She-Ra and The Princesses of Power, developed by Noelle Stevenson, is the property of DreamWorks and Mattel. I just like playing with their toys.
The twin moons hung low over the spires of Eternos, almost touching the horizon. Armed Skele-bots herded most of the city's civilian population into the overcrowded Great Square like cattle into an abattoir.
A scaffolded platform loomed over the crowd, upon it stood Skeletor and his warriors. Just behind them, what was left of the Royal Family and their Etherian guests knelt in heavy steel manacles.
At the front of the platform, where all could see, lay a darkly stained stone block. A leering Trap-Jaw stood nearby, his mechanical arm already shifted into a wickedly curved ax.
"Psst, Sparkles," whispered Catra. "Can't you just zapped us out of this?"
"Don't you think I'm trying?" Glimmer grunted back, a high-tech collar clamped about her neck. "This stupid thing is blocking my magic somehow."
"It must be using a miniaturized version of the kerium circuitry in our cells," whispered Bow. "If I could get my hands free I might-"
"SILENCE!" Evil-Lyn snapped. "Our Lord is about to speak."
Skeletor stepped forward, his arms stretched out as if to encircle all Eternia in his grasp. He held his pose expectantly for a long quiet moment, filled only by the fearful murmuring of the masses below. "Ahem!"
"Attention citizens," droned the Skele-bots, weapons trained on the corralled crowd. "Applause is mandatory!"
The huddled masses broke into panicked cheering and clapping. Skeletor basked in the forced adulation, idly wondering how long they could keep it up, hours, days? Imagining the ignorant wretches forced to praise his name day and night until they collapsed brought a twisted grin to the blue lips hidden behind his skull-mask.
Another time, he thought, silencing the crowd with a flick of his hand.
"People of Eternos; I am, above all, a merciful man! Yet too long has the House of Miro gone unpunished for its cruelties!" Skeletor roared, turning an accusatory finger on the bound and gagged Randor. "I demand justice of this false king! Justice for a lifetime of shame, loneliness and scorn!"
Skeletor's voice fell from a roar to a deathly whisper as he locked eyes with Randor. "Justice... for the sins of the father."
Beast Man grabbed the bound king, yanking him to his feet.
"No!" Skeletor commanded. "Start with his queen."
Randor leaped to his feet, snarling through his gag, only to be knocked down by a swipe from the Beast Man's shaggy paw as two Skele-bots dragged Marlena towards the chopping block.
"Well, Your Majesty," drawled Skeletor sardonically. "Any last words?"
"Not particularly," deadpanned Marlena. "But if you uncuff me, I have a few gestures I'd like to share."
"Oh, Marlena, how I'll miss that rustic Earthling charm," chuckled Skeletor darkly. "Put her on the block."
"STOP!"
All eyes turned on a lone hooded figure in the center of the Great Square, the crowd parting hurriedly as though afraid of contamination. The hood lowered to reveal Adora's face, steel-blue eyes hard and defiant.
Marlena surged to her feet before the Skele-bots could restrain her. "NO, ADORA RUN!"
"What fortune?! The Lost Princess has returned home yet again!" Skeletor scoffed. "Bring her."
Two Skele-bots clamped an anti-magic collar around Adora's neck, dragging her up the platform and forcing her to her knees.
"Alright, you have what you wanted. Now let my family go," demanded Adora, glancing at Catra, Glimmer and Bow. "All my family."
Skeletor thoughtfully stroked his yellowed jawbone. "Hmm... No!"
"Wait, you said you'd spare them?!"
"Did I?" Skeletor asked with mock bemusement. "That doesn't sound like me at all. Oh well, on with the execution!"
"YOU CAN'T!"
"Who's going to stop me, your worthless sibling? Tell me, did you leave him cowering behind a couch somewhere, or did he just run off at the first opportunity?" Skeletor turned back to the bound Randor. "Pity I didn't toss him into Despondos, eh Randy? Let you keep the useful brat?"
"You won't get away with this!" Adora protested weakly.
"I don't have to 'get away' with anything," hissed Skeletor, eyes blazing in hellish triumph, his skull-mask mere inches from Adora's face. "I've already won!"
[-]
Deep within the bowels of what was once Man-At-Arm's workshop, Tri-Klops grumbled bitterly. While the rest of Skeletor's warriors were celebrating topside, he was stuck down in this pit co-ordinating the Skele-bot army occupying the city.
His three cybernetic eyes swiveled back and forth between half a dozen floating holo-screens. He was so engrossed in his work, he didn't even notice the dark purple tendrils snaking down from above.
Before Tri-Klops could react, he found himself violently plucked from his post. He screamed frantically as steely tendrils constricted about his limbs, dragging him inexorably towards an open vent. An insectoid face peered from the dark aperture, bug-eyes glowing an eerily green as they inscrutably regarded the panicking cyborg.
"Oooh, your optics appear capable of processing the majority of the electromagnetic spectrum!" The creature squeed. "Can I borrow one?"
[-]
Adora watched helplessly as the Skele-bots forced Marlena's head down, bracing her neck against the cold stone. Trap Jaw flashed a steely grin as he raised his ax-arm high, blade gleaming in the light of the blood-red sun.
Skeletor raised his own hand, mirroring the cyborg executioner as the last moon began dipping below the horizon. "So begins the Age of Skele-"
Something flashed like blue lightning. Trap Jaw blinked in confusion, ax-hand falling from his mechanical wrist like a chopped tree. Behind him landed a shimmering warrior with skin like burnished bronze and a mane of wild gold, muscular fingers coiled about the hilt of an azure crystal blade.
"Who the blazes are you!?" Skeletor howled in fury, rounding on the intruder.
"They call me," squeaked the warrior, voice deepening as he struck a dramatic pose. "I mean... They call me He-Man!"
"They'll be calling you He-Corpse in a minute," Skeletor snarled, pointing a condemning finger. "Sentries, slay this muscle-bound oaf!"
Two Skele-bots stepped forward before their silver skulls began spinning wildly, normally crimson optics cycling randomly through the color spectrum.
[-]
Tri-Klops trashed pitifully against the thick purple tendrils pinning him to the wall, screams of protest muffled by the tightly woven tresses gagging his mouth.
Entrapta hunched over a Skele-bot laid across the work table, chest cavity yawning open to reveal a shard of Ancient blue-green crystal embedded in its circuitry.
"Fascinating," cooed Entrapta. "I have to hand it to you, integrating First One tech into your bots on this wide a scale can't have been easy! And using yourself as the hub for the bots' network was positively inspired! But then you must be used to processing multiple data feeds at once!"
A purple tendril tapped one of Tri-Klops' optics experimentally, much to the cyborg's irritation.
"Of course that does risk opening your system to viruses... Like this one!" Entrapta brandished a triangular data crystal. "Don't worry, I modified it to be less, well... murdery! But you might have a tincey-wincey headache for the next day or two... or ten. Sorry about that!"
[-]
A bot collapsed at Skeletor's feet, smoke rising from its charred optics. All across the Great Square, the rest of his bots collapsed one by one as the mass of Eternian civilians began fleeing for their lives.
"Typical," hissed Skeletor, summoning his Havok Staff with a burst of crimson flame. "If you want something done right..."
He-Man quickly snapped off the anti-magic collar around Adora's neck. "Free the others," he said. "I'll handle bonehead!"
"Handle this, you fur-clad cretin!" Skeletor roared, unleashing a gout of scarlet fire.
Adora raced across the platform, hoping her brother would be able to endure the warlock's onslaught. She summoned her energy sword, holding it high as she charged. "FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!"
Beast Man loped forward, snarling in fury before a swing from She-Ra's glowing warhammer sent him flying across the square. Trap Jaw came hot on his comrade's shaggy heels, mechanical arm reconfigured into a vicious buzzsaw. A flourish of She-Ra's flashing blade was all it took to literally disarm the cyborg before a fist shattered his steel jaw.
As the cyborg crumpled at She-Ra's feet, a piercing snarl froze her in place. Skeletor's savage cat Panthor was already in mid-pounce, fangs and claws gleaming like ivory knives, jade eyes burning with hunger. The dusky purple feline's teeth were mere inches from She-Ra's throat when a green-furred behemoth rammed into him like a comet.
Panthor and Battle Cat landed with a silence that belied their mammoth sizes, circling each other warily. Panthor hissed with cold fury. Battle Cat responded with a roar that shook the very towers of Eternos, causing Panthor to shrink and scamper off in terror.
She-Ra smiled. "Good kitty."
Only Evil-Lyn was left standing between She-Ra and the prisoners, regarding the Princess of Power with a coldly calculating gaze.
She-Ra leveled her energy blade. "You want some too?"
"I only fight when there's something worth winning, girl," snorted Evil-Lyn derisively. "You can have your precious brood back."
She-Ra arched an eyebrow. "Um... Thanks, I guess?"
"Oh, don't thank me," chuckled Evil-Lyn, fading into the shadows. "If I know Skeletor, he's going to take you all down with him anyway."
She-Ra wasted no time shattering the chains restraining her family. Randor, Marlena, Bow and Glimmer embraced her rapturously as Melog and Battle Cat sniffed each other inquisitively.
The group hug eventually and reluctantly disentangled itself from She-Ra, leaving her standing across from Catra. The feline Etherian's blue and yellow gaze was utterly unreadable.
"Catra, I..." She-Ra stammered. "What I said to you before was... inexcusable. And I'll understand if you never-"
Before she could finish that thought, Catra pounced on her girlfriend and locked lips in a deep passionate kiss. The two drank greedily from each other before finally coming up for air.
"So, does this mean you forgive me?" She-Ra panted.
"You're such an idiot," chortled Catra softly, before an arc of crimson lightning rent the air.
On the far side of the platform, Power Sword and Havok Staff clashed, discharging azure and scarlet in all directions as He-Man and Skeletor glared at each other across locked weapons.
"How are you even still standing?!" Skeletor raged. "This power is not of Etheria or..." His eyes blazed as they fell upon the skull-shaped iron-grey buckler securing He-Man's harness.
"GRAYSKULL!? THAT'S THE SECRET, ISN'T IT!? TELL ME-" Skeletor was blinded by a burst of violet light as he staggered backward. By the time his vision cleared, he had been surrounded.
Glimmer stood on Skeletor's right, fists still shimmering with violet energy. To his left, Bow notched a blast-arrow. Behind, Catra, Teela and Melog flashed into visibility, cutting off all escape. Directly in front stood She-Ra and He-Man, blades trained on the warlock.
"It's over, Skeletor!" She-Ra declared.
"I will not be bested by a pack of mewling whelps!" The warlock hissed, eyes blazing behind his skull-mask. "Don't you realize who I am? I am Skeletor, Prince of Demons, Master of Death... LORD OF DESTRUCTION!"
Skeletor struck his Havok Staff against the ground, unleashing a crimson wave that flung the young heroes in all directions while shattering the entire platform to jagged splinters.
She-Ra and He-Man dug themselves out of the wreckage, shaking off debris like dogs shedding water. "Catra!?" She-Ra cried. "Glimmer!? Bow!?"
"Over here!"
Catra, Teela and Melog decloaked atop a pile of rubble. Nearby, Glimmer teleported back into reality carrying a shaken but otherwise intact Bow. She-Ra sighed with relief, only for a shrill cackle to shatter the moment.
Skeletor, still clutching his Havok Staff, floated at the center of a raging pillar of pure crimson chaos that stretched from foundation to firmament. The Lord of Destruction's laughter became even more unhinged as the very bedrock of Eternos began to tremble.
"He's going to bring down the entire city!" He-Man cried over the pandemonium.
"Together then!?" She-Ra offered her brother a fistbump.
He-Man responded in kind. "Together!"
"YES! YEESSS!" Skeletor shrieked in dark ecstasy, drunk on the chaotic energies surging through his body, earth and sky shaking with his broken laughter. "Let Eternos crumble and burn! Let its shattered ruins stand as eternal monument to my hate! FOR I AM-"
Two figures leaped through the raging red tempest, shining swords held high.
"FOR ETERNIA!" She-Ra cried as the twins' blazing blue blades struck the red-black runestone shard embedded in the Havok Staff, unleashing a blast of all-consuming white light.
Skeletor faceplanted before the gates of the Royal Palace with a crunching thud, shards of yellowed bone mask scattered across the red flagstones. A gauntlet shot up to conceal the exposed half of his face as he fled into the palace's interior.
"We... we should probably go after him," panted He-Man, bracing himself on his Power Sword.
"Absolutely," huffed She-Ra, leaning against a piece of semi-collapsed masonry. "In a minute."
"Adora!" Randor threw his arms around his daughter's giant form. "Where's Adam? Is he-"
"He's safe, Dad," answered She-Ra, shooting a glance at her brother. "I promise."
"Thank the Ancients," sighed Randor with relief, almost fainting before he was caught by He-Man. The king gazed with awe upon the bronze warrior. "Who are you?"
"This is He-Man," said She-Ra. "He's uh..."
"The legendary warrior foretold by the Ancients," interjected Man-At-Arms, limping towards the royals with Teela's support.
"I don't believe I'm familiar with that prophecy?" Randor asked.
"It's a very old prophecy, your majesty," answered Duncan, shooting the twins a knowing glance. "Isn't that right?"
"Yes... totally... super old, but we can talk about that later," said She-Ra, shifting gears. "We have to catch Skeletor before he escapes!"
"Wait!" Randor spoke hesitantly. "There's something you need to know... about Skeletor."
[-]
He barreled through the narrow stone passage, clutching the fragmented remains of the shattered skull-mask to his face. He scraped his head against the low rocky ceiling, spitting an especially foul curse. Just one more indignity that his enemies would pay for.
He raced across the narrow stone bridge, mind roiling with the torments he would inflict upon them all once he returned. The darkly roaring river below was drowned out by the roar of blood surging through his skull.
I'll be back, he silently swore to himself. They'll all die screaming my name!
"Uncle Keldor?"
In his path stood She-Ra, radiant and immovable as the sun. He turned back only to find escape blocked by that muscle-bound oaf He-Man.
She-Ra stepped forward, golden aura flickering as she reverted to Adora. "It is you, isn't it?"
"Ironic, isn't it?" Keldor's thin blue lips twisted into a sardonic sneer, tossing the broken skull-mask into the churning waters below. "I knew the people of Eternos would never accept Miro's unwanted half-breed as their ruler, but some cackling necromancer?"
"But... why?" Adora pleaded weakly, pain and confusion strangling her voice. "How could you do all this to us, to your own family?"
"Family!?" Keldor barked bitterly, quietly slipping a hand into his cloak. "Is that what we are? My own father couldn't even look at me without disgust. And soon... neither will yours."
"ADORA!" He-Man cried as Keldor drew a vial of sickly green liquid from his cloak and hurled it at his niece.
She only just summoned her energy shield as the vial shattered against it, releasing wickedly hissing acid. Adora's arm reflexively whipped out before she realized what she was doing, splashing the vile liquid back at Keldor.
The would-be tyrant wailed like a demon in torment as the acid struck his face, pale blue skin sizzling and bubbling like melting tar. He staggered back blindly, the eroded edge of the stone bridge crumbling under his feet as we went careening into space.
"KELDOR!" Adora tried leaping to her uncle's rescue, He-Man grabbing her before she could go tumbling over the edge herself. Her desperately outstretched fingers barely grazed the edge of Keldor's purple cloak before he was swallowed completely by the roaring void.
Adora's stared into the growling abyss, tears pooling beneath her eyes.
[-]
Randor brooded upon his newly reclaimed throne. A fragment of yellowed bone-mask lay in the king's hand, his fingers lightly tracing its thin brittle edges.
"Your Majesty?" Man-At-Arms asked gently. The old soldier leaned ever slightly to his right, left leg encased in a cybernetic brace.
"Hmm? Oh yes... my apologies, Duncan," spoke Randor, snapping out of his funk. "Please, continue your report."
"The Royal Guard have routed the last of the Mer-Man's forces from Seahaven," answered Duncan in clipped tones. "We've also rounded up the remaining insurrectionists, save the witch called Evil-Lyn."
"And Keldor?"
"We tried trawling the underground river Adora showed us but... it could go all the way to Subternia as far as we know."
"Do you think he survived?"
"If he did, I imagine we'll know soon enough," sighed Duncan grimly before his commlink pinged. "Yes? One moment. Your Majesty, there's someone outside who'd like to see you."
"Who..?"
The great golden doors creaked open, allowing Adam's slender form to slip in before waving nervously "Hi, Dad."
Randor stepped down from his throne, skull-mask slipping from his fingers. "Adam..?"
The young Prince rubbed the back off his neck awkwardly. "I know things have been kinda... weird between us lately but I just wanted-"
Before Adam could utter another word, Randor threw his arms around his son. "My boy..." the King sobbed openly, without shame. "My precious boy."
Adam's own emotional dam broke soon after, weeping wordlessly into his father's shoulder.
[-]
The twin moons rose over the palace spires as Cringer frolicked in the courtyard, pouncing on butterflies while Adam and Adora watched from the cool shade of a nearby banyam tree.
"So how did it go with Dad?" Adora asked.
"Good, we spent the whole night talking," answered Adam. "Well, I spent the whole night talking, he mostly just listened."
"That sounds like a good first step?"
"Yeah, he's even thinking of holding elections for a new Council of Elders. Says this whole thing proves too much power in one place is dangerous," said Adam. "Funny, first time I can really open up to Dad in years and I still have to hold back. I help save the kingdom, and he'll never even know."
"Hey..." Adora play-punched him in the arm. "I'll know."
"Thanks," chuckled Adam, rubbing his arm. "What about you? Have you told Mom and Dad what you've decided?"
"Not yet," sighed Adora. "Guess I can't put it off much longer."
[-]
Darla's crystal hull gleamed in the warm light of the still sun as she lay docked at the Eternos skyport. A coterie of Etherians and Eternians were gathered about her embarkment ramp.
"Yo, roomie!" Catra sidled up to Teela and Adam, admiring her former cellmate's new dress uniform. "Captain of the Guard, huh? Nice!"
"Yeah," answered Teela, shifting awkwardly in the overly ornate armor. "Dad's stepping down to focus more on inventing after the whole leg thing. Just hope I'm ready."
"Cough-blatant nepotism-cough!" Adam choked.
"Oh that's rich, coming from Mr. Crown Prince," scoffed Teela, nuggying the young royal affectionately.
"Ow! Ow! Quit it!" Adam pleaded pitifully.
A short distance away, Marlena and Randor conferred hesitantly with their daughter. "Are you sure this is what you want?" Marlena asked.
"Mom, meeting you and Dad and Adam, finding Eternia, has been the most incredible experience of my life, but Glimmer and Bow..." Adora glanced back at the two Etherians. "They're family too, and Etheria... Etheria is home."
"D'aaaw!" Glimmer cooed, wide-eyed.
"Best Friend Squad forever," sniffed Bow, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Believe me, I understand," sighed Marlena, embracing Adora. "But I will miss you, mija."
"There will always be a place for you here," spoke Randor, placing a hand on Adora's shoulder.
"Catra," teased Marlena warningly. "You better keep my little girl out of trouble, hear?"
"Yes, ma'am," answered Catra, saluting gingerly.
"Come here, you," chuckled Marlena, extending a hand to the feline Etherian. "Glimmer, Bow?"
"Yes please!" Bow squeed as he and Glimmer enthusiastically joined the royal group hug.
Marlena side-eyed her son. "Adam...?"
"Oh no, I'm good, thank-" Adam answered before Teela shoved him into his mother's waiting embrace.
[-]
A gold-feathered falcon perched atop the skyport's observation tower, watching the joyous group from afar. Its yellow eyes passed over the Royal Family to linger hauntingly on the newly-minted Captain Teela.
"You must be proud of her?" Man-At-Arms spoke, stepping towards the railing with a low mechanical whirr.
I gave up the right to take pride in her long ago, thee Sorceress' voice echoed in Duncan's mind. And yet... she has accomplished so much in so short a life.
"It not too late, you know?"
Yes, it is. The falcon turned a cold eye on Duncan. I gave the boy the power he sought, my debt to you is paid.
"Debt?" Duncan rumbled. "I didn't take Teela in for your sake, and I don't think you helped Adora and Adam for mine."
It hardly matters now.
The falcon stretched its wings before leaping from the observation tower, beginning the long and lonely flight back to Castle Grayskull.
[-]
Eldon the Wise once wrote that an anvil dropped from the heavens would take nine days to reach Eternia, and that it would take that same anvil a further nine days to reach Subternia. An exaggeration, but not by much.
A network of vast caverns honeycombing the entire planet, Subternia was home to several of the myriad species that called Eternia home. Not least of which were the bat-winged Speleans.
One such Spelean was a farmer who occupied his days harvesting bio-luminescent fungus for his spouse to sell in the great marketplace of Eternos City. He'd just plucked a particularly bright and bulbous toadstool when a small bat-winged child came fluttering through the tunnels.
"Papa, papa!" the child cried in a panic.
"Vesper," The farmer cocked an eyebrow ridge. "What's the matter?"
"I found a body by the river!"
"Show me!"
The farmer swiftly followed the child through the winding caverns, until they came to the sandy grey banks of a dark river. A soaking wet figure lay face down in the gravel, clad in battered armor and a ragged purple hood.
"Hello, friend? Do you need help?" The farmer gently rolled the stranger over, gasping at the mass of ruined flesh that had once been a face. "Gods below! Vesper, fly to the village and fetch the healer!"
Vesper nodded before zipping back down the tunnel.
No sooner was the bat-winged child out of earshot than the stranger's hand shot out like a viper, nails digging into the hapless farmer's throat. The stranger's eyes blazed with crimson hate as he rasped a single word through tattered lips.
"Graaayskullll..."
The End?