Chapter Four: "Descension"

Despite his newly-returned awesome power, Skeletor still could not find Man-At-Arms, Sorceress, Teela, or Addison. His vast powers aside, Grayskull was still capable of hiding secrets from him. Beast-Man, Catra, and Marzo continued to search the ancient fortress for any sign of them. Nothing new yet.

Tri-Klops was walking through the throne room when Skeletor caught his attention.

"Tri-Klops, I do believe I will be needing witnesses to my rise to power, don't you think?"

He nodded. "Yes, lord Skeletor. I agree. Would you want I to remain here?"

"No, you are needed in the battle. But . . . ah, yes . . . I do have an idea."

"Yes?"

"Those that have tried to connect to me since I became Skeletor. My family."

"I can try and have them brought here. All of them?"

"No, no . . . He-Man and She-Ra shall come here in due time. I want that. I want to break them. And SeaHawk means nothing to me," Skeletor mused. "However . . . the others . . ."

Skeletor stretched out his hand. It glowed bright green. His mind spent out across the battle, locking onto Randor, Stephan, and Miro. It then went further, to North Eternos, where he focused on Johanna, Jeremy, and Edwina. His mind moved further south, reaching Eternos itself, finding Marlena in the Palace. Then, finally, west and reaching out to Dell.

There was a bright burst of green within the throne room.

And then . . . they were there.

"Randor!?" shouted Marlena, shocked.

"Marlena . . . ?"

"Cousin, what is happening?" questioned Edwina of Dell.

"I have no idea."

"Hello family," Skeletor greeted, laughing a little.

"Skeletor!" yelled out Stephan, standing up.

Skeletor waved his hands just a little. The whole group of them was suddenly lifted into the air and – just like Duncan's family – were held in place by invisible bonds.

"I have invited you all to witness my ascension," Skeletor told them. "As you can see, I have already surpassed you all. I am beyond the flesh of mankind. This is but the beginning of my journey."

"You began your journey into madness years ago, Skeletor," Randor spat.

"Randor . . ." Miro chided. "Stop."

"Father?" questioned Stephan.

"It is not our place to judge your brother. It is not his fault that he is how is."

Skeletor laughed loudly. "Took you long enough to admit that."

"You didn't kill your mother, Keldor," Miro stated. "I never understood why you blamed yourself for that."

"You blamed me, old man!" Skeletor countered.

"I . . ." Miro paused. "I may have held it against you. Yes. But the fault was mine. I don't ask you to forgive me for that. But I do ask you to let it go. Let go of that blame I held against you."

Skeletor snarled, but said nothing.

"I should have listened to you, Keldor," Miro pleaded. "We all should have. I was so . . . so bitter after your mother died. I felt as though there was nothing in the world that could have been so wonderful as she. But I was wrong. You knew that! You knew this place existed and I mocked you for that! I am sorry, Keldor. I . . . I want you to know that."

Skeletor turned his back to him.

"What are you trying to do, Miro? Talk me down?"

"People are dying in this crusade, Keldor. There's no need for that. End it. You're the only one who can," Miro practically begged. "Please . . . I forgive you for all the things you've done. Please. I never stopped carrying about you, son. Never. Turn this around."

"What do you expect me to do?"

"End it!"

Skeletor spun around. "THEN I SHALL!"

His Havoc Staff bellowed out a red blast. It struck Miro square in the chest. He flew backwards, out of the invisible holdings, and hit the ground.

"FATHER!"

"NO!"

Skeletor walked to him and leaned close in. "What have you got to say for yourself now, old man?"

Miro gasped. "Lara . . .?" His then closed his eyes and let out a breath.

And that was the end of King Miro, son of David.

The air was filled with violence. Sky Sleds, Air Chariots, Avions, Insectoids, Fright Flyers, Talon Fighters, Wind-Raiders, and Bats all flew around each other, attacking ferociously. From the sky, Stratos had a wide view of the battle.

Forces from Arcadia, Fantus, and Tahrin were engaged with the Snake-Men and the Kobloids. Unfortunately, they were the only ones who seemed be succeeding in any sort of capacity.

The soldiers from the Golden Isles, Hourglass Mountain, and Tagra were embedded with the Reptons, Spiders, and half the Goblin legion. The Reptons, Spiders, and Goblins held their ground and were making the battle both bloody and swift.

Orcs rampaged against Brightmoon and Royal Soldiers of Eternos while Moriana and Ahberron were handling the rest of the Goblins and the Lobsterites. Again, it was not men that were successful against these foes.

The Lizards and the Insectoids contended with the Centurions and the Ilkorts, seeming to come up even with them both. The Region of Ice warriors were dealing with the Shadow Beasts, though it was a long haul. The Centaurs and the Fire-People battled the Mutant Troopers and whoever wandered from their packs. The Cave and Tree Peoples were dealing (quite poorly) with the Ilkorts. The Bats held the skies.

The Heroic Warriors, the Galactic Guardians, the Meteorbs, and the Great Rebellion were all intermixed with the rest of the soldiers and warriors, all meeting with various fits of victory and defeat.

Shadow Wing brought every significant victory to a halt.

On the surface, it could be said that things sounded evenly match, though they were far from it. The forces of evil still outnumbered the forces of good. They fought on the brink of victory, with blood shed on both sides – but mostly on those of the offensive.

The battle needed to end. Absolutely.

Stratos turned to Batros and zoomed towards his old enemy. He signaled a few others.

"BATROS!"

Batros turned to Stratos in mid-air. His teeth gleamed in the light of explosions below. The sun had long since sunk below the horizon.

"Stratos . . . so good to see you again!"

He let loose a mighty sonic scream. Stratos gritted his teeth as it penetrated his ears. He slammed right into Batros.

"That all you have?" asked Stratos.

"Nope!" shouted Buzz-Off from behind, diving at him with his axe.

Batros swung back and fired another sonic scream at Buzz-Off.

Stratos dove back Batros. Batros turned to face him . . . only to find the end of a wand in his face.

"REDUCTO!" shouted Orko.

There was a burst of blue light that fired right into Batros' mouth. Batros gasped. His scream was gone. Orko backed away and Stratos dived right into him and slammed him onto the ground.

Man-E-Faces was rapidly switching from ROBOT to MONSTER, depending on the opponent. In some cases, the ROBOT mode was better, as it allowed for more accuracy. MONSTER worked well too, as Man-E-Faces was able to use more pure aggression against his enemies.

Ram-Man soon joined his side and slammed into a pair of Spiders. They went flying back, but were tough. They quickly recovered.

"How are things going?" asked Ram-Man as he punched away an in-coming Orcs.

"Bad," Man-E-Faces returned, slamming his fists into a Repton.

"Thought so, buddy. But hey, at least if you get a black eye, you've got three other faces to switch to!" Ram-Man said with a grim smile.

There was a sudden explosion that managed to drown out Man-E-Faces' retort. Both Heroic Warriors went flying backwards. Barely moving, the Spiders and Orcs descended upon them, swords and fangs at the ready. Luckily, two massive stones smashed right into the in-coming enemies. The Orcs and Spiders were tossed back, broken and bruised.

Rokkon and Stonedar reshaped themselves, pulling Man-E-Faces and Ram-Man back from the major fighting. There, Uncle Montok stood waiting. He waved his wand, healing their wounds.

"Thanks Montok," Man-E-Faces said.

"And thanks, you guys," Ram-Man told the two Rock-Men.

"No problem," Rokkon replied.

"Back to it, then?" Stonedar asked.

Ram-Man adjusted his helmet. "Try and stop me."

Nearby, Spinnerella was contenting some Spiders of her own. Their many attempts at snagging her in their web had failed, as she managed to use her winds to rip their winds apart. This didn't stop the Spiders from charging at her.

Clamp Champ jumped in at the last minute and used his clamp to pull one away from her at the last minute. Moss Man was by his side, using vines to ensnare them. Netossa had gained their own webs and used them against the Spiders.

This momentary success didn't last long. Laser fire rained down upon them from some Bats. Despite their leader being defeated, the Bats were still quite the threat.

"I need some cover fire over here!" yelled out Vizar as Kobloids came surging at him with their clubs raised. Rio-Blast swept over, his duster flying around him as he went to work. Lasers and missiles came flying out from his weapons systems, tearing into the in-coming Kobloids.

"Thanks," Vizar stated.

"Not a problem," Rio-Blast replied. "But they're coming right at us."

"Pull back, then."

"I'm starting think we'll be pulling all the way back to Eternos soon enough," grunted Rio-Blast, weapons firing.

At that moment, Roboto and Fisto came rushing over with a legion of North Eternos Royal Soldiers. "The Royal Soldier lines are breaking," Fisto told Rio-Blast. "Something has to be done."

"Round 'em up, Fisto," Rio-Blast returned.

Roboto joined the fighting, lasers blazing hard and fast. "I agree with Rio-Blast's statement, Lord Fisto," Roboto said. "Re-group the North Eternos soldiers to this point."

"Send out a band-wave communication, then, Roboto. All North Eternos Royal Soldiers, rally here!" Fisto yelled out and punched out a nearby Kobloid. "We'll take the whole damn fight to Skeletor and make sure he pays for all of his treachery."

Man-At-Arms and the Sorceress had reappeared in Space/Time Corridor. They spent most of their time doing the same as Teela and Addison – avoiding being caught by Catra. Except they did this mostly by remaining in one spot: behind one of the dead portal doors.

They remained silent, instead monitoring the situation through shared telepathy. After a few more minutes of silent hiding, the Sorceress opened the door. The Space/Time Corridor was a rather long hallway filled with various kinds of door – from simple to exotic and elaborate.

"What now?" asked Man-At-Arms.

"Catra has apparently had enough of the catacombs," the Sorceress answered. "She's heading to the first level."

"Where's Teela?"

"Safe."

"And Addison?"

"Safe for now, but we'll address him in a moment," she answered him, looking at all the various doors, studying them intently.

"What are you looking for?"

"We'll need all the help we can get," the Sorceress replied and found the door she was looking for.

"I don't understand. I thought all these were dead or locked."

"They are . . . save one."

The Sorceress placed her hands on the door handle. The door was rather simple, made out of wood, and had markings all around it. She pulled just a bit. There was a burst of light behind the door. It flew open and a cold air blew out.

"Here," she said and stuck her arm in. It seemed to vanish. Her face scrunched as she yanked and pulled at something.

Then . . . that something came free.

Evil-Lynn came tumbling out of the doorway and fell to the ground. The Sorceress slammed the door.

Evil-Lynn took in the sight of both the Sorceress and Man-At-Arms, then stood up. Her helmet was gone, her white hair exposed. Her costume was ripped here and there, but otherwise, she looked fine. Save her face . . . which was beat red with anger.

"WHERE IS HE?!"