The Deathtrap Dungeon: Concluded
Man-At-Arms was overseeing the finishing touches to the decorations for Teela's birthday gathering. It was Man-At-Arms duty to make sure that every thing ran as normally as possible but his mind wasn't really focused on the job as he was worried about He-man and the king and queen. It had been nearly a day since Count Marzo had kidnapped the king and queen and forced He-man in to going to his the ruins of Sardath to attempt a rescue.
As Man-At-Arms watched the workers putting the final touches to the decorations his wrist communicator buzzed for his attention. Pressing a button on the communicator Man-At-Arms opened a link to whoever was on the other end.
"Good news Duncan," said the voice of He-man. "I have managed to rescue the king and queen as well as two of Marzo's other victims."
"Thank the Sorceress," replied Man-At-Arms. "And what about Marzo?"
"There's no sign of him," said He-man. "However I believe he will be launching his attack soon."
"What makes you say that?" said Man-At-Arms.
"Marzo doesn't know that we've escaped his maze," said He-man. "So he believes that Prince Adam will be weak enough to attack and frorce the throne from. He'll have probably organized an army of some kind to attack the Royal Palace."
Man-At-Arms let out a reluctant sigh.
"That may be a problem," said Man-At-Arms. "As you know after you went after the king and queen I had the Heroic Warriors go out to make sure that neither Skeletor, Hordak nor King Hiss tries to take advantage of this situation. They wouldn't be able to get back in time to stop Marzo's army. The Royal Guards and city defenders could probably hold off Marzo's army but they will be no match for Marzo himself."
"I'm going to try and get back to the palace as fast as possible," said He-man. "But the Lazer Bolt carries only one; I'll need you to send someone to pick up the others."
"I'll send the Attack Track to pick them up," said Man-At-Arms. "Then I'll have the guards prepare for Marzo's attack."
Count Marzo stood in front of his army of mercenaries that he either paid, bribed or blackmailed in to joining him. Marzo knew that his army didn't care about his quest to take the throne of Eternia. Normally he wouldn't lower himself to work with this kind of warrior but the ends justified his actions. Marzo waited for the noise to die down before he addressed them.
"Now is the time," called out Marzo. "We will storm the royal palace and drag Prince Adam from his hiding place. Then I shall take the throne of Eternia and you all shall be greatly rewarded."
At the mention of a reward the army erupted in to loud cheers.
"Now onwards my warriors!!" called out Marzo. "Bring victory to me!!"
Marzo's army then raced and mounted their horses and battle wagons and began their march towards the city of Eternos.
The Battle Hawk soared though the sky. Teela was amazed at the swiftness of the new machine. As the Battle Hawk carried Teela high above the Evergreen Forest she the city of Eternos getting closer. As the city grew closer Teela she spotted a large group of men exit the forest and head for the city's walls. As Teela took the Battle Hawk down for a closer look the gates to the city burst open and a large army of Royal Guards and City Defenders came rushing out to confront the oncoming army.
The two armies clashed in to each other. Each warrior's weapons striking each other. As Teela got closer to the battle she spotted a lone warrior standing just out of the way of the battle. Switching on the scanners of the Battle Hawk Teela saw that it was Count Marzo. Teela instantly brought the Battle Hawk down to land. Sure that she hadn't been spotted Teela leaped off the Battle Hawk and raced towards Count Marzo.
'This is going exactly as I planned,' thought Marzo as he watched the battle. 'With everyone distracted by the battle it shall be easy for me to break in to the Royal Palace and take the throne of Eternia for myself.'
Marzo was about to head for the palace when Teela suddenly leaped in to his path.
"You cannot stop me warrior woman," hissed Marzo as he drew his sword. "I will take the throne this time."
"Don't be so certain," said Teela as she grabbed her battle staff. "Not while I stand in the way."
Marzo raised his sword and Teela prepared to defend herself when she was suddenly struck from behind. As Teela hit the ground she rolled forward and leaped to her feet to face Chimera, Marzo's bodyguard guard.
"Don't harm her too much," Marzo said to Chimera. "Every king needs a queen and I can't think of anyone finer that Teela."
Teela turned to Marzo.
"You are totally out of your mind if you think that will ever happen." snapped Teela.
"We shall see." laughed Marzo as he vanished in to a ball of flame.
As soon as Marzo disappeared Chimera leaped at Teela. Teela quickly blocked Chimera's first blow with her staff and kicked him in the chest, Chimera staggered backwards a few steps before charging at Teela again.
Marzo appeared from his ball of flame just inside the Royal Palace. With the guards distracted by the battle with his men the palace was quiet and he was able to make his way to the throne room without being stopped.
Chimera grasped Teela's arm as she swung her fist at his head. Chimera yanked and pulled Teela off her feet and threw her to the ground. As soon as Teela hit the ground Chimera drove his massive fists towards her head. Teela rolled out of the way and Chimera's fists hit nothing but dirt leaving two large dents in the ground. Chimera glared at Teela as he raised his fists again. Chimera threw a punch with his right fist, Teela ducked and Chimera lashed out with a kick; Teela rolled out of the way and scooped up a handful of dirt. Chimera span around and snarled, Chimera leaped at Teela. Teela threw the dirt she held and it hit Chimera in the face. Chimera staggered as he was blinded by the dirt. Teela quickly kicked Chimera in the stomach driving the air out of his lungs.
Marzo stood in front of the doors that led to the royal throne room.
'At last,' thought Marzo as excitement raced through him. 'After many long years my quest is almost over. I shall rule Eternia as it should be ruled.'
Marzo then placed his hands on the doors and pushed them open. As Marzo stepped in to the room Man-At-Arms stepped down from the royal thrones.
"That's far enough." said Man-At-Arms.
"Is that so?" said Marzo. "And who are you to tell the king of Eternia what to do?"
"You are not the king of anything," replied Man-At-Arms raising his battle mace. "And you shall never be."
"You shall be the first to kneel before me!" snarled Marzo as he threw a bolt of magic towards Man-At-Arms.
Man-At-Arms swung his mace up to deflect the blow, angered even more Marzo threw more bolts of magic at Man-At-Arms.
The battle between Man-At-Arms and Count Marzo was fast and furious as each combatant block or avoided each other's attack, but it wouldn't last for long. Count Marzo felt his energy beginning to fade as he used his magic to block Man-At-Arms's attack. Man-At-Arms was beginning to sweat; his armor was starting to over heat as it used up its power supplies in order to shield him from Marzo's magical onslaught. An alarm built in to his helmet warned Man-At-Arms of the armor's impending shut down. But before he could do anything about it Man-At-Arms was rocked by a ball of energy that struck him in the chest. The armor's instantly jumped from warning to shutdown. Man-At-Arms would be at a disadvantage without the armor but he was once the Captain of the Royal Guards so his fighting skills would more than make up for his lack of shield or weaponry. Pressing a button on his chest plate the armor hiss As the seals popped and the armor clattered to the floor. Triumph flowed through Marzo as he watched Man-At-Arms evacuate his armor. Filled with a new found confidence Marzo prepared to lauch another magical onslaught. As Marzo raised his hands to conjure up a ball of magical energy Man-At-Arms leaped forward, he then landed on the floor in a roll. As Man-At-Arms came out of the roll Marzo noticed the he had snatched up the battle mace that he had dropped in the battle. Man-At-Arms came up on one knee and swung the mace, as the mace reached the arch in the swing it glowed a bright blue and a bolt of crackling blue and white energy shot from the head of the mace and collided with Marzo. Marzo was flung off his feet and he crashed through the doors of the royal throne room.
Chimera was bearing down on Teela. Teela was amazed at how skilful the huge monster was. She was using all her best moves just to avoid being struck by one of Chimera's rock hard fists. Teela ran towards Chimera and using her staff she began to vault over his massive head. Teela lashed out with a swift kick that caught Chimera on the side of the head. Chimera's head barely moved from the blow and as Teela soared over his head Chimera's hands snapped out with blinding speed and snatched Teela by the ankle. With her momentum suddenly gone Teela's body had no option other than to drop to the ground. Teela hit the ground hard and the air rushed from her lungs. Stunned Teela struggled to her feet as Chimera stalked her preparing to deliver another blow. Snarling Chimera raised his fists and was about to smash them in to Teela's skull when he was distracted by the sound of roaring engines rapidly getting closer. Chimera's head snapped around to the direction where the sound was coming from and using his powerful eye sight he spotted the oncoming figure of He-man riding the Lazer Bolt.
Chimera's instructions were clear, he had to warn his master that He-man was still alive and heading towards them. Ignoring Teela, Chimera closed his eyes and focused on opening a rift in space for him to pass through.
Teela had managed to get to one knee, her ribs hurt with every movement. Before her stood Chimera his eyes were close and a glowing shape was forming over his hulking body. Teela recognized it immediately as Chimera's ability to teleport. Bracing herself against the pain Teela leaped up and ran towards the quickly vanishing Chimera. With one powerful surge of energy Teela jumped and landed on Chimera. As Teela fought to keep her hold on Chimera the two vanished in Chimera's rift.
Marzo quickly scrambled to his feet. Looking over his shoulder he saw Man-At-Arms limping towards him. Reaching in to his belt Marzo grabbed a handful of powder. As Man-At-Arms grew closer Marzo flung his handful of powder at Man-At-Arms. Man-At-Arms threw his arms up to protect his face. The powder suddenly erupted in to flames which set fire to Man-At-Arms's unprotected clothes. With Man-At-Arms distracted by putting out the flames that threatened to engulf him, Count Marzo quickly span around and raced down the corridor as fast as he could. Marzo soon came to another set of large doors, Marzo quickly pushed the doors open to find himself in the palace banquet hall. Hanging above a wonderful display was a huge banner with 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEELA!!' printed in glowing ink.
Before Marzo could wander further in to the hall the familiar site of Chimera's exit from the rift appeared. Marzo's heart beat with excitement, with Chimera at his side he could put an end to the interference from Man-At-Arms and fulfil his destiny. As Marzo stepped towards Chimera he noticed that his bodyguard was struggling with something on his back.
Even though to everyone the time between their entering the rift created by Chimera and their exit inside the Royal Palace was less than an eye blink the trip inside the rift seem to last longer. As they left the rift Teela was bleeding from several cuts on her head, face and body. But no matter how much it hurt Teela still had a vice-like grip on Chimera's neck. Chimera thrashed about like a wild animal trying to throw Teela off. Teela carefully let go with one hand and reached in to her belt. She removed a length of cable that she usually used with a grapple hook however this time she had other uses in mind. Teela quickly wrapped the cable around Chimera's neck. Chimera bucked like a wild animal as Teela tightened her grip on the cable, pulling it so that it cut of Chimera's air supply. No matter how hard he tried there was no way of throwing his back, Chimera started to get light headed and his legs began to stumble. Suddenly Chimera dropped to one knee; soon the second knee hit the floor. Then he suddenly toppled over and crashed to the ground. With Chimera unconscious Teela unwrapped the cable from around his neck and got up to confront Count Marzo.
With his plans destroyed Marzo began backing towards the door he had just come through. Just then the doors burst open and Marzo's exit was blocked by both He-man and Man-At-Arms.
"H-H-How did you escape my maze?" gasped Marzo.
"That doesn't matter," replied He-man. "What does matter is the amount of time you're going to spend on the Prison Star."
"There is no way I'm going to the Prison Star!" snapped Marzo.
He then quickly reached in to a pouch he had inside his cape. Before anyone could react Marzo threw something to the ground. There was an explosion and thick smoke filled the hall. Once the smoke had cleared enough for them to see the Heroic Warriors saw that Marzo had vanished.
"He got away." Teela snarled in frustration.
"I'm sure he'll be back," said He-man looking at the smoke filled banquet hall. He then turned to Man-At-Arms. "Well it looks like the surprise has been ruined."
"I'm afraid it looks that way." Man-At-Arms.
Teela looked confused and He-man pointed to the birthday banner.
"Happy birthday Teela."
The End