A/N: Rated R for violence
Chapter 10:
Collateral Damage
Things were not going well.
What began as a simple battle to protect the castle had escalated rapidly into a fight for survival. Instead of standing around with her tail between her legs, Teela decided to join the fight now before those things got any closer to the castle. She left half her men behind to protect the castle's occupants, and led the other half out beyond the walls where they engaged a faction that had managed to get by the Masters.
That was a half-an-hour ago and neither Ram Man nor Zodac had shown up. She had no time to dwell on that though, as she quickly sidestepped one massive reptilian head, chuck full of razor sharp teeth, and plunged her sword deep into the creature's neck. They had long since given up the passive approach since those things had taken huge chunks out of a dozen of her men already. She took a moment to wrench her sword out of the stinking carcass and looked around her.
She had been in countless battles before but none compared to this. She used her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her eyes and swore in disgust when it left a cold, slick trail across her face instead. Reptilian blood—a disgusting symbol of the hell Skeletor had put them through for years. She was covered in it; they all were.
She wanted to blame Evilyn for this but she couldn't, not after knowing all the facts. Like it or not the dark witch was blameless…this time. Instead Teela took her anger out on the next unfortunate beast that made the mistake of charging at her. She gripped her sword tightly and sliced up and across at its face before somersaulting backwards landing neatly a few meters ahead of the stunned creature. When she saw what she had done, she felt the bottom fall out of her stomach. One yellow eye leaked its contents across the grotesque face while a bloodied globular discharge spilled out of the wide, elongated gash in its head. The creature seemed to stand there for an eternity, though she knew that it must have only been a few seconds, before its body got wind of the fact that it was dead. She turned her face away just before it succumbed to gravity. No, this was definitely not like the other battles.
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"What the—?" Buzzoff suddenly halted his dive bomb attack against another unsuspecting basilisk. He whirled around and spotted the Griffin that matched the huge bird shaped shadow eclipsing the still oblivious and lucky beast. Perched atop its back was Beastman. "That coward," Buzzoff hissed through clenched teeth and immediately targeted his latest unsuspecting prey.
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Evelyn's world was spinning; and she hadn't stopped staring at her mother since she revealed herself. On top of everything that had happened to her in just in few days, this was proving to be too much for her to handle.
Ramona was Mother!
She chastised herself for not seeing through such a simple spell, one she herself had used many times, but how could she have known? This was incredible…inconceivable! Now, amidst the chaos in her head, and the one Skeletor was making in his efforts to get to them, one striking realization assailed her—her mother loved her!
The invisible bubble that protected them with reverberated as Skeletor continued to pelt them with energy blasts from his staff. Evilyn snapped out of her reverie in alarm when she realized there was no way her mother could keep this up for long. The sheen of perspiration on her mother's grim face confirmed her fears.
"Release me mother," Evilyn said urgently, "Let me help you."
Before her mother could respond Skeletor roared viciously and let loose a volley of attacks which finally succeeded in breaching the unseen barrier. The blast hit her in the upper chest and sent her sprawling towards the wall behind her. Evilyn's horrified scream was drowned out only by her mother's painful one. She scrambled to her mother's side and held her like she had her just minutes before. She shook her gently willing her to open her eyes.
"Mother! Oh no…no…please. Please no!" Evilyn sobbed and hugged her mother's limp body to her chest. Her tears streamed into her mother's hair as she rocked her back and forth, whispering prayers she'd thought she had forgotten. Her heart caught in her chest when she felt her mother stir finally. Evilyn looked into her face anxiously, almost crying out herself at the agony she saw there.
"Don't cry for me little one," "You are free now …I did my best…I am sorry." Evilyn barely heard what she was saying. She shushed her gently and bowed so that she could speak softly into her mother's ear.
"You didn't loose your daughter mother, and I'm not going to lose you now."
Skeletor looked on dispassionately while he caught his breath—trying to kill people can certainly take a lot out of you. He took his time walking up behind her. "How very touching Evilyn; I had no idea you had a mother. I was always under the impression that you were an orphan or at least abandoned."
He crouched before her so he could take in the full force of her murderous glare. She could not intimidate him—he had broken her. He contemplated leaving her alive so that she could suffer her fate. What was the expression: alone and lonely?
"Hmm…first your lover, now your mother; you must despise me," he mused aloud and chuckled. He felt a peculiar pleasure in finally having her full attention. Not even the cursed Masters she had recently aligned herself with would touch her—surely they knew it was her fault they were being attacked right now. No, she was his now—his to do as he pleased. Yet, she refused to accept this. He thought in frustration, even now he saw rage and defiance fire her eyes and her lips curl back from her teeth.
"My dear—" Evilyn did not give the bastard time to finish. She dived at him without warning; her nails scratching at his throat as she tried to get a firm grasp. Momentarily caught off guard by her sudden ferocity, Skeletor fell onto his back with Evilyn squirming on top of him. He managed to pry her fingers off his throat and restrained her arms behind her back, causing her to fall on top of him. She quickly changed tactics and sunk her teeth into his shoulder instead, determined to make him hurt no matter what. He screamed and wrenched her away by her hair.
She did not move from where she fell and continued to glare at him intensely. Skeletor breathed hard and massaged the ache out of his shoulder. He watched her warily, oddly excited and a little amused by the turn of events. He knew she was no match for him in her present condition, but if she wanted a fight he wasn't going to disappoint her.
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"Make them stop!" Buzzoff demanded for the second time. He had Beastman dangling upside-down by his legs, several meters above the ground. "Speak up! I don't know how much longer I can hold on to you." Truthfully, the heavy brute was proving to be too heavy for Buzzoff's smaller frame; he already slipped a few times, now Buzzoff struggled to hold on to his ankles.
"Okay! I'll make them stop, just put me down. Please!" Buzzoff smirked, but quickly complied and descended before releasing him, though a little higher from the ground than he needed to. Were those tears he saw in Beastie's eyes?
"Well?" he asked after a few moments of watching his flight companion struggling for breath on the ground.
"You're…you're crazy! Fine, let me just catch my breath." He added hastily when Buzzoff made to grab his ankles again. He hopped up, glanced furtively at the overgrown insect's unrelenting face for a moment, before taking a deep breath.
Buzzoff waited patiently for Beastman's raucous bellowing to stop; he waited again for the ringing in his ears to do the same.
It was like a tide turning upon itself. The charging horde made a wide circle, galloping back to where they came from. Buzzoff grabbed Beastman and rose above the stampede, all the while marveling at the sight. He looked down at his captive, who was thrashing madly again, and could not help but respect his gift. "Quit it or I'll drop you." He was still an idiot though.
"Put me down! Put me down!" Beastman's terrified screaming drew Duncan's attention. He too was stunned at the abrupt change in the basilisks' direction but he was too grateful that the castle wasn't their target anymore that he decided to ask questions later. All questions were answered though, at the sight of Beastman dangling by his hind legs, curtsey of Buzzoff. He shook his head slightly at his friend's tactics but could not prevent a small smile from escaping his lips. He turned the speeder around and sped toward them.
"Good work Buzzoff." He had already lowered his captive to the ground and was grinning widely.
"Ah, it was nothing."
Duncan scanned the distance through his binoculars for the rest of the Masters. He found Teela and zoomed in on his daughter. She was helping a guard to stand. He lingered on her for a moment before moving on. Most of the Masters and palace guards were either defending against a few stubborn stragglers or helping the wounded back to the castle. He Man and Man-E were busy rounding up the remaining members of Skeletor's gang. His eyes narrowed when he realized that Skeletor had not made an appearance yet.
"Where is Skeletor, Beastman?" his voice was calm, belying his fear that he already knew the answer.
"He…he's still in the castle," he answered without hesitation this time. "He told us to attack from outside while he finished—" Duncan had already jumped back into his speeder and was shouting instructions to Buzzoff to send the Masters up to the castle's infirmary as soon as possible.
"Man-at-Arms, let me go with you," Buzzoff insisted.
"You have to get Beastman to the dungeon, just tell the others what's going on," he replied before speeding off.
"Man-at-Arms!" Buzzoff yelled in frustration. He should have waited for him.
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A/N Happy New Year all. I wish all you guys a great 2004