Makuta stared in stunned silence at Skeletor for a few moments; he was probably the scariest thing the magicat had ever seen. He also felt a powerful magical presence around Skeletor, something he had felt from She-Ra, only this one was twice as potent.

"You're a First One" Makuta guessed.

Skeletor chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't call myself that, but yes. I do come from Eternia, if that's what you're implying."

"What do you want?"

"Oh, right to the point, I see? Well, if you must know, I'm here to bring Eternia and Etheria to its knees. Eternia is too strong right now, so I'll start with Etheria and regain some strength."

Makuta simply chuckled, but retained his aggressive posture. "Yeah, others have tried and failed. You will too."

Skeletor cackled. "If you're referring to Horde Prime, than maybe I should give you a little history lesson."

Skeletor slammed his staff on the ground, and a ring of wall carvings appeared around Makuta. He recognized them as First Ones paintings, but what shocked him was that he saw Horde Prime and Skeletor both leading armies into battle.

"Hord Prime and I were powerful allies" Skeletor said, "Together, we were unstoppable. However, he soon turned on me simply because my ambition and power outgrew his own. Hehe, the funny thing is, I would have actually killed him in the fight that followed, but he played the coward card and locked me away instead of defeating me. For nearly a thousand years, I've been festering in my rage, dreaming of the day when I would break free. Now, that day has come, and now that I know Horde Prime is gone, there is nothing that will stop me from destroying Etheria and Eternia!"

Maktua had a whole sarcastic remark planned at this point, but Skeletor wasn't finished. "Now, I've been looking for followers who would join me in my conquest, and I was hoping you would join me."

Makuta thought back to the jaguar; how it's eyes were glowing. "You're the one who's controlling the jaguar."

"Observant, I see. Well, yes, I did. The jaguar is my key to taking this planet as well as merely a test run of my returning power. One must always get back into the swing of using their power after having been robbed of it for so long. But enough of that, let's talk about you, Makuta."

Makuta bared his claws and teeth at the mention of his name. Skeletor simply waved his hand, causing an invisible force to shove Makuta to his knees.

"Now, now, there's no need for that." Skeletor chided as he walked up to the magicat, "Yes, I know who you are; I've been watching you. You're strong, you're a leader, and you're a talented fighter, but what I don't fully understand is what motivates you. You know your team is skilled, yet you stopped them from coming to help you fight my jaguar. Why?"

Makuta glared at Skeletor and growled, "Why would I tell you? You wouldn't understand."

"Maybe not" Skeletor admitted, "But that's no reason to try. What say we take a little stroll down memory lane, shall we?"

Skeletor then waved his staff, changing the scenery to show the mechanical hallways of the Fright Zone.

Makuta stood up and frantically looked around in shock.

"So, you recognize this place" Skeletor observed, "I should hope so, these are your memories we're seeing, after all."

Makuta was at a loss for words. Suddenly, he heard laughter coming from down the hall and shuddered; he recognized that laughter all to well. Yet, he couldn't help but walk down the halls towards the sound as Skeletor only watched in growing interest. Turning the corner, Makuta saw a sight he dreaded, yet remembered all to well. There were three teenage Horde soldiers who all seemed to be jeering and laughing at something; Makuta didn't need to see it to know what it was. Catra, only a little kid, was lying on the ground in a fetal position, crying as young Adora stood in front of her protectively and shouted. "Leave her alone!"

"Leave her alone!" the lead soldier mocked, "Come on, kid, why can't we play with the little kitty a little bit?"

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty" taunted the second, waving his fingers.

"Hey!" shouted another voice, and Makuta looked down to see himself, at a very young age, run up and glare at the bullies.

"That's enough" young Makuta growled. The bullies simply laughed.

"Oh, look, it's another kitty cat here to protect his little buddies! How cute!" they jeered. Young Makuta simply raised his hand and drove his claws into the first bully's legs.

"OWW!" the bully cried, clutching his foot. He then glared at the little magicat, "You're gonna pay for that."

He then nodded to the other two, who picked Makuta up and pinned him to the wall. Young Makuta struggled, but he could see Adora trying to comfort Catra and lead her away. His attention then turned to the lead bully, his leg bleeding as he pulled out a knife from his belt.

"You just attacked someone of higher rank" he said as he pressed the blade to Makuta's face, "This is how we punish brats like you in the Horde."

Before anyone could react, the bully whipped the knife down, cutting a gash across young Makuta's eye. Young Makuta screamed in pain as the bullies dropped him, and he lay on the ground, clutching his eye as the bullies walked away, laughing. Makuta instinctively reached up and touched the scar on his eye as he watched the memory unfold.

Once the bullies were gone, Adora and Catra ran up and helped him sit up.

"Are you ok?" Adora asked.

Young Makuta still clutched his face, but it was clear the bleeding was slowing down.

"I-I think so." He shakingly replied.

"You didn't need to do that"

"No. But I wanted to. You're my best friend, Adora, and you're my sister, Catra. I want to protect you two."

"But look what happened to you" Adora pointed out.

"I'll get stronger then" young Makuta finally said, "I'll get so strong that the bullies won't even dare go near you two. I'll be sure you two are safe…"

Here, Makuta spoke at the exact same time as his younger self, saying the same thing, "…I promise."

Catra softly leaned her head on young Makuta's shoulder and purred, while Adora simply smiled. "Yeah. And we can be an unstoppable team. The best in the Horde!"

Young Makuta smiled. "And we can be the ones to destroy the princesses. When we've got each other, we're stronger than anyone!"

Adora, Catra, and young Makuta all raised their fists and shouted. "Yeah!" before running off back toward their rooms, Makuta watching after them.

"Interesting" Skeletor mused, as the scene changed back to the foggy forest "You get a scar on your eye protecting those you care about, yet that didn't seem to stop you. What happened?"

Makuta shrugged, but it all came spilling out. "When you're in the Horde, it's hard to find people willing to be close to you. Catra and Adora meant everything to me, and they still do. I wasn't going to lose them to a bunch of thugs. So I trained; I trained harder than anyone else. I got stronger, faster, sneakier. Those bullies didn't show up for a few more years, but when they did, I gave them all scars to remember."

Makuta felt a twinge of satisfaction at that memory; he had broken the first one's nose, tossed the second into a wall, and then clawed the chest of the third. Those bullies didn't show up ever again after that.

"So" Skeletor said, "Your strength comes from your drive to protect."

Makuta nodded. "From love."

Skeletor made a gagging noise. "Ugh, I can't stand that word. If I could throw up in my mouth, believe me, I would. However, I think I know how to appeal to you now."

Makuta raised an eyebrow "Is that so?"

Skeletor nodded. "When I conquer Etheria, I will raze everything to the ground to make way for my new kingdom. HOWEVER, if you fight by my side, I will willingly spare anyone you wish me to, including Adora and Catra. Trust me, I'm a man of my word. So, what say you?"

Here, Skeletor held out his hand to Makuta, "Do we have a deal?"

Makuta's ears drooped as he realized he was stuck between a rock and a hard place; would Skeletor actually do it? Would he spare Adora and Catra and all of his friends. It was a tempting offer. But then, his thoughts went to the rest of Etheria; how he had been given a second chance and how much he enjoyed the freedom it brought him. Something told him Skeletor wouldn't be that generous.

"It's tempting" Makuta said, his expression returning to its determined state, "but no. Etheria is my home. I may have promised to protect those I love, but what that memory didn't show was that I expanded that promise to the rest of Etheria when I became a member of the Rebellion. You can try to take it, but expect me to be there, ready to fight you."

Skeletor remained unmoving, but then he slowly retracted his outstretched hand and raised his staff. "Not if you're gone."

Suddenly, Makuta felt a searing pain in his head and dropped to the ground as the pain spread through his whole body.

"If you won't be my champion" Skeleotr continued, "Then you'll just be one less loose end!"

Makuta could feel himself slipping away as Skeletor continued his destructive spell, cackling maniaclly. Suddenly, the laughing was cut short as a glint of light caught Skeletor's eye. Turning to look, Skeletor had just enough time to see the light expand and shoot forward, throwing Skeletor back and causing his form to dissipate. The pain slowly stopped, and Makuta slowly regained his senses enough the fell a warm hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright" said a man's voice, "Rise."

Makuta stood up to see the newcomer; he was a muscular man with short golden hair, wore silver armor and carried a gleaming sword on his back. Makuta couldn't help but feel comforted by the man's presence

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Adam: Prince of Eternia." The man replied, "I am merely a shadow of my former self, but my spirit resides in this sword, which I now pass to you."

Makuta was a mixture of confused and shocked. "Wha-? Me?"

"You stood up to Skeletor. I fought him in the past, and that is no easy task" Adam continued, "And your self-sacrifice is admirable. Unfortunately, I was killed long ago, but the power in this sword remains. Perhaps you've seen a similar power before."

Makuta looked to the gleaming, silver sword and could feel a powerful energy coming form it; what was weird is that he had felt a power like that only once before.

"She-Ra…" he whispered.

Adam nodded. "She-Ra was a protector of the people in Eternia long before your time, and while Etheria is now in a realm far outside Eternia's time and space, her power still remains. However, what your people don't realize is that she had a…counterpart of sorts. He was known as the Warrior, He-Man, and it is in this sword that his magic flows. You will need this power if you are to stand up to Skeletor."

Adam drew the sword and held the handle out for Makuta to take. "If you want to protect those you love from Skeletor, this is the best way."

Makuta was hesitant, but he decided that he trusted Adam far more than he did Skeletor. He reached out and took the sword in his hands. As he tested it out, he found it was light enough for him to use and could cut through the air in a mixture of power and grace.

"It's nice" he said.

Adam nodded in agreement, "It suits you. When you need to draw on its power, the sword will tell you what to say."

Makuta looked at the sword and saw a few runes etched on the blade, spelling out a phrase. His ears lifted as he smirked in a mixture of determination and smugness.

"Thank you, Adam" he said. Just then, the surroundings began to fade; Makuta realized he was waking up.

"Good luck, Makuta" Adam called as he faded away, "Maybe you can succeed where I failed."

Everything went black for a few moments, then Makuta opened his eyes to find himself in a hospital bed in a strange looking medical room. Despite the light, Makuta noticed there was shade in front of his face, which turned out to be Entrapta standing over him, looking very intently at him and causing him to briefly shout in surprise.

Entrapta shouted as well as she jumped back. "Ah! You're awake! Guys, he's awake!"

The door to the room opened as Pyroc and Kanan entered.

Kanan sighed in relief. "I was beginning to think I was too late."

Pyroc simply pointed at Makuta's hand. "What's that?"

Makuta looked at his own hand and saw that he was holding sword that Adam had given him. He also noticed he was shirtless, his chest covered in bandages

"It's…complicated" Makuta replied, "What happened?"

Makuta learned that it had been a few days since Kanan brought him to Cyber City to be treated. Catra was extremely worried about him and refused to leave his side. Things only got worse when his body suddenly went into spasms for a brief moment (Makuta thought that was when Skeletor tried to kill him). After that, Catra sat in isolation in the room she had been given, and no one had seen her since.

"We gotta tell her!" Makuta said as he sat up "She has to know I'm ok."

"Scorpia's already on it." Pyroc said, "We sent her when it was clear you would survive."

"Where are they now?"

As if in answer, Scorpia burst in through the door, all out of breath from running. "Guys! Problem!"

"What is it?" Pyroc asked.

"Catra!" Scorpia replied, regaining her breath, "She's lost her mind! She's going after the jaguar!"

The room was left in stunned silence.

"Catra…" Makuta whispered, "What are you doing…"

Yes. Magicat He-Man. I'm personally super excited for this.

Let me know what you think so far!