CHAPTER 10: TREASON

Glimmer shot immediately to her feet. "What?!"

Bow stood as well. "Did...you just say we'd kill him?"

Entrapta and Scorpia glanced at each other, and then looked at Catra, who gritted her teeth as she said, "Can we please discuss this when we're not standing in front of the prisoner?"

Glimmer stormed toward Catra. "Catra, I thought we'd made this clear! We don't execute people! If we did, we would've-" Glimmer stopped herself suddenly, and then bit her lip. She glanced from Catra, to Scorpia, to Entrapta, and then to Adam.

She'd stopped herself too late. The sentiment was already out there, and the former Horde members already seemed to know what Glimmer was about to say. Scorpia and Entrapta both glanced at each other. Scorpia hung her head.

Entrapta leaned toward Scorpia and whispered, "Did I miss something?"

"No," Scorpia said, her voice low and her eyes cast downward. "You didn't."

Glimmer turned back to Catra, whose expression was still stony, but her twitching tail and lowered ears gave away her true feeling. "I-I...Catra...I…"

"Oh, it's okay." Adam said, letting out another wide-mouthed yawn. "I've been trying to kill myself anyway. She just won't let me."

The room became silent as everyone turned to stare at Adam. Adam noticed this and shrugged. They then looked up toward Glimmer and Catra. Glimmer quickly shied away from their glances, but Catra met each and every one of their eyes.

The silence was finally broken by Catra's footsteps as she marched toward the door. It opened and she started to take a step through, but then stopped. She stood in the doorway for several seconds, drew in a deep breath, and then let it out. She then spun around on her heel and walked back in, her pace a bit less mechanical than it was moments before.

She made her way toward Adam, Scorpia sliding aside to give her room to pass. Glimmer, unsure what Catra was about to do, stood unsteadily, her body swaying alternately toward and then away from Adam. Should she get in the way? Should she let Catra do...whatever it was she was about to do?

She pursed her lips briefly. Or had she already done enough damage?

Catra, her arms hanging at her sides in a non-threatening stance, knelt down next to Adam. He was facing partly away from her, and she studied him briefly with a much softer expression than before. She lifted a hand, cradled his chin between her thumb and forefinger, and gently turned his unfocused gaze toward her.

"Why have you tried to kill yourself?" she asked, her voice just barely louder than a whisper, her tone almost nurturing. The others had rarely, if ever, heard Catra talk like this. "Tell us, please."

Adam took a deep breath. "Because I don't feel like my life means anything to me. I was always the Prince, the only heir to the Empire. Then they found out I had the potential to become the new She-Ra, and it became all about that." He took a deep breath, and then his voice took on a tone of absolute boredom. "I was going to be flying to every corner of the Empire, putting down the rebellions, fighting and destroying our enemies, bringing glory and all that shit. But I didn't want that. I didn't even want to be the Prince, really. I didn't feel like a Prince." His voice became steady, almost serious. "I didn't even feel like a boy. I'm...not really sure what I felt like, but I knew it wasn't what my parents and everyone else thought I was."

Adam looked away from Catra. "I didn't get a choice though. So I did what I was supposed to do. I trained, and when it was time I became the She-Ra. I did the fighting, and the destroying, and the killing." He let out a mirthless chuckle. "And then the weirdest thing happened. They found another She-Ra. That's never happened before. Mara was from some farming planet way out on the fringes, and I don't know how they figured out she had the power, but she was everyone's new hero."

"Wait," Glimmer said, kneeling down at Adam's other side. "Mara. The Mara? The Mara who was sent to Etheria, who put Etheria in another universe?"

"Yup," Adam said. He chuckled again, but this time it seemed genuine. "They were so pissed about that. So the focus was back on me. And it sucked. But then they had another problem. This new enemy was wiping the Empire out planet by planet, either taking control or just killing everything."

"Horde Prime," Scorpia said, her voice almost a whisper.

"But...that was a thousand years ago... " Bow observed.

Adam continued, "Yup. They had this big plan about what they were going to do. But I realized what was going on, and I was...I was just done with it. So I tried to get away." He shrugged. "Then I tried to end myself. A few different times, a few different ways. But the She-Ra inside me always kicked in at the last second and kept me going." A tear slid down his cheek. "It's a prison, that. But I got better at it, tricking the powers. I actually managed to get scars that wouldn't heal. Wanna see 'em?"

Glimmer did the best she could to not cover her face in horror. She felt sudden, overpowering guilt at what she'd tried to do to him. She looked up at Catra, whose eyes and drooped ears told Glimmer that Catra was feeling similar remorse.

"I guess they figured it out," Adam continued, "'cos that's when the 'big plan' started. They made me go to sleep and shipped me off to some huge underground bunker on some backwater planet. Honestly I was just glad to not have to do any more fighting for a while, so I just did it."

He shrugged, and then continued in that bored tone. "And then I woke up. The war was over a long time ago, and everyone was dead. Everyone but me. I had this new computer program giving me orders, doing things even worse than my parents did to me when I was a kid. Heh, Last Resort almost sounds like my mom sometimes." He sighed. "She told me that the war was over, that I was the Empire's last hope, and then put me on a ship and gave me a mission, and sent me to Etheria."

As soon as he finished that, his head started rolling to one side. "That was weird," he said, his voice becoming slurred again. He tried to train his unfocused eyes on Glimmer, but ended up looking everywhere but her face. "Are you magic or something?"

The question hung out there for a long time, until Bow finally said, "Please, Adam, please help us stop this ship and go back for our friend." He paused. "Last Resort...is doing the same thing to her that she did to you, or maybe worse. We have to help her. Will you help us?"

Adam seemed to be trying to focus his eyes on Bow, but they kept going crossed. He blinked a few times and shook his head. "Sure, why not? You seem like nice savages. What do I gotta do?"

Bow, obviously not expecting such a compliant response, hesitated. "The - um, the, uh, ship is locked on a hyperwarp course back to Etheria. Our home, and away from Adora. It won't let us stop or go back to Crelus."

Entrapta held out an arm appendage toward Adam. "I rebuilt this ship from the ground up. I thought I reprogrammed Darla so I was the administrator, but I guess She-Ra...Adora," she corrected herself, "Adora found a lock I just can't hack. It'd be kinda cool - if we weren't completely locked out of flying our ship."

Adam, his eyelids heavy, shrugged. "It's a built-in thing. The She-Ra always has to be able to commandeer any Imperial ship."

"You're a She-Ra," Bow said. "Can you help us unlock the ship?" He also offered a hand to Adam.

Adam glanced sleepily between Entrapta and Bow, and then raised his hands to theirs and let them pull him to his unsteady feet. "Why not? Got nothing better to do."

The others stood and gave the three of them room as they made their way, Adam relying on their help, to the front panel. "So," Entrapta said, with a sparkle in her eye, "wanna give it a try?"

"Ship," Adam said. "Administrator access. Unlock all controls."

"Administrator not recognized."

"Oh, right," Adam said, raising a limp-wristed arm. "By the power of D'Vann," he said, flatly.

"Wait, wait!" Bow said, almost lunging at Adam's outstretched hand.

Nothing happened. No sword appeared, no flash of light.

"That's weird," Adam said.

Catra was suddenly at his other side, her hands up and ready. "If he transforms right now or he'll go red-eye berserk again!" Catra said. "Right?"

"Y-yeah," Bow said, "um, probably?"

Adam stretched out his fingers again. "By the power of D'Vann?" Still nothing.

"But it's not working," Bow said. "How come?"

"Not sure," Adam said. "Feeling kind of tired. Maybe I'll feel better after a nap." His legs gave out and Bow just barely managed to catch him before he fell hard onto the deck.

"The chip!" Entrapta said suddenly. "Of course!"

"What chip?" Glimmer said.

"The one behind his ear! The one I detected earlier when you guys were fighting him! When he got hit there, that's when he went all nuts. Maybe it's making him act this way because it's damaged, and he can't be She-Ra with a broken chip! So all we gotta do is fix it!"

Catra said, "Wait - you're going to fix the chip that made him psycho?"

"No no no," Entrapta said. "I'm gonna take it out. I've got experience in that after all." Suddenly several different tools, from a scalpel to a wire cutter to a few others that not even Bow recognized, appeared in her hair appendages. "Let's get ready for some surgery! I've learned from my mistakes last time!"

"Your what?" Catra said, her hand immediately jumping up to touch the scar on the back of her neck. "What mistakes?"

"Oh, that's not important," Entrapta said. She wiggled her eyebrows at Adam, whose eyes rolled up in her general direction. "Let's go have some fun."

Adora clutched her head and fell to her knees. Her She-Ra form faded for the twelfth time, leaving her yet again in a chilly room, in her underwear, her head aching and her heart pounding hard in her chest.

"Unit MARA-03 powered successfully."

Adora whimpered, barely able to respond.

"Again."

"P-please no more…" Adora said, her voice thin and reedy. She let out a weak cry when a jab of pain stabbed into her brain.

"Unhelpful speech. Again."

"N-no…" Adora started, but another sharp pain dropped her from knees to lying fully prone on the floor.

"Unhelpful speech. Again."

Adora tried to pull her arms in, to push herself up off the floor, but her muscles wouldn't respond to her commands anymore.

"Disobedience is not acceptable. You are property of the Etherian Empire and will obey."

Adora tried, but could not will her muscles to respond.

After a long silence, Last Resort said, "It would seem a lifetime on that backward planet has prevented you from reaching your potential. That will be rectified."

One more stab of pain tore through her head...and then suddenly she was somewhere else, standing. She looked down and could see her body. She was in She-Ra form, towering over what looked like a group of small rodents in an otherwise vast, blank space.

One of the rodents charged at her and she instinctively jumped back. It bared its teeth, its mouth dripping some kind of thick dark liquid, and then it launched itself up at her face.

She shrieked and batted it away. It struck the invisible floor, but immediately righted itself and scurried toward her again.

With a cry of anger and fear, she drove the sword's tip downward into the rodent, bisecting it. Blood, much more than such a small creature should have contained, sprayed everywhere.

A large gob of it splashed the front of her armor. Adora looked down and was surprised to see that the blood remained. Dirt, water - things always slid off her when she was in She-Ra form. The red blood remained, and actually began to spread out and replace her armor's usual white and gold.

She heard a series of squeaks, and looked back up, first at the rodent she had killed, and then at the others. They all immediately charged her, and without thinking she exterminated each one with her sword just as she had the first.

There was a brief flash of Last Resort's face, and then the scenery changed. She was in a wooded area, one she immediately recognized as being the Whispering Woods on Etheria. She was still a giant, though, towering over the trees.

And then she saw what was below her. What was there now, instead of the dead rodents, made her gasp. They were her friends. And they were all unmoving, silent. Some were in two or more pieces, and blood was everywhere.

Perfuma.

Mermista.

Entrapta.

Sea Hawk.

Micah.

Swift Wind.

Bow.

Glimmer.

"No," she said. And then she looked down at the rodent at her feet, the last one she had killed. "Please no."

It was Catra, looking just as she had in the vision Adora had at the Heart of Etheria. Long, wild hair bound into a shaggy ponytail. Half jacket in white and gold, just like She-Ra's armor, tall boots, and on her chest, the copper wing that had once been Adora's belt buckle.

Catra's eyes were wide open. Staring up at her. Accusing. Terrified. In agony.

"You did this to me, Adora." That was Catra's voice, coming from all around her. The trees and shrubs swayed in time with the words.

"You did this to me, Adora," came the voices of all her friends, echoing and repeating, the trees swaying even more violently as the echoes grew in intensity.

"You did this to me, Adora."

"No."

"You did this to me, Adora."

"No!"

"You did this to me, Adora."

"No no no!"

"YOU DID THIS TO ME ADORA!"

"NO!"

She squeezed her eyes shut, and the echoes suddenly stopped. She opened them again and, now able to see over the trees, she spied an army of She-Ras roaming Bright Moon and leveling every village, sacking the castle, and slaughtering everyone they came across.

"You did this, Adora." She recognized Mara's voice, the one that had once told her she deserved to be loved, but now speaking to her in an accusing tone. She looked all around, but could not see its origin. She then noticed that the bodies of her friends were gone from the forest floor at her feet, but their blood remained.

"You did this, Adora." That was Adam's voice. She looked around again, but couldn't find its source.

"No…" Adora managed weakly.

"You did this, Adora." This one was directly behind her. She spun around to see...herself. Her old She-Ra form, with the wild flowing hair and the simple winged tiara. This Adora's eyes were deep red.

Adora shook her head.

"You did this, Adora." She snapped to her left, where she saw Adam, also with red eyes, staring her down.

"No…"

"You did this, Adora." To her right, now, was Mara. Her eyes, always so warm in the visions and the hologram, were empty. "You deserve this."

Adora clutched her head. "No!"

She heard a roar, and opened her eyes. Light Hope was now standing in front of her. "You did this, Adora." Her blue color changed to red, and Adora knew she was now looking at Last Resort.

"You're finally fulfilling your purpose, Adora."

Adora tried to scream, but her lungs were empty. She drew in a sharp breath that made her chest burn, and then tried to scream. No sound came out.

And then, again, she was somewhere else. Darkness had enveloped her. The disorientation was so strong it made her want to retch, but she found there was no strength in her abdomen to do that.

She then realized her eyes were closed. She opened them, but it was as if she hadn't opened them at all. All around her was complete darkness.

She tried to move, but her muscles were too weak to do much of anything. With what little movement she could manage, though, she felt something…or multiple somethings…were pulling at her skin when she tried to move.

"H-hello?" she said, her voice now working but little more than a guttural croak.

Her voice did not return to her. The air felt like a cold, wet blanket lying atop her.

"Light...Hope? I - Last Resort?"

"You are awake."

A light flashed on overhead, blinding her and sending a wave of pain through her head. She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to bring a hand up to her face, but her arm felt as if it weighed a ton.

"It would seem you would have been better-served being conditioned to maturity in the birthing tank, rather than being sent to Etheria as an infant. A strategic miscalculation that can be overcome."

Adora wasn't sure if she was expected to respond, but even if she had a clue how to respond, she didn't feel capable of it.

"A useful finding from the experiment. One we have already put into practice with the first full batch."

Adora slowly opened her eyes, forcing them to acclimate to the blinding light. Eventually she was able to see enough through slitted eyelids to look around. The hologram of Last Resort was standing over her, and she could see small appendages - robot arms, maybe - connected to the table and moving back and forth silently. They were going about some kind of work.

"They are repairing you," Last Resort said, apparently noticing Adora's curiosity.

The part of the slab upon which her head was lying tilted upward allowing her to see the rest of her body. She was fully naked, her body covered from the top of her chest to her ankles in dozens, possibly even hundreds, of tiny, bluish crystal shards. They were inserted into her skin, and in some places she could see dried blood that had oozed from the tiny wounds.

"Wha…what…?" Suddenly she found she could barely move her jaw, lips, and tongue to speak.

"You are being prepared for reconditioning," Last Resort said.

Adora made a wordless sound of inquiry.

"We must cleanse your body of the toxins from that world. And we must cleanse your mind of the weakness that drives you to resist your mission."

"W-wait…I-"

"Conditioning commencing."

A tube connected to Adora's arm, which she hadn't noticed before, filled with a thick, silver liquid. As soon as the liquid reached the skin of her arms, Adora felt a searing heat radiate from the injection point, up her arm, and into her chest. As the sensation spread, the crystals sticking out of her illuminated blue, then green, following the same pattern as the heat filling her.

She tried to scream, but her vocal cords felt like they were paralyzed. Instead, as the pain continued to intensify, she let out a voiceless wail through a mouth she could barely open.

Last Resort was looking down at her, with an expression on her artificial face that looked almost like smugness.

"It seems we have much work to do with you."

Back in the medical bay, Adam was strapped down on the cot again, this time on his stomach, head to the side.

Scorpia and Glimmer were standing to either side while Entrapta, her insectoid-looking facemask down, closed in with her tools. Glimmer had her hand laid on Adam's head, holding back his hair and exposing the chip, which as Entrapta had earlier predicted was right behind his left ear.

To all those who could see, the sight of it brought back memories of just a few months ago, when their friends, especially the observing Scorpia and Catra, were chipped by Horde Prime. Scorpia, who had the clearest view of the chip from her vantage, felt a shudder through her spine and down to her tail. She reached back and hugged it under her arm, to prevent it from shaking and possibly stinging someone by accident.

This chip was slightly different from Prime's chips, but it was still unsettling. It was shaped like a three-pointed star, not round, and was pulsing red and green instead of being solid green like Prime's chips. To Scorpia, it looked like an even more evil version of Prime's chips.

"Looks a lot like that First Ones disc you were experimenting with," Glimmer said.

"I know," Entrapta said. "I can't wait to run a whole bunch of tests on it!"

"Much, much later," Bow said, remembering how badly Entrapta's experiment had gone. "Please."

"Oh, of course. I learn from my mistakes, remember?"

"Sorry," Bow said.

"I forgive you," Entrapta said. "Okay friends, let's get this chip offa him!"

She reached down with a scalpel and some kind of flat tool with a curved end.

Scorpia decided to look away. Not that the sight of blood bothered her. Certainly she'd seen plenty of that over a lifetime of training to be a soldier, and then being a soldier. But it gave her an unpleasant memory of having her own chip removed from the base of her skull. Glimmer had been kind enough to have the Bright Moon healers do it for her in her sleep, as they'd done for many, many of her subjects, but just the thought of a device that had wires attached somewhere in her brain, and that device getting tugged on…

The thought made her skin crawl.

Glimmer, on the other hand, watched intently. While she found it fascinating, she also felt like it was her duty, as Queen, to observe this directly. She had ordered it, more or less, so she should have to watch it be done.

As a commander in the Rebellion she'd seen her share of injuries and blood in the past, though watching Entrapta work, her hair arms incredibly gentle and delicate, combined with the knowledge that this chip was likely tied directly into Adam's brain, made it somewhat difficult for her.

But this was her mission. She was in charge. She owed it to everyone who'd gotten hurt, everyone…who'd been left behind…to see every step through.

It didn't take Entrapta long to prise the chip the rest of the way from Adam's skin. Unlike Prime's chips, there was no separate mount for the chip. A few layers of skin had peeled off in a few spots, but Entrapta had managed to keep the scalplel's blade as close as possible to the chip. In the end there were only a few oozing dots of blood by the time Entrapta had the chip fully separated from the skin.

All that was left was a small bundle of what looked like hairs connecting to the chip, and running through a small plastic-looking grommet into his skull, previously hidden by the chip.

"Wow, that's a lot more leads than Horde Prime's chips had," Entrapta said.

"What does that mean?" Catra said.

"Oh, nothing much. Just gotta be reeeeeeeeally careful that I cut them in the right order."

"Maybe I should help," Bow said. "I helped the Bright Moon healers remove a lot of chips."

"Sure, c'mon over," Entrapta said.

Bow slid in beside Glimmer, who seemed reluctant to give up her spot. He laid a hand on her shoulder. "I got it, Glimmer."

Glimmer looked at him. She wasn't only here because she wanted - needed - to watch the procedure. She was here because, if Adam came to his senses too quickly, she and Scorpia were the two who would be most able to stop him. Without Adora around, anyway.

She glanced at the earring in Bow's left ear. The one she'd given him only minutes ago, along with a sacred promise. If she trusted him enough with her kingdom, she could trust him with this.

She slid her hand away slightly while Bow sidled in and laid his hand on hers. They lingered like that for a moment, and then Glimmer slid her hand out and backed away. Bow stepped into the spot she'd been occupying, and Glimmer backed away further, taking a spot next to Catra. She felt something warm squeeze her hand, and she looked down to see Catra's hand intertwined with hers.

She looked up at Catra's face. Catra blinked slowly, and then squeezed her hand again. Glimmer nodded, and then turned back to the surgery being performed in front of them.

She lost track of time, the minutes ticking away by Adam's rhythmic snoring. Entrapta and Bow chatted as they worked together on the chip, using plenty of words Glimmer didn't recognize. She was starting to grow restless, feeling an increasing desire to be anywhere but here, in this room.

She had almost started dozing off on her feet when Entrapta shouted, "Eureka!" She held up a tool in one of her arm appendages, and clasped in that tool was the tiny, three-pointed chip. "You and I are gonna have so much fun later!" she said to it. "Now let's bandage up that hole."

Before anyone could act, though, Adam emitted a long, low groan. He stirred, started to turn his head...and then started thrashing around violently.

"What the hell is this! Let me go!" He got his head turned around enough so he could see Bow, Glimmer, and Catra. "You!"

Catra jumped forward, shoving Bow aside, and unsheathing her claws directly in Adam's face.

"Settle down, or you'll spend the rest of your life without eyes!"

Adam stopped thrashing, eyes fixed on Catra's black, razor-sharp claws. After a moment she retracted them and slowly pulled her hand away. "Better."

Adam looked up at her. His eyes narrowed. "How did I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Glimmer said, taking a position next to Catra. "We defeated you, and we captured you. You're on our ship, heading back to Etheria."

Adam closed his eyes, and then snapped them open. "My sword! What did you do with my sword?"

Glimmer glanced at Catra, who seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Adora - our She-Ra - she…took it. She's on Crelus now. And we need to go back for her."

Adam looked at him. "Then why are you telling me?"

"Because we need you to unlock the ship," Glimmer said. "Adora locked the controls so we can't stop heading for Etheria. We think only a She-Ra can unlock them."

"And why would I help you?"

"Because you said you would," Catra said.

"There's no way in hell…" Adam started, but then his eyes widened. His expression cycled between surprise, anger, disgust, and what looked like embarrassment. "What did you…what did you do to me?"

"We didn't do it," Bow said. "Entrapta, show him."

Entrapta held up the three-point chip in Adam's field of view. "This thing," she said. "I think it was being used to control you, but when it got damaged, you started acting all floppy."

"You told us a lot of stuff," Glimmer said, stepping forward. "About your life. About your parents. How they treated you."

"How they threw you away," Catra added, grimly.

"You don't have to go back to that," Bow said.

Adam stared at them for a long moment. "How dare you! I will not betray our people!"

"There are no more 'your people', you said," Catra said. "There's just you and Adora. And now she's back on that planet, going through whatever that machine thing put you through." She leaned in toward him. "Adora saved us all. Lots of times over. Now we owe it to her to save her back. I don't care if Glimmer has to use her magic to make you a zombie, but you're going to help us save her."

Adam stared into her eyes, and then closed his. "You're asking me to commit treason against my people. My parents."

"Your people and your parents treated you like a weapon," Catra said. "You told us yourself. When they had a new She-Ra, they got rid of you. And that was a thousand years ago anyway." Adam opened his eyes again and she stared into them. "They-are-all-gone," she continued, emphasizing each word. "And that control chip, it's gone. You don't have to be what they wanted you to be. You can be anything."

Realization seemed to dawn in Adam's eyes. He looked away.

Catra stood there for a minute, and then said, "I'm unstrapping you."

"Catra?" Bow said.

"It'll be fine," Catra said. She looked up at Scorpia, giving her a quick hand signal, the Horde Army sign to "be ready to attack". Scorpia nodded.

Catra reached under the cot and undid the restraining straps one at a time. After the third, broken one retracted, Catra stood.

"Sit up," she said, putting as much gentleness in her voice as she could muster.

Adam sat up hesitantly, but steadily. He kept his arms at his sides, with a wariness Catra recognized all too well.

"So," Catra said, "what do you say?"

Adam stared at her, his steely eyes unblinking. "I remember now. The things I said. The things you said." He squinted at her. "I find it interesting that you've gone from threatening to kill me to offering me a new life so quickly."

"Oh, t-that-" Bow started.

"We wouldn't," Catra said. "It...it was an empty threat. That's not the kind of people these guys are. That's..." She paused. "That's not the kind of person I am."

Adam raised an eyebrow. "And I'm supposed to trust you?"

"We, uh..." Catra started.

"You're controlled by the Horde!" Adam said. He pointed at Hordak, and the sudden movement startled everyone. "I saw dozens more of those just in one village! And that thing?" He pointed to Emily, standing silently and all but forgotten in the corner. "I'm not serving Horde pawns!"

"We defeated the Horde," Bow said. "Adora - she destroyed Horde Prime for good!"

"The clones live with us now 'cos they don't have anywhere else," Entrapta added. "They're really nice and they're not like Horde Prime at all!"

"Bullshit," Adam said.

"Look," Catra said. She turned her head away from him and pulled up the back of her hair, revealing the scar on the back of her neck. "I had a chip. Prime, he…" She turned back to Adam. "He got in my head. Took who I was. Made me a slave."

"Me too," Scorpia said, likewise turning around to show the scar on her neck. "He made me try to kill my friends. But they saved me." She turned to Entrapta and smiled. "They saved all of us."

"Or maybe you're just lying to me," Adam said.

"Look, how the hell can we prove it to you?" Catra said. "We-are-not-with-the-Horde!"

Entrapta popped up between Catra and Adam. "Wanna see us beat Horde Prime?" she said.

Everyone turned to her. "What?" Glimmer said.

"So - Horde Prime's spires were recording telemetry from thousands of spy cameras all across the planet," Entrapta said. "Even hacked into ones the First Ones left at the Heart of Etheria, which was just incredible." She rubbed her hands together in glee. "I downloaded 'em all from the Velvet Glove to Darla, in case anyone ever wanted to see them." After a brief silence, she added, "Ya know, for scientific research!"

"Wait," Glimmer said, "you've got a recording of Adora defeating Prime?"

"You betcha!"

Glimmer turned to Adam. "Would that be enough proof?"

"Would I have a choice?" Adam said. After a brief pause, he said, "Very well. I'll humor you."

"Hey Adora, how's it hanging?"

Adora, hanging from her staff which she'd wedged in the hole in the floor, said, "Catra, did you really show up late and let us do all the hard parts? That is low, even for you!"

"Aww," Catra said with a smirk. "You know nothing's too low for me." She chuckled. And then, in one swift move, she leapt into the air, grabbed the edge of the pit with her claws, and kicked hard on the hand Adora was using to hold her staff.

"Wait Catra, what are you-?" She yelped as Catra's heel made contact with her knuckles, forcing her grip to loosen.

She fell into the darkness below. "Catra!" she cried.

"What?"

Suddenly Adora found herself standing hanging from a cable overhead. She was in one of the many corridors in the Horde HQ, where she'd grown up.

Catra was a ways in front of her, crouching on a piece of equipment. She'd turned back to Adora. "What's it like being the world's slowest person?" Without waiting for an answer, Catra jumped off the equipment as Adora tried to swing her way to land where Catra had been.

She missed, hitting a crate of random machine parts and flipping it, sending tiny parts everywhere.

Adora laughed, and when she saw Catra standing, waiting for her, she gave chase. Catra, now laughing herself, ran ahead of her. She chased Catra all around the room, both giggling gleefully.

And then suddenly Catra stopped and gasped. Adora caught up and grabbed her arm, Adora's other hand in a raised fist. Then she saw what Catra had seen and also gasped.

"Whoa!" Adora said as she beheld the Black Garnet chamber. "It's open!" They stood there staring at it for a moment, and then Adora added, "We're definitely not allowed in there."

Catra looked at her, and she looked back, with smirks on both their faces. Adora, laughing, ran toward the Chamber first, with Catra following shortly after.

They stopped at the Black Garnet, marveling at its size. "Whoa," Adora said. And suddenly she got a feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Catra started toward the Garnet, but Adora reached a hand out. "No, wait!"

Suddenly she was gripped by some force, locked in place. She felt herself forced into the air and then spun around. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. There, standing at the door, was Shadow Weaver. She was not wearing her mask, instead showing her disfigured, corrupted visage to the children openly.

"Insolent little child," Shadow Weaver said, leaning down toward her. "It seems I must punish you yet again."

Catra peeked out from behind the Garnet. Adora expected fear in her friend's face...but no. What she was seeing was glee.

"Leave us now, Catra," Shadow Weaver said. "I must teach your little friend yet another lesson."

Catra smirked audibly, and then marched past Adora. Adora tried to call out to her, to beg her for help, but Catra only leaned toward her and said, "Bye, Adora," before running off.

No, this isn't right, Adora thought. That was all she had time to think of before Shadow Weaver unleashed her magical wrath on her, searing pain tearing through every bit of her body.

She screamed...just as something shiny and metallic flew toward her face. Without even thinking about it she brought up her staff, deflecting the tiny blade.

"Dammit!" It was Lonnie's voice, and Adora realized she was standing in the Horde's training chamber.

There was a cry from behind her and Adora swung around, catching a charging Kyle right in the stomach. He doubled over, tumbling to the floor.

Lonnie sighed. "Seriously Kyle? You call THAT a sneak attack?"

"Sneak attack?" Adora said, just before a giant pair of limbs wrapped around her from behind, squeezing her chest hard and lifting her off the floor. She kicked backward, striking the green assailant's legs, but he did not falter, only growling in her ear.

"Nice, Rogelio!" Lonnie said.

"What the hell?" Adora managed, before Rogelio's crushing grip became too powerful for her to draw in enough breath to speak.

And then a shadowy figure landed on Rogelio's arms, and Rogelio grunted. Catra crouched there and stared into Adora's eyes.

"Catra," Adora mouthed, but had no air left in her lungs to make the sounds.

Catra smirked and raised a hand, her black claws extended. "Bye Adora." She swiped down hard, striking Adora in the face and making her see stars…

And then she was standing in a bright corridor, and soon realized it was Bright Moon. Bright Moon, and in front of her was Glimmer, fists clenched at her side. "You think you can just transform into She-Ra and hit things with your sword and it will fix everything! Well guess what? It's not working!"

Adora put her hands to her chest. "Why are you blaming this all on me? It is not my fault that Salineas fell! The Horde manipulated all of us!"

Glimmer leaned in closer. "She-Ra was supposed to save us! But the Rebellion's in a worse place than ever since you showed up!"

Adora felt her chest quiver at the accusation. "I'm trying my best! Why can't you see that?"

Glimmer hesitated. "Well - maybe your best isn't good enough! If it was, my mother would still be here!"

Those words cut straight through Adora's heart. All the guilt she'd felt over Queen Angella's sacrifice, everything she'd tried to bottle up, exploded out. She started to cry.

Glimmer, undeterred, pointed down the corridor behind Adora. "Go get your things and get out of my kingdom. Right now!"

Adora, her throat closing up, started, "Glimmer...I…"

"No!" Glimmer said. She turned her back on Adora. "I've had enough of you! So has everyone else! Now leave before I have you thrown out! And don't ever show your face here again!"

Adora had no time to respond before the world around her spun, pulling Glimmer and the Bright Moon corridor into a vortex. It was quickly replaced by a chamber, filled with greens and blues. She realized she was lying on her back on a cold, hard floor, the sound of a heartbeat throbbing in her ears.

In the light she could see Catra standing over her. "C-Catra?" she said. Her jaw felt almost stuck in place, rigid just like the rest of her body. She felt like she was dying.

"Don't you get it?" Catra said, eyes cast downward at her. "I don't love you. I never have. I hate you, and I'm glad you're dying."

Adora let out a squeak, and then the heartbeat in her ears stopped. Everything became a blur, and then faded to black. The last thing she could hear was Catra's mocking voice.

"Bye Adora."

As she felt herself sinking into the darkness, faces and voices swirled about her.

"You're a fake!"

"You're worthless!"

"You're not the real She-Ra!"

"You don't really care, do you?"

"All of this is your fault!"

"You should have been the one to die, not my mom!"

"The world would still be standing if you had never come through that portal in the first place!"

"How many people died because you couldn't figure that stupid sword out?"

"If you hadn't gotten the sword and been the world's worst She-Ra none of this would have happened!"

"No," she said quietly. She brought her hands to her face and covered her eyes. "No, no no no…"

"You broke the world and it is all your fault!"

"No…"

Adora opened her eyes. She was lying down, still, but this time there were no restraints on her, nor any wires or probes sticking into her skin. She sat up and saw she was completely naked. She'd seen her own body plenty of times, but it looked...different somehow. And then she realized her muscles in her arms, her legs, and her stomach were larger, more defined than she remembered. When she turned her arms over she could see veins tracing their way from her elbows to her hands.

The veins seemed to be pulsing with a faint reddish light.

"You are awake." Adora turned to see Last Resort standing by the table upon which she was lying. Adora desperately wanted to cover up, even though this was only a hologram standing before her, but nothing was available. She instead did her best to cover her breasts and crotch with her hands.

"What did you do to me?" she asked. She had intended it to sound demanding, but instead it came out meekly, as if she were a child. She was surprised at the sound of her own voice.

"I repaired you," Last Resort said. "Now stand."

Adora stood as she was commanded, without hesitation, no longer trying to cover her modesty. She suddenly felt that it wasn't even needed.

"Transform."

Adora raised a hand and her sword appeared in it. The blade, once pure white, was now tinged pink as if soaked in old blood. She raised it over her head. "By the power of D'Vann!"

Her transformation was quick, and without the flourishes Adora often made when she transformed.

"Good," Last Resort said. "Now we can resume."

"Okay, so what do you want to see first?" Entrapta said. "Ooo, I know!" With her arms crossed and a smug smirk, she tapped away at the control panel with two of her hair arms.

A holograph popped to life over their head. The Heart of Etheria, encased in some kind of geometrically impossible shape, dominated the display, but on the left side, near the bottom, they could see two figures. One was lying prone on the ground, and the other was hunched over top of the first.

"Wait," Catra said, "is this-?"

"Adora, please, you have to wake up."

It was Catra's voice, just barely audible over the whine of the Heart.

"We don't need to see this," Catra said. She turned away, trying to cover her face with one hand.

"You can't give up," holographic Catra continued to plead, her voice choked in grief. "You have never given up on anything in your life. Not even on me."

"Aww, Catra…" Bow said, his eyes wide and brimming with tears.

Catra refused to look at him. She felt a thump on one shoulder, and a hand on another. She looked up to see Scorpia had laid a pincer on her shoulder, and Glimmer on her other. She brushed them off. "Quit it." She turned to Entrapta. "Turn it off."

"But it's so sweet! I've watched it at least a dozen times, and it makes me cry every time!"

"You what?" Catra shouted.

"Don't you get it?" continued holographic Catra. "I love you. I always have. So please, just this once...stay."

Just then the Heart began to fire waves of yellow energy all around. The camera footage turned to static for a second or two, but when it returned they saw Adora, her arm raised and her shield blocking one of the waves from cooking her and Catra alive.

The shield disappeared and Adora struggled to raise her head. "You love me?"

With a mild chuckle, holographic Catra replied, "You're such an idiot."

"I love you too."

A white light surrounded them, and another burst from the Heart, and then the playback stopped, with some First Ones' script at the center of the screen.

"Is it over?" Catra said through clenched teeth. There were sniffles, and she looked around to see that, aside from Adam's, there was not a dry eye in the cockpit. "Oh for crying out - stop it you guys! Just - Entrapta, that didn't prove anything! Bring up something else!"

Entrapta sniffled as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Okay, I've got another good one lined up."

"I swear, if you have any more videos in there of me..." Catra growled.

"Here we go!" Entrapta said, apparently ignoring her. The view changed to an overhead scene of a rocky valley. A bright figure appeared on the right side and began moving left. As it did so, the ground in front of it started turning green. After a moment, the white light faded, revealing Adora, as She-Ra, striding forward.

She stopped, looked up, and then with a cry, raised her sword. A beam of pure white shot upward, and the display moved upward to follow it. They could briefly see Prime's ship, the Velvet Glove, high in the sky overhead just as it was engulfed first by light, and then by green as what looked like trees began to sprout all over it.

"You recognize that, right?" Glimmer said to Adam. Adam did not respond, remaining transfixed by the scene playing out in the hologram.

There was another audible cry, and as the view panned back down they could see a ring of white energy expanding from Adora, covering everything in view with green. Rocky cliffs were turned into trees, and the multiple figures looked around.

One lone figure in white stood alone by the left side of the display, and Adora approached it, easily ascending the trees separating it from her.

"Though all is reduced to rubble, Prime shall rise again!" Adora stood before the prone figure as it continued, "So it has been, and so it always shall be!"

"No," holographic Adora said, "you're wrong. It's time for you to go." She leaned in, and there were grunting sounds, but as a golden glow encircled Adora, the other figure screamed. A black, oil-like mass flew away from them, and then was eradicated as the light blasted through it.

After a brief pause, the figure said, "I remember you." It and Adora stood.

An instant later another figure, this one purple, rushed toward the first one and launched at it. "Hordak!" came Entrapta's voice.

The playback stopped, the image of a tiny Entrapta embracing a tiny Hordak, as tiny Adora looked on and other figures approached.

"That," Glimmer said, "was the end of Prime. Adora saved the universe from him. She saved even his own clones." She laid a hand on Adam's shoulder and he stiffened before pulling away to face her. "So you need to understand something. We're gonna find a way to get back to her and save her from that place. With or without your help. But we owe her...you owe her, everyone in the universe owes her. If you really are a Prince, I bet that means something to you."

Adam glanced from her to the others, who were all staring at him expectantly. He then turned back to the holographic display. "Am I supposed to trust you?"

"No," Glimmer said. "You're not. And we're not supposed to trust you. But right now, I don't think either of us have a choice." She paused for a moment. "What do you want in return for your help?"

Adam hesitated for a moment. He should not be negotiating with his captors. Every bit of his training screamed at him to resist until his last breath. And yet, something they had said earlier, about his people being gone, started to fill his mind.

There was nobody left. Nobody to serve. Nobody to obey.

Nobody to betray.

And for the first time since he'd awakened on Crelus, he no longer heard that voice in his head telling him he had to obey.

"Freedom," he said, lowering his head. "I...I'm done. I've spent my whole life trying to live up to their wishes and I'm just done." He turned back to the holographic display. "If - if the Horde is really gone, then there should still be planets out there that can sustain life. Right?"

"Oh sure," Entrapta said. "And we're gonna go visit them all!"

"Fine," Adam said. "I'll help you, but I want away. From everything. Find some planet where there's life, and drop me off there. I'll survive on my own, and you'll never hear from me again."

There was silence as they all absorbed this information. They looked at each other. Catra and Bow nodded, and Scorpia shrugged. Glimmer turned back to Adam. "All right. If you help us, we will drop you off wherever you want. As long as you promise you're not going to cause trouble there."

"I won't," Adam said. He sighed. "My whole life's been trouble. I've had enough of it."

Glimmer nodded. "Then please, unlock the ship's navigation."

Adam stared at her for a long moment, and then finally turned to the panel. "I can't summon my sword from so far away, so I hope this works. Computer, respond."

"Awaiting command," came Darla's voice.

"Administrator access."

"Administrator detected. Welcome, She-Ra."

There was a pause as both relief and anxiety washed over the others.

"Disable administrative lock," Adam said.

"Warning. Disabling administrative lock will disengage hyperwarp drive."

"Confirmed. Disable administrative lock."

"Disabling administrative lock."

The deck shifted slightly beneath them. The maelstrom outside the front viewer gave way to a jagged ring of bright violet that swept back past them, leaving behind the darkness of deep space.

"Administrative lock disabled."

Adam turned to Glimmer. "Done."

Catra stepped forward. "Darla, get us to Crelus. Fast as you can."

"Unrecognized query."

Catra turned to Entrapta, exasperated. Entrapta leaped toward the front panel and rapidly tapped away at buttons with all the fingers her hair could form.

"Course laid in. Engaging."

They felt the deck move again beneath them, sideways this time, and after a moment the space outside the viewer grew bright purple, and then the hyperwarp maelstrom reappeared.

Adam turned back to them. "There you go. I've done my part. Now you need to find me a planet."

"Uh, sure," Bow said. "Thank...thank you."

Everyone but Entrapta was now watching him. "Do I have to go get strapped down to a bed again?" Adam said.

"It depends," Catra said. "Are you gonna try anything?"

"It'd be pointless and stupid," Adam said. He glanced at Scorpia. "This one'd likely break me in half."

"Oh, w-well," Scorpia said, scratching the back of her head with a pincer. "I mean I wouldn't, but, you know…"

"We'll keep an eye on you," Glimmer said. "And once we've rescued Adora, we'll take you right to your planet."

"Great," Adam said. He started toward the cockpit's rear door. After a glance from Glimmer, Scorpia followed.

The return trip had taken two full days so far. Adam had spent much of his time sitting on the cot in the medical bay, staring at Hordak, who was either unaware of his presence or didn't care. When he wasn't sitting, he was lying down, sometimes with his eyes closed, sometimes with them open. But for the entire two days so far he had remained silent, not even speaking when spoken to. For Scorpia, who had taken several shifts watching him, there had been a LOT of speaking.

"Anyway, that's how we got here now," Scorpia said. "Kinda not how I thought my life'd turn out, but it's better for it, I think. I mean, getting to spend your life being a Princess has gotta be a lot more fun than spending it being a Force Captain." She glanced to Hordak. "Uh, no offense, Lord...I mean, um, Hordak."

Hordak made no indication that he had heard her.

"Anyway," Scorpia said, "I've done a lot of talking. I do that a lot, but you seem like a good listener." She stood from her spot on the floor and walked over to the cot. She sat at its foot, and the brackets connecting it to the wall seemed to groan slightly at the added weight. "How come you never talk to us anymore? I mean, you said a lot when you were...well, 'floppy' is what Entrapta calls it. We already know you've had a tough life and stuff. And - after a few more days you'll never see us again. Why not talk a little about it now? Get it off your chest. I mean, how your parents treated you, I can't imagine-"

"Shut up."

"Huh?" Scorpia said.

"Shut. Up." Adam brought his head up from the cot and looked at her. "You haven't shut your mouth one time since I've been stuck in this room. What do you want from me?"

"I - I dunno," Scorpia said. "Nothing, I guess? I just kinda, you know, felt like you seemed lonely, being the last of the First Ones and all that, and now you're gonna leave them behind too. Maybe you just need someone who'll listen and won't judge." She crossed her pincers over her chest. "I'm pretty good at that. That's what Perfuma tells me, anyway."

"I have nothing to say to my captors," Adam said. "Not...anything more, I mean."

Scorpia nodded. "Okay." She stood from the cot. "But, y'know, if you change your mind, I'm around. Oh, and I also give great hugs, if you want. People like my hugs, most of the time. And sometimes you just, y'know, need a hug."

Adam laid his head back down on the cot, and Scorpia returned to her spot sitting on the floor. About a minute or two passed, and then Adam said, "You got to choose your destiny."

"Huh?" Scorpia said. "My destiny?"

"You were a soldier from birth, practically. Taken from your family. A family who actually cared about you. But you still got to choose what you'd be, in the end."

"Yeah," Scorpia said. "I had lots of help. But there was just the day when I decided I was done trying to be a friend for someone who didn't want me to be, and then just kinda...left."

"I...envy you," Adam said.

Scorpia stood. "You - you do?"

Adam turned his head to look at her. "You were able to break free of a life you knew wasn't right for you." He sat up and shook his head. "I was not."

Scorpia shrugged. "You kinda have now," she said.

"By force," Adam said. "You...you defeated me. Took me away." He raised an arm and touched the healing wound behind his left ear. "You gave me freedom. Of sorts." He looked away from her. "I'd tried so many times, but you broke me away easily."

"Well, uh, I wouldn't say easily," Scorpia said. "But, y'know, it's what I was saying. Sometimes you need other people to help you when you're going the wrong way."

Adam stared at Scorpia for a moment. She could see some pink appear in his cheeks, and then he laid back down. "How much longer until we arrive at Crelus?"

"Um, I think Entrapta said it'd be later today."

"Good," Adam said. "I will stay on the ship. I don't want to...I don't want to face...her again."

"Her," Scorpia said. "The hologram thing?"

"Last Resort," Adam said. "She reminds me of someone...that I'd hoped I'd never have to see again."

"Who?" Scorpia said. "Oh, right, your mother. The Empress?"

Adam sighed. "Was there anything I didn't tell you when I was incapacitated?"

"Hey, it's okay," Scorpia said. She returned to the cot and sat next to Adam. "I get the feeling you never really had someone you could talk to. Not about stuff that mattered to you." She paused for a moment. "It musta been hard, having to keep all that bottled up inside all your life."

Adam looked at her, and when his cheeks started to flush, he looked away again. "Well, it won't matter after today, anyway. I'll be alone like I wanted, and I'll never have to see anyone again."

Scorpia nodded. "Okay. If that's how you want it to be. I hope it works out like you want."

The door opened and Bow stepped in. "Hey Scorpia," he said. "My turn."

Scorpia stood from the cot. "Okay, thanks." She started toward the door, but then turned back to Adam. "You know, it takes a lot of courage to tell people what's bothering you. Strength, too." She left the medical bay and the door closed behind her.

Bow glanced from the door to Adam. "So...um...did you and Scorpia talk?"

Without a word, Adam laid back down on the cot and turned away from Bow.

"Okay then," Bow said. "I can see why you'd want to. She's really sweet, when you're not having to fight her I mean." He chuckled. "One time she threw me off a boat and almost into a spinning propeller. Back when we were on opposite sides of the war."

Adam made no reply, nor any indication he'd heard Bow. After a moment, Bow turned to Hordak. "So, um - how are you doing, Hordak?"

Adam let himself slip away into his thoughts, reflecting back on the stories the one called "Scorpia'' had told him. It all seemed so unbelievable. He'd already known, thanks to Last Resort, about Mara and how she'd managed to eject Etheria out of the known universe. And centuries later, a minion of Horde Prime managed to somehow end up in that same universe, on that same planet.

But then, only a short time later, Etheria had returned to the known universe. It wasn't much of a stretch to believe that Horde Prime would have learned of the Heart of Etheria project at some point, and tried to take it for his own once the opportunity arose.

It wasn't a stretch to believe that Prime would have wanted the weapon so badly that he'd personally oversee the invasion of Etheria.

But his thoughts returned to what he'd seen back in the command deck. These savages had actually defeated Prime? The same one who laid waste to the entire Eternian Empire? And that said defeat just happened to be recorded? It was all too convenient that the savage with the prehensile hair had "somehow" managed to record it. But the ship that they destroyed - it definitely matched the diagrams Last Resort had shown him. And, of all things, the experiment had managed to turn it into a tree.

That planet, Etheria, was a magical planet. He remembered there were quite a few of those both within the Empire's borders and outside them. He'd seen with his own eyes, on many missions, just what magic was capable of. Hell, his own people had seen Etheria's magic as so powerful they turned it into a power source. And a weapon, he reminded himself.

Of course, they could have faked the video. But why would they? And how? If they'd been close enough to Prime's ship to capture footage of it, there's no way they would have come out alive.

Unless they beat him, of course. And if they could beat Horde Prime, what hope did the shattered, automated remnants of the Empire have?

Last Resort had to have thought of that. It wasn't just the planet that had defeated Prime, it was the experiment. Adora. The "ultimate" She-Ra, made from Adam's own DNA and perfected over hundreds of years of experimentation. The experiment had accomplished what the entire Empire could not…

And now she was likely under Last Resort's control, just as he'd been. There was no way these savages, for all their magic, could defeat the Empire's ultimate weapon if it were turned against them. Even if they put aside their compassion for her, if Last Resort managed to tap into her brain and "turn off" her humanity as she had Adam's own, the experiment was powerful enough to wipe them out almost instantaneously.

That would leave him all alone, in this ship, until Last Resort sent her to retrieve him again. She would kill him...or worse, take him back to Last Resort for more "reconditioning."

He turned his head over to see the dark-skinned one, "Bow", they'd called him, engrossed in the handheld computer he'd brought in with him. Children, he thought. They're literally all children.

Just as he'd been, once. When he was their age he'd already spent years on the battlefield, defeated so many enemies, killed so many…

He couldn't leave this to them. Not if he wanted them to succeed. Not if he truly wanted to be free.

The question was whether or not he'd be able to regain what he'd lost and use it, just one more time.

"There it is again," Glimmer said, staring out at the planet growing in the front viewer. She shuddered. The place that had forced her to confront a false image of her mother, that had nearly broken her. It filled her both with anxiety, and with anger. That Last Resort thing that Adam had told them about - it had done that to her. Then it had taken her best friend from her. And Glimmer wanted to make it pay.

She felt someone at her side and turned to see Catra there. Glimmer could immediately see both grim determination and worry in her friend's face. "We're gonna get her back," Glimmer said.

"Yeah," Catra said. She was still staring out at the planet, almost transfixed.

"Hey," Bow said. He laid a hand on Catra's shoulder. Her fur began to prickle up under his touch. "You all right?"

"You seriously just asked me that question?" Catra said.

"Well, um…"

Catra sighed. "I...I'm just...the things Adam said, that Last Resort did to him. It's probably down there right now, doing all that to Adora. Is she gonna be...her...when we get to her? Or is she gonna be turned into some kind of rage machine?"

"We'll get through to her," Bow said. "If that's what it comes to, we'll find a way."

Before Catra could answer, the cockpit door opened behind them. Adam stepped in, followed closely by Scorpia and Emily.

"So that's it," Adam said. His voice seemed haunted.

"You've...never seen it before?" Bow said.

"No," Adam said. "I was already in stasis when they brought me here." He tilted his head. "It looks...sick."

"It's a radioactive wasteland," Entrapta said. "Perfect place to hide a super-secret lab!"

Nobody could match Entrapta's apparent enthusiasm. A cloud of both anxiety and grim determination enshrouded the others.

"You don't happen to know about any secret entrances or anything, do you?" Glimmer said.

Adam shook his head. "Just the main entrance you all used."

"Think she'll be expecting us?" Bow said. "Last Resort, I mean."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Adam said.

"Anyone have any brilliant tactical ideas?" Glimmer said. Her, Bow's, and Scorpia's eyes fell onto Catra.

"Don't look at me," Catra said. "I couldn't figure this place out last time. We're just gonna be charging in. Maybe we'll be lucky and have the element of surprise."

"Well, we've always been good at improvisation," Bow said.

Those words hung out there for a good while, until Entrapta finally said, "Unless someone's got a better idea, I'm gonna start landing Darla where we did before."

Nobody protested, so after a moment Entrapta started manipulating the controls. The ship accelerated toward the planet, and then the view shifted so the planet was below and dark space was above.

They saw the first tendrils of flame rising up from below as the ship jarred slightly, and as the flames grew more intense, so did the atmosphere in the cockpit.

As they descended, Adam felt a spark in his head. It gave him a shock of anxiety, but also relief. He'd both expected it, and dreaded it. And yet, if this was going to succeed, if he were to get his freedom, he had to do it.

He only hoped these savages were as level-headed as they pretended to be.

The landing was unimpeded and uneventful, aside from Darla's warnings about atmospheric radiation. The ship headed directly for the cavern, again setting down inside, just in front of the massive door.

Darla repeated her earlier alert: "Warning. Atmospheric radiation above safe levels for human life. Extravehicular activity not recommended."

Entrapta said, "Ohhh, um, I just remembered something. We don't have enough spacesuits to protect everyone! Most of yours got trashed when you were fighting Adam!"

"Crap," Bow said. "I can't believe I didn't think of that!"

"Do we have something we can rig together?" Glimmer said. "Like a shield, or a bubble, or-"

"You won't need all that," Adam said, interrupting her. It was now or never. He closed his eyes, held out his hand, and his sword appeared in front of him. It was still lined with the red veins from before, when it had been knocked out of his hands in battle. He opened his eyes and grasped the hilt.

Bow gasped. "Oh my gods!"

The veins seemed to evaporate from the sword as soon as he touched it. Adam drew a deep breath and said, "By the power of D'Vann!"

"Shit!" Scorpia said, and she rushed him. White energy surrounded Adam and repelled her off him, knocking her to the deck. They could only all watch in horror and with the realization that they'd foolishly set themselves up for betrayal by such a powerful enemy.

As the light faded, Adam's version of She-Ra stood before them. They all raised weapons, charged magic, and otherwise prepared for the attack they believed was imminent.

He then lowered his sword and turned to them, his face grim and serious. "You need my help if you're going to get your friend back. And I need an insurance policy in case you decide to betray me." He looked over all their faces, seeing combinations of fear, anger, and surprise. "So either attack me, or let's go rescue your friend."