Chapter Two: "Pythor"

All at once, it seemed, the forces of Eternos arrived at the plains around Castle Grayskull. Laser Bolts, Attack Tracks, Dragon Walkers, Talon Fighters, Wind Raiders, and Sky Sleds all just suddenly appeared. Teela and Adora had ordered everyone to move as fast as possible and indeed, they did so. The Heroic Warriors, along with the Great Rebellion, came to a halt at the plains of Grayskull, ready for battle.

"500 warriors, I see them," Mekaneck reported as they neared the mighty fortress. "Ram-Man, Roboto, and Clamp Champ are speeding their way here too, faster than the Snake-Men."

"The usual suspects, then? Hiss' cadre?" asked She-Ra, getting out the Sword of Protection and the Shield of the Great Rebellion.

"Yeah," Mekaneck replied.

"500 warriors is a lot, but . . ." Teela paused. Along with the Heroic Warriors and the Great Rebellion were 700 of their own soldiers, each one ready for battle.

"But why the urgency?" finished She-Ra. "I'm not sure. Roboto did say Hiss was going to release something, but wasn't sure what. Certainly, it was more than 500 warriors."

"I don't know, but here they come!" Man-E-Faces said then.

The Snake-Men came bursting onto the scene with swiftness and strength, their weapons drawn, growling and screeching for battle. The commanders – Rattlor, Sssqueeze, and Snake-Face – roared orders, urging the Snake-Men forward.

"Weapons on maximum stun," Teela commanded through the comm-link. "Remember – do not engage in lethal combat unless absolutely necessary."

Aboard a Laser Bolt, Teela rode forward. She-Ra, sitting next to her on Swift-Wind, rushed into the sky.

Weapons fire was issued into the late autumn air, heating what was a chilly afternoon. The armies had taken up stationary positions: Eternos at the south, the Snake-Men at the north. A pale gold sun hung in the afternoon sky as the battle began in earnest. Weapons engaged from afar – lasers, harpoons, spears, and arrows.

Small explosions went off on both sides and already, the wounded and dead were mounting.

Rattlor then unleashed a mighty roared and waved his arms towards the army of Eternos. His next distended as he led the Snake-Men foot soldiers into hand-to-hand combat.

"Forward!" She-Ra shouted, waving the Sword of Protection to the Snake-Men.

The armies dove towards each other. The Snake-Men let loose battle cries that belonged to battles that to the ears of the Eternians met little or nothing. The Royal Soldiers said nothing, just rushed forward with lasers and swords at the ready.

The two opposing armies swept into each other, violence quickly overtaking both sides.

Glimmer, still stuck with the tentacles, used her new appendages to her advantage. She grabbed Snake-Men and tossed them aside. Bow was by her side, arrows firing, injuring any Snake-Man that neared them.

Pelicor's fists pounded into a nearby Snake-Man, but he soon found himself staring down Snake-Face. Snake-Face's hollow features were suddenly filled with vipers. Pelicor tried to look away, but it was too late. His body was frozen, trapped in statue form.

Chuckling, Snake-Face turned to find his next victim. Flutterina went to attack him, sending a legion of butterflies at his face. Unfortunately, Snake-Face was ready for them. In mid-air, all the butterflies became like statues and fell to the ground.

Flutterina avoided Snake-Face's gaze and shot into the air.

Snake-Face went to find the next rebel or warrior to call his victim, but suddenly felt huge roots grab hold of his shoulders. He was then pulled face first into ground, the roots holding him in place.

"Good job," Moss Man congratulated.

"Thanks," Woodsman replied.

Across the battlefield, Teela turned to her attention to the arriving Clamp Champ, Roboto, and Ram-Man.

"You guys gotta re-group," Ram-Man said.

"Why? What's going on?"

"Trouble. Big trouble!" Clamp Champ responded.

Just up in the air, Swift-Wind gave out a loud neigh. She-Ra turned and her blue eyes went wide. In the distance, but closing fast, was a massive snake. It was nearly 700 feet in length with its neck ugly and bulbous.

"RE-GROUP!" she shouted, coming in low over the battle. "ROYAL SOLDIERS! GREAT REBELLION! HEROIC WARRIORS! RE-GROUP! RE-GROUP!"

The Royal Soldiers began to pull away from the Snake-Men as Pythor came closer.

"It's making for Castle Grayskull," Mekaneck said.

She-Ra joined Mekaneck and Teela. "Have the Royal Soldiers move against the Snake-Men. All Heroic Warriors and Great Rebellion members will engage the monster."

She-Ra and Swift-Wind were back in the air. The Royal Soldiers rushed against the Snake-Men again, weapons firing as they moved quickly against the enemy. The Heroic Warriors and Great Rebellion ran to Castle Grayskull, hoping to get between it and Pythor.

Pythor came to a halt. Before it stood the Heroic Warriors and the Great Rebellion, and behind them, the Abyss, and then Castle Grayskull itself.

She-Ra and Swift-Wind rode up to the face of the creature.

"Monster!" She-Ra yelled. "As champion of Grayskull and queen of Eternos, I order you to return from whence you came!"

Pythor studied She-Ra and Swift-Wind . . . then swung its tail around. Before Swift-Wind even had a chance to register this, he and She-Ra were struck and sent flying across the plains and back into the Evergreen Forest.

"FIRE!" roared Teela.

But before anyone could fire a single shot, Pythor's mouth opened . . . and dropping from it were hundreds of snakes. They fell upon the Heroic Warriors and the Great Rebellion like rain. Their mouths open, Teela could feel the teeth of at least three different snakes puncture her skin.

The ground was now crawling with snakes, each one just as aggressive as the next. Above them, Pythor moved, looking to get a good look at Castle Grayskull before smashing it and possibly devouring the Sorceress.

Teela suddenly heard Castaspella shout out a number of magic words. The air around them grew freezing cold. The ground was suddenly covered frost. Glimmer belted out the same magic words and the ground got even colder and the air even more chilled. The snakes were retreating to warmer ground. Castaspella and Glimmer seemed to follow them, until warmer ground was eventually the Abyss. The snakes were backed right into it.

"Sound off!" Teela barked. "No, belay that! Get up and get back into action! Buzz-Off! Find She-Ra and make sure she's all right!"

Buzz-Off was gone in a flash, zipping through the air towards the Evergreen Forest. Teela took a quick look at everyone. A few had bite marks, but seemed to be okay. She placed her hand on her comm-set.

"Father, this is Teela."

"I'm here," Man-At-Arms replied, as he was still back at Eternos.

"We've got trouble. Any back-up you could send would be nice."

"On it's way, honey. Be careful."

"Get a babysitter for Addison," Teela remarked, rushing towards Pythor. The massive snake was coiled around most of the Abyss, now taking a deep study of Castle Grayskull, while being ready to strike at it.

"We've got in-coming," Stratos then said, pointing at Rattlor, Sssqueeze, Tung Lashor, Kobra Kahn, and the re-released Snake-Face came rushing towards them.

"Split up. Stratos, take whoever you need. The rest will follow me."

Teela ran leading a group of Heroic Warriors and Great Rebellion towards the head of Pythor. However, just as they were about to reach, Pythor reared back and then struck at Castle Grayskull. There was an explosion of lighting that struck Pythor's face before he came to the stone walls.

Teela looked and saw the Sorceress standing atop Castle Grayskull. Despite the brief defense of Grayskull, she looked strained and exhausted from unleashing so much power.

"Fire!" Teela commanded.

Rio-Blast, Castaspella, Bow, Glimmer, and Roboto unleashed a combination of lasers and magic against the neck of Pythor. Pythor roared, rearing back and snarling. It turned to them, leering and flicking its tongue.

"Damn it," Teela grunted.

She suddenly became aware of a loud 'boom' from behind them. Then, from seemingly out of nowhere, the Starship Eternia came flying down from the sky. Weapons blazed forward, striking all along Pythor. Pythor cried out in feral anger and pain as huge explosions ran along its body.

"Back-up has arrived," Man-At-Arms said suddenly through the comm-line.

"Thank the Ancients, father, I - " Teela's words halted from her mouth.

The burned skin and scales of Pythor began to shake and rip off. The bulge around its neck suddenly tore apart . . . revealing four other snake heads beneath. Together, the five heads roared into the afternoon air.

"You have got to be kidding me," Teela grumbled. "PULL BACK! PULL BACK!"

He-Man was tossed back by serpentine energy. King Hiss leapt forward, one head grabbing the Shield of the Galactic Guardians and pulling it off his wrist. He-Man pulled back, King Hiss now a greater threat since the shield was gone. Hiss' heads snapped towards him, fangs dripping with venom.

He-Man was ready for a physical attack.

King Hiss struck him with a mystical one. Magic went flying at him, serpentine energy smashing into his body. Hiss grabbed the Sword of Power and it fell from He-Man's hands.

King Hiss then sent his snakes forward, wrapping around He-Man's legs, arms, abdomen, and neck. Hiss lifted He-Man off the ground.

"I do believe this is end of you, King Adam. You know, your little revelation made me realize that He-Ro was in fact King Gray. Heheh. I never put that together before."

"I'm He-Man."

"In this form, perhaps, but I thought it would appropriate if I called you by your real name in your last living moments." Hiss paused for just a brief moment, then chuckled. "You know, I'm betting you did everything you could to be like He-Ro. In the end, however, I should tell you . . . you failed."

Hiss moved his head towards He-Man's face, mouth coming open, fangs beneath glistening in the sunlight. Anger – fury – filled He-Man's stomach. His face became red with rage. He slammed his forward against the upper lips of Hiss mouth. Hiss snarled in pain, the snakes coming loose just enough for He-Man pull himself free.

With speed and accuracy that Hiss never thought He-Man had, the champion of Grayskull let loose all of his anger and frustration over what he had learned hours earlier on King Hiss. Fists broke jaws.

"It's time you learned that your kind of evil is no longer wanted on Eternia," He-Man grunted. He punched King Hiss harder than he had ever punched anyone. For Teela, for Kathryn, for He-Ro, for anyone that had been wronged because of King Hiss, he punched him.

King Hiss went flying back, unconscious.

Buzz-Off landed safely, finding She-Ra standing above Swift-Wind. Swift-Wind, had, at the last moment, been able to get control, but it had broken his leg. She-Ra's healing powers fixed it right up. She turned to Buzz-Off as soon as he landed.

"There you are! Are you okay?"

"A little bruised, but I'm fine."

"And Swift-Wind?"

She-Ra nodded. "He's okay. My healing powers have aided him. Rest here, Swifty."

"I didn't know you had healing powers," Buzz-Off said.

"Yeah," she said, starting the run back to the battlefield. "Not just that, but I can also communicate with . . . animals . . ." She stopped cold.

"What is it?"

"An idea."

Lasers, magic, and missiles fired almost nonstop at the massive five-headed snake. It didn't even seem fazed. It merely concentrated at the matter at hand – destroying Castle Grayskull. It was too close for Man-At-Arms to get a proper shot with the Starship Eternia, unfortunately, which really had their options low.

Suddenly, Buzz-Off appeared, holding She-Ra.

"Just drop me on Castle Grayskull," she told the Insectoid.

Buzz-Off complied, dropping her right next to the Sorceress. "Hello Sorceress," She-Ra greeted, smiling. She stepped up the very edge of the roof and looked to Pythor. Her mind went out, telepathically mind linking with the creature.

Pythor stopped and stared at She-Ra as she did this, all ten eyes on her. The Sorceress watched as She-Ra communicated with Pythos. Finally, after a few tense minutes, Pythos pulled away from Castle Grayskull and followed the same trail that brought it here. It was headed back to the pit.

"Well done, She-Ra," said the Sorceress.