Chapter 9: Battle of the Fright Zone

Horde Prime

"In all his time on this planet, could he really never find a more impressive seat?" Horde Prime asked, examining his little brother's pitiful throne, an industrial and ungainly muddy-green colored monstrosity whose back extended far above where his little brother's head would have rested when he sat there.

"The state of affairs here is indeed pitiful, Lord Prime," said a clone.

"To think that he believed he would prove himself worthy to me with this unseemly machine of war, manned by a mongrel army. I am grateful that he has seen the tragedy of the meager scraps he presented as worthy accomplishments."

Horde Prime knew the Princesses would be arriving to rescue their friend soon; Scorpia's arrival at the Fright Zone had been made as visible — and destructive — as her powers allowed. Ruled by emotions as they were, the Etherians would be here soon.

Horde Prime was glad to visit the Fright Zone in order to see the destruction of his enemies, but there was a small seed of nervousness planted in the back of his mind. The silver woman had continued her lazy drift around the planet, and while the dimensional fluctuations had not grown, that seed still was watered. He was glad to have brought as many clones as he had for protection, not that he felt they would be needed when the Princesses showed up. For all their powers, their timidity made them outmatched by his thralls.

Horde Prime lifted a shard of the Sword of Protection from the hands of one of his clones. King Micah had collected it from the Rebellion's camp, and Horde Prime would not deny it was of incredible value. Even with the time he had taken to examine his memories, he had easily been able to develop a way to bypass the Heart of Etheria's primitive defenses, through study of it and the Black Garnet.

I don't need you anymore, She-ra, and for that I am truly grateful. To think that I allowed myself to believe that I needed a lesser being such as yourself to deal with primitive technology. This will end here, and I finally will see my dominion become total.

She-ra

"Spinnerella is maintaining a distance from Scorpia, but she's staying within a relatively small radius," Bow said. Scorpia has stayed in the storeroom"

"Fantastic. Can we please just go in there and finish this. I'm a little tired of waiting. I get that you might have the patience for this, but that is my wife there. I am not in a mood to wait around when we could just grab her," said Netossa, throwing her hands in exasperation.

"It shouldn't be much longer," said Bow. "There are two problems here. The first is that there is some sort of interference preventing the drones from viewing Hordak's inner sanctum and throne room. The other is that we can't find where Mermista is."

"Do we even know that she is here? All we have is Number Girl's word for it."

"You did see the odds she gave, right?" asked Bow. "It seems unlikely that we'd be that certain to encounter her unless she is hiding somewhere in the Fright Zone."

"Assuming she isn't making those numbers up."

"She's the only reason I know my dads are okay, Netossa."

"Netossa…" Adora said sternly.

"Fine. I know she's probably right, Adora, but this hurts, okay. And you know what it feels like. As in, you know exactly what it feels like. Down to the part where they're chipped by Horde Prime and currently inside the Horde's headquarters."

Tattletale — who was leaning over Bow's pad — lifted her head and let her gaze wander over the Fright Zone, small searchlights piercing an uncertain darkness.

"I see piping," she said. Her gaze wandered to her left, where she pointed to the low body of water that had been the Horde's primary reservoir. It was, Adora noticed with a wrinkled nose, extraordinarily filthy.

We probably shouldn't have dumped so much toxic waste into it, she thought. That's probably why we had to replace the filters so much.

"The Fright Zone does have extensive piping," Adora said as a bubble of gas erupted to the surface near the shore of the reservoir, splattering muddy liquid into the air.

"Are your drones equipped for underwater surveillance too?" Bow asked Emily, who was displaying a holographic image of Entrapta and Lookout.

"Absolutely not," said Entrapta, smiling broadly. "Submerging these things would almost certainly be catastrophic to their function. At least pollution won't be an issue. I, uh, hope Mermista can purify the water around her so she doesn't look like that Muck Princess from Adora's old bedtime stories."

"Muck Princess?" said Tattletale, giving a sly smile.

"You won't understand propagandistic Horde bedtime stories unless you grew up in the Horde," muttered Adora. "I was terrified of Princesses. Me from three years ago thought Glimmer would have eaten me alive or something when she found me. You really needed to be there to understand it."

"I'm sure the stories about the rainbow and unicorn Princesses were terrifying to you," Tattletale dryly commented.

"Not being able to locate Mermista throws a wrench in our plans," Bow interrupted, stroking his chin. "If we can't do that, we'll probably need to adjust our approach. Taking out Scorpia and Spinnerella quickly becomes imperative."

"It seems that Horde Prime probably intended to lure us into attacking Scorpia, and would then have Spinnerella attack while distracted," Antares observed.

"It makes sense when you consider their powers," added Legend, hovering a few feet above the ground. "Spinnerella is mobile while Scorpia is less so. Spinnerella can pull off an ambush while waiting from a substantially farther distance away."

"She's definitely evasive," Bow agreed. "I think we'll need to take her down first, after which we can pin down Scorpia."

"It will be the opposite of what they're expecting," said Tattletale, wringing her hands with excitement. "We have an information advantage here, and there is no better way to unsettle an opponent than by ruining a carefully laid plan they're unaware you know inside and out. There are certainly some people here who know that."

Adora could hear an exasperated sigh from Dinah Alcott through Emily.

"We do have some mobility of our own," said Tattletale. "I agree with Bow when he says we need to hit fast. And I think we have exactly what we need to do that."

"Do try to not act too excited about beating my wife in a fight," said Netossa. "Only I get to behave that way."

"If you insist. But I can tell you're absolutely thrilled."

"Yeah, I am. However, I am also extremely impatient. If we're going to change the plan, which, might I remind you, is a child born of the brain of yours truly, I want to hear it. But if this is going where I think it's going, I'm intrigued."

Tattletale began to speak. "It's risky, and things won't be easy if it comes to blows, but if this plays out right, we could pull off a clean victory."

Adora took stock of her allies. Glimmer, Frosta, Netossa, Catra, Bow and Perfuma, from the Rebellion, and Chevalier, Antares, Precipice, Tattletale, Tress and Legend from Gimel, all listened with rapt attention.

This won't be easy, but there are no friends I'd rather have by my side, with heroes willing to help.

Antares

One blow to the back of the neck.

Glimmer gently placed her hand on Victoria's shoulder. Victoria nodded.

"Ready to go."

Glimmer nodded in kind.

Adora counted down.

Victoria saw the air in front of her shimmer a vivid pink. Everything else became fuzzy, fading and bleeding with the pink glow. It felt as though the teleportation, only a second or so, took longer.

Victoria held her confidence, thinking of entering the landscape of alien crystals. I can handle some simple teleportation.

The world returned, pink fading.

Victoria was above Spinnerella, who was levitating on a cyclone of purple wind. Victoria summoned the Wretch, tilting herself downwards before it had even expanded. At the last second, Spinnerella idly lowered herself a small amount. One of the Wretch's hands shot through the air where her neck had been, ruffling her hair. Her gaze rocketed upwards, and she twisted herself, narrowly avoiding a second blow from the Wretch aimed at her chip.

Crap!

Victoria quickly compensated, and another phantom arm grabbed the Princess's right bicep as another snatched the wrist on her left arm.

Victoria pushed Spinnerella towards the ground, her aura pulsing. Spinnerella smiled even as she was forced downwards, apparently unbothered.

Does that chip make you resistant, or are you naturally like that?

With a free arm of her forcefield, Victoria reached for Spinnerella's left leg, but the Princess was already evading. She twisted herself as much as Victoria's grasp would allow, unwittingly allowing her ankle to evade the Wretch's grasp. The princess was a slippery foe.

A strong wind buffeted Victoria as they reached the floor, nearly making her lose her grip. Spinnerella remained underneath her, fighting even though she could not break the forcefield's grasp. The Princess planted her head firm on the ground, placing a hand protectively over her nape. Victoria began to have the Wretch roll the Princess over when she kicked out with both her legs. A sudden gust of air accompanied the kicks and took Victoria square in the chest.

Unprepared, she was flung backwards, reorienting the Wretch as it popped back into existence. In a second, she pushed back, flying against the purple wind. She made headway, but her speed was dampened dramatically by the forceful blows of air.

Spinnerella stood up. "I don't know you," she said in a voice without proper inflection. "Where did Glimmer find someone like you?"

She dodged a blast from Glimmer, who had teleported behind her.

"I might try to take you alive to Lord Prime, but you do look like a challenging one. Either way, you won't be escaping his clutches."

Victoria could hear the unnatural zeal in her voice and see the uncanny robotic motions of her body almost as clearly as her perfectly green eyes. Not so different from some of Teacher's thralls, drained of every feeling except for loyalty, but retaining intelligence.

"Go to the others," Victoria told Glimmer. "Tell them what happened and either bring Legend here or help me retreat!"

Glimmer vanished with a nod and Victoria turned her full attention to Spinerella.

People aren't your puppets Horde Prime. Victoria flew towards Spinnerella again, spinning the Wretch to counteract a vortex summoned around her. You won't win with this.

The Faithful

The being that had once been Scorpia was sensitive to vibrations on the ground. It was a part of how she saw the world, supplementary to her other senses. She had never discussed it, not in the least because it had never come up, even once she had made friends who would have cared, and listened to her talk about her experiences.

Today, for the first time in as long as she could remember, she relied on those senses. She could feel the vibrations on the floor of the storeroom, weaker than they would have been on sand or soil, but unmistakable when they drew close enough. She could see nothing, but instinct took over.

Her stinger narrowly failed to stab Catra, her metasoma brushing along her body. She did, with a second strike swift as the wind, paralyze the strange creature that accompanied her. A mammalian beast with a blue frill around its neck collapsed.

Now visible, she could see Catra preparing to retreat. The Horde member that had once called itself Scorpia raised her claw when a rope wrapped around her. She-ra.

Scorpia broke free, red blots of energy shattering the lasso. Standing among a few fading motes of pink, several people stood alongside She-ra, princesses and others she did not recognize.

For a moment, she opened her mouth a fraction of an inch to ask how they had met. A pain in her neck put an end to that, and she sealed her lips as securely as a vault door.

Glowing red, she began to fight.

She-ra

"I guess it was too much to hope that something might go right for us, huh."

"I'm okay with improvising, honestly," said Netossa. She summoned a net in front of her, breaking a blast from Scorpia.

Adora watched as Chevalier lifted his sword- the cannonblade, she remembered it being called- and swung it. As it swung, it grew longer. Adora saw a brief flash of surprise on Scorpia's face as she realized it had grown long enough to hit her, just before the blade struck her flatly, sending her bowling over. She landed just short of a ruined Horde tank, sitting abandoned along the wall.

Adora was grateful for the respite, but it was only brief. Scorpia was up almost immediately, fighting as though she hadn't been battered. She grabbed the cannonblade in one claw, holding it in place, awkward in size as it was. She fired at Chevalier, the blasts making him stumble even as they dissipated on his armor. A net from Netossa afforded him more protection as he began to shorten the blade.

Scorpia would have been able to hold her grasp on the blade, but she was interrupted by Frosta and Perfuma. Ice and vines grew in front of and around her, one vine binding Scorpia's legs together only for her to break free with another surge of energy. Scorpia broke through the barrier erected in front of her as well.

Without waiting to see how the others were prepared, Adora ran at her. She dodged underneath a blast of energy with grace, sword becoming a shield as Scorpia slammed down a claw. Adora kicked one of Scorpia's knees, full force.

Even as She-ra, the kick sent a sharp sensation of pain through her leg. Scorpia, if anything, seemed less bothered by it. Scorpia's other claw came at Adora from the side and connected, flinging her away.

Chevalier was pointing his cannonblade at Scorpia, who halted for a moment, before realizing he wouldn't fire it. She smiled and raised her arms. Chevalier closed the gap between her in a sprint, swinging the blade like a bludgeon again. Scorpia lunged backwards clumsily before an arrow from Bow sprung a net around her. More vines appeared, reaching through the net to wrap around her claws and rope them shut.

"Glimmer, now!" Chevalier shouted.

Glimmer appeared beside the entangled Scorpia, then swung her raised battle staff towards Scorpia's chip. Scorpia's stinger stuck again, like a darting snake.

"Look out!" Adora yelled.

Glimmer deflected the stinger, but her staff lost its momentum of its swing.

Scorpia surged with red energy again and her bonds broke.

"She doesn't stay down! We can't trap her!" Precipice, his voice cracking with panic.

It still seems like a mistake to have brought him here, Adora thought, especially since he isn't cleared to use that 'regret aura.'

"Like I said, she's a real beast when she isn't holding back," shouted Catra, nimbly dodging a blast from Scorpia.

"We can do it," said Adora, making sure to inject her voice with confidence. "Glimmer almost had her!"

Bow fired an arrow between Scorpia and Catra, preventing the former from closing the gap.

"I think we can pull it off if-"

The far wall of the storeroom exploded, water forming a shower that rained down upon them

Dripping wet, Mermista strode forth from the wreckage, examining the battlefield. Her left hand was gripping her wrist, where small pricks of blood welled from wounds. Then the water around her began to rise.

Adora's shield caught a blast of water from Mermista, making her stumble backward from the impact. Only a second later, another wave caught her in her exposed legs, sending her tumbling to the ground.

Frosta ran towards Mermista screaming, punching the floor with her fists. The puddle of water froze in the blink of an eye, the water Mermistsa had been controlling stilling like a living being turned to a statue in an instant.

Perfuma lifted a flower from her hair and threw it to the ground, the roots reaching another puddle and sucking it dry in a second.

"Remember?" she shouted, as she caught Adora glancing at the blossom as she pulled herself to her feet. "Roots!"

Mermista had toned down the early recklessness of her attack, keeping her water closer to herself as more of it was lost to the battle, working to replenish her reservoir with more water from the piping before Frosta could freeze it. Adora watched her blank green gaze sweep over the room.

Lifting one arm, Mermista launched water towards Chevalier, hitting him with a ferocious blast. It didn't affect his armor, but the fierce surprise blow made the knightly hero drop his cannonblade.

Adora again turned the Sword of Protection into a lasso to throw at Mermista, but she threw a jet of water into the air which met it, shoving it sideways. Netossa threw a net while Mermista was distracted, but she saw it coming and contemptuously threw water into the air, making the net tangle uselessly before dissipating. Scorpia turned from fighting Glimmer to fire at Netossa and Adora barely managed to tackle her friend out of the way.

"What can we do?!" asked Perfuma, desperately trying to harry Scorpia and Mermista with vines simultaneously.

"I think we might have to fall back," Adora shouted, ducking out of range of another of Mermista's waves. "Not retreat, but just fall back long enough to get our bearings!"

There was a sound of scraping metal from the collapsed wall and Adora turned her head, remaining mindful of Mermista and Scorpia's attacks, to see Tress crawling out of the burst piping inside the wall.

"Tress!" Precipice cried out with joy.

The 'invisibility' Precipice had gained from being on the sidelines ended with that shout and Scorpia fired a bolt of energy at him he only narrowly dodged, barely preventing himself from face planting with his power.

"I'm sorry," said Tress. She was reforming herself into a humanoid body, the serrated blades of her body neatly zipping together.

It was by no means a fair judgement, but it did unsettle Adora a bit.

"I found her and almost had her, but she was getting away. I had to choose between taking off her hand and letting her go-"

"You made the right choice!" shouted Glimmer between two successive teleportations, avoiding Scorpia's attacks while blasting her with her own magic.

"Thanks," said Tress, tiredly. "It seems things aren't going well?"

"Not really," Adora replied, blocking a wayward shot of water from Mermista. Frosta was doing well, weakening her reserves of water, but Mermista was a persistent fighter.

"What do you need?," asked Tress. "I'm ready to help."

Antares

In the open air of the Fright Zone, Legend buffeted Spinnerella with lasers. Even accounting for Legend's refusal to kill her, they were weaker than usual with his power still crippled, traveling at speeds slow enough for the Princess to evade at close range. However, they kept her on the backfoot, forcing her to keep attention on Legend to avoid being hit. Conversely, relying on the lasers to inconvenience her made closing in for a finishing blow difficult.

Spinnerella was less maneuverable than Victoria, but she blew gusts of air with precision as she half-flew and half-ran near the ground, and Victoria found herself unable to close in. The Princess's currents of air allowed her to keep enough space between them to prevent the Wretch from grappling her, and the force of the wind slowed Victoria just enough for the Princess to move out of the way each time.

It was a tepid dance through the air, but Victoria could see Spinnerella growing impatient.

If we can just hold this up long enough for her to make a mistake…

Victoria made another pass at Spinnerella, who lowered herself in the air to avoid a trio of lasers, buffeting Victoria with wind, making her fall back (does it smell of raspberries, or it is just me?).

"She's trying to make it to the storeroom," Legend noted, firing a slow-moving grey laser ahead of Spinnerella before firing several faster ones directly at her, diverting her for a few seconds. "She must be trying to reach the other Princesses for protection, since she doesn't think she can evade us forever."

Victoria glanced his way. "Can you stop her?".

"Not at this rate, not if I don't want to hurt her too badly," responded Legend, firing his lasers rhythmically. "I hate to do this, but you might have to go in and stop her. I'm not doing much more than wearing her down slowly." He let out a small groan of frustration. "You can imagine how much I miss the full extent of my powers right now, even if the last time I used lasers for harmless riot control was hardly under the best of circumstances."

"Right," said Victoria. More quietly, she added, "I'll try to get around her."

Victoria pushed herself to full speed, rocketing herself in front of Spinnerella, pinning the Princess between herself and Legend. She had done this before, and the results had been the same each time, with Spinnerella riding her whirlwind to the side while evading Legend's lasers and staying ahead of Victoria.

This time, Victoria hung back rather than charge her. Instead, she lowered herself near to the ground, her forcefield grabbing debris.

Lifting herself up, Victoria examined Spinnerella, who moved in a strange zig-zag motion in three dimensions.

I can't hit her with the full force of my attacks, but if I can make her think she might be in danger…

"I'm sick and tired of your bullshit!" Victoria yelled, channeling the same inner frustrations she had summoned for Shin's goons in that strange abyss. She threw the debris she had gathered just to Spinnerella's left.

Spinnerella lifted herself on a spiral of her wind just to her right.

Victoria flew right at her.

Spinnerella blew a powerful gust directly at her, slowing Victoria down as the Wretch's fingers brushed within an inch of her face, surprise flashing on her face.

A laser from Legend finally struck Spinnerella, hitting her square in the shoulder. The Princess let out her first visible sign of pain and frustration, screaming. Without warning, she lifted herself high into the air once again, above the heads of Victoria and Legend, lasers flying around her. She leapt in a high arc from the tornado that had lifted her, landing a fair distance away. As she landed, the wind cushioning her fall, she immediately rushed into a nearby doorway.

"She's going to make it to the storeroom!"

Victoria gritted her teeth. She and Legend flew in after her.

Netossa

"Spinny!" Netossa shouted as her wife flew into the storeroom. Her moment of euphoria was tempered by the realization that Spinnerella's presence probably only made things harder for everyone involved.

"Hello, Beloved," Spinny said as she blew a gale of wind around her, pushing in all directions. Netossa was nearly knocked over by the wind and she saw Frosta tumble with the gust. Scorpia, who withstood the wind better than anyone other than Chevalier and Precipice, took advantage of the attack to inject her with paralytic venom.

"Frosta!" Bow yelled.

Scorpia fired a ballast of energy at him. Bow danced out of the way, but she leapt towards him. Bow dodged again, but a gust from Spinny struck him and knocked him off-balance. Scorpia clubbed him with one of her claws as he stumbled and he flew towards the wall.

Netossa pulled herself from her daze and lifted her arm, throwing a net at Scorpia while she was distracted, only for a gust from Spinny to send it flying wide. Netossa could see Mermista readying a large wave to strike her. She prepared to evade, moving to place Scorpia between her and Mermista when the Princess of Salineas turned her gaze.

Antares and Legend were flying in after Spinny, unharmed. Legend fired two volleys of lasers, one towards Mermista and another at her water. Mermista avoided the first volley, but the beams of the second pierced the water, throwing up steam as they evaporated it.

Netossa watched Antares fly towards Spinny, debris floating near her in a loose circle thanks to that strange forcefield she had.

"No !" Netossa shouted. "Antares, hold up! The plan has fallen apart with Spinnerella here. I'm going to save her, but I need you to take on Scorpia."

Antares hesitated for a second, but wheeled away, focusing on the new threat.

Spinny laughed. "You want me for yourself, don't you, beloved?"

Netossa threw a net and Spinny evaded with ease, landing on the frame of the Horde tank. "If you really wanted to be together forever, you'd join me, not try to beat me. But I guess you don't care all that much." Spinnerella strode along the length of the tank's primary gun, releasing gusts of wind into the battle.

Netossa ran towards the tank, avoiding a stray shot from Scorpia, preparing to throw her nets. Even when she's chipped, I can tell she's fatigued. Some of the signs in her posture are still there. If I don't let up on her, I can win.

A silver blade struck the side of the barrel, just ahead of Spinny's feet, leaving a glowing line running vertically downwards.

Precipice, Netossa thought, remembering his abilities.

Netossa lifted a piece of rubble from the ground beside her and hurled it with all her might at the underside of the barrel.

There was a gasp from Spinny as the barrel split. She went down with it, too surprised to lift herself into the air, barely managing to break the fall. Her left leg smashed into the ground.

Perfect.

Sorry, Spinny.

Netossa threw a net with perfect aim. Spinny attempted to hobble out of the way, but this time she was not able to. She was trapped.

Netossa ran up to Spinny, grabbing her and hugging tight.

"I'm sorry if this hurts," she said, before delivering a swift blow to the back of Spinny's neck.

Antares

Victoria grabbed Scorpia's arm and slammed the claw shut with the Wretch's grip. As soon as the forcefield's limbs began to close around her, the Princess began to glow red. Victoria pulled herself away before her forcefield popped, avoiding a swipe from Scorpia's other claw, and a follow up blast with aerial maneuvers.

"Christ," she muttered , landing on the ground a safe distance away. Relatively safe, when dealing with Blasters anyways.

"She really is nice when you get to know her," said Perfuma.

"I'm sure she is," Victoria said. " I can assure you I won't be prejudiced because of this. Right now, how do we beat her without hurting her too badly?"

Adora spoke up, pulling back from a duel with Scorpia to allow Glimmer to relieve her, "It's like fighting a tank," She paused. "Metaphorically. I've never had much difficulty fighting tanks. You?"

"No tanks," Victoria remarked. "Mechs though."

"Oh, neat." Adora gave her a confident smile. "Well, I guess this is metaphorically your first tank fight. Congrats!"

Victoria just returned it with a tight smile of her own, not sure how to parse this mid-battle banter. Or how relatively at ease they were with the situation.

I probably should appreciate that they're not hostile.

"We need to restrain her," shouted Catra, avoiding a blast of water from Mermista. "We almost had her a while ago, even if we're short Bow and Frosta now."

Glimmer teleported, narrowly avoiding the sting of Scorpia's tail. Scorpia lifted a claw to cover her nape as Glimmer teleported in behind her and let magic loose. Glimmer avoided another stab of Scorpia's stinger and teleported away from further retaliation.

Victoria lifted herself into the air as Scorpia turned her attention towards her, soaring over a blast of energy that struck the ground where she had been standing, scorching it black.

Catra lept towards Scorpia, who turned to face her. Victoria took the moment to lower herself to Adora.

"What if I lure Mermista away?"

"We weren't doing great before she showed up, but that would be helpful. We need to focus as much of our attention on Scorpia as we can."

"Right," said Victoria. "It might be a challenge to get her away, since the chipped Princesses seem to be focused on reinforcing each other."

"That doesn't mean they'll let us wander around freely," Adora noted, "they probably want to chip or kill you now, as much as they want us."

Victoria grimaced. "That they probably do."

Glimmer appeared beside them. "I caught some of what you were saying. Remember the interference around Hordak's inner sanctum and throne room? There might be something there. If you make it clear that you're heading in that direction, she might follow you."

"Good a shot as any- LOOK OUT!"

Adora shoved Victoria out of the way of the brunt of a blast of water from Mermista.

Victoria flew to Adora, giving her a hand to her feet, "Are you okay?"

"I can take quite a few hits," she said, smiling while shaking her hand. "Next time I'll let you take the hit I think."

"To be fair, this is our first fight together."

"And it won't be the last." Adora raised her voice to a holler as she stood up taller. "Now go to the throne room and make Horde Prime regret ever trying to pull this on us!"

Victoria flew out the door of the storeroom. It was only a few short turns to the exit and the open air. She glanced back and saw Mermista following her, riding a wave of frothing water.

Victoria didn't have the advantage of Kenzie's HUD at the moment, but she had been shown the locations of Hordak's throne room and sanctum as they had prepared for the attack, and had dedicated time to memorizing parts of the map. Stealing another glance backwards to ensure Mermista was still following, she flew away.

Victoria was careful to keep Mermista in sight, avoiding rising geysers of water by lifting herself higher in the air. Flying over the industrial ruins of the Fright Zone until she approached her target, she angled herself downwards, and flew cleanly into the building she knew contained the center of Hordak's power.

Water surged towards Victoria from above her, the pressure strong enough the Wretch shattered underneath it. Victoria changed her flight path to avoid the crush of water and narrowly shot herself past the descending wave.

Forget about luring her away, I'm fighting for my life.

Must be a day ending in "y."

A wave of water struck her, popping the Wretch again with its onslaught. More water surged even as the front that had struck the forcefield lost its momentum, and Victoria spiraled into the wall beside a pipe. She twisted again, avoiding a whip of water that crumpled the pipe like paper. The pipe then burst, more water spraying out and expanding Mermista's strength. Water rose to meet Victoria, enveloping her just as the Wretch reformed.

I hope she can't crush me with this.

Victoria flew upwards, only to meet the ceiling. More piping lining the hallway burst, and Mermista summoned more water to her command, which surged towards Victoria. Victoria charged forward, unsure whether she was moving towards or away from Mermista, but the water kept pace with her. Victoria felt her lungs begin to complain, her brain screaming for oxygen, but she persisted.

The water swung unexpectedly, moving Victoria with it and she was smashed into the floor. Even insulated by the water, the forcefield shattered from the force, and more flooded around her.

Black spots swam in Victoria's eyes like small fish in the water.
No. No!

Victoria caught Mermista's green gaze watching her, muddled by the water. She turned in the other direction and sped away as the forcefield came back, holding her breath despite the scream of her lungs.

If I can just find an open space, I can win this.

She-ra

"She really is holding up ten-on-one," said Legend.

He was buffeting Scorpia with lasers. The lasers, despite Legend not changing their properties on impact, were moving slightly faster than they had before and hit just a bit harder than against Spinnerella. Still, Scorpia - even with her bulk - was able to avoid most and tank the remainder with her carapace, returning enough fire that Legend had to swerve and evade.

Adora grimaced as her shield deflected a blast. "It's a little one-sided considering we're not fighting to kill."

"That's not very comforting," said Perfuma.

"Again, we almost had her when Bow caught her with one of his trick arrows."

"And he's not in fighting shape right now and did you see what happened when Glimmer tried to fire one?"

"We have Netossa."

"And we're still not winning!" Perfuma shouted as she grew a vine so its path intercepted one of Scorpia's blasts.

Catra ran up to Adora.

"We need a better plan," she hissed, massaging a bruise on her arm. "Maybe Glimmer can manage to blind her while Chevalier hems her in on one side with his blade. That could give Netossa or you a better shot, especially if Perfuma uses her vines well."

Catra was interrupted by more firing from Scorpia and she and Adora lept to avoid her attacks. Adora heard a scream from Perfuma.

"Perfuma!"

"It was only a glancing hit from some stray energy," she replied, growing more vines to protect her.

"You're hurt-" Adora had let herself be distracted and only saw Scorpia's attack just in time to block it with the Sword of Protection. Adora screamed as the sword flickered and narrowly lunged away to avoid another blast. Legend landed in between her and Scorpia, bombarding the Princess with a cascade low-energy lasers, and gave Adora enough respite to return to her bearings.

"We can't hold out much longer," said Catra. "Maybe we'll get a lucky hit in, but at this rate, she is going to win through attrition. And… I can't let that happen. Not just for our own sake, but for hers. And… I need to help save her. It's the least I can do."

Tress, unfolded, pulling herself together near Adora and Catra.

"I might be able to hold her," she said, her voice edged with stark nerves.

Adora looked at her incredulously, "You saw what happens to anything that grabs a hold of her, right?"

"You've seen my body. It's… it's not exactly human to say the least. If I can grasp her with my extremities, but not immediately let go, that might be what we need."

Adora turned her sword into a lasso, flinging it at Scorpia, who grabbed it midair and banished it with a red glow.

Tress turned to Catra. "I'm not suicidal, I think it might be our best chance. If I can hold on for just a little while longer than your lasso or Netossa's nets last…"

"Do it," said Catra. At Adora's stern look she added, "I don't like self-sacrifice, Adora, but I also don't want us all to die. Let's trust her to do this."

Adora glanced at Catra, and then at Tress, sighing. "Fine."

Tress nodded. Adora signalled for Legend to halt his barrage.

Catra ran towards Scorpia, claws drawn, and her opponent turned to meet her. She leaped towards Scorpia, filling her vision. Scorpia raised a claw… and found it closed shut. She looked down and her blank gaze saw the same had happened to her other claw. Her tail was held in place as well. Another tendril wrapped around her two legs and pulled them together, toppling her.

Scorpia glowed red with energy and Adora heard Tress shriek. Despite the battle, Adora closed her eyes and winced at the scream.

She opened them again. Tress still held onto Scorpia, her face, for the first time in the battle showing an expression beyond one of mild surprise. Then Catra landed on her back and struck the chip embedded in her neck with a single stroke of her claws.

Horde Prime

"Accessing the Heart of Etheria will be trivially easy," said Horde Prime, raising his arms as he spoke to his little brothers. "The First Ones imagined themselves as the purifiers of this universe and guarded that role as jealously as they could. Of course, as a lesser race, their best is no match for my intellect."

The clones chanted reverently in response, their voices a choir of unyielding devotion.

Horde Prime heard a crash outside of the entrance to the throne room.

"Brothers," he ordered. "Be ready to fire."

Each clone complied, lifting their shoulder cannons at the doorway.

"Only fire on my command," Horde Prime instructed as a scraping sound echoed down the hallway, "but do not hesitate should I do so."

There were more sounds, indistinct crashes moving closer to the throne room.

A few more seconds, and a wave of water burst into the room with the ferocity of an orbital bombardment.

Horde Prime was already planning to berate Mermista for such an unnecessarily theatrical entrance when he saw the figure fly high up towards the high ceiling of the throne room. Soaking wet and with one leg dragging limply behind her it was… She-ra? No, not quite the same figure, but similar-looking enough.

"What is happening?" he asked.

"Lord Prime, she came here to attack you."

Horde Prime glanced at the soaked woman. "Fire on her!"

The familiar sounds of laserfire began and he watched the flying figure retreat behind a buttress for cover, narrowly avoiding laser blasts with swift flight maneuvers.

"What of the others?"

"Spinnerella was taken by the Rebellion. Scorpia is fighting them on her own as we speak."

"Where did this strange flying individual come from, Dear Sister?"

"I know not, Lord Prime, but the Etherians are accompanied by several individuals with enhanced abilities. Not Princesses."

Horde Prime entered Scorpia's mind for a second. He saw serrated tendrils wrap around both her claws as she was pulled backwards to the ground.

It looks like that useless Princess needs help more urgently than I do.

"Return to her side and help her defeat them. We have this adversary well in hand."

Mermista nodded. "Do be aware she has a shield of some sort. You will need to break it and follow up quickly with another hit to defeat her."

With that, she surfed away on a wave of water.

"Now," said Horde Prime, turning his attention to the buttress where the flying woman was still pinned. "I hope to end this as soon as possible. You may join the glorious collective or you may perish at my hand, but this foolhardy fight of yours will be over in but a moment."

"You don't look Etherian," Horde Prime continued when no sound came from behind the buttress. "It really is a shame that you have let yourself be roped into their futile resistance to me. They are emotional creatures, so I can understand what makes them appealing to lesser beings."

There was no response. Horde Prime ordered another salvo of fire from his clones, who struck the flying woman's cover with lasers, spraying molten slag and rubble on impact.

At this rate, it may be most efficient to simply melt all the way through.

"The denizens of Etheria, and other planets that I have blessed with the opportunity to join the collective of the Horde, are happy - no - delighted to have been brought into the light of my being. The opportunity to join my kingdom is a special one, to be exalted in service of a higher calling. My chosen siblings will serve, sheltered from the cleansing flame that will sweep through this universe."

More silence. Horde Prime didn't know how to interpret it.

"They truly do love me. Even if they had to be made to do so."

There was the sound of an impact behind the buttress and Horde Prime saw shards of metal fall to the ground from behind it.

"This is your last chance to be saved."

The flying woman rocketed out of cover without a warning and some of his clones fired.

But…something was flying from her, towards him.

It wasn't until the metal - somehow fired by this woman - hit the observant clone who had leaped in front of Horde Prime as soon as she had left cover, that he realized what was happening.

Metal shards tore through his clones like a barrage of ancient artillery. Two of whom dropped immediately, lifeless.

"Kill her!" shouted Horde Prime, pointing at the figure as he shoved the limp body of the clone who had protected him to the ground.

The woman flew downwards with remarkable speed. Soaking wet and with one leg twisted, her eyes were filled with fury.

Her eyes met his own.

"Fuck you!."

Horde Prime felt his frustration, in an instant, transmute into fear.

A clone a few feet away from her screamed as something grabbed his head and lifted him off the ground, flinging him away at high speeds, bowling over another clone. Horde Pride screamed, "Shoot her!"

Useless. The woman was among a crowd of clones now, dancing like the breeze as she tossed them aside and tore them apart like they were made of paper, a deadly whirlwind.

Worse, Horde Prime realized that the woman was gathering the shards of the Sword of Protection around her in the air.

Horde Prime barely registered the thought before the remains rocketed away from her. He felt one pierce his shoulder and he screamed in agony.

Impudence! The last time anyone even dared to inflict such pain was so long ago, that I do not even remember. And with such a vile instrument!

One clone's laser was aimed squarely at the woman, but it struck something before reaching her. The laser weapon and the clone were dashed to pieces before the woman flew low to the ground, evading more clones as she approached Horde Prime.

Her shield.

Horde Prime lashed out with his fist, but she flew above him with ease. She avoided a laser and flew towards the closest clone guard, who dropped to the ground screaming as his chest caved in, white armor shattering like plastic. She quickly turned around to strike the nape of a clone that was still gaping at where she had stood.

Is that one defective? Warriors shouldn't lose track of their enemy in such a stupid manner.

It was only as the woman stopped, golden armor scuffed but undamaged, that Horde Prime realized that all his clones had been defeated.

The woman turned towards him, her face a mask with a gaze twisted in fury.

Horde Prime tried to punch her, even his hair snaking out to strike at this strange warrior. The woman tilted her flight trajectory upwards, striking his face with what must have been her forcefield despite sailing over his head. Horde Prime stumbled backwards, tripping into Hordak's throne, vision wavering, landing in a sitting position.

Horde Prime searched for the woman, only to feel a force shove him downwards further into the seat like a stake hammered into the ground. She had struck him from directly above. She pivoted her body and landed in front of him, one force holding him by the throat while two others held his arms still on the throne's armrests. Others shattered his legs to pieces.

Pain!

The woman was saying something. Interrogating or simply screaming fury, he did not know, his mind distracted by the alien sensation of pain shooting through him.

Horde Prime left the body he occupied, and entered a clone on watch in the throne room of the Velvet Glove.

His feeling of relief was only equaled by his terror.