Chapter 14: Redemption

"Where do we go now?" Glimmer asked Sea Hawk as he stood at the Solar Clipper's helm holding his locket with a blank look on his face.

"I don't know anymore Glimmer," he sighed. "I just don't know!" It was easy to understand why the pirate captain was so frustrated. They had been halfway to the Fright Zone when the locket had started glowing brightly again and tugging at Sea Hawk's neck. When he held it up the locket had directed him in a new route away from the Fright Zone. Out towards the ancient ruins. Then, after a moment of intense glowing, it had gone still and silent.

"Are you sure that thing's working properly?" Bow asked. "I mean it keeps glowing and stopping, glowing and stopping. I find it hard to believe that Adora keeps getting in and out of trouble so quickly."

"Apparently you don't know Adora as well as you thought," Glimmer muttered. "What worries me is the last time. I've never seen the locket shine so brightly before. And now for it to to just go dead," she gulped slowly not wanting to say the next part. "You don't think this means that Adora's..."

"I don't think so," Sea Hawk said, knowing full well what Glimmer was thinking. In truth the thought had crossed his mind as well but he refused to accept it.

"If she is," he went on, "Road Queen is going to pay! I'll make that bitch pray for death long before I grant her wish!"

Of course if Sea Hawk had known what had actually happened he probably would be thinking more positive thoughts towards Road Queen. She-Ra was certainly feeling grateful to her. If it wasn't for Road Queen's timely arrival with the Sword of Protection she would have been stewing in digestive acids.

"Smells almost as bad as Stinkor in there," She-Ra muttered as she gave the beast's jaws a final push apart and jumped out of its mouth.

Despite the pain she was in from her injuries, both external and internal, Road Queen smiled and sighed in relief.

"You're alive!"

"Because of you," She-Ra smiled. "Thanks for coming after me."

"I had to," Road Queen said softly wincing slightly due to a broken rib, "You're my friend and it's my fault you were in danger."

"How did you know where I was though?"

"Dragstor told me," she explained. "I would have been here sooner but I had to beat him in a race before he'd give me any information."

She-Ra's eyes became as wide as saucers and her jaw dropped in shock. "You outraced Dragstor? I wish I could have been there to see that!"

"If you had been there I wouldn't have had to race him," Road Queen chuckled then turned serious. "I'm sorry, I never should have abandoned you to Hordak."

She-Ra shook her head and knelt down beside the young biker. "I've already forgiven you, Reina. You did what you had to do. Besides, everything worked out in the end. You saved your brother and me and left Hordak with nothing"

Road Queen lowered her head in sadness and She-Ra's cheerfulness faded as well.

"What happened?"

"Hordak tricked me. That wasn't my brother," Reina sniffed. "And now I'll never find him."

"Oh Reina, I'm so sorry," She-Ra said. "But don't give up hope. We'll work together and we will find Speedy. I promise you."

"That's nice of you to say," Reina sighed. "But to do that I'd have to be able to walk away from here first."

She-Ra was about to ask what she meant when Road Queen coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"By the Ancients!" She-Ra shouted. "What am I doing standing around talking when you're injured!"

"It doesn't matter," Road Queen said softly. "I'm bleeding internally. I can't walk or even stand. Even if you were to carry me I'll succumb to my injuries long before we can reach anyone who could or would help. Besides, after what I did, I deserve this."

"You're wrong on both points," She-Ra said firmly. "You're a good person Reina and you don't deserve to die like this. And second, you've got someone who can and will help right here."

"Huh?"

She-Ra smiled and placed her hands gently on Road Queen. "I thought you knew everything about me. Did you forget I have healing powers?"

With that She-Ra's hands began to glow and slowly Road Queen felt the pain in her body diminish as the magic of Grayskull flowed through her, healing and repairing her injuries.

"Feeling better?" She-Ra asked after a moment though she was still working her powers.

"A little," Road Queen said. "But not fully. I guess I was hurt even worse than I thought."

She-Ra smiled. "That's okay. Just tell me when to stop. I can keep this up as long as I need to."

Road Queen smiled back but then suddenly gasped in shock, grabbed She-Ra and shoved her aside with all the strength she could manage. Before She-Ra could ask what was going on she had her answer as an large green claw shot past her and clamped around Road Queen.

She-Ra instinctively stumbled backwards as she saw the Beast Monster slowly pull itself to its feet while clutching Road Queen in one massive hand. The shock to its system caused by Adora's transformation in its mouth had been enough to knock it out momentarily, but it had quickly recovered and was now more determined than ever to feast.

Road Queen had saved She-Ra by pushing her out of the way but was now trapped in the monster's grip herself. She struggled to free herself as she was lifted higher into the air. Since her arms were pinned to her sides, combined with the fact that she was not fully healed from before yet, her efforts were all in vain.

"Run She-Ra!" she called out. "Get out of here! Save yourself."

"Not a chance!" She-Ra shouted. "We're both leaving here or neither of us are!"

The Princess of Power quickly drew her sword and charged straight at the monster. The creature paused in confusion at this action. It didn't understand that She-Ra had super powers at her disposal. All it saw was a creature five times smaller than itself launching an attack. Thus it did nothing until she had jumped on its foot and stabbed her sword down into its flesh actually piercing the tough hide and drawing blood.

The Beast Monster reared in pain and ended up lifting its injured foot. She-Ra quickly used this to her advantage and leapt from the foot, ricocheted off the beast's chest, and landed on its arm that was holding Road Queen. Normally it was against her nature to use her sword to deliberately harm any animal, even one that was attacking her. However, at the moment She-Ra's determination to rescue Reina was outweighing her morals.

"Get your stinking claws off my friend!" she yelled driving her blade into the creature's flesh again. Again the creature cried in pain and its grip loosened so that Road Queen slipped out of its grasp. She-Ra quickly launched herself to the ground first and caught Reina as she fell.

Still holding the young biker in her arms She-Ra ran over to a series of pillars in the ruins, putting some distance between them and the monster, before setting her down.

"I've managed to hurt it," She-Ra said, sizing up the situation, "but I think I'm just making it more angry than injured."

Road Queen nodded. "I agree. At this point our best course of action is to get the hell out of here!"

"Where's your bike?"

"Over there," Road Queen groaned pointing past the Beast Monster, which was standing between them and the vehicle.

"Can't you use your wristcom to call it over to us?" She-Ra asked.

Road Queen shook her head. "I could call it, but I doubt it'll have any better luck getting past that thing to us than we would to it. It can't detect incoming danger and react like we can."

She-Ra nodded in understanding. "The bike is our only transportation out of here. If the Beast Monster destroys it we're stranded."

While She-Ra desperately tried to think of a plan the Beast Monster licked its wound a few times. This only seemed to increase its appetite for blood however and it soon began sniffing the air searching for its prey.

"We're going to have to find a way to keep that thing busy long enough for us to get away," She-Ra said looking around. Finally she spotted a series of ruins that had fallen towards each other. They were now precariously balanced against each other so that it formed a kind of arch. The only thing holding each side up was the other side. A disruption of this balance would send the whole thing crashing down.

"You still have your gun on you?"

"Yeah but..."

"Good," She-Ra interrupted. "Stay here and be ready to shoot when and where I tell you."

"I've already tried it," Road Queen said. "My gun doesn't work on that creature."

"You won't be aiming at the creature," She-Ra smiled pointing to the ruins.

Road Queen looked and instantly understood the plan. "How you going to get it over there though?"

"Live bait," she shrugged then ran towards the monster before Road Queen could stop her.

"Over here ugly!" she yelled instantly grabbing its attention. "Snack time! Come and get me."

It's unknown if the Beast Monster understood the language of humans. If it did it either sensed no deception in She-Ra or was simply too blinded by rage and hunger. Whatever the case the creature took off in hot pursuit. Thanks to her super strength and endurance She-Ra was able to run faster than she had as Adora. Plus she was no longer barefoot since She-Ra's boots had materialized on her during the transformation. Contrary to what some think, the transformation does not cause Adora's clothes to turn into She-Ra's but rather makes them magically vanish while the new clothes simultaneously appear on her.

At any rate, She-Ra reached the ruins before the beast could catch up and called out to Road Queen. "Get ready. As soon as it's in position, fire!"

"I don't know if I can pull this off," Road Queen called back

"Yes you can! I trust you Reina!"

There was no time to discuss the matter any further as the Beast Monster closed in. It was so intent on catching She-Ra that it didn't notice what was above it.

"Now! Shoot!"

Road Queen didn't hesitate but opened fire on the ancient ruins, which began to rain down on top of the Beast Monster. But not quickly enough. Seeing this She-Ra slammed her fists into the stone around her increasing the rate of the crumbing then just barely jumped away before getting buried under the rubble as well.

The Beast Monster snarled and roared but was unable to move its large body quick enough to avoid the oncoming debris. Within moments the structure had collapsed on top of the creature pinning it down under a mountain of rubble. The creature continued to screech and lash as best it could trying to free itself.

"Its still alive," Road Queen snarled as she limped over to She-Ra.

"I never intended to kill it," She-Ra said. "I just wanted to trap it long enough for us to leave. This creature isn't really evil. It's just an animal obeying its natural instincts." As if to emphasize her point She-Ra placed a hand on the creature's foot and healed the wound she herself had given it. Her other hand she placed on Road Queen's shoulder and sent healing magic into her body as well finishing the job she had started earlier.

"Let's go," she said finally. "I don't know how long that will hold it."

Road Queen nodded and spoke into her wristcom calling her bike to her side. As the vehicle approached an unusual engine noise could be heard.

"I guess I hurt the engine more than I thought during that race with Dragstor," she said.

"Uh, Reina, that's not the bike," She-Ra said looking skyward. Turning her head Road Queen saw what she was looking at. A large Horde vessel was closing in on the ruins.

"Great more trouble."

"More than you may think," She-Ra said. "That's Hordak's personal ship!"

"He's probably here to make sure you, or rather Adora, is dead."

"Maybe, or maybe it's something else," She-Ra said softly remembering how Hordak had tried desperately to keep her alive. After a moment she held up her sword and transformed back into Adora.

"What are you doing?" Road Queen shouted in shock.

Adora grinned. "Trust me."

Hordak's vessel came to a low hovering stop and he and Caries disembarked aboard a small sky sled. Caries began scanning the area with a pair of macro-oculars, searching for any sign of Adora.

"Well it seems the beast did its job after all," Caries smirked as she spotted the shattered remains of the post Adora had been tied to with her discarded boot nearby.

"Perhaps not," Hordak said pointing at the ropes, which on a second inspection had clearly been cut through.

"Don't get your hopes up," Caries snapped.

"Keep your voice down!" Hordak snarled. "Do you want to attract the Beast Monster to us?"

"I really couldn't care less about you," Caries said, but she did speak in a softer tone. The roars of the monster could be heard some distance away. Slowly and cautiously Caries piloted the sled over towards the sound and they soon spotted the creature still trying to free itself.

"It would seem the Beast Monster failed to eliminate Adora after all," Hordak grinned.

Caries scowled but then smiled and handed the macro-oculars to Hordak. "Guess again," she smirked pointing towards the creatures mouth.

Hordak looked and his body sank as he spotted Adora's other boot which was still lodged in between the monster's teeth. Shock and sorrow gave way to furry as Caries laughed beside him.

"Finally the little bitch is dead!" she shouted in joy. "This simple minded animal has accomplished what you should have done back when she was just a newborn!"

"I raised Adora as if she were my own daughter," Hordak snarled, rearing up to make his strike against the vile inspector.

"And for what purpose?" Caries shot back. "To use against Horde Prime? As if you would stand a chance of success even with Adora at your side. Well I'd like to see her fulfill the prophecy now!"

"What prophecy is that now?"

Hordak and Caries spun around in shock to see Adora, alive and well, appear from behind another set of ruins seated behind Road Queen on her hover bike.

"Adora! You're alive!" Hordak shouted hiding none of his pleasure.

"Nice to know you still care," Adora grinned mockingly.

"You!" Caries snarled staring at Road Queen. "Stinking bounty hunter! I should have known you'd double cross us."

"Who double crossed who now?" Road Queen seethed. "All you had to do was give me my brother. One simple request that you chose to ignore!" She turned to Hordak. "I warned you that you didn't want me as your enemy. You can forget about ever calling on my services again. And what's more, better watch your back because I'll be gunning for you all now."

"Arrogant wench," Caries snarled through clenched teeth. "I'll deal with you momentarily. But first, I'm going to take care of that traitorous rebel princess once and for all!"

With that she began charging up to unleash her deadly eye beams at Adora. Neither Adora nor Road Queen knew about this power Caries had and they were too far away to properly notice her eyes begin to glow. Therefore they did nothing but stare in confusion as Caries appeared to be doing nothing more than glaring at them in anger.

Hordak did know however and, without even really thinking about it, made his move. Before Caries could fire off a shot he had grabbed her from behind, lifted the startled inspector over his head and then hurled her down into the ruins below. Caries bounced first off stone then off the body of the Beast Monster before landing in a heap on the rocky ground.

For a moment she remained still but then slowly groaned in pain and pulled herself up staring in anger and slight disbelief at Hordak.

"I knew you were a traitor!"she yelled. "This is the end for you Hordak!"

"If you value your life, I suggest shutting up Inspector!" Hordak snarled.

"You've gone too far this time," Caries went on, paying no attention to Hordak's words or the fact that all other noises had stopped. "Horde Prime will hear of this and when he does it's the end for you."

"I seriously doubt that," Hordak laughed.

"Make no mistake Hordak," Caries yelled. "You're dead! Do you hear me? You are dead!"

"Actually Inspector," Hordak smiled, "You're dead."

Before Caries could say another word an enormous shadow fell over her. Turning around she barely had time to scream before the Beast Monster clamped its jaws around her top half with a loud crunch. It then flipped its head back snapping up her legs with another crunch followed by a large gulp then silence.

The silence was finally broken by a low whistle from Road Queen. "That woman is definitely deceased."

"Couldn't have happened to a more deserving bitch," Hordak laughed. A moment later however the Beast Monster stirred again and the rubble pinning it down could be seen falling away.

"Time to go!" Adora shouted. Road Queen nodded and fired up the bike's engines racing away. Hordak too turned his sky sled around and headed back to his vessel. But before boarding he looked back in the direction they had gone.

"Until we meet again Adora," he said, "stay safe."

"So what's this prophecy they were talking about?" Road Queen asked as they flew back towards Whispering Woods.

"No idea," Adora shrugged. "Apparently it has something to do with me and that's why Hordak wanted me alive but I've never heard of any prophecy from anyone. You'd think if I was destined for something, aside from my role as She-Ra, Sorceress, Light Hope or someone would have told me by now."

"Unless part of the destiny is that you not know about it," Road Queen countered. "And I'm not so sure that's the only reason Hordak doesn't want you dead."

"What do you mean?"

"You heard him. 'I raised Adora as if she were my own daughter'," Road Queen said, doing an almost spot on imitation of Hordak's voice.

"You think Hordak has some emotional attachment to me?" Adora asked in shock.

Road Queen shrugged, "It's a possibility you may want to look in to. It could prove to be the key to ending the war."

I wonder... Adora thought but got no further before the hover bike started sputtering and buckling.

"Whoa, steady baby!" Road Queen called out.

"What's wrong?"

"I overstressed the poor thing in order to win the race with Dragstor," Road Queen explained again. "And then I put even more pressure on it racing out to save you. My baby needs a tune up."

"I'll help," Adora said. "Let's find some place to set down."

"How about there?" Road Queen smiled pointing to the side. Adora glanced over and her heart jumped for joy as she saw the Solar Clipper flying towards them. Road Queen turned the bike to intercept them but frowned slightly as they drew close enough to see everyone on board training their weapons at her.

"Road Queen," Sea Hawk shouted out in fury, "There's no escape this time! Surrender Adora now or we'll blow you out of the sky."

Road Queen sighed and shook her head. "Hawk, you're either a lousy strategist or a shitty bluffer. What do you think is going to happen to Adora if you fire on my bike while she's on it with me?"

Sea Hawk stuttered unable to think of a response and finally simply growled in frustration. Road Queen laughed and waved at the crew in a gesture that told them to move.

"Clear the deck genius, I'm coming in." Everyone stepped back allowing Road Queen to land her bike but then stepped forward again ready to move in on the bounty hunter. Adora quickly jumped off the bike and stood between them.

"Hold it! Nobody's going to hurt her!"

Needless to say, Sea Hawk was massively confused. "Adora what are you doing?"

"Hawk, Road Queen's my friend. She saved my life."

"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Glimmer shouted.

"It's a long story," Adora sighed. "Turn the ship around and let's go home. We'll explain everything on the way."

It was twilight and the Solar Clipper had long since made it back to the Rebel camp by the time Adora and Road Queen finished their long explanation of the past two days events. (though they had to alter or leave out some details in order to maintain Adora's secret) After hearing the whole truth most of the rebels were willing to forgive, if not fully trust, Road Queen. Sea Hawk was still felling mistrust towards her, but was willing to give her a chance to earn friendship.

"So what do we do now?" he said.

"I suggest we start focusing more attention to taking out Horde slave camps," Glimmer said. "The way I see it, that's our best chance of finding Reina's brother."

"Sounds good to me," Adora nodded, "What do you say Reina?" She turned to where the biker had been sitting before only to find her gone. Looking around quickly she spotted her walking slowly away towards her bike.

"Leaving without saying goodbye?" Sea Hawk asked.

"I see no reason to drag out my departure," she said without turning around.

"Where are you going?" Adora said with concern. "Let's get your bike fixed and come up with a strategy before we do anything."

"I appreciate the offer Adora," Road Queen sighed. "But the rebellion has too many important things to do to worry about my personal problems."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Adora shouted. "You're one of us now Reina. We take care of our own."

"I can't stay Adora," Road Queen sniffed, fighting back tears. "I can't be trusted."

"Don't start that again!"

"We all understand you did what you thought would save your bother," Glimmer added.

"That's just it," Reina said, still not turning to face them. "You're the only real friend I've ever had Adora, and I betrayed you. As long as the Horde has my brother I'll do anything to save him. If I stay I may wind up betraying you again!"

"No, you won't" Adora said firmly. "I trust you Reina. We're friends aren't we?"

"Of course we are," Road Queen said. "I... I just..." she couldn't say anything more. Reina simply turned finally and fell against Adora sobbing her heart out. The young princess gently hugged her new friend and let her cry.

"It'll be okay Reina. I promise."

Hordak waited on edge as Horde Prime took in the information he had just received.

"It's unlike Caries to be so careless," the emperor said. "But I will admit her hatred of rebels would cause her to jump blindly into this situation. In all honesty, she was rather irritable and I'm not sorry to be rid of her. Very well Hordak, you are clear of any suspicion in her death."

"Thank you mighty one," Hordak said and breathed an internal sigh of relief that Prime had bought the story he made up to cover Caries' murder.

"As for the inspection," Prime went on causing Hordak to bite his lip, "Caries did manage to send off her report before her untimely death."

"And what is your evaluation oh wise and powerful Horde Prime?"

"In the end Hordak... you passed."

Hordak relaxed and grinned.

"Don't get to cocky," Horde Prime growled. "You passed, but not with flying colors! I will allow you to stay where you are for now, however I expect to see vast improvements!"

"Of course," Hordak quivered.

"And you better do it soon," Prime chuckled, "because you never know when I'll spring another surprise inspection on you. And the next inspector I send may not be as lenient as this one!" With that he laughed loudly and ended the transmission.

Gloat while you still can! Hordak thought. But your days are numbered and you know it. The prophecy will be fulfilled. Adora will kill you and when she does I will be there to take back what is rightfully mine!

"Okay, let's get these loaded up," Road Queen said carefully rolling a barrel out to the waiting carts. Now that she was an official member of the Great Rebellion she was going to donate the hyper fuel to the cause. Although she would keep her promise and not reveal the actual formula, Road Queen had an already made supply stored up that would last them for some time.

"Is this where you live?" Adora asked looking around.

"No this is just one of my garages I use for storage and repairs. I've got several set up across Etheria. I never stayed in one spot for very long. Never had a reason to before."

Adora nodded and turned to grab another barrel when her eyes fell upon a painting stuck in the corner. It was a portrait of two people. One was a small girl with lavender hair and happy smirk on her face. Obviously a picture of Reina when she was younger. The man next to her had short curly black hair and slightly tan skin. He was wearing a green sleeveless tunic and had red armbands with black stripes. A matching headband was tied around his scalp. He had a wide grin on his face and his arm wrapped around the young girl beside him.

"Is this him?" Adora asked though the answer was obvious.

Road Queen nodded. "Yeah that's my bro. Damn, I'd forgotten I stored that here." She picked up the painting and continued to stare at it for a long time in silence. A sad smile crept over her face.

Adora placed a hand on Road Queen's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll get him back."

Road Queen finally looked away form the painting and turned to Adora. "Would you guys mind if I brought this too?"

'Go ahead," Adora grinned. "I'm sure your brother will be glad to see it too when we find him."

Road Queen carefully carried the portrait out to the cart and gently set it aboard making sure it was secure and would not get damaged during transport.

I know you're still out there brother, she thought. I'll never give up. No matter how long it takes, no matter what has become of you, we will be together again someday. I swear it.

"I'm confused master," Dragstor was saying. "How did you manage to get a passing inspection from Caries?"

"Technically I didn't," Hordak laughed. "Imp here switched her real report with a doctored one and sent it off to Horde Prime while we were out checking on Adora."

Dragstor looked in amazement at the small creature sitting on Hordak's shoulder. "I never thought I'd say this, but well done Imp. I wonder though, why send in one with so many faults?"

"No one ever gets a perfect score from an Inspector," Imp squeaked. "I had to make Hordak look bad in a few areas in order to avoid suspicion."

"Then everything worked out best for us?"

"Not quite everything," Hordak frowned. "Adora is still alive but capturing her again will be more difficult in the future. And we can't rely on Road Queen anymore. You know what she did to our troops when she was still a mercenary. Now that she has turned into a full enemy she'll be even more dangerous. Our only hope of possibly getting back on her good side is to actually find that brother of hers."

"I will do my best to search our slave camps and mines," Dragstor said. "What was the man's name again?"

"Theydon, I believe." Hordak said.

Dragstor tapped his head in thought. Theydon? Why do I feel as if I know that name? There's something about it... and that girl. Something familiar... something... from the past.

THE END...?

Author's note: First let me apologize for taking so long to post the last chapter. I had it almost ready then my hard drive died and I had to rewrite the whole thing.

Second in case I didn't make it clear enough Road Queen's brother is Dragstor. His real name Theydon comes from the UK comics as does my description of his appearance. (thanks to the guys at He-Man dot org for getting me pictures) How he got captured is my own spin on it.

On that note: Road Queen, Inspector Caries, the city of Middlepoint, The Shady Pub, Jasper, Saurian ale, quickmarsh, and the fire planes are all my original creations. She-Ra and all other related characters are creations of Mattel and Filmation.

Finally I know there's a few unanswered questions. I did that on purpose. I have a running plot going though my stories. So to learn the answers be on the lookout for my future stories. For example this prophecy thing will be explained fully in my next She-Ra tale Heir to Etheria.