Hordak 4:1
Part 1: The Psion, The Witch, and The Warlord
by Kim McFarland
It was a dark and stormy night. Inky clouds swirled dramatically above The Well of Power, hurling bolts of lightning down to strike the jagged, inward-curving spires that surrounded the central dais.
The storm had gathered when Skeletor had spoken the words of the ancient spell that would call forth the magic concentrated here, in one of Hordak's former strongholds of power, power which Skeletor would seize. And once Skeletor commanded the power that had once been Hordak's, Hordak could never again try to claim him!
Skeletor strode between the flashing spires, up to the dais where he had once begun the Spell of Separation. He had expected to find something here, some mysterious, dangerous object or sigil, but the dais was empty. Then the thin mist above it began to congeal into a human shape. His hand tightened on his Ram Staff, readying for battle, but the shape that formed was not that of Hordak. It was thin and red, and looked vaguely like a woman wrapped in an all-concealing cloak. From the depths of her cowl two pupilless eyes gleamed, boring into his empty eye sockets. A raspy voice whispered, "What do you seek?"
Impatiently he answered, "I want power, of course!"
The eyes narrowed. "The power that Hordak once wielded? It is foretold that one will someday claim that power. Ah, but are you the one?" The robed figure lifted into the air and raised thin, green-skinned arms. "First you must prove yourself." She wove her hands in complex gestures. Shadows on either side of the dais began to shift and take shape.
They solidified into monstrous dark beings, one bestial, a huge mane surrounding its head, the other smooth-skinned with a face like a lamprey. Skeletor leveled his Ram Staff at the first. The magical blast passed harmlessly through it.
The robed figure now floating overhead said, "You've proven your magical power by awakening me. Show me your might!"
Both of the monsters charged forward. Skeletor drew his double-bladed sword in one fluid motion. He appeared to begin to pass it from one hand to the other, but it separated so he now held two swords, one in each hand. He met the monsters' charge with both blades.
The smooth-skinned creature grabbed at him. Its webbed hand stuck to his left shoulder as if covered with some form of adhesive. Skeletor felt that arm weaken; it was sucking his life away. He swung his right sword around, gashing its arm, making it pull it back with an angry squeal. Without slowing he looped the sword back to slash at the hairy monster that was wasting time menacing him with its claws and fangs. Much like Beast Man, Skeletor thought, and would have smirked had he been capable.
The hooded figure watched as Skeletor fought off both of his attackers, a sword in each hand, never focusing on one so closely that he left himself vulnerable to attack from the other. He held them back for several minutes, learning their fighting styles, then suddenly stumbled backward. He flung his arms out to the sides, leaving his front open. Both closed in on him - and he brought his swords around and caught them from behind.
As the twin blades struck home his attackers lost form, collapsing back into the shadows from which they had come. The robed figure drifted back down as Skeletor, swords still at the ready, watched warily. "You have proven yourself. Prepare to receive the power of Hordak."
Skeletor reattached and resheathed his double sword. "I'm ready!"
The robed figure raised her hands. The markings on the dais between them suddenly shone orange, like fresh lava. From them rose an eye-burning glow. She gestured, and the cloud of power surrounded Skeletor, then sank into him until the light faded.
He straightened up. Red appeared within his eye sockets. He smirked and said, "Skeletor thought to steal my power, did he? Now his body and memory will serve me."
He laughed to himself as he turned and walked away out of the Well of Power, leaving the Ram Staff behind.
Man-at-Arms and Prince Adam stood outside Man-at-Arms's workshop. The older man was adjusting the setting on a controller deck while some of the other Masters and their friends watched from the courtyard.
"What are they doing?" Dree Elle asked Orko softly.
"Just wait, you'll see," he told her.
She looked down. "Okay."
She was worried, Orko could tell. She always was, these days. Her pregnancy was just beginning to show, and she was concerned about bringing a child into this war-torn world. But this would reassure her, Orko told himself.
Man-at-Arms finished fine-tuning the controls and flipped a switch, then, hands hovering an inch above the board, looked upward. A vague shimmer appeared above the city.
"Seems to be working," Adam commented. "How strong is it?"
Man-at-Arms replied, "Not strong enough. This just proves that I can put a shield over the entire city to defend it in times of emergency. Now that I know it'll work, it's just a matter of strengthening and fine-tuning it."
"See?" Orko told Dree Elle. He flew straight up and touched the shield. It resisted, but he could feel some give to it.
"What'll it take to make it strong enough?" Adam asked.
"The shield is made of energy, so it uses lots of power. I'll need to-"
"All you need is power? That's easy," Orko chimed in. He pushed back his sleeves, then raised his hands so his fingertips were just touching the shield and chanted, "Mystic power, all I wield, power up this city's shield!"
Magic flowed through Orko and into the field, which brightened into a translucent, shimmering dome covering the city. Orko looked down to see Adam staring up, wide-eyed, and Man-at-Arms working madly at his control box. He was shouting something; Orko couldn't hear him over the crackling overhead. Looking back up, he saw with alarm that the shimmers had became chaotic and violent, like heat lightning. Orko darted down, away from the danger.
The control box was sparking. Man-at-Arms was frantically flipping switches and pushing buttons, trying to shut the shield down. Then black smoke lit by thin flickers of dark orange flame gushed from the door of the workshop. Man-at-Arms shouted, "It's the generators! They can't take it!" Orko clutched at his hat. That shouldn't have happened!
Sy-Klone ran to the workshop entrance and blew a gust of air into it, clearing the smoke. Inside, they could see that the generators were completely enveloped by flame, and the fire was racing along the wiring to other systems. Adam and Man-at-Arms grabbed a pair of small tanks from the walls, detached the hoses from their sides, and blew flame-smothering gas at the fire. It was hard to aim because of the wind Sy-Klone was blowing in to keep them from being overwhelmed by smoke, but eventually the fire guttered and went out, leaving the interior of the workshop burnt and smoke-blackened.
When they came out again the shield was gone and all of the city's lights were out.
"What happened?" Adam asked Man-at-Arms while looking at Orko.
"The power grid overloaded and burned out. We can get emergency power to the places that need it, but it'll take time to replace the destroyed equipment," Man-at-Arms replied, sounding tired rather than angry.
Orko cringed mentally. Instead of helping to protect the city, he had wrecked its defenses. In a small voice he asked, "Um... is there anything I can do?"
Adam responded, "Haven't you done enough for today?"
Orko's ears drooped. Sorry..." he murmured as he turned away.
Dree Elle was now alone in the courtyard. Her head was lowered, her eyes closed. She looked mortified. Orko floated over to her, hesitated a moment, then asked softly, "Are you all right?"
"I'm tired," she said in a tight voice. She looked up at him with sad eyes and said, "I need to lie down."
"Okay," he said as she turned away. She flew straight up to the window of their rooms rather than going through the halls, as she normally would. She was so embarrassed she didn't want to face anyone else. And he couldn't blame her for that.
Miserably he floated out the gate of the courtyard.
All of Skeletor's persons of hench were assembled in the throne room of Snake Mountain. His cape billowing around himself, he strode up to his throne without speaking to or even looking at the others. When he whipped around to face them, people exclaimed in surprise. His familiar crossbone chestpiece had been replaced by a stylized red bat. Evil-Lyn's eyes widened for a moment. Then her face hardened into a guardedly neutral expression.
He began, "I have summoned you all because, up until now, you have been failures. You haven't managed to gain a single lasting victory over the light half of Eternia. You have been wasting your time on halfhearted battles and have learned to accept defeat!"
An angry murmur went through the assembled crowd. He was blaming them, as usual, as if it had nothing to do with him. Tri-Klops glanced at Evil-Lyn, then, noting the intensity of her gaze, switched eyes and zoomed in on Skeletor's face. Something... didn't look right. He seemed blurred, as if one image was superimposed on another.
"You are to summon all of your resources. All of Beast Man's creatures, the most powerful of Evil-Lyn's spells, whichever of Tri-Klops's devices haven't already been destroyed in battle. All of the Snake Men! We are going to go forth and crush Eternos this day!" He clenched a fist in the air.
Two-Bad's left head spoke. "You say that before. It never work!"
The other head snapped, "Shut up, you idiot!"
Skeletor stepped down from his throne and walked toward Two-Bad. The assembly parted to give him room. Both of Two-Bad's heads looked suitably alarmed when he approached. "This time it will be different," he said, drawing the double-bladed sword with a metallic scrape. He held it up before Two-Bad. "And the reason will be..." he paused for a moment, then suddenly brought the sword down, throwing all of his strength behind the blow. Two-Bad toppled, howling, in separate directions. He whirled to face the others. "We will show no mercy! We will not fight to defeat our enemies, we will fight to kill them!"
The other minions stared in wide-eyed shock. Only Evil-Lyn remained calm. She stepped forward and, looking him in the eyes, said, "You are right. I'm ready to serve you - Hordak."
The red glow in his eye sockets narrowed. Of course Evil-Lyn, of all these people, would recognize him. And she always allied herself with the most powerful leader. In his hands she would be an utterly dependable ally, as he would never permit another to gain enough power to challenge him the way Skeletor had. He smiled and said, "And you will, Evil-Lyn." He extended a hand toward her as if to grasp her throat. Calmly she held her ground. A flame-red glow burst in the narrow space between her and his hand. It lasted only a second. When he lowered his hand the others could see that the silhouette of a bat, similar to Hordak's, now dominated her costume, its raised wings stretching up to form her collar. She glanced down at it, then, smiling, bowed to him.
He whirled to face the others. "Now go, prepare for battle. We begin at once!"
Everyone hastened to obey, leaving Hordak and his victims behind.
***** PLACE COMMERCIAL HERE *****