text:
You've got me hooked into this, Aidan. Great work.
Yep, they're both coming- and more. Here's the next chapter:
Chapter 12: The Return of King Hiss
In spite of Hordak's return to Eternia, the planet still faced greater danger... in the form of a major blast from the past. During one of the battles between the Horde and Skeletor's warriors, the presence of General Rattlor and Tung Lashor caught the attention of one of Skeletor's minions, Kobra Khan, who had joined Skeletor's forces a year before the Horde's return. Khan was a former member of the Reptons, regarded now as a traitor to his race. He had spent his lifetime studying the ancient rule of King Hiss, and had become convinced that the Snake Race was superior to all others. He had come before the Reptons' ruler, King Pythos, and demanded that the Reptons break their alliance with the Elders and rise up to re-establish the rule of their race on Eternia. Pythos had refused, maintaining that the Reptons were a peaceful race who would never return to the evil ways of their ancestors. So Khan took action for himself. Ever since the establishment of the Reptons' underground kingdom, they had worshipped the Goddess, via a statue of her in the sacred chamber. Khan cast away this statue, replacing it with a statue of Serpos. He lured King Pythos into the chamber and attempted to assassinate him, paralyzing him with his sleep mist and draining his life force with the statue of Serpos. But Pythos' guards caught Khan in the act, overpowered him, and imprisoned him in their dungeons.
But Khan could not be beaten so easily. He received help from his ally, Webstor, the Arachna. Half man and half spider, Webstor had recently been recruited into Skeletor's forces, hired for his brilliant mind and ability to escape any trap, no matter how complex. Khan and Webstor had been close friends for some time, ever since Khan had first encountered Webstor, lurking in a web he had spun close to the entrance of the Reptons' kingdom. Webstor, a loner whose only real concern was to fend for himself, immediately got on well with Khan, for both were of a highly independent, reserved nature, and found that in one another's company they felt free to speak their usually secretive minds, identifying strongly with one another. After several months of their acquaintance, Khan had revealed to Webstor his secret desire to reclaim the glory of the Snake People and re-establish their supremacy over regular humans, along with his plans to assassinate King Pythos and take his place as ruler of the Reptons. Webstor respected Khan's initiative and offered to watch over his scheme, so he could free Khan if he were caught. So while Khan had carried out his attempted assassination of Pythos, Webstor had hidden in the corner of a dark corridor to observe the procedure, ready to spring into action when he was needed. He kept quiet when the guards escorted Khan to the jail, as he knew that the armed guards may be able to beat him. But once Khan was imprisoned, Webstor, as the master of escape, had no trouble sneaking into the jail, and freeing Khan from his cell.
Together, Kobra Khan and Webstor had escaped from the Reptons' kingdom, and Khan decided that his only hope for restoring the supremacy of his race was to free King Hiss himself. So Webstor had suggested that Khan offer his services to Skeletor. As Skeletor was based within Snake Mountain, an alliance with him could allow Khan to explore the fortress and find the Void in which King Hiss had been sealed. Khan had agreed, and journeyed with Webstor to Snake Mountain, where he pledged his services to Skeletor. Once he had been accepted into Skeletor's forces, Khan, with the assistance of Webstor, set about locating the Void into which King Hiss and the Snake Army had been cast.
After Khan's encounter with the Horde, he immediately recognized General Rattlor and Tung Lashor from the ancient paintings… and upon hearing Hordak address them by those exact names, realized that they were indeed original natives of his own race… in the flesh, despite having supposedly died centuries ago. Together with Webstor, Khan journeyed to Etheria, where Webstor managed to break into Doom Tower, enabling Khan to confront his ancestors and reveal his plan. Once he explained that his aim was to resurrect King Hiss and restore the Snake People to their former glory, Rattlor and Tung Lashor immediately renounced their allegiance to the Horde, and accompanied Khan back to Eternia.
Within the depths of Snake Mountain, Khan, Rattlor, Tung Lashor and Webstor journeyed deep into the underground caverns, until they finally came across the Void, into which King Hiss had been cast. They gathered in front of the Void in a circle, with a statue of Serpos placed in the center. They began their ritual, chanting an ancient incantation to evoke the magic of Serpos. The statue began to glow as the Snake Men felt the presence of their God, the barrier of the Void was breached… and out came none other than King Hiss. The great Lord of the Snake People, and the diabolical former ruler of Eternia, was finally free.
Reacquainting himself with his former kingdom, Hiss' first move was to make an assault on his goal of Castle Grayskull. He tricked the Heroic Warriors into allowing him into the castle, by posing as a regular human with his false skin. Once inside, he summoned his three Snake Men to join him in the attack. He almost overpowered The Sorceress, and was driven off only by a mighty combined effort from He-Man and the Masters. His goal of obtaining Grayskull was still not going to be easy… but he would not give in, and vowed to learn from the mistakes he had made all those centuries ago. He knew he could not hope to conquer Eternia with only three Snake Men at his side, especially since he was uneasy about how strongly he could trust them, given their previous allegiances. Two of them had served the Horde prior to his resurrection, and the third was not only a descendant rather than an original member of his army, but had been working closely with Skeletor. So Hiss formed an uneasy alliance with Skeletor, and joined him in his schemes to overcome the Masters.
He-Man and the Heroic Warriors now faced treble trouble as Skeletor, Hordak and King Hiss all made their assaults on Eternia, and the battles grew harder and fiercer. Although King Hiss was allied with Skeletor, he harbored no greater desire than to break the alliance and unleash his Snake Army. Shortly after his escape, Skeletor had re-sealed the Void and used his magic to create a metaphysical barrier around it, preventing any further Snake Men from being unleashed. But King Hiss was determined to find other means of bringing his army to the present.
Through his navigations of Eternia, he found the spot where the Three Towers had once stood… but they were nowhere to be seen. Kobra Khan informed him that the ancient books claimed the towers were sunk into the ground by the Elders, to protect them after the invasion of Prime. So King Hiss set about plotting to raise the towers once again. He obtained a magic medallion from an ancient temple on the Sands of Time, which had once belonged to the Snake priest, Asp'r. He summoned the magic of Serpos, and raised the Three Towers to ground level. The Ultimate Battleground was back on Eternia's surface.
Although the Three Towers had played a part in King Hiss' defeat all those centuries ago, he was now convinced he could manipulate their power to boost his strength and achieve his goals of domination. Within the walls of Viper Tower, he set about exploring the spells that had been left there, and summoning the magic he would need to unleash Serpos upon Eternia.
Once he had fully harnessed the power of Viper Tower, he was able to journey back to the Void beneath Snake Mountain, where he used the power he had gained to break Skeletor's protective barrier, and unleash two of his prime assassins- Sssqueeze and Snake Face. Snake Face's power- to turn organic creatures into stone with a mere look at his gruesome face- was particularly deadly, and within moments, half of Skeletor's warriors were imprisoned in stone. King Hiss attempted to banish Skeletor from Snake Mountain and regain his former stronghold for himself. But Skeletor, having no solid eyes, was immune to Snake Face's stare and just managed to fend off Hiss with his magic. But the alliance between the two warlords was over. King Hiss retreated to Viper Tower with his unleashed assassins, followed by a band of regular Snake soldiers.
But it wasn't long before the reappearance of the Three Towers caught the attention of the Masters. Exploring Grayskull Tower and Central Tower, He-Man realized the danger Eternia could be in if King Hiss or any other evil force obtained its power. Permanent guards were established around the towers. King Hiss was uncomfortable with the Heroic Warriors basing themselves in such close proximity to his headquarters, and ordered his Snake Warriors to advance on the Masters. A great battle ensued, but the Masters harnessed some of the magic within Grayskull Tower to fend off the Snake Men, and soon Hiss and his forces were driven from the Three Towers altogether. King Hiss realized it was not safe to base himself permanently in Viper Tower, where the Heroic Warriors could view his moves far too clearly. He retreated with his Snake Men to an underground hideout within Subternia. His powers had been greatly boosted by the magic within Viper Tower, and he planned to obtain the magic of Central Tower before reclaiming Snake Mountain and attacking Castle Grayskull.
The Heroic Warriors were now free to undertake a full exploration of the Three Towers. Although Viper Tower proved dangerous, they were able to harness many great powers within Grayskull Tower and Central Tower. Through studying the towers closely, it transpired that on one particular night each year, when the veil between dimensions was at its weakest, the magic of the Towers could be harnessed to bring forth the Winds of Time, and peer into them to view any other dimensions throughout space and time. King Randor decided to use this opportunity to find out once and for all what had really happened to his brother, Keldor.
On the night when the veil of dimensions was at its weakest, Randor, The Sorceress, and Prince Adam gathered around Central Tower. The Sorceress used her magic to call forth the Winds of Time. But their attempt to discover the secret of Keldor was thwarted by Skeletor, who attacked them midway through the ritual. By the time they had managed to fend him off, the Winds were passed. They had learned nothing of Keldor's disappearance… but it was clear that Skeletor would do anything to prevent them discovering the secret. Obviously, whatever the truth behind Keldor's disappearance, Skeletor had a strong connection with it. King Randor then recalled that Skeletor's sudden appearance on Eternia during the Great Unrest had coincided almost exactly with the disappearance of Keldor.
Skeletor quickly realized the danger that he faced, with the increasing power of the Masters and the double rivalry he faced from King Hiss and Hordak. The Masters were sure to try again to discover the secret of Keldor, so he must stop them before it was too late. He must take serious action. He set about recruiting a whole team of new warriors to aid in his schemes, and made repeated vicious assaults on the Three Towers, Eternos and Castle Grayskull. The war on Eternia grew more and more fierce by the day.
You've got me hooked into this, Aidan. Great work.
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Chapter 13: Conquest of the Crystal Castle
As the war raged over Eternia, on Etheria Hordak made a great development when Shadow Weaver finally managed to discover the location of the power channel on Etheria for the powers of Grayskull. Through her magic, Shadow Weaver managed to locate the position of some kind of undetermined power source that was connected to Grayskull. Hordak led his troops to this spot, and through a combination of their magic and science, they were able to bring the Crystal Castle into view.
The Horde immediately mounted a tremendous attack on the castle. They confronted its guardian, Light Hope, who was unprepared for their assault. At the same time, Modulok advanced on the kingdom of Bright Moon, with his deadliest machine yet- the Tornado Generator, able to generate a massive hurricane through its enormous levels of electrical power. The whole of Bright Moon was caught in a hurricane, and buildings were destroyed as civilians were blown off their feet by the immense wind. And as Light Hope at that moment succumbed to the force of the Horde Adoras attempt to become She-Ra failed as the transferal of the power of Grayskull to her sword was blocked by the Hordes attack. She could only watch in dismay as Bright Moon was blown apart before her eyes.
Within the Crystal Castle, the combined powers of Hordak and his Horde soon had Light Hope paralyzed within a field of energy. Hordak then set about summoning all the powers of darkness to create a new entity to guard the castle. Since Light Hope was a manifestation of the essence of light, evoking hope for the forces of good, Hordak concentrated the elements of the powers of darkness to form a similar entity one which would be the essence of darkness, thus evoking hope for the dark forces rather than the light. The being he would name Dark Hope manifested within the chamber, a thick, black mist, swirling round Light Hope and eclipsing him from view. Dark Hope was the new guardian of the Crystal Castle.
With control of the castle at his hands, Hordak used the power of Dark Hope to harness the castles links to Grayskull. He and his entire army, now joined by Modulok, victorious from his assault on Bright Moon, were teleported into Castle Grayskull itself. They sprang a surprise attack on The Sorceress, and were ready to repeat their achievement in the Crystal Castle.
But all was not yet lost for Eternia. During Moduloks assault on Bright Moon, Carlos had managed to jet off to Eternia in one of his space vehicles, to find He-Man and tell him of the situation on Etheria. He-Man had come to the defense of Bright Moon, but even his own powers had not been enough to save the kingdom from the Tornado Generator. As Modulok retreated once the kingdom lay in ruins, He-Man and Adora followed him and were shocked when they realized he was heading towards the Crystal Castle. They caught up with him just as the Horde passed through the portal to Grayskull.
They attempted to follow the Horde through the portal, but their way was blocked by Dark Hope. After a vicious battle with the castles deadly new guardian, He-Man barely managed to breach the portal to Eternia. Once inside Castle Grayskull, he called upon the Elders for more power. Adora was finally able to become She-Ra, and He-Man and She-Ra, with the power of the Elders at their command, managed just in time to drive the Horde from the castle. The Horde were soon lost in the castles void of confusion, and many troopers were banished to far-off realms by the castles magic. But Hordak- and most of his army- managed to reach the entrance, and stormed over the Jaw Bridge, vanishing into the distance.
Castle Grayskull was safe for now. But the Hordes power had been bolstered enormously by their conquest of the Crystal Castle, whilst Etheria was now truly devastated by war. With the destruction of Bright Moon, the Horde had almost entirely overcome the threat the Rebels had posed to their rule. And the Crystal Castle, which had always maintained a subtle existence to guard the essence of hope and wisdom on the planet, was now controlled by evil. Eternia, meanwhile, was under even greater threat from the Hordes increased power. With most of the Rebellion wiped out, and Bright Moon destroyed, the Horde were bound to concentrate their sights on Eternia and Grayskull now.
He-Man and She-Ra immediately took action. She-Ra contacted Glimmer back on Etheria, and instructed her and Queen Angella to help protect the people of Etheria, for her own power was required on Eternia.
But Hordak, once he had reached his lair in the Eternian Fright Zone, made similar arrangements. Force Captain Catra would take charge of matters on Etheria in the meantime, whilst Hordak concentrated on conquering Grayskull once and for all.
Almost daily, Eternia was engulfed by fierce combat as the Horde made repeated assaults on Eternos and Grayskull. Skeletor and King Hiss were also evoked to increase their efforts, determined to beat the Horde to overcome the planet. But despite the great powers of all three forces, they all continued to fail for they were now countered by the combined powers of He-Man and She-Ra together.
So the three evil leaders held a meeting at Snake Mountain. They agreed that in order for them to defeat He-Man and rule Eternia, it was necessary for them to combine all their forces against the unified strength of the Masters and the Rebellion. Then, once He-Man, She-Ra and The Sorceress were defeated, they would battle between themselves to determine which of them would hold onto Eternia. They set about concocting the ultimate invasion.
Chapter 14: The Victory of Evil
As the evil forces joined together to prepare the ultimate invasion of Eternos, Shadow Weaver and Evil-Lyn combined their powers to fake a summons from Light Hope to He-Man and She-Ra. The two heroes received the fake communication from Light Hope claiming to be trapped on another world, where they must go in order to free him. Unsuspectingly, they followed the summons to this alien world. Once He-Man and She-Ra had left Eternia, the three evil forces began their march upon the Royal City.
The Masters stood no chance against the combined might of the three evil armies. Eternos City soon lay in ruins. Man-At-Arms managed to radio through to Glimmer on Etheria, and several members of the Rebellion traveled to Eternia to assist the Masters. But even their combined might was not enough to resist the evil forces, and once Eternos was overcome, the evil warriors began to march towards Grayskull. But before they could reach Grayskull, Carlos managed to contact He-Man and She-Ra and free them from the prison they had been caught in on the alien world. They returned to Eternia just in time to stop the evil forces attack on Grayskull.
But Eternos City was in ruins- and within the remains of the Royal Palace, Skeletor placed himself on Eternias throne. Before Hordak and King Hiss could attempt to fight him for the crown, he cast a spell to banish them away from the palace. Finally, he was able to proclaim himself ruler of Eternia.
The planet soon quaked in fear at Skeletors rule, as chaos was spread throughout Eternia. The Masters, reduced to fugitives after Skeletors defeat, were forced to find a new sanctuary from which to counter the evil that ruled Eternia. They took up residence in the Three Towers.
Although both Hordak and King Hiss desired to fight Skeletor for the crown of Eternia, they still had the threat of the Masters to worry about. So they struck a deal with Skeletor that the Horde and the Snake Army would be given their own segments of Eternia to rule. Hordak was given rule over the Northlands, while King Hiss ruled over the Eastern Continent. Soon, the whole planet was dominated by evil, and slaughter and mayhem spread over Eternia. It was rapidly on its way to becoming a clone of Infinita.
The Masters remained on constant patrol throughout Eternia, whilst defending Grayskull against the evil forces. She-Ra, meanwhile, was faced with the dilemma of dividing her defenses between Eternia and Etheria, as Catra continued to create havoc for the remaining civilians on Etheria. Life became even more difficult for He-Man. The claustrophobic atmosphere of living in the Three Towers, without even so much as proper bedrooms, proved to take its toll on his stress levels. In this environment, it was much harder for him to keep his secret- and Randor continued to rant at Adam with fury and disappointment over his lack of participation in Eternias defense. Adam found it increasingly difficult to keep his calm and felt he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
After a severe attack on the Three Towers by the Snake Army, Adam found himself blamed for deserting his people, when he had in fact defended them from the attack as He-Man. After one particularly violent rant from his father over his apparent indifference to Eternias welfare, Adam had finally had enough. He had endured almost five years of his fathers ignorance of his true achievements, and no longer caring what kind of fate Grayskull may deliver to him, he held his sword aloft and transformed to He-Man in front of Randor.
Randor was taken aback by what he had just witnessed. He was overcome with a sense of pure amazement- and also extreme guilt over the hard time he had given Adam for all these years. The sudden influx of pride he felt towards his son contrasted uneasily with enormous shame over his ignorance of Adams heroism, and his lack of closeness to his son. Although when he had been granted the powers of He-Man, Adam had been told that he could risk losing this privilege if he ever willingly revealed his secret to someone else, The Sorceress took sympathy on him when he had explained the circumstances, and he was pardoned.
Shortly afterwards, the night came once again that the Winds of Time could be harnessed to view beyond the dimensional veil. The search for Keldor was on again. And once again, Skeletor attempted everything he could to stop it. As Randor, He-Man, and The Sorceress gathered outside the Three Towers, Skeletor interrupted The Sorceress spell with an attack from underground, burrowing beneath the heroes with a drilling machine. But before he could stop them, Hordak showed up on the scene, and attempted to foil Skeletors attempt to foil the spell! He used his latest machine to hold Skeletor paralyzed, while his prime assassin Mosquitor set about draining Skeletors life force. While Skeletor was held, the heroic warriors were able to see beyond the veil between dimensions.
A faint image of Keldor was seen through the Winds of Time. But before they could see anything more, Evil-Lyn, who was determined her master not be destroyed yet for the sake of absorbing a share of his power herself, struck up behind the Sorceress and blasted her with her magic beams, distracting her from the spell. The Winds of Time passed by, and nothing more was revealed.
A battle ensued between the Masters, the Horde and Skeletor. The Horde were quickly overpowered, and fled the scene. But once Skeletor was free of the Hordes grip, he managed to harness a portion of the Winds power and held open the veil between dimensions for a few moments longer. He then projected his power towards Randor, and Randor began to fade from view. Skeletor laughed in triumph, declared that Randor was as lost as his brother, and fled the scene.
He-Man and The Sorceress rushed over to the fallen body of Randor, rapidly fading from view. The Sorceress had been weakened by the blast she had received from Evil-Lyn, and was too weak to reverse Skeletors spell. Randor declared one final time his pride in Adam for his true heroism, and asked that he continue the search for Keldor himself. Randor then faded from view entirely, lost in dimensions beyond time.
No new knowledge had been gained about the disappearance or whereabouts of Keldor. But Hordaks attempt to stop Skeletors plan and allow the Masters to see the truth revealed one thing- Hordak possessed some kind of knowledge about Keldors disappearance, and was willing to reveal the truth to the Masters to bring about Skeletors demise. Whatever the connection between Skeletor and Keldors disappearance, it was clearly strong, and He-Man, angered at the loss of his father, vowed to find out the truth.
Shortly after this ordeal, Skeletor and his army intruded upon the Fright Zone, threatening Hordak with horrific consequences if he dared reveal the secret of Keldor to the Masters. Skeletor managed to dissuade Hordak by reminding him that not only could the secret of Keldor potentially destroy Skeletor, but there was the chance it could destroy Hordak as well. If Keldor were ever to be found, his powers could easily be strong enough to overcome Hordak. Hordak agreed not to reveal the truth as yet, but Skeletor got his technician, Comtech, to install secret spy devices in the Fright Zone to reveal any plans Hordak may have to destroy Skeletor. The tension between the evil forces mounted as they fought for rulership of Eternia.
Chapter 15: The Fall of Castle Grayskull
Attacks on Grayskull by each evil force continued to fail, due to the combined power of the Masters, He-Man and She-Ra. But further complications were abound on Etheria with the return of an old enemy of good- the warlord Prahvus. Although thought to have been killed in the explosions that resulted from the battle at the City of Lights during the Great Unrest, Prahvus resurfaced on Etheria, alive and well, with a band of henchmen and warriors at his command. He made a series of attacks on the Fright Zone, attempting to dispatch Catra from its throne. Although the Fright Zones machinery was powerful enough to fend him off, Prahvus proved a force to be reckoned with and could not be defeated, succeeding in destroying a large portion of the Fright Zone. Although he occasionally came into conflict with the Rebels, and She-Ra had to travel between Eternia and Etheria to help defend against Prahvus attacks, Prahvus mostly ignored the Rebels and concentrated on his attempts to infiltrate the Fright Zone. It was clear that his true goal was to overcome the Horde, and he was taking advantage of Hordaks absence from Etheria to conquer the planet for himself.
At first it was assumed that Prahvus hatred of the Horde had been induced by his defeat at their hands during the Great Unrest. But secret missions by the Rebel spies discovered that Prahvus connections with the Horde went back much longer than they had realized. It transpired that Prahvus was a long-time rival of Horde Prime, who felt that Primes command of the Horde was weak and unfocused. Prahvus was a descendant of the Morior, a tribe from the early days of Horde World who aligned themselves with no particular God; the only tribe on the planet with the courage to openly oppose the rule of Prime. They took Prime to be a God of insanity, and attempted to evoke revolution among the residents of their planet, with the hope of bringing about a spiritual entity powerful enough to overcome Prime. But Prime had learned of their scheme, and struck back at them, eliminating most of their race. Prahvus, as a descendant of the few Morior survivors, had been determined for many years to do belated justice to his ancestors and overcome Prime. But although he opposed the greatest entity of evil in the universe, Prahvus, like his ancestors, was far from good. The air of evil and corruption on Horde World was so severe that it prevented most beings from fully seeing the light and avoiding degradation. Although he was not as power-mad or sadistic as Horde Prime, Prahvus nevertheless advocated extreme hierarchical order, mass destruction and slavery, and desired the power to make himself the God of the Morior, of whom his ancestors had dreamed. Once he had achieved this goal, he could overcome the power of Prime, and become the universal leader of the Horde himself. His initial attack on Eternia during the Great Unrest had been born primarily of the desire to conquer the planet, and obtain the power of Grayskull, before Primes forces could reach it. But although he had reached the planet first, he had not managed to locate Grayskull, and therefore had not been powerful enough to beat the Horde forces when they finally arrived.
His survival after the explosions at the City of Lights, it emerged, had been enabled by his alliance with a team of mutants from the planet Denebria, who had also been present on Eternia during the Great Unrest. Denebria, the sister world of Primus in the Triax Star System, had once been a rich and fertile world, until a power-mad force which had broken off from the Horde conquered the planet with the desire to use it as a headquarters to attack Primus and obtain its technological power. But the breakaway forces own machinery had not been as strong as that of the Horde, and their assaults on Primus had backfired, causing an apocalypse to engulf Denebria, reducing the whole planet to a barren wasteland and turning the surviving humans into mutants. Blaming the Primands for the apocalypse, the mutants had been waging war on Primus ever since. During the Great Unrest, a Denebrian cyborg mutant named Optikk had invaded Eternia under the instructions of Denebrias ruler, Brakk. When Prahvus had learned that Optikk was from a breakaway force from the Horde, he had allied with him, and Optikk had utilized his technical devices to teleport both of them away from Eternia during the explosions that killed many of the warlords of the Great Unrest. Since teleporting to Denebria, Prahvus had formed an alliance with Brakk, convincing him that if he could take over the Horde for himself, he could improve the power of the Mutants, and not only help them overcome Primus, but also restore the former beauty of Denebria. Since then, while aiding the Denebrians in their assaults on Primus, and expanding his power among the mutants, Prahvus had traveled throughout the universe convincing Horde-controlled governments to dissociate themselves from the Horde, and hiring warriors from those regimes he had successfully persuaded in the hope of building his own army.
So now that Hordak was mostly absent from Etheria, Prahvus had attacked Etheria as a way through to Eternia, where he hoped to obtain the power of Grayskull and overcome his rival Horde Prime. Hordak knew he must take extreme action. The last thing he needed at the moment was his Etherian Empire being threatened when he was already having enough trouble with He-Man, Skeletor and King Hiss blocking his attempts to control all Eternia. He decided the time had come to bring the god Horde Prime into the battle.
Prime intervened in Prahvus assaults on Etheria, but even though Prahvus was not yet as powerful as Prime, he managed to evade Prime unharmed via an ancient spell which made him immune to Primes power. Meanwhile, his own power was greatly increasing, and he had already succeeded in hiring a series of defectors from the Horde into his own army. Prime decided that while unable to defeat Prahvus, it was time for him to attack Castle Grayskull to obtain the ultimate power sought by the Horde. He proceeded to attack Castle Grayskull with Hordak, but not only was Grayskulls own power still strong enough to overcome Prime, but this attack itself was interfered with by Prahvus, who had hired a number of independent Eternian villains to aid with his schemes as well as forming a deal with Skeletor to conspire against Horde Prime. Eternia was in a greater state of chaos than ever before- thousands of different forces were now competing with one another for control of Grayskull and the universe, and it was clear that the great showdown between good and evil, as predicted thousands of years ago by the Council of the Wise, was set to come any day. There was a high chance that no-one would survive.
After Primes assault on Grayskull had proven unsuccessful, while the Horde continued to face increasing competition from Prahvus, Hordak realized there was only one solution to the chaos. All the evil forces must work together once again- and not just the Evil Warriors, Snake Men and Horde- but also Prahvus, and all the many independent villains who wreaked their own havoc over Eternia. It was time for the forces of darkness to make their ultimate assault against the light.
Hordak called a meeting of all the evil warlords on Eternia, and they set about concocting the ultimate assault on Grayskull. Skeletor had all his forces at the ready. King Hiss, via a tip-off from the recently resurrected Goddess Shokoti, had uncovered an ancient relic that could be used to resurrect Serpos. With all his Snake Warriors, he held a great ritual around Snake Mountain, and after centuries of imprisonment, Serpos finally broke free from his rock solid confinement. Skeletors lair was no more- now, there was only the remains of a regular mountain, while Serpos coiled through the air in its gruesome, scaly glory. But Skeletor was not annoyed at the destruction of his lair- it was worth the sacrifice for the great assault- and he was confident that before long he would have only one true lair. Castle Grayskull.
Prahvus agreed to a truce with Horde Prime and Hordak for the necessity of the attack on Grayskull. They were joined by all the Horde defectors, Shokoti, and countless freelance villains from across Eternia- the great Count Marzo, Evilseed of the plant kingdom, Dronicus the Prince of the Undead, Negator the computer whiz, Gorak the master of death, and many others. Together, they all marched on Grayskull in one huge attack.
Because of the sheer volume of warlords, warriors, Gods and Goddesses, the evil forces did not even have to worry this time about getting He-Man and She-Ra out of the way. They stormed Castle Grayskull, instantly combining their powers to overcome The Sorceress. She was paralyzed by their power in no time, and was beamed to another dimension. He-Man, She-Ra and their respective forces were themselves overpowered by the attack, and almost lost their lives attempting to defend Grayskull. The spirits of the Elders intervened, but even they were overpowered by the immense powers of the evil forces, and were reduced to nothing more than stagnant ghosts of consciousness. Even the castles numerous voids of chaos and confusion were not enough to overcome the combined powers of the evil forces. Many warriors were too weak to make it all the way through- but eventually, the most powerful of the evil forces made it to the center of the castle, finding the Glowing Orb present before them. Skeletor, Hordak, King Hiss, Evil-Lyn, Prime, Shokoti, Serpos and Prahvus all reached the center. Now it was between them for the universe. Skeletor quickly thrust a huge burst of his energy at the others, sending them stumbling back. Then he reached the orb, gripped it, held it aloft
And the power of the universe was bestowed upon him. A shower of immense magical energy rained down on Skeletor, and his form increased in size as he absorbed the vast power of the cosmos. His costume was replaced with a robe of solid gold, and as the other warriors watched in amazement, Skeletor spoke out loud, his voice and image projected holographically all over Eternia as he declared: I am now more than man more than life I am a GOD!
Skeletor had conquered Castle Grayskull.
The castle began to shake and quiver under the power of its new master. Every single warrior within its walls had no choice but to flee- as far as their strength could carry them. All over Eternia, denizens would kneel at the mere mention of Skeletors name. The new era had truly begun.
i am only about half way thru, but i have to say, very nice job, this is a great read, keep up the good work
Dear Mosquitor,
this is one of the best fanfics I ever read...and I have read a lot...I like the rise of Skeletor here...finally he is able to conquer Grayskull while not being challenged by He-Man again.
I am excited whether Skeletor makes the other evil alpha's work for him because otherwise he would destroy them...I d like the idea of Prime, Hordak and Hiss finally submitting to the Overlord or rather Overgod of Evil while fighting for the position of 2nd in command...
Keep up the great work
Your fan
Chapter 16: The Gods of Evil
Hordak and King Hiss were both immensely frustrated at having been beaten to the power of Grayskull by Skeletor. But they had both managed to swipe a portion of the power via their battle with the spirits of the Elders and their conquest of the castles chaotic vortex. They immediately set out individually to use that power to their advantage.
Hordak used this power to challenge Horde Prime himself. Prime found himself being overcome by the very power he had struggled for years to obtain for himself- all at the hands of his own disciple. Hordak overpowered Prime quickly, and drew the whole force of Prime into his own body. Immediately, Hordak was powered up and took on a new, more intimidating form, larger and god-like. He may not have obtained all the power of Grayskull- but he was now a God himself, and was more than formidable a challenge for Skeletor. During Hordaks assault on Prime, Prahvus had also intervened and swiped a portion of Primes power for himself.
King Hiss took similar measures. A sacred ritual was held on the Sands of Time, with Shokoti and all the Snake People who had been freed. The power of Grayskull was combined with the power of Serpos, and King Hiss and Serpos merged into one.
Eternia was now under its biggest threat in history. Three great forces of evil dominated the planet, and each of the evil leaders now had the powers of the Gods. And the fourth leading antagonist, Prahvus, was coming very close to gaining this level of power himself. The whole universe was under threat. And the Masters had suffered most severely after Skeletors victory at Grayskull. Grayskull was no longer the safe haven of justice and righteousness that it had been for all these years, ever since its creation. It was now a stronghold of evil, and with the power of the castle at the command of Skeletor, Adam and Adora could no longer call upon its power to become He-Man and She-Ra. Instead, they had to resort to using the power within Grayskull Tower and Central Tower to fuel their energy- but the power within the towers, although incredible in its own right, still lacked the strength to counter that of Castle Grayskull itself. As a result, both He-Man and She-Ra had been considerably weakened by Skeletors victory. Their demises could not be far off, and things looked bleak for Eternia.
So He-Man took desperate action, and called to the stars. He and the Masters were visited by Zodac, and the Cosmic Enforcers. Zodac acknowledged that this was the most crucial point in time ever since the formation of the Council of the Wise. The fate of universal harmony had never been more at stake than at this moment. The planet on which the Council of the Wise had formulated their great philosophies, and established as the epitome of balance and harmony between all living creatures, had been turned into a festering realm of evil, and the great power source they had established to preserve the spirit of goodness was now being used as a tool of evil. But all material conflict, Zodac explained, is but an outward effect of inner psychological conflict, borne of the illusion of otherness and the desire to overcome that which is other. Therefore, at this crucial moment, it was the duty of the Masters to overcome their psychological barriers and reach the light that lay in the center of the darkness. Before he left, Zodac reminded He-Man of two ancient proverbs: The dark can embrace the light, but can never eclipse it and To reach the light, one must travel through the dark.
Thinking about Zodacs advice, She-Ra realized it could provide the key to freeing Light Hope. Although Light Hope had been blocked out by the entity Dark Hope, created by Hordak, Light Hope could still be somewhere within Dark Hopes depths. Now that Skeletor had conquered Grayskull, he, rather than Hordak, had control of Dark Hope due to the Crystal Castles links to Grayskull. Already he was using his connection with Dark Hope to expand some of his forces to Etheria. He-Man and She-Ra decided they must rescue Light Hope, to keep Etheria as safe as possible while restoring some hope for the Masters. They teleported to Etheria through Central Tower, and embarked on a dangerous journey to the Crystal Castle, to free Light Hope.
The journey quickly proved to be not only difficult, but also extremely bizarre. Along the way, He-Man and She-Ra found themselves faced with numerous obstacles and temptations, as strange entities appeared before them offering them ultimate power and riches. The two heroes sensed something was not right, and refused these offers, pressing on towards the Crystal Castle. After battling their way through the multitude of obstacles, they finally reached the Crystal Castle, and confronted Dark Hope. A fantastic duel of magic and sorcery followed, during which He-Man and She-Ra concentrated all the heroic energy within themselves and their swords into a unified force to counter Dark Hope. Although they were still comparatively weak after their loss of Castle Grayskull, the two heroes had enough mental energy in them to weaken Dark Hope and communicate with Light Hope, deep within Dark Hopes depths. As Light Hopes power was strengthened, his light began to shine through Dark Hope, eventually illuminating the whole chamber in one huge burst and Dark Hope faded into nothingness.
As the light of Light Hope shimmered throughout the chamber, Zodac appeared once again, and informed the two heroes that the whole journey they had just experienced had been a test set up by none other than himself. Through their struggle on the path towards the Crystal Castle, He-Man and She-Ra had been confronted by temptation towards corruption with the offers of power and wealth, and their own violent and savage instincts with the apparitions that provoked them into feeling rage. They had therefore been led to explore the dark sides of their own souls, and through transcending these dark barriers had reached the light that lay at the heart of their souls and used this to overcome the dark. They had thus achieved from their ordeal a stronger affinity with their own souls, and this had given them the power to overcome Dark Hope, tap into the essence of Light Hope and free him. Zodac stood before the two heroes, and delivered a final speech:
All intelligent life forms possess shadow selves, which crave power, superiority and destruction. Every lifetime is a struggle to overcome corruption by the shadow selves, and retain touch with ones pure spirit. It is a difficult struggle for all and few succeed entirely. The two of you, however, have managed to resist succumbing to the seductions of your shadows, no matter how strong the temptation. It is this ability which proves your true strength . and renders you true heroes and champions of goodness. Those who oppose you are those who have failed to hold on to their inner spirits those who have become entirely lost in the shadows. Somewhere there is light in even the darkest of souls. As champions of light, you have the power to reach this light and the power you need to overcome all your opposition is not only within Grayskull. It is within yourselves.
Then Zodac vanished, and He-Man and She-Ra were left triumphant and enlightened. For the first time since her freedom from the Horde, She-Ra found that the feelings of guilt and shame over the destruction she had caused during her Horde days had finally lessened as she saw the bigger picture. Now that the two heroes had a better understanding of the inner darkness that had brought about the demise of Eternia and Etheria, they were ready to strike back.
Light Hope quickly made his presence known throughout the planet, and evoked the people to rise up against the Horde. As the forces of the Rebellion and the Horde clashed, Catra and her minions were overcome, and she fled to Eternia to join her master. Etheria was now almost free of the Horde. Glimmer agreed to stay on the planet and do her utmost best to restore peace while He-Man and She-Ra continued to attend to matters on Eternia. They returned to Eternia, their confidence greatly bolstered by their experience on Etheria.
Just getting caught, bro, and I gotta tell, it just keeps getting better. I'd love to be able to have this on my HD when you're done.
Tales of Masters of the Universe
The story of Masters of the Universe - spanning from Skeletor's origin to the final fate of He-Man!
Masters of the Universe: New Legacy
Find out what happened after the 200x series! Featuring stories and artwork from throughout the fan community!
WANTED: Spikor, Snake Mountain stands, Wind Raider, and Despara
I just killed a lazy Saturday afternoon, and 3 hours reading your chapters of the MOTU universe and am anticipating and salivating at the next chapters.
Your writings and direction has opened so many possibilities and options and I hope you continue with this and dont get discouraged if people don't post, but I will be checking this on the daily for my next fix.
Truly a masterpiece in the making.
Positive trades and sales with -
Royaltus, Prime731, Heman4myson, Baena, CGImortal, Jericho the Warrior, He Boy (Aust), Battle Cats my Daddy, Steph,
Got stung hard by Benjaminn Grimm - Items never showed - and Kal El the scammer.
This is awesome!
I made copy-paste of all the chapters, printed a copy and i read every day in the bus while i'm going to work. I'm close to the end, so, hurry with the next chapter!
First of all, a big thank you to everyone who's posted their feedback and support! Here's the next chapter:
Chapter 17: Fall of the Heroes
On Eternia, Skeletor felt the effect of the Crystal Castles freedom from evil. Now that it was controlled by good once again, Skeletor felt the presence of Light Hope intrude partially upon Grayskull. He was not worried. Although he had hoped to use the Crystal Castle to channel his power through to Etheria, that planet was no major concern of his. For his next step, as the most powerful being on Eternia, was to use the power of Grayskull to conquer the universe. All he needed was to tap into the secrets hidden somewhere deep within the glowing orb, to discover how he could master the very essence of reality, time and space, and manipulate it to serve his will. Once he had achieved this, the whole universe would bow to his greatness.
Back in the Three Towers, He-Man and She-Ra set about mobilizing the defense forces to combat the mayhem in Eternia. Now that Etheria was in a relative state of calm, most of the Rebellion was transported over to Eternia to assist with the big strike back against Skeletor. He-Man and She-Ra told all the Masters and Rebels of their ordeal on Etheria, and encouraged them to hold on to their inner spirits in order to overcome the dark forces.
Although most of the Masters were all set for battle, Teela was falling seriously ill. She had suffered a sudden, mysterious and severe sickness as soon as The Sorceress had been banished from Eternia, and had been out of action due to her weak physical state. But one night, in a state of transcendence, she received telepathic communication from her mother. Feeling the presence of her mother around her, she concentrated on tapping into that energy and soon realized she was communicating with none other than The Sorceress of Grayskull. The Sorceress, she finally realized, was her mother- and through this telepathy, The Sorceress told her of her destiny. She was to gain the powers of Grayskull for herself and use them to defend Eternia- and if the Masters succeeded in freeing Grayskull, she would become its next guardian. She concentrated her mind on the energy within Grayskull Tower- and emerged wearing a falcon headdress and wings resembling those of The Sorceress. She then joined He-Man and She-Ra to prepare for battle.
He-Man and She-Ra journeyed across Eternia, to spread vibes of hope across the ordinary people of the planet, who now lived their lives in fear. They encouraged the people to believe in the force of the light, and to combat the power of fear. Providing them with their own battle resources, they mobilized them to help rebel against the evil that dominated the planet.
Next they set out to a remote location to enlist the help of another of Eternias most powerful beings one who rarely participated in the war. Granamyr, oldest and wisest of dragons, was still the ruler of Darksmoke even after all these millennia. His immense power and wisdom would prove a more than crucial aid in saving Eternia. As much as Granamyr preferred to avoid involvement with humans, he had come to trust He-Man and She-Ra over time, seeing them as the only wise members of their race. So they had to persuade him to help them at this time of great need. At first, Granamyr was unwilling to help, having seen the war as further proof of the corruption of mankind. But He-Man explained to him the great danger that faced Granamyrs own homeland and race, and that his help was needed urgently to ensure the survival of the whole universe. As much as Granamyr felt humans had become more corrupted over time, he understood that He-Mans aim was to re-embellish the sense of wisdom in the hearts of mankind and make it the norm once again. Granamyr finally agreed, and joined He-Man in his quest.
But the quest for justice proved difficult. Slaughter was taking place across Eternia day by day, and even with the power of Light Hope, and Teelas new magical powers, the Masters had still been considerably weakened and were nowhere near as strong as the evil forces. And despite her acquisition of the powers of Grayskull Tower, Teelas sickness quickly returned- in a vastly unexpected form. She complained of terrible nightmares in which she found herself committing acts of extreme violence and destruction- sometimes towards people she loved. These images began to intrude upon her waking hours, flashing through her mind, along with random bouts of hatred and thirst for blood. She was constantly experiencing vast sentiments of evil and destruction that she would never have imagined she could harbor. And as these visions and sentiments became more and more frequent, she feared that before long, she would begin to act out these desires for real. She became fearful of her own sanity and being, and for the safety of those around her. She was concerned that something may have gone wrong with the reception of her powers, and Man-At-Arms employed his best medical treatment in an effort to save her but nothing had any effect. No known diseases matched the description of Teelas sickness, and it was feared that some evil force had bestowed a curse or evil spell upon her- or that she may have somehow become possessed. Even an attempted exorcism by Light Hope achieved no effect.
Meanwhile, on the side of darkness, Skeletor, Hordak and King Hiss continued to battle against one another for control of Grayskull. But Skeletors power was so immense that even though they too were now Gods, Hiss and Hordak were not yet powerful enough to overcome the Lord of Destruction. Since they all possessed some of Grayskulls power, and the Masters were still proving a formidable enough threat, they made the decision to work together until He-Man and She-Ra lay dead at their feet, then it would be between them. Prahvus also agreed to this truce, but kept a low profile, concentrating on building his own forces while biding his time before striking at Hordak. Evil-Lyn, annoyed at Skeletors refusal to share his power with her, began to secretly plot against her master and formed an alliance with Prahvus, planning to strike the forces above them when they least expected it.
Eventually, the annual night of the search for Keldor returned. As the veil between dimensions weakened, He-Man, She-Ra, Marlena and Teela gathered outside Central Tower once again, to continue the search. Except now, it was not only a search for Keldor, but also a search for Randor and The Sorceress- all imprisoned in the dimensions beyond time. And in order to further ensure that Skeletor would not be able to stop the spell this time, Granamyr also attended the ritual, so his great magic could keep the portal open.
This time, Skeletor was less worried about the threat that the knowledge of Keldor may pose to him. He was now a God- he could not be killed. But he still could not take the risk- and now was not yet the time for his true identity to be revealed. As before, he set out to foil the spell- this time with Hordak and King Hiss at his side.
The spell began as Teela and Granamyr used their magic to keep the veil between dimensions open. A year after Randors defeat, He-Man finally felt the presence of his father, and managed to establish direct communication with him through the winds. Randor told him that since his banishment from Eternia, he had wandered through timeless dimensions, but had come across no sign of his brother. Only the distant past could provide them with a solid lead as to Keldors whereabouts.
When Skeletor arrived on the scene, he was shocked to see Granamyr working with the Masters. But with Hordak and King Hiss at his side, he attacked, the three warlords doing their best to distract the Masters attention from the portal. Granamyr turned, and began to battle with the evil warlords as Teela concentrated her energy on the portal. Telepathically bonding with her mother, she was able to harness The Sorceress power to keep the veil apart. The warriors were presented with an image of Keldor. Skeletor, engaged in battle with Granamyr, saw that the Masters were too close to seeing the truth, and rapidly summoned all his powers, bursting past Granamyrs flame, blocking the portal and summoning the evil energy of Viper Tower to cloud the Masters vision. The scene was blocked, and all they saw was an image of Skeletors face amidst the cloud.
Skeletor laughed in triumph, declaring that the Masters had no chance of discovering the truth, now that he was the most powerful being on Eternia. He quickly fled the scene, but realized he could not risk giving the Masters another chance. He had to destroy them as soon as possible. The only way to do this would be to mount an all-round attack on the Three Towers. Absorbing the power of the towers would enable Skeletor to overcome the only heroic power left in Eternia. He began to gather his forces for the ultimate mission: the destruction of the Masters.
The Masters were not unprepared for Skeletors assault. Teela, although still ill, had sensed the evil warriors approach, and the Masters mobilized all their forces to counter the attack. Even Light Hope and Granamyr joined them to defend the towers. The evil warriors came marching towards the towers, and the Ultimate Battleground now saw its Ultimate Battle.
He-Man and Skeletor ended up dueling within Central Tower. Remembering the effect that the Tower had had on King Hiss back in the days of He-Ro, He-Man hoped that the power with the tower could in some way be used to purify Skeletors soul and enable him to be brought to justice. As he fought his greatest enemy, he concentrated on the essence of light within himself and the tower, hoping to reinforce it within Skeletor. But it had no such effect on him. As a God, Skeletor was immune to its force of purification, and summoned all his powers to absorb the towers magic. As Skeletors body pulsated with the power of Castle Grayskull, he began to absorb the energy of Central Tower. As more of the only remaining heroic power on the planet was absorbed by Skeletor, He-Man found himself weakening. Eventually, he could no longer sustain the fight, and collapsed to the ground. As the power was absorbed by Skeletor, He-Man dropped his sword, became disconnected from the power of Grayskull and changed back to Prince Adam, in full view of Skeletor.
As soon as Skeletor witnessed this transformation, he erupted into hysterical laughter, with both triumph and pity. The supposed most powerful man in the universe had for all this time been nothing other than the weakling Prince of Eternia. And now his most hated foe of all time was collapsed at his feet, a pitiful wreck. Skeletor could not have imagined a better victory.
As the power of Grayskull was withdrawn from Adam, She-Ra experienced the same effect and became Adora once again as she was locked in conflict with the Horde. Her secret was out- in front of all her most dreaded enemies. Hordak quickly took advantage, and captured Adora, separating her from the Sword of Protection. In desperation, Teela, Light Hope and Granamyr managed to combine their powers and drive the evil forces away before they could destroy the towers. But Skeletor had nevertheless emerged victorious- as well as possessing a portion of the power of the Three Towers, he had also managed to wipe out He-Man himself, Eternias only hope. Adam was captured, and taken to Castle Grayskull, where he was chained alongside Skeletors throne.
All hope looked lost for the Heroic Warriors. Skeletor really had, it seemed, won the entire war. With the absence of both He-Man and She-Ra, the Masters now posed no threat to Skeletor, and would be wiped out in no time. All Skeletor had to do was penetrate the secrets of the essence of the cosmos- and the whole universe would be his. Teela was now the most powerful member of the Masters, but her strength was greatly flawed by the sickness she was suffering, with the evil desires and visions of destruction rapidly increasing in frequency and severity. She seemed to be developing a split personality, and was afraid that she may become entirely evil.
While Prince Adam was kept chained by Skeletors throne, a feeble wreck, Adora was taken to Hordaks brainwashing chamber within the Fright Zone. Having discovered that she was She-Ra, Hordak was now determined to repeat the brainwashing that had made Adora loyal to him throughout her childhood- and then, once he had absorbed more of Grayskulls power for himself, turn her back into She-Ra, so he could have She-Ras power at his own command.
Chapter 18: The Dimension Of Chaos
Adoras anger over Hordaks upbringing of her, along with her ability to hold onto her true spirit, enabled her to resist most of the effect of Hordak's attempted brainwashing. Clutching on to the light within, she managed to summon Light Hope, who helped her to break free from Hordaks clutches. Once free, she then demanded to know where Skeletor had come from and what happened to Keldor. She had to find out this crucial information to bring about the defeat of Skeletor and Hordak. Hordak decided that there would be no harm to him in revealing the secret, but hoped it may help bring about Skeletors defeat. So he revealed that Skeletor was once more ordinary than he currently appeared. But his mention of these words set off an alarm triggered by the hidden devices Skeletor had secretly installed. Skeletor teleported to the chamber, and the battle was on between himself and Hordak.
As Skeletor and Hordak fought against one another, Adora seized her chance to escape, retrieving her sword along the way. She returned to the Three Towers and informed the others of what Hordak had told her about Skeletor. Man-At-Arms explained that one of Eternias scientists had noticed a resemblance between Skeletors skull, and the face of Keldor. By comparing pictures of Skeletors face with old pictures of Keldor, he claimed it could be the same person. Inferring that Keldor had vanished almost as soon as Skeletor had appeared, could this be what had happened to Keldor?
Adora knew that they must do their best to find out. Now that she had her sword back, she was able to channel just enough of the remaining energy in the Three Towers to become She-Ra again, although even as She-Ra she was considerably weaker than she had been before. She set out to Castle Grayskull to rescue her brother from the clutches of Skeletor.
By now, Adam was chained permanently to Skeletors throne, stripped almost entirely naked and deprived of food, subject to intense beatings every day from Skeletors henchmen. Skeletor enjoyed nothing more than to see his former greatest enemy suffer so pitifully, starving to death. This was the perfect defeat for He-Man.
But help was on its way. Lacking the power to enter Grayskull by force, She-Ra enlisted the help of Gwildor, the Thenurian locksmith and inventor famed for his creation of the amazing Cosmic Key, which had the power to transport anyone to any place throughout time and space via a series of audio tones. The Cosmic Key transported She-Ra, Teela and Gwildor to Castle Grayskull to rescue Prince Adam. But once in Grayskull, the castles voids of confusion, now controlled by Skeletors evil, proved too dangerous for Grayskulls former defenders. She-Ra led her companions through the voids, trusting her strength and intuition, and eventually they barely made it to the throne room, where they found Prince Adam chained to the throne, his battered torso covered in blood, oozing from the thousands of cuts and bites inflicted by Skeletor and his henchmen. He was clearly not far from death. Shocked at what had become of her brother, She-Ra began to unchain him, but was caught in the act by Skeletors henchmen. They attacked her, but Teela just managed to summon up Light Hope, who quickly took action and increased his energy, temporarily blinding the villains and giving She-Ra the chance to free her brother. The heroes began to flee, but became lost once again in the voids of confusion. Skeletors most dangerous assassins were hot on their trail, and had given word to their leader himself, who was on his way back to Grayskull to finish his enemies off. Gwildor rapidly banged at the tones of the Cosmic Key to retrieve the melody that would transport them to freedom, but the Keys memory had been erased by Skeletors henchmen in the struggle, and he could not find the correct tones. Just as a swarm of evil warriors closed in on the heroes, She-Ras sword began to glow, and a strange ethereal energy was channeled through her body. It incited her to gently touch, with the sword, a particular combination of tones on the Cosmic Key. A melody began to play, and the Key flickered to life, a portal opening before them. Before they could meet their doom, the heroes quickly entered the portal, and escaped from Skeletors henchmen.
The portal, however, seemed to lead to nowhere. She-Ra, Teela, Gwildor and the weakened Prince Adam found themselves stranded in a vortex of atomic chaos. But all was not lost, for finally a voice spoke to them from the sword. The face of King Grayskull floated in the jewel. He revealed himself to them, and congratulated She-Ra on her success. As the original wielder of her sword, he told her that she had more than fulfilled his desires for the female heroine who would use the sword to retain the honor of Grayskull. By holding onto her inner strength and wisdom, she had succeeded in many amazing feats, from the rescue of Light Hope to the recovery of her sword from the Horde, and now the rescue of her brother from a difficult trap originally designed to confuse villains. King Grayskull went on to explain that he had led the heroes, through the sword, to a dimension central to all realities. It was known as the Dimension of Chaos, for all knowledge was present within this void, and all universes throughout time and space could be clearly accessed and viewed from here. The solutions to all the problems that faced them could be found within this void, and here they could touch upon the power they needed to overcome Skeletor once and for all. The essence of time and space was at their command- and they must use it wisely.
She-Ra and Adam decided that their first step should be to regain touch with their father and The Sorceress, stranded in limbo, and tell them of their suspicions about Skeletors real connections with Keldor. He-Man, She-Ra and Teela combined their mind power with the energy from She-Ras sword, and from Gwildors Cosmic Key, to reach Randor and The Sorceress.
The energies of space and time flowed past them, until eventually, the spectral forms of Randor and The Sorceress appeared before them. The heroes told them of the suspicion that Skeletor was not only connected with the disappearance of Keldor, but that he was Keldor himself. Suddenly, Randor felt everything made sense. If Skeletor really was his brother, it would make sense as to why he wanted the throne of Eternia, and the power of Grayskull, so badly. It also made sense of how Skeletor had seemed to appear at the exact time Keldor vanished, and seemed to suddenly replace Keldor in the Hordes ranks at the time. Randor decided immediately that he must confront Skeletor. He hoped that by evoking some of the family spirit within him, and reminding him of the days they grew up together, he could turn him from his evil ways. The power that the heroes possessed in the Dimension of Chaos was strong enough to allow Randors spirit to breach the barriers between the material and spiritual dimensions. She-Ra, Teela and The Sorceress combined their powers together with that of Gwildors Cosmic Key, to transport Randors spirit to the material realm.
At that moment, Skeletor was just returning to Grayskull from a battle, with his demon army, having been alerted by his henchmen to the rescue of Prince Adam and the escape of She-Ra and her companions. As he returned to the throne of Grayskull, relieved to see that the Sword of Power was still in his possession, he felt the presence of Randor around him. Arming himself with his Havoc Staff, he found himself confronted by Randors spirit. Randor informed Skeletor that he had no wish to fight him, but had come to challenge him to reveal his true self. For a second, Skeletor suspected that his true identity had been discovered- but when Randor addressed him as brother he knew the former King was sadly mistaken. Randor spoke of Keldors youth, growing up alongside himself, and encouraged him to leave his evil ways behind, retrace his steps and realize how he had been led astray. Skeletor merely scoffed at Randor in mockery, which Randor took as admission that he was indeed Keldor. Skeletor then raised his arms and summoned all the power of Grayskull, together with the power of the spirits of evil, to exorcise Randors spirit from the castle.
Afterwards, Skeletor felt nothing but amusement. He found it laughable how Randor had got his identity wrong, but felt it was in his best interest to play along with Randors mistake. He had always feared the discovery of his true origins because there was a chance that Keldor could be released from the timeless dimension, and may possibly be able to defeat him. Although his fear of this occurrence was no longer as strong since his acquisition of Grayskulls powers, he knew that if he led the heroes on to think he really was Keldor, they would be less likely to continue the search for his true origins and release the real Keldor. Then, when the moment came that he finally killed them, he would reveal his true identity to them all. That moment, he was convinced, would not be a long time in coming. Although Adam had been freed, he was unable to become He-Man as Skeletor still held the Sword of Power. Although She-Ra was still around, she was severely weakened now that nearly all of Grayskulls power was in the hands of evil. And whilst wreaking mass havoc over Eternia day by day, Skeletor had his henchmen rampantly scouring the castle for the Glowing Orb, which would imbue him with all the knowledge of the universe and the secrets he needed to dominate the universe himself. Once he was able to manipulate reality to bend to his will, his battle would be well and truly over.
Chapter 19: Assault of the Snake Men
In the meantime, Skeletors rivals were panicking at the Lord of Destructions continuing success, as he would be sure to wipe them out before long. Hordak, frustrated at the virtual loss of his Etherian Empire and his impending defeat on Eternia, decided that the Ergon was his key to success. The Ergon reportedly had the power to technologically shape reality to the holders will, in the same way the power of Grayskull did magically. The infinite power of the Ergon, combined with Hordaks own fusion of magical and scientific powers, could be just what he needed- a balance of magic and science to swipe the power of Grayskull from Skeletor. Together with Modulok, Hordak scoured the ruins of the City of Lights to find the infinitely powerful technological device.
Prahvus, meanwhile, maintained his low profile, feeling he would stand the best chance of overcoming Skeletor if he remained subtle and attacked when Skeletor was least expecting it. So he kept quiet, to the point that many believed he had left Eternia. His prime benefit was his secret alliance with Evil-Lyn, for while feigning continued loyalty to Skeletor, she acted as a handy spy on Skeletors actions. So while Evil-Lyn reported back to Prahvus on all Skeletors plans, Prahvus would make the occasional minor assault on areas of Etheria, which was still highly insecure after the banishment of the Horde and could easily be conquered. Many of the remaining Horde members who had been left on the planet following Catras retreat now allied themselves with Prahvus, seduced by his promise to lead the Horde into the victory it needed.
King Hiss, meanwhile, was set on unleashing his entire Snake Army- which he could easily do now he had the power of Serpos. He still controlled most of the Eastern Continent for himself, although the shadow of Skeletor hung permanently over all Eternia, thus limiting his freedom. Hiss had managed to gain the trust of several indigenous tribes of the Eastern Continent, promising to save them from the onslaught of Skeletors empire. With the aid of one of the largest tribes of Pygmies, he had managed to retrieve an ancient relic which could allow him to penetrate solid magical barriers, another former possession of the Snake Priest Aspr. The one essential thing he needed to complete this task now was the energy of Viper Tower. Together with Shokoti and all of his henchmen, he set out to make his greatest assault on the Three Towers yet, determined to banish the Masters from the towers once and for all.
As King Hiss led his army forth, She-Ra, Teela, Adam and Gwildor were just returning from the Dimension of Chaos. For their own safety, Randor and The Sorceress had been left in the Dimension of Chaos, for if they were brought back to Eternia, there was the risk that they could end up physically assassinated by the evil forces. As valuable assets to the heroic forces, they were left in the spiritual realm where they could continue to channel their energy to find the answers the Masters sought. With Gwildors Cosmic Key now able to return the heroes to the Dimension of Chaos whenever they needed, both Randor and The Sorceress could be brought back to Eternia once the planet was safe.
With the heroes now returned to their base, a meeting of all the Masters was held in Central Tower. For the first time ever, Adam addressed his comrades in his natural form. He thanked them for the courage and heroism they had displayed over the years he had been leading them, and complimented them on how they had held on to the light and wisdom within themselves to remain alive through all the destruction.
If we can reach this point, he told them, I believe we can reach the end. As impossible as it may seem, we must continue to fight for the liberation of our world, and the universe. Even if Skeletor manages to gain the position of Master of the Universe, the true Masters will always be those who follow the highest wisdom of the light within. He went on to explain how he, She-Ra and Teela were now almost completely certain that Skeletor was none other than the misguided Prince Keldor. If the Masters could continue to concentrate the light within themselves, there was a chance they could reawaken the light within Keldor.
Rejuvenated by the return of their leader, the Masters began to mobilize themselves for battle. It was only moments before their next great battle arrived. King Hiss, more powerful and determined than ever, struck the towers with his Snake Army, rippling with pure savagery and ferocity brewed by their oppression under Skeletors rule. Although the Masters had been preparing for battle, they had not expected the battle to come this quickly, and were even less prepared for the sheer ferocity of it. Kobra Khans sleep mist, and Tung Lashors venom, had many of the Masters unconscious within seconds, while others were turned to statues in the grip of Snake Face. She-Ra and Teela fought hard, but in their weakened state were an inadequate match, and Teela found herself constantly detached from the battle by the evil thoughts that continued to intrude upon her mind, almost urging her to fight against the Masters rather than for them. Even Light Hope was vastly overpowered by King Hiss energy. Adam did his best to defend his comrades himself, but he was still weakened by his ordeal with Skeletor, and was down on the ground within no time. King Hiss quickly cut through to the heart of Viper Tower. With the power of Serpos, he controlled the energy of Viper Tower, and spread it out over the other two towers. The essence of balance within Central Tower was vastly being overcome by the powers of darkness. The only remainder of the power of Grayskull still in the possession of the Masters was now being absorbed by King Hiss.
Teela quickly rushed to the rescue. She summoned all her available energy and strove to keep the essence of balance intact within the heart of Central Tower. But not only was she already weakened, but she was rapidly losing control of the evil desires that constantly intruded upon her mind. Tears streamed down her face as she threw all her energy into sustaining the heroic magic of the towers, frustrated at being unable to explain this terrifying disorder that plagued her mind. She struggled to maintain the balance, but when her own soul was rapidly being eclipsed by evil, she had little hope of preventing the same thing happening to the towers. She collapsed on the ground as the scales of balance, which had remained in harmony for thousands of years, finally tipped in favor of evil. King Hiss was imbued with the great power of the Three Towers, now fully converted to his evil nature.
King Hiss evil form rose above the Three Towers, laughing hysterically. Teela turned and looked behind her to see that She-Ra, drained of the final powers of Grayskull, had now turned back into Princess Adora once again. It was at this moment that Teela realized just how important her role was. She now possessed the only fragment of Grayskulls power in the physical world that remained good. The fate of the universe was in her hands. She had to escape, and preserve this power, before King Hiss could defeat her. She ordered the surviving Masters to retreat for their own safety. They fled the battleground and took refuge in a secret hideout guarded by Granamyr.
Chapter 20: Skeletor Unveiled
In their hideout, many of the Masters seemed finally on the verge of giving up hope altogether. How could they expect to survive when even their very last source of power, weak as it had become, was now in the hands of evil? But Adam was quick to remind them of what he had said in his speech beforehand, about how the true power lay in the soul. Given that the dark could never truly eclipse the light, the balance of justice within Central Tower was now somewhere within King Hiss dark soul, no matter how much he had manipulated it. The Masters agreed that it was best for Adam, Teela and Adora to teleport back to the Dimension of Chaos, where they could safely concentrate their powers on unleashing the secrets they needed to defeat Skeletor, without being threatened by the evil forces. The rest of the Masters would remain on Eternia to make the best possible effort to restore peace. It would be foolish to attack the evil forces head-on now that they had so much power, so they decided that they would instead patrol Eternia helping the people in need, and encouraging the ordinary citizens to fight for themselves, whilst searching for anything that could help them defeat the forces that plagued their world.
So Gwildor used the Cosmic Key to transport Teela, Adora, Adam and himself back to the Dimension of Chaos. Man-At-Arms accompanied them, desiring to stand by his daughter and his closest friends on their quest, as well as being reunited with Randor and The Sorceress.
King Hiss, meanwhile, secured his forces firmly within the walls of the Three Towers, finally belonging to him after all these centuries. He began to lead numerous attacks on the kingdoms under Skeletors rule, while gaining the energy he needed to unleash his entire army from the Void.
Skeletor soon became aware of King Hiss acquisition of the Three Towers, and his bolstered power. But even this caused him no fear. For as he explored the depths of Grayskull deeper and deeper, becoming more and more powerful by the moment, he knew he was coming closer to gaining the secrets of the essence of the universe, and the ability to manipulate reality to his own will.
From the Dimension of Chaos, Adam, Teela, Adora, The Sorceress, Man-At-Arms, Randor and Gwildor watched in dismay as the evil forces battled among themselves, sure to plunge the planet into fully-fledged hell. They had to act fast. Randor was hoping that they could use the energy within the Dimension of Chaos to gain touch with the spirit of his mother also the mother of Keldor. Their mother had been the only person Keldor had ever been close to, before she died during a mental breakdown while he was still a child. She had herself been a dark, mysterious and neurotic character, self-absorbed and frequently troubled by the strange voices she claimed to hear. Although she had never been evil, she had been mysterious and seemingly unstable, and was thought to have been a major influence on the way Keldor turned out. Regaining touch with his mother could be the vital thing that Keldor needed to restore his sense of humanity.
The heroes combined all their energy together, transcending through all the veils of time and space. As the magic of The Sorceress and Teela combined with the power of Gwildors Cosmic Key, and the mental powers of the others, they finally came upon the vision they were looking for. It was the same image of Keldor that they had seen previously within the Winds of Time at Central Tower. Only this time it was much clearer and they could clearly see the student whom he was training with. The Sorceress observed closely the man being trained and gasped in horror when she realized it was none other than her long-dead husband, Zendar.
The scene progressed before their eyes as they saw Zendar launch his attack on Keldor which backfired upon him. The heroes watched in shock as they saw the image of Zendar undergo a gruesome transformation his skin flaking away to reveal the familiar and terrifying image of the face of doom which had haunted Eternia for the last few years Skeletor.
The Sorceress gazed transfixed upon the image in total disbelief, and a tear ran down her cheek. The heroes had been following a false trail all this time. Skeletor was not Keldor at all but the very man whom The Sorceress had most truly loved, and missed the most, in all her life. How could this be possible? How could such a noble and dignified man as Zendar have defected to the forces of evil and become such a demon as Skeletor?
Teela was equally stricken with horror at this shocking revelation. The demon against whom she had been battling for all these years, whom she had fought face-to-face and even been captured by on several occasions, was none other than her own father. Suddenly her mysterious illness was blown to new proportions of extremity. Her shock at the identity of her father was mixed with a bizarre and insane kind of pleasure a desire to join her father and indulge in mass destruction. Almost unable to contain her increasing split personalities, Teela fell to her knees in dismay.
As difficult as it was for them to face up to this unbelievable discovery, The Sorceress, Teela and Man-At-Arms returned to Eternia, beamed to Grayskull by the Cosmic Key. The Sorceress confronted Skeletor about his true identity, staring into the hollow eye sockets where once had been the noble and honorable eyes of her lover.
Skeletor just laughed in insane triumph. He had hoped that he would be himself the one to reveal his true identity to his former lover but just seeing the shock that the discovery had bestowed upon The Sorceress filled him with sadistic delight. Refusing to explain his defection to the forces of darkness, he merely mocked The Sorceress, boasting of how he had finally obtained the power that was always meant for him, incorrectly bestowed previously upon her.
But the heroes were not the only people to feel shock at this revelation. For during their confrontation of the Lord of Destruction, Skeletor was himself taken aback to learn that he had a daughter Teela. He was immediately struck with a sudden admiration for Teela as his offspring. This girl who had impressed him numerous times throughout the war with her incredible strength, intelligence, bravery and agility, which he had always considered remarkable for a woman, was his own daughter. In a split second he no longer viewed Teela as an enemy. He asked for her to join him in his dominion of Eternia, telling her that her skills were made to assist his genius. Her illness worsening by the moment, Teela was almost tempted to join him, which Skeletor interpreted as a paternal bond. Fearful for her allegiance, Teela teleported herself, The Sorceress and Man-At-Arms back to the Dimension of Chaos for the sake of her sanity and safety.
The heroes main targets were now to determine the exact cause of Teelas illness before any severe damage was caused, as well as to find out exactly why Zendar had suddenly defected to evil and become Skeletor, and hopefully restore some of his humanity. Adam, Adora, Teela, Man-At-Arms and The Sorceress returned to the secret hideout of the Masters, while Gwildor and Randor remained in the Dimension of Chaos. Randors main aim, now he had discovered that Skeletor was not his brother after all, was to find out what had really happened to Keldor. The search for Keldor was on again.
In the Masters current hideout, within a secret cave in Darksmoke guarded by Granamyr and his dragon brothers, the heroes told their companions of Skeletors true identity. Carlos then explained that several of the Masters had stumbled upon a mysterious temple on the Desert of Desolation, containing an inscription that seemed to foretell the birth of Skeletor. He was currently researching the temple, and as far as he could tell, it seemed to be the creation of The Nocturnals, the tribe of Sorcerers and Sorceresses who had been the first ever force of darkness to threaten Eternia, centuries ago.
At that moment, the truth behind Skeletors origin came to Man-At-Arms in a flash. The final leader of the Nocturnals had been named Zendar the Unholy. The Sorceress former lover had, therefore, been named after his ancestor. Skeletor was the result of a centuries-long spell concocted by the Nocturnals to create the ultimate being of darkness and destruction. And the Nocturnals had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams for the being they had created was now a God, and was inches away from conquering the whole universe. He was the defintive being of evil, and it would require an ultimate acquisition of the essence of light and goodness to defeat him.
Teela now understood the cause of her sickness. As well as being destined to become the next Sorceress of Grayskull, she also had the blood of the Nocturnals within her, and their dark energy. Therefore, she was also destined to become the next Lady of Destruction. Her genetic heritage was battling it out within her, and she had to try her best to struggle towards her good side, and eliminate her evil side altogether. But this was difficult, as she could not avoid the natural contents of her genetic makeup. She did her best to concentrate on her good magic to isolate her evil side, but this led to a devastating consequence she split into two separate beings. An evil Teela was formed, who imprisoned her good self and several of the Masters. She then imprisoned Granamyr in solid rock, then went off to join her father, Skeletor, to aid with his conquest.
The evil Teela reached Grayskull, where she declared her admiration for and loyalty to her father, and announced to his delight that she had imprisoned his enemies. Skeletor proudly took his daughter as his second-in-command, and she proceeded to help lead him towards the Glowing Orb.
Evil-Lyn, still bitter at Skeletors refusal to share the power with her, became even more resentful of the evil Teela that had suddenly appeared, and how Skeletor was treating her with all the dignity she had desired for herself. She silently deserted Skeletors forces and returned to Prahvus, so the two of them could plan their big attack.
Evil Teela...very Mini-Comicish. I like mini-comics. Nice chapter.
Chapter 21: Conquest Of The Universe
In the meantime, King Hiss, now fuelled with the power of the Three Towers, proceeded to return to the site where Snake Mountain had previously stood. The ruptures in the barriers of time and space, caused by the heroes activities in the Dimension of Chaos, were weakening the physical plane of Eternia, and made it easier for Hiss to breach the Void. He led his Snake Men deep beneath the ground, towards the Void. He held his arms aloft and called forth the power of the Three Towers. A huge explosion racked the Void, and thousands of gruesome Snake People emerged from its depths. After all these centuries of imprisonment, the entire Snake Army was finally free. They began to march towards Grayskull to restore King Hiss regime.
At the exact same time, Hordak was busy preparing his next big move. Whilst scavenging the ruins of the City of Lights, he and Modulok stumbled upon the body of none other than Sortech- weak and frail, but still alive, much to their surprise. It transpired that Sortech had managed to keep himself alive by attaching respiratory equipment from the machinery of the city onto his body. His intelligence still functioned within the machinery, and he was using this to protect the Ergon. Hordak viciously assaulted Sortech and stole the Ergon. Modulok, meanwhile, insisted on keeping Sortech alive, so Sortech could witness his former student triumph above him once and for all. The Ergon now in the hands of Hordak, technological chaos ensued throughout Eternia.
As Skeletor and his forces sought Grayskull for the Glowing Orb, the castle was suddenly infiltrated with Snake People. Led by King Hiss, now a colossal, demonic entity comprised of the souls of himself and Serpos, the Ophidian forces that had once dominated all Eternia had little trouble breaching the castle. Skeletors forces were scattered as the Snake Army stormed Grayskull. Skeletor had himself been unprepared for the attack, and many of his minions lost their lives to the Snake Army. But his own power was far more difficult to contend with, and when the Snake People reached the Lord of Destruction himself, they met with a much greater obstacle.
But extra trouble was quick to strike for both evil sides. Out of the blue, an immense electrical thunderstorm racked through the castle. Hordak was using the Ergon to manipulate reality to his own will. When Skeletor realized what was happening, he immediately deserted the battle to delve deep into the shadows of Grayskull to find the Glowing Orb. There was no time to waste- he must tap into the secrets which would allow himself to control the essence of the universe in order to become its true Master.
At that moment, he received help from an unexpected source- Shokoti. Following the discovery of the Temple of the Nocturnals, she had realized the connection between Skeletor and her own cult. She had initially been brought to Eternia by the worship of the Nocturnals, and now her cult had brought about the existence of Skeletor. Despite King Hiss power, he was still not as powerful as Skeletor, so she decided that now was the time to switch her allegiance. She offered to summon another of the remaining Nocturnals her old assistant Lord Masque feeling that the three of them together could harness the dark powers necessary to take over the universe. Skeletor agreed to her offer. Shokoti teleported to the Sands of Time to free her old servant, while the evil Teela used her Grayskull-bound energy to lead Skeletor towards the Glowing Orb.
As the battle raged within Grayskull, Shokoti located the prison of Lord Masque on the Sands of Time. She freed him, and together they teleported back to Grayskull, joining forces with Skeletor to bring about the universes destruction. Skeletor, Shokoti, Lord Masque and the evil Teela came together at the center of Grayskull, where the evil Teela had unleashed the Glowing Orb. Here they were, all central figures of Eternias greatest ever cult of darkness, finally ready to unleash the havoc it had desired for thousands of centuries, and gain ultimate dominion over the whole universe. As they combined their powers to penetrate the Glowing Orb, the greatest secrets and knowledge of the universe seeped into their minds. Skeletor found his mind overflowing with knowledge and power as he finally gained complete affinity with the essence of the universe. The power radiated from the Glowing Orb and was projected by Shokoti, Lord Masque and the evil Teela onto their ultimate leader. Skeletor was now becoming much more than a God he was becoming the universe itself.
The entire cosmos began to distort under Skeletors power. Not a single planet throughout the universe was free from the effect. Destruction waged throughout the whole universe. Skeletor excised complete power over the metaphysical energy which shaped reality, distorting the whole universe and fabricating it to his own will. Eternia was thrown into ultimate chaos. All dimensional barriers became indistinct. No difference could be distinguished between past, present, future, dreams or reality- suddenly, nothing was coherent, nothing could be distinguished other than an aura of incredible evil spreading throughout the cosmos.
And imprisoned within the wreaths of magic conjured up by the evil Teela, the warriors formerly known as the Masters of the Universe were completely helpless to do anything. Now it really seemed as though it was all over for them. Adam, Adora, Teela, Man-At-Arms and The Sorceress looked at one another in sorrow as they felt the evil of Skeletor spread over them all. Even the Cosmic Key had been rendered useless by Skeletors manipulations of reality, and lacked the power to control dimensional travel within the current chaos. All, it seemed, was lost.
Chapter 22: History Reawakened
At this present moment, Carlos was the only member of the heroic forces who felt able to fight back. Unable to free his companions, he had fled to the City of Lights in the hope of finding some scientific way to excise his own kind of control over reality. His research into Eternias history had led him to develop a remarkable theory which, if correct, could help to bring about Skeletors downfall. He needed to gain access to the Dimension of Chaos, where only Randor currently remained. Randor was the one man he needed to help prove his theory.
The City of Lights was overflowing with chaotic electrical energy. Carlos own devices, however, were second only to the Ergon in establishing a technological hold over the essence of reality. Carlos used his equipment to cling onto the physical plane of Eternia as best as he could without being overwhelmed by evil or confusion.
While Hordak was away attacking Grayskull with the Ergon, Modulok was overseeing the procedures at the City of Lights. The Ergons energy was being channeled through his own machinery, which kept the Horde safe while the rest of Eternia was in chaos. Carlos devices enabled him to breach the fortress, and he came face to face with Modulok.
Modulok was just about to launch an attack on Carlos, but Carlos called a halt and addressed him as honestly as he could. He knew that Moduloks true desire had always been nothing more innocent that to prove himself as a great scientist, and he had been led to follow the ways of evil in the first place by others rejection of his fanatical methodologies. Carlos confessed that he had always had an admiration for Moduloks genius in spite of the many times they had clashed against one another in combat. Modulok said that he had respected Carlos likewise, but that the two of them were nevertheless natural enemies. Carlos explained that his aim was not to convince Modulok to defect from the forces of darkness, but merely to help save the universe from Skeletors evil. Modulok had always despised Skeletor because of the way he had treated him during his time in his service. And as powerful as the Ergon was, no matter how well it allowed Hordak to perform in the battle, Skeletor was rapidly conquering the universe. At that moment they could feel Skeletors presence and hear his laughter echo in their ears.
The frail Sortech spoke up from the back of the room, and encouraged Modulok to aid Carlos, reminding him of the reason why he had accepted him as a student in the first place, impressed by his immense intelligence before he had been led astray. He explained that Modulok would forever be hailed as a great scientist and true savior if he helped Carlos at this crucial moment. Touched by the words of his former friend and mentor, Modulok agreed. He attached Carlos devices to the machinery that channeled the Ergons power, and Carlos was beamed to the Dimension of Chaos.
Within the Dimension of Chaos, Carlos encountered Randor. Randor was aware of Skeletors victory, as the Dimension of Chaos was currently infiltrated by Skeletors presence now that the Overlord of Evil was becoming the universe itself. Randor was desperately trying to channel his energy towards finding Keldor and helping save the planet he formerly ruled, but his efforts were in vain due to the overwhelming spread of Skeletors power.
Carlos explained his theory to Randor. His studies of Ancient Eternia had drawn him to the mysterious origins and disappearance of He-Ros sidekick and mentor, Eldor. Eldor had initially been rescued by He-Ro from a timeless dimension, suffering from amnesia but his mind overflowing with great knowledge and wisdom that had aged him beyond his years. He had never been sure of his birth name, but from what he could remember, he had thought it may have been Eldor, hence why he had used that name. And after the original defeat of the Snake Men, Eldor had simply vanished without explanation. Carlos had noticed strange parallels between the case of Eldor and that of Keldor. Keldor had been banished by Skeletor into a timeless dimension with his memory drained. And studying paintings of Eldor, Carlos had noticed an uncanny resemblance between Eternias old hero, and Randors fallen brother
Randor felt a rush of ecstasy upon hearing Carlos theory. He had to locate his brother right now- but he knew he was not powerful enough to do so under Skeletors presence. But Carlos revealed that his own mental powers and equipment were more than enough to resist Skeletors power as they breached the dimensions of time. So Randor and Carlos channeled their mental energy together with that of Carlos devices to reach through time and space and soon, before their eyes, they saw the figure of Eldor, wandering the Fertile Plains as he relaxed from the defeat of the Snake Army. Recognizing his brother immediately, Randor stepped forth and greeted him.
Congratulations on your victory my brother, he said.
Eldor blinked his eyes, and his memory began to flood back. Randor? he muttered.
Keldor, Randor stated triumphantly, and the two brothers embraced, finally reunited after years apart.
Keldor then regained his memory of his time on the side of darkness, and the destruction he had caused on Eternia. He was overwhelmed by guilt, but Randor assured him that history had already forgiven him- his experiences in the timeless dimension, and fighting aside He-Ro in the past, had restored his humanity and led him to redemption. Randor then explained the danger that Eternia was currently experiencing. Keldor was shocked to learn that his former student Zendar, now Skeletor, had become so powerful. He immediately joined Randor, and Carlos used his machinery to beam them back to present-day Eternia.
The three heroes journeyed towards Grayskull. As Skeletor reveled in his triumph, he was suddenly interrupted by a call of Your victory is all in vain Zendar. He looked up to see the form of Keldor, the very man whose return he had feared for all these years. In shock, he was distracted from his affinity with the universe, and was struck by fear that this man may be able to defeat him. But his confidence quickly returned. He remembered just how powerful he was, and scoffed at Keldor in mockery. But Keldor looked back, unafraid, and stated, You may be more powerful than myself, Skeletor but you cling too heavily to material glory. In terms of the mind I am thousands of times more powerful than yourself.
With that, he took advantage of Skeletors distraction to awaken the spirit of He-Ro within the castle. Skeletor took a step back, in shock at the sudden presence of the legendary most powerful wizard in the universe. He-Ro raised his arms, and reabsorbed a portion of Grayskulls power. Skeletor quickly set about summoning the powers of darkness within him to strike back at He-Ro, but he was too late- He-Ro and Eldor teleported through to the battlegrounds of Grayskull to deal with their old enemy, King Hiss.
The battle between the Snake Army, the Horde and Skeletors own minions was raging through the corridors of Grayskull, many warriors becoming lost in the vortex of confusion. But despite the three forces of evil battling their way through the castle, there was already some hope for the forces of goodness. In the midst of the chaos that engulfed Eternia, the Reptons had finally emerged from their underground kingdom for the first time in centuries, intending to help save the universe by bringing their ancient deity, The Goddess, to Eternia to reinforce the harmony between mankind and nature. Positioning themselves on a dimensional plane, somewhere between Eternia and the Whispering Woods, they had resurrected The Goddess, who was now ready to do battle with her eternal foe, Serpos, now merged with King Hiss. Hisss army was overwhelmed by the mere presence of The Goddess, while as she weakened his force, He-Ro proceeded to fight him to the death. He issued a challenge to his old enemy, proposing that they repeat their battle of centuries ago which almost drove Hiss to redemption.
The halls of Grayskull rang with the sound of battle as the most powerful wizard in the universe clashed for the first time in centuries with the demonic leader of the Snake Men. While King Hiss was extremely powerful, with the magic of Serpos and the Three Towers at his command, he was less than a match for the heroic powers of He-Ro and The Goddess. As he began to weaken, noticing his forces being scattered across the chambers, many taken prisoner by Keldors magic and the Repton warriors, he desperately teleported back to the Three Towers to latch back onto the ultimate energy within Central Tower. He-Ro and The Goddess were quick to follow. Keldor used his magic to free the spirits of the Elders of Eternia from within Grayskull. Keclar and the other Elders, having been nothing more than static ghosts of consciousness since Skeletors initial victory, were finally free, and set about helping Keldor overcome the Snake Army as they had done centuries ago. While the Elders dealt with the army, He-Ro, The Goddess and the Reptons teleported to the Three Towers to finish off the God-King of the Snake People.
When they reached the Towers, Hiss was stood within the heart of Central Tower, summoning all its energy. He grew to his colossal form, towering above the heroes, his seven gruesome snake heads spitting venom down on them. But He-Ro confidently stepped forth, and reminded Hiss that the magic of Central Tower epitomized the ultimate balance between the light and the dark. And as the old proverb stated, The dark can embrace the light, but can never eclipse it. King Hiss evil and savagery had blocked out his awareness of the light but having absorbed all the energy of the Towers, the light was within him nevertheless, and the ultimate power of balance led at heart to an ultimate feeling of affinity with the universe and the essence of good. As Hiss stopped to consider He-Ros words, he suddenly found himself overwhelmed by the power of the light. The affinity he suddenly felt was so strong that it unleashed none other than Light Hope from his prison, who looked down upon Hiss, advising him to renounce his evil ways and achieve redemption. The power of the light was so strong that it was overcoming not only the soul of Hiss, but that of Serpos as well. Hiss was enthralled by an intense feeling of purification of the soul which he could not stand. He struggled against the feelings of remorse for his evil ways that seeped into his mind, determined to block them out and hold onto his savagery. But he was heavily weakened, and was overcome by the combined powers of He-Ro, The Goddess and Light Hope. The souls of King Hiss and Serpos were separated once more, and Serpos manifested within the air as Hiss shrank to a weak, feeble figure on the ground. Serpos took one look at The Goddess. Finally overwhelmed completely by her goodness, Serpos dissipated into thin air, reduced to nothingness. Hiss attempted to flee, but was no match for He-Ros powers, which beamed him out of the physical world. He was sucked into a deep metaphysical chasm which would imprison him eternally in the timeless dimension, his evil soul finally reduced to a pitiful wreck by the power of Grayskull. And The Three Towers flowed with intense heroic power as their energy flooded back.
He-Ro returned to Castle Grayskull, where he triumphantly announced that the Snake Peoples leader and their God had been defeated for good. This revelation alone was enough to take most of the Snake People out of the fight. With no King or God to fight for, many of them allowed themselves to be taken prisoner, while others committed suicide by drinking their own poison. And the few that did remain to fight were quickly overcome by the Elders. The threat of the Snake Army had finally been eliminated altogether.
Simply amazing. I've been reading this at work for the past few days in between calls. This is incredible.Keep it up Mosquitor. I love how you've added aspects from all the different MOTU stories and have made them all so important to the history as a whole. I can't wait for the next chapter. So keep writin, I need something to do at work!
Chapter 23: The Heroine Arises
Following the defeat of the Snake Army, Hordak took advantage of their defeat to increase his force, with the power of the Ergon. He directed its immense technological power towards He-Ro, imprisoning him within a field of crackling energy. Now Skeletor was all that stood in the way of Hordak and the universe.
However, the return of the Elders, and the restoration of a portion of Grayskulls power to the side of good, soon made its impact upon the imprisoned heroes. In the Masters hideout in Darksmoke, the Sword of Protection, which had appeared useless, began to glow. It floated into mid-air, and placed itself in the hand of the imprisoned Adora. The voice of King Grayskull began to speak to her from the jewel.
King Grayskull informed Adora of the defeat of the Snake Army, and the power that had been restored to the forces of good through the return of He-Ro and the freedom of the Three Towers. Now it was her chance to bring the essence of feminine power back into the battle to deal with Hordak and Skeletor.
Adora held her sword aloft, and transformed, once again, into She-Ra. She freed her comrades, and the rest of the imprisoned Masters. Together, She-Ra, Adam, Teela and The Sorceress rushed to Grayskull, while Man-At-Arms led the remaining Masters across Eternia to deal with the scattered evil forces, and Carlos led the Rebellion to the City of Lights to break the transmission of the Ergons power. Chaos still swept throughout the planet, and many remained engulfed by confusion, but the heroes were blessed with the power of the light, which enabled them to make sense of the chaos and fight amidst it for justice.
Once within Grayskull, She-Ra struck up behind Hordak just as he dueled with the Elders, the Ergon at his command. He turned to face his most hated foe. He mocked her for her weakness in comparison to his own, and reminded her of the days she had served him, insisting that she rejoin him to lead the universe into glory. She retaliated, declaring that while he had taught her some good things in her childhood despite the evil life he bestowed upon her, he was nothing more than a lost soul hence his dependence on technology and material extremes. A huge battle began between them, as the power of the Ergon clashed against that of the Sword of Protection. As the power of technology clashed with the essence of magic, She-Ra began to drain Hordaks power through the sword, restoring the magic of Grayskull to her being, and proving the essential superiority of magic over technology.
Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Hordak transformed into rocket mode and shot off to the City of Lights to gain extra backup for his power. He entered the Hordes fortress to re-access the backup machinery, but was shocked at what he found. Many of his minions were scattered around the fortress, either dead or unconscious, while others were held captive by the escaped Rebel Warriors. And the machinery was no longer functioning. Furious, Hordak demanded to know Moduloks whereabouts.
Modulok then answered his call appearing, to Hordaks utmost surprise, alongside Carlos, and also Sortech, who now appeared muscular and strong, restored to his former self. Modulok explained that Carlos and Sortech had convinced him to renounce his allegiance to the Horde. He had seen the error of his ways, and now realized that he had abused the wonders of science to attain goals of corruption. Given that the spiritual plane was stronger and more potent than the material plane, and magic remained the fuel of technology, a technology-driven world would only be a world of disorder and chaos. While the Horde continued to rely on technology, they had no chance of overcoming the magical powers of either the Masters or Skeletor. Hordak angrily declared that he had always intended for magic and science to be balanced within the Hordes regime to excise control over reality. But observing all the failed machinery around him, Hordak realized he had leaned too close to the technological side of the scale.
But he remembered that he had originally been trained as a sorcerer before turning to science, and he still had the magic of Horde Prime within him. He was still essentially a God of both magic and science. He called upon his magic powers, and rose through the roof of the fortress, scattering the Rebellion members like flies.
He began to fire beams of magic rapidly at all those beneath him. But out of the blue, Prahvus appeared, with Evil-Lyn at his side, leading his forces into battle. They encouraged the Rebellion members to join them in fighting against Hordak and his minions, just as She-Ra flew gracefully towards Hordak atop Swift Wind. She fought Hordak with the Honor of Grayskull at her command. Enough of Grayskulls power had been restored to her being for her to overpower the magic of Hordak. With the energy of Light Hope behind her, she blasted Hordak with the intense force of light. Hordak began to weaken, and he lost his connection to the deity. Hordak and Horde Prime were separated once again. Prime, finally free, looked down on his former student in fury, set on enacting revenge on him for claiming his own soul. In desperation, Hordak retreated back into the fortress and attempted to use the Ergon on all his opposition, but its effects had been cancelled out by Sortech, and its remaining power was strictly limited. She-Ra tried to intice Hordak to surrender, but he would not allow himself to be overcome by goodness. He rapidly banged at the keys of the nearest machinery in the hope of uncovering a means of defense. But the machinery was now damaged, and the effect backfired on Hordak. A massive explosion racked the laboratory, destroying all the machinery and Hordak himself. The ruthless leader of the Evil Horde was no more.
Horde Prime was set to make his own attempt on Eternia now. But just as She-Ra thought she was too exhausted to fight back against the deity, a light emitted from her sword. It hovered in mid-air, then touched the ground, where it began to spread, and formed itself into the figure of King Grayskull, back to defend his planet once again from the great God of evil. He congratulated She-Ra on her victory and her fulfillment of his desires for the second recipient of his sword. She gladly passed the Sword of Protection back to its original wielder, and King Grayskull became enlocked in combat with Horde Prime- receiving a surprise backup on his side from Prahvus and Evil-Lyn. The great God of evil had met his match.
Man I love this story. Wish you could post more often. Can't wait for the next one!! When is He-Man making a comeback
GREAT JOB MOSQUITOR !!! I think the people doing the rumored movie need to read your fanfic. Seriously, no kidding. I would love to see them take some of your ideas if not all of them and intergrate them into the movie. Again GREAT JOB !!!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mastersofeternia - MASTERS OF ETERNIA
HE-MAN CHARACTER PROFILE CLUB at-http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HemanCharacterProfileClub
You've had my attention held from start to finish. Great job! (I wouldn't minded seeing Mallek of Stone Mountain tho LOL)
"You can not fight the darkness He-man!"-Shokoti-the Queen of Darkness
Arizona Mazter of the Universe
Merry Christmas to all readers!
Here's the next chapter:
Chapter 24: Skeletor- Master of the Universe
Although King Grayskull dominated the conflict with his ancient foe, the rest of Eternia remained in the grip of Skeletor. Even though the Elders were free, and some of Grayskulls power had been restored to the Masters, Skeletor still had the secrets of the universe. While his mind was imbued with the greatest secrets ever known to humanity, he had almost nothing to fear. The essence of the universe remained at his command. And while his former greatest foe He-Man was now nothing more than an ordinary, weakened mortal, his two greatest rivals from the side of darkness had been conveniently eliminated. The universe was succumbing to his command.
After the chaos and confusion, as Skeletor reshaped and remoulded the universe to his desires, things finally started to become clear. But all was far from pleasant. Throughout Eternia, everything began to distort and change under Skeletors power. Blooming forests withered and died within seconds. Savage demons roamed the land. Volcanoes erupted, spewing molten lava everywhere. Fire and brimstone rained down from the blood-red skies. The seas boiled with intense heat. Planetquakes tore apart the land. Thousands of humans, tormented by the mass destruction and chaos, sacrificed their souls and allowed themselves to perish in the mayhem. The evil spirits of the Black Continent spread out across the whole of Eternia. The entire planet was engulfed by mass hysteria.
But not only Eternia felt the effect. Throughout the universe, as the essence of reality was remoulded to Skeletors desires, an immense aura of evil was felt by thousands of living beings as far as a billion light years from Eternia. Tens of thousands of planets became enshrouded in a veil of darkness. And above all the darkness, throughout the ears of over ten zillion living organisms, echoed the diabolical and maniacal laugh of Skeletor, Master of the Universe.
The gruesome image of Skeletor appeared all over Eternia as the universes new leader issued a proclamation to all his subjects. Throughout the planet, people fell to their knees at the terrifying image.
People of Eternia the time has come to kneel before your master. The battles are over, the war is won. The universe is now in the grip of its rightful ruler I, Skeletor, Lord of Destruction. I who succeeded where countless others failed. I am not only ruler of the cosmos I am the cosmos. I am undefeatable for I control all. Let the new era begin. The eternal age of Skeletor Master of the Universe and Leader of all living beings! Pledge yourselves to your Master or perish in unforgettable torture!
With that, he sent his warriors out all over Eternia to enslave the entire population. The remaining Masters and Rebellion members were engulfed in battle, but Skeletors forces had been immensely boosted in power by the victory of their leader. Many of the defenders of Eternia fought and breathed their last as the battle raged across the planet.
Skeletors presence dominated the whole of Castle Grayskull. Within the walls of the former fortress of good, even the greatest of Eternias heroes had been rendered helpless. Prince Adam, still unable to reach his sword, was being held under the heavy magical grip of the evil Teela- who also dominated both her heroic self, and her mother The Sorceress. He-Ro and Keldor, meanwhile, after being weakened by the blasts of energy from the Ergon, were desperately struggling against the evil magic that swept through the castle.
Pleased at seeing so many of his enemies helpless before him, Skeletor was ready to enslave them all. But all of a sudden, a huge burst of bright light erupted within the castle chamber, and Evil-Lyn stepped out, accompanied by Prahvus. Both of them, their confidence boosted after helping King Grayskull banish Horde Prime to his homeworld, had been using their immense powers to feed off the evil spectral energy spreading throughout Eternia. Now they were ready to challenge Skeletor.
Evil-Lyn used her magic to free Keldor from Skeletors energy field. The man he had always feared returning would surely be the perfect person to aid her in her defeat of Skeletor. But since she was as yet unaware of Keldors redemption, she failed to realize that Keldor was far too noble to help her gain the power for the purposes of evil. Keldor helped Evil-Lyn and Prahvus in going after the Glowing Orb and penetrating its secrets. The orb was being guarded by Shokoti and Lord Masque, and after a magical duel, Keldor managed to elevate it from their clutches. Evil-Lyn reached forth to penetrate the Glowing Orb but with its power now controlled by Skeletor, as Evil-Lyn touched upon it, she received an immense shock, overwhelmed by the Lord of Destructions energy. Skeletor stood above her and laughed at her in mockery, scoffing at her pathetic hopes of obtaining his power. Keldor, however, was unaffected, for having been privy to many of the secrets of the universe himself during his time as Eldor, he was affiliated with the light and sense of justice at the heart of it all. As the secrets flowed from the orb into Evil-Lyns mind, Keldor spoke out the words of wisdom, encouraging her to see the light and use the power for the purposes of good. Evil-Lyn finally saw how Skeletor was abusing the essence of reality, and overwhelmed by a mixture of shock and realization, she collapsed from the pressure. Prahvus, meanwhile, unable to harness the power for himself, vanished in a burst of light, engulfed by Skeletors power.
Desperately, Evil-Lyn managed to pull herself to her feet, determined to take action to put right the situation. She ran frantically through the corridors of Grayskull, until she reached the Window of the Ancients. Traversing her magic towards it, she made contact with Zodac. Following Skeletors conquest of the universe, Zodac and the Cosmic Enforcers had, for the first time in history, found themselves in the grip of a power seemingly stronger than themselves, as the scales of balance had tipped in favor of the dark side. Evil-Lyn offered her help. Finally using her magic for heroic purposes, Evil-Lyn linked her power with that of Zodac, bolstering his strength and bringing him back into the physical realm.
Zodac stepped out from the Window of the Ancients, and thanked Evil-Lyn for her assistance. He declared that now that herself, formerly one of the greatest evil beings on the planet, had finally seen the light and helped the side of good, the scales of balance had received a significant boost, lifting them further in the favor of the light. If the forces of good were to win, Evil-Lyn would be hailed as a heroine. Zodac immediately took action, and left the chamber to make the crucial step towards saving the universe.
Going through to the chamber in which Adam, Teela and The Sorceress were held in the clutches of the evil Teela, Zodac shot a beam of light towards the beautiful but vicious aggressor, separating her from her victims. At that moment, She-Ra, Carlos and Man-At-Arms showed up with several of the remaining defenders. Addressing them all, Zodac declared that the time to retaliate was now. The power of the light was within them all, and even if they were to die in their attempt to save the universe, the light from their souls would live on.
But Skeletor has power over everything, said Teela, how can we expect to win when he has become the universe itself?
Skeletors affinity with the universe could itself prove to be his downfall if challenged by a being who possesses strength of goodness and light equal to Skeletors evil.
So are you saying we should take on his warriors while you challenge Skeletor himself?
I shall not challenge Skeletor, answered Zodac, For not only have I myself been weakened, but it remains my duty to act only when I am severely needed. He stepped towards Adam, and looked upon the Prince, whose body was covered in cuts and bruises from all the abuse he had received. You shall face Skeletor in the ultimate battle, he told him, the courage, strength and ultimate power is within yourself.
Adam looked at Zodac in surprise. B-but I can no longer become He-Man and Ive been weakened badly enough as it is! he looked down at his battered body.
Prince Adam you are not the chosen one for no good reason. Even after six years of heroism, you underestimate your true power. You know what must be done. Remember the dark is merely a passageway to the light, and only tranquility can be found at the heart of reality.
In a split second, all the lessons Adam had learned throughout his experiences as defender of Eternia flooded back to his mind. He must act upon them right now.
Chapter 25: Sword Against Staff
Prince Adam immediately ran through the corridors of Castle Grayskull in determination. Behind him, Zodac vanished into thin air, and the battle erupted once again between his heroic companions and Skeletors demonic henchmen. He ran and he ran, as fast as he could, until he came upon Skeletors chamber. The Lord of Destruction towered above him, more insane and monstrous than ever. Shokoti and Lord Masque were behind him, engaged in a battle with Keldor and the released He-Ro. The Glowing Orb hovered in the air at the top of the chamber.
With all his inner strength, Adam challenged the Overlord of Evil to a final battle. Skeletor erupted into laughter at the proposal. How could this weak, feeble being before him, weakened and battered as he was, possess even the merest hopes of beating him? Nevertheless, amused at the prospects of defeating his most hated enemy in this manner, he accepted the challenge.
Well, youre not the man you used to be, Adam but I will gladly duel with you for the sake of reliving old memories the way they should have been. Let this be our final battle!
Skeletor seemed to instantaneously radiate with immense, crackling beams of energy, and the entire chamber around them was soon engulfed in swirling metaphysical chaos. The two arch enemies were detached from the material world, in realms of pure power and energy. But instead of sword against staff, this battle consisted purely of fists and flesh although the Havoc Staff still made its cameos in the battle as Skeletor materialized it within his hands, for the sake of blasting his mortal adversary with immense pain.
Adams body was racked with the most intense and unbearable pain he had ever experienced. For several seconds he doubted his own confidence; could he really hope to defeat this evil tyrant now of all times? But he had made the challenge, and could not afford to abandon his hope. If the pain continued to overwhelm him, he could easily drop dead within the next few moments. He had to concentrate on his inner psychological strength, for no matter how much the opposite may seem true, the mind was always more powerful than the body
The essence of goodness channeled through his being, his physical strength suddenly seemed boosted, and he shot up with a searing uppercut across Skeletors chest. Although the Lord of Destruction felt little pain, he took a step back in shock, surprised at how much strength was left in this battered mortal.
You may be physically entwined with the universe said Adam, but I am mentally entwined and while I remain so I will always hold on to the true power
He concentrated on his psychological energy, and beamed a mental wave of heroic power towards Skeletors mind. The Lord of Destruction, alienated as he was from all heroic energy, received a shock from this wave and stumbled back.
Adam lifted his arms, relaxing them briefly after channeling his power. And in a split second, a beam of light manifested within his right hand, and formed into the solid shape of the Sword of Power.
Skeletor scoffed at his opponent, and remarked That thing is useless now that the power of Grayskull is mine, you can no longer absorb it.
Prince Adam shook his head. Not all of it is yours at least a small portion has always escaped your grasp and that is the portion that contains the light!
He held the sword above his head, and for the first time in many moons, he shouted:
The burst of energy erupted from the sword just as it had always done in the past, showering down on the Prince and transforming him finally back into the form of He-Man, mightiest man in the universe.
He-Man stood before Skeletor, untouched and unwounded, his strength almost fully restored.
Now, Skeletor declared He-Man, here is your chance to redeem yourself. You were born to cause destruction you have known nothing else. Now is your chance to see the light at the heart of all matter that which shines through even the darkest of souls.
Laughing in mockery, Skeletor blasted He-Man with a bolt from his fingertips, replying Yes the light that illuminates my eternal greatness!
Finally, sword clashed against staff once again as the two definitive embodiments of good and evil locked themselves in combat, in the ultimate battle for the universe.
Although deterred slightly by his enemys miraculous reabsorption of his incredible power, Skeletor reminded himself that he was a God and he still had power over all. Summoning all the evil powers within his being, he attempted to overcome He-Man with pure mental force, overwhelming his enemy with mental powers of darkness just as his enemy had previously done with such powers of goodness. He-Man dropped to his knees, and struggled on the ground against the power.
Clutching his head, He-Man summoned all his strength to hold onto the essence of the light within him. No matter how hard Skeletor tried, he could not manage to manipulate He-Mans mind until, weakened, he took a step back and gasped for breath frantically.
How do you avoid succumbing to my force I am a God I am the Universe it does not make sense!
He-Man stood before him, and brandished his sword. The mind is the most powerful weapon of all, he declared, more powerful even than this sword.
But I am Master of the Universe I have the most powerful mind of all!
The power of the light overcomes the shadows of the dark the most powerful mind is one that follows the ways of good!
His sword began to shimmer with mystical heroic energy. He-Man channeled the essence of goodness from his body through his sword, and fired an enormous burst of light from the sword at Skeletor. Skeletor stumbled back in pain.
Now is your chance, Skeletor! declared He-Man. Redeem yourself and follow the light!
Never! screamed the Lord of Destruction, I am the darkness in all matter!
Summoning all his power in the entire universe, he channeled it all towards He-Man, determined to overcome his hated foe once and for all. Engulfed by the tremendous waves of evil energy, He-Man was almost paralyzed but he concentrated on all his mind power, traversing it through his sword to hold against Skeletor his sword shimmered with immense light
At the heart of all matter he spoke, lies the essence of good!
He arose, and a burst of light erupted from his sword, careening towards Skeletor and engulfing his entire form. The powers of truth and justice spread throughout Skeletors body, wracking his evil mind with tremendous pain. A blinding flash of light burst out between the two great foes, obscuring He-Mans vision entirely. A colossal, ear-splitting and death-defying scream rang out, and a huge explosion blasted through the eardrums of He-Man and of the entire universe.
Throughout all of Eternia, the explosion shook the ground and vibrated the entire planet. Mountains collapsed, and dust and ash rained down from the skies. Barely a single being throughout the whole planet stood on their feet, shaken to the ground by the incredible force, almost deafened by the colossal sound.
The Eternians lay on the ground, gasping for breath and gazing up at the skies above them. Clouds of black vapor and acid were spewing gently into the dark, evil-ridden skies and slowly, they dissipated, revealing the gleam of a clear, blue sky, and the long-absent, resplendent rays of the Red Sun of Eternia.
Amidst a mass of shattered debris, and mangled bodies, She-Ra, Teela, The Sorceress and Man-At-Arms drew themselves to their feet, and headed towards the distant silhouette of Castle Grayskull, from where the explosion had seemed to have originated. What had become of their defender? Had he survived the explosion?
Within moments, they reached the castle- where they saw He-Man standing in triumph at the very top of the great and ancient edifice, raising his sword up to the sky, the gleam of the Red Sun reflecting from the blade of the Sword of Power. Above him, a swirling cloud of dark energy and cosmic matter drifted into the skies, dissipating in the rays of the sun until it had faded into nothingness. Skeletor, the God of Destruction and the greatest evil the universe had ever known, was no more.
In a voice that rang with heroic nobility, He-Man called out By the Power of Grayskull let the force of light return! Beams of light emitted from his sword, and spread out across the skies throughout the whole of Eternia. Forests bloomed, animals ran freely through the countryside, sentiments of hope and glory spread through the air. Peace reigned over Eternia once more. And the vibes of peace spread over the whole universe causing each and every heart to feel, at that moment, a sense of warm relief and content. The forces of good had achieved their ultimate victory over evil and all at the hands of He-Man, Most Powerful Man in the Universe.
A great celebration spread throughout Eternia. The planet was exhausted and devastated by the long and chaotic war, undoubtedly the greatest war the universe had ever faced. But among the Eternians, there was a huge sense of relief that this incredible, hellish evil threat, greater than even the most pessimistic of Eternians would have dared to imagine, had actually been defeated. And He-Man, the man who had single-handedly put an end to this evil, was hailed throughout Eternia as the greatest hero the universe had ever known.
The magic of Grayskull finally returned to its original heroic state, and once again settled within the castle. The spirits of the Elders came forth, together with The Goddess, He-Ro and King Grayskull, to congratulate He-Man on the ultimate victory of good over evil. The ultimate showdown between the two sides, prophesized thousands of years ago by the great deities of the universe, had been won by the forces of good.
The victory of the Masters of the Universe was celebrated at Grayskull with the double marriage of both of Eternias greatest saviors. He-Man was finally wed to Teela, now the new Sorceress of Grayskull. Having overcome her evil duplicate self at the end of the war, she now felt stronger and more purified in her soul than ever before. Now truly immortal, and having survived the war under enormous strain, she was perfectly well-set to be the new guardian of the mystic castle. She-Ra, meanwhile, married her pirate lover, Sea Hawk, himself a great hero for having defended Etheria as it had itself felt the onslaught of Skeletors victory. The celebration was overseen by not only Zodac, but all of the Comic Enforcers. The former Council of the Wise, who had founded Eternias infinite magic centuries ago, were overjoyed at how their philosophies and practices had enabled humankind to survive so many centuries on from their establishment. And the defeat of Skeletor represented the ultimate defeat of their ancient adversaries The Nocturnals. It was the greatest celebration Eternia had ever seen, with all the planets great saviors throughout history present at the ceremony.
At this moment, barely any trace of evil remained on the planet. Even the Black Continent was no longer such, for the spirits of evil had been banished from the planet altogether with the vibes of peace resulting from He-Mans victory. That dark and dismal stretch of land saw the gleam of sunlight for the first time in centuries, shining over the sets of ruins that had once been Snake Mountain and the Fright Zone. Many of Skeletors surviving warriors had been taken prisoner in the final conflict, and escorted to Prison Star for life imprisonment. Others had fled from Eternia altogether.
King Randor had suffered a fatal injury during the final battle for Eternia, and died shortly after, but had lived to see his brother Keldor achieve redemption, and his son and daughter become true heroes. He-Man and Teela were crowned King and Queen of Eternia, and would rule the planet from Grayskull. The Sorceress retained her powers and was promoted to a deity by the Elders. But although her natural duty at this moment was to leave Eternia to watch over the cosmos, the Elders granted her freedom in this time of restored peace, permitting her to live the quiet and boundless life for which she had yearned throughout her difficult years as Guardian of Grayskull. She chose, therefore, to live in the tranquil environment of Eternias Southern Continent, aside her new lover, Man-At-Arms. Duncan had received many severe, crippling injuries in the war, and could no longer fight or walk great distances. But he had served as a warrior for well beyond his years, to amazing effect, and was now ready to spend his old age in peace.
One of the few members of Skeletors forces to remain on Eternia was Evil-Lyn although she now preferred to be called simply Evelyn, as in her previous life. She was herself being hailed as a heroine by the warriors of Eternia, for having had the courage and psychological strength to redeem herself and see the light through the darkness, thus aiding the Eternians in their final victory. But she was overcome with severe guilt over her past, so she decided to retreat to a solitary life in the peaceful tropical environment of the Golden Isles. But she would not go alone- with her was her lover, Tri-Clops, who had himself found the strength to move beyond the corruptions of evil, and had gladly thrown away all the riches he had obtained throughout his life of crime. Having finally realized the bond of trust between them, the two former minions of evil were now ready to begin their journey of life anew, rejuvenating themselves together in the Golden Isles.
She-Ra, meanwhile, was offered the crown of Etheria, now that Glimmer and Carlos were ready to set about restoring peace to their world. But She-Ra had lived a lifetime of war ever since her youth in the service of the Horde, and declined the offer, choosing instead to opt for a quiet and humble life on the seas of Etheria with Sea Hawk. Glimmer herself took the crown of Etheria, to the pleasure of many of her citizens, who regarded her as a great heroine for the many things she had done to help restore peace to their world ever since she was merely a girl. Eternia and Etheria were bound together in harmony, and their rulers vowed to devote their lives to restoring peace to the war-ravaged worlds.
All the surviving members of the Masters and the Rebellion were hailed as saviors. Granamyr, meanwhile, declared that for the first time in thousands of years, he finally felt optimistic about the future of the human race. Convinced that He-Man would restore full peace and tranquility to the minds of humans, eliminating greed and corruption altogether, he signed a peace treaty with He-Man and pronounced him an eternal ally of the dragons of Darksmoke. He then flapped his wings, and flew off in the direction of his kingdom, to continue his rule over Darksmoke for at least another few thousand years.
Following the celebrations, as She-Ra and the Rebellion returned to Etheria, and the Masters set about rebuilding their individual lives, the rulers of both Eternia and Etheria set about restoring the lifestyles and cultures of the people on their worlds. Help was immediately given to the people who had been made homeless, or led to suffer, during the wars. Reconstruction work began on the beautiful cities that had been destroyed by the evil forces, with plans to convert them into even more majestic and beautiful places than before. Following the devastation caused by the war, this was to prove an enormous and difficult task for both worlds- but Eternia and Etheria worked together in unison, and within a decade, both planets were flourishing once again.