Chapter Three

"Distractions"

Sitting in his chambers within Stone Mountain, concern filled the wizard named Malik. It had happened at last. His enemy - his greatest enemy - had returned, stronger and more devious than ever. The Spirit of Evil. A bodiless entity, whose interest were in souls and took them to his home dimension when he given up to him.

Some time ago, for the heart of a woman named Teela, Malik nearly gave up his own soul to have her. But it was the intervention of Kareen and her pure, loving spirit that changed his mind and caused the Spirit of Evil to be vanquished that day - with the help of He-Man, of course.

But if his sources were correct, and if what had happened in the Evergreen Forest was an indication, then it meant that the Spirit of Evil had indeed returned to Eternia.

His agenda was unknown, his plans left a mystery. But as Malik called for Kareen to aid him, that wouldn't last for long . . .

***

Man-At-Arms looked out towards the horizon through his binoculars, watching as the evil forces from Snake Mountain charged towards Eternos. "There they are," he said to He-Man.

"Yeah," replied He-Man. "But this doesn't make any sense. Why would Skeletor chose now to attack? The Sorceress hasn't warned me of some sort device or force he's carrying. And I asked Moss Man and Clamp Champ to stop by Grayskull and keep an eye on it. They reported that there was nothing out of the ordinary."

"But there's a full force here, He-Man. Even King Hiss is with Skeletor on this one. Maybe he's just trying something different. You know Skeletor."

"Do I?" asked He-Man. "Duncan, something changed him after he spent so much time with those Earth children. Sure, he's done his thing on Etheria - trying to steal Horde Prime's ship and whatnot - but there's definitely been a change."

"Well, whatever it is, we'll figure it out in a moment."

There was a sudden explosion as the Evil Warriors and the Snake Men arrived within striking distance. Man-At-Arms gave the attack order and He-Man led the assault.

There seemed to be only a second-long pause as the two forces collided into each other. The battle quickly came together, fists and weapons hitting their opponents.

Man-At-Arms blasted Beast-Man with his energy beam, the feral warrior staggering backwards from the impact. Beast-Man then leapt forward, claws ready to scratch Man-At-Arms' eyes out. Man-At-Arms, though, swung around and bashed Beast-Man in the face with his club.

Clawful swept forward, his large pincer coming dangerously close to Ram-Man's arm. Ram-Man launched himself forward, smashing his head against Clawful's chest. Clawful went flying backwards and Ram-Man smiled at his success. Yet, as soon as he turned his back on Clawful, he felt the pincer grasp his helmet. Ram-Man leapt up, suddenly, causing Clawful to go up with him. Clawful released and slammed to the ground.

Locked in combat not terribly far away were Fisto and Jitsu, who neither seemed to be gaining much of an advantage. Fisto's face stung as Jitsu's golden jab came sailing through the air. About to return the favor, Jitsu slammed his hand into Fisto's gut, causing him to double over. Jitsu was about claim victory - when Ram-Man rushed over and slammed into Jitsu's back.

"I'm gonna get ya!" shouted Clawful then, who was making for Ram-Man. Fisto smiled and SLAMMED his fist right into Jitsu, sending the Evil Warrior into the air - and right into Clawful. The two were down.

Roboto, on the other hand, was finding it hard to handle Whiplash's destructive tail as he smashed and bashed into him. But each time, Roboto took precise calculations and sensor readings. The tail was strong, filled with muscles and moving very fast as it bashed him. But Roboto was now ready for it. As Whiplash swung it around one more time - Roboto struck it at just the right spot. The tail snapped back, and then Roboto grabbed hold of it and applied just enough force and pull to knock Whiplash around and then - unconscious.

Rio Blast was having a hard-as-hell time getting any good shots from his wrist laser against Spikor. The spiked villain was capable of blocking Rio Blasts every attack. His trident flew out and destroyed his wrist-lasers, and then he grabbed Rio Blast by the neck and pulled him forward. This was his downfall, and Rio Blast's opportunity. His chest opened up - revealing twin missiles. They shot forward - knocking Spikor back, and then exploding.

Extendar leapt back as Two-Bad charged at him. He threw out his hand - which punched Two-Bad in the . . . er, blue . . . face. His other punched the other face, and Two-Bad staggered back. This gave Extendar a chance to grow tall, and then send both of his fists down and knock both their heads.

While Stonedar shrugged of laser beams from Trap-Jaw, Snake-Face confronted Rokkon. Rokkon charged towards, weapons ready. Snake-Face hissed, then his sockets filled with the tiny red snakes. The effect came across Rokkon, turning him into stone, freezing him in his steps. And then, much to Snake-Face's shock, Rokkon started to move once more.

"How is this possible?"

"I'm already made of stone, you moron," Rokkon replied, turning into his rock shape. He shot forward and slammed right into Snake-Face. The Snake Man flew backwards, and right into Webstor, who had just been totally soaked thanks to Snout Spout.

Stratos soared through the air, avoiding the long arms of Sssqueeze, but just barely. He glanced over at Buzz-Off, who was having a lot of trouble with Tung Lashor. The two met eyes, and a plan was in motion. They shot right towards each other, coming within inches. Sssqueeze's arms and Tung Lashor's tongue followed- and were suddenly tangled up with the other!

He-Man clanged his sword against Skeletor's Chaos Staff, and then drew back and blocked a beam from King Hiss. There was something not right about this. Skeletor and King Hiss were both taking on the champion of Grayskull - and losing! He had fought them both before, many times, and knew when they were holding back. This was won of those times.

He shouldered Skeletor in the gut, sending the blue master of Snake Mountain into a big mud puddle. He-Man then kicked King Hiss in the head (he wasn't even out of his human skin!) and the Snake leader crumbled.

He-Man quickly glanced at the walls of Eternos and saw that Teela, Lubic and the rest of the Royal Soldiers were giving Evil-Lynn, Saurod, Blade, Rattlor, and Stinkor a run for their money.

"You've won this time!" shouted Skeletor, waving his Chaos Staff in a sign of retreat. The others began to pull back, laying down cover fire for each other. "Retreat!"

They all ran for their vehicles, still laying down cover fire.

As they began to move off, Man-At-Arms rushed to He-Man's side. "What was all that about? I've seen a battle like that before!"

"It was a distraction," He-Man stated matter-of-factly. "There's something else going on here and they didn't want us to find out."

"Do you know what for?"

"No . . . but I intend on finding out."

***

A little later, after returning to Snake Mountain, Skeletor made for his quarters. His earlier feelings that had been brought out a few months by those terrible pathetic Earth children were squashed, and locked away with anticipation of the event that would soon occur. He consulted his books, studying and preparing for was going to happen.

After a few moments, there was a rap at his door. He stood and opened it, surprised to see King Hiss standing there. "What is it?"

"We have a guest."

Skeletor nodded and followed King Hiss through the long and dim-lit tunnels of Snake Mountain and arrived in the Meeting Room.

A man sat at the end of the table, dressed in red robes. "Locus, summoner of the Spirit of Evil," Skeletor greeted.

"Skeletor, ruler of Snake Mountain," Locus returned. "My master is interested in your role in his up-coming plans."

"How so?" asked Skeletor, rapping his fingers on the arm of his throne.

Locus leaned forward. "When this happens, Skeletor, there will be a chance for all those out there that serve the forces of darkness to take a stand and take Eternia for themselves. You and King Hiss are both very powerful and my master sees you as equals. It is for this reason . . . that you shall be his allies as well. Your willingness to keep the forces of good distracted while he continues his work has proven you worthy to him."

Skeletor nodded. "I like the sound of this, Locus. Tell us more . . ."