Disclaimer: I do not own She-Ra or its related characters. All is the property of Noelle Stevenson, Dream Works Animation, Netflix, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Filmation, Larry DiTillo, and J. Michael Straczynski.

Genetic Composite

Chapter One: A Pot Left to Cook Too Long

The exo-suit wasn't perfect overnight, an in fact, was not likely to ever become perfect. It could only give Hordak a healthy and functioning body while he was wearing it. While this didn't seem like a problem while he was lifting equipment in the lab, he did have to disrobe eventually. To shower and cleanse himself. To change his under clothes and keep them fresh. To assess the spread of the clone-degradation. The exo-suit allowed him to function, it was not a cure for what ailed him. The exo-suit wasn't perfect, and was not likely to become perfect. It was not lasting solution.

The exo-suit was just a temporary stop-gap. A means of keeping Hordak alive and giving him a level of quality to that life similar to what he had grown accustomed to, while Entrapta worked on a more permanent solution to the flaw in his genetic coding that was the root of all that ailed him.

Hordak said he was unable to clone a new body for himself. But Hordak wasn't quite –and she meant no disrespect to her lab partner, he was the best (and only) lab partner she'd ever had- but Hordak wasn't as clever or brilliant as she was. Hordak didn't look for creative solutions. Instead, he allowed himself to become frustrated by failures, and frustration clouded his thinking.

Entrapta, however, did not suffer from such a handicap. Instead of becoming frustrated when an experiment failed, or an invention did not turn out the way she originally planned, Entrapta became more excited. It wasn't a problem. It was a fun new puzzle to solve. It was exciting.

While Entrapta fitted Hordak with his exo-suit, she also took the opportunity to take samples of his DNA for testing to figure out the cause of the degradation that plagued his body. A single strand of his blue hair. A few discarded flecks of his waxy white skin. Getting the saliva sample wasn't quite as subtle, she had one of the machines fitting the collar accidentally bump him in the teeth. Hordak bit his lip on the impact, angering him, but also gifting Entrapta with a little blood as well as saliva.

Rich with samples of his DNA, she began her new project of learning the root cause of the clone-degradation that plagued her partner, stopping it, and –if at all possible- repairing the damage already done.

After all, if he really did plan on going back to his own dimension one day, he would need his body to be functional and healthy, and not need to rely on mobility-aids or prosthetics.

It was a good thing she got samples from multiple sources, because when her computer read her the first results she had to double check the results and account for variables. But the results remained the same even accounting for the variable of the source of the sample.

Hordak seemed to be missing the MG53 gene. That could just as easily be because he was an alien from, not just another planet, but a whole other dimension entirely. However, considering the nature of his problem, Entrapta didn't think so.

The MG53 gene was protein that was the key active component in the body's engine for repairing cell membranes. In other words, it was what allowed bodies to heal after being injured. It was what caused wounds to close, tissues to regenerate, and fought infection. Since Entrapta had met Hordak, he only seemed to become weaker and more frail, his skin more waxy and leathery, those dark patches on his back larger and wider. In short, his body was not healing.

But that was an easy fix!

Entrapta could just fill in his body's deficiencies by mixing in Etherian DNA to fill in the holes in Hordak's sequence. She could clone him a new body! He tried to do it himself, but none of his clones ever survived the incubation process because they were missing the vital gene that allowed them to regenerate. She could clone him a new body and splice in some Etherian genes to make up for his body's deficiencies.

And getting a sample of Etherian DNA would be even easier than getting his DNA. Entrapta could just use her own!

After setting up a new tank and splicing in the desired genes, Entrapta waited just long enough to make sure cellular division had begun and the spliced cell had successfully become a zygote, before returning to the portal project she shared with Hordak.

By the time the portal was stable and he was ready to reunite with Horde Prime, he would have a brand new and healthy body to inhabit and live out the rest of his semi-natural life in.

...

Then Catra returned from the Crimson Wastes with Adora and the sword of She-Ra, and things went sideways.

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