Masters of the Universe: The Movie Continued
Evergreen Forest
Battle Cat was near the point of collapsing as he raced through Evergreen Forest. Every time he had stopped to rest out of nowhere a squadron of Doom Troopers would suddenly appear out of their portals and Battle Cat was forced to flee once more. So far Battle Cat had been lucky as he raced through the trees as so far there had been no sighing of Doom Troopers or Evil Warriors. Up ahead Battle Cat saw a clearing in the trees. Battle Cat knew that this area held the fortress of the Wigets, the little people who lived in the forest. The fortress was in a secluded area where very few people travelled or even knew about. Pushing his tired limbs as much as he could Battle Cat headed towards the Wiget's fortress. As Battle Cat drew closer he noticed that no one was standing guard on top of the turrets that ran the length of the Wiget's fortress. Not even Squinch the Wiget's bravest and sometimes most foolish member could be seen. Battle Cat knew that something must have been wrong for Squinch to leave his post. Even as tired as he was Battle Cat still prepared himself for the possibly of action. Once he reached the gates of the Wiget fortress he looked up and caught a glimpse of light reflected off something. Looking closer he spotted that it was a large piece of mirror angled in such a way that anyone behind the wall could safely see over the other side without having to venture on to the turret.
'Clever idea.' thought Battle Cat.
Suddenly Battle Cat saw a figure dressed in red flash past reflected in the mirror, and then he heard a voice at the gate. Battle Cat knew that it didn't belong to any Wiget.
"Go away!" called out the muffled voice. Battle Cat thought he recognized the voice. "There are no Heroic Warriors here! They are-um- elsewhere fighting your kind."
Instantly Battle Cat recognized the voice.
"Orko!" growled Battle Cat. "Let me in!"
"B-B-Battle Cat?" replied Orko. "How did I really know it is you?"
"How about I rip thought this door and show you!" snapped Battle Cat.
Battle Cat heard the locks on the gate snap open and the gate begin to open. Battle Cat didn't wait for the gate to fully open, he leaped through the opening almost crushing Orko behind the gate.
"W-W-What are you doing!?" cried Orko as he pushed the gate away from him.
"I had to make sure that you were who I thought you were," replied Battle Cat. Battle Cat looked around at the deserted fortress then back to Orko. "Where are the Wigets? And what happened to you?"
"The Wigets are hiding in their mines just in case Skeletor's forces stumble on this place," replied Orko as he quickly locked the gate. "As for me, I was returning from Trolla. I didn't even know that there was this much trouble. Not until I was captured by Skeletor's Doom Troopers and taken to the Royal Palace."
"How did you escape?" asked Battle Cat.
"I along with several other Heroic Warriors was being transported to Snake Mountain," explained Orko. "On the way there the transport carrier was attack by a group of Birdmen led by Raven." Battle Cat had heard about Raven. Raven was the student of Stratos and was being trained by Stratos for the day when Stratos would stand down as guardian of Avion. Battle Cat let Orko continue his tale. "After Raven and the Birdmen defeated the Doom Troopers guarding us we fled to here where we have begun to form a resistance to Skeletor's control. Raven suggested that the Wigets abandon their fortress and hide in the mines while we worked from here to free our comrades."
Battle Cat was amazed at the amount that had gone on in the last two months. Battle Cat filled Orko in on how after two months away he and Adam had stumbled up on Gwildor and how it was Gwildor's Cosmic Key that had allowed Skeletor his victory.
As Battle Cat and Orko were talking Raven along with Mekaneck, Ram Man, Man-E-Faces and Sensear walked up to them.
"Sensear has picked up a communication from Skeletor's troops," reported Raven. "It looks like they have lost all traces of He-man, Man-At-Arms, Teela and the one called Gwildor."
"That's good news then." said Orko.
Raven shook his head.
"No its not," said Raven. "Those four pose more of a threat to Skeletor than we do. With most of the Heroic Warriors captured there will be no one to stand in the way of Skeletor's rage. Weather they know what has happened or not it is likely Skeletor will punish the innocent people of Eternia for their escape.
Earth: The Everfields Cemetery
The day was slowly turning to night as Kevin and his long time girlfriend Julie walked through the cemetery. Kevin was uneasy Julie had been silent ever since they had left the graves of Julie's parents. Julie's parents had died in an accident when their plane had crashed nearly a year before. Julie was always quiet after their visits to the cemetery but this time the silence was different. The lights of the cemetery switched on and Kevin took a deep breath and prepared to speak.
"I'm leaving," said Julie breaking the silence. "This last year has been torture for me. Everywhere I go everything I do reminds me of my parents."
Kevin knew that Julie felt a great guilt over having chosen to stay with him rather than going with her parents on that fated night.
"Julie you know that if you had gone with them wouldn't have changed a thing. It may have made the situation even more tragic." said Kevin.
"But I could have done something," said Julie. "If I had gone with them instead of saying I needed to study so that I could spend the time with you they may have taken a different route or not taken the plane at all."
Kevin placed a comforting arm around Julie.
"Sometimes you have to except that there's nothing you can do to turn back time," Kevin said sadly. "Believe me if I could I would have also made sure that your parents didn't make that journey. And that I wouldn't be losing you now."
Julie looked in to Kevin's eyes and even though it was hurting her almost as much as the loss of her parents she still felt the need to leave the place she called home. Julie bent her head up to kiss Kevin on the cheek when she spotted a flash of light from the corner of her eye.
"Did you see that?" asked Kevin staring in the direction of the flash.
Julie nodded.
"What do you think it was?" asked Julie.
"I don't know but I'm checking it out." said Kevin.
Julie was about to protest and suggest that they call the police first but Kevin had already started dragging her down the path towards where the flash had come from.
Nearby
He-man, Man-At-Arms, Teela and Gwildor had made their way from the swamp land which they had landed near after their search had failed to uncover any sign of the missing Cosmic Key and had arrived in a large wooded area. The trees that surrounded them were nothing like he had come across making He-man think that Gwildor's key had taken the further than they had first believed. Teela was ever vigilant as always, Man-At-Arms had one of his scarcely devices in his hand and kept scanning the area for any sign of danger, Gwildor was slowly following, he kept stopping to examine every twig, leaf and bush to satisfy his scientist nature. Teela was of cause growing annoyed with this and kept letting small curses escape her lips.
"A true Captain of the Royal Guards." said He-man with a smile as Teela walked out of ear shot.
"I don't know where she gets it from." replied Man-At-Arms.
Suddenly there was a noise of something large moving through the trees ahead of them. Quickly going on the defensive He-man drew his sword and Teela and Man-At-Arms raised their blasters. The bushes in front of them parted and a large four legged creature stepped in front of them. Realizing that there was no threat from the creature the Heroic Warriors put their weapons away.
"What is it?" asked Teela.
"I have no idea," said Man-At-Arms as he scanned the creature with one of his devices. "Its not recorded in any of my databases."
Suddenly the creature let out a loud mooing sound. The Heroic Warriors once again went on the defence but the creature lowered its head and began to graze on the grass at its feet. Gwildor carefully walked up to the creature.
"I think its trying to communicate with us," said Gwildor who then let out a sound similar to the one made by the creature. "If I can find its native language it may know where we can find the key."
"We don't have time for this!" snapped Teela as Gwildor continued his attempts to communicate with the creature.
"She's right," said Man-At-Arms holding up a cronometer. "We only have a few crontons until the moon rises over Grayskull."
"Then we should split up," said He-man. "That way we can cover more ground."
"Agreed." replied both Man-At-Arms and Teela.
"We'll meet together in a couple of hours," said He-man. Has everyone got their comm units?" Teela and Man-At-Arms checked their comm units. "Good then lets get going we haven't got much time to save Eternia."
The three Heroic Warriors then split up to begin their search for the Cosmic Key leaving Gwildor behind with the creature. Then as if realizing they had left him behind Man-At-Arms called back to Gwildor.
The Everfields Cemetery
Kevin and Julie soon reached the spot where they had seen the flash of light. In one of the many flower beds lay a large smoking crater. As Kevin leaned in closer he saw something shiny in the heart of the crater.
"What is it?" asked Julie.
"I'm not sure." said Kevin as he began to reach in to the crater.
Julie placed a hand on Kevin's shoulder.
"Be careful," warned Julie. "You don't know what that thing is."
"Look at the size of this crater," Kevin said half to himself. "Whatever it is it must have fallen from a plane or something."
Kevin grabbed hold of the object and was surprised by how cold the object felt despite the amount of smoke coming from the crater. As Kevin removed the object from the crater his finger brushed along one of the many keys that covered its surface. The object let out a noise like a musical note. Instantly Kevin's face lit up with excitement.
"Wow!" gasped Kevin as he began to press more keys and more notes flowed from the object. "You know what this is? Its one of those new sympathizers from Japan. I have to take this to the school and crank it up with the amplifier and see just what this baby can really do."
Julie couldn't help but share Kevin's excitement at finding the mysterious object, but still she had to be the voice of reason.
"We have to hand it in," said Julie. "Someone may be looking for it."
"Doubt it," said Kevin. "If it fell from a plane then they are long gone." 'And foolish to let something as beautiful as this out of their grasp.' Kevin silently added. "And besides whom would I hand it in to? The groundskeeper would just keep it for himself and sell it for his next bottle of booze. The police wouldn't be much better; they would keep it on a shelf until no one claimed it and then hand it back to me. So I should just by pass the middle man."
Kevin then flashed Julie one of his award winning patented smiles, only this time it didn't work.
"Ok I'll hand it in to the police," said Kevin admitting defeat. "But please let me try it out on our equipment at the school this could be the only time to play something like this."
"Ok," said Julie willing to let Kevin have his little bit of time with the strange musical instrument. "But first thing in the morning you have to hand it in to the police."
"Agreed." replied Kevin.
Outside Robbie's Ribs
Man-At-Arms had spotted lights shining through the trees. As he got closer he discovered that it was a large building with a red and white neon sign that said 'WELCOME TO ROBBIE'S RIBS!' Man-At-Arms guessed that it was some sort of eating establishment. Man-At-Arms's guess was proven correct as he saw to people that looked very similar to Eternians walk from the building eat pieces of food from a large tub in their hands. Man-At-Arms quickly grabbed a scanner from his belt and scanned the people as they walked past his hiding place. Man-At-Arms looked at the read-out and slapped his head with the palm of his hand.
'How could I have been so stupid,' thought Man-At-Arms. 'They're Human. That means we are on Earth.'
Man-At-Arms knew all about Earth, it was where Marlena Glenn the Queen of Eternia and mother of Prince Adam and Princess Adora had been born. He was about to reach for his communicator to tell He-man all about his discovery when he felt a hand land lightly on his shoulder.
Instantly Man-At-Arms's soldier's instinct took over and with a blur of movement Man-At-Arms had removed his blaster from it holster and span around ready to press the trigger. Standing in front of the blaster's barrel was Teela, her eyes unblinking. Relieved Man-At-Arms holstered his blaster.
"Don't ever sneak up on a soldier on a stake-out." said Man-At-Arms as Teela knelt beside him.
"I wasn't sneaking anywhere," said Teela. "I can't help it if you were so lost in thought that a squadron of Horde Troopers could have crept up to you."
"I was not lost in thought," said Man-At-Arms. "I was studying our surroundings."
Teela looked up to see what Man-At-Arms was studying.
"All you were studying was the menus," said Teela. "Really farther how could you think about food while our friends are in danger?"
"Dying of hunger will not help our friends," said Man-At-Arms slightly insulated. "And besides I survived the siege of Arigon for seven days and seven nights....."
"With only a flask of two day old water and a handful of combat rations," Teela finished for Man-At-Arms. Man-At-Arms grunted and returned to his watch over the Robbie's Ribs, and then Teela spotted something. "Hey look over there."
Man-At-Arms looked over to where Teela was pointing and saw a couple kissing in the back seat of a four wheeled vehicle.
"I've been doing that long before you were even born." said Man-At-Arms.
Teela rolled her eyes.
"Not that," said Teela. "That!"
Man-At-Arms looked past the kissing couple and in to the bushes behind. There he saw familiar long pointed ears and the wild red hair.
"Gwildor!" muttered both Teela and Man-At-Arms.
"Come on let's see what that little swamp rat is up to." said Teela.
Gwildor had seen the couple in the vehicle, but he wasn't interested in their activities, the focus of his attention was on the large tub of food that sat between them and the front seats. Licking his lips Gwildor grabbed the grapple hook that he had used to snatch the Cosmic Key from Evil-Lyn's treacherous grasp.
'I hope you are better this time.' thought Gwildor.
Gwildor carefully aimed the grapple hook and pressed the trigger. The hook shot through the air and over a branch then down towards the tub. The instant the hook came in to contact with the tub its pincers clamped down on the tub without disturbing the couple. Gwildor tugged on the line a couple of times to make sure it was secure then he yanked the line and the hook pulled the tub out of the vehicle over the branch and in to his waiting hands. Instantly Gwildor pulled the lid of the tub off and began examining its contents. Gwildor had just pulled out a rib and was holding it to his lips when Man-At-Arms and Teela burst in to his hiding place.
"Holding out on us?" said Man-At-Arms as he grabbed the tub of food from Gwildor and began passing some of the food to Teela. The three quickly eat their food and Gwildor looked at the rib in his hand.
"I wonder why they put the food on these little white sticks?" said Gwildor.
"They're called rib bones." answered Man-At-Arms.
Gwildor suddenly looked ill.
"This used to be an animal?" said Gwildor shocked at the idea.
"What's wrong?" asked Teela. "You never eat meat before?"
"We Thenubrians do not kill our animals for food," said Gwildor sounding slightly insulated. "No matter how good it tastes."
Teela and Man-At-Arms shared a smile and then Teela looked at her cronometer.
"We're wasting time here," said Teela. "We still have to find the Cosmic Key."
Stirred in to action both Man-At-Arms and Gwildor got their feet and followed Teela away from Robbie's Ribs.
Avion
".....With He-man's death all hope has abandoned the people of Eternia, the Heroic Warriors have fallen and when the Eye of Grayskull opens I shall fulfil my destiny!!"
Raven looked down up on the huge holographic image of Skeletor generated by the holocron in the centre or the city.
"What I wouldn't give to hear something different!" snapped Raven. "I wish we could go down there and shut that blasted thing off."
"That is just the thing we cannot do," said a voice from behind Raven. Raven turned to see Stratos walking up to him, only this was not a Stratos that anyone would recognize. To avoid being captured by Skeletor's forces Stratos had changed his appearance, he had shaved off most of his beard leaving only a small amount of hair covering his chin. Stratos's helmet had also been changed from his usual red helmet to one dark blue in color. But the most striking difference was the color of Stratos's body feathers, instead of their normal grey color the feathers were now dyed a golden color. "Remember for the moment Avion is under the control of Spikor and Clawful, not to mention several squads of Doom Troopers and Sky Centurions. We have to be thankful that they think I have been captured otherwise they would have levelled this city to find me." Stratos looked down at the holographic image that ran constantly day and night. "How are the preparations going?"
"They are going well," reported Raven. "The Evil Warriors either don't know that several Heroic Warriors have escaped or they are choosing to ignore the possibility of them being a threat."
"And what about the Wiget's fortress?" asked Stratos.
"Orko's magic continues making anyone that comes near the fortress believe that it has been abandoned," said Raven. "I'm surprised at how powerful his magic is."
Stratos nodded his head.
"It is always a surprise just how much a situation like this brings a person's true abilities to the surface," said Stratos. "I wouldn't be surprised if Orko turned out to be one of Eternia's most powerful magicians."
Suddenly the small communicator inside Raven and Stratos's ear began to buzz. Putting a finger to their ears both Birdmen opened a link to the other end of the communicator.
"We have some good news and some bad." said the voice of Sensear, the Heroic Warriors master of communication.
"Go ahead." said Stratos.
"We have managed to free some more of our warriors as they were being transported to Snake Mountain," reported Sensear. "They should be arriving at the Wiget fortress at any moment. However I've picked up a transmission from Grayskull. It says they are nearing to closing in on He-man and the others who escaped."
"Will this affect our plans?" said Stratos.
"I shouldn't think so." replied Sensear.
"He-man can take care of himself," said Stratos reluctantly. "We have to what we can to defeat Skeletor."
Castle Grayskull
Sonik walked in to the throne room of the ancient castle. Sat in the throne still as a statute was Skeletor and next to him imprisoned in a cage of pure energy was the Sorceress.
"What have you to report?" snarled Skeletor as Sonik knelt before him. "Please don't tell me more Heroic Warriors have escaped."
"No My Lord," replied Sonik. "I have good news. Our scientists have picked up the signal patterns similar to that used by the Cosmic Key."
Skeletor was suddenly very interested by what Sonik had to say.
"Where was this detected?" asked Skeletor.
Sonik pressed a button on his belt and a large holographic image appeared in front of him. The image was of a strange star system that Skeletor had never seen before.
"The signal seems to be coming from the third planet in the solar system," said Sonik as the image quickly zoomed in on the third planet, a small blue orb with patches of green land scattered across its surface. "Our databases catalogue it as being called....."
"Earth." Skeletor finished for Sonik.
"You know of this planet?" said Sonik.
"Of cause I do," replied Skeletor. "My constant battle with He-man has taken me to that planet at least twice. It is a primitive planet inhabited by savages. I'm constantly amazed that they had the technology to create the vessel that brought Queen Marlena here."
"Shall I order an invasion force?" said Evil-Lyn as she walked in to the room.
"No," replied Skeletor. "It may be a trap to lure our warriors away from Eternia and leave our defences weakened for attack. I believe stealth is in order. Send a small group of warriors and Doom Troopers to bring the key back."
Evil-Lyn nodded and left the room to follow Skeletor's orders.
Earth
Kevin and Julie entered the high school's gym. It was decorated for the ball which Kevin's band was going to play in. As Julie marvelled at the decorations Kevin raced to the stage and walked up to the microphone. Testing to make sure the mic was working Kevin held up the strange sympathizer.
"Now to see how this baby sounds ampped up." said Kevin.
Kevin's fingers danced over the keys which sent notes flowing from the sympathizer and through the mic. Julie applauded and Kevin continued Kevin's hand then passed over the large red key near the base of the sympathizer. Suddenly the sympathizer came to life in Kevin's hands. Startled Kevin dropped the sympathizer and miraculously it landed on its base. The red key began to glow and the prong like objects on top of the sympathizer began to turn and the large prong in the middle began to rise out of its base.
"That is so cool!" gasped Kevin.
Julie was about to ask if it was safe when a flash of light shot out from the tips of the prongs. Each beam of then began to swirl around each other as a mystical tune floated in the air.
Kevin carefully stepped up to the sympathizer and reached out and pressed the red key again. Instantly the music and the light vanished and the sympathizer returned to its normal shape.
Kevin stared at it in amazement before he picked it up.
"This will make a brilliant finisher for tonight," said Kevin. "But first I'm going to have to make sure it won't burn out our equipment."
"How are you going to do that?" asked Julie.
"I'll take it over to Charlie's," said Kevin. "If he doesn't know about this then it isn't worth knowing. Will you wait here until I get back?"
"Of cause," replied Julie. "I want to say goodbye to this place."
Kevin leaned over and kissed Julie.
"I won't be long," said Kevin. "And besides if there's any trouble Carl the caretaker is here."
Kevin kissed Julie once more before leaving for Charlie's Music Store.
Castle Grayskull
Sonik walked in to the throne room once more.
"Lord Skeletor," said Sonik. "We have a clearer location of the Cosmic Key."
"Good," replied Skeletor clearly pleased by Sonik's report. "Now bring Evil-Lyn in here."
Sonik pressed a button on his belt. Seconds later Evil-Lyn walked in to the throne room followed by four other warriors.
"I have gathered four of your finest warriors," reported Evil-Lyn. "Karg, your master of your Doom Troopers. Blade, the master swordsman. Saroud, the deadly cybernetic Snakeman, and of cause Beastman, the evil master over animals."
"Hmmm an interesting quartet to say the least," said Skeletor as he inspected the four warriors. "You are to go to Earth and bring back the Cosmic Key."
"What about the Heroic Warriors?" asked Blade.
"If they stand in the way," said Skeletor. "Destroy them."
The four warriors nodded their understanding and followed Sonik out of the room.
"And what shall we do about the escaped Heroic Warriors?" asked Evil-Lyn.
"We have to keep up our pretence of all the Heroic Warriors being captured," said Skeletor thoughtfully. "Otherwise the people will have that little spark of hope and that is something I shall not allow to happen. Send Tri-Klops, Trap-Jaw and Ninjor along with a squadron of Doom Troopers. Have them seek out these escaped warriors and have them recaptured."
"As you wish." said Evil-Lyn who then turned and left the room as well.
To Be Continued.......