Chapter Three – "Skeletor's New Plan"

"Let them know we're here," Man-At-Arms stated.

Horns were blown. Weapons were drawn. The Heroic Warriors, the Great Rebellion, the Meteorbs, and Royal Soldiers drew closer to the Great Towers, ready for battle. Ready for war. She-Ra led the charge, Man-At-Arms right behind her, sitting on Stridor.

The air suddenly came alive with laser fire, arrows, and spears. The Snake-Men opened fire, ready for blood. They slithered and moved as though one entity. They slammed against the Royal Soldiers, battle exploding in the Sands of Time, in the shadow of the Great Towers.

"Fight without mercy!" came the voice of General Rattlor. With him were King Hsss two lieutenants, Snake-Face and Sssqueeze.

"Perfuma, Moss Man – take down Snake-Face," She-Ra ordered as they came against the Snake-Men. "Glimmer, give them help!"

Snake-Face had just frozen nearly twenty soldiers in stone as she commanded Moss Man and Perfuma into action. Glimmer fired first, an energy beam striking Snake-Face and knocking him off guard long enough for Moss Man and Perfuma to sweep in. Together, they requested the seven huge trees rise up against Snake-Face. In a matter of seconds, Snake-Face was imprisoned behind seven twisted trees, held in place by branches.

"Make for Grayskull Tower!" She-Ra shouted, riding Swift-Wind forward.

Castaspella and Glimmer helped out the statue-transformed soldiers as the Royal Soldiers continued to engage the Snake-Men.

Sssqueeze leapt forward, arms making for She-Ra. Before they could even draw close to her, though, Extendar sent a fist into his face. Frosta followed up by freezing the arms in ice. To top it off, Netossa snagged him in a large net.

All of sudden, the Meteorbs came flying out from Central Tower. Crocobite, Dinosorb, Gore-Illa, Orbear and Rhinorb all came soaring forward, ready to engage the forces of Eternos. Cometoid, Astrolion, Ty-Grrr, Comet Cat, and Tuskor were in the air immediately, course set for their enemies.

They weren't alone this time, though. Stratos, Hawk, Buzz-Off, Garth, Angella, Flutterina, and Sweet-Bee were in the air as well, soaring right towards the on-coming evil Meteorbs. They unleashed their various powers and weapons upon the Meteorbs, loosening them up for the good Meteorbs.

Meanwhile, back on the ground, She-Ra commanded the gate to Grayskull Tower to open. Soldiers, Heroic Warriors and some of the Great Rebellion made their way inside and rushed to the stairs. They climbed them and reached the top, where their next assault took place.

"Massster," Tung Lashor reported, "our ground troops are depleted. Various Heroic Warriors and Great, er, Rebels have claimed Grayskull Tower. Our Meteorbs are being overrun."

King Hiss looked from Tung Lashor to the window, where he watched as the battle raged on. He sipped his wine, still feeling quite weak from this morning's battle. The sun was starting to move towards the horizon now.

"Damn," he grunted.

Central Tower suddenly shook all around them. The doors to the throne room opened up and a Snake-Man ran inside.

"They're here!" he called.

As soon as he said that, She-Ra, Man-At-Arms, Castaspella, Ram-Man, and Teela ran into the throne room. Frosta fired at Tung Lashor, freezing him. The other guards fell in short order.

Teela made a b-line straight for King Hiss.

"What's wrong, Hiss? Don't you like me without scales?" she asked, staff at the ready.

Hiss made no reply. His flesh was rendered away, revealing the vipers beneath. They snapped forward, but they were slow. King Hiss was exhausted as he attempted to fight. Teela had the advantage. Her staff spun twice, striking at all four heads, before slamming down on the main one.

As King Hiss tumbled backward, she fired a stun beam from her wrist. Hiss crumbled to the ground. She then used a freezing beam on the four lower arms, incasing them in small blocks of ice.

Her sword came right up to his neck.

"I could kill you right now if I wanted to," she told him, intensity in her eyes.

"You won't," he replied. "Because you sssstill love me."

"What . . .?"

Hiss head-butted her, shattered the ice on his smaller hands and leapt out the window. Teela made to follow, but only saw him land on the ground below. He spoke to Rattlor. A minute later, horns sounded from the Snake-Men.

Retreat!

They were pulling out, the Royal Soldiers closing in on Central Tower.

"We did it," Man-At-Arms stated joyfully.

"Yeah . . . we did it," Teela responded. "We did it."

Skeletor called the meeting to order. He had rolled the possibilities around in his mind for hours, trying to make sure that he was going to make the right decision. But, as time went on, he began to understand that he truly had no choice.

Before him sat his Evil Warriors and even some of their associates – Blade, Beast-Man, Clawful, Evil-Lynn, Jitsu, Saurod, Spikor, Stinkor, Trap-Jaw, Tri-Klops, Two-Bad, Webstor, Whiplash, Karg, Twistoid, and even occasional allies such as General Tartaran, Strong Arm and Goat Man. The last member of the group was Kobra Kahn, who was chained to the wall, but still in the meeting hall.

"I have decided that after our most recent failure, a new plan is in order. A new, long-lasting plan. One that will a long journey out of me and will force you all to hold onto the power base already established here," Skeletor explained.

"What do you mean, Skeletor?"

"I am leaving Eternia."

An audible gasp went through the room. Evil-Lynn did her best not to smile.

"Where are you going, master?" asked Karg.

"I have just recently learned of a world called Denebria. A vast space armada is waiting there, currently locked in battle with the forces of a neighboring planet called Primus. The Mutants of Denebria are apparently very close to victory over Primus. My plan is to go to Primus, give the leader assistance in defeating the Primians, and then taking the armada for myself. If that goes as planned, I shall bring it back here, use the power of Grayskull that I have and enact my plan to conquer Eternia, and then the universe."

"A promising plan," Evil-Lynn noted. Her thoughts were now filled with her taking Skeletor's place in that throne. "I stand behind it."

"I didn't think you have an issue with it, Evil-Lynn."

"What about He-Man?" asked Blade.

"He-Man will follow me. The emissaries of Primus approached him. He'll decline, but if I go too, then he'll follow me. My hope is that I will kill him while in space, so that he will not be a problem any longer."

"What are your instructions in the meantime? We just sit here and wait?" questioned Trap-Jaw.

"Yes. Grayskull is off-limits. Continue to build an army here. Understand that if any of you dares to commit treachery and disrupts this plan, they will pay for it dearly upon my return." Skeletor then looked around. "With their lives."

There was a sharp seriousness to this threat. It was not born out of anger or frustration. It was clear and sober. Skeletor meant it.

"I have some assignments for you. Trap-Jaw, Tri-Klops, and Spikor, I want you three to create a battle armor for me using the best technology you can find here on Eternia and using the environmental suits in the Primus shuttle. Blade, Two-Bad, I want a selection of weapons light and portable enough for the armor. Coordinate with Trap-Jaw, Tri-Klops, and Spikor. Karg, I want a full inventory of all weapons, vehicles, and magical objects here at Snake Mountain. Evil-Lynn, I will see you in private."

Skeletor stood up, his cloak waving behind him. "I leave tomorrow at dusk. Get to work."

Immediately, the Evil Warriors split up. Skeletor walked out of the room, Evil-Lynn is tow. After walking along the familiar corridors of Snake Mountain, they reached Skeletor's chambers.

Skeletor poured them a drink, grabbing a bottle and two mugs from a nearby cabinet.

"I meant what I said about Castle Grayskull. Leave it alone. If He-Man does indeed follow me, then there won't be much of a target. The power of Grayskull will be spread out, tied to He-Man from across the universe."

"All right," she replied, taking a sip.

"You'll be in command while I'm gone."

"I assumed as much."

"Power suits you. It always has. You weren't my first recruit, but you were my smartest."

Evil-Lynn smiled and put down her drink. "I was your first at other things."

Skeletor nodded slowly. Evil-Lynn walked around the table. "I . . . uh . . . yes. Beast-Man, I doubt he will care if you take command . . ."

"Could you die?"

Skeletor adjusted his collar. "That is . . . always a possibility."

Evil-Lynn was now standing right in front of Skeletor. "You could be gone for a long time. Years."

"Perhaps."

"Skeletor . . ." she whispered seductively. Her hands ran across his armored shoulder. "This is your last night on Eternia. For years, maybe. Forever, possibly. How would you like to spend it?"

She leaned to kiss him. Skeletor stepped back quickly. "You can not . . ."

She smirked. "Can't kiss you? Probably not. Not on the mouth anyway."

Evil-Lynn pulled off her helmet and set it on the table. She and Skeletor embraced. Her hands took off his harness, then pulled the hood off from his skull. She then pulled him onto his bed.

"I can't. I'm sorry."

Hydron looked to Flipshot, worry and disappointment etched on his features. They were all sitting in the bridge of the starship, most of the repairs completed. The automatic repair system was at work, fixing various areas that were unreachable by Hydron and Flipshot or were easy to repair.

"We understand your reluctance, but we need you," Hydron pressed.

He-Man shook his head. "You don't understand, Commander. I . . . recently, I made a decision. It was a personal decision nearly resulted in the death of everyone I've ever been close to. I was willing to sacrifice Eternia itself for a selfish goal. I can't help but think I'm in that position again. If I leave Eternia just because you're asking me, my own world will be at risk again."

"But what about us? What about Primus?" asked Flipshot.

"There are others you can go to. Many worlds with beings as mighty as me. I'm sorry, but I just can't do it. I can't put Eternia at risk. To leave now, when my own world needs me, would be a mistake."

"Then . . . we've traveled here for nothing," Hydron sighed.

"Not nothing. We can help you. We can give you some of our technology and some of our weapons. I'll speak to the king and queen and see if maybe I can get some of volunteers to go back with you. But that's the best I can offer."

Hydron shrugged. "If that's as good as we're going to get . . ."

"I'm afraid so."

At that moment, He-Man's communicator beeped. He-Man pressed it. "He-Man here."

"He-Man! It's Man-At-Arms! Where are you?"

"With some new friends," He-Man replied. "What's the status?"

"Skeletor and his forces have withdraw to Snake Mountain. We've just re-taken the Great Towers from King Hiss and the Snake-Men. How long until you get here?"

He-Man looked to Hydron and Flipshot. "Another hour," Hydron answered.

"An hour."

"We'll be waiting then."