"Did you hear that, Emily? I've never had a lab partner before!" Entrapta could barely contain her joy. This was the best day ever. Today, she had solved the mystery of the Fright Zone's technology source once and for all!
Ever since Entrapta had entered the Fright Zone, it was obvious they were very technologically advanced. The only kingdom that could rival them was her own Dryl, yet their tech wasn't anything like what Dryl had. Entrapta had used First Ones tech to propel her inventions forward. The Horde had crafted an alien approach to their design. Even the coding language was different! Entrapta had needed to delete Emily's initial code and override it with her own to program her new friend.
Despite the sophisticated design of everything from the weaponry to the ventilation system, every Horde person Entrapta met remained utterly oblivious to the wonders that surrounded them. Catra struggled to understand the concept of math. Scorpia preferred drawing to derivation. The various "guard" assistants assigned to Entrapta in her time as a guest were uniformly flummoxed by the inner workings of robots. It left her to wonder, then, who had created all these marvelous inventions in the first place.
She developed the beginnings of a theory after successfully hacking the planet through the Black Garnet. The invitation Entrapta, Catra, and Scorpia had received into Hordak's lab revealed an enviable collection of lab equipment. Even after moving her stuff from Crypto Castle, Entrapta found herself lusting after Hordak's resources. Could Hordak be both a ruler and inventor, the same as her?
Despite her initial impressions, she had yet to be sure that Hordak himself was scientifically inclined. He could just be keeping the most sensitive projects in his lab to allow his best scientists to work in private. If Entrapta was to find evidence supporting her theory, she needed to enter the lab herself. It was in her single-minded pursuit of a six-sided hex driver that she had stumbled upon incontrovertible proof that Hordak had a mind like hers. The mind of a scientist.
And now, they were partners. Lab partners.
It pained her to leave the lab that night. She wouldn't have left at all if Hordak hadn't demanded she get proper rest. He practically threw her out when the clock struck midnight. Entrapta's thoughts ran abuzz as she rambled through the vents connecting her room to his sanctum.
It felt so natural to work alongside Hordak. Entrapts always enjoyed building new machines, but it had stung that she could never share the experience with anyone. Everyone she had tried to partner with in the past had been unable to keep up with her. Most people never bothered in the first place. They only wanted results with no care for the time and effort it took to bring them about. Hordak was certainly results-oriented, but he did seem to appreciate her methods as well. His focus on their goal also served to keep Entrapta in check; without it, she might have started five new projects in her first day with the sanctum's tools.
Entrapta wished they could have joined minds years ago. Her fathers had been willing to trade with the Horde in their time as Dryl's rulers, but they had never brokered a true alliance. They'd also placed limits on trade volume, limits that lapsed after their deaths. Now Entrapta had made the partnership complete… with the exact provisions left up to her advisors, of course. With 75% of Dryl's current trade going to the Horde, her advisors had seen the alliance as a chance to increase their economic prosperity. Whatever that entailed.
What if their partnership had begun just months ago? What if Hordak had found Entrapta in the vents instead of Catra? If he'd "interrogated" her personally instead of assigning Catra the task?
Hm… Entrapta was happy to have befriended Catra and Scorpia, but the proposed hypothetical did fascinate her. Even as she settled down into bed, the question echoed through her mind. Her imagination tackled the possibilities long after her consciousness slipped away.
In her dream, Entrapta returned to the first room assigned to her upon discovery in the Fright Zone. The one with the six-piece contraption holding her to the wall. She used a tool from her belt to play with the locking mechanism on her hair piece, flicking the cuff open and shut with a giggle.
The door slid open, and her laughter died immediately. She stuffed her hair back in its cuff. The soldiers who had put her in the contraption hadn't liked it when she played with their wall device. Who knew how this new person would react?
It was a man. A very tall man with glowing eyes and a long cape. He strode into the room with swift confidence, the swing of his movements allowing the distinct sheen of metal to escape from beneath his dark clothing. Entrapta craned her head, seeking a better view.
The man carried no weapons. He didn't need any.
"After Shadow Weaver and her forces failed so miserably to hold the Princess of Bright Moon, I dare not trust anyone else with your interrogation. You will answer directly to me, Dryl Princess."
A shiver went through her spine at the low tones of his voice, pooling in the base of her abdomen. She knew who this man was. He was Hordak, the man she'd heard talking in the Fright Zone's big lab earlier!
Was that lab his room? Would he let her explore the lab in earnest when they were done talking? She should answer her questions quickly so they could go visit together.
"Why do you linger in my Fright Zone, Dryl Princess?"
"I was just waiting for my friends to get back. They had trouble finding me before."
Hordak cocked his head. He hadn't been expecting her answer. "Your friends?"
"Yeah! We call ourselves the Princess Alliance. Do you know them?" Entrapta asked. "Ooh, maybe you know Adora. She used to live here, you know. I don't know why she left. This place has so much tech!"
Did he wince? The man's face was hard to read. Harder than everyone else's, even. It didn't help that Entrapta couldn't put a finger on which species he was from. "I... do know her. She and her strike team departed Horde territory over a day ago."
What? That didn't sound right. How many hours had she been waiting in the Fright Zone? 45? ...Oh. That was more than a day. "Wait, they're not here anymore? They… left without me?"
"...It would seem so, Dryl Princess. I suppose you are not as valuable an ally to them as the Princess of Bright Moon." Hordak stepped closer to Entrapta. He examined the device holding her to the wall, particularly the cuff she had been playing with a minute ago. "You have disabled the locking mechanism on your bonds. You could have attempted to fight me, Dryl Princess."
Now Entrapta could see the metal parts on his body more clearly. Her eyes traveled up the iridium coils on his arm. They seemed to plug into his chest, disproving her earlier theory that the man was wearing armor. No, the metal tubes were part of an exoskeleton of some kind. She was in the presence of a bona fide cyborg!
Her body reacted to this news in an anomalous manner. Yes, she felt the excitement of a new discovery coming on, but the pool in her lower stomach grew in size as well. The deep growl of his voice had affected her in a similar way.
Maybe Entrapta was disoriented. Exploring a new place without any food to eat had thrown off her biological calibrations. Perhaps she could ask Hordak for food after-
"Answer me, Dryl Princess. What game do you play by feigning defenselessness? Why do you not attack me?"
"Why would I attack you? You haven't attacked me." Entrapta pried her eyes back up to his to answer. The red glow seemed to scan through her eyes and into her mind, bringing heat into her cheeks. The anomalies continued.
He drew back, granting Entrapta an inch of relief. "I have never attempted an invasion of Dryl. So much is true. Yet despite our favorable trading partnership, you have aligned with the princesses who pursue my elimination. You assisted in their infiltration of my Fright Zone and attacked my soldiers. Why do you participate in their rebellion?"
"Because the Princess Alliance helped me first." Entrapta went on to describe how an experiment with a First Ones data crystal led to widespread viral infection in her castle. Had Bow, Adora, and Glimmer not seen the emergency beacon and come to her aid, she would have lost not only her home, not only the last remaining creations of her dead fathers, but all the friends she'd built for herself over three decades of life.
Entrapta hadn't known what else to offer them in turn, so "I promised them tech. They promised me friendship with organic beings. The rest is history!"
The man didn't respond right away. "So if I had sent Horde soldiers to handle your virus problem, you would have agreed to a full alliance with my forces?"
"Yup!" Entrapta confirmed.
"I see. And what shall you do now that the Princess Alliance has violated the contract they made with you?"
"What do you mean?" Entrapta frowned. She wasn't too good with the legal stuff. Her advisors' talk of contracts and treaties never failed to confuse her.
Hordak's eyes roved over her form. Her position on the wall gave him the chance to examine anything he wanted to see. Entrapta knew she was short, but she felt diminutive in the presence of such an imposing figure. For the 22,346th time, she found herself wishing she understood facial expressions. Hordak's was… interested? Curious? Hungry? Could be anything, really,
"Contrary to what the other princesses may claim, friendship is not exclusive to their side of the war. It is common for Horde soldiers to develop webs of mutual reliance with one another, especially in their formative years as cadets. Their 'friendship codes' compel them to protect one another from known threats. If a friend is trapped in a dangerous situation, it is a soldier's duty to ensure they are rescued. So long as this sense of duty complements their role as a soldier instead of contradicting it, I see no reason to discourage the notion of friendship in my ranks," Hordak explained.
Entrapta found his conception of friendship remarkably easy to follow. It had taken her years to distill the concept into something quantifiable! But she was still missing a point here. "What does Horde friendship have to do with my friends?"
"Your friends have willfully left you in the Fright Zone. The last time one of their own were kept in my domain, they mobilized their forces for retrieval. They have not done the same for you. In short, your contract with the Princess Alliance is void."
Entrapta frowned. There it was again. The suggestion of abandonment. Pulling a chunk of hair out of its confinement, she lowered her mask over her face.
Entrapta had been abandoned before. Her fathers had developed robotic versions of themselves to care for her, then confined her to the Crypto Castle. Their human forms died a few years later during a mine inspection gone wrong. Despite her willingness to keep paying them, organic staff fled her residence in droves. For the last ten years, Crypto Castle had operated with minimal organic staff. Months would pass between the arrival of visitors.
To fulfill her social needs, Entrapta had replaced the departing organics with robots. Robots had never abandoned her. Not by choice, anyway. Because robots were so loyal to her, Entrapta had returned their loyalty by refusing to leave Emily behind.
And what reward did Entrapta's loyalty bring her? More abandonment. Just when she thought she was ready to test friendship with organics again, her experiment failed on account of a poorly selected sample. This much was clear, even if something wasn't clicking for her yet.
"But you said friends rescue each other from dangerous situations. I'm not in danger here… am I?"
The soft scratch of talons landed on the side of Entrapta's face, lifting her mask away. Hordak set it off to the side, ignoring Entrapta's squeals of protest. Entrapta leaned back into the wall, trying to reduce the sense of exposure as much as possible.
"You don't have to be. As I said before, our kingdoms have a mutually beneficial relationship. The Horde has proven themselves reliable to you in our decades of trade. Never have we broken a contract with Dryl. Were we to extend our relationship to new areas, you could ensure your position remains… secure."
When his claw returned to her cheek and tilted her chin back up, she had the distinct feeling he was… ooh!
Entrapta could see the wiring on Hordak's exoskeleton from this angle. Most of his arm's "muscle" was mechanical in nature. Fascinating!
Her hair ran over his forearm, feeling the contrast between the hard metal and soft flesh beneath. "Your cybernetic enhancements supplement your upper body strength, don't they? Do they do anything else?"
Hordak swept her hair off of him with his other hand. He smiled at her curiosity. "You have identified their main function, Dryl Princess. This armor is one of my greatest projects. From the modifications you made to one of my EMI-class battle units, I can see you are the closest thing this planet has to a scientific mind. I could tell you many things about Horde technology… were you to return the favor. Tell me: what are these First Ones you admire so much?"
"Sure! We can work together. I've made more progress on my work in secret here than I did in a whole non-secret life out there. People should see. Horde technology gives me so much to work with. And you're the one who makes the Horde's technology, so… I guess I should thank you." Entrapta smiled. "Thank you!"
Blink. "You're welcome. Now, the First Ones?"
"Oh, right!" Entrapta took the rest of her hair out of its confinement to gesticulate. Hordak started to protest at the development before letting it slide. Entrapta's answer took priority for him. "The First Ones are a lost civilization. They left behind advanced technology that makes our modern innovations look like children's toys. I've been attempting to integrate First Ones tech into my experiments for years, but my understanding of their code is still rudimentary." She paused. "I don't understand your coding language either. What's it based on?"
"Another 'lost' civilization. One far superior to any pitiful kingdom left roaming this backwater planet." Hordak put a strange emphasis on the word "lost." Why a change in inflection there?
Oh well. Entrapta supposed it didn't matter. "So you understand my situation here. Ooh, if I could just find the key to the First Ones language, there's no telling what I could build. Such a find could yield almost unlimited power!"
Her hair reached out to pull Hordak in close. "You like power too, right? I noticed the Fright Zone uses a lot of power. What's it all for?"
Hordak responded to their newfound proximity by laying his fingertips on her cheek once again. The move sent sparks coursing through Entrapta's body. Something told her it wasn't just a design flaw of his suit. "I'll let you see it yourself if you join me. My soldiers will bring you the technology you desire if you agree to use it for the Horde's purposes. Will you join me, Entrapta?"
His eyes were scanning hers again. Entrapta saw no end to the depth of Hordak's stare. His eyes showed her a loading screen, one queuing up limitless possibilities.
The choice was clear. "Of course. I'd love to be your partner."
If the dream aspect of this interaction wasn't obvious before, it became clear in the next second. Hordak lunged for Entrapta's lips, covering her mouth with his own. Entrapta gasped, parting her lips as raw electricity zapped through her body. Her hair unfurled around her before landing on Hordak's shoulders.
She wasn't familiar with the practice of sealing a deal with a kiss. Handshakes were preferred in Dryl. That said, Entrapta found herself warming up to this method.
Literally. Her whole body felt like it was overheating. Must be from the power surge Hordak was sending into her.
Just as Hordak moved to deepen the kiss, his fang caught the center of Entrapta's bottom lip, splitting its delicate skin apart. She squealed from the unexpected pain, causing Hordak to pull back. "Did I harm you?"
Entrapta pursed her lips, crushing the tiny speck of blood between them. "It's nothing. I've dealt with way worse than this in lab explosions."
Hordak smiled. "Good. Delicacy has no place in the Horde." He laid his hand on the cuff covering her wrist, disabling the locking mechanism on her left hand himself. "Will you continue?"
"Ohhhh yeah. That was amazing." Now that the electricity wasn't coursing through Entrapta anymore, she felt cold. Empty. Like a pit of need had opened up inside her and only by closing their circuit could she fill it.
His grin widened. "Excellent." He unlocked Entrapta's other arm, then dove back into her mouth.
Now that Entrapta's hands were free, she wrapped them around Hordak's neck while her hair ran down his back. She couldn't feel much through his cape, but initial observations suggested the exoskeleton covered most of his body.
Wow… Entrapta had never considered fusing tech into her organic form! She wondered when Hordak had settled on the idea. Then Hordak wedged a thigh between her still-bound legs, and Entrapta's whole line of thought scrambled.
Hordak conquered her mouth with ease. Entrapta sighed into his advance, pressing her weight onto his chest plates to grant him greater access. His fingers traveled once again down her chin and past her throat. This time, they settled on the top seam of her white shirt.
"The Horde will provide you with clothing at the start of your work in the Fright Zone. Very well?" He barely pulled out of the kiss to speak. Entrapta felt Hordak's breath mix with her own.
She panted. "Huh? Yeah, I guess that's fine."
"Good." With a single claw, he ripped her shirt clean down the middle. Entrapta gasped from the sudden exposure.
Now when Hordak ran his palms over her stomach, Entrapta felt the rare sensation of skin on skin. She braced herself for the sensory overload that had dictated interaction in her youth, but the addition of metal in the mix kept her off the edge.
Metal reminded her of robots. Entrapta showed affection to her robots all the time. Having Hordak bridge the gap between robotic and organic forms made his touch easier to process for her easily-overwhelmed senses. Not to mention he was still sending powerful waves of electricity into her core.
When his giant hands slipped underneath her bra, Entrapta moaned. Ooh, organic hands felt so much better there than robotic ones! Even giving her sex bots gloves hadn't had the effect she was feeling here.
At that moment, Entrapta understood the purpose of the power flowing between them. Just as Entrapta had reprogrammed Emily by wiping her existing protocols, Hordak was suspending her brain's higher processing functions. With rational thought on pause, organics reverted to their base programming as determined by biology. The current combination of tactile stimulation and bodily fluid transfer was intended to trigger the mating protocol. As Entrapta grinded against Hordak's thigh, she knew he had succeeded.
When Hordak's mouth departed hers in favor of marking her neck, he covered his fangs with his lips to avoid breaking any more skin. Entrapta rubbed her lips together once again, the last bits of blood painting them redder than they already were. Now that nothing covered her mouth, her moans filled the room unimpeded.
The teeth on her neck, the claws on her breasts… it was more than Entrapta had ever felt before. It still wasn't enough. The hard wall behind her reminded her that she was not fully enveloped in Hordak's touch. The dual barriers of her coveralls and underwear kept her from establishing a direct connection in the area that needed it most.
Frustrated with the constraints placed upon her, Entrapta shifted from moaning to whining. Her wordless complaints rose in pitch until Hordak picked up on her unmet needs.
"You're eager to submit to me. You want me to claim you as my partner, just as you have assented to be mine," he said it like it was fact, but Entrapta caught the meaning behind his words. He was asking for permission to initiate a sexual act with her.
"Yes! Yes… please take me." A small tendril of hair undid the locks holding her feet to the wall. Entrapta threw as much of her weight as she could onto Hordak, his hands still clasped around her breasts. The split halves of her shirt tickled her bare sides.
Hordak growled in acknowledgement. He pulled both hands out from under her bra, wrapping one around her back while the other slipped between her legs. He retracted his thigh, trusting Entrapta to maintain her position. She did him one better by latching her knees onto his waist. Her hair moved to the ground to keep her at his height without falling.
Careful not to catch her with his talons. Hordak ran his middle finger over her folds, teasing her lower lips apart. The strokes were light to the point of frustration. Entrapta thrust her hips into his hand. The room lit up in white when his fingertip connected with her clit.
As his strokes grew faster, she felt his ring finger enter the fray. Determined to return the favor, Entrapta ripped one of her gloves off from behind Hordak's back. She ran a bare hand over his impressive chest plates, shivering at the warm, living metal. Yet just as her hand was about to slip underneath his tabard, Hordak intercepted her.
Ministrations to her center paused as he restrained her once again. Hordak's "free" hand held her wrist to the wall. His burning orange eyes cooled to the red she'd seen on arrival. "You have not earned the right to touch me in that manner. Our partnership will not last long if you do not respect your place. Do you understand?"
Entrapta sputtered. She'd just been trying to return the favor. But if he wasn't ready to have reciprocated sex yet, she would respect his wishes. "Okay. Um… sorry?"
Perhaps it was for the best; Entrapta had never attempted to stimulate another being before. She might not be any good at it. At least, not as good as Hordak was with her.
When his fingers started slipping inside her (talons be damned), it was like she'd been electrocuted in the best way possible. Despite their slashing capabilities, the edge of his claws didn't cause her any pain. All they did was reach further into her than Entrapta could manage herself.
The feeling caused Entrapta to lose control of her mouth (as if she'd ever had it in the first place). On her way to orgasm, she listed the chemical makeup of oxytocin, the command Emily now used to fire lasers, and the list of mysterious "constellations" she'd uncovered from a partial First Ones Data crystal. On that last point, Hordak bent his fingers inside her at just the right angle, sending her walls shuddering.
Entrapta's hair lost its balance, sending her crashing onto Hordak. She caught a fist full of his cape in the fall, her face resting in the space where his neck and shoulder connected. He cupped her against his form. She felt the wetness of her own release staining her already-ripped shirt.
"You respond well to me, Entrapta. Our partnership will be a successful one indeed."
Entrapta awoke to the sound of Emily's beeping. Her charging period always finished at a predetermined time in the morning, and the sound doubled as an alarm clock for the robot's human companion.
Time for another day in the lab with Hordak. Entrapta had promised him she'd be back "first thing tomorrow," and she knew tight schedules were sort of his thing. As Entrapta threw herself out of bed and picked up her clothes off the floor, she felt the excitement from last night creep back into her.
Thinking of last night… Entrapta's mind wandered back to her dream. To the hypothetical she had pondered in her subconscious mind. She didn't think the scenario she'd invented was all that likely. How could talons in her vagina not cause discomfort? After seeing Hordak smash lab equipment in frustration, what guarantee did she have that he'd be gentle with her?
Her dream hadn't been founded on probability, but… desire. Entrapta desired intimacy with another organic being. It was something she had never experienced before, and Hordak was the latest person she'd established a social connection with. Her first lab partner. In the realm beyond her conscious thought, Entrapta had gotten carried away with what having a "lab partner" could mean for her.
The last time Entrapta had been eager about a social connection with another organic, it had ended with her abandonment in the Fright Zone. She felt at home in her new environment and had since forgiven the ones who'd left her, but the experience still worked as a cautionary tale. Entrapta knew she couldn't rush anything this time around.
She had science. She had a portal to work on and a partner to help her make it. Why bother asking for more?
Entrapta went on with her morning, letting remnants of her dream fade from her mind. She pursed her lips, shocked to find split skin on her bottom lip.
Must have bitten it in her sleep.
A/N's: This was weirdly hard to write. I couldn't write Hordak as who he is at this point in canon. I had to portray him as Entrapta would see him in her fantasies. By this point in the story, she doesn't know Hordak super well yet. She doesn't know what his armor is really for, for one. Since the meat of this fic is Entrapta's dream, it has to center around what her mind would reasonably come up with.
That said, I may have gone a little overboard with my headcanons for Dryl and their pre-canon relationship with the Horde. I have a lot of political/personal history headcanons that I may or may not be able to express in my longer Entrapdak fic ("Our Newest Discovery). But they aren't things that Entrapta would naturally think about, so very little made the cut for this story.
Hope you liked this! I don't know if this idea has been done before, but I was excited to put my own spin on it. Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a review below!