Duke jumped down from his Wind Raider even before Man-E-Faces brought it all the way in for a landing. Orko floated down beside him from the second Raider, equally as worried.
"Is everyone okay?" Duke asked.
"All of us are fine," Cover Girl said, "but we lost Short-Fuze."
Duke nodded solemnly. "I know, but we don't have time to mourn right now. We snuck in low but they'll probably be on us soon."
It was true. They had managed to fly all the way to Snake Mountain without running into any enemy forces, and though part of Duke hoped they could escape just as easily, he was also concerned by the lack of resistance. With all that was at stake, all the power the crest held, the villains should have been swarming all over them.
"I've got the uncomfortable feeling we're walking into a trap," Orko muttered.
Duke took charge. "Everyone load up, we're pulling out now."
Cover Girl, Mekaneck, Snake Eyes, and Fisto jumped into one Wind Raider while Duke, Teela, and Orko jumped in the other with Man-E-Faces. The first Raider fired up, and took off without incident. Man-E gunned his engines and followed. Again nothing happened.
"I don't get it," Duke said, more to himself than anyone else. "It's almost as if they're waiting for something."
"You're right," Teela said. "They had to have figured out where we were. There's no reason to think they wouldn't have picked up our transmission. Why would they have waited? Unless…"
The truth hit Duke instantly. "Unless they wanted us to come!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the Wind Raider jerked to a halt in mid air.
"What's happening?" Duke yelled.
"Tractor beam of some kind!" Man-E-Faces shouted. "I'm giving the engines all I can but it's no use!"
Apparently the others had realized their friends' peril, as they were turning around and heading back to assist them. Duke instantly picked up the radio and shouted into it.
"What are you doing? Turn back! Get out of here!"
Cover Girl's voice came back over the speaker. "We can't leave without you!"
"Yes you can and you will!" Duke barked. "If you try to help us you'll get caught too. Your top priority is to get that crest piece back to Grayskull!"
"But Duke…"
"Go! That's an order!"
Cover Girl sighed but responded, "Yo Joe." and the Wind Raider turned again and rocketed away. Meanwhile their vehicle was slowly drawn into Snake Mountain's massive stone jaw. As they were pulled into a landing it became clear that the tractor beam was emanating from Skeletor's havoc staff.
"Now now Duke," he chuckled. "You weren't about to leave without saying good-bye were you? That's just rude."
Jinx awoke in total darkness. She had no idea how long she had been out, nor where she was now. She could tell she was no longer under water, as the feeling of total submersion was gone. Nevertheless, wherever she was, it was very a moist environment and had a rather fishy smell. The ground was also soft and unstable.
Jinx shook her head and tried to figure things out. The last thing she remembered was turning around to see the kraken headed straight for her with its fangs bared, and then… Jinx did not like where this was leading her. Quickly she pulled a glow stick out of her pocket and cracked it, activating the light, hoping she was wrong. She wasn't.
"Oh no!" she whispered. "This is not happening!"
Beside her Jinx could hear Dree Elle moaning as she came to. Without fully thinking about it, Jinx tried to stifle what limited light the glow stick gave off, while also trying to determine the best way to break their predicament to her.
"What happened?" Dree Elle asked rubbing her head. "Where are we?"
"You're better off not knowing," Jinx gulped.
"What are you talking about?" Before Jinx could stop her Dree Elle cast a ball of light upwards illuminating the entire surroundings. When she saw were they were the young Trollan naturally let out a high-pitched blood-curdling scream.
"That was more or less what I was thinking," sighed Jinx.
Dree Elle was panting, whimpering and in every other way having a complete panic attack. Jinx could hardly blame her of course. That was the general reaction to awakening and finding yourself inside the jaws of a voracious monster. Jinx grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently.
"Dree Elle look at me. Look at me. We're going to be okay."
"What are you talking about?" Dree Elle shouted. "We've been eaten!"
"No we haven't," Jinx said firmly. "Not yet."
Dree Elle gasped in disbelief. "Look around Jinx!"
"No, Dree Elle you look," Jinx said. "Look at where we are."
"Huh, we're inside its…" the truth slowly sunk in and Dree Elle's muscles relaxed slightly. "In its mouth. It didn't swallow us."
Jinx nodded. "Precisely. Which is why we still have a fighting chance."
Dree Elle was not so optimistic. "But we have no idea how long we were out. The aqualung may have worn off by now. Even if it hasn't, we don't know where the kraken's taken us or even how deep we are."
"Just keep your chin up," Jinx said. "We'll get out of this somehow."
Dree Elle suddenly embraced Jinx in a tight hug. "How do you do it Jinx? First Scare Glow and now this. How can you manage to go through all this without getting scared?"
"What makes you think I'm not scared?" Jinx said. "Dree Elle, I've never been more terrified in my life. But what I'm not doing is letting that fear control me."
Dree Elle sighed. "This is another one of those ninja things that I'm never going to master isn't it?"
Jinx smiled. "A ninja is master of body and of mind. It's hard, but I know you can do it."
Dree Elle closed her eyes and took several short breaths. For a moment it seemed she was succeeding, but then the kraken suddenly lurched up and back and any mastery she had obtained over her fear was quickly lost again.
Just as swiftly as the kraken had swung up and back it then lurched down and forward. At the same time its jaws opened and spat Jinx and Dree Elle out onto the dry ground. Fortunately, they landed on a soft sandy spot. Jinx quickly looked around at the cavern. Behind them was a massive pool of water, which presumably connected to the sea by underwater passages. The only other way in was a stone stairwell leading up, which the kraken was too large to have come from.
Jinx rose to a crouch, ready to make a run for the stairs. She made no further movement however, as the kraken leaned its neck down and stared at her menacingly. A low growl erupted from its throat, as though daring Jinx to make a move.
"If I were you I wouldn't test him. It took a lot of persuasion to keep him from completely consuming you. And he always gets cranky when he misses a meal."
Mer Man emerged from the stairs and walked into the chamber. He had removed his armor and was pressing what appeared to be a concoction of seaweed to the wound in his chest. The bleeding had stopped but Jinx could see several of his scales were missing and it was likely he would carry a scar for the rest of his life.
Mer Man slowly sat on a small throne made of shells and glared at his prisoners. "You're probably wondering why I've kept you alive so far."
"Not at all," Jinx said, again acting as if she was not the least bit afraid. "You need to retrieve the pieces of the crest we're carrying, and couldn't very well do that if they were swallowed by your pet here."
Mer Man's ugly fish lips curled letting Jinx know she had hit the nail right on the head. "No one likes a smart ass, surface dweller. Hand over the true crest now or else."
"Or else what, chum breath?" Dree Elle spat. "We don't give it to you and you'll kill us? If we do give it to you, you'll either kill us anyway or prevent us from reforming the whole crest. In which case the universe is doomed and we're all dead. So what's my motivation here?"
Jinx had to resist smiling at Dree Elle. She was trying to take her teaching to heart and hide her fear. And actually, she was succeeding rather well. Unfortunately this moment of pride in her student distracted the young ninja from her condition. Before she could react, the kraken had wrapped a tentacle around her, pinning her arms to her side, and lifted her up towards its drooling jaws. Dree Elle's fear showed through again immediately.
"Jinx!"
"As willing as people are to die themselves," Mer Man chuckled, "they never can stand to see a friend killed in front of them. So what's it to be?"
"I can't give you the crest." Dree Elle shouted.
Mer Man sneered, "You're being very foolish."
"No, I really can't give it to you. Jinx and I have the fake pieces!" She demonstrated by throwing her piece against a rock where it shattered. "I gave the real one to Wet Suit. Which means it's probably back at Grayskull by now."
Mer Man's eyes narrowed in rage and he seethed and snarled. "Then you are of no use to me!"
At that the kraken shot a tentacle in her direction. Dree Elle dodged to the side, feeling the wind snap as the appendage cracked like a whip. Again the scaly arm lashed out, but again the Trollan avoided its grasp.
Dree Elle began wildly flying about and upwards, zipping in, out and around the kraken's many arms as she worked her way up to the one holding Jinx. Her friend and teacher's words stood out in her head, "A large part of winning is using your adversary's strength against them. You're small and agile. Instead of a weakness make that an advantage."
Dree Elle was doing precisely that. The sea monster was so large and she so small that it couldn't get a bead on her and thrashed around madly, colliding only with itself or the stone walls, creating an avalanche of rocks.
"Watch what you're doing!" Mer Man shouted to his pet as a boulder narrowly missed landing on him. The ocean warlord reached behind him for his trident and fired its blasts towards Dree Elle. However, he succeeded only in striking his own creature, which reared in pain, causing it to release the hold it had on its prisoner.
Jinx grabbed hold of the tentacle as it loosened and swung herself around over the pool. Letting go, she managed to twirl into a dive before hitting the water. As she went under she was able to ascertain that less than an hour had passed, because the aqualung charm was still in effect.
Resurfacing, she quickly emerged from the pool and threw herself at Mer Man, who was distracted by trying to hit Dree Elle. Despite her being smaller in physical stature, the sudden body check caused Mer Man to tumble off balance. The trident's blast collided with the ceiling sending it crashing down on the humanoid fish. Mer Man gave one last twitch, then fell into unconsciousness.
Jinx looked back to Dree Elle and gasped to see her apparently cornered by the kraken. Thinking quickly, she dove for Mer Man's trident. At the same time the kraken lunged for Dree Elle with open jaws. Jinx managed to grab the weapon and turn it towards the kraken before realizing she had no idea how to work it.
As it turned out however, she did not need to. At the last possible second Dree Elle darted upwards and the kraken collided headfirst with the stone wall. Having knocked itself senseless, the creature buckled and began to sink into the water. Dree Elle watched it falling, then floated towards Jinx chuckling victoriously.
"Winner by a knock out!"
Jinx beamed. "Dree Elle, I am so proud of…look out!"
Jinx's warning came a moment too late. As the last of the kraken's tentacles vanished beneath the water's surface, it lashed out in a reflex action and succeeded in snagging the young Trollan, dragging her into the depths.
Jinx wasted no time and dove in after her friend. The water was much deeper than she would have imagined and the kraken was sinking fast, taking Dree Elle along with it. Jinx was extremely thankful the aqualung charm was still working so she could concentrate on her task without worrying about herself.
Dree Elle was struggling to free herself in vain, as her small arms were not strong enough to force away the kraken's powerful muscles, unconscious though it was. When Jinx caught up she quickly forced the trident, which she had fortunately hung on to, between the scaly flesh and Dree Elle, prying with all her might.
Dree Elle suddenly stopped pushing and tugged at Jinx's arm. When Jinx turned she placed her hands to her throat and made a small whimper. It took Jinx about ten seconds to realize what she was trying to say; her aqualung had worn off and she could no longer breathe.
Jinx was momentarily shocked as she herself was experiencing no problems. Then a light went off in her brain as she remembered what Dree Elle had said. "If you overexert yourself it will use up the air supply faster." Dree Elle's heroic actions were about to cost her life!
Jinx put all her muscle behind one last heave and managed to loosen the tentacle enough for Dree Elle to wiggle free. Quickly, they both headed for the surface as fast as they could swim, but Dree Elle's strokes were growing weaker and weaker until finally she stopped moving and began to sink.
Jinx doubled back , scooped Dree Elle into her arms and kicked her way to the fresh air above. Scurrying to dry land she laid Dree Elle down in horror, as the Trollan was not moving. A quick check found a faint pulse, but she had clearly stopped breathing. Jinx was preparing to pull away her veil in order to perform CPR when she remembered she wasn't allowed to see Dree Elle's face.
Jinx quickly felt Dree Elle's face through the mask and found her mouth. Placing her hands in position she shut her eyes, pulled the veil away and began artificial respiration blind. It was no easy task, even for someone used to working without her eyes, but her sense of honor would allow her to do no different.
Come on! she thought frantically. Don't you die on me! Breathe damn it! BREATHE! Jinx was about to give in and open her eyes when Dree Elle suddenly sputtered and began coughing.
"Good girl," Jinx sighed in relief. "Take it easy now. You're going to be okay."
Dree Elle coughed out water a few more times, then found her voice, albeit shaky. "Jinx, what happened? You.. You saved my life!"
"Oh come on," Jinx chuckled lightly, "you know I had to. Oh, and don't worry. I didn't peek."
She pointed to her still closed eyes and handed the veil back to Dree Elle. The Trollan paused a moment, then took it, tied it back on, then embraced Jinx tightly.
"Thank you, Jinx. Thank you."
"So now what do we do?" Jinx asked. "We still don't know where we are or how to get out of here."
"Well, we know what's in that direction," said Dree Elle pointing at the water. "So let's try those stairs. It's the only other way out."
They headed up and around as the staircase spiraled and finally deposited them inside a maze of corridors, each leading off to no one could tell where.
"Great," Jinx muttered looking around. (She had reopened her eyes by this point) "I don't suppose you have any idea which path to take."
"Actually I do." Dree Elle said. "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is I know where we are."
"And the bad news?" Jinx asked.
"We're in Snake Mountain."
Queen Marlena paced back and forth and, once again, scanned the horizon with her macro binoculars. Her royal guard, as well as King Randor, had tried to convince her to retreat to a safe position and let them handle the fighting, but she refused. Queen or not, she would not stand aside while she could make a difference. Failure in this case would mean death for everyone, regardless of where they were.
At first she saw nothing, but slowly the form of a giant metallic skull came into view. The Collector had arrived.
"Everyone get ready," she called out. "They're here."
The gunners trained their sights on the airship, ready to fire as soon as it got within range. However, taking everyone by surprise, The Collector slowed down and landed some considerable distance from the city walls.
"Can you hit them from here?" Flint asked.
The gunner shook his head. "Negative sir. They're positioned just out of our firing range!"
Lady Jaye snarled, "Those damn robots know what they're doing."
As everyone watched in contempt and awe, the ship lowered its ramp and slowly line after line of Battle Android Troopers disembarked and began marching on the city. Not a single living soldier was among them. Not one made of flesh and blood. Not one that would react to the horrible carnage that was inevitable.
Marlena turned to the line of catapults and gave the signal to fire. The first bombardments fell just short, but managed to spray the B.A.T.s with debris. The next wave landed on top of them, smashing the first several lines to bits. A collective cheer rose from the Eternian ranks, but quickly subsided as the second wave of robots clambered over their fallen comrades without any response. Moments later the downed troopers stood up and followed, their damage repairing itself as they went.
"Part of me was hoping the report on those nano mites wasn't true," Marlena sighed. By now the B.A.T.s were close enough that the soldiers and Joes could open fire, forcing them back slightly but not stopping them.
"We can slow them down," Lady Jaye said, "but if we're going to stand any chance of surviving this we need to disable those mites!"
"Which means getting to that ship and taking out the controller," said Marlena.
"That's easier said than done," Flint said. "Those B.A.T.s will shoot at any biological form that they detect."
"Then perhaps I can be of help," said a soft mechanical voice.
Flint and Lady Jaye spun around in shock to find themselves face to face with a tall silvery mechanical soldier. Flint almost fired on the robot, but stopped when Marlena stepped forward and began talking to it calmly.
"Do you have something in mind Roboto?"
Roboto turned his head toward the approaching androids with a whir. "I have ascertained the data available to me on the Battle Android Troopers and have reached a solution with a high probability of success."
"Could you explain it to us quickly using small words?" Flint muttered, unsure of whether he fully trusted the robot warrior.
"It occurs to me," Roboto explained, "that though the B.A.T.s are programmed to attack any biological life form, they also somehow avoid attacking each other. Logically they therefore ignore robotic forms. I believe if I were to move through their ranks they would simply detect me as another robot and not attack."
Marlena shook her head. "No Roboto it's too risky. While your assumption does seem logical, it is still just an assumption and you're too valuable to us to risk. We need you more here."
"But Your Majesty," Roboto protested, "if I fall in battle I can be rebuilt. You cannot. Any damage I may suffer would be worth the price to protect all of you."
"My answer is still no, Roboto," Marlena said. "You are to remain at your post. That's a royal order, understood?"
Marlena could swear that Roboto actually sighed. "Very well my Queen. My duty is clear." With that he turned and headed away. The three commanders turned their attention back to the B.A.T.s and continued to lay down a steam of bullets and laser fire. Suddenly they heard a catapult fire, but instead of a projectile, a humanoid form flew through the air.
"Roboto!"
"What the hell is he doing?" Lady Jaye shouted.
But they all knew what he was doing and what he had truly meant when he said his duty was clear. Roboto was going to protect them all. Even though it meant defying a direct order. And even if it meant his destruction.
