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. Skeletor's 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 universe's 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 Eternia's 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 Skeletor's 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 Skeletor's manipulations of reality, and lacked the power to control dimensional travel within the current chaos. All, it seemed, was lost.