Chapter Seven
"This is growing tiresome," complained Sedusnor as she watched the mutants scattering out of the way to avoid being struck, or worse by the battle tank. "We've been out here for hours on this wild bird chase."
"I'll bet that the reports of He-man being here are on Denebria are about as good as drackian swamp bats." hissed Staghorn.
Kalamarr turned to face Staghorn.
"I'll have you know," hissed Kalamarr as if he was insulated by the comment. "That my informants are never wrong."
The other Mutants made a sound of disbelief.
"They saw a ship land and two Primans exit," said Kalamarr trying to prove that his informants were as good as he had made them out to be. "And one of them must have been He-man. Just like Skeletor said."
"Well we're getting no closer to finding them," said Staghorn. "Finding them in this city is like hunting vol-bugs in Kalamarr's swamps."
"The best way to capture anything," said Sedusnor making her way to the front of the battle tank. "Is to flush them out."
"What do you have in mind, Sedusnor?" asked Kalamarr.
"Appeal to their basic nature." replied Sedusnor. Before any of the confused Mutants could question her more, Sedusnor hit the weapons control of the battle tank.
No matter how hard he tried, Flipshot couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling depression that seemed to seep from every fiber of the Denebrian city and its inhabitants.
"This place is really giving me the creeps," said Flipshot lowering his voice as he and He-man passed a small group of mutants who by the look of things hadn't been fed in a long time. "I hope we find Skeletor soon."
"We will," replied He-man. "It is only a matter of time before......."'
He-man's words were cut off by the sudden sounds of weapons fire, closely followed by screams of several mutants.
"What in the name of Primus is happening?" asked Flipshot as the mutants around them started to flee in panic.
"It looks like we've got a welcoming party," said He-man reaching for his sword. "And one that only the Mutants would throw for us."
He-man quickly threw off his cape and hood while Flipshot pressed a button on his wrist-guard. Instantly the flight-pack on his back morphed in to life, its silver wings ripped through Flipshot's cape and locked in to place while with sound of gears turning, Flipshot's battle helmet rose out of his battle armor and formed over his head. The instant the helmet locked tight the battle computer came on-line.
Around them the mutants who hadn't fled stared at He-man and Flipshot, trying to decide whether what was happening was a Priman attack. Slowly the looks of awe and surprise started to turn to hatred. A large mutant stepped from the crowd and scooped up a handful of rocks from the cracked ground. With a hiss of plasma energy Flipshot flew in to the air, He-man raised his sword, which was glowing with magical energy.
"Somehow I don't think we're welcome." said Flipshot from his advantage point in the air.
"It's not their fault," said He-man. "They've been brought up to hate and despise what the people of Primus stand for. They have learned no other way. The prejudice of the Mutants is poisoning every citizen of Denebria, as surely as their industry destroyed what had once been a beautiful planet."
Suddenly the large mutant let out a snarl of pure rage and hurled the rocks at He-man. Using his incredible speed He-man swung his sword up and deflected the rocks away. Spurned on by the large mutant's actions the others that had remained behind began to search for weapons to attack He-man and Flipshot.
The large mutant scooped up another handful of debris from the ground and readied to throw it. He-man instinctively reached for the controls on his left wrist-guard, that would activated his energy shield. The mutant saw what He-man was attempting to do and threw the debris. Suddenly the mutant let out a cry of pain and vanished in a crimson glow. He-man instantly recognized it as the effects of a disrupter or phased energy blast. As the other mutants ran Flipshot came to land next to He-man.
"Did you see where that blast came from?" asked He-man.
Flipshot shook his head.
"I couldn't see much," said Flipshot. "I was keeping a close eye on a group of mutants who had gotten on to the roof of the building across the street."
Then out of nowhere there came a rumbling sound, He-man and Flipshot turn and narrowly avoided being struck by another beam of energy.
Skeletor watched from Brakk's command seat on the spy camera he had placed in the battle tank. On the screen he saw, as he expected he would, He-man and the Galactic Guardian known as Flipshot. The Mutants mindless attacks had done what they were designed to do, they drew He-man out in to the open. Skeletor knew in the back of his mind that even outnumbered, He-man and Flipshot were more than a match for the bumbling fools he had sent after them.
'In the end it will not matter.' thought Skeletor glancing over to the deadly swing-blade that was infused with the power of the Jewel of Amara. Skeletor reached out and picked up the weapon. Skeletor smiled as he felt the power of the jewel inside, then he turned back to the screen to watch as He-man and Flipshot battled with the Mutants he had sent after them.
The hatch on the top of the battle tank hissed and popped open. One by one the Mutants climbed out each looking at He-man and Flipshot with murderous intentions in mind.
"Weeeell look who we have here," drawled Quakke as he lifted the heavy chunk of meteor from the harness on his back. "Skeletor was right. Two Priman worms are here on our world."
"What do you think we should do with them?" sneered Staghorn as he followed Kalamarr out of the tank.
"Give them to me," purred Sedusnor, gracefully climbing out of the battle tank. "I have so many ways in which I can make pleasure seem like the worse torture."
Unable to control himself, He-man shivered as his eyes locked on to the deep exotic red eyes of Sedusnor.
'How can something so beautiful be so cruel?' He-man thought as he shook off the hypnotic effect her eyes had on him.
"Playing with them isn't the answer," said Kalamarr. "I say destroy them."
Every Mutant seemed to agree with Kalamarr's statement and instantly raised their weapons and aimed them at He-man and Flipshot.
Quakke was the first to attack; with a mighty swing Quakke slammed his meteor-like weapon in to the ground. Instantly shockwaves formed causing everything caught up in them to tremor and shake, including He-man and Flipshot. As He-man bravely tried to withstand the effects of the shockwaves, Flipshot activated his jet-pack and took off for the skies. Kalamarr instantly aimed his blaster at Flipshot and pressed the trigger. A jet of superheated swamp acid shot out and almost hit Flipshot.
"That was too close," said Flipshot as he saw the swamp acid melt away the stone surface of the building behind him. "But two can play at that game. Try some coolant on for size."
Flipshot then aimed his wrist-mounted cannon at Kalamarr, a beam of ice blue coolant energy shot out. Kalamarr leapt out of the way and the beam struck the surface of the metal surface of the battle tank, turning it in to a sheet of ice. Staghorn shook his head in disbelief at Kalamarr's attempt to fight the Galactic Guardian.
"You may be able to handle ol' Slush Head over there," hissed Staghorn as he slipped his battle shield/ artillery array over his head. "But Staghorn ain't no one trick wonder."
Staghorn's battle shield/ artillery array then started to crackle and hum with energy, then as the weapon began to glow a bright blue Staghorn snapped his head up, the battle shield/ artillery array swung up and a wave of blue electric energy shot out towards Flipshot.
Sedusnor silent hung back and watched as He-man battled with Quakke. Quakke swung his meteor towards He-man, He-man barely had time to move and the meteor struck He-man a glancing blow. He-man was thrown off his feet and crashed in to the side of a nearby building. The impact shook the building down to its unstable foundations. Stunned He-man could tell that the building couldn't survive a second impact. Pushing himself off the ground He-man watched as Quakke readied to swing his meteor again. Summoning as much strength as he could, He-man forced himself to start running towards Quakke. Quakke saw He-man coming and smiled, and then he realized that He-man was moving too fast and his meteor would have no chance of striking him down. But he was unable to stop the swing and his defenses we down when He-man drove a massive shoulder in to his guts. The air was driven out of Quakke's lungs from the blow and he let go of the cable that held on to the meteor. He-man quickly snatched the cable from the ground. He-man could barely lift the cable off the ground.
'This thing almost weighs as much as the entire Starship Eternia!' thought He-man as he struggled with the cable.
Quakke had caught his breath was now standing behind He-man, watching and laughing as the hero of Primus tried to lift the cable and the meteor.
"No one but me can lift that meteor," laughed Quakke. "Try as much as you want. That meteor only moves for me and me alone. It is like we are a part of each other, me and the meteor, one incredible force of nature!"
"Well," He-man said through gritted teeth, his muscles were screaming in pain as He-man continued to struggle with the incredible weight of Quakke's meteor. All the time he could hear Quakke's voice mocking him. Suddenly He-man felt the meteor give a little, then with a small smile on his face He-man continued what he was saying. "If you two are so connected then you two should stick together!"
Then with the sound of the ground giving away He-man snapped the cable and sent the meteor sailing through the air. Quakke stared amazed, unable to move as the meteor hurtled its way towards him. Then the meteor hit and Quakke was driven in to the ground, buried under his own weapon. He-man barely had enough time to catch his breath when he was struck by the metal arms of Kalamarr.
Flipshot dived and the energy wave passed inches above his head. Staghorn let out a curse and lowered his battle shield/ artillery array over his head once more and prepared to fire another shot at Flipshot. Flipshot saw what Staghorn was attempting, quickly Flipshot entered in to a dive. Staghorn once again threw his head back and fired another energy wave at the on coming warrior. With one blinding movement Flipshot rolled out of the way, the energy wave grazing the armored surface of his right wing.
"Surely you are a better shot than that." laughed Flipshot.
Staghorn only flashed Flipshot an evil grin, and Flipshot then realized that the mutant wasn't aiming for him, but at something behind. Flipshot span around to see the energy wave strike a tower of some kind that sat on top of a building behind him. The tower's legs were destroyed by the energy wave and topped off the building's roof towards Flipshot. Flipshot tried dodging to the right when an alarm inside his helmet called for his attention. Accessing the read-out Flipshot saw that the energy wave had done more damage than he had first thought. The wing's mechanisms were frozen, leaving Flipshot unable to move fast enough to avoid being struck by the tower.
The metal arms of Kalamarr wrapped themselves around He-man's body and started trying to squeeze the life out of him. As He-man fought with his arms, Kalamarr raised his swamp-blaster and took aim.
"I've waited a very long time for this," hissed Kalamarr. "With your death at my hands I shall be powerful enough to rule the Mutants. Then I shall turn this planet in to one big swamp, and then I shall do the same to Primus."
"You know what," said He-man. "You sure like to dream a lot."
Then with one incredible move, He-man pulled on the metal arms of Kalamarr and yanked the mutant off his feet. Kalamarr let out a startled cry and dropped his blaster as he flew through the air, towards the huge fist of He-man.
Sedusnor watched as the impact from He-man's fist sent Kalamarr crashing in to a nearby building. She then turned to watch the battle between Flipshot and Staghorn.
Try as he might, the one good engine in Flipshot's flight pack wasn't strong enough to get him away from the falling tower. Suddenly another blast of energy exploded beside him. Staghorn's irritating laughter continued to echo through the air.
As the blue bursts of energy from Staghorn's weapon continued to explode all around him, Flipshot struggled to get his jet pack to turn. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the tower was rapidly gaining on him. The jet pack suddenly spluttered and the good engine overheated and died. Now in free-fall, Flipshot had little choice but to fall. Then an idea formed inside his head as he saw a torn and tattered canopy hanging off a nearby building. Below, Staghorn continued to blast away at the falling Flipshot. He saw the tower's rapid decent and laughed even harder as he imagined Flipshot's fate. Suddenly his eyes grew wide with horror as he watched Flipshot.
The tower was continuing to speed its way towards Flipshot. Still unable to move out of the way Flipshot set his plan in action. Flipshot quickly set his jet pack on overload and pressed the ejector button. Instantly Flipshot was thrown clear of the jet pack, then just as the canopy was out of reach the jet pack exploded. The shockwave from the explosion pushed Flipshot closer to his goal while forcing the tower to change its direction, the change but it was enough for the tower to miss the falling Flipshot. Flipshot's arm lashed out and grabbed hold of the canopy, the canopy ripped under Flipshot's weight and swung him towards the wall. Quickly Flipshot raised his legs and when his feet touched the wall, Flipshot pushed off the wall and used his momentum to land on the ground safely. The moment he had hit the ground Flipshot heard the thundering sound of the tower hitting the ground. Turning Flipshot saw that among the tangled mess of the tower was Staghorn. The Mutant wasn't harmed but he was trapped. Smiling Flipshot turned and was suddenly struck by the boot of Sedusnor.
Sedusnor had carefully crept away as He-man finished of Kalamarr. She saw Flipshot and the trapped Staghorn screaming from his prison under the fallen tower. Sedusnor ignored her fellow mutant's cries and turned preparing to escape this futile situation, and bumped in to the massive chest of He-man. Sedusnor quickly backed away and stared in to He-man's blue eyes with her deep purple colored eyes.
"Oh my," purred Sedusnor in her best seductive voice. "I had never thought you would be so handsome in person."
He-man felt a slight fuzzy feeling inside his body. Instantly he recognized it as Sedusnor trying to use her powers to force him to lower his defenses. He-man slowly lowered his sword and Sedusnor steadily closer, her beautiful smile growing brighter with each step. Slowly Sedusnor raised a hand and placed it on He-man's chest.
"I knew even the mighty He-man couldn't resist my seductive ways," purred Sedusnor as she tightened her hand on He-man's chest almost hard enough to draw blood. "Now my servant of passion, destroy your ally Flipshot."
He-man looked down at Sedusnor and smiled.
"I'm afraid not," said He-man. "My heart belongs to another, and not for the likes as corrupt as you."
Sedusnor's eyes suddenly lost their look of seduction and were replaced with pure fury and hatred.
"This is impossible!!!" screamed Sedusnor as she raised her hands to strike. "No living creature resists the power of Sedusnor and survives!!"
Sedusnor's hands then flew towards He-man. He-man noticed that her fingers had now grown in to razor sharp talons. With blinding speed He-man grabbed Sedusnor's hands just inches from his chest. Sedusnor struggled and spat at He-man like a wild animal, but she was no match for He-man's mighty grip.
"Calm down!" He-man said to the hysterical Sedusnor. "I don't want to have to hurt you!"
Sedusnor ignored He-man's warnings and continued in her raging attempt to break his grip.
"I shall have your heart!!" screamed Sedusnor. "Even if I have to rip it from your chest!!"
As Sedusnor franticly thrashed about in his grip, He-man feared that she may do some serious damage to herself. So with a move that Teela had taught him many years before, He-man let go of Sedusnor. Sedusnor span around as the momentum of her wild swing un-balanced her. He-man quickly grabbed her once more, wrapping his arms around her so that her arms were pinned to her sides.
"Will you please calm down." said He-man as Sedusnor continued to free herself by trying to kick or head butt him. Seeing no choice He-man quickly let go of Sedusnor once more, this time before Sedusnor could flinch a muscle He-man had raised his had and struck her at the base of her neck. Sedusnor's purple eyes rolled back in to her head and she slowly slumped to the floor.
Flipshot made his way over to He-man as he was just finishing binding Sedusnor to a nearby post with a large metal rod that he had pulled from the rubble on the street.
"It looks like we've found ourselves a lift to find Skeletor." said Flipshot.
"I've never been one to look a gift Dreyhorse in the mouth," said He-man with a small smile. "This should make finding Skeletor a lot easier. Though I somehow think Skeletor has planned this all along. I suspect he'll have a few surprises waiting for us when we reach him."
Skeletor sat silently watching as He-man and Flipshot boarded the battle tank.
"Indeed I shall have wonderful surprises waiting for you," laughed Skeletor slowly stroking the deadly glowing Sling-Blade. "Oh yes they will certainly be wonderful, however I feel you shall not feel the same way."
Skeletor then let out an evil laugh that echoed throughout the empty corridors of Brakk's hide-out.
The battle tank slowly rumbled along the ruined streets until it finally reached the entrance to Brakk's command base.
"It's hard to tell this place apart from the rest of these wrecks of buildings." said Flipshot as he searched for any possible entrance to Brakk's stronghold.
"It wouldn't be wise for the Mutants to leave their base of operations open for anyone to find." said He-man with a smile.
"Except those who have stolen an access pass," said Flipshot returning the smile. "All we have to do is work out a way to activate it so we can get inside."
As He-man and Flipshot searched the battle tank's control panels for the control for the hidden entrance, a slow rumbling sound began to sound. Looking up both He-man and Flipshot watched as a large section of the decayed and rotten building lifted off the ground to reveal a corridor made of high-tec materials behind.
"Well that wasn't hard was it?" said Flipshot.
"No it was a little too easy," replied He-man. "I think it goes without saying, we should be extremely careful."
"Indeed you do," said Skeletor's voice suddenly bursting from the battle tank's communications speakers. "However that is only until you reach me. Then I shall enjoy finally ending your miserable existence once and for all."
The screen then went blank.
"Well that was unexpected," said Flipshot turning to He-man. "What do we do now?"
Suddenly the hatches on the battle tank slammed shut with the hissing of the locks snapping closed.
"I think Skeletor wants us to wait here." said He-man.
Then without warning the battle tank began to roll down the corridor.
"I don't think staying here is part of Skeletor's plan." said Flipshot.
Skeletor stalked the control room of Brakk's base of operations, cradled in his arms was the swing-blade its surface glowing faintly with the power of the Jewel of Amara. Skeletor stopped by a bank of monitors that sat on the control station in the center of the room. Each monitor showed the battle tank as it made its way through the base carrying He-man and Flipshot trapped inside.
Finally the battle tank stopped, with a hiss of air the hatch popped open. Flipshot was the first to start for the hatch but He-man held him back.
"This could be a trap," said He-man. "Skeletor is capable of any treachery."
He-man then raised his power sword and held the glowing blade outside of the hatch. A bolt of energy ran from the hilt of the sword, through its glowing blade then as it reached the tip of the blade it burst in to the corridor outside the battle tank in a shower of bright electrical sparks. The sparks raced along every surface of the corridor. Once the energy had faded both He-man and Flipshot stepped out of the battle tank. Littered all around were the electronically booby-traps that were destroyed by the power of He-man's sword.
"You didn't think Skeletor would make it easy for us?" said He-man as he saw the look of bewilderment on Flipshot's face.
"It had crossed my mind." shrugged Flipshot.
Suddenly a rumbling sound echoed throughout the corridor. He-man and Flipshot turned to see a large security door open to reveal the dark interior of Brakk's command center. Within in the darkness neither He-man nor Flipshot could see a thing, and then with out warning two points of light appeared in the darkened room. He-man instantly recognized the lights as being the evil glowing red eyes of Skeletor.
"I'm pleased that you survived my little surprise," hissed Skeletor from the darkness. "Though it wasn't exactly something that would tax even your limited intelligence."
"You wanted us here Skeletor," said He-man reading his power sword for battle. "So we're here. Hand over the Jewel of Amara."
"I have every intention of giving you the jewel," said Skeletor. "In fact it is the only way our eternal conflict can surely end."
"What are you talking about?" asked He-man.
"You have stood in my way for too long," said Skeletor his eyes glowing brighter with every word he spat out. "You have thwarted my attempts at attaining the power of Grayskull, even when I was empowered with the power of the Gods you stood in my way! But I have finally found the power to rid myself of you forever!"
Skeletor then stepped in to the light holding the glowing Jewel of Amara in his hand. Instinctively Flipshot backed away not wanting to be subjected to the power of the jewel a second time. But He-man stood his ground.
"You know as well as I that every time you use the jewel's power on the same subject, its effect is weakened," said He-man. "I've survived the jewel twice. A third time will mean nothing."
A small dark smile crept over Skeletor's face.
"I don't intend to use the jewel to attack your souls," hissed Skeletor. "I intend to use the power of the jewel to destroy your bodies!"
It was then that He-man noticed that Skeletor's right arm was hidden behind his back. Suddenly Skeletor's right arm snapped forward, on the end clamped to Skeletor's wrist was the deadly swing-blade, the weapon Skeletor used in his Disks of Doom armor. A razor disk sat at the tip of the swing-blade. As Skeletor whipped back the swing-blade, the razor disk shot through the air. The razor disk didn't make a sound as it cut its way towards He-man and Flipshot; He-man could see a faint trail of red energy coming from behind the razor disk. With lightning like speed He-man grabbed hold of Flipshot and pulled him out of the way as the razor disk flew past and plunged in to the armored hull of the battle tank. There wasn't a sound as the razor disk sliced through the battle tank and out the other side. He-man and Flipshot quickly leapt to their feet and dived out of the way as the razor disk arched around and headed back towards Skeletor. Skeletor easily caught the razor disk with the swing-blade. Skeletor's eyes glowed with bright red energy as he raised the swing-blade once again.
Flipshot roll away from the battle tank as it collapsed in to a smoking ruin. Quickly rising his right arm Flipshot pressed a button in the palm of his hand and instantly a wrist mounted rocket launcher morphed in to place. Using a mental command Flipshot launched two stun missiles towards Skeletor.
Skeletor quickly leapt back in to the darkness of the control room. The two missiles exploded in the room and briefly chased the darkness away.
"I don't believe it! He got away!" said Flipshot as the flash of the explosion revealed no sign of Skeletor.
"He won't have gone far," said He-man raising his sword and entering the control room. The blade of the power sword began to glow, lighting the room in a bright light. In the not fully lit room they could see that Skeletor had left through a door at the back of the room. "Let's be careful, there's no telling what other traps Skeletor will have waiting for us."
As He-man and Flipshot slowly and carefully entered through the door that Skeletor had escaped through, ahead of them Skeletor was setting the final part of his plan in to action. Skeletor was standing on a walkway high above a drilling tunnel. The Mutants had used this tunnel to tap in to the molten core of Denebria to use the thermal energy to power the Mutant base and their weapons and arsenals. However like most of the Mutants plans the idea didn't work as anticipated, the tunnel was flooded with lava and was now a pool of hot magma, however it was sufficient for Skeletor's goals. Raising his left hand Skeletor used his magic to summon his Fazer Staff. The staff appeared in Skeletor's hand and Skeletor aimed its skull shaped head towards the solid crust that and formed over the magma pool. The eyes of the Fazer Staff lit up with purple electrical energy. The energy lashed out and struck the crust. Instantly cracks began to form and the glowing hot liquid below started to seep through. As the crust continued to be melted away by the magma Skeletor turned to set about the second part of is plan. He could hear He-man and Flipshot getting closer. Skeletor readied to attack a sudden flaw in his plan came to mind.
'Flipshot!' thought Skeletor as he realized the flaw. 'He has the ability of flight. I must neutralize that first.'
Slowly Skeletor moved from his advantage point and made his way towards the entrance where He-man and Flipshot was coming from. Slowly Skeletor squeezed himself between two large fuel pipes the stood next to the only entrance that He-man and Flipshot could come through. As he was shrouded in the dark shadows Skeletor silently waited. He-man and Flipshot came running through the door and on to the catwalk. He-man was ahead of Flipshot and Skeletor used that to his advantage. Silent as a spirit Skeletor leapt out from his hiding place, Skeletor's swing-blade snapped in to place and he raised it high above his head ready to bring it crashing down on Flipshot.
He-man heard a snapping sound and stopped, he was in the middle of the catwalk that hung high above a pool of molten lava. Sensing Skeletor's evil presence He-man turned to see Skeletor leaping towards Flipshot.
"Flipshot!!" called out He-man.
But the warning came too late, Skeletor swung the swing-blade and the glowing edge of the razor disk crashed in to the back of Flipshot. Flipshot let out a cry of pain as the razor disk tore through his flight-pack and in to the armor of his fight suit. The force of the blow also sent Flipshot crashing face first to the metal surface of the catwalk. Skeletor removed the razor blade from Flipshot's back and raised it high for He-man to see.
"That clipped his wings," laughed Skeletor. "I should have thought about doing that to that flying monkey back on Eternia."
He-man's grip tightened on the hilt of his power sword, his fury growing as he saw blood drip off the edge of the razor blade.
"Now its time for your end." hissed Skeletor as he stepped towards He-man.
"Come Skeletor," He-man spat back, his temper as hot as the lava below him. "It is truly time we finished this."
Skeletor stepped on to the catwalk, the catwalk groaned under the weight of Skeletor's Disk of Doom armor.
With blinding speed He-man swung his sword up, a bolt of energy raced up the blade of the power sword and flew towards Skeletor.
Despite wearing his heavy armor, Skeletor was still agile enough to leap out of the way. As Skeletor soared over He-man's head, he swung his swing-blade at He-man. He-man quickly dropped to one knee and narrowly avoided being struck by the swing-blade. The catwalk shook as Skeletor landed in a crouching position. He-man quickly span around and raised his sword up in time to fend off a attack by the charging Skeletor.
"Don't you see it?!" Skeletor snarled in to He-man's face. "My time has finally arrived."
Skeletor then swung the swing-blade down towards He-man. The razor disk snapped in to place. He-man threw both his hands up and grasped the razor disk inches away from his face. The deadly energy of the Jewel of Amara began to seep from the surface of the razor disk and in to He-man's body instantly reawaking his deepest and darkest fears. He-man struggled to withstand the assault.
Skeletor's eyes burned as bright as the lava below his feet as he used all his weight to press the razor blade ever closer to He-man's face.
"Give it up!" snarled Skeletor. "This is finally over!"
He-man glared through the haze of emotion that the power of Amara had stirred inside him, and in to Skeletor's evil eyes.
"N-N-Never!!" hissed He-man through gritted teeth.
Slowly the haze began to pass and He-man began feeling his energy return. Skeletor once again threw his weight towards He-man but the razor blade move no further. Suddenly the blade of the power sword flared with energy momentarily blinding Skeletor. As Skeletor backed away He-man grabbed hold of Skeletor's swing-blade. Using all his mighty strength, He-man hurled Skeletor off his feet and crashing in the wall of metal pipes on the other side of the catwalk. The impact of Skeletor hitting the wall shook the entire room. Quickly shaking off the dizziness of the blow, Skeletor leapt to his feet. With blur of movement, Skeletor swung the swing-blade up and released the glowing razor disk. The disk ripped through the air towards He-man. He-man stood his ground and waited with his power sword ready. Then as the disk neared him, He-man swung the power sword through the air. Skeletor watched with amazed fury as He-man's power sword spun through the air as if it was a disk itself, the two weapons then struck each other in an explosion of magical and technical energy. Through the light two shapes shot out and to Skeletor's horror he saw that the shapes were once the razor disk. The disk that had so easily cut through the armor of a battle tank was now cleanly sliced in half. The two halves of the razor disk had completely lost their red glow as the power that they were infused with evaporated. He-man caught the power sword as it spun its way back to him, the two halves of the razor disk wildly crashed in to the pipes that lined the walls around the catwalk and lava pool. As one stuck fast in to a large pipe the other half of the razor disk clipped a thick group of pipes and was sent in a new direction, that being one directly towards Skeletor. Not even wasting a single heartbeat on the on coming disk fragment Skeletor raised his left hand, a bolt of magic then shot from his palm and slammed in to the half of the razor disk. Ignoring and not caring in which direction the disk fragment was now headed Skeletor turned back to face He-man.
The disk fragment hurtled across the room and struck a support beam taking a large piece out of it. Skeletor raced forward to attack He-man with his swing-blade as the support beam gave a screeching cry as it gave way and collapsed bringing a large section of the roof down. As girders, pipes, cables and large bits of the roof came crashing towards the catwalk and lava pool Skeletor leapt backwards and narrowly avoided being struck by a falling girder. The girder struck the lava pool and sent up a splash of molten magma in to the air.
He-man stepped towards Skeletor, anger at Skeletor's death blow to Flipshot threatening to boil over.
"You have gone too far this time," hissed He-man as he swiped away a piece of debris that was falling towards him. "You will be finally brought to justice one way or the other!"
"You pathetic heroic fool!" replied Skeletor as he reached in to a pocket on his armor. His fingers brushed against the surface of the Jewel of Amara, instantly he felt an idea formulate, an idea that would allow him to take advantage in the conflict. However as Skeletor was preparing to attack He-man once more he failed to notice a girder getting snared in some cables. The girder swung around and struck Skeletor hard just as he raised the Jewel of Amara. Skeletor was thrown over the side of the catwalk and the jewel flew out of his hand to get caught in a bundle of cables and debris. Using incredible speed and strength Skeletor shot out a hand and grabbed hold of the catwalk.
He-man watched as Skeletor narrowly saved himself from certain death. Inside He-man wanted to leave Skeletor to his fate, but He-man lived by a code of honor so he raced across the catwalk avoiding the falling debris along the way and reached for Skeletor's arm.
"Why won't you ever learn!" hissed Skeletor as he glared in to He-man's eyes. "Saving me will only bring your destruction much closer!"
"Shut up Skeletor and give me your hand!" replied He-man as he grabbed Skeletor by his arm, however the arm He-man grabbed was the arm that Skeletor had his swing-blade attached to. Skeletor smiled as he saw He-man grunt in pain as the blade cut in to his hands.
Then out of the corner of his eye Skeletor saw the Glow of the Jewel of Amara.
"Stop moving!" said He-man as the blade cut deeper in to his hands. "And give me your other hand."
Skeletor ignored He-man's request and reached towards the Jewel of Amara.
"Leave it Skeletor!" said He-man as he saw what Skeletor was attempting to do. "Its not worth your life, you're too heavy to lift. Give me your other hand and drop the armor."
Skeletor briefly looked back at He-man.
"Anything that ends your life shall be worth more than anything." hissed Skeletor; he then swung his free arm back towards the jewel.
The movement caused He-man's bloody hands slipped along the blade. Suddenly He-man lost his grip and Skeletor slipped from his grasp.
Skeletor's fingers were inches away from the jewel when he suddenly felt himself slip.
"NOOOOOO!!!" screamed Skeletor as he started to fall towards the lava pool.
He-man tried to make a desperate grab at the falling Skeletor, but the weight of Skeletor's Disks of Doom armor was dragging him down too fast.
Helpless He-man could only watch as the falling Skeletor lashed out with his left hand. With a flash of purple energy Skeletor's Fazer Staff appeared in his hand. Instantly the eyes set in the skull on top of the staff glowed with purple energy, smoke started to circle around Skeletor's body, and then just inches from hitting the lava Skeletor vanished.
He-man saw the last wisps of smoke that rescued Skeletor from his fate, as it faded away. Then something caught He-man's eye, looking up He-man saw the glow of the Jewel of Amara sat inside its cradle of cables and debris. Now that it had nothing to focus its deadly energy the jewel's effects were harmless.
'The jewel is too dangerous to remain in existence.' thought He-man as he tried to work out a way to destroy the jewel.
Back on Eternia it was the power and spirit of the royal bloodline, including Skeletor, that had seemingly destroyed the jewel the first time, or it would have if Skeletor's dark mind hadn't hidden the jewel and allowed them to think they had succeeded. But there was no Eternian royal bloodline in the Tri-Solar system, his family was still on Eternia. The only other person was Skeletor, but he had used his magic to escape a certain death. He-man examined the cables suddenly coming up with an idea, the cables were all that was stopping the entire structure from collapsing, by cutting through the cables the jewel would be forever buried. He-man raised his sword ready to throw it towards the cables when he stopped and turned to look over at the still body of Flipshot.
'Should I make this Flipshot's eternal tomb,' thought He-man. 'Or should I return the body to his family.'
Just as He-man was about to turn to complete his task he caught a movement from Flipshot, the movement was ever so slight and He-man thought he had been imaging things when Flipshot's finger jerked. Spurned on by the realization that Flipshot was alive He-man quickly span around and threw his sword at the bundle of cables, the sword cut through the cables and the jewel fell towards the lava pool, instantly followed by what reminded of the roof. He-man raced across the debris covered catwalk towards Flipshot. As the Jewel of Amara hit the lava pool the lava began to bubble and boil, then with a mighty ground shaking roar the lava erupted in to the room. As the lava started to swallow the room He-man grabbed Flipshot in one hand caught his returning sword in the other. Without wasting a second He-man raced through the door and in to the corridor beyond.
Brakk's base was shaking itself apart as the lava continued to rampage through its corridors. Not far ahead of the lava He-man raced as fast as his mighty legs could carry him and Flipshot. He-man then burst in to the room which they had confronted Skeletor before he had led them down towards the lava pool. He-man didn't stop he just vaulted over the debris that littered the way, towards the ruined hull off the battle tank and down the corridor that led to the exit of the base. He-man's muscles were screaming as he rounded corner after corner of the seemingly endless corridor. Looking over his shoulder he saw the lava rapidly racing towards him. He-man turned away and saw the end of the corridor; the huge doors of the base were closed blocking any way out. Refusing to be defeated He-man raised his sword and using all the energy he could muster He-man concentrated allowing the power of Grayskull to flow from his body and in to the power sword. The blade of the power sword glowed as bright as a supernova. He-man swung the sword and the energy built up in the sword shot out and struck the doors.
The doors exploded in to a shower of energy and debris. Through the cloud of destruction He-man jumped just as the lava engulfed the corridor.
He-man landed on his feet and turned to see Brakk's base collapse in on itself.
On He-man's shoulder Flipshot slowly regained conscious.
"What did I miss?" asked Flipshot weakly.
He-man smiled.
"I'll tell you later."