say and was just talking for talking's sake. She did that a lot. Just talk. Without actually saying anything. "I'm glad Entrapta didn't kill you. But, ya know what they tell us in basic training, people pass out before they die. Glad you're awake."

"Scorpia! I'm so glad you're here!" Catra plastered a smile on her face, thinking fast. Scorpia always admired her. Scorpia would help her. "Untie me, quick! Let's get out of here before Adora realizes-"

"Oh… this is awkward…" The other woman sucked in a breath. She scratched the back of her head with one large pincer, unsure of what to say. "See… I kinda… helped Bow tie you up. Apparently, the first time he captured you made him a little overly cautious. Wanted to make sure whatever restraints we used couldn't be easily cut through. He wanted to gag your mouth too, but I wanted us to be able to talk. I feel like we need to talk." A pause. "I want to talk."

Catra looked away, avoiding the other woman's eyes. The last time they exchanged words, Catra had a weapon pointed in Scorpia's face and threatened her.

She gave a humorless laugh. "Usually, Adora's the one who tries to make me see the error of my ways."

Scorpia opened her mouth to say something, then quickly closed it again. She pursed her lips and looked away. "I never really liked Adora. Not that I disliked her, per say… I don't dislike many people. But… I was jealous of her. How you only ever seemed to care about her. Whenever she showed up on any of our missions, your attention only focused on her. She left us, left the Horde. Defected. Became an enemy. But you would drop everything and focus all your attention and our resources on her." Scorpia looked off, eyes not really focused on anything. "There was once a time when I wished you would look at me with that level of attention and intensity. I would have cut off my own tail for that…"

"But not now." Catra finished the part of the statement Scorpia left unsaid.

The other woman looked almost heartbroken. "No." She agreed. "Not now."

An uncharacteristic silence lapsed between them. Catra could barely remember a time when she and Scorpia were in the same room together and the scorpion Princess didn't fill the air with her chatter. Now, here they were, Catra tied up and no where to go. At Scorpia's mercy. Scorpia said she wanted to talk.

But she was silent.

"Where's Adora?" Catra finally asked, if for no other reason to break the silence.

"And you're still asking about her…" Scorpia shook her head. "I… I didn't think I should tell you this, but, since you asked… Adora's not gonna come to see you. I mean, she's gonna help Bow gag you and strap you to Swift Wind so they can take you back to Brightmoon. But she's not gonna talk to you. She's- she says she's 'so done' with you. She did not elaborate."

Catra looked down, remembering Adora's eyes, and the look she gave her after they came back from the portal. When Hordak's Sanctum was crumbling and they had to run. Catra hung back to get one last look at Adora, to flash her a trademark smirk and taunt. But when she looked at Adora, she didn't see the face of her best friend. The woman she grew up with. The woman who had always been there all her life. The woman she- -the woman who was always a significant source of feelings in her life.

Instead, all Catra saw was the face of an enemy. Glaring at her with eyes full of –not hatred- but resolve. Cold. Unfeeling. Resolute. Resolve. Adora was done with her. Adora was done caring. Adora was done trying to get her to change and see the error of her ways. Adora was done.

Adora had given up on her…

Clinching her teeth, Catra felt the pressure of tears beading in her eyes and she closed them as if that could keep herself from crying.

Adora was done with her.

"And what about you?" Catra asked, voice cracking just noticeably. "Are you done with me too?"

"I… would like to be." Scorpia finally admitted. "After what you did to Entrapta… after you threatened me the same way…" she bit her lip, unsure of what she wanted to say, exactly… "We could have been happy, ya know! You and me! Just the two of us. Here. In the Crimson Waste. You were Boss. You had a gang. You had power, and influence. Control over your own life. We could have just stayed here! We could have been together and we could have been happy!" That last word was more snarled than spoke. "But you don't want to be happy. Or you don't know how. I donno what it is, but you… you don't make smart decisions, Catra."

The other woman scoffed. Unimpressed. "That's your big revelation. The orphan girl raised to be a child soldier doesn't make smart decisions. Wow. Really deep."

"I was raised as a child soldier too." Scorpia reminded her. "And so was your precious Adora. And so was Lonnie, and Rogelio, and Kyle. But we all make better decisions than you seem to. Lonnie is Commander of the Horde now. She's ruling the Fright Zone, and –from what I saw- she's doing a pretty decent job of it too. Kyle and Rogelio are helping. They're being constructive. I don't like Adora, but she has built and maintained meaningful relationships. She has true friends. But what do you have, Catra? What have you done? Our hard upbringings have made us strong, but what have you done with that strength? You have harmed yourself more than any other person, and you've chased away the people who would otherwise be there to help you."

Catra continued to pout. Unimpressed. "So, what do you expect me to do. Break down and cry. Proclaim that I've seen the error of my ways. Promise to be a better person." She gave a derogatory laugh.

Scorpia just shook her head, looking somber. Regretful. "You're not gonna get to do anything, Wild Cat." She informed the other woman. "Bow and Adora are taking you back to Brightmoon. They're gonna keep you in the new prison they built there until your trial. I don't know what trials are like in Brightmoon, but… if it was the Fright Zone, you would definitely definitely be executed."

"Adora won't let me die." Catra swore. But her voice was hallow. Even she didn't believe Adora would save her. Not this time. Not anymore. Not after the portal. Adora was done with her.

"I don't know what's gonna happen to you." Scorpia told her. "I'm going with Entrapta back to Dryl, but I've told Bow that I wanna speak at your trial. I'll defend you. But, it would help your case if you… made an effort to not be so terrible."

Catra laughed. Cackled, actually. Finding humor in the suggestion. "Oh, okay. I'll just change my whole personality then. That'll save my life."

Pursing her lips, Scorpia decided not to comment that Catra basically just admitted to having a terrible personality. Instead, she looked away. "I'm going to help you, Catra, but I'm also going to abide by whatever decision this trial makes. I can't save you." She stood to exit the room. "We're gonna keep you in here until everyone's ready to leave. Still tied up, of course. Don't want you shocking anyone else in the back. Shout if you need to pee or something. I can help you with that."

She left.

Catra was left alone.

With her thoughts.

…

Entrapta watched the monitors carefully. Heart rate, blood pressure, repertory function, nitrogen levels in the bloodstream, neural function. Everything read normal for a 'mature adult Revenanti beta' –which Entrapta assumed was the alien species Hordak was cloned from.

Imp petered around. Fluttering on his wings, or lurking in the cables in the ceiling. Always keeping his master in his line of sight. Master was alive. But he wasn't awake, and he was still injured. Master couldn't heal on his own. It was part of his defects. Wounds did not close on their own. Tissues did not repair themselves. Skin did not knit back together.

Leaning over the exam table, Imp chittered with concern.

"The machines are doing their job." Entrapta informed him, not looking up from where she was adjusting the flow of a saline drip. "This really is the most advanced medical technology I've ever seen. It must have been amazing when it was still new and fully functional."

Dak also lurked close to the body on the table. Not interfering with the machinery, but still sticking close. Staring at the other Hordak. Examining the pointed ears, high forehead and strong brow ridge, and vertical nasal cavity, thin lips, and square chin. All features Dak themself had. "He looks like me."

"You look like him." Entrapta corrected.

Dak lowered their eyes. Things with Mother were awkward from the first moment, but after she asked them to give some of their blood for the older Hordak… Bow and Scorpia seemed to think it was a much more significant demand than it was. All Mother took was only a few milliliters. They were acting like she was going to…kill them. Dak didn't know what to think.

"This is the Hordak I was made for." They were more reminding themself than speaking to Entrapta. This was the being they were made for. A clone of this Hordak. A spare body. Never meant to gain conscious thought of their own. Never meant to develop an identity. Never meant to be themself. Only a spare for Hordak.

"Yes." Entrapta nodded, she lowered her welding mask over her face, although she was not welding anything at the moment and there was no need for the mask to be down. "And you helped me save him."

For some reason, this did not seem to please the young hybrid. "It's what I was made for."

Imp fluttered over to perch on the clone's head and give a reassuring squawk. Sure, they were made for a purpose. To serve another. But so was the original Hordak, and so was Hode. So were all the clones of Horde Prime. So were just clones in general. But something that Imp had learned through his own experiences with multiple clones, was that they were still their own people. Independent from what they were created for. Hode made his own decisions and forged his own alliances. Hordak built his own Empire and inspired his own singular friendship. Dak could do those things too. They were still young. All they needed was time.

Then the Hordak on the table groaned, and everyone forgot their own thoughts. All focus shifting to the body in the center of the room.

…

Clones rarely dreamed. Hordak had only had a handful of dreams in his lifetime. But it always felt strange waking from a dream, as opposed to waking from a dreamless sleep. A strange kind of disorientation. Not knowing what was reality and what was still the last vestiges of the dream clinging to his psyche.

Hode had been in the dream. And more of that absurd song he performed at their first meeting. Mist and music. A meeting and a parting. Hordak felt like something important happened in the dream, but –now that he was awake- he realized he couldn't remember.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling peered down on him.

An array of machinery that looked similar to the kind in a Horde Imperial med bay, but just different enough to be identified as alien technology, not Imperial technology. It took his sluggish brain a few more moments to realize that this was the Infirmary in the First Ones ship. It was First Ones tech staring down at him. Catra must have changed her mind and decided to save his life after nearly killing him.

A shriek of joy startled Hordak, causing a spike in his heart rate. He tried to turn his head to the familiar sound. If he didn't know any better, the shriek sounded like Imp. But Imp couldn't possibly be here! His neck erupted with pain when he tried to turn his head. He was still wounded from Catra's claws.

"Don't move!" Commanded a voice that sounded like Entrapta's. But that couldn't be right either. Entrapta was on Beast Island. …Or dead. …At least… that's what Catra told him. But, Catra could not be trusted. Sure enough, the tech Princess drifted into his field of vision. Welding mask over her face, but it was definitely her. She was using her magical prehensile hair to lift herself up over the exam table to peer down at him. "The First Ones tech is knitting synthetic skin graphs into you're healthy skin to close the wounds. But this tech is old, so its running slow. Try not to move."

Imp fluttered up and perched in her hair, squawking an agreement at him. Listen to the Princess. She knows what's good for you. Even if you don't.

Hordak just stared up at her. Glowing ruby eyes wide. He tried to reach a hand up to touch her, just to confirm that she was real. But he lowered it before any contact. He was afraid she was a hallucination, or another dream. He just came from meeting his old mentor. Why not see his lost Lab Partner next?

"You are… here." He said instead. It was phrased as a statement, but pitched as a question. Was she really here?

It was impossible to read her expression with her welding mask down. But her voice sounded strained when she replied. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you. I- I got pulled away. Elsewhere…"

'Pulled away elsewhere.' Even to Hordak's still near-death addled brain he heard she was censoring something. 'Pulled away', she was taken from him. Taken against her will. Possibly violently. 'Elsewhere', Beast Island. Perhaps Catra was not lying when she said that. But Lab Partner could not be contained. His Lab Partner was a force of nature. His Lab Partner did what she wanted, and if she wanted to return to him, she would.

She did.

Relaxing on the table, feeling safe in a way he hadn't felt since he confessed his original and his defects to this native Princess and she built him new prosthetics to compensate for those deficiencies, Hordak fell back asleep. Allowing himself to rest while the old First Ones tech did what his own body could not do and mended his open wounds.

Tissues being repaired. What couldn't be mended with his own body's resources was replaced with synthetic tissue. After the tissues were repaired, the muscles, the artery walls, and when that was done, it was covered in a layer of skin, also synthetic. Identical to Hordak's own skin in thickness and texture, but of a different color. He would bear the scars from his encounter with Catra for the rest of his life. More discoloration to add to those caused by his defects.

This time, when Hordak slept, he did not dream.

He awoke again feeling refreshed. Healthy. And powerful.

And rational.

Entrapta and Imp could not possibly have been here. Seeing then must have been the near-death experience equivalent of a fever dream. If Entrapta truly was sent to Beast Island, as Catra said, then she could not be here in the Crimson Wastes. In fact, she was probably already dead. If Entrpata hadn't been sent to Beast Island, and had in fact betrayed him for the Princesses, she also would not be here in the Crimson Wastes. No matter what was true, Entrapta could not have been the one to put him in the Infirmary and heal his wounds.

Catra probably had one of her goons patch him up so that she coud put him back to work.

Except, if he couldn't figure out First Ones tech, what made him think one of Catra's desert rat underlings could?

Hordak sat up.

He was alone in the Infirmary. Hmph. He would have thought Catra would at least post a guard. Foolish.

Climbing off the table, he got his feet under him and looked around for his exo-suit. It was sitting on a counter next to the monitoring equipment. Someone had restored the First Ones crystal to its place on the collar and repaired the damage from his fight with Catra. Of course, if the former-Force Captain still needed him to work for her, he would need his armor returned to him and functioning. Someone had even gone the extra kilometer and sterilized it for him. The whole frame smelled of antiseptic, inside and out.

Hordak fastened it on over himself. Snapping everything into place as it was meant to be. When he finally locked the collar, he felt more like himself again. More like how he used to feel back in the Fright Zone before the portal debacle. Not quite 'healthy' but certainly 'able'.

About to exit the infirmary to face Catra again, Hordak paused. Catching a glimpse of himself reflected in the blank crystal screen of a disused monitor. Turning he stared at his face in the reflection. His body could not heal. Not on its own. So it was not the fact that synthetic skin had been grafted onto his face and neck to close the wounds that was jarring. It was now everything looked all put together.

Long vertical marks where the gashes Catra opened up on his face and neck used to be. Wide scars, and bold in color. The synthetic skin graphs being a bright violent –not unlike the color of the crystal on his collar. They were a start contrast to the pale skin of his face and the darker gray-blue skin of his neck. They stood out. It wasn't just that he had scars. It was that the scars to so very… bold. Not just noticeable, but eye-catching.

When he saw Horde Prime again, his Brother would see the scars first, and him second.

But then, Prime had a scar on his face too. A long diagonal slash across his face. Although, Prime looked like it had healed naturally. All his own skin and only slightly discolored within what was considered 'normal' for scar tissue. This was… not normal. Serviceable, yes. Practical, yes. Life-saving, yes. He would most definitely be dead with them. But not normal.

What would be tell Prime when his Brother followed his message and opened a portal?

Hordak's eat twitched when he heard movement outside the Infirmary door. Probably Catra coming back, likely with minions in tow. Hordak braced himself. What would it be now? More intimidation, or another fight?

The door slid open.

"…I know, I just wanna check on-" The speaker cut herself off abruptly, staring at him.

Hordak stared back at her. She and her companion where not who he was expecting. Not even considered a possibility.

"Former-Force Captain Adora." He nodded, not quite knowing what else to do and wondering if this might be another hallucination brought on by his near-death experience. He saw a vision of Entrapta. Why not the fables She-Ra as well? Hordak stood, his arms folded behind his back at a parade rest and waited for the hallucination to pass.

"You're up and moving." She observed.

"So it would seem." He replied, still not convinced she and her companion were real and here.

"You're looking well." Her companion smiled up at him. The Rebel archer Bow always did seem almost pathologically determined to be nice and make friends with everyone.

Hordak's lip curled, unsure of how to respond. Did that statement even require a response? Hordak did not believe he looked 'well'. By the standards of his own people –and probably those of the inhabitants of this rock- he was horribly and irrevocably disfigured.

There was a pause.

The last time Hordak saw these two, it was in his Sanctum, and they were fighting. Would they resume that battle now? Destroy this First Ones Infirmary –possibly the whole ship- like they destroyed his lab and base?

"So…" Bow began again, possibly sensing the energy in the room. How Hordak had gone tense anticipating a fight. "This is nice. Us, three former enemies, meeting and talking without pulling out any weapons or throwing… pillars…"

That was a curious statement. Hordak raised one confused brow ridge, peering down at the younger man. Did he say 'former' enemies? Hordak was unaware that he had made any treaties with the Rebels, or even just She-ra.

"Entrapta made a deal for you." Adora announced. That alone was enough to shock him. Entrapta was alive. She was here. She bargained on his behalf. She hadn't betrayed him! She did care! "I helped her save you, and we're not gonna take you back the Brightmoon to answer for your crimes-" there was a silent 'yet' in there "-and in return, Entrapta's gonna work for us. She bought you your life with her service. I hope she didn't make a bad deal."

Adora did not think he was worth it.

"I'm gonna go get Entrapta." She announced. "She can take him to Dryl before she comes to Brightmoon. Bow, stay here and keep an eye on him. Now that he's mobile, I don't want him left unattended."

She left.

There was another pause.

Bow looked ever so slightly concerned to be left in charge of one of the most dangerous beings in all of Etheria. The archer swallowed a lump of nerves in his throat.

"You and Entrapta, huh." He began awkwardly. "I mean, we all knew Entrapta had a thing for you. But, I mean, you looked really happy just now when Adora mentioned that she argued for you, so you gotta like her back, right? That is something I just can't really see. I mean, I do see it. That's why I believe it. But, I still can't really see ut, ya know." Bow was rambling. "You're all 'grr, rawr, arg, big scary Horde Lord', and she's like 'robots, tiny food, First Ones, cute things'. I just… you two don't seem to… fit…"

Hordak frowned at him. Not understanding.

"Not that that means you two can't be together or anything!" Bow was quick to add. "From the outside, my dad's don't look like they would fit together either. Ones a well learned scholar who's devoted his life to studying history and unraveling the mysteries of the First Ones, and the other is a battle hardened and war scarred soldier. From the outside, they don't seem to have much in common. But, at home, they're just… two pieces of a whole. They… complete each other. I guess, you and Entrapta must do that for each other too."

Two pieces that came together to form something greater than the sum of its parts.

Hordak understood the concept even if he didn't fully grasp its relevance within the context.

He was spared having to listen to more of the archer's rambling when Entrapta burst through the door.

"You're up!"

It was her. Really and truly her. All 130 centimeters of body, and a million kilometers of hair.

She flowed into the room through the door frame, moving on her hair almost like surfing on waves. Tendrils wrapped around him, pulling the clone off his feet. Measurements were taken. His heart beats per minute were counted. The synthetic skin graphs on his face and neck were examined. Hordak felt her breath on his skin and knew she had to be real. This was real. Not a hallucination. She was here. She had healed him. It had to be her. Adora wouldn't have. Neither would Bow. But Entrapta would. Entrapta did.

"Fascinating." She muttered. "Its knitted into you're natural skin so well. It's practically seamless. And I like the color."

Well, at least someone did. Hordak was not quite so pleased with the cosmetic look. But if it kept him alive, it kept him alive. He had learned not to be picky about his life-saving adaptations.

"The muscles underneath should be similarly repaired." Continued Entrapta, she was speaking to him, but her attention was focused on the marks. "Move your face."

He tilted his head to the side.

"No, I mean, make an expression." She had to clarify. As much as she had trouble understanding other people, other people had trouble understanding her. Hordak suffered from this less often than others, but that did not make him an exception to this rule. "Move your brows, or your cheeks. Use the muscles in your face. I need to confirm that they're also healed."

Obediently, Hordak raised one brow ridge, then the other. Lowered them both in a scowl. Pulled his cheeks back in a mock of a grin. Then turned the corners of his mouth down in a frown.

"Excellent." Entrapta nodded with approval. "Bow was right. First Ones medical technology really is on par with Etherian healing magic."

"You healed me after my battle with Catra." Hordak confirmed. He did not want to have this conversation with an audience. Especially not a defector and a rebel. But he also needed to know. "But, how did you get here? Catra told me that she sent you to Beast Island."

To his great surprise –and maybe just a little horror- Entrapta smiled. Wide. "Oh, Hordak, it was amazing!" She announced. "Did you know that the compound was a First Ones outpost when you converted the building into your prison? It's fascinating. The whole place is an amplifier. Now, at the moment, its non-active. I have a hypothesis that it's meant to amplify the power of the Runestone network and channel it somewhere. There's this big mural outside the command room that shows Etheria with another planet inside an big infinity symbol. But there're no other planets in Despondos. So there's nowhere for it to channel the magic to. Isn't it just so exciting!"

Lots of things were exciting right now. All the revelations. Dying. Coming back. Being healed. Confirming that she was still alive. Being reunited.

Just being around her energy and vivacity again was exciting.

Hordak was afraid that if he had any more excitement, he might have to sit down.

Then another voice joined the group.

Sounding like his own voice. Or, rather, sounding like the voice of any clone brother, only younger. Less mature. Higher in pitch and shallower in octave. A pre-adolescent voice. But also a Horde clone voice. That didn't make any sense. Horde clones were hatched at the age of full adult maturity. There was no such thing as an 'adolescent' clone, and certainly no such thing as something as young as a pre-adolescent.

"Is he up?" It asked. "I want to meet him."

Someone pushed their way between Adora and Bow.

Hordak froze. Not sure what he was seeing.

It looked like a clone brother. But… also not like a clone brother at all. It looked like how the clones looked when they were still in the tanks. Still going through the process of artificial aging. It looked like a brother that had been taken out of the tank before reaching maturity. But… all his own cloning attempts had failed. So, where did this little brother come from…?

"Hi. I'm Hordak." It announced.

That proclamation sent another shock through his system. How dare this little… creature take his name from him! Names were something very personal for a clone. Only four at any given time were allowed to have their own names. They chose their names themselves. Crafting an identity for themselves. Something that fit them. That was unique to them. Their own. Their name. His name. Lord Hordak.

"You most certainly are not." He informed the underdeveloped… brother.

The smaller creature just blinked up at him, almost as if they didn't understand. As if no one had told them that they weren't Hordak. As if this creature just went around calling itself 'Hordak' and everyone else on Etheria went along with it.

Then, the clone did something the elder Hordak did not expect.

Moving on its own, as if it were an independent limb, no different than an arm or a leg, the clone's hair coiled under it. It lifted the creature up to be on an eye-level with the elder Hordak.

"I am Hordak." They insisted.

Hordak wasn't looking at the clone anymore. Or, at least, not at its face. His glowing red eyes were no focused on the creature's hair. Holding it up in a way very similar to how Entrapta used to use her hair to compensate for the height difference between them. The clone looked like him, but it had Entrapta's hair. Entrapta's magic. Not a perfect clone them. A hybrid. An imperfect genetic composite. Of course this had to be Entrapta's doing. Entrapta made them. She had certain opinions about imperfect.

"I am Lord Hordak." He informed the hybrid.

"I know." The younger informed him.

Taken aback, the elder Hordak just stared at the younger. This not-clone, this fake brother, this… this… mongrel, knew there was another Hordak. That the name was in use. That the name belonged to another. And took it anyway. How. Dare. They!

"I was a top general of Emperor Horde Prime's military." Hordak announced. "The name 'Hordak' was hand crafted by myself for myself and the honor of bearing it was bestowed upon me by Emperor Prime himself. It is my name. You cannot have it. You were not hatched from a crèche in Capital Core. You did not rise up through the ranks of our brothers. You were not publically named by the Emperor. You are just a… just a… I don't know what you are."

There was an awkward pause. Adora and Bow watched Dak, apprehensive of the child's reaction.

"I'm Hordak." Insisted the young hybrid.

"I did not give you permission to use my name." The older clone informed him.

"But it's my name too!" Dak shouted. "Mother made me to be you! I was supposed to be a new body for you. But Scorpia let me out too early, and now I'm me and there isn't room for me to be you."

Hordak just raised a brow at that confusing and absurd explanation.

"You said you couldn't clone a new body for yourself." Entrapta reminded him, taking up the explanation. "So I though I'd give it a try. I isolated the parts of your genetic code that misreplicated –the parts you keep calling 'defects'- and I cut them out of the sequence. I used my own DNA to fill in the holes and complete the code."

"Now…" Here the hybrid hesitated. Lowering themself back to the floor. Feet on the ground, hair coiled behind them. "…Now I'm spare parts for you. To- to help repair your body. Mother used my blood to fix you." They held out an arm where a cute little green and yellow tiger striped band-aid covered a puncture site. "She took my blood and made more of it to start your heart again."

"Little Dak saved your life." Bow announced. "You're alive now because of them."

"You're alive now because capable and compassionate people care more about you than you deserve." Adora added, glaring up at Hordak. As if daring him to prove her right. That he did not deserve their care and compassion. That he was a waste.

Hordak was still too shocked to ever register her challenge, let alone rise to it.

He staggered backwards and sat on the exam table he recently rose from.

Entrapta created a new body for him… that new body was this… child-Horde. This child-Horde gave parts of their own body to save his life. Hordak reeled. He felt light headed. Faint. Was he about to pass out again? He was still recovering from coming back from the dead, it was not out of the question that he might pass out again.

He did not want to pass out in front of Adora and Bow. In front of a defector and a rebel.

"In any event, if you're up you can move." Adora asserted. "It's time to leave. We're gonna let Entrapta take you back to her own territory where you will stay. Then Entrapta's gonna come to Brightmoon to hold up her end of the bargain. You are going to go along quietly and not make trouble. As far as I'm concerned you're a war criminal. Stay in Dryl and I won't touch you, but step one talon outside of Dryl and you're mine!"

These terms would imply that the Fright Zone was no longer under Horde control.

Or else, the Horde here on Etheria was no longer under his control.

Either way, Hordak understood. He did not have any leverage in this situation.

…

While Adora and Bow strapped a tied up Catra over their flying horse, like a mouthy and disrespectful saddle bag, Hordak was plucked off his feet and placed on top of Emily. The bot would carry him while he, Entrapta, their clone composite, Imp, and Scorpia made their way to Dryl.

"Hey, did you remember to tell Micah about Angella or that Shadow Weaver's living in the castle?" Bow asked Adora before they flew off.

"No. I thought you did." Adora replied before Swift Wind jumped into the air and Hordak missed the rest of that conversation.

Emily started moving forward and Hordak almost fell off the bot's round dome top. There were no hand-holds on the Horde bot, they were not exactly designed for passengers. He had to rely wholly on his own balance.

"Oh, this is so exciting!" Entrapta clapped her hands as she cartwheeled on her hair. "I've never brought a boy home to my castle before! I can't wait to show you my lab! I've got so much First Ones tech! The mines just keep churning it out! There must have been a First Ones settlement in the mountains before Dryl was there. There's just too much for it to have been an outpost. And now that I know what Eternia is, I can make so many more advances in my reaserch! And now that I've got my lab partner back-!"

"Eternia?" Hordak echoed, some small part of his half-forgotten dream rising to the surface. 'Reunite Etheria with Eternia'.

"Yeah!" Entrapta smiled. "It's a planet. But there aren't any other planets in Despondos. So it's gotta be from where you're from. The Known Universe, right? Have you heard of it? It's supposed to be part of the same Runestone network as Etheria. Two parts of the same machine." Her eyes sparkled. "It's fascinating. I wish we could see it!"

…

END

(A/N: This fic is over. But it's just the first in a series. If you would like to read more, please look for "Prodigal Brother", coming to fan fiction site near you!)