"What happened to Horde Prime's Etherian Liaison was regrettable," Hordak stated, lying stiffly on the couch, his claws tented over his torso, "However, given Catra's history, I fail to see how this could have ended any other way."
"What do you mean by that?" Catra questioned, writing on their notepad.
"While under my command, Catra has proven herself to be a perfect microcosm of Shadow Weaver's failures," Hordak explained, "Lying, manipulative, willing to sacrifice everyone and everything at her disposal for her own petty agendas to the determent of the greater whole. Absolutely the worst kind of soldier for the Horde and a perfect example of everything I had hoped to eradicate from Etheria. It was only a matter of time before Catra would show herself incapable of shouldering the responsibilities Prime has given her."
"And yet, Horde Prime chose me to be his liaison to Etheria," Catra rebutted, scribbling a long note down, "Maybe you're just jealous."
"I must admit I did find my brother's decision to accept Catra into the Horde somewhat baffling at the time, especially given his access to my memories regarding her history," Hordak replied, "However, after realizing the depths of my failures in Prime's eyes, I've come to understand that my recollections of the events would not be the most compelling evidence against her. It is of no importance. Catra will prove herself unworthy of his trust soon enough and then she will suffer the consequences for her incompetence. My only regret is that I probably won't be the one who finally kills her."
"That is a very antagonistic position to take on someone who personally intervened on your behalf," Catra scolded, wincing as they wrote down another note, "Who requested Prime halt your reconditioning, again?"
"I would hardly consider that doing me a favor," Hordak retorted, "It was only logical that I be selected to work on the Heart of Etheria project. The only one with more experience in working with First Ones technology than me is Princess Entrapta. And there was no guarantee she would work for the Horde again after the things Catra did to her."
"Oh, please," scoffed Catra, continuing to write on their notepad, "I was the whole reason Entrapta joined the Horde in the first place."
"Entrapta was nothing more than a means to an end to worm her way into my good graces," answered Hordak, "She had been riding on Entrapta's successes to maintain her position, using Entrapta's sympathy to defend her failures. But the moment Entrapta became inconvenient to her own rise to power, Catra got rid of her and lied to cover it up. Make no mistake, Catra *will* die for what she has done."
"Okaaay," Catra said, transforming back into Double Trouble, "Maybe we should try this from a different angle. What do you think Catra's death would accomplish?"
"Well, it will provide *me* with great satisfaction for one thing," Hordak chuckled, "It will also protect those she would bring to harm to satisfy her own selfish desires."
"But isn't fantasizing about killing her a selfish desire on your part?" inquired Double Trouble, writing down another note, "Isn't all of this hatred just perpetuating a vicious cycle of violence and revenge?"
"The difference is that I am not going to act on those fantasies unless commanded otherwise," Hordak said, "I will instead simply trust my brother's wisdom to see Catra's true nature for himself. Already, I am certain that recent events have cast doubt on Catra's ability to keep the Princesses in line."
"But don't you think that focusing on something so negative, that you can't actually do anything about, is just a little bit harmful to your mental health?" asked Double Trouble, "What if things don't go the way you expect and Catra doesn't screw up bad enough to warrant a public execution?"
The mere suggestion from his therapist elicited an amused reaction from Hordak.
"Mmmhmmhmmhmmhmmhmmheheheheha..." laughed Hordak, "I am sorry, but we all know how this is going to end. Catra will suspect a princess of scheming against her, or will assume one of my brothers is not showing the proper respect to her fragile ego, or will crave something trivial simply because she does not have it. And then she will do what she always does, some foolhardy plot or scheme to satisfy her own vapid goals that will end up costing the Horde far more than what Horde Prime considers to be her value as his servant. And then she will finally know the price of her betrayal."
"Well, maybe I just have a little more faith in her than you do," Double Trouble said, writing down another note.
"You are free to believe what you will," Hordak stated, "But in my experience, Catra lacks the humility and self awareness to ever learn from her mistakes and as such will always be doomed to repeat them. It is inevitable."
"Oh, of course," Double Trouble snarked, transforming back into Catra, "Because we all know you were nothing but the absolute paragon of humility, oh, Great Lord of the Fright Zone."
"Grr..." Hordak growled at Catra, but said nothing as he turned his head away and flexed his right claw into a fist.
"I mean, sure," Catra said, getting up from their chair to walk over to Hordak's couch, "I'm the one who sent Entrapta away to Beast Island. But what did you do about it? You didn't even check on what happened to her. It's not like there wasn't paperwork for every single prisoner transfer out of the Fright Zone. It took Double Trouble all of, like, two seconds to look it up, once they figured out what was going on. But you didn't even care."
"That's not true!" Hordak roared in defiance, glaring at the catgirl hovering over him, "Entrapta was the Horde's most valuable asset! When Catra betrayed her, she betrayed the Horde!"
"Oh, please," Catra scoffed, getting up in Hordak's face, "You couldn't wait to abandon her. You didn't even think twice when I told you what happened. All I did was exactly everything you taught me to survive. Shadow Weaver wasn't the one in charge of the Fright Zone. You were. Shadow Weaver didn't approve of my plans to get revenge against Adora. You did. Shadow Weaver didn't make me your second in command. You did. Shadow Weaver raised me, but you? You're the one who made me. Everything I did is just as much your mistake as it was mine!"
"Enough of this," Hordak grumbled, getting up to leave, "This session is over."
"That's right, just get up and walk away like the loser you are," Catra shouted, following Hordak as he walked to the doorway, "What's the matter? Scared that you might be wrong? That Horde Prime actually likes me more than he ever did you? That thanks to your sterling example, I actually *am* the perfect little Horde soldier? Lying to the Scorpions, Manipulating them into giving you their kingdom, Willing to do whatever it takes to sur-ack!"
Catra lost their voice as Hordak's metal gauntlet clamped around their throat like a vice and lifted them up off their feet. Hordak didn't say a word as he seethed in rage at the catgirl writhing and wriggling in his crushing grasp.
"Ha-Cack!" Catra gagged, their long lizard like tongue flopping out their mouth as their monochromatic eyes rolled up above their eyelids, "Harder... daddy..."
Hordak immediately released his grip and recoiled in disgust, dropping Catra on the floor. Catra got up on all fours, carressing their throat and gasping desperately for air as their form shifted back into Double Trouble.
"I'm..." Hordak stuttered, stepping away in shock, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Are you alright?"
"It's okay," wheezed Double Trouble, crawling up onto their chair, "I mean, it's not, actually. But I now hope you understand exactly what it is we're trying to fix. I think that's enough for today."
"Of course," Hordak complied, "I will understand if you would prefer I not return for another session."
"Oh, absolutely not!" Double Trouble retorted, sitting down and folding their legs comfortably, "Not when we're finally making progress. It's not like it's the first time a client gave me the rough treatment. What's a little strangleplay between friends?"
"As you... wish," Hordak said nervously, "I, however, would prefer you never say those words in that order in my presence ever again. In fact, I would greatly appreciate it if you try to forgot everything you just experienced, said and did."
"Whatever you say, big boy," Double Trouble snickered, playfully stroking their neck.
Hordak growled in frustration at his therapist and then sighed in defeat before he turned away and left.
~*~
DT's Notes
Hordak, Session 4
-Time to start peeling that onion of deflection to get to the heart of Hordak's self loathing
-We'll start with the most recent subject of his ire and work backward hopefully
-Victim blames Catra for her own injury, classy
-Appears to hate Catra for exhibiting his own worst traits, Possible resentment over Prime's apparent acceptance of her
-Murder fantasies, this just got really dark
-Entrapta's banishment is a major subject of Hordak's resentment, again possibly redirecting the target of his hate to avoid blaming himself
-Yeah, I gonna need to get him off of this whole killing Catra thing as soon as possible
-Alright, time to do something stupid and reckless that might get me killed for someone who really doesn't need or deserve me defending her.
-Progress was minimal today, but I'm hopeful that some of the things I've been saying are penetrating that thick skull of his
-At the very least, I made absolutely sure he won't strangle her to death.
-Note to self: Looks like we'll have to add sudden suicidal urges to the growing list of my personal issues that need addressing