Unbroken: Rise of the Horde

Chapter Two

As soon as Shadow Weaver slithered away, another spasm engulfed Hordak in a pool of lava. Though this one wasn't as long, it reopened the gaping hole in his pride every time.

I am a failure. He hung his head. His eyes caught the newest model for his portal. Searing flames returned, but this time in the form of rage. Hordak thrust his toolkit off of the neighboring table in a fit. He panted heavily as he watched it clatter to the floor. After a couple more seconds, he leaned down to pick everything up again.

It worked once before, he thought pitifully as he stared at the model. Why didn't it work now? Hordak allowed his thoughts to drift back into the few shards of memory he held dear. He often dwelled on the "once wases" and "what ifs" no matter how much he tried to block them. Along with the pain of his defectiveness, the mental effect had also grown worse.

It was one day sixteen years ago, or at least, that's what he thought. After a while, it was hard to keep track of time in exile. Like every other day, it had been weeks since he had seen Etherian sunshine. Everyday when he woke up, he trudged into his sanctum to keep working on his portal, but deep down knowing that the big break through wouldn't be today, or tomorrow, or the day after that...

Now, he had modified one of the formulas to fit with the technology that he had. Unlike the others though, he started to have a good feeling about the prototype he was building. This one actually fit the measurements and calculations just right.

It was about midday, probably, when something happened. He was working on building the prototype, when one of his screens blared to life. It scared him half to death, and he had to calm himself to prevent another trigger. When his heart rate returned to normal, he went over to check the screen. Dust had settled over it long ago. Hordak sucked in a breath when he saw it. His legs turned shaky and his whole body turned numb. 

A portal had opened up in Etheria. The computer had alerted him of extremely immense magical energy coming from within a likely area.

Hordak's eyes widened in disbelief, but his brow furrowed as he turned to his machine. First off, the portal had opened in the middle of nowhere, and second, the machine wasn't even finished.

He looked across the room to the large computer screen. Right. Mission first, mystery later.

Hordak crossed to the other side of the room and uploaded his message. He drummed his fingers so intensely on the table that they left scratches. His heart slammed against his rib cage and sweat dripped down his face. Why was it taking FOREVER to turn on? Who knows how much time the portal was going to stay open?

When the message loaded, he slammed a hand down on the keypad. His excited nervousness was enough to trigger the most intense flash yet, but thankfully it didn't.

The clone was about to sigh and relax into his chair, but an additional note popped up on the screen. His stomach dropped.

"The location is too remote for me to send from here," Hordak mumbled.

He had to get to the portal. The clone grabbed his tablet and raced to the door as quick as his armor would allow him. Which wasn't too fast. While he was speed walking to the vehicle bay, he downloaded all of the information from the big screen to his portable one.

Shadow Weaver confronted him in the halls. "Where are you going, Lord Hordak?"

"Get out of my way!" he shoved her aside and kept moving. "My actions are not of your concern."