Chapter Text
It had been one hour since the abduction aboard Horde Prime's ship. Just as it seemed everyone had finally made it back to one place, a massive beam of light tore into the ground and swooped them straight into an actual alien fleet ship.
Catra and Glimmer were brought aboard along with Hordak, who was helpless to do anything as Horde Prime broke him down in every sense of the word and finally reset his entire being.
Entrapta could only watch as the interaction took place on the bridge. To list a simultaneous pro and con of her situation, the fascinating beam had transported her to another part of the ship, therefore out of imminent danger but also too far away to help Hordak. Why this was, she could only theorize, but she assumed it had something to do with where she was in the blast as well as how her mechanical parts had interfered with the position settings.
Hacking into the system in order to locate surveillance feed was simple enough. The mainframes here were far more advanced than anything in the Fright Zone, but at their core they seemed to follow the same basic structure as everything else in Hordak's castle.
She saw what had happened to Hordak, and she knew that only she would be able to make things right. Though for that she would need help, and judging by how she parted ways with Catra, and how she wasn't completely sure of Glimmer's motives, Entrapta wasn't wholly certain that either would come to her aid. However, they were the closest things she had on this ship in terms of allies at this point, and without them, she would never be able to reach Hordak before being discovered by the other hostiles on this kingdom-sized spacecraft.
"I'll have to try." She told herself, and then, using what had grown back in her hair, she pulled herself up and snuck into the vents, which were also thankfully similar to the ones in the Fright Zone, if not much newer, cleaner, and easier to move around through. "Piece of cake!"
"What do we do?" Glimmer asked, pacing back and forth in their "accommodating" if not still prison-like chambers gifted to them by Horde Prime.
With a sigh, Catra continued watching the sparkly princess pace glitter trails into the floor as she perched, knees to chest as high up as she could place herself.
"I don't know."
"You don't know!?" She exclaimed, her voice squeaking with frustration. "You're the one who was all "the planet is a big weapon" you need us to figure how to use it"!?"
"I think the words you're looking for are, "Oh thank you for saving my life Catra!", "Quick thinking Catra, you probably saved the whole stinking planet!", "I am so glad you were there to stall Horde Prime!"?"
Glimmer glared at her for a few seconds, then she realized that what she was saying was probably true. Her look turned calmer and more into that of confused sympathy as she stopped and stared up at her unlikely new ally.
"And why did you?" she asked. "If I recall, you didn't care if you destroyed Etheria before with the portal, so why save it and me now?"
She clicked her tongue and laughed, though it was a weak, dry sounding, and ultimately tired sound that revealed absolutely no joy within it.
"To save myself of course. Without you here, why would Horde Prime keep me? And why would he keep either of us if he decides to wipe away the whole planet?"
"That's it?"
"Pretty much? Look sparkles, I could care less what happens to you, or Etheria, or anyone else. My army hates me, the Fright Zone is broken, I have no friends or family down there waiting for me, wondering where I went or if I'll ever come back. The last thing I can do is just survive at this point. It's all I have left. I worry about what to do later if we get there, but I'm not in the mood to just give up to Hordak-Prime out there."
Glimmer's look turned more pitiable as she turned and continued her pacing in silence, the soft stepping of her feet in the quite corridor interrupted suddenly by a loud clattering from above.
*KER-THUNK!*
Both girls got into a fighting stance, their equally unsure stares agreeing to at least be ready for anything before a vent panel slammed into the floor and from out of the dark rectangle exit popped a very familiar and very unexpected figure.
"Hello!" She waved, her smile just as wide and unexpected as the other two reeled back in shock.
"Entrapta!" Glimmer and Catra called in unison.
"What happened to you?" Glimmer asked quickly, followed only seconds behind by Catra's more aggravated and scared sounding voice as she bounded forward.
"I thought you were dead? What are you doing here?"
"We're literally in space!" Glimmer agreed. "How did you get on board?"
Entrapta nodded as they spoke, taking in all of their comments until they were done. Now that their shock had soothed a bit, they would be more likely to respond to her statements, and more likely to make somewhat rational decisions.
"Well, after Hordak and I made it back to Etheria, he stormed off to confront Catra for sending me to Beast Island, then the other princesses showed up and the space ships closed in, and then I suspect we were all incorporeally transported into this ship through some sort of powerful tractor beam that managed to transport all of us into the main ship without tearing us into tiny little shreds!"
"Entrapta!" Catra called. "Focus!"
"We know how we got onto the ship. We wanted to know how you got here? Why weren't you in the command room with the rest of us?"
"Oh!" She nodded harder. "I'm not entirely sure yet, but my theories are piling on the longer I explore this ship. It's design is almost like a look into the future of what technology in the Fright Zone could become. It's remarkable if it weren't also very likely the end to all life on Etheria as we know it. The energy stored on this ship is more powerful than anything I've ever seen. I surmise that if Hordak's brother wanted to destroy a world, he would be more than capable of doing so with just this one ship alone."
Glimmer and Catra only stared in silence.
"But that's not important right now!" Entrapta waved, interrupting her own thoughts with new ones. "I was able to access surveillance feeds and found out where they placed you two and Hordak. I saw what they did to him, and it is imperative that we find him so I can try to undo what Horde Prime did to his memory."
"Why?!" Glimmer asked. "Isn't him being gone good?"
"Yeah, for once I think I agree with Sparkles. Hordak tried to kill us both, why would we want to add him back onto the playing field now?"
"Well..." she started. "He's the only one who has ever kept up with my theories and hypothesis, his mind alone is invaluable to stopping Horde Prime and saving Etheria. Especially now that Catra's revealed the planet's weapon. If he doesn't destroy us, he will certainly make all life change for the worse in order to figure out exactly how he can hone and manipulate the power of Etheria to use against other conquering worlds. That's all these ships care about, it's why Hordak and all the others were cloned in the first place. It is physically encoded into their DNA to conquer worlds and please their overlord."
"And this is helping Hordak's case because...?"
"Because Hordak had a defect! A beautiful, wonderful defect that made him start to think about things for himself. He changes the very nature of his existence based on curiosity and science. Sure... his motives were rooted in his default purposes, and I do not deny that people have gotten hurt because of it, but of everyone here, he is our only hope and figuring out how to defeat Horde Prime. We just have to return his free will to him and make him remember that he can be better than what he was created for, something he was starting to figure out on his own after being trapped all those years on Etheria."
"Okay..." Catra paused, her fingers coming up to clench the bridge of her nose. "Let's assume you're right for just one minute. Even if you got to Hordak, and we didn't all get caught and vaporized on sight, how would you possibly go about "resetting" him?"
"Simple!" She smiled. "I noticed the programmable circuits that blended into his organic tissue when I helped him upgrade his old armor."
"That was you!?" Glimmer pointed, her brows furrowed.
Entrapta made a quick "yes, now don't interrupt" motion as she continued her explanation.
"During my time in the Fright Zone, and during my downtime working on the portal, I studied as much as I could into the process of Hordak's cloning, and alongside samples of his failed prototypes and useful information from Imp and Hordak's own biometrics, I was able to figure out a fail-safe that acted as a point of immovable memory updated to the most recent logging of his own thoughts, feelings, and emotions." She placed a finger to her chin and tapped it curiously. "Assuming he's updated this-- let's call it a "save point" for the sake of jargon-- then I would suspect his most recent "self image" is still stored in the location of his new suit's power processing unit. If I can get to him, then I can activate it and return him to the way he was before." She pointed. "The crystal rhombus located here at the center point of his chest."
Catra's ears perked up.
Meanwhile Glimmer's brows furrowed.
"Do you mean it's like his heart?"
"In a sense, I suppose if you correlate all personality and life giving energy to the heart of one's body then that would be an appropriate assumption. I thought the placement was almost poetic considering I left him a message reminding him to "love" his imperfections."
"You what?"
"I wrote "loved" on the crystal. I'd been studying First One's ciphers for a while when I was trying to come up with new power sources for my bots and beyond that. I thought it was a cute touch considering how much fun I'd been having with Hordak as my lab partner." She blushed a bit and fiddled with her hair. "And how much he's come to mean to me in non-scientific ways as well. Though... I suppose all life and mannerisms are science in a way, because science itself is in everything we do and--"
"Easy! Easy!" Catra said, snapping her fingers. "We get it!"
"We so get it!" Glimmer nodded, her face looking only lightly grossed out.
"So you understand why and how we are going to save Hordak, yes? Will you help me then?"
"How?" Glimmer asked. "We're locked in here, I can't just go around telelporting in a spaceship without the possibility of ending up OUTSIDE the ship by accident, and Catra's run out of all her annoyingly useful ideas!"
"Not quite, Princess."
They looked her way, watching as that signature grin spread across her face, the mischievous look of ploys and hope returning to her mismatched eyes as Catra reached into her pocket and pulled out Hordak's crystal."
"You had it all this time!?" Entrapta called.
"Nah... I just ripped it out of his armor to get a one up in the battle. He was trying to kill me for you know... betraying him, lying to him, tricking him, basically all the killable qualities a person could brand themselves with."
"Ugh!" Glimmer groaned. "We get it!"
"So, uh... yeah... Here." Catra tossed the crystal to Entrapta who caught it in her good arm. Catra's expression studying the new features to the annoyingly brilliant science princess before the guilt became to much and she had to look to the corner of the room. "And uh...." Her voice lowered three octaves as she mumbled. "Sorry."
"What was that?" Glimmer called louder, genuinely confused.
Catra groaned loudly and rolled her eyes.
"I'm sorry for getting rid of you by sending you to Beast Island where you would most certainly die! I'm sorry! Okay?"
Entrapta didn't smile, but she did nod a little.
"What happened was really painful and confusing for me. I'm not sure I'm ready to unpack all of those feeling right now, but I do appreciate your apology."
"And..." Glimmer added with a rub to her upper arm. "We didn't exactly come looking for you after things started getting bad... so I'm sorry too. I mean, you're the one that went to work for the Horde, but--"
Catra nudged her.
"Sure... Right! Of course! I'm sorry too."
"I'm not the best at this sort of thing, but..." Entrapta held out her arms. "Are we supposed to hug now, I suppose?"
Catra and Glimmer looked at each other and immediately broke away.
"Nope!"
"Absolutely not!"
"No way!"
Entrapta smiled, and retracted her arms.
"Alright. More time for mending bonds later. For now let's repay all our faults and oversights, mine and Hordak's included. We can make everything right again, starting at saving him and the rest of Etheria."
"Okay."
"Sounds good, What do you need us to do?"
"Here's the plan, first you two will run a distraction while I get this crystal into the reconditioning chamber."
"Sure..." Catra rolled her eyes. "What could possibly go wrong?"
"I'm glad you asked!" Entrapta clapped. "I made you a list based on my observations. Listen closely because these warnings could mean life or death in a statistically probable margin of occurrence and error."
"Swell..."
Both got drained, exhausted expressions, Glimmer face-palming for a moment as the two mentally prepared themselves for whatever Entrapta was about to say next.
The distraction went more or less as planned. Catra and Glimmer's diversions and teleporting caused just enough unrest to alert the other Horde clones away from the reconditioning chamber long enough for Entrapta to sneak down from the vents and lock down the automatic doors. They would have a small window of privacy this way, and with the crystal in hand, it was all the time she needed to make the repairs necessary to reset Hordak's soul.
"Step one complete," she whispered. "Now onto step two."
Entrapta turned and saw Hordak, green eyes and unresponsive to her entrance as he pressed random selections on a screen in front of him.
Some sort of test perhaps?
"H-Hordak?"
The clone was unresponsive.
His hair had been combed back, but his eye coloring was still dark, and they hadn't changed his armor yet. Considering most of Hordak's armor now acted as an exoskeleton, she wondered if they simply couldn't remove it without entirely destroying him? Plus, after the initial shock of having his entire identity erased, Entrapta figured this was just the first of many steps to resetting Hordak to his original state, and she very much doubted the other methods would be quite as civil as a mere aptitude test either.
She tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hordak..."
He blinked, robotically lowering his screen and turning to her attention.
"My designation is 991985. You are not authorized to be here. State your purpose."
Even his voice was lifeless and stiff, though the underlying threat still managed to chill through.
"I--" Entrapta thought quickly, (luckily an action she was quite good at) before coming back with a reply. "I am a scientist from the latest planet to join the Horde."
"You are an enslaved scientist? What purpose does Horde Prime have for your input in this reconditioning chamber?"
"I was sent to--" she paused, the words causing her to physically shudder. "Assist with the correction of your cloning defect."
"I am aware of the defect." He said plainly. "I have noticed the difficulty it takes for my body to perform otherwise simple tasks. What corrections does an inferior being such as you hope to bring that could compete with the technology of the Horde?"
She placed her hands on her hips and shot him a challenging look.
"I'm smarter than I might look! Why else would Horde Prime send me in here?"
He paused, the emotionless look on his face processing her words before registering a response.
"Very well. Your logic is sound. Proceed with your corrections quickly and begone."
She shot him what she believed to be a compliant bow and stepped closer.
"This chip should correct any flaws you may suspect. If you could just--"
He was able to calculate the height difference on his own and leaned forward. With a frown, Entrapta slipped the shape back into place and watched as it glowed with signs of successful connection.
The clone took in a deep inhale of breath, perhaps a slight discomfort within him though he was far less vocal about it than regular Hordak was.
Entrapta took a step back and held out her arms trepidatiously.
"So, how do you feel?"
"Powerful." He smiled and for a moment she did too, but just as quickly, the face turned back into a cold expression and he returned to his test. "That will be all. Return now to your previous work."
It... it didn't work? But she had been so sure! Her programming should have been-- well she guessed she had never tested it out. There was so much about organic to technological adjustments she hadn't known before making her arm. Perhaps she had failed to save him after all.
Dejected, she stepped away.
There was nothing she could do for him now, not with the timing they had at their disposal. She would have to move on to step three with or without him.
With a tear in her eye she looked back at him over her shoulder one last time.
"G-- Goodbye Hordak..."
She reached up to grab the vents as as she did, Hordak let out a lurching groan, clutching his chest as he fell to his knees and let the test monitor clatter to the ground. She paused mid motion and dropped back to the ground, watching as the sterile facade of the person before her became physically disheveled, the last things to turn being his eyes as they drained slowly back into a glowing red.
"E--" he coughed. "Entrapta?"
"Hordak?" She rushed over and helped him to his feet. "Is it really you?"
"What's going on?" He grumbled. "This place? How did we-- How did you-- ?"
Overcome with relief, she ignored him and grabbed his hands in hers.
"Oh it worked! It just needed a moment to boot up! Thank goodness! I thought I'd lost you for good!"
"I thought I'd lost you..." He repeated, a soft solace in his stare as he focused deeper into her face and brushed a stray strand of hair out of the way. "But I am still-- confused. We appear to be on my brother's ship. Did I meet with him? What happened?"
"I'll catch you up on the way, but to make things brief, Horde Prime reset your mind and is trying to use the weapon of Etheria. Catra and Glimmer are here and are basically the only reason the planet didn't get annihilated, and as scientifically fascinating as all of this is, I need your help to defeat your brother and save the galaxy."
"Defeat my--" He made a scrunched up facial gesture. "Horde Prime cannot be defeated. He is too powerful."
"That's what he wants you to think," she said, pulling out her schematics. "But you are so much stronger than what he made you out to be. Together we should be able to at least escape here and regroup with the others." Entrapta frowned and reached up to cup his face in her hands. "I know this is asking a lot of you, and I know you've been through a lot, but I--"
Hordak watched the video replay of Horde Prime turning against him. After all he had done for all those years to make his brother proud and how had he responded but in every way Hordak had ever feared. He was supposed to understand Prime's methods, supposed to blindly obey without question, but Entrapta was right. He was different. His defect gave him a will of his own and he had used it to do so much more than Prime had ever asked of him. It had given him purpose where as his story was meant to end years ago along the front lines of a battlefield somewhere. As Entrapta spoke, more and more, he could not help but think her words made more sense to him now than anything else he had ever previously believed in his entire existence.
"Okay."
"Really?"
"I am with you to the end, whatever you wish to do."
He leaned forward and kissed her without warning, both blushing slightly as he cleared his throat and returned to his usual awkward self that she had come to expect of her lab partner.
"Ahem. Shall we depart?"
He offered out his hand to her.
She took it with a smile and nodded.
"Let's rewrite all the wrongs we've made, Hordak. Together..."
He nodded.
"That could take quite some time."
"Well, there's no rush. We'll just take our time and work things out until they're perfect. Sound good?"
He smirked at her again, touching his heart crystal as he remembered the fondness of Entrapta and the future he had once considered sharing with her. That future was becoming a reality.
"It sounds perfect."
"Great! Now the hardest part is getting the Princess Alliance to trust you. Don't worry, Glimmer can vouch for us once we find her and Catra. They should be distracting the others and making the way to our rendezvous location right now. let's go!"
"Wait... what?" He asked numbly, his arm being dragged behind an eager and running Entrapta now.
"It's all a part of the plan. We'll make it work! But we all have to work together so that means a lot of trust and a lot of apologizing."
With a heavy sigh, Hordak rolled his neck and nodded.
"I trust you. If you say this is our best course of action, then I will do everything in my power to make it a reality. With my knowledge of the Horde and the galaxy, the--" He almost choked the words, unaccustomed to saying them without a hiss of vehemence in his voice. "The Princesses will have to let me speak."
"That's the spirit!" Entrapta cheered. "Now let's do this! Together!"
"Together."
And with that, they ran off to save the universe and stop the war that had been plaguing Etheria for so long. So many years and so much history now somehow so small and pointless now that Hordak realized it was all for nothing. If a future with Entrapta and a place in the galaxy that wanted him to be who he was without a complete reset on his design also meant a galaxy where he would betray his brothers and Prime's wishes, then Hordak knew he must be more malfunctioned than ever, because that future sounded like something he actually wanted to fight for.
And fight for it they would.
Of this, he would make sure they would succeed because he no longer fought for just Prime's approval. Now, he was fighting for Entrapta, and her future. Their shared future on a planet he once considered worthless, now made precious just by this one princess who had given him a reason to exist in the galaxy. Even if it was something new and scary, this was what needed to be done in order to protect these most precious moments with her, and for that, Hordak was ready to do what was necessary.
"In case we die trying to succeed in this, I would just like you to know that I am happy you were my lab partner, Entrapta. This has been the best moments of my life spent on Etheria doing science with you."
She smiled and squeezed his hand.
"I feel the same." She punched his arm and let out a loud, snorting laugh. "Now let's not focus on the negatives and get out there and fight some advanced alien warships! Woo!"
He smiled at that and the two continued down the corridor and onto the next step of Entrapta's crazy plan to get back to Etheria. With the war turning now against Horde Prime, it was obvious that the craziness was just beginning, and for her, Hordak was completely fine with this, no matter the odds that were against them.
THE END