Authors notes: Apologies for the long delay, I've had a lot going on in my personal life and finishing Teenage Mysticon Ninja Turtles but now I'm back and with the next chapter of Heroes of Power. I've also recently seen the new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe reboot, and while I've had past concerns as far as the sword design goes, after seeing clips and bing watching it on Netflix, it turned out better than I expected. Even seeing Adam's orgin story take a similar path to She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, well minus the Tiger Tribe anyway.

I will say it does have the potential for a good crossover, once I've seen future seasons that is. So far however the top contenders for a crossover would be She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (not connected to heroes of power) Tangled, Avatar the Last Airbender and Elena of Avalor. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the reviews.

Now I know in the previous chapter there wasnt much in terms of action, sorry it couldn't be helped, but sometimes it's nice to have a break from loud explosions and alien fights. But this chapter is going to take an interesting turn. Its mainly canon with some slight changes and has an element of Omniverse within it. Plus I know we're not close to halloween but given the theme it seems appropriate.

Now without further delay lets begin.

Ben 10 (c) Cartoon Network

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (c) Dreamworks animation.

:A Night of Frights:

In the ever darkening gloom of the Fright Zone deep in a secret sanctum. Hordak the leader of the Horde is developing sinister designs to further his cause. He stands before a metal rod and atop it lay a green glowing orb surging with electricity.

"Finally." He said with anticipation, crushing a spanner in his hand. Just then his little imp spy appeared climbing up to his masters shoulder gasping in a smile.

All of a sudden the orb started to pulse then turn dim before it disappeared in a flash of light nearly blinding those present. A control panel exploded shorting out the system.

Hordak grew a very displeased and frustrated expression on his face, as the machine shorted out. "Useless!" He hissed. Imp just giggled as Hordak shoved him off his shoulder leaving the creature on the floor, and dropping the damaged spanner as he walked away.

Imp simply hopped away and climbed the machinery into the dark ceiling. "Useless!" He repeated Hordak's voice.

Bright Moon:

Back at Bright Moon, Angella and the Princess alliance were gathered in the throne room. Bow, Glimmer and Rook recently learned that Entrapta was alive and now apparently her allegiance has changed to the Horde. This revelation shook them hard, given how they thought said princess perished. To say Ben and Adora were shocked to hear this news was an understatement. They had just shared this new found knowledge to the Queen and the other princesses, and they were horrified just the same.

"Entrapta is now allied with the Horde?!" Angella said in disbelif. "I I don't understand."

"Its true mom, Bow and Rook found in studying the bot it used First Ones tech, Entrapta specialises in that." Glimmer explained. "Thats why these bots that attacked us were more advanced than the others."

"Yeah since she thought we'd left her behind during our rescue mission." Ben added.

"How…how could she do that she's supposed to be one of us?!" Frosta said in partial anger.

"That backstabbing no good, the next time I see one of those bots again I'll send it back in pieces just to spite her!" Mermista agreed hitting her fist in her hand.

"Well Entrapta does have a weakness for technology, while we were in the Fright Zone she looked more interested in that then our friends rescue." Perfuma pointed out. "Which was doing more and more harm to my harmony in the current situation!" She nearly lost her cool just thinking about it.

"Perfuma please, while I agree this is a shocking revelation we must not let that hurt us. It is what the Horde expect." Rook said to her in a calming tone to calm her down.

"Yes yes your right your right the Hordes negative energy is messing with our Chakras maybe meditating might help expel that." Perfuma said now rather calm.

Adora was still not believing that Entrapta was helping them willingly. "Well maybe she's brainwashed I mean Shadow Weaver must've messed with her mind."

"I don't know. She seemed normal when we talked to her. Entrapta-normal, but still, she wants to be with the Horde." Glimmer pointed out. "They do have better tech than us. But we have magic on our side."

"Magic and tech aren't totally separate things." Bow explained while working on one of his tech bows. "Entrapta is one of the only people who really understands that." Bow pointed out.

"You're not wrong Bow, and you know back where I'm from some people consider magic as a science we don't yet understand." Ben pointed out before turning to Adora. "I mean Adora your sword may look magic but to some scientists like Azmuth or even human scientists its just a piece of advanced tech they haven't discovered yet."

"Ben is correct, there are those, both human and alien define the unexplainable as magic." Rook said.

"And let me guess you guys don't believe in that sort of thing." Mermista pointed out.

"Of course we believe it, I've seen it all, witches, sorcerers, zombies heck even aliens that look like monsters from earth. That and theres Ledgerdomain" Ben said remembering all the times he's dealt with magical villains.

Bow decided to get back on topic. "Look the point is she's got closer to combining them than anyone else, I mean take what she did to the Black Garnet, and now she's with the Horde."

Everyone around him looked rather disheartened by this development, one of their own was helping the Horde to attack their homes and their people. All because of her own weakness of scientific curiosity. Bow could see the affect of what he said.

"Well, who needs Entrapta? You've got Bow, tech master and premier member of the Etherian Maker Community." Bow said more enthusiastic. However it was shot down when his arrow that he worked on exploded and he blew it out.

"Uh it uh meant to do that." Bow said as Rook took a look at said arrow.

"Hm must have been a problem with the wiring in the impact mechanism." Rook diagnosed.

"Yeah maybe." Bow said.

Angella could see the affect this was having on everyone, so she decided to change the subject. "Everyone, I understand how unsettling this latest development is." She spoke. "However we must not let Entrapta's change of allegiance linger in our minds, for as Rook has said the Horde will take advantage of that. Entrapta made her choice and theres nothing we can do to change that. This recent intel while troubling gives us an advantage to better combat these new robots."

The Alliance seemed more comforted and positive about this which then lead Angella to discuss even more recent intel. "For now we have a more pressing matter at hand." She then said. "We've recently lost contact with our farming outpost in Alwyn about a week ago."

"Has there been any Horde activity reported?" Rook asked.

"No Rook, there has not however given how cunning they've become we cannot take any chances." Angella explained.

"They're definitely involved. They always are." Adora said. Ben saw this news of Entrapta was affecting his friends even if they didn't show it like the other Princesses were. So he decided to try and take their minds off things.

"Uh Queen Angella." He spoke approaching the queen."I think me, Adora, Bow, Glimmer, Rook and Swift Wind should investigate, if it's the Horde we'll be ready for what they throw at us."

He then asked the Queen to silently come closer to him which she did out of curiosity. "I think this Entrapta thing is affecting them maybe this could help take their mind of it." He whispered.

The queen had to agree with Bens observation, she could see it was affecting her daughter most of all. So she came to a decision. "An excellent idea, Commander Glimmer, you Ben, Adora, Bow, Rook and Swift Wind will investigate Alwyn, but proceed with caution."

"Yes mom, I I mean your majesty." Glimmer bowed and she teleported the group away.

Whispering Woods:

Night had fallen over the Whispering Woods and The Best Friend Squad headed through the woods towards the outpost. Swift Wind had flown ahead to investigate. Among the Best Friend Squad there was some doubt and uneasiness in the air and it wasn't hard to figure out why. Ben could feel the tension in the air.

"So everyone set for this mission?" Ben openly asked.

"Yeah why?" Glimmer asked.

Ben sighed as he got this into the open. "Okay guys look I know this whole Entrapta joining the Horde thing is a lot. But theres no way we knew, and no matter what she's doing we still come out on top."

"Yeah Ben I know we can handle the Horde. I don't care if they do have Entrapta's inventions, they're no match for us! We'll handle this the way we always do." Glimmer said with a more upbeat attitude.

"Brute strength?" Adora asked hitting her fists.

"Awesome heroics!" Ben said.

"Strategy?" Rook asked.

"No, sort of and kind of but by sticking together, and never giving up." Glimmer said.

"Yeah! Best Friend Quad to the rescue!" Bow said excitedly but this did earn some questionable looks from the others. "Because there's five of us well six counting Swift Wind."

"Bow, you realise that we are still a small squad, despite our number?" Rook asked and explained.

The marksman started to get what Rook was saying. "Okay taking that one off the list." Bow said as the group continued their trek through the forest. As they walked Adora suddenly felt a sudden presence in the air. She looked to see the wind blowing all around her as she bore a suspicious look.

"Adora?" She jumped in fright as she saw Ben next to her. "You okay?"

"Y yeah I just… I thought I heard something." Adora said unsure. "Ah its probably my imagination, let's go." She said as she and the Omnitrix Bearer hurried to catch up to the others.

The Fright Zone:

Within the confines of Entrapta's lab the tech happy princess was hard at work at her work bench on her next project. However as she work tinkering with a device and humming to herself the table did start to tilt a little side to side.

Entrapta lifted her welding mask to look but noticed nothing, so she put her mask back on and got back to work. However the work bench kept shaking from side to side while Emily the robot watched and observed.

Eventually Entrapta removed her welding mask and went under the bench to find the problem. The source being a loose bolt in the hinges between the bench and the wall. She twisted the bolt and realised what she needed.

"Emily, hand me a six sided hex driver." She asked.

The robot looked on the workbench for the tool in question, however couldn't find it. So she went to look in some of the crates from the Crypto Castle. However the tool she was looking for was nowhere to be seen as she beeped sadly.

Entrapta groaned as she used her hair to sit on her workbench. "You're right, Emily, how can we possibly work like this?" She flopped onto her workbench trying to figure out what to do now.

Meanwhile:

Within Hordaks sanctum Catra entered, she was looking for her master. Now she was his second in command she had taken a more active role in the Horde and as such she thought it be a good idea to speak with him.

"Uh, hello? Lord Hordak?" Catra called as she went to his throne. She looked to see Imp on one of the pipes.

"State your purpose Force Captain Catra." Hordak spoke and the feline Force Captain saw he was in his lab. She straightened her Force Captains badge and walked over to him.

"Lord Hordak, I just thought we should, uh, you know, touch base, like you used to with Shadow Weaver." Catra said as she addressed her superior. "Figured we could establish a daily check-in…"

"So, I'm to understand you've disturbed me for no reason." Hordak said not even looking at her as Imp jumped down startling her as he ran across the floor.

"Uh, not for no reason." Catra explained entering Hordaks lab. "We need to plan our next move against the Rebellion. The Horde's in a better spot than ever.."

"Was squandering our advantage while the Whispering Woods regrew part of your plan?" Hordak said as he walked over to what looked like a pair of levers in the lab.

He proceeded to pull them and it surround the room in what looked like a red energy field. Catra was rather confused. "Was letting yourself get captured?" Hordak asked with glaring eyes. "Etheria's atmosphere has proven to be a complicating variable in my experiments."

Catra coughed as debris in the lab started floating around. "I…" Suddenly Catra found she could barely breath whatever this field was doing it was removing the oxygen in the air.

"I just removed that variable." Hordak smirked as he walked over. Catra coughed and choked unable to breath. "Tell me, Force Captain, how is your breathing?"

Catra was suffocating from the lack of air, her vision was growing blurry and she felt dizzy and faint. She could barely stand.

"Pathetic." Hordak spat in disgust. "Just like everything on this backwards planet. Do you know what the definition of failure is, Force Captain?" Hordak deactivated the field and the feline Force Captain gasped for air.

"Failure is when something ceases to serve a purpose. When that happens, it becomes worthless to me." Hordak said placing his hand on the lever. "Shadow Weaver's performance and inability act compromised her and caused incompetence. Thus far, your performance has been lacking."

"I haven't failed yet." Catra gasped for air. "No one knows how to take the princesses down better than me. Besides unlike Shadow Weaver I actually see that this Tennyson guy is a genuine threat to us, and know how to handle him! Trust me, and let me do that." She said.

The two glared each other down in some kind of stand off, not taking their eyes off each other. However Catra's gaze flickered as Hordak kept his hand on the switch.

"You say you can defeat the Rebellion?" Hordak asked then proceeded to take his hand off the switch. "Prove it, but you would do well not to question my actions or motives as your predecessor did. Do not follow in her footsteps!" He said sharply. "You are dismissed."

Catra just scowled as she left the room to attend to her duties and as she did Imp just taunted her from the piping above. "Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic." His recorded voice repeated over and over.

Whispering Woods:

The Best Friend Squad continued their journey through the forest. "Ahoy down there!" Called a voice and Swift Wind descended from above to greet them.

"Swift Wind what news from your scouting?" Rook asked.

"Well good news the outpost is near." Swift Wind answered. "But hey I thought you should know, I'm sensing something weird the closer we get to the outpost."

"Weird? Like what?" Adora asked as the group continued their trek.

"I can't describe it, just…weird." Swift Wind said as they walked.

"Hey, Glimmer whats so important about Alwyn anyway? Your mom wasn't so clear on the details?" Ben asked.

"Oh well Alwyn is the Rebellion's biggest supplier of—uh, well, supplies. It's basically one big orchard." Glimmer answered.

"Yes an orchard that supplies the Rebellion with rations and food." Rook added to that. "I did my own research upon our joining the Rebellion."

"Okay so is that it there?" Ben asked as they arrived at a small village surrounded by trees. However the ground was coated in fog, it was nothing short of a ghost town there wasn't anyone there.

"Yeah thats the orchard." Glimmer said. "One big, happy…incredibly creepy orchard." Suddenly they heard a crunching sound behind them, they looked and saw Swift Wind eating the apples scattered across the floor.

"Really Swifty?" Ben asked.

"What? Creepy apples taste as good as normal apples." Swift Wind protested with his mouth full.

"The outpost must be up ahead." Glimmer said as they approached and Swift Wind just kept eating the apples on the floor.

They took cover in the tree roots, however something was amis. "I don't see any Horde soldiers." Adora noticed while Glimmer kept a look out but all that was there was a ghost town. "I actually don't see anyone. Where are they?"

Everything was quiet, or rather too quiet as they observed the deserted village before them clouded by the fog. Rook was rather unsure, but even he could tell something was wrong.

"Something is not right, this entire village looks deserted." He observed.

"Yeah it looks like a ghost town." Ben said in agreement."You remember the last time we saw this kind of thing Rook?"

"Yes, during our mission in the Anur System." Rook remembered.

"The Anur system you said that before whats that?" Adora asked.

"Well long story short its basically this alternate dimension thats home to the monster aliens." Ben explained. "Its the home world of aliens like Ghostfreak, FrankenStrike, Blitzwolfer and Snare-Oh. It's kinda like this Halloween themed town where apparently people like us are the monsters."

"Seriously why?" Glimmer asked.

"Well Glimmer, during a time on Earth known as Halloween which was based of an old Celtic feast known as Samhain, children would dress up like monsters to scare people." Rook explained. "However on Anur Transyl it is reversed to the inhabitants we would appear to be the monsters scaring them."

"You guys have a lot of weird traditions on your planet." Bow noted.

"Eh weird basically describes everything about our lives at this point." Ben shrugged.

"Be that as it may, Adora does raise a point, where are the villagers?" Rook then asked.

"Maybe they're all inside?" Glimmer guessed.

"I don't think so, if they were we'd see lights on." Ben noticed.

"Maybe they're all asleep." Glimmer guessed again.

"Possible but unlikely." Rook said as he started scanning the area with his Proto scanner.

"Let me take a look." Bow suggested pulling out his tracker pad. "I've upgraded my tracker pad to detect Horde signals. If they're here, we'll find them with this."

Bow tapped on his tracker pad, but when he did it let out a high pitch static sound which nearly deafens Swift Wind who covers his ears with his wings. Bow tries to turn it off but stumbles nearly dropping the pad only to land on his front with the pad in hand.

Rook helped him to his feet as Glimmer teleported over. "Aw man, I must've broken something during the upgrade."

"Perhaps it is a simple signal malfunction in the tracking system." Rook wondered as he took a look at the pad.

"Not to worry, Rook I can fix this." Bow said as he tapped his tracker pad several times but all he got was static. "I don't know how to fix this."

Rook then took over and took a look at the pad. "Hm, it is no mechanical malfunction Bow, it maybe some sort of signal interference." He diagnosed.

Glimmer just decided to dismiss this issue. "It's okay! Whatever's going on here, we'll solve it. Nothing gets past us!" She said confidently, however that confidence was blown away quite literally with the first puff of wind as they looked at the fog covered village. "Even if people used to tell stories about Alwyn being haunted." She said nervously.

"Haunted?!" Ben and Adora said in unison.

"You mean like with ghosts?" Adora then asked.

"It's just stories. And even if it wasn't, we'd handle them. No reason to be scared." Glimmer scoffed.

"Huh. Well, Shadow Weaver used to tell me about ghosts when I was a kid in the Horde." Adora explained.

"Like what?" Ben asked.

"Like the story of the Weeping Princess, a vengeful spirit who roams Etheria looking for victims." Adora said in a rather scary way like kids round a campfire everyone including Ben was rather creeped out. "You know she's coming for you by the sound of weeping right before she strikes."

Suddenly Swift Wind shouted out in terror. "GAH! What was that?!"

Everyone was spooked and took up a battle stance. Bow readied his namesake, Glimmer activated her magic, Ben readied the Omnitrix and Rook armed his Proto Tool while Adora had her fists up.

"What?" Glimmer gasped.

"I'm not sure, I thought I heard someone. A voice." Swift Wind explained.

Adora stood close rather scared. "The Weeping Princess!" She breathed.

"Adora, there is no such thing as a Weeping Princess, there are no ghosts." Rook assured.

"But doesn't Ben turn into an alien ghost?" Adora asked.

"Yeah key words being 'alien ghost' theres a difference." Ben said.

"Yeah anyway it's not that. Someone's here, I'm sure of it. We have to find them." Swift Wind said.

"On it." Ben activated the Omnitrix and dialled in the alien for the job, he slammed it down and turned into Blitzwolfer.

"Blitzwolfer? Why not Wildmutt?" Glimmer asked.

"Because I can't talk as Wildmutt if somethings off at least I'll be able to alert you." Blitzwolfer explained.

The alien werewolf starting sniffing the ground with his nose and looked around for any signs of life. The group soon followed, however little did they know they were being watched from afar, as through the trees a faint white figure appeared and disappeared.

The Fright Zone:

Catra is looking over a map of territory the Horde has yet to conquer in Etheria. "Third Battalion is closest. If they move on Erlandia, the Rebellion will have to answer."

"Uh, yeah, small problem?" Scorpia spoke up as she had her hands full with Shadow Weavers old files, and given her lack of hands they slipped out of her grip. "Um, the Third Battalion is refusing to fight because they don't have armour." She looked through the papers in one of the files. "They've put in...where is it...um, six requests for resupply. Didn't you see these?"

"I've been a little busy, you know, almost toppling Bright Moon and coming closer than anyone ever has to conquering the planet for the Horde?" Catra listed rather annoyed. "Not that anyone seems to care."

"I care." Scorpia said smiling, Catra looked at her for a moment before turning back to the map.

"Fine. Give them the armor." Catra simply said.

"Ah. Okay, um...boy, I'd sure like to do that, uh...but the armory is out of armor." Scorpia admitted holding out the file detailing this.

"So have them make more." Catra said getting more and more ticked off.

"Okay, just gotta find that file." Scorpia said trying to find the file only for them to slip out of her claws given they weren't designed for holding things only crushing them. "They're just, they're so slidey, and slippery." She chuckled.

"How am I supposed to defeat Tennyson, Adora and the Rebellion when all I do is this stupid busy work?" Catra said annoyed. "I bet Shadow Weaver didn't have to deal with any of this."

"Uh, these are her files, so, she probably did? Just saying, that's...that's a guess on my part." Scorpia said holding up the files.

Catra just groaned in annoyance, there was just no way this could get any worse. Suddenly Entrapta popped out of the pipe vent in the ceiling, and landed on her butt. Scorpia was startled nearly dropping all the papers in the files.

"Hi." Entrapta greeted.

"You're not a prisoner anymore. You don't have to sneak around." Catra said trying to keep her cool.

"The ducts are faster, and I don't have time to waste. I need a six-sided hex driver right now." Entrapta said as she started looking through some of the boxes in the room for the tool she needed.

"I'm the one who doesn't have time to waste." Catra replied. "Aren't you some kind of genius? Make do with what you have."

"Of course I could, but it's the principle." Entrapta groaned as she slid under the table searching. Before she climbed over using her hair nearly hitting Catra. "Always use the proper tool for the job. If you can't help me, it's fine, I saw one in Hordak's lab."

Before Entrapta could raise herself back into the vents, Catra hissed at the very mention of Hordak's lab and grabbed her by the shirt collar.

"I know you're new to the Fright Zone, and possibly to being around people in general, but Hordak isn't somebody to mess with." Catra said with a deadly look in her eyes. "Under no circumstances will you go anywhere near Hordak's sanctum."

Catra released her grip as Entrapta just blinked. "Ooh. He calls his lab a sanctum. Oh, that is so classy!" Entrapta then replied.

"Focus!" Catra snapped Entrapta to attention. "I need you to promise that you will stay away from Hordak. Promise!"

"Okay, okay! I promise." Entrapta assured.

"Catra!"Scorpia laughed as she was looking through the files on the floor. "Here it is!" She found a file on the armour requests. "Oh, okay, so the armory can't make more armor because they are...out of irid—do-iridul-lum? Irideli—the point is, they're out of the shiny stuff they need to make armor."

Catra took a deep breath and sighed before she spoke. "So where do we get more?" She said calmly.

Scorpia looked at one of the files on her tail and the ones in front of her but there was nothing on the material needed for the armour. "Oh, uh, I don't have a file for that."

Catra nearly losing her temper snatched the file from Scorpia and sitting down crosslegged. "I'll handle it myself. But keep and eye on Entrapta, and make sure she doesn't go anywhere near Hordak." She said to the Scorpi Force Captain.

"Got it, boss. I won't let her out of my sight." Scorpia said confidently as she walked out leaving Catra to her work. Just then she popped back. "Now, you didn't happen to see which way she went, did you?"

In response Catra shot Scorpia a death glare. "You know what? I'll figure it out. I'll figure it out." Scorpia chuckled nervously as she hurried away to find the wayward tech princess.

Whispering Woods: Alwyn:

Under the gaze of two of the planets orbiting Etheria, and the shadows of the spire in the village centre. The Best Friend squad weapons and powers at the ready looked around the village for any signs of life. However, it was nothing but a ghost town.

"Hello!" Adora called out. This spooked Swift Wind causing him to yelp and rear up.

"Ahh! Uh, uh, I mean . . . whooo did that?" Swift Wind brushed off to make it look like he wasn't afraid. He looked to see Bow looking through a cottage window. "Bow-man, tch, you gotta pull yourself together!"

Blitzwolfer meanwhile continued to sniff the air around him, but something didn't smell right. "Okay thats weird I can't pick up any scents, it's like they all disappeared in the blink of an eye." He said.

Bow went to one of the cottages and knocked on the door only to find it unlocked. Rook came over and put his finger to his mouth telling Bow to stay quiet in the event of an opened it slightly before he looked back to the rest of the group, they looked nervous but knew they had to investigate.

"I'll wait out here in case anyone tries to sneak up on you." Swift Wind said backing away a little scared. "Also, this door is too small for horses, which is rude."

"Heh, you're such a wimp." Blitzwolfer said.

"Ah I'm a wise wimp." Swifty retorted.

The group turned back to the door. "Okay. On three." Glimmer whispered as she activated her magic, Adora drew her sword, Blitzwolfer readied his claws, Rook readied his Proto Tool and Bow readied an arrow. "One, two, THREE!"

They charged through the door ready for a fight. "FREEZE HORDE SCUM!" Rook exclaimed. However much to their surprise there was no-one there. Just an empty room with a dining room table in the middle. They lowered their weapons and deactivated their powers. Adora found there was food on the table.

She placed her hand over the food to see if it was still warm. "The food is cold. Whoever lives here left in a hurry, but it was... a while ago."

She suddenly heard a chewing sound, and she looked to see it was Blitzwolfer eating the cold food. He looked and saw her looking at him. "What I'm hungry?" He protested.

Rook looked around the room but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. "There is no indication the Horde was here, in fact there does not seem to be any signs indicating a struggle."

"Its like they just left." Bow said getting a little spooked.

Adora suddenly remembered another horror story from her childhood. "This is just like the story of the Headless Princess." She recalled getting everyones attention as she acted out the story. "She stalks the night, pulling people out of their beds, leaving nothing but bloody footprints!"

The group looked down to the ground beneath their feet but luckily there was no trace of bloody foot prints at all. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Headless Princess?" Ben wondered. "You know we actually have a story like that back on Earth, except well its a Headless Horseman."

"HEADLESS HORSEMAN!" Called a loud voice. Everyone screamed as Glimmer clung to Adora who took a fighting stance knocking Bow over and a spooked Blitzwolfer lets loose a sonic howl from his mouth blasting the door off the wall surprising the culprit. Swift Wind.

"WHOA WATCH IT BEN YOU NEARLY BLASTED MY HEAD OFF!" Swift Wind cried.

"YEAH WELL I'M A LITTLE JUMPY MAYBE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THAT SWIFTY!" Blitzwolfer yelled as he tapped the Omnitrix and switched back to Ben.

"Ooo sorry. I... don't like being out here by myself. But what about this Headless Horse?" Swift Wind apologised after receiving a glare from Glimmer.

"No Horseman, Swifty, the guy who rode his horse through the foggy nights preying on innocents." Ben then explained.

"We should check out the other buildings." Glimmer suggested dismissing the horror stories.

The group walked outside looking around the cracks and quietness of the empty buildings in the village. They crept at an unusually cautious pace peering through the boarded up windows. Just then Bow noticed something.

"Hey, Guys!" Bow called startling Glimmer and Adora prompting them to cling to Ben causing him to blush a little while Adora held her sword.

"Oh uh sorry." Adora apologised as she and Glimmer let go. "What did you say?"

Bow directed their attention to a pyramid spire like structure in the centre of the village. "Does that look familiar to you?" Bow asked.

"I am not entirely sure." Rook wondered. "However the design does look rather familiar somehow but I cannot seem to know of what origin."

"Maybe its just for show?" Ben wondered.

Adora and the others took a look at the structure, but even she couldn't figure it out. "I'm not sure. Maybe it's..."

Suddenly a loud crashing sound alerted them causing Glimmer to teleport away in fright while everyone else took warrior stances. They looked and saw it was simply the shutter on one of the windows.

They all breathed a sigh of relief. However they noticed a member of their company was missing. "Glimmer?" Adora called and on cue said princess teleported next to them.

"I'm so sorry. I have no idea why I did that." Glimmer breathed in fright.

"Hey its okay Glimmer, this place is starting to get to our fears, but we shouldn't let it get to us." Ben said to her.

"Indeed sometimes the mind can play tricks on us." Rook agreed.

"Oh hm sounds reasonable." Glimmer said.

However Adora had yet another horror story from her childhood. "Ah, this place is weird. Like the Lair of the Undead Princess! Where she lures soldiers to their doom!" She said gripping Glimmer who looked scared.

"Undead Princess?" Ben questioned. "You sure Shadow Weaver wasn't just talking about singing sirens?"

"Sirens like alert sirens?" Adora asked.

"No no Sirens, its another word to describe Mermaids. The story is they lure sailors away from their ships with their singing voices then takes them down to the sea for their doom!" Ben explained which seemed to spook the group even more.

"Okay thats just creepy." Bow said. "But I guess the Horde had a theme for horror stories huh?" He asked Adora.

"I take it that was a means of propaganda for orphans in the Fright Zone?" Rook asked.

"Oh...You're right! Wow. I can't believe I'm just realizing this now." Adora said in realisation.

Ben then remembered seeing something like this before. "You know it's nights like this that remind me of the time Grandpa Max took me and Gwen to New Orleans for the Halloween Mardigra parade."

"Mardigra Parade?" Bow asked.

"It is the New Orleans celebration for I believe what they call Fat Tuesday, people dressing up in costumes and masks to celebrate Halloween."

"Yeah, but it was one I'll never forget." Ben reminiscing that night.

Flashback: Earth seven years ago:

New Orleans, the Big Easy home of Gumbo and Mardigra, and on one faithful halloween night the parade was taking place. Parade floats went down Bourbon street, everyone dressed in voodoo skeleton costumes, vampires and floats even had skeletons on them. In the crowds were the Tennyson family, Max and an eleven year old Gwen Tennyson. Max wore a Frankenstine costume still sporting his Hawaiian shirt. Gwen was dressed up as a witch wearing dark purple robes with a classic witches hat.

"Wow this Halloween parade is great Grandpa Max!" Gwen said happily.

"I'm glad your enjoying it Gwen." Max said to his grand daughter. However he noticed that one person from their company was missing. "Wait, where's Ben?"

Gwen looked around when suddenly. "BOO!" Gwen screamed as she looked to see a glowing skeleton mask in front of her, and bursting out laughing was Ben as he lifted up his was dressed as a skeleton while he sported the retro Omnitrix.

"BEN!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Hahahaha! You should've seen the look on your face Dweeb I didn't even need to go Ghostfreak!" Ben laughed.

"Oh ha ha I forgot how to laugh." Gwen said unamused by her cousins joke.

"Oh come on lighten up it's halloween." Ben shrugged.

"That was a nice scare Ben, but it nearly gave Gwen a heart attack." Max said trying to break up the cousins squabbling. "So let's relax and enjoy the parade." So thats what they did they watched and enjoyed the celebrations.

However there was one in the crowd who wasn't enjoying the celebrations, it was a figure in a concealed hood. He walked to the side until he reached an alleyway which he went down. He arrived in the cemetery and there he revealed a small green crystal skull in his robes that was decorated with strange magical symbols.

He walked out into the centre of the graveyard and raised the skull in the air. The figure was revealed to be none other than the skull faced sorcerer Hex. He started chanting a mystical incantation which made the skull glowed bright and once the spell was complete its eyes lit up in bright green.

"ARISE MY LEIGON!" Hex yelled, and suddenly a shockwave of green energy shot through the cemetery and through the city. Then suddenly some undead hands emerged from the graves revealing them to be undead zombies.

Back at the Parade:

Meanwhile at the parade the celebrations continued, when suddenly a pulse of green light surged through the streets and parade floats. Which rather startled the crowds and the Tennysons.

"Whoa what was that?" Ben asked.

"I don't know." Gwen wondered.

"Uh its probably part of the show, I hope." Max said hoping it wasn't anything bad. Suddenly they heard a scream coming from nearby when the crowds looked what they saw they never would've guessed.

Emerging from the green fog was a horde of zombies and people running from them. In the air green ghosts flew around scaring people. One local however didn't seem fazed by this.

"Dude these things are getting more and more realistic every year!" He said as he looked at the zombie but it just roared at him and then tried to bite him which made the local scream in fright as he ran away in fright which caused a panic from the crowds as they ran away from the streets as the Tennysons watched from afar.

"Uh Grandpa I don't think this is part of the show." Ben realised.

"No duh doofus but how are these Zombies and ghosts even here?!" Gwen asked and the answer came seconds later.

As hovering above him wielding the staff of ages was Hex himself. "Its Hex!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Seriously didn't he get evaporated when we blew up the eternal fountain?" Ben recalled.

"Apparently not." Max said in all seriousness.

Hex all but laughed as his undead hordes swarmed the streets. "Thanks to the Voodoo skull of Samhain the undead are mine to command and now theres nothing to stop me from turning the earth into a living nightmare!"

"Hold up!" Bow interrupted. "Didn't you say he was a history professor at your cousins school?"

"Bow this was years ago while he was still Charmcasters psycho sorcerer uncle." Present day Ben explained. "Anyway…"

The undead hordes continued limping and floating through the streets as the ghosts scared innocent people and let out glowing chains which caught the civilians in.

"Those people need help we need to stop Hex!" Max said.

"That skull must be how he's summoned them we need to get it away from him!" Gwen said. "But the trouble is the zombies are between us and him!"

"Way ahead of you." Ben said activating the Omnitrix and rotated the selection dial until he reached a certain silhouette. "ITS HERO TIME!" He slammed down the dial and one epic transformation later he was Diamondhead, wearing a suit split into black and white with the Omnitrix on the left of his chest.

"Aw yeah who ya gonna call!" Diamondhead exclaimed.

Gwen readied her magic as the zombies approached. Diamondhead fired crystals from his hands which hit the Zombies propelling them back. However they just got up again.

"Huh that didn't even hurt?" Diamondhead said surprised.

"Well duh haven't you ever seen horror movies dweeb they're undead so they can reanimate themselves!" Gwen exclaimed as she fired a pink energy blast towards the zombies blasting them back.

Diamondhead made his hands into blades and slashed the zombies away, only for them to get back up again. Suddenly he heard a shriek from above and it was from the ghosts. Diamondhead fired some crystals at the ghosts only for them to pass straight through them.

"Oh come on!" Diamondhead exclaimed when suddenly the zombies started to grab and pile all over him.

"Ben!" Max and Gwen cried in shock, when all seemed lost the zombies were catapulted away by Diamondhead who unlashed a flurry of crystals to propel the zombies away.

"No way I'm turning undead!" Diamondhead exclaimed.

"YOU!" Boomed a voice and the three turned to see Hex floating over them. "You three have been thorns in my side for too long! Destroy them my Legion!"

The zombies charged at the trio and Gwen quickly erected a pink energy shield around them. They bashed and hit the shield trying to bring it down. "I can't hold this much longer!" Gwen growled.

"How we gonna beat these zombies if they keep coming back!" Diamondhead exclaimed.

"By stopping the source of the problem that crystal skull." Max pointed out. "Gwen said thats the source of these undead if we destroy it it should stop them."

"Grandpa's right we need to get to it!" Gwen exclaimed still trying to hold up the shield.

Diamondhead looked and saw a potential idea as he looked to the buildings. "I got an idea." He then touched the ground and diamond crystals formed a pathway through the zombies and on the side of the buildings.

Gwen smirked knowing what her cousin was up to. She formed a platform at their feet out of her magic. The Tennyson's hopped on and with one drop of the shield they blasted forwards along the diamond path with Diamondhead up front slashing a path through them.

They glided along and over the path through the street and the Ghosts tried to stop them by unleashing painful screams. Diamondhead tried to block them but the screams were loud enough to cause cracks in his arms. Gwen fired energy blasts which did block their screams.

Hex could see them approaching and used his staff to unleash fire balls at them. Which Gwen was able to dodge with her own magic blocking the blast.

"We're only gonna get one shot kids!" Max called to his grandchildren to which they nodded. Gwen shifted the energy board upwards and soared towards Hex who kept blasting at them with fire balls. Diamondhead blocked the blasts while Max used this distraction to grab the skull in his hands.

They landed on the other side. "NO!" Hex exclaimed.

Max tossed the skull on the floor and Gwen held it in place with her magic while Diamondhead smashed his fist into the skull shattering it like glass.

The energy surged from the skull then sent a shockwave through the city which suddenly pulled the zombies and ghosts back across the city and sent them back to the graves where they belonged.

Hex yelled out in anger. "I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL!" He charged towards the Tennysons and Diamondhead was ready to attack when suddenly. The Omnitrix started beeping red.

"Oh man not now!" Diamondhead exclaimed before he changed back to Ben.

Hex was getting ever closer but then Gwen stepped in and pulled out her spell book. "Facio Gravis!" She recited.

Suddenly Hex felt himself being pulled down to the hard concrete. When he tried to get up he found he couldn't. He was stuck. He tried to reach for his staff only for Max to kick it away.

"Not so fast!" Max said as Hex looked up to see the Tennysons looking down at him in victory.

"Gravity spell, something I just learned and its very down to earth huh." Gwen smirked.

"Yeah Hex, looks like you're Voodone!" Ben cracked as he chuckled.

Present day:

"Really Voodone?" Glimmer questioned.

"What I thought it was pretty funny." Ben shrugged.

"But did Hex actually say those things?" Rook asked.

"Totally, maybe…close enough I don't always listen."Ben admit.

"Sounds like this Hex guy was a weird conjurer of tricks?" Adora said.

"Adora did you miss the part about him having a skull for a face?" Bow asked.

"Okay enough of the skull faces." Glimmer said getting their attention. "we have a mission. Something happened here that forced these people to flee their home. We have to get to the bottom of this."

The group realised she was right so they continued their investigation into the village. However as they left Ben suddenly caught sight of something to him it looked like a ghost. Then it disappeared.

"What was…that?" Ben wondered and was becoming more weary of this place by the minute.

The Fright Zone:

"Ethical dilemma number... ahhhhhhhhhhh... sixty-three." Entrapta recorded as she sat on top of Emily the robot as they were outside the door that lead to Hordak's inner knew she could find what she needed but wasn't sure if she should. "I told Catra I wouldn't go into Hordak's lab. But, if she never finds out, does it count?" She started pacing around on her hair.

"I could just pop in, grab the tool, and then pop out. No one would ever know. But, I would know. Ahhhh, I shouldn't do it. Or should I? Nooo, I shouldn't." Entrapta still contemplated her decision.

Hordak's Lab:

Moments later Entrapta was within Hordak's inner sanctum, she hid behind a work bench while the leader of the Horde was working on the same energy source that had failed previously.

Just then the tech happy princess spotted the tool on the bench. "A six-sided hex driver!" She gasped excitedly.

She snuck over still unseen and tried to reach for the tool with her hair. However her attention was soon drawn to the energy orb that began pulsing, she couldn't help but watch.

"This is amazing!" She breathed only for Emily to push her head down so they wouldn't be seen. Suddenly the energy orb pulsed and then vaporised into nothing, much to Entrapta's disappointment. "Awww." She mourned.

However that was cut off by the frustrated yell of Hordak who slammed his fist onto the bench and swatted away all his equipment, then stormed out without even noticing Entrapta. Imp followed his master as the door sealed behind him.

"Well, there's no reason to get huffy because an experiment fails." Entrapta said coming out of hiding and patted Emily on the head. "Failure is a vital part of scientific endeavour."

She then moved to grab the tool from the workbench. However due to her own curiosity about what Hordak was doing, she couldn't really leave.

"What if I have given up on you after the first explosion? Or the fiftieth?!" Entrapta said to Emily. "I know, I should leave. But I have to stay, for science!"

Whispering Woods: Alwyn:

The group had decided to split up to see if they could cover more ground in the village. Glimmer and Bow were looking through the window for any signs of life but there was nothing. However, unbeknownst to them a white figure floated by, but when Glimmer turned round there was nothing and Rook were looking in the other building windows but saw nothing either. Suddenly Ben caught sight of something in the trees but then it disappeared.

"Rook did you see that?" Ben asked getting his partners attention.

The Revonahgander turned to what Ben saw but couldn't see anything. "See what?" He asked. Ben could see it was gone, but couldn't help but wonder what it was. So they went to join the and Swift Wind came from around the corner of the other building.

"It's totally abandoned." Glimmer said. Suddenly Adora and Swift Wind cringed in pain after hearing a high pitched sound, causing them to cover their ears.

"Gah! Do you guys hear that?" Adora groaned.

"Hear what?" Rook asked.

"Yes! Finally! I told you. It's a weird sound." Swift Wind said to her.

"What was it Adora what did you guys hear?" Ben asked coming over to them and all the two could hear was an ominous wailing sound.

"It's like something...someone is singing!" Adora explained.

"I don't hear anything. It's probably just the wind." Glimmer said rather fearful as she stuck close to Bow.

Suddenly a strange whisper echoed through the air it was the same voice. This time everyone could hear it. Rook looked rather cautious readying his Proto Tool, everyone was now on the edge.

"Okay! I'm hearing something, too." Bow said a little spook.

"Its defiantly not like that voice from Frozen 2!" Ben said a little spooked. "I'm starting to think maybe there is such a thing as a Weeping Princess."

"Everyone stay calm, something is clearly amis here!" Rook said trying to calm the situation.

They looked to the trees then all of a sudden. "There! Something's there!" Adora pointed to what looked like a ghost moving through the trees which spooked Glimmer and Bow.

"Okay thats it let's find out who's behind this night of frights!" Ben decided as he activated the Omnitrix, selected and alien and slammed the dial down. One flash of energy later he was transformed into Chromastone.

"My thoughts exactly." Adora agreed as she drew her sword and held it aloft. "FOR THE HONOUR OF GRAYSKULL!"

The sword glowed bright and one magical transformation later she was now She-Ra. The Princess of Power leaped away and followed the ghost into the trees with Chromastone close behind her.

Bow and Glimmer were too terrified to move. "Come on we must pursue this!" Rook said to them as he followed his companions into the trees.

Though the marksman and princess were terrified, they quickly realised it was no better staying where they were. "Adora! Ben!" Bow cried as he ran after them.

"Wait!" Glimmer cried as she too followed.

Fright Zone: Hordak's Sanctum:

Entrapta was hard at work, she was disconnecting cables from Hordak's machines. She picked up a new green cable from Emily and started to connect them up. She lowers her welding mask and started to weld the wires together. However she wasn't aware that someone was approaching from behind her, and he wasn't very happy.

She was adjusting a connection with a wrench when she noticed her light was blocked out. "Hello. You're blocking my light. If you could just step aside..."

She raised her welding mask to see a very angry Hordak emerge from the shadows his eyes glaring red. "Get! OUT!"

However Entrapta didn't seem very intimidated as everyone else in the Fright Zone would be. "Well, just a sec. I'm almost finished."

Much to Hordak's surprise she just kept working, despite Emily's silent pleas to move her away. Soon she was done.

" Okay done. Byyyee!" She said quickly as Emily pushed her away with Hordak scowling at her.

"There will be dire consequences for this flagrant breach of conduct." Hordak warned.

Despite Emily pushing eventually carrying Entrapta out it didn't stop her from explaining to Hordak what she was doing. "You were using uninsulated cables. I, uh, replaced them for it should hold the charge, now." She explained as the door closed behind her.

Hordak looked back to his machine, though doubtful of the tech princesses tampering of his creation would generate results. He couldn't help but wonder. Curiously he threw the lever, however nothing happened. He was about to walk away when suddenly a light emanated and he turned to see the machine activated. The energy orb formed and surprisingly this time it didn't lose the charge. Hordak was quite taken aback.

"She was... right." He said surprised.

"Of course I was right!" Hordak looked to see Entrapta and Emily standing next to him. Entrapta smiled with a wrench in hand which Imp snatched from her hissing.

"It's beautiful! It's a power source, isn't it? What are you building that needs so much power?" Entrapta wondered while admiring the orb then running to the computers, while Hordak struggled to reply.

In looking at the formulas displayed on the monitors Entrapta analysed the calculations and with a gasp came to a conclusion.

"I recognize these formulas. You're experimenting with portals?" She realised with a gasp. "But that's...I mean, I'm familiar with the concept, but multi-dimensional gates are purely theoretical. No one's every come close to actually achieving one." She turned to face Hordak. "Right?"

"Obviously, someone from a backwater planet such as yours couldn't possibly comprehend it." Hordak said questioning her intelligence to his own as he looked to his machine.

"Hey! All right. I'm the one who got your power source working, so... tell me everything!" Entrapta insisted.

Hordak was hesitant to share this knowledge, however given she did get his power source working, so he decided to share what he knew that she clearly did not.

"Portals aren't theoretical. They're real. And I'm going to open one." Hordak explained turning to her.

Entrapta gasped in excitement to this revelation. "You are?! Ahhhhh. Can I help you?! Ah, just think of the possibilities!" She said excitedly while Hordak judged her walking around her. "You could... transport troops, and, and weapons...whatever you need from one side of the planet to the other!"

"You think too small." Hordak simply scoffed. "Unsurprising. You can't begin to understand the potential a device of this nature will possess."

Entrapta had to admit she hadn't considered other possibilities. She looked at the power source and as it pulsed she suddenly realised what else a portal could be capable of doing.

"Wait! If Etheria is a backwater planet, does that mean there are others?" Entrapta wondered.

"Of course." Hordak said looking to Entrapta. "There are countless galaxies filled with countless other worlds. Etheria is the only planet I've ever encountered that does not seem to understand that." He then looked to the monitors. "And if you require more proof."

He switched the monitors to show images of a certain brown haired individual and his Revonahgander companion, as well as, images of Armodrillo, WayBig,Feedback, and ToePick. Even recent footage of Ben and Rook fighting with the princesses against the EKS bots. Even the battle of Bright Moon showing Omni Six Four Arms. Some images showed Rook and his Proto Tool and of his ship leaving the Fright Zone.

"Ben and Rook?" Entrapta wondered.

"Shadow Weaver told me that the boy and his companion were strangers to Etheria, and at first I was doubtful."Hordak explained. "However in looking and studying them it is clear they are not native to this planet, with their weapons and abilities, inculding the various life forms this shapeshifter is able to transform into which lead to only one conclusion."

"They're from another planet." Entrapta realised, and soon it dawned on her. "Oh of course it all adds up, I knew there was something strange about Bens Omnitrix device upon my initial studies of it!" She explained. "It wasn't of First Ones origin nor of Etherian magic or the Fright Zone the DNA recombination functions could only come from something more advanced. Then theres Rook's space vehicle and its inner workings this clearly showed technology less advanced than the First Ones, and now I know its technology from another world entirely!"

"Of course you would realise that now." Hordak said. "Which is when I realised they arrived here on this planet somehow, and now I intend to open a portal to other worlds." Hordak explained.

"Other planets? And you've . . . been there?" Entrapta said excitedly. This caused Hordak to smirk, he began to realise perhaps this princess could be of some use to him.

The Cell blocks:

Meanwhile down in the cell blocks, Shadow Weaver was still in her cell alone and isolated. However just then she had a visitor, namely Catra. She opened the cell and marched in more annoyed than before. She tossed a file to the floor as she addressed her disgraced predecessor.

"I've contacted every mine under Horde control, but none of them have the material to make more armor, and without the armor, I can't attack Erlandia." She exclaimed. " You're trying to sabotage me! Where's the missing file?!"

Though surprise Shadow Weaver decided to share this information with her protege. "The material you seek comes from the foundry, here in the Fright Zone."

Catra was rather taken aback, as she stood up realising the foundry and the material she sought, was under her nose the whole time.

"Fine." She said as she walked out of the cell.

"Being me isn't quite what you imagined, is it?" Shadow Weaver asked in a hinting tone. "I suppose you thought Hordak would let you run things now?"

Catra winced at what she was saying to her. But chose not to let it get under her skin. "He does. I can do what I want." She insisted.

"But he'll never trust you with his real plans." Shadow Weaver said shaking her head. "Don't take it personally. He never did with me, either." She showed her shackles to make her point.

"Yeah theres a reason for that." Catra scoffed. "And anyway I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe Hordak didn't trust you, but he trusts me plenty."

"Does he though?" Shadow Weaver questioned.

Catra just ignored that last comment and sealed the cell and left Shadow Weaver to her isolation as she hung her head low. However deep down Catra began to wonder if she was right, what was Hordak not trusting her with.

Whispering Woods Alwyn:

She-Ra and Chromastone entered the forest cautiously, they were trying to find the light they saw in the trees but so far found nothing. The Princess of Power swung her sword to no evail, while Chromastone looked around him for any signs of an ambush. However there was nothing.

"Ben! Adora!" Rook cried and the two looked to see him Bow, Swift Wind and Glimmer arrive on the scene. Bow suddenly tripped and fell over something. They looked and saw he'd tripped over a root. Rook soon helped him to his feet.

"The light came from around here!" She-Ra said to them as they heard a laughing sound in the air.

Rook readied his weapon. "Whoever you are show yourself!" He demanded. The group stood together looking on all sides. Looking around for any signs of movement as the laugh echoed everywhere.

Suddenly a figure of light passed them and Bow spotted it.. "There! It's over…." The light figure Bow saw appeared next to him waving and everyone screamed in fright

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Screamed Glimmer, Bow, She-Ra and Swift Wind while Rook and Chromastone bore alerted looks.

"Get back!" The Crystalsapien ordered and fired energy at the ghost only there was nothing there and the blast just hit a tree cutting it down.

"Hey where'd it go did I get it!" Chromastone asked.

"No!" Glimmer cried as they saw the form coming over to them. Rook quickly fired energy blasts from his Proto Tool only for them to phase through them.

"RUN!" Rook cried and the group made a desperate dash for it through the trees, only to see their way blocked by more ghosts, strangely they were waving at them.

"Ahhh! Run the other way!" Glimmer exclaimed and they turned back only to see more ghosts blocking their were all around them as they grouped up. Chromastone fired energy blasts at the ghosts only for it to pass through them it had no effect.

"She-Ra, Ben do something!" Swift Wind panicked.

"Like what?! blast at them again?!" Chromastone exclaimed.

"Yeah I can handle the Horde." She-Ra agreed. "I can't handle this! This is like what..."

"ENOUGH OF SHADOW WEAVERS GHOST STORIES ALREADY!" Chromastone yelled.

"Both of you Stop telling ghost stories!" Glimmer finally lost it. "I've been terrified since we got here! Catra was right! I'm terrible at this!

"And I can't replace Entrapta! I can't even make my tracker pad work!" Bow admitted.

Both Rook and Chromastone could see this whole thing was affecting the group more than they realised. "Okay guys enough of this pity party neither of you is bad at anything!" Chromastone finally said.

"Glimmer don't listen to what Catra says you are a good leader but sometimes you need to learn from mistakes and failure because its how we handle it that matters, and yes Entrapta joined the Horde and maybe we had some part in that but its her own curiosity that beat her, trust me I've seen it happen before."He said to her remembering Azmuths former assistant Albedo when he tried to prove himself better by making a fake Omnitrix only to become trapped by his own pride.

"And Bow, do not let Entrapta's genius limit you, you must have faith in your own abilities, who was it who figured out how to disarm her robots back at the Crypto Castle and who was it who engineers the means to fight these war machines!" Rook spoke to Bow. "You have the knowledge and the potential do not let Entrapta define your own way."

Bow and Glimmer listened intently to what they both said to them. "Adora!" Chromastone then spoke to her. "Don't let yourself get the better of you, and don't let what you heard in your childhood define you cause the only thing that we're scared of is our own imagination, we need to prepare for the unexpected and how we meet it."

She-Ra could see that the Crystalsapien had a point, maybe she was still letting all of this get to her, and what she heard in her childhood influence her own imagination.

"Uh guys great speech and all, but I'm still hearing stuff coming from the big stone pointy thing!" Swift Wind panicked to them."

"The pointy…." In that moment Rook took a look at these 'ghosts' and noticed something about them, something familiar. He gasped and looked to Bow. "Bow, look at the ghosts!"

"What why?" Bow asked.

"Just look at them, hard! Tell me what do they look like to you?" Rook then asked him.

Bow took a long hard look at these beings, and he seemed focused on the waving action that the apparition was doing. He soon got the hint Rook was giving him.

"You're right, hold on." Bow started walking to them much to Glimmer and She-Ra's surprise, even Chromastone was confused.

"What are you doing?! Bow!" Glimmer cried.

"Glimmer wait!" Rook called. However it was too late Glimmer ran to Bow and teleported him away from the ghosts, and She-Ra leaped into the air and slashed at the ghosts. However Chromastone then noticed some familiar looking markings in the ground which were energised by the sword.

"Wait look!" He called to them. "Those markings, they look a lot like….First Ones symbols!"

Bow looked and realised it too. "Of course. This 's a First One's ruin, and these aren't 're holograms!" Glimmer wasn't convinced and still clung to Bow tightly.

"I'm pretty sure holograms can't walk around on their own like this." She-Ra said doubtfully.

"Actually they can." Rook then said looking at the holograms. "At the Plumbers Academy and headquarters we use interactive holograms in the training deck to spar and train with. They react to our movements."

"Rooks right." Bow agreed. "look at look at them."

"No thanks! I'm good!" Glimmer said keeping her grip on Bow and her eyes shut.

"They're running on some kind of loop." Bow explained.

Chromastone tapped the Omnitrix and reverted back to Ben as he and She-Ra took a look at the holograms who were waving at them. "It's, it's like a recording." She realised.

"Yeah like when a tape glitches for a moment it runs on a continuous loop." Ben realised.

Eventually Bow managed to free himself from Glimmers tight grip to look at the holograms. Glimmer soon opened her eyes and looked at the hologram, she soon realised that her friends were right. It wasn't a ghost at all.

"Ahhhh. She's waving!" Glimmer said as she started waving back at the hologram, but after a few minutes. "Actually, you know what? It's still creepy." Swift Wind nodded in agreement.

Ben took a close look at the hologram too. "Are you sure it's a she?" He asked as the glitching made it hard to distinguish the figure.

"If these are holograms they most likely have a source they are projected from." Rook realised.

"And I think I know where they're coming from. Come on!" Bow said as they hurried back to the village to finally solve this mystery.

The Fright Zone: Cell blocks:

In the cell block, Catra had just left her former teacher to rot, but her words of Hordak not fully trusting her still lingered in her mind.

"Catra! Catra! Hey, Catra!" Called a voice, it was Scorpia who ran to the feline Force Captain with her arms full of files.

Catra just breathed a sigh as Scorpia came up to her with the files. "Oh, wow. You are fast." Scorpia panted in exhaustion. "Anyway, I found the file, and guess what."

"The material is produced right here in the Fright Zone?" Catra guessed though she already knew the answer.

"Beautiful and brilliant." Scorpia breathed wonderingly as the papers in the files slipped out and she quickly grabbed them.

However Catra suddenly realised there was something else that Scorpia was supposed to be doing. Keeping an eye on a certain wandering tech princess.

"Where's Entrapta?! You're supposed to be watching her!" Catra exclaimed looking behind Scorpia but couldn't see said princess in sight.

"You know, she is, she's, she's.." Scorpia looked around but couldn't see any trace of Entrapta anywhere, she realised she'd goofed. "I don't know where she is, truthfully, but I'm gonna fix that because that's just the kind of friend I am. You're welcome."

Catra just growled in frustration as her fur spiked up, she gave Scorpia one thing to do and as always she screws up. She was starting to lose her patience with her fellow Force Captain.

Hordak's Sanctum:

Meanwhile within the sanctum of the leader of the Horde, Hordak stood and observed his power source. While Entrapta welded the cables and made some calibrations to the energy outputs via the switches and connectors. The orb increased in size and power as Entrapta lifted her welding mask.

"This is probably the max with what you've got to work with here." Entrapta explained as Hordak watched with interest. " If we had some First One's tech, we could generate even more voltage."

Hordak looked rather intrigued, he had never considered using First Ones technology. It was the first time he ever took anyone's thoughts into account. However his thoughts were interrupted when Catra and Scorpia burst into the room.

"I'm sorry, Lord Hordak." Catra said running to him and trying to explain. " Entrapta is still new here. I, I, I, I promise, she will never bother you again."

She was about to reach and grab Entrapta until surprisingly Hordak stopped her. "You are the one bothering me, Force Captain" Hordak said to her rather harshly. "with your unwelcome intrusion! I. Am. Working!" He said angrily which spooked Catra a little, but she wasn't prepared for what he said next. "With Entrapta's assistance."

Entrapta was rather taken aback by what Hordak had just said. "Did you hear that, Emily? I've never had a lab partner before!" She whispered excitedly.

"Now unless you wish to try my patience further Force Captain….GET OUT!" Hordak yelled at Catra who backed away to Scorpia.

The two looked rather dumbfounded, were Hordak and Entrapta working together? How did this happen? Why was this happening. A million questions ran through both Catra and Scorpia's heads. Imp suddenly hissed at them and not wanting to anger Hordak further they took their leave of the sanctum.

Whispering Woods: Alwyn:

In the village, under the light of the full moon Ben, Rook, She-Ra, Bow, Glimmer and Swift Wind investigated the pointed structure in the village. As some holograms danced near it Bow started pulling away the vines and he uncovered some First Ones symbols.

"This is it! The noise is coming from here!" Swift Wind realised.

"Stand back guys I'll give us a closer look." Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix and dialled in a certain alien for the job.

He slammed it down and was now transformed into what looked like a living plant. He had one green eye in his head with four vine like legs, light green patches on his shoulders and lower arms with four fingered hands with a venus fly trap like collar around his head. His back had small seed pods in it. On his waist was the Omnitrix symbol on a white and green belt.

Wildvine used his powers to influence the vines to retract from the spire. He would normally have used Swampfire to burn away the vines but this required brains. so as not to damage the spire.

She-Ra then took a closer look at the spire, and she recognised something familiar about it. "It looks like Light Hope's beacon."

"Yeah and the Watchtower." Wildvine realised. "But theres something else. It kinda reminds me of the signal antenna the Highbreed use in their weather towers."

"In a way it is Ben, the design and the holograms show this is its intended function." Rook analysed.

"Right it's an antenna. I'm guessing this outpost is built on some kind of First Ones communication hub." Bow said taking a closer look at the symbols on the ruin and the holograms. "When the Black Garnet disrupted the planet, it must have caused the hub to power up. It's trying to send old stored messages."

"So some years ago when it was de powered it kept the messages archived like a time capsule, storing the messages until they could be sent again." Rook realised.

"Thats it Rook." Bow agreed. "Adora with you translating, we should be able to turn it off."

Wildvine continued to command the vines to retract from the antenna. However he noticed the look on She-Ra's face as she looked at the holograms. "Hey Adora you okay?" He asked.

"So…these are First Ones?" She asked Bow as she looked at the dancing holograms.

"Yeah why?" Bow asked.

She-Ra couldn't help but look at the holograms, a man was bowing and a little girl in a dress was dancing happily. She-Ra was feeling a little empathy for these messages.

"It's just… I've been thinking of them as these big epic figures. But they're regular people, sending messages to their loved ones." She-Ra realised as Wildvine reverted back to Ben.

"Hey its okay Adora, sometimes things aren't how we imagine them to be." Ben said putting a hand on her shoulder. "I mean you know when I first met Azmuth, I thought he was some grand epic inventor of the Omnitrix, but during the whole self destruct escapade he turned out to be a GreyMatter in an armoured suit like in the film Wizard of Oz."

"The Wizard of what?" She-Ra wondered.

"Ah it'll take too long to explain, anyway the point is we may imagine First Ones as grand alien race but look, they're just like us, I mean most alien cultures look almost human."

She-Ra could see Bens point but there was something on her mind. "I know but, Ben they were sending out messages ones that were never received because of what Mara did to the planet." She said a little angry.

Swift Wind nudged her with his head for comfort, and it was in that moment Ben began to think of his own loved ones. How given the situation he couldn't send real messages to them to let them know he was okay, but if the Omnikix key was of any indication they knew he and Rook were alive and well. However that didn't stop him from missing them.

Rook thought similar of his own family on Revonnah. After a month and the days he first arrived spent on Etheria he realised around about now it would be harvest season. His people would be harvesting Amber Ogia for the harvest festival, he began to feel more homesick than before, as he thought of his mother, father, his brother, sisters and of course his girlfriend Rayona.

She-Ra approached the antenna and placed her hand on it, and the symbols began to lose power and shut down. The holograms of the First Ones then disappeared in mere moments. The group looked at the antenna.

"Be at rest, now." She-Ra said solemnly.

"So what happens to this place now?" Ben asked.

Bow pulled out his tracker pad and it looked better than it did before now that the antenna was shut down. "Well the farmers must have fled from the "ghosts" when this thing turned itself should be able to get them a message that it's safe to return."

"Way to go! I think the Rebellion is going to do just fine with you, Master-maker Bow!" Glimmer congratulated Bow.

"Thanks, Glimmer!" Bow thanked.

"And you know Ben your right, we've been letting this thing with Entrapta get in our heads." Glimmer realised. "No matter what the Horde throw at us next we still rise to meet it and its how we handle failure that matters."

"Theres hope for you yet Glims." Ben said. "I guess the moral of this whole thing is the only thing we're scared of is our own imagination."

"Wise words indeed partner." Rook smiled.

"Now that the antenna is powered down, everything should be back to normal." Bow said as he activated his pad, however when it did a strange signal appeared, it looked like First Ones writing which did surprise the group.

"Wait what is that?" Rook asked.

"It's that message again. It looks like First Ones writing." Bow noticed as the group gathered round.

"Huh. But we powered down the antenna." Swift Wind asked.

"Adora can you make out what it says?" Ben asked She-Ra.

"Well, if it is First Ones writing, I can't read it. It's way too degraded." She-Ra said trying to decipher the writing but couldn't due to its degraded state.

"You said it yourself, Bow. Your pad must be broken." Glimmer then said to the tech master.

However as Bow looked at the message he wasn't entirely sure it was a simple glitch. In truth Rook grew curious as well. "Yeah… that must be it." Bow said in uncertainty.

"Well gang another mystery solved lets get back to Bright Moon and tell Angella." Ben suggested and with that She-Ra reverted to Adora and the group took their leave.

However Bow and Rook hung back. "Bow despite what the others believe I do not think this is a malfunction." Rook said to him.

"I was just thinking the same thing, I mean I've looked at my Tracker Pad and its working fine." Bow explained. "The interference had something to do with the antenna so it should be cleared up now."

"Which means the signal from the antenna may have been blocking the pad from detecting this unknown message."Rook said. "But why, I suspect there is more to this message than meets the eye."

Bow could see his Revonnahgander friend was right, this wasn't a malfunction in the slightest. But if not what did this message mean? "Then we better find out what this message is telling us." Bow suggested which Rook nodded in agreement.

Elsewhere:

In the farthest corners of the Planet Etheria, lay a barren wasteland of sand and desert. The wind blew the sand along under the light of the moon. However something lay in the desert unseen by other eyes. It appeared to be a First Ones structure buried in the sand. All seemed quiet. However a glimmer of light shone from the gloom of the structure. Inside on a console a screen lit up with the same symbols and writings of the message Bow found on his Tracker Pad. What do these words mean, is it some kind of a message? Or could it be a warning?

Authors Notes: Ooooo while one mystery ends another begins, what does this message in First Ones script mean, what could it be trying to tell them? Find out as the adventure continues. Yes this chapter does have a halloween theme to it as did that small flashback story to Ten year old Ben, I know we're not in Halloween yet so consider this an early halloween treat. Also I changed the intro of the Best Friend Squad from the canon episode because I felt perhaps we didn't get to see the other princesses and Angella's reaction to Entrapta defecting to the Horde or how they would feel about this situation, so it seemed appropriate, as was Ben sharing and comparing some of his horror stories from Earth to Shadow Weavers propaganda horror stories.

Now onto the next chapter and you better buckle up for some nostalgia themes cause the Alliance are gonna roll with it in this next chapter. Until next time.

FOR THE HONOUR OF GRAYSKULL!