The Droid of Destruction.
By Richard Taylor.
Deep within the heart of the Fright Zone on Etheria Hordak worked away in one of his many laboratories. For days Hordak had hidden himself away from his troops as he worked on perfecting his latest creation.
Hordak flicked a switch on a nearby machine. Instantly the machine came to life sending electric sparks in to another machine. Once the machine finished its work Hordak walked over to the second machine and pulled on a lever. The machine hissed and began to pull apart and separate.
In the middle of the two parts stood a huge mechanical monster with deadly weapons attached to its limbs.
Hordak pressed another set of buttons on the robot. The robot hissed and sparked then came to life.
"Awaiting commands." said the robot with a mechanical version of Hordak's voice.
Hordak walked over to a small cabinet and removed a small data disc from it.
"This disk contains the brainwaves of He-man." said Hordak as he inserted the disk in to the back of the robot's head. "You are to download this data and use it to destroy He-man."
"Affirmative." said the robot. It then started to download the information that Hordak had fed it.
He-man lifted the last log in to place and held it there as Marrok hammered it in to place.
"I don't know what we would have done without you're help." said Marrok standing back to admire the new dam they had just finished building.
"It was my pleasure." said He-man wiping the saw dust off his hands. "Its good to do something besides fighting the forces of evil."
"Would you do me the honor of joining me and my family for a meal?" said Marrok as he and He-man packed up the work tools.
"I wish I could." replied He-man. "But I have to be getting back to Eternos before nightfall."
"Ah well maybe some other time." said Marrok as he loaded his tools on to the back of his cart. "Next time you're in the area you must drop by my house for that meal."
"I would be honored." said He-man. The two then shook hands and He-man began his journey back to Eternos.
However high above the dam a time-space portal flared to life unnoticed by either He-man or Marrok. Once the portal had faded a huge robotic warrior appeared. The robot scanned the area with its sensors. The robot focused on Marrok and activated its memory programs and compared Marrok's brainwave pattern with the on of He-man it had stored. It took less then a millisecond for it to confirm that Marrok's brainwaves weren't the ones it was searching for.
The robot then turned its attention to He-man. Once again it ran a comparison of brainwaves. Instantly it realized that it found its target. Activating its built in thrusters the robot took off and headed for He-man.
He-man marvelled about how much more relaxed he was after helping Marrok finish the dam after his brother had become ill. As he walked along the trail He-man heard the sound of jet thrusters overhead. He-man turned around to see a huge robot fly overhead. Wondering why there was a robot in the sky He-man stopped. The robot flew in a large arch and headed towards He-man.
Realising that the robot was heading towards him on a collision course He-man leaped out of the way. The robot barely scraped the ground racing past He-man. He-man span around just in time to see the robot moving in to an upright position and land on the ground. He-man drew his sword ready to do battle with the robot.
The huge robot began moving towards He-man. He-man backed up as the robot came closer. The robot didn't say a word as it raised one of its large arms. A bolt of plasma energy shot out towards He-man. He-man barely had time to lift his sword up to deflect the plasma shot. The robot took another step forward and a large deadly blade snapped out. The robot swung its arm. He-man ducked and the blade sliced through the tree He-man was standing in front of. He-man rolled behind the robot and swung his sword at the back of the robot. He-man's sword harmlessly bounced of the robot's shell sending sparks in to the air.
The robot twisted around on its midsection to face He-man. The robot swung its arm at He-man. He-man lifted his sword to block the blow. He-man's sword deflected the blow but He-man failed to see the robot's second arm swing up. He-man was sent flying. Dazed He-man got to his feet. He-man raised his sword instantly a bolt of magical energy raced along the blade of the sword and shot out to strike the robot in its chest. The robot staggered backwards a step but didn't fall. He-man threw another shot at the robot then a second then a third but the robot was still unharmed. Then He-man heard a mechanical sound coming from the robot it sounded like laughter. Suddenly the midsection of the robot began to open to reveal a viewscreen. The viewscreen flared to life showing an image of Hordak laughing at him.
"How do you like my new weapon?" sneered Hordak. "It is impervious to all forms of attack. Even the magical powers of Grayskull have no effect on this machine."
"I don't believe you." said He-man. "Every weapon can be destroyed."
He-man then threw another bolt of energy at the robot. The bolt struck the viewscreen but again the robot was unharmed. Suddenly He-man heard the sound of approaching people. Realising that it must be workers from the village must have heard the sounds of battle had come to investigate. Knowing that he couldn't risk putting any innocent people at risk He-man turned and began to run away.
"That's right run." called out Hordak. "You cannot hide this machine will track you everywhere you go. It will track you and when you're too tired to continue to carry on it will crush you and drop your body in to the centre of Eternos!!!"
He-man ran from what seemed like hours. Each time he turned around Hordak's maniacal robot was behind him every step. Hordak was right if he didn't work out a way to stop the robot soon he would tire and be defenceless. But at least the villagers were out of harms way.
He-man jumped off the trail and headed in to the trees.
"Nice try He-man." called out Hordak.
The robot then lifted up its right arm. The sounds of mechanical gears echoed through the trees as its arm opened to reveal a huge flamethrower. The weapon ignited sending a massive blast of fire in to the trees.
He-man barely had time to duck as a wave of flame raced through the trees towards him. After the flames had died down He-man got to his feet. The robot was now heading towards him smashing down every burning tree in its path.
He-man had no choice but to run again. Up ahead of him was a small set of caves. Seeing where He-man was headed Hordak ordered the robot to fire one of its plasma missiles at him.
He-man heard the rush of air and glanced over his shoulder to see the missile. Quickly He-man raised his sword and sliced through a large tree. The tree fell in to the path of the missile. The missile struck the tree and exploded. The shockwave from the explosion sent He-man tumbling to the ground. He was only a few feet away from the cave entrance. The robot was getting closer. With mighty surge of power He-man raced for the entrance of the cave. The robot fired another plasma missile towards He-man. He-man leaped inside the cave just as the missile exploded.
He-man slowly got to his feet through the falling dust and rubble He-man could see Hordak's robot waiting outside.
"You cannot hide in there forever." called out Hordak's voice. "My robot will never get tired."
He-man knew Hordak was right time was on Hordak's side. He-man began to search for another way out of the caves. Leaving the cave entrance far behind He-man found a shaft of light flooding in to the cave from high above. He-man climbed up to the light and saw that it opened on to the top of the cave. After examining the hole He-man found that it was too small to fit through. The rock around the hole was too thick for He-man to punch through so He-man jumped down and lifted his sword in to the air and called out.
"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!.........I HAVE THE FLYING FISTS OF POWER!!!"
Instantly the magic of Grayskull burst from the sword and washed over He-man transforming his normal armor in the armor of the Flying Fists of Power. He-man unhooked his flying fists mace and shield from his back and put the Sword of Power in their place.
He-man swung the mace towards the hole and its three gold arms began rotating at a terrific rate. As soon as the arms made contact with the rock they began cutting through it.
Hordak in his control room on Etheria, his patience was beginning to ware out as he waited for He-man to emerge from the caves. Hordak had thought about bombarding the caves with plasma missiles but he had wanted to see He-man's eyes as his robot crushed the life out of him.
"Show yourself." hissed Hordak. "My robot may not get tired but I do."
Hordak then grabbed the microphone ready to call to He-man.
The mace burst through the rock and He-man climbed out. He-man raced over the top of the caves to where Hordak's robot waited. As he reached the edge of the cave He-man heard Hordak's voice calling out to him.
"He-man I thought you weren't a coward." snarled Hordak. "But now I see I was wrong. Well since you love hiding in caves you can stay in there forever. I will take my creation and use it on more worthy prey, like the village not far from here."
One of the arms on Hordak's robot then opened up to reveal some plasma missiles. One after another the plasma missiles flew in to the cave and exploded. As the dust and debris began to clear the robot began to turn and head for the village.
He-man leaped off the cave top and landed on top of the robot. Instantly the robot thrashed about trying to throw He-man off its back.
"So you are not such a coward after all." said Hordak.
The rocket thrusters on the robot's legs ignited and it took off carrying He-man with it. He-man struggled to hold on to the robot with one hand as he swung his mace at the back of the robot.
Sparks flew off the robot's shell as He-man struck it with his mace.
"He-man try as you might but you cannot damage my creation." mocked Hordak. "You cannot run or hide as my robot tacks your brainwaves. I have the ultimate weapon, which I shall destroy you with."
Hordak's words gave He-man an idea. Reaching down He-man grabbed one of the robot's legs and pulled as hard as he could. Slowly the robot began to turn. He-man aimed the robot towards the river, which he had helped build the dam on.
Hordak saw that He-man had managed to direct the robot towards the river. The robot thrashed about but He-man held on tight as he waited for the robot to fly over the river. Once above the river He-man let go and dived in to the water.
As soon as He-man hit the water he grabbed his sword from his back and silently called on the power of Grayskull to transform him back in to Prince Adam.
The robot's sensors tracked He-man as he hit the water then suddenly He-man's brainwaves vanished. Hordak couldn't believe what he was reading on the monitors so he pressed a few buttons to run a secondary scan. The results came back the same He-man's brainwaves waves had suddenly stopped.
"Robot scan for He-man's body." commanded Hordak. "Once you find it return it to me."
Adam swam as hard as he could and reached the other side of the river. Climbing out Adam turned to see Hordak's robot hover over the spot where he had hit the water.
Adam made sure that he was out of sight as the robot ran its scanning laser over the river's surface. The robot then ignited its thrusters and headed off down the river, towards the village.
Fearing the destruction that the robot would cause once it reached the village, Adam ran through the trees as fast as he could hoping that he could reach the village in time.
Marrok was making his way back to his village when he saw a man running through the trees. Marrok called out to the man.
Adam stopped as he heard Marrok's voice, turning Adam raced over to Marrok.
"You look a state." said Marrok as he noticed that Adam was soaring wet. "What is wrong? Do you need help?"
"Yes I do." said Adam. "I need to get to the village up ahead. I need to warn them."
"Of what?" asked Marrok concerned about the safety of his village.
"Have you heard of Hordak?" asked Adam. Marrok nodded. "He has created a robot to defeat He-man. He-man can't defeat it by himself so he's gone to get help. I was following the robot for He-man when it attacked me. I managed to escape by diving in to the river. Knowing Hordak he's probably sent the robot to destroy your village because he couldn't find me."
Marrok was shocked, all the years he had lived in the village he was safe. But now it was about to be destroyed.
"Hop on." said Marrok. "I'll get you there as fast as I can."
Adam jumped in to the back of the cart, racing to the village Marrok hoped that He-man would be successful in finding a way to stop Hordak's robot.
Hordak watched as his robot flew towards the village. He was disappointed that the robot couldn't find any trace of He-man's body. He couldn't believe that he had finally won but the robot couldn't detect He-man's brainwaves anywhere on Eternia. As the robot got closer to the village Hordak decided that he would destroy it.
The robot blasted the village with plasma missiles. As the village burst in to flames the villagers began running in terror.
Marrok was horrified as he saw the panicked villagers run in every direction.
"I fear there might not be anything of the village left by the time gets here." said Marrok.
"I'm sure He-man will be here." said Adam. "But first I have to lead that thing away from here."
"You're mad." said Marrok. "That thing will catch you in no time and kill you."
"Not if I go through the trees." said Adam. "If I remember there is a canyon near here. I'll lead it there."
"The canyon is pretty far." said Marrok. "I'm not sure you'll make it on foot. Take my horse, she is the fastest in the village."
"Thank you." said Adam as Marrok unhooked his horse from the cart.
"I don't know if you're very brave or incredibly stupid." said Marrok as Adam mounted the horse. "Whichever it is I wish you good luck."
The two shook hands and Marrok watched as Adam raced off in to the village. Adam dodge burning buildings and fleeing villagers as he raced towards the robot. The robot was in the centre of the village blasting at anything that came near. Adam road the horse past the robot. The robot's sensors instantly focused on Adam.
Hordak sat up in his chair as the image of Prince Adam flashed on the viewscreen.
"What is the prince of Eternos doing at this village?" Hordak said to himself. Hordak the grabbed the microphone. "Robot. Capture Prince Adam and bring him to me."
The robot instantly stopped it's attack on the village and chased after Prince Adam.
Adam looked over his shoulder to see the robot chasing after him. Now that the village was safe once again Adam concentrated on leading the robot to the canyon.
Once he was sure that he was far enough away from the robot not to be noticed by Hordak's robot Adam jumped off the horse and grabbed his Sword of Power and held in the air.
"BY THE POWER GRAYSKULL!!!..... I HAVE THE POWER!!!" called out Adam. Instantly the sword of power transformed him in to He-man.
As the robot searched for Adam its sensors suddenly picked up the brainwaves of He-man. Hordak was furious, because He-man had somehow found a way to block his brainwaves from his robot.
The robot automatically transferred to its primary program and began tracking He-man once more.
Sending the horse away so that it wouldn't be injured in his battle against the robot, He-man turned and continued to race for the canyon.
As soon as He-man reached the edge of the canyon the robot burst from the trees and charged at him.
"I don't know how you tricked my robot." snarled Hordak. "But there is no escape this time."
He-man backed to the edge of canyon as far as he could and waited for the robot to come towards him. The robot raised its arms and two deadly buzz saws snapped in to place.
"I shall slice your head from your shoulders and display it at the Fright Zone." mocked Hordak as the robot swung one of the blades at He-man.
He-man ducked and the blade barely missed his head. He-man rolled behind the robot and swung his sword at the robot. Sparks flew as the sword bounced off the robot's shell.
"You tried that before." said Hordak. "And it didn't work then."
He-man backed off as the robot began to turn around. He-man then charged at the robot. Driving his shoulder in to the robot as hard as he could, the robot lost its balance and toppled over the side of the canyon.
As the robot fell it tried grabbing at the sides, but its claws began slipping. Suddenly the robot struck an ledge.
"You still don't get it." laughed Hordak. "This robot is indestructible"
The robot got up and Hordak activated the robot's thrusters. As the robot began to lift off He-man swung his sword at the other side of the canyon. The canyon wall shattered as the sword struck the canyon wall. Boulders came crashing down on the robot driving it down in to the darkness of the canyon.
He-man retrieved his sword and waited to see if the robot would return. When after an hour there was no sight of the robot He-man returned to the village to help them after Hordak's attack.
As the robot lay damaged at the bottom of the canyon, Hordak tried to get it to move but it was pinned down underneath tons of rocks. Realising that the robot was unmoveable Hordak shut the robot down. Turning from the control panel Hordak began planning a way to unearth the robot from the canyon and once he had done so he vowed that He-man would be crushed at the hands of his greatest creation.
The End.