Part 6:

Along Came a Spider

In the command-center of the royal palace, located in the heart of the command-keep, the men-at-arms on duty kept a constant watch on the perimeter, both the palace perimeter as well as the planets orbit and the outer reaches of the solar system. So far, there was no sign of Skeletors forces; all was quiet. A noise caught everyones attention as the door leading to the room began to move, as if it was being slowly forced open. None knew what to make of it as they all watched the strange behavior of the door. The door was, however, suddenly violently ripped open by Webstors four arachnid legs, standing upright as he was on the thicker hindlegs. As soon as the door was open, and before any man-at-arms had time to react to the intruder, Webstor tossed two canisters into the room and instantly as they touched ground, the impact detonating them both, they detonated a thick fog of green smoke that within seconds had filled the entire chamber.

Adam was running for all his worth through the corridors and halls of the palace as he made his way for the command-keep. He knew he had to hurry, every second wasted might give the intruder time to fulfill his plans, what ever they might be.

The men-at-arms of the command-center were coughing heavily, folding over and covering their stomachs and throats from the severe ache the coughing caused them. Wearing a mask, Webstor was unaffected by the gas he had released, and as he moved into the room, all around him the men-at-arms were passing out, one by one.

The young prince ran down a corridor and almost crashed into a a squad of men-at-arms patrolling the interior of the palace. After the initial confusion of bumping into one another, Adam waved them along, urging them to follow him.

"Come on, there is an intruder in the keep!" Adam said.

"Sire?" the officer of the squad said, somewhat confused still.

"I saw someone climbing on the wall!" Adam explained with some frustration. "He must be here somewhere!"

"Right" the officer said and nodded, ever obedient to the royal family. Activating his commlink, the officer tried to reach the command-center. "Command, this is Squad Arcturus, over." As there was no response, he tried again, again receiving no reply. The men-at-arms and the prince all feared the worst. "Come on men!" the officer barked and with that, the squad and prince hurried through the corridors of the keep to reach the command-center.

The squad of men-at-arms entered the command-center and spread out accordingly, aiming their wrist-blasters attached to their vambraces to cover their entry. They coughed from the fumes still lingering in the air, but it was only enough to irritate their throats. Prince Adam followed them inside, covering his mouth with his arm as the fumes made him cough as well. They all were astonished at finding all the men-at-arms assigned to the command-center lying in heaps all over the place; the officer of the squad knelt next to one of the fallen men and felt for a pulse on his neck.

"He is alive" the officer said, coughing slightly right afterwards.

"But who did this" Adam said, "and where is he?"

The officer got back on his feet. "I better call for backup, and inform the commander."

But before the officer had time to report the matter, a sticky line, covered in goo, shot down from above and stuck to his upper torso. No-one had time to react before the man was hoisted, violently so, into the air and up into the ceiling. Adam was so taken by surprise that he stumbled and fell over backwards. As they all looked up, they saw an arachnid humanoid hanging from the ceiling by its many legs and grabbing hold of the body of the officer; many of the men-at-arms took instant aim, but as they fired, the creature fell and by so doing avoided getting struck by the deadly blasts that now instead ruptured the ceiling.

Using the officer for a cushion, Webstor crashed into two of the men-at-arms and crushed them both, as well as the officer, in the process. Adam was pushed aside by one of the soldiers just as Webstor got on his feet and stabbed a man-at-arms through his torso with two of the pointed arachnid legs; the body was then tossed aside and slammed into yet another trooper. Seeing a man-at-arms taking aim at him, Webstor instantly ducked down on all his limbs, the blast destroying a computer further down; from his low vantage point, Webstor shot out another line from the gland on his back, striking the man-at-arms across the face. Webstor wasted no time as the man-at-arms desperately, and in vain, tried to free his face from the sticky thread; Webstor got up on a knee, grabbed the line with both hands and swung his opponent around like a ball and chain, knocking over the last of the still standing men-at-arms in the process.

Adam was still on the floor, terrified at what he had seen; a single creature had taken down seven men-at-arms within seconds, without receiving a single scratch. The room was now filled with unconscious and dead soldiers, and as the arachnid humanoid got back up on its stocky hindlegs, turning its six hideous eyes on the prince, Adam swallowed loudly out of fear. Before Webstor moved over to Adam, he stopped to pierce the body of a groaning man-at-arms on the ground, his arachnid leg puncturing the torso and killing the man. Pulling the leg free, Webstor headed straight for Adam, stepping over the bodies between them, not bothered by the carnage one bit.

Adam crawled on his back, trying to get away from the terrible creature that had invaded the palace, his eyes wide and full of fear. But Webstor needed only one great stride to catch up to the prince and bent over to grab hold of the young man; with strong arms, the arachnid beast hoisted Adam from the floor and pushed him up against the wall. Adam was starring right into the three pairs of eyes of Webstor, their faces mere inches from each other; the four thick fangs of Webstor moving threateningly slow as if he was considering having the young man for supper. Adam thought something in the creatures eyes hinted on it.

"The young prince" Webstor said as he studied the frightened face before him, moving the tip of one of his arachnid legs to slowly stroke Adams face down its left side. Adam shut his eyes hard, trying to control his fears. Webstor chuckled. "Perhaps you would prove to be a good bargaining chip. What do you say, little boy? How would you like to come back with me and have a little talk with my master... Skeletor."

Adam dared to open his eyes, seeing his own reflection in the six alien ones right in front of him. "No thanks" the then said, although with some hesitation in his voice. "I think I'll pass."

Webstor gripped the prince tighter and pushed his face into his captives, his foul breath filling Adams nostrils. "You think you have a choice?!" Skeletors henchman snarled, his four thick fangs ready to stab at the boys throat and face.

Adam swallowed before he found courage to offer a response. "That's just it" he said, "I only have one choice."

Adam slammed his forehead into Webstors face with brute force. Webstor lost his grip instantly and stumbled backwards as he covered his face with both clawed hands.

"My Eyes!" the arachnid cried out, hands covering his face.

Adam pushed Webstor as hard as he could, making the alien trip over the body of a man-at-arms and falling to the ground. Adam then quickly made his escape, leaving the command-center in a hurry to get help. Webstor was enraged as he got back up from the floor, his eyes stinging badly, pushing himself up on his legs and taking up pursuit on the young prince.

Adam was running for all his worth, desperately trying to find someone in the corridors of the keep. Behind him, Webstor was leaping with the aid of his eight limbs, jumping from wall to wall, crawling over floor and ceiling alike, moving much faster than any human ever could; every time Adam tossed a quick glance over his shoulder, Webstor had gain substantial distance on him. At one time, Webstors sticky line, shot out from the gland on his back, missed with just inches to spare as Adam hurried down an interconnecting hallway, a corridor whose walls were lined by small alcoves that housed statues of heroic men-at-arms from Eternias history. Adam ran, but it was no use, Webstor was all but upon him. Glancing over his shoulder, the young prince noticed how Webstor came flying at him with a great leap down the corridor they found themselves in; instinctively, Adam turned to brace himself for the impact. Webstor slammed into his prey, grabbing Adam by the shirt with his clawed hands, pushing the boy to the floor and pinning him down with his bodyweight, supported by his arachnid legs to keep his torso in place right above Prince Adams.

Once more having their faces a few meager inches from one another, Webstor opened his foul maw, with its four tusk-like fangs, wide with heated anger. "You can run, little boy" he growled, "but you'll only die tired."

"In the name of the King! Surrender!"

Webstor looked up and down the corridor, seeing the three men-at-arms aiming their wrist-blasters his way. Hissing viciously, Webstor jumped forward with the aid of his strong limbs, all eight of them, bouncing of the wall to close the distance with the men-at-arms. Blaster-fire filled the corridor as the men-at-arms tried to kill the intruder and Adam hurried to crawl over to and press himself prone up against a wall. The shots all missed as Webstor bounced between walls, crawled with lightning speed up onto the ceiling, dropping to the floor and twisting in midair to land on all eight, and from there leaping the final distance to reach his enemies. Crashing into the man-at-arms standing in the middle of the three, Webstor had the mans chest impaled on two of his pointed spider legs. Kicking one man-at-arms into the wall, he then thrust another pointed leg through the gut of the third.

Webstor was almost instantly grabbed from behind by the last of the men-at-arms, trying to wrestle the humanoid arachnid and subdue him; but Webstor soon got loose after violently shaking himself free. Turning, Webstor found a wrist-blaster aiming point-blank at his face; there was an instant struggle as Webstor pushed the wrist and weapon to the side and soon the man-at-arms and the intruder were wrestling over where the two wrist-mounted weapons would aim. A few rounds were fired by the wrist-blaster, but hit nothing but the walls and ceiling. The fight finally ended as Webstor stabbed all four of his arachnid legs into the torso of his opponent, utterly impaling the body; the man-at-arms gasped, a look of total disbelief on his face. Webstor violently ripped his legs free of the body and pushed it without consideration to the floor.

Adam slowly got back on his feet, fear written all over his face, trying to remain calm with slow, heavy breaths. The arachnid turned to look at the prince, making a face with his four tusk-like fangs in what Adam guessed was the creatures way of smiling, perhaps even grinning. Adam knew he stood no chance against the intruder who seemed to be able to kill his fathers men-at-arms at will, yet he started to glance about, hoping to spot something that would at least give him a fighting chance. Webstor flexed his two pairs of arachnid legs, all four of them by now dripping with blood, and began to walk towards the young prince; the two upper tusks, being the larger pair, moving it seemed as if in anticipation of being plunged into flesh. Both of them, Webstor and Prince Adam, came to a halt as a loud, wailing siren began screaming across the royal palace.

"They're onto you" Adam eventually said, a large lump having formed in his throat out of fear for the savage intruder. "Soon this place will be crawling with guards. You cant take on all of them."

"I can still take care of you, little boy" Webstor threatened and started walking over towards Adam anew.

Adam backed away as Webstor came closer, eventually finding himself by one of the alcoves lining the wall that housed statues of ancient heroes. Webstor lunged himself forward with a leap, forcing Adam to stumble into the alcove as the arachnid clung to the wall with his limbs, blocking of any chance of escape with his torso. Webstor let out a frightening hiss as he opened his terrible jaws wide, drops of green poison clearly seen hanging from the tips of each of the larger, upper pair of fangs. Adam took courage and grabbed the statue he was pressed up against and pulled it from its pedestal and gave it an extra push as it began to topple over. Webstor took on a face of great confusion as he realized what was about to happen; the statue crashed into him and tore him down from the wall, slamming him into the floor underneath its great weight. Adam wasted little time as he jumped over the statue and the pinned intruder beneath it and ran for all his worth down the corridor to ensure his escape, frantically looking for any sign of friendly help close by. Cutting a corner, Adam ran with full speed into the armored chest of Duncan, the commander of the palace guard.

"Calm down, my lord!" Duncan urged as he saw how frightened and pumped up with adrenalin the young prince was. "My prince, what is going on? We have heard blaster-fire."

"There's an intruder!" Adam said eagerly and pointed back from the corridor he had just recently left. "He has killed everyone in the command-center! I think he works for Skeletor!"

"Return to you chambers, my lord" Duncan suggested, although it was clear by his tone that it was more a command than anything else. "We will deal with this." Duncan then signaled for his men to move on and his two dozen men-at-arms hurried past the commander and their prince.

"You don't understand!" Adam stressed, "he has already killed a handful of men-at-arms!"

"My prince" Duncan said, trying to calm the excited and exhausted heir to Eternias throne, grabbing him gently by each shoulder. "Return to your chambers, right now, and lock the door. My men will handle this from now on."

Adam nodded, taking a moment to catch his breath after the attempt to outrun the deadly intruder, his chest heaving with each breath taken.

"My lord" Duncan said, and the young prince nodded once again.

"Just be careful" Adam said and then began to jog down the corridor as he set off to leave the command-keep behind.

The large group of men-at-arms moved down the corridors, prepared for anything and everything as they secured each hallway and corridor as they went. Stepping over the statue Adam had toppled in order to escape Webstors clutches, they were unaware that it moments before had pinned their target to the floor; now, only the statue could be found with no trace of the intruder anywhere. The bodies of their comrades were double-checked, but all were dead; the realization that this was deadly serious only spurred Eternias finest to catch the one responsible.

Adam, having left the command-keep, found a window to overlook the structure from a nearby spire. The siren was ever present, all over the palace men-at-arms were hurrying to their assigned positions to secure the area; overhead, gunships and other craft circled and covered the ground and rooftops with powerful searchlights. Watching the intense search under way, Adam felt confident that the sinister intruder would get caught before having a chance to escape.

Duncan followed behind the forward element of his large host of men as they advanced down the corridors, eventually reaching the force open door leading to the command-center; upon entry, they feared the worst seeing all their comrades dead or unconscious, namely that their entire defensive grid had been sabotaged somehow.

Teela ran up to Adam who was still standing by the window, overlooking the command-keep. "Adam, what is going on?!"

"Someone broke in to the command-center" Adam said, still a bit fatigued. "Your father is over there now, searching the place."

Teela joined him by the window and took a long look at the command-keep. "A Skeletor spy?" she then wondered out loud.

Prince Adam nodded. "I think so. Why else would he be here?"

XXX

He was known as Beast, Beast Man and The Beast Master. His reddish fur was thick and woolly, his large hulking, hunched, body riddled with bulging muscles; a savage gorilla-looking creature radiating with raw brute strength. He was currently hiding in the woods outside of Eternias royal palace, watching the commotion as the alarm had been raised; he was pretty certain that Webstor had been detected. Beast Man was contemplating on how much longer he should wait before heading back, when a strange noise of something crawling hurriedly through the underbrush caught his attention. His natural instincts easily recognized the noise as what it was, and was not surprised when Webstor finally became visible in the forest, crawling on all limbs at rapid speed towards Beast Mans position.

"Did you fail?" Beast Man growled as Webstor rose up on his hindlegs.

"No" the arachnid replied, almost offended. "There was just a slight problem with the guards, and the little prince."

"I don't care" Beast Man growled in response and snarled. "Get on with it so we can get out of here."

"Very well" Webstor said and retrieved a remote-control from his belt.

XXX

Duncan sighed as he watched his men tend the wounded in the command-center as well as double-checking every system. So far, everything appeared to check out, but there had been a reason why the intruder had made his way here; they just needed to find out what. Teela looked at the men-at-arms at work as she walked up to her father.

"There is no sign of this intruder the prince described" Teela said. "Either he is hiding somewhere, or has somehow managed to leave the palace undetected."

Duncan shook his head and took another good look around himself, scanning the command-center for any evidence. "And we haven't found anything out of the ordinary in here yet. Just what the hell was he up to?"

"King Randor would like an update, father" Teela informed. "As soon as possible. He waits for you in the council-chamber."

"Right" Duncan nodded. "Just not sure what I will tell him. Come on."

Duncan and Teela left the command-center and set off to link up with their king to brief him on the situation, although very little was known at the moment; they had nothing, except the strong suspicion that it was linked to Skeletor in some way.

A massive explosion tore out a great chunk of the wall and roof of the command-bunker, sending great pieces of the structure flying through the air to crash all over the palace, causing further damage. A vast great cloud of dust and smoke billowed forth and spread far and wide within the ramparts of the palace. The blast was so fierce that almost not a single window survived the shockwave. Vessels hovering over the palace all moved away as their pilots instinctively increased distance to the sudden explosion. As the echo of the blast faded in the distance, only the wailing siren was heard from the palace, almost mockingly redundant.

XXX

Beast Man grunted, unimpressed by the sight of the rising plume of smoke from within the walls of the royal palace. Webstor chuckled at the sight and put away the remote-control he had used to detonate the explosives he had hidden earlier. The giant ape-man turned and climbed a tree and was soon enough making his way through the forest by swinging from branch to branch, at times flying the distance needed to reach the next tree and its set of branches. Webstor took one last look at the devastation he had caused, a cruel grin on his face, before he fell on all eight to head on after his accomplice, crawling at great speed through the underbrush of the forest.