Eternos was fighting a useless standoff. For every enemy they knocked out of the air another came over the wall. For every enemy they knocked off the wall another stormed through the gate. For every enemy they forced back through the gate another attacked by air. The heroes soon became desperate for anything that would help them repel the invaders. Getting an idea, Sy-Klone, the heroic human tornado, landed on the wall.

"If I can force back two battalions at once that might give us some leeway," he said to himself as he began spinning his arms quickly generating two powerful whirlwinds. Pointing one arm up at the flying attackers and one down at the warriors scaling the wall he let fly with the massive gusts of air. The evil soldiers were instantly swept away. Panting for breath, Sy-Klone rested his arms and grinned at his successful tactic. The smile soon faded however as he saw the dark legions pick themselves up and resume their assault.

Sy-Klone raised his arms again and sighed, "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

Down in the courtyard below, the Eternian hero known as Clamp Champ, due to his unusual personalized weapon, emerged from the palace garage driving a seldom used yet highly effective vehicle: the Gyrattacker. As bizarre as the vehicle itself was, the warrior residing in its hold waiting for Clamp Champ to release him was even stranger.

"Ready Rotar?"

"Let 'er rip Champ!"

Clamp Champ punched the controls and the Gyrattacker sent Rotar flying into a slew of Cobra officers. Rotar didn't get much action, partially because he avoided others. One could hardly blame him for being somewhat self-conscious about his appearance though. Years ago he had lost the lower half of his body in combat and survived only by the implantation of a unique cybernetic system that transformed him into a human gyroscope. By spinning at high speeds towards his opponents he could usually take them down before they had a chance to attack or defend themselves. The disadvantage to this tactic, combined with his infrequency of battle, was that Rotar never got to know his enemies or their abilities very well.

Rotar skidded to a stop and looked around at the fallen soldiers.

"Did I miss anyone?"

"Only me," said a raspy voice behind him. Without bothering to look first Rotar launched himself towards his foe.

Clamp Champ called out, "Rotar no! That's Snake Face!"

His warning came too late. Snake Face, another of King Hiss' generals, was ugly and gruesome enough in his normal gorgon like form, but when he unleashed his true power his face became even more hideous and deadly. Anyone who looked upon his transformed visage was instantly turned to solid stone. This was the fate that now befell the heroic Energy Zoid. Being a statue now did not stop his momentum however. Snake Face was forced to jump aside as Rotar came spinning by him and continued on till he collided with the outer wall and shattered into several pieces.

Had Rotar remained in one piece it would have been possible to reverse the spell, restore him to flesh, and thus save his life. However, with his body broken and scattered, he became simply another casualty in the ongoing battle.

"What a pathetic excuse for a warrior," Snake Face laughed.

Swift Wind, with both She-Ra and Teela on his back, continued to weave around the explosions and laser fire that filled the air around him. He was far more concerned for the safety of the two women than his own. Nevertheless, he was not one to abandon a battle and he knew they weren't either.

She-Ra looked down at the carnage below. The battle was all but over. The dead and wounded littered the ground. Most of the survivors were being herded into groups of prisoners. Those who had gotten away were being relentlessly pursued. A tear slowly trickled down the Princess of Power's face.

"It's finally happened," she sighed. "We've lost."

"Maybe so," Teela whispered, "but I'm not going to stop fighting. I'll die before I ever surrender to them."

She-Ra started to nod in agreement, but at that moment a Flak-Viper missile exploded in the air right before Swift Wind. The force of the blast sent the mighty unicorn spinning head over heals. He was soon able to stabilize himself. Although not seriously hurt, he was shaken and dizzy and therefore it took him a moment to realize what had happened to him -and more importantly, that both of his riders had been thrown from his back.

For the second time that day Teela found herself falling through the air, and just as before she quickly found her fall cut short by She-Ra. Stretching her hand as far as she could, She-Ra managed to grab hold of Teela's arm. They were both still hurtling towards the ground of course, but fortunately the Sword of Protection had never left its owner's grasp.

"Sword to parachute!"

To say that they landed safely would not be entirely factual. Granted the parachute broke their fall; true they touched down completely unharmed; and yes, they even landed very close to both He-Man and Queen Marlena. However, this also meant that they now found themselves in the middle of a quickly shrinking circle of enemies. Soon the heroes stood back to back facing some fifty laser rifles aimed right at them.

He-Man glanced over his shoulder at his sister. "Not exactly the end I imagined for us."

She-Ra said nothing as her heart sank. I'm sorry Sea Hawk, she thought. I should have told you before I left. I wanted you to know the truth so badly, but now it seems I'll never be able to tell you. I'll always love you Hawk. I hope at least you knew that.

She-Ra braced herself for the end, but suddenly the evil warriors stopped in their tracks. They did not lower their weapons, but they made no other movements either. They just stood unwavering as if awaiting some further order.

"What's going on?" Teela whispered. "Why don't they get it over with?"

The sound of joint cackling brought everyone's eyes skyward. Skeletor hovered above them on his sky sled, flanked on the left by King Hiss and on the right by Cobra Commander.

"I never thought it could be so easy," Skeletor laughed.

"We should have done this a long time ago," Cobra Commander added with a sinister chuckle.

"You've not won yet," shouted Marlena. There was a long pause of absolute silence then all of the evil forces, masters and henchmen alike, burst into hysterical fits of laughter.

"You are indeed brave, Your Highness," Hiss said, the corners of his fake mouth turning up in a grin. "I salute you for that, but take a good look around! It's over. Evil has triumphed."

"I'll give you this one chance," said Skeletor. "Surrender now, and I will spare the lives of you and your brave but foolish followers."

Marlena looked around her at the groups of captured soldiers, all of them waiting for her to decide their fate. Her eyes drifted to the bodies of those who had already given their all and more. For a moment -albeit briefly- it looked as though she was prepared to give in.

He-Man placed a hand on his mother's shoulder. "We're with you all the way. No matter what."

"You're trying our patience," Cobra Commander shouted. "What's it going to be?"

Marlena looked up slowly and her eyes narrowed. "Kiss my ass!"

There was another moment of awkward silence as the evil leaders exchanged a mutual look of surprise. They had all anticipated a negative answer, but that hadn't been the exact response they expected.

"Well it's a very sexy ass," Cobra Commander said, "but I think I'll decline the offer." He raised his hand to give the order to fire but got no further. Suddenly the sky grew dark. The air began sparking with energy and the wind whipped up accompanied by a strange haunting melody.

"What sorcery is this?" shouted King Hiss.

"I think we're in trouble," Cobra Commander muttered.

No one could say exactly what happened next because both the heroes and villains were forced to shield their eyes against the huge flash of light that followed. When they could look again Marlena's face beamed with delight while at the same time Cobra Commander began trembling with disbelief and fear.

"No!" he shouted. "Not them! Not now!"

Before the legions of darkness knew what had happened they were being swiftly overwhelmed. It took the heroic warriors a minute to realize what was going on as well but as soon as they did they began overpowering the guards holding them at bay and advancing once again to a new battle cry.

"YO JOE!"

"I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner," Jinx said to Marlena.

"You're here now," she said. "I trust you can tell who's on whose side."

Jinx grinned. "Sure, if they're ugly as hell beat the shit out of them."

"Don't get cocky Jinx," Duke said coming up beside them. "The Joes have never faced the Eternian forces before. We have no way of knowing what they're capable of."

"I could give you the lowdown on them all if we weren't in the middle of a battle," said Marlena. "Any suggestions?"

"Simple really," Duke nodded. "Leave the fang gang to us. You and your guys concentrate on the freak show."

"Whatever you say Sir," Marlena grinned. "It actually feels kind of nice to be taking orders again for a change. Yo Joe!" With that she ran off to resume the battle. Duke turned to Jinx confused.

"What did she mean by that?"

Jinx chuckled, "We'll explain later."

It should be noted that despite the addition of the Joes, the heroic forces were still vastly outnumbered. There was still approximately ten Cobra Vipers for every royal guard. This should be noted for one important reason; it didn't make any difference.

Nunchuck shouted to the guard behind him, "You take the two on the left. I'll deal with the other seventeen!"

"Hey Tunnel Rat," said Roadblock, "Cover my back will ya? I'm almost out of rounds."

"No problem buddy," Tunnel Rat grinned. "I'm almost out of targets and we've barely started!"

Shipwreck, G.I. Joe's top naval officer, ran through a slew of Cobra's Crimson Guards firing left and right gunning every one of them down in a blaze of glory. This did however leave his back open for attack. Fortunately though, She-Ra was there to deflect the laser blast with her sword. One look at the beautiful princess was all Shipwreck needed to fall madly in love. (Of course this was all it ever took, so that isn't actually saying anything.)

"Thanks for the assist pretty lady," he said. "You handle that blade pretty good."

"Thanks," She-Ra smiled. "You're not too bad with those guns yourself."

"Hey, how about you and me grabbing a drink together later?"

She-Ra laughed, "I hate to disappoint you, but my heart already belongs to another sailor."

Skeletor could feel his legs giving out beneath him in despair as he watched his victory being stolen away from him. He had been so close to achieving his lifelong goal of complete and absolute power. How? How could such a small group of soldiers, primitive Earthlings no less, take it all away?

"We're being overwhelmed here!" Cobra Commander shouted. "We must withdraw while we still can!"

"No!" Skeletor roared. "I will not be denied my destiny! Not when it is so nearly in my grasp. We still outnumber them. Press on!"

"We may have the advantage in manpower," Cobra Commander argued, "but they've caught us completely off guard. Our troops aren't prepared for this. We must regroup and prepare a counterstrike!"

"I don't care if we loose every last man," Skeletor said. "I will be victorious!"

Cobra Commander's eyes grew wide in disbelief, "You're even madder than Serpentor was! Stay here and die if you want but I choose to live!" With that he turned to his men and shouted at the top of his voice, "Cobra, retreat! Retreat!"

Skeletor watched the Cobra forces begin scrambling out of the city to safety and after a moment he reluctantly ordered his henchmen to do the same.

"This is not over yet G.I. Joe!" he bellowed. "You have made a powerful enemy this day and I swear I will make you feel my wrath! You shall regret ever having defied Skeletor!"

King Hiss was the last of the three leaders to order a retreat. When the Joe team had arrived he had chosen to assist his warriors and jumped into the battle himself. Even without revealing his true form he had proven more than a match for anyone who stood in his way. He knew though that without the support of his allies, albeit a shaky alliance, he didn't stand a chance. That had, after all, been the whole idea behind this invasion plan in the first place.

Cowards, he thought as he snapped the neck of a young Joe recruit with his bare hands. The slightest change in the battle's course and they run like mice. If I didn't need them right now I'd slaughter them all. Hearing a voice behind him Hiss spun around to see Jinx.

"Why don't you run along and join your friends while you still can?" she grinned.

"You!" Hiss seethed. "You're the cause of all this."

"Excuse me?" Jinx scoffed. "As I recall it was you who started this by bringing Cobra here. You've got no one to blame but yourself."

"I would be victorious if not for your interference," Hiss said bringing his battle staff into fighting position. "I shall withdraw, but only after I thoroughly stain my hands with your blood."

Jinx twirled her naginata -a deadly double bladed fighting lance- and dropped into a combat ready stance.

"As they say on my world," she said, "you just opened a whole can of whoop-ass!"


Far away from the battle in Castle Grayskull, The Sorceress stood at her balcony overlooking Eternia. Her eyes focused on the horizon towards the city of Eternos in the distance. After a moment Man-At-Arms came out beside her. She turned to him, a look of puzzlement on her face.

"It's strange," she said softly.

"What do you mean?" he asked

"I sense that the battle is nearing its end," Sorceress said, turning back to look out over Eternia. "G.I. Joe has arrived and turned the tide in our favor. The forces of darkness are in retreat. We have won, and yet instead of joy I feel despair. I sense that all is not right. As though there is a greater danger looming over us all."

"I hope you're just being paranoid Sorceress," Duncan said, though he knew all to well that was highly unlikely.

Sorceress frowned. "No my friend. I'm certain there is more happening than what appears. For example, look at the sky."

Man-At-Arms stared at the clouds along the horizon for a full minute but he could not see anything out of the ordinary. Finally he told her so.

"It's those clouds Duncan," she said. "Where did they come from? A short while ago the sky was completely clear, but now it looks as though there is a massive storm on its way."

"You are correct, Teela'na."

Sorceress and Duncan spun around and gasped in shock as the newcomer shimmered into the room.

"Zodac!"

The Cosmic Enforcer bowed his head and spoke in a grim tone, "There is a storm coming my friends. It is a storm unlike anything you have encountered before. A storm I have feared for many, many years."