Mermista stepped off the transport onto the sidewalk dragging a small wheeled suitcase behind her. Double Trouble followed her carrying a large saddle bag on their shoulder. The transport then took off and left them in the desolate neighborhood. In the distance, a loud bang could be heard followed by a woman screaming and the squeal of tires.

"Welcome to the Fright Zone, your Majesty," Double Trouble greeted.

"Yeah, I've been here a few times," Mermista said, "Although, it definitely wasn't this... run down, the last time I was here."

"Actually, it's starting to look a lot like home," Double Trouble noticed, "Only without all the sand. Have you ever been to the Valley of the Lost?"

"Um, no," Mermista said bluntly, "I don't do deserts."

"Yeah, it's not best place to make friends," Double Trouble agreed, "Speaking of which, we should probably be getting off the streets."

Mermista groaned as she lethargically followed Double Trouble's nervous and quickened footsteps into an messy, dark alleyway.

"Well, if nothing else, this certainly *smells* familiar," sniffed Mermista, recalling her first adventure sneaking through the Fright Zone's sewer system.

"Shh!" hushed Double Trouble, putting a finger to their lips.

A tall brown-furred burly man emerged from the darkness and approached the princess and the therapist. Mermista and Double Trouble subtly turned around to face the street they entered from, only to see the mouth of the alleyway blocked by a slender lizardman and a tough looking white skinned human male.

"Well, well, well," said the human, "What are a couple of pretty young things like you doing in an old broken down place like this?"

"Keep walking, pal," Mermista ordered.

"No, I think me and my boys are gonna have a little fun with you," chuckled the man, pulling out a knife, "Lose the bags and empty your wallets!"

Mermista casually left her rolling suitcase standing as she smoothly walked up to the man with a knife, grabbed him by the wrist and punched him in the throat. The man dropped the knife, fell to one knee and began coughing.

"Gak," he wheezed, "What are you morons doing? Get them!"

The lizardman pulled out a knife of his own and began to circle Mermista. Mermista grabbed the other man's arm with both hands and flung him over her shoulder, hitting the lizardman over the head like a sledgehammer. At the same time, Double Trouble spun around and swung their saddlebag like a mace, hitting the furry giant in the leg and forcing him into a kneeling pose. Dropping the bag, they climbed up onto the giant's shoulders and performed a handstand, before falling back down and kicking the bear in the face with their knee. The giant fell backwards as Double Trouble made a backwards somersault in the air, landing on an acrobatic pose with arms outstretched like a circus performer.

While the human and the lizardman struggled to disentangle themselves, Mermista picked up a garbage can lid and grabbed the lizardman by the collar. She repeatedly smashed the garbage can lid into the lizardman's face with a loud crash as the human crawled over to his dropped knife. A nearby drain broke open as a large quantity of sewage came bursting out and formed a bowling ball sized sphere in the air. The sphere surrounded the human man's head as he rolled on the ground gasping to breathe, while Mermista continued pummeling the lizardman with the trash can lid.

Double Trouble picked up their bag again and raised it threateningly as the last assailant slowly picked himself up off the ground and roared at them. He raised his fists to bring down on Double Trouble before his face turned to a look of surprise. His entire body froze and Double Trouble rolled to the side as, like a statue, the giant fell forward onto the ground, stiff as a board. When the dust cleared, Double Trouble saw a familiar large woman with short white hair and large red claws.

"I'm so sorry!" Scorpia called out, "I must have been waiting at the wrong bus stop! Are you guys okay?"

"Just working out some stress off on these chuckleheads' skulls," Mermista answered.

Mermista dropped the garbage can lid and let go of the lizardman, letting his twitching misshapen face fall to the ground and leak green liquid into the alleyway. Behind her, the ball of sewage returned to following the laws of physics and splashed onto the ground below the gasping blue faced human. Mermista fixed her hair, grabbed the handle of her suitcase, and calmly walked over to the Horde princess.

"Princess Mermista of Salineas," she greeted, holding her hand out to shake.

"Oh, I know, we've met before!" Scorpia replied, excitedly shaking her hand with both claws, "Again, really sorry about this whole mess. Things have been really hectic around here."

"Yeah... I can see that," Mermista said, looking at the coughing and groaning bodies behind her with disgust.

~*~

Scorpia led her guests into the throne room. The former sanctum of Lord Hordak was still sprinkled with wreckage and debris. A hole in the ceiling shone a small light onto a small table set up with stools, a colorful place mat and a bowl of tiny crab cakes. Double Trouble immediately sat down and began digging through their bag, pulling out a pen, pad and paper. They took one of the crab cakes and began munching on it while they wrote continuously on the notepad.

"So, I kinda screwed up the scheduling today," Scorpia explained, pulling a stool out for Mermista, "Entrapta's coming over to pick up all her old stuff to bring to her new lab out in the Whispering Woods. Is that gonna be a problem?"

"No, I don't think so," Mermista said, as sat down nervously, "I just hope she didn't bring her new boyfriend with her."

"Oh, I didn't know she met someone," Scorpia said, sitting down herself, "That's good. I was kinda worried about how she was doing, but I didn't want to force anything after the whole... sending her to Beast Island thing. Is it anyone I know?"

"I mean, I would hope so," Mermista said, looking around at the decayed ruin around her, "Look, I don't want to be rude or anything, but it looks like you have a lot of problems you need help with."

"Oh, Is it that obvious?" Scorpia said, wincing, "I'm sorry, I really should have gotten this place cleaned up better before you came."

"Look, would you just please calm down?!" Mermista shouted in frustration, holding out her hand, "I swear I can't get a single sentence out of you without you apologizing to me about something. I just meant that-"

Mermista stopped herself and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath and exhaled before opening them again.

"I'm sorry," Mermista said calmly, "I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help."

"Oh, okay," Scorpia said, her mood brightening, "I mean, that's great but I don't think there's a whole lot anyone can do right now."

"Puh-haps 'ou shud tell hur anyway," suggested Double Trouble as they continued writing with a full mouth before taking a moment to swallow, "If nothing else, it isn't good to keep your problems bottled up."

"Well, the biggest problem is food," Scorpia explained, "Nothing seems to be growing here, the guy Perfuma sent to take a look at our soil disappeared after one night. So we can't solve that problem until we do something about our security."

"Actually, I had an idea about that," Mermista said, "We sort of, like, don't have a fishing industry anymore since Hordak sank our entire fleet. Do you think you could, like maybe, lend Salineas some of your ships so we could get that going again?"

"Oh, sure!" Scorpia said excitedly, "That would be great! It would be nice to have actual crab for a change instead of trapping cockroaches."

Double Trouble stopped chewing the crab cake that was in their mouth, paused for a second in thought, and then gave a small shrug before they continued eating. The door to the sanctum hissed open as a short, aging bald man wearing a white T-shirt and jeans entered the throne room and cleared his throat.

"A Princess Entrapta here to see you, your 'ighness," greeted the former private Ricky, "Shall I send her-"

"Hi, Scorpia!" interrupted a familiar scientist, pushing past the old man and knocking him over, "Oh, hey, Mermista! I didn't know you would be here! It's nice to see you all getting along! Oh! Are those tiny crab cakes?!"

Without hesitation, Entrapta grabbed one of the confections and plopped it in her mouth. Mermista's face slowly turned green.

"Uh-nuh, I forgoff," Entrapta said as she chewed, "Am I allergic to shellfish?"

"It's okay," Double Trouble explained, "It's not real crab."

"Oh, that's good!" Entrapta replied in relief, grabbing another crab cake and eating it.

"Wait a second," Scorpia said, pointing her claw at the tall dark figure picking up Ricky off the ground and dusting off his shirt, "Is that who I think it is?"

"Only if you think it's Hordak," Mermista replied, clutching her stomach as she slowly got up from the table, "Because that's Hordak."

"Hello, Force Cap- ...Princess Scorpia," Hordak greeted, bowing to the princesses, "Princess Mermista..."

"I was just leaving," Mermista said, giving Scorpia a short wave before walking out the door, "It was nice meeting you and everything, but I've suddenly lost my appetite."

"Oh, wow!" Scorpia said, running up to her former boss and wrapping her claws around him, "You're alive!"

"Yes... I am..." stuttered Hordak as he writhed uncomfortably in Scorpia's hug, "Was there some doubt in that fact?"

"Well, yeah," Scorpia explained as she let go of him, "Last we saw you, you had that big fight with Catra. You were nowhere to be found after that, so people just assumed Catra killed you and hid your body."

"I see," Hordak stated coldly, "I believe it is for the best that I am no longer a public figure here."

"Actually, it's great you're here right now!" Scorpia said, "I really need your advice!"

"My advice?" Hordak repeated, "I do not think anything I have to say would be of use to you."

"Oh, that's not true at all," Scorpia said, "You were running this place for the longest time. Here, sit down."

Scorpia pulled out a stool for the dark lord. Hordak stiffly sat down and held a tense posture.

"So, I've only been in charge for a short while," Scorpia explained, "And I think everyone hates me here."

"Oh, no!" Entrapta said, stopping her meal to put a sympathetic hand on Scorpia's claw, "How could anyone hate you? You're the nicest person I know."

"I concur with Princess Entrapta's findings," Hordak agreed, "While you were my Force Captain, your records showed you inspired great affection from the soldiers under your command. I think *that* is your problem, right now."

"Being liked is a problem?" Scorpia asked.

"While every great leader strives to be liked, even loved, by their subjects," Hordak explained, "They cannot rule effectively unless they also inspire a healthy amount of fear."

"But I don't want people to be afraid of me!" Scorpia replied.

"I think what Hordak is trying to say," Double Trouble translated, "Is that people need to know you are able to protect them from criminals and the rebellion."

"The reason you have so many criminals in your city is that they do not fear retribution from you," Hordak continued, "It is a problem that will continue to escalate if not quashed quickly."

"So you think I should ask Horde Prime to bring his troops down to help police everyone?" suggested Scorpia.

"If you require my brother's troops to secure your kingdom, you might as well abdicate," Hordak answered, "Besides a military presence will be nothing but counterproductive. I do not believe the citizens will appreciate a foreign army stationed in their city. That would only waste the resources required to house them and escalate an already tense situation. It is important to inspire fear and love from your subjects, but above all else you must let yourself inspire hatred."

"So what *should* I do?" asked Scorpia.

"My suggestion?" said Hordak, "Rumors were my most effective tool in combating dissent. Encourage others to tell stories of the terrible things that happen to those who defy you. Word of mouth will exaggerate your image depending on each citizen's sensibilities. They do not *have* to be true, but it will help the story spread if you make an example of a particularly heinous individual."

"So I have to find someone nobody likes and punish them as a warning to others?" Scorpia translated, "That sounds kinda cruel."

"Well, if you find that... distasteful, start small and escalate as need be, but do it quickly," suggested Hordak, "Perhaps first try morality tales of monsters and ghosts seeking revenge. I recall the Weeping Princess being particularly effective at stopping those breaking curfew."

"Wow," Scorpia exclaimed, "Tell people that if they steal, a monster will come and get them? Do you think that would really work?"

"It *did* work," Hordak assured, his green eyes looking past Scorpia at a piece of graffiti on the wall behind her proclaiming 'Hordak Lives', "I've noticed you Etherians tend to be a very superstitious and cowardly lot..."