Authors Notes: Hi guys I'm back, sorry for the delays I've had a lot going on helping my sister move house with her boyfriend. But now I'm back with He-Man and the Guardians of the Veil. So lets dive in shall we.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002) (c) Cartoon Network
W.I.T.C.H Tv series (c) Jetix
5
Beasts Among Men
Eternia: Snake Mountain:
Within the ever darkening shadows of the dark hemisphere on Eternia, the sinister Skeletor looks from the very mouth of Snake Mountain itself as lava ran down from it. The tyrant stood vigil as he was in thought of his goals to claim the power within Castle Grayskull.
"This had better be good, I am becoming impatient for good news." Skeletor said to no-one in particular but standing behind him was Evil Lyn.
"Lord Skeletor, do you recall that surge of energy I sensed?" Evil Lyn explained while her master never turned his head. "Well upon consulting my magics I believe I may have located its source, it took considerable time and effort but…."
"I have much to plan for my next attack on Grayskull Evil Lyn." Skeletor warned as he turned his skull face and his eyes glowed bright red. "Waste my time at your own peril!"
The dark witch knew what her master was referring to, so she used her staff to show him what she was talking about. It was of a planet.
"I've learned of its source to be another world entirely." Evil Lyn explained. "However that wasn't the only thing, I sensed magical energies around the very barriers of the realms itself."
"What do you mean?" Skeletor asked now fully intrigued.
"Simply put a veil has been cast upon this world. One that prohibits travel through the use of folds between worlds, yet I sensed that portals have begun to open in this veil." Evil Lynn said.
"This is becoming more and more interesting, yes." Skeletor smirked. "Which means whatever the source of this power is, it must be of great importance for this veil to be erected?"
"True, but shouldn't we be more concerned about who raised this veil and what its meant for?" Evil Lyn asked.
"That is of little concern, frankly I could care less for its purpose." Skeletor waved off as he walked passed the dark witch before turning to her. "Either way it could still be quite useful." He said as he hatched a plan. "Evil Lyn, see what more you can learn of this Veil, and find a means of reaching this primitive world." He said as he walked away as the witch bowed.
However she was hiding some great betrayal in her heart considering her master left her and his fellow minions to rot when he assembled the Council of Evil. She still considered Cobra Kahn's offer that he proposed on that very day. However she thought to bide her time for now, as this new magic she discovered had her very intrigued indeed.
Meridian:
However little did she know another plot was underway. As Phobos and Cedric now in his snake form gazed out from the balcony of the castle.
"The list you found of those born in the Earth town will help us refine our search, Cedric." Phobos told his servant without even facing him.
"It's strange that it's so hard to find one young girl." Cedric wondered.
"Not at all." Phobos acknowledged. "She's inherited qualities of which even she is unaware. If I'm to steal her powers, her ignorance plays to my advantage." The prince then stroked the head of one of the gargoyles that say on the balcony edge. It growled as it was really alive.
"The one who took her and those who now give her sanctuary on earth won't have told my sister her identity." Phobos said smriking ."The fools, they thought it could hide her from me. Well what used to be her protection will now become my opportunity." He then turned to the giant snake man. "Cedric, I have a mission for which you will need to pass as human."
The latter simply smirked in anticipation for this mission the dark prince had in mind for him.
Earth: Heatherfield: Sheffield Institute:
All the students were gathered in the assembly hall, and in the front row sat, Will, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Irma, Taranee and Adam with Elyon sitting next to him. Just then Principal Knickerbocker addressed her students on the microphone.
"Students, our newest history teacher, Professor Dean Collins." The Principal announced and stepping onto the stage was the newest member of the faculty staff. He was a middle aged man with short apricot brown hair, a moustache and blue wore a blue sweater, jeans and black shoes. He was greeted with thundering applause.
"Thank you. And good morning." He greeted his students. "I've been told Sheffield prides itself on sharpening young minds."
The students listened, while Uriah was looking at his shoe and peeled off some gum off the sole and gave it a sniff. "Score Spearmint!" He then went and ate it with no regards what so ever.
"..and developing your sense of community." Continued Professor Collins. "That's why this year, we're going to hold Community Service Day a month early."
This made every students eyes widen in horror including some of the W.I.T.C.H girls.
"A month early!" Cornelia gasped in shock.
"A month early?!" Irma gasped also.
Even Uriah who nearly choked on his gum was also in shock. "A month early?!" He said with his mouth full.
Will and Adam just looked at everyone confused, and when they looked at each other Adam just shrugged his arms just what was the big deal?
"I was impressed to hear you love community service so much that every year you rush to school early on sign-up day." Collins said to everyone rather impressed.
After that assembly everyone left the auditorium, the girls, Adam and Elyon walked down the hall discussing this latest revelation. The Eternian Prince just wanted to know what this was about.
"Of course we come early!" Elyon whined." Oh, man, I hate Community Service Day! I'll stand in the parking lot all night with a pen."
"Maybe I'll sleep in my locker." Taranee said.
"Uh you guys do remember Will and I are new right?" Adam asked. "Whats community service anyway?"
"Wait you don't know what community service is Adam?" Elyon asked.
"No, where I'm from I haven't heard of anything like that." Adam explained.
"Wow sounds like you live on another planet or something." Elyon joked to which Adam did cringe at that she didn't know how right she was.
"Oh well Community service is basically unpaid jobs which people take to help benefit the community." Hay Lin explained.
Adam was starting to get the idea, given how he'd seen his father the King help out some people in building a new dam. It was one of the things he was showing his son of leading by example.
"Okay so what happens on community service day?" Will then asked and they soon came up to a notice board.
"OK. Tomorrow morning, there's gonna be a list on this board. 400 jobs for 400 kids." Irma explained.
"Out of those, maybe ten won't totally stink." Cornelia pointed out.
"And the last kids to sign up get the most gag-o-riffic ones." Hay Lin then said.
"Come on it can't be all that bad right?" Adam asked.
"Yeah, how bad could it be?" Will asked.
"Oh yeah, Try monkey bar scraper at the zoo." Cornelia said having bad memories of the last community service day, when a monkey pulled at the blondes hair mistaking it for a banana. "I mean seriously I swear that monkey pulled out a few strands! I had to wash it for weeks!"
"Well in the monkeys defence your hair is the same colour as a banana." Adam joked to which Will giggled as did Elyon.
"You're one to talk." Cornelia elbowed him in the gut.
"Ok, Corny here had it easy, I was a sewer ladder painter!" Irma grimly said remembering how as she was painting a ladder she was spooked by a rat and fell in the sewer water. "Ugh gross! I had to wash myself down for months to get the smell out."
"You've clearly never been sprayed by Stinkor have you." Adam said.
"Who?" Elyon wondered. Adam remembered Elyon didn't know about any of this so he had to think of an excuse.
"Oh uh it was the name of a skunk I was looking after, for a job yeah lets just say he stunk up my home for a while. I stank up the whole place for a week!" Adam explained not even mentioning the part where he thought it was Cringer who was stinking.
"Have you tried bathing in tomato juice that normally works." Elyon suggested.
"O…kay that aside I think we get the idea get here early." Will then said getting the gist of this whole thing.
Vandom residence:
Later that night, Will and her mother had sit down to dinner, which was soup. While Susan was looking at a flower in wonder, will was stirring her soup when she noticed something in it.
"Mom, did you get a phone call while making the soup?" She then asked.
"How do you know?" Susan then asked, and the answer came in the form of her phone. She soon realised what had happened.
"Just a wild guess." Will then said as she placed the phone to the side and continued with her soup.
Wanting to change the subject Susan actually needed to talk to Will about something important. "Honey, uh... What would you think if I started dating?"
Will took a sip of her soup and grimaced at the taste, as it wasn't very good. "Urgh! Well If you meet a nice guy, I wouldn't feed him any home-cooked meals right away." She suggested, to which her mother did have to agree.
Meanwhile Meridian:
In the throne room of the dark castle Cedric stood before his master. "I have adopted a human's identity in their town." Cedric explained.
"The search for the girl will go faster now." Phobos said very pleased. "When they write our family history, hers will be a short but eventful chapter." He looked over a small book.
Eternia: Snake Mountain:
At the same time Skeletor sat on the throne of Snake Mountain as Evil-Lyn and Tri-Klops stood before him.
"I have been able to pinpoint the planet, which is split between two realms." Evil Lyn explained. "While the Veil around one realm prevents conventional travel, I with the spell I have I should be able to open a portal there."
"Excellent, finding this new power should no longer be a hindrance." Skeletor said very pleased. "With luck it could provide the edge we need to take Grayskull." He smirked. "Beast Man!"
Just then Beast Man leaped down from the ceiling like the wild man he was. "You called boss?" He asked.
"I have need of your expertise, namely some certain beasts that work best under cover of shadow." Skeletor explained.
"Uh yeah sure but remember they only work under the cover of night boss." Beast Man said.
"That should suffice, and just to make sure, you'll go to this world with them." Skeletor then suggested.
To say Beast Man was taken aback was an understatement. "Wha..but but boss, I'm not sure I should I mean what if…" Suddenly he was cut off by a blast that hit the ground below his feet causing him to jump in fright. The source being Skeletor's havoc staff.
"You will go, or I'll skin you alive and wear your fur as a COAT YOU MANGY FOOL!"
"Uh well, when you put it that way." Beast Man said very afraid.
"Then…" Skeletor began to say. "Time for you to pay Earth a visit." He and Phobos said at the same time.
Earth: Vandom Residence:
In the Vandom apartment, the doorbell rang, and Will went to answer it. What she didn't expect was to see the person visiting was her new History teacher. Professor Colins.
"Good evening, Will." He greeted.
Will was taken completely by surprise. "Professor Collins?" She gasped. "Whatever you're here to tell Mom, I'd appreciate 15 minutes to think of an excuse." She panicked not even noticing her mom saw who was at the door.
"Oh, it's nothing like that." Dean chuckled, then saw Susan had come to the door fixing up her hair. "Good evening, Susan."
"Dean! Hi!" Susan greeted happily.
"Susan? Dean?" Will asked completely when was her teacher and mother on a first name basis?
"Your mom joined the PTA but she, uh.. missed the last two meetings." Dean explained as he handed her mother a small red file.
"So I asked Dean to bring over the material." Susan explained with a small chuckle. "Why don't we talk in here?" She then lead Dean into the living room where the looked over the previous meeting notes. Even sharing a small laugh. Will honestly didn't know what to make of this, is it just a conversation between friends or something else?
Silver Dragon:
Meanwhile in the basement of the Silver Dragon; Caleb, Adam, Cringer and Orko were talking to the Sorceress via the magic mirror.
"We know the rightful heir to the Meridian throne is here on Earth but I just don't know where." Caleb explained.
"Well does she have a name or at least some kind of description, because otherwise we don't have much to go on." Adam said.
"I'm afraid not, from what I've been told when the matron who saved her took her to Earth the heir hadn't even been named." Caleb explained.
"Well thats not much." Orko sighed.
"Do not despair Orko, from what Caleb describes as the heir to the throne she will have inherited abilities similar if not more powerful than her brother." The Sorceress said.
"So how do we find her?" Caleb asked.
"She will likely have been hidden among this worlds populace to avoid detection should anyone from Meridian venture here." The Sorceress wondered. "However, our greatest concern is how Phobos could use this protection to his advantage, so he may find the girl and win her confidence."
"So in other words we need to be patient, until we find a way to locate her." Adam wondered.
"Indeed." The Sorceress agreed. "For the moment we must be vigilant. I must go we will speak again soon." She said as her image faded from the mirror.
"So thats it until Phobos makes the next move we sit here and do nothing?" Caleb questioned.
"Hey I don't like this anymore than you do Caleb, but unless a big clue about this missing princess appears in our lap we're basically hunting blind." Adam said to him.
"Well I can check any leads we have from our spies in Meridian." Caleb then realised.
"Its a start." Adam agreed.
"Adam!" Called a voice and he looked to see Hay Lin on the basement stairs already in her pyjamas. "Come on we gotta get to bed early if we're going to get to school early for community service day."
"Relax I'm coming." Adam chuckled.
"Okay well don't blame me if we get the worst jobs of the lot." Hay Lin reminded as she headed back upstairs to her room.
"Whats that about?" Caleb asked.
"Oh something about this community service day, doing jobs to help the community." Adam explained. "Best go because I know what my dad would say. 'If your going to help and serve the people of Eternos you've got to be prompt and ready." Adam quoted his father. So he headed upstairs to get ready for bed.
"This world has some strange customs." Caleb said scratching his head.
"Tell me about it." Cringer agreed. "But hey as long as I get an early sleep I'm good." He said yawning.
Elsewhere: Hale Residence:
Cornelia was in her room and pyjamas, she was on her bed setting her alarm clock. "Let's say... 6am." She said as she set her clock to said time.
Just then Lillian her little sister appeared at her door with a board game in her hand. "Mom says you've got to play Wobbly Wobbly Walrus with me." She said gloating however it was clear her older sister wasn't in the mood for this.
"Beat it, shrimp. I'm going to bed early." Cornelia said very serious as she climbed into bed. "And if you do anything to ruin my sleep, I will personally drop-kick you into the wolf pit at the zoo."
"You're mean!" Lillian yelled.
"I'm not mean. Wolves are mean. Go!" Cornelia growled as she turns off her lights and goes to sleep. Leaving a very ticked off Lillian slamming the door.
Two hours later:
Cornelia was still fast asleep, she was so deep in sleep she didn't even hear the sound of her door creaking open and someone sneaking into the room. It was Lillian she snuck over to her sisters bedside without waking her.
"Be mean to me huh, well let's see how you like this." She thought as she pressed the button on the clock that switched off the alarm. Then snuck back out again.
Outside the Hale residence, in a nearby alley something very different was going on. For suddenly a large purple energy portal appeared out of nowhere, and stepping out of it was Beast Man, he observed his surroundings and sniffed the air.
"Hmmm this world is strange, but the dark is going to make this easy." Beast Man then smirked as he looked behind him where several large beast like creatures were standing in the shadows with glowing red eyes. "Let the hunt begin!"
The following Morning:
Everyone was buzzing around the Sheffield Institute today, as students were pushing, shoving and jumping to try and sign up for a job on the community service list. Watching from the side was Adam, Irma and Taranee who had just signed up for a job themselves. They were soon joined by Hay Lin who had signed up for her job too.
"Hey, guys, what did you get?" She asked her friends.
"Me and Irma are sealing envelopes at City Hall. Easy street." Taranee cheered as she and Irma high fived.
"Yeah!" Irma cheered in agreement. "So what you get Adam?" She then asked.
"Oh I got painting over old uh…graffiti is it? Down at the old train station." Adam replied.
"Hey then you have the same job as me and Will." Hay Lin said happily. "Martin got dumpster-scrubber." She then said as they looked to a rather dismayed looking Martin.
"Better him than us." Irma said, while feeling a little sorry for him. Just then Elyon came over.
"So Elyon what you get?" Adam then asked.
"Oh me and Alchemy got looking after animals at the local shelter." Elyon said.
"Wow sounds like a lot to do." Adam said.
"Yeah but it's okay I love nature and animals." Elyon said.
"I think a friend of mine back where I'm from would like the sound of that." Adam smiled thinking Mossman would like the sound of someone taking great care of nature.
Just then Elyon realised something or rather someone was missing. "By the way have any of you seen Cornelia?"
"She's not with you?" Irma asked.
Hale Residence:
Cornelia was still fast asleep in her bed at home, soon she stirred from her sleep with a yawn. Just then she looked at her alarm clock and to her horror the time was 8:34!
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Cornelia screamed at the top of her lungs she knew she'd be last on the Community Service list.
Running quickly she grabbed whatever clothes she could and put them on even passing her sister and mother in the kitchen. Lillian was just loving this while her mother was making pancakes for breakfast.
"Mom, can I have Cornelia's pancakes?" Lillian asked innocently. "I don't think she'll have time to eat them."
Cornelia quickly slid back to the kitchen and glared at the sister who was clearly responsible for her late wake up call. "If I were you, I'd get into the Federal Sister Protection Programme." She warned as her pants fell to the ground. Embarrassed Cornelia picked them back up and ran to get to School.
Meanwhile Lillian feeling very proud of herself simply picked up some pancakes and ate them. "Gee, I wonder what's left on the community service list?" She wondered with a smirk.
Moments later: Children Nursery:
Soon at a children's nursery where Lillian attended, the children there were playing and causing havoc around the classroom. Lillian and another boy were drawing on one of the windows.
"Children! Children, this is Cornelia." The teacher said trying to get their attention. Cornelia was with her wearing a green shirt with a rainbow on the right chest pocket. It was clear this was the only thing left on the community service list.
However the children were too busy shouting and playing to notice. "They have behaviour issues." She whispered to Cornelia, so the teacher clapped her hands together and that soon got the children's attention.
"Cornelia's going to read to you." The teacher then said to them before turning to the latter. "What book have you chosen?"
"The Little Sister Who, From Today On, Wished She'd Never Been Born." Cornelia answered while giving her little sister a stink eye which she was more than happy to return with a devilish smirk.
"Lovely. Good luck." The teacher said in a rather desperate tone as she left Cornelia to it. A squeaky toy hit her in the face as she grimly awaited her job.
City Hall:
Meanwhile at City Hall, Taranee and Irma were licking envelopes to seal them. The problem was there were about one hundred envelopes at least. Taranee licked one then placed it on her pile while Irma folded up a letter and passed it to Taranee and she sealed the envelope.
"Fithe minuteth, then I fold and you lick." Taranee said but her voice sounded very weird.
"Easy street huh!" Irma groaned with a similar sounding voice. "We've spent hours licking these envelopes, after the first two hours we had to steam my lips open! I'm going to have to brush my teeth for months to get rid of the taste of glue."
"Still on the bright side, since we ate so much glue we won't need to buy lunch." Taranee said.
"We should've gotten Orko to help us." Irma mumbled.
As they worked soon Professor Collins came in to check on them. "Hi, girls."
"Hello, Professor Collins" The two girls replied.
"Wait you're licking the envelopes?" Collins questioned, the two girls looked at each other.
"Yeah?" They asked.
"You two are using the special sponge tongues, aren't you?" He then asked.
"Sponge tongues?" They said simultaneously. In response Collins went over to the desk and picked up said sponge tongues that were lying there the whole time. Colins looked in sympathy while the two girls looked dismayed clearly no one told them they were there.
Nursery:
Cornelia meanwhile was having problems of her own. The children had gotten more out of control than before. Cornelia was tied to a chair while two small kids were painting on her. One small girl even stuck a star sticker on her.
"Look she's outer space." She said happily. While Cornelia was all but grumpy and helpless.
"Why didn't I ask Orko to do this." Cornelia mumbled. "Still, it's better than last year."
Train Station:
Meanwhile, at the old train station Adam, Hay Lin and Will were on the platform painting over the graffiti that was there. They were dressed in old overalls and already had white paint on their faces and clothes. Adam had a large brush as he painted the wall with the two girls.
"Wow looks like no ones come here in years, yet someone paints this weird art on the wall?" Adam said looking at some of the graffiti on the world.
"Its graffiti Adam, it's a form of pop art here on earth it's a more uh bright coloured style of art than what you've seen." Hay Lin explained.
"Well Earth has a lot more weird art here than the portraits in the castle back home." Adam wondered. "You know, sometimes it's this kind of thing that my dad would want me to try and do for our people." It was then Hay Lin noticed how sad Adam looked.
"You miss him and your home huh?" Hay Lin asked.
"Yeah, but well its just. He expects me to become king someday, and wants to prepare me for it. And I…I do want to try and make him proud but well…let's just say my "other duties" make that a little complicated. Sometimes I wonder what he really thinks of me."
Hay Lin couldn't help but feel sorry for Adam, she could see how being He-Man was taking its toll on the relationship he had with his parents. Not to mention what's expected of him by his father.
"Well hey cheer up when you do see your dad again, and tell him about community service day maybe it'll score you some points with him." The pony tail girl said in her usual cheerful tone which did seem to perk the Eternian Prince up a bit.
"Yeah sure he'll be pleased all right." Will said a little grumpy.
"Whoa, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the Wind Raider this morning." Adam noticed the red headed girls attitude.
"Yeah Will, what's got you so grumpy?" Hay Lin asked with interest.
"You would be too, if your mom was making goo-goo eyes at your history teacher." Will explained.
"Wait you mean Professor Collins?" Adam wondered.
"Yeah! Wow! Go Wills Mom!" Hay Lin cheered much to Wills glare.
"Uh I don't get it why is it a bad thing that Professor Colins has an interest in your mom?" Adam asked.
"Well trust me Adam you don't." Will said to him.
"Come on, Adam's a guest in this dimension we should teach him." Hay Lin explained so Will conceded and let her explain. "You see Adam, when grown ups like Wills Mom are single and they meet someone like Collins they can see each other as more than friends, more like well boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Why doesn't he just ask for her hand in marriage instead?" Adam asked much to Will's grim face.
"Please don't." She grumbled.
"Its not that simple Adam, they need to get to know each other first, and overtime they start to develop romantic feelings for each other." Hay Lin said bubbling up in excitement.
"O..kay and what's wrong with that?" Adam asked.
"Because Adam, it's wrong on so many levels." Will explained. "I mean if people at school found out my teacher was seeing my mom I'd be the laughing stock of the school. Its embarressing."
"Okay I know what embarrassing is, and I know I'd be freaked out if my mom started seeing my teacher, but she's a queen so she'd be way out of Collins league." Adam said.
"Yeah and you know I heard teenagers come here to make out. Hey Will you think your mom come here with Collins?" Hay Lin then asked.
"Kill me now." Will moaned.
As she painted just then Hay Lin noticed something on the wall. "Hey, guys look at this." She said getting their attention. On the wall they saw some strange looking writing on the wall that didn't look like the other graffiti on the wall.
"Hey this writing looks familiar." Adam said as he knew he'd seen this writing somewhere before. "But it's not from around here thats for sure."
Will then took a look at the writing herself, but all of a sudden the writing seemed to glow in her eyes. Out of nowhere she became dizzy.
"Will?" Adam looked and saw she looked rather unwell.
"Are you OK?" Hay Lin then asked only to both their shock as Will collapsed and fainted to the ground unconscious.
"WILL!" Adam and Hay Lin exclaimed as they rushed to her side. Adam picked Will up in his arms and tried to shake her awake.
"Is she?" Hay Lin asked.
"No she's okay she's just unconscious." Adam said to her relief as he picked her up bridal style. "Come on let's get her to the Silver Dragon." Hay Lin nodded in agreement but not before she quickly picked up a brush and painted the symbols from the wall onto her arm.
"Maybe Grandma will know what these symbols are." Hay Lin said to which Adam nodded in agreement and the two left the station.
Little did they know that someone else was there too, wearing a dark cloak, the figure approached the wall. It was Beast Man in disguise. "Hmm, hey this is the writing of the beasts." He realised seeming to understand the language. "How interesting." he smirked with his bare teeth.
Silver Dragon:
"Will…Will!" Will heard a voice and as she stirred she found herself in lying on an army style stretch bed and saw Adam, Hay Lin, Yan Lin, Caleb, Orko and Cringer standing over her.
"She saw this weird writing and wham! She went down like a sack of potatoes." Hay Lin explained to her grandmother.
Just then Cringer started licking Will's face to try and wake her up. "Gah ugh! Cringer cut it out!" She said as she pushed him away but stroked him kindly. "Wh..where am I?" She asked.
"Your in Miss Lins shop." Orko floated over to her with a glass of water.
"You okay Will? You kinda scared us for a minute there?" Adam asked out of concern as he sat at her bedside.
"Yeah I…I'm fine." Will replied. "I..I don't know what happened, I was just looking at the writing and then..I…I just felt dizzy." Will said trying to sit up with Orko supporting her.
Yan Lin decided to get to the subject at hand. "What did this writing look like?" She asked her granddaughter.
"Oh I copied it." Hay Lin showed her grandmother her arm that she wrote said letters on.
"These letters are not from this world." Yan Lin said looking at the writing.
"Yeah, and I don't know why but it kinda looks familiar to me somehow." Adam wondered. "It kinda reminds me of some writing me and Teela saw on some ruins once when Man at Arms lead an archaeological team into some newly discovered ruins." Adam recalled before his time as He-Man.
"I think I've seen it before too." Caleb then spoke. "I've seen this writing in the castle in Meridian but I can't read it."
"Hm..maybe the Sorceress can tell us." Orko wondered to which Adam nodded in agreement.
Just then Irma and Taranee arrived, having heard of Will fainting at the station after Hay Lin called them over. "Where is she is she alright?" Irma asked still with a muffled voice.
"I'm fine." Will said.
"Hey what's wrong with your voice?" Cringer asked.
"We've been licking the envelopes." Taranee explained.
"Wait aren't you supposed to use those sponge tongues for that?" Hay Lin asked, much to Irma and Taranee's grimacing looks still unaware of them.
Despite this Adam looked to the mirror hanging on the wall. "Sorceress we seek your guidance." He said then the mirror beamed into life and an astral projection of the Sorceress of Grayskull appeared.
"Greetings Prince Adam, and to you too Guardians. I sense you have questions." The Sorceress greeted.
"Yes we found this writing, can you tell us what it means?" Adam asked.
The Sorceress gestured for Hay Lin to come forward, and so she did and presented her arm with the writing on it.
"Ah this language is not of Earth, this is the language of the beasts." The Sorceress described seeing the writing.
"The Writing of the Beasts?" Adam wondered then realised it. "Oh no wonder it looked familiar they were in those ancient Eternian ruins, it dated back to the ancient Beserker Island civilisation."
"Yeah but I've also seen it in the castle in Meridian." Caleb explained.
"All are correct, this language is used by many beast like civilisations across the infinite dimensions." The Sorceress explained. "But for this to appear on Earth is beyond coincidental."
"So what does it mean?" Hay Lin asked.
"Sadly Air Guardian, I do not possess the skill to translate this language." The Sorceress explained, much to everyones disappointment. "However, there is one who can, a Mage with knowledge of this language."
"I think I know who she's talking about." Caleb realised from the Sorceress's words. "And I know where to find her."
"Where?" Adam asked.
"In the Infinite City." Caleb said.
"Which is where?" Will asked.
"In Meridian." Caleb answered.
"O…oh I was afraid you'd say that." Cringer groaned.
"Caleb is correct, seek out the Mage and decipher the message." The Sorceress spoke. "But be on your guard…I've sensed a disturbance in the ether a great evil moves in the shadows on Earth unseen."
"We'll be careful." Will assured.
"Okay let's pick up Cornelia and get back to the train station." Adam suggested.
"Y..you mean I have to go too!" Cringer cringed.
"What are you afraid of now?" Irma questioned.
"W..well s..suppose this Mage wants to cast a spell on me instead!" Cringer trembled in fear.
"Come on Cringer we won't let that happen." Hay Lin said softly stroking his head in comfort. "Please come, it's not dangerous."
"Yeah the Mage helps the Rebellion she's on our side." Caleb chuckled.
"Oh oh Okay." Cringer finally said.
The Train Station:
After meeting up with Cornelia, the group headed to the train station. However upon their arrival they found the writing was no longer on the wall.
"I..I don't get it that writing was right here." Hay Lin said completely surprised.
Orko hovered over to the wall and touched it with his hand. "Hmm maybe someone painted over it?" He wondered.
"I don't think so, it wasn't painted over when we left it." Adam wondered. "But I remember something from one of the scholars of Eterno's saying how Beast Language can be invisible when seen by one of its kind."
"But how?" Irma asked, as Cornelia was rubbing the black paint off her face from the kindergarten children she was 'reading a story to'
"What's that on your cheek?" Taranee asked.
"The Big Dipper. Don't ask." Cornelia simply said.
"If someone from Meridian was here maybe they erased the writing to cover their tracks?" Will wondered, and Adam soon got the idea.
"There must be a portal nearby." Adam realised and Will instantly pulled out the map and the Heart. The map activated and a red cross immediately marked down the location of a portal.
"There, but where is it?" Will wondered looking at the map.
Everyone looked around for a possible location and it was then Orko laid eyes on one of the railway tunnels. "Over there." He pointed the girls attention to it and so they entered the tunnel.
With that Adam materialised the Sword of Power from his buckle. Then Will raised the heart and said the magic words.
"GUARDIANS UNITE!" The Heart of Kandrakar surged into life and the light surrounded the five girls. While at the same time Adam raised his sword.
"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!"
The power surged down from the sky and struck the tip of the sword surrounding the Eternian prince Caleb, Orko and Cringer were all blinded by the light and one epic transformation later the girls assumed their identity as W.I.T.C.H. While Prince Adam had assumed his identity as He-Man.
"I…HAVE…THE POWER!"He proclaimed. Then pointed his sword at Cringer and blasted him with the power of Grayskull transforming him into Battle Cat who roared with might.
Despite now with their powers the group was on high alert, for if what The Sorceress said was true something from Meridian was probably already here. He-Man took point with Caleb and Battle Cat and followed them into the tunnel.
Soon they saw a light ahead. "Look the portal!" Orko called and the Guardians flew over to it followed by He-Man, Battle Cat and Caleb. The portal was between the train tracks. Irma stepped forward and put her hand through the portal.
"Whoa! Do you know what David Copperfield would pay for this?" Irma said excited.
"I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky this place is condemned, otherwise people from Earth wouldn't have a pleasant trip to Meridian." He-Man realised however just then Battle Cat started growling defensively this told them something was wrong.
Then they saw it. "Somethings coming through." He-Man warned causing Irma to pull back from the portal as He-Man drew his sword, and the Guardians readied their respective powers while Okro held an old piece of piping.
They were all prepared to face whatever hideous creature emerged from the portal. However much to everyones relief the only creature that emerged from the portal, was Blunk who was carrying a sack. He was surprised to the see the Guardians and Champion in the tunnel.
"Blunk?" Everyone said in surprise.
"Dragon nostrils. Trade for magic sword and girly wings. Good deal, yes?" Blunk offered the sack.
"Dragon nostrils, how'd you manage to get those?" Orko asked with interest as he hovered in close.
"Ah Blunk have lots of contacts." Blunk explained.
"Dare I ask what they are?" Cornelia asked.
Blunk opened the bag and shrouds of black smoke poured out of the sack. Engulfing everyone. "Make good hat. Once it stop smoking."
Everyone covered up their noses in disgust at the smell while Orko had some soot in his face which he shook off. "Not today Blunk." He-Man politely said. He blew away the smoke and the group entered the portal leaving Blunk behind.
Meridian:
On the other side the Guardians, Caleb, He-Man, Battle Cat and Orko emerged from the portal, which luckily was behind an old tavern where the calls of people having a good drink could be heard. No guards were nearby.
The small Trollan then looked at the iron rod he was still holding. "Huh I guess I don't need this anymore." Orko tossed the rod back through the portal.
Earth:
Blunk was walking out the train tunnel when suddenly the same iron rod flew out the portal and hit the Passling on the head with a *KLUNK*
Meridian:
He-Man and Caleb now mounted on Battle Cat rode through the village while the Guardians and Orko flew close behind. "Over that way He-Man." Caleb directed He-Man and he directed Battle Cat to the right and soon they arrived at what looked like the village dump.
"We're here." Caleb then dismounted Battle Cat followed by He-Man and the Guardians with Orko.
"Where's here?" Will asked.
"I think we've found Blunk's vacation home." Irma guessed.
"Over here." Caleb called as they came to a rather large upside down barrel under a few destroyed wagons. The group looked with questionable looks. All was revealed when Caleb banged the side and it revealed a secret entrance.
"Oh cool secret passages!" Orko beamed. Caleb then lead the group down a set of stone stairs before they arrived in an emerald lit room with endless corridors and a pillar in each one.
"Welcome to the Infinite City." Caleb announced. "The secret hide out of the Rebellion.
"Whoa, this place is huge!" Irma said as her voice echoed through the endless tunnels.
"How far does this go?" Will asked.
"Thats just it, nobody really knows who built the Infinite City and in over four thousand years, no ones found an end to it in any direction." Caleb explained. "For all we know it could span across all of Meridian.
"Hence its name." He-Man realised as they hurried through the corridors. "You know many years ago when my father and the Defenders stood guard over the Hall of Wisdom. He said the Council of Elders made great halls such as these to reach all over Eternia to confuse attackers."
"I guess they both learned from each other." Taranee agreed.
They continued running through the endless corridors until they arrived at a certain one. Caleb touched one of the crests on the pillars and the floor in front of them retracted to reveal another secret passage of a flight of stairs. Leading deeper underground.
"More secret doors so cool!" Orko said excitedly. "Its just like the many rooms of Castle Grayskull."
"More stairs?!" Cornelia whined. "Don't you have, like, some kind of stone escalator?"
"Ugh girls." Caleb breathed in a not so surprised way. None the less, he lead the group down the stairs until they arrived in a secure chamber, where a surging waterfall fell from above concealing an entrance.
A concealed figure appeared in the waterfall, Caleb kneeled before the figure. "Ancient one we need your help." He greeted.
"Ah, you are the Guardians of the Veil." Spoke a raspy female voice.
"Yes, sir….Uh yes, ma'am." Will greeted as politely as she could.
"Ah and you are the warrior known to all as He-Man, champion of Eternia and defender of the secrets of Castle Grayskull." The Mage greeted as she stepped out of the waters, she was rather tall and had a purple brown robe with a hood concealing her gray skinned face which had blue tattoos. She had green eyes.
"You know of me?" He-Man surprised.
"Of course, the Legend of Grayskull is known throughout the infinite dimensions, and the exploits of the most powerful man in the universe are not gone unrecognised." The Mage said. "I am well acquainted with the castles very Sorceress."
"Sheesh does the Sorceress know everybody?" Orko whispered to Hay Lin.
"Shhh" She said to the Trollan.
"Now to the matter at hand." The Mage said before turning to the Guardians. "The message?"
Hay Lin stepped forwards and showed the writing written on her arm to the mage. "Ah the writing of the beasts."
"What does it say?" She then asked.
With the raise of her hand the Mage's magic illuminated the words on the Guardians arm then it changed to english. Orko floated over and read it.
"You are still undetected. Begin your search for the girl." Orko read. "But what does it mean?"
"A beast is in your town in human form." The Mage explained to them as she lowered her hood to reveal her face. "It will try to get close to you, Guardians."
"A beast.." He-Man wondered as all the other Guardians were in shock over this revelation. "A shape shifter….Cedric!" He realised. "That must be what the Sorceress warned us about."
"It will be well concealed, assuming a humans identity in order to get close to you in your mortal forms, it could even be one you would never suspect." The Mage explained.
Will was still trying to process all of this, but in shock she realised something. Her thoughts turned to a certain history teacher of hers that seemed to be getting awfully close to her mother. But why, until it hit her.
"How can you tell them from humans?" Will then asked with a shaky voice.
"Touch a beast with the Heart of Kandrakar and it shows its true form." The Mage said with her final words before she disappeared back into the waterfalls, which left the group with the question, just who was the beast that was hiding among them.
Hours Later:Earth:
The girls, Adam, Orko (in his disguise) and Caleb were sat at a table in a local diner, and Will was sharing her suspicions of the beast.
"You're serious? Professor Collins?" Irma said in shock.
"He's, like, too boring to be evil." Cornelia disagreed.
"Who is this Collins?" Caleb asked.
"Oh he's the schools new history tutor, me and Will have him for our history class." Adam explained. "But I don't know Will, this seems like a bit of a stretch." He then turned to Irma. "I am using that word right?"
"Oh yeah it works." Irma said to him.
"Adam think about what the Mage said the beast could be the last person we'd think to suspect!" Will said. "Besides we know Phobos is looking for a girl our age, I mean what if it's me!"
"But isn't Phobos trying to find his sister? And none of you are the heir to the Meridian throne?" Orko questioned.
"Maybe not Orko but we have the Heart of Kandrakar, and Miss Lin said that Phobos wanted it because that gets rid of a threat to him namely us!" Will continued.
"Okay but couldn't he just be a box of doughnuts to get close to you?" Orko wondered with everyone looking at him weirdly. "I'm just saying."
"No but if I were one of his spies, and I wanted to get close to my enemies what's the first thing I'd do!? I'd get a job as a teacher at their school." Will explained.
"Oh I get it to check out my possible targets one at a time!" Taranee was starting to get the idea.
"Hold on Will, this isn't about how Professor Collins is getting close to your mom is it?" Adam wondered.
"No Adam it isn't!" Will gritted her teeth but it was too late she was already blushing.
"Yeah but if he's from Meridian…" However Caleb was just cut off by Wills theory.
"OK. My mom's attractive in a funky old-person kind of way, But unless he's an evil beast, why would Collins talk to her?" Will then theorised.
"Will, how would he even know about your mom?" Adam wondered. "I mean Phobos doesn't even know about your loved ones how would he know to go after her?"
"Oh I get it! Phobos gets to you through her and hold her hostage its a classic move! Its like what Skeletor would do if he learned Adam was He-Man!" Orko realised sadly like Caleb, Adam was being ignored.
"Plus how does he know enough Earth history to teach it? Meridian shapeshifters like Cedric don't know anything of Earth other than what lies Phobos says." Caleb then said. Only to be ignored again.
"And it explains why he made Community Day earlier." Cornelia realised.
"To separate us when we're most venerable, so he could watch us and pick us off one by one!" Irma exclaimed.
"We should follow him!" Hay Lin suggested.
"Girls please, let's talk about this and suggest another plan." Caleb tried but it was too late the girls and Orko in tow had already left leaving only him and Adam. "Oh brother why do I have a feeling this is gonna blow up in our faces."
"With our luck it usually does." Adam groaned. "Okay Caleb go with the girls and just make sure they don't do something stupid like attack Colins in broad daylight." He said getting up.
"And where will you be?" Caleb asked.
"I'm gonna talk to the Sorceress, maybe she'll be able to shine some light on this mystery." Adam explained.
"Sounds like a plan." Caleb agreed.
"Well its like Man at Arms once said "being a good student and warrior means you never stop learning. And I have a feeling the girls will learn as Teela once did. The Hard way."
"Now there's a surprise." Caleb chuckled. "You know I'd sure like to meet this Man at Arms someday."
"You'd certainly learn a lot from him thats for sure." Adam said as he left the diner to head back to the Silver Dragon.
Meanwhile:
In a stationary store just across town Professor Collins had just left with some shopping in a plastic bag. Not noticing a disguised Orko who was in sunglasses and looking through eyeholes in a newspaper. Orko slowly floated over to the park where the girls and Caleb were hiding behind a tree.
"So what did he buy?" Will asked.
"Oh he bought some glue." Orko explained.
"Glue for what?" Caleb asked.
"Glue to stick on his realistic rubber human face." Cornelia gasped in realisation.
"Oh come on its a shape shifter what does it need glue for!" Caleb groaned.
"Okay well maybe he needs it to make a trap to restrain us in so we can't fly!" Will realised.
"Seriously?" Caleb groaned. While once again Caleb was being ignored for his opinion Orko suddenly heard a voice.
"Orko…" It was the voice of the Sorceress.
"Huh…" Orko wondered.
"..You must return to the Silver Dragon at once I have a special task for you." The Sorceress's voice said.
"Come on guys we better keep up with him." Will said to the group but suddenly Orko floated away in the opposite direction. Much to their surprise. "Orko where are you going?!" Will exclaimed.
"Oh uh I gotta go, something important." Orko said not revealing his mission on account of the Sorceress telling him not to. So he floated away then disappeared.
This was a shock to the girls, and Caleb wondered just why would Orko disappear like that?
Later:
As the evening drew in, the girls had followed Collins to a local pet shop. Hay Lin now took over Orko's job on spying on him with a dark hat and pink sunglasses and newspaper. Collins then came out with a small brown bag and walked past without even recognising Hay Lin.
Once a distance away Hay Lin went to the girls and Caleb who were hiding near a street corner. "What did he buy now?" Will asked.
"Live crickets. Like two pounds of them!" Hay Lin explained.
"Two pounds of crickets, thats way too much for fishing." Taranee wondered.
"But not too much…to eat!" Irma realised which caused the other girls to groan in disgust. Caleb just put his hand on his face in annoyance.
"No wonder he loved my moms cooking!" Will realised in shock.
"Look maybe he's got a pet lizard they're fond of crickets." Caleb explained.
"Uh you know snakes like crickets too right?" Taranee explained.
"Come on can't we just think this through for a minute!" Caleb tried.
"Okay we'll think it through." Will said. "Now he's bought glue and crickets and well, I don't want jump to conclusions but…its obvious that Collins is a shapeshifting monster who eats crickets and makes glue traps!"
"Yeah!" The girls cheered in agreement while Caleb just groaned, seeing the girls were just jumping to conclusions.
"Why am I here." He groaned.
"So what's the plan?" Taranee asked.
"He's coming over to my place tonight, so he'll obviously try to kidnap her to get at me!" Will decided. "So when he does we'll be ready and waiting."
"Then we gotta go to Wills house right away!" Hay Lin decided. The girls then hurried away to Wills apartment, while Caleb just sighed knowing this was going to blow up in their faces. Little did they know that from above they were being watched, by a figure in a cloak on the roof of the nearby building. Knowing that tonight would be the night to make his move.
Vandom Residence:
Outside the Vandom residence the girls and Caleb, waited in the cover of bush outside the apartments just as a yellow car pulled up outside the residence. "We don't even know this guy's coming here." Caleb whispered.
"Come on what do you want to see his monster ID card?!" Irma argued quietly.
"Where's Adam? We could use He-Man now." Will asked.
"I tried calling him but he didn't answer guess he hasn't got the hang of using a phone yet." Hay Lin answered.
"Relax we got this." Will then said as just then they saw their supposed beast in disguise exited his car and walked up to the apartments. As Collins passed the bush where Will and the girls were hidden she pulled out the heart and immediately activated it. "Guardians UNITE!" She whispered and the light surged from the bushes.
Collins felt the light behind him and looked to see what it was. "What is that?"
He saw five bright lights behind him but luckily he didn't see the girls faces, only a bright light and five fairies silhouetted in the light.
Collins was taken completely by surprise by the appearance of the fairies. "Not so fast brain sucker!" Cornelia cried.
"Didn't expect that, did you, buddy?" Irma smirked as she and Taranee unleashed their respective powers. With water blasts throwing Collins to the grass. Caleb just face palmed himself he wondered just where the heck Adam was.
"Have a seat!" Cornelia smirked as she controlled the earth beneath the teachers feet bouncing him up and down like a ball. To then be suddenly whisked into the air by a tornado compliments of Hay Lin which lifted Collins spinning into the air. Before Collins fell to the ground Taranee grabbed him by the ankle span him round and around until she finally let go and sent him crashing into the ground and smashed into one of the pillars.
"Oh…" Caleb groaned still not believing they were doing this. The girls then gathered round the downed professor as Will pulled out the crystal.
"Okay lets see what you look like with green scales and a tail!" She said as she held the heart close to Colins he briefly glowed before he fell to the ground again unconscious. To the girls surprise nothing happened.
Hay Lin then pulled and tugged on his face to see if it was a mask. "Wow! This is glued on tight!" She growled to no avail. Taranee then noticed the papers on the ground, she picked up the small book and read it.
"What is it being evil for dummies?" Cornelia asked.
"No, and it's strange, this is information about the Sheffield PTA." Taranee explained.
"Hold up, Phobos joined the PTA?" Cornelia said in surprise, and it wasn't before long before Will came to an unfortunate conclusion.
"N…no.. but my mom did…w..with Professor Colins…and she missed a meeting." She cringed and one by one the girls realised their mistake.
"Gee I guess that means he's not the beast, just like a certain someone here has been saying the whole time!" Caleb said rather sarcastically.
Before any further words could be said suddenly the street lights went out one by one and then the whole block went completely dark. Everyone was completely taken by surprise.
"Hey who turned out the lights?!" Irma exclaimed.
"A powerline must be down." Will realised.
"I got it guys." Taranee said. "Fire." She lit a small ball of fire in her hand which illuminated everyone.
"Its not just Will's neighbourhood, the whole blocks gone black out city." Hay Lin realised looking around. Suddenly they heard something shoot past them.
"Huh what was that!" Taranee panicked.
"Relax it was probably a cat or something." Cornelia said like it wasn't a big deal. When all of a sudden something slammed into her back and sent her flying to the ground much to the girls shock.
Taranee moved her fire to illuminate the area but what they saw they weren't prepared for. It was Beast Man accompanied by large beasts that looked like juiced gorillas but with red eyes and three horns on their heads.
"I hear you girls have been looking for a monster!" Beast Man smirked, "Will we do?!" The beasts snarled and lunged at the girls who screamed in fright, they took to the air with their wings while Caleb dived to the side to avoid being attacked.
The beasts leaped into the air but Hay Lin unleashed a tornado of air blasting it back dead in the chest, however another was able to grab her by the leg yank her down and slam her into the ground.
"Hay Lin!" Irma exclaimed.
"Cornelia, Taranee help her!" Will exclaimed.
"On it!" They replied. The two dived down and Cornelia used her powers to manipulate the earth below the Shadow Beasts feet knocking it off balance as Taranee blasted a fire ball in its face, it was then she noticed how the bright light seemed to dazzle the beast.
"What the?" Suddenly another Shadow Beast struck her from behind sending her crashing into the bushes. Irma quickly landed in front of her and sent out a water blast towards the beast but she missed as the beasts dark fur camouflages it in the dark of night.
"This is nuts how can we hit'em if we can't see them!" Irma exclaimed, suddenly she saw a pair of red eyes shot through the darkness and dashed at her, luckily she was quick enough to avoid the attack by flying into the air.
"Uh Will I have a feeling we need a certain champion here like…NOW!" Taranee exclaimed.
Will quickly flew to cover and pulled out her phone and dialled in a certain number.
Silver Dragon:
Meanwhile in the basement Adam was speaking to the Sorceress with Orko and Cringer. "So Collins really isn't the monster?" Orko wondered.
"No Orko he's simply a mortal man, I was able to sense it thanks to the amulet I supplied you with." The Sorceress explained gesturing to a green amulet the Trollan was carrying.
"Just hope Caleb's managed to prevent the girls from doing something reckless, thats usually my job." Adam joked then suddenly he heard a ringing tone as did everyone else.
"Uh Adam your leg is ringing?" Cringer said, and Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out a mobile phone the girls had given him so they could call him. That is if he figured out how to use it.
He answered it. "Uh..okay which button do you press to answer this thing." Adam said pressing every button on the phone.
"Adam!" Will called only for Adam to still press buttons.
"Hello! Hello!" Adam tried. "Ugh stupid Earth device!" He grumbled.
"ADAM!" Will yelled down the phone getting his attention. "You don't need to press any buttons you already answered it!" She said in a rather panicked tone.
"Oh." Adam replied but noticed the tone in her voice. "Will what's wrong?"
"Well uh we found out Collins isn't the beast. After we uh…attacked him."Will admitted.
"WHAT!" Adam exclaimed.
"Yeah but now we have a bigger problem we're being attacked by these black beasts with red eyes! We can't see them the powers out on the block!"
"Hold on back up beasts with red eyes?" Adam wondered but his eyes widened in horror when he recognised that description. "SHADOW BEASTS!" He breathed.
"We need help like now!" Will panicked before he heard a rather loud crash and a roar.
"Come er'e pixie!" A familiar voice sounded which Adam recognised as the phone line was cut.
"Prince Adam, I sense you are in shock, and a great evil is now on Earth." The Sorceress sensed.
"Thats the size of it Beast Mans here with some Shadow Beasts!" Adam explained much to Orko and Cringer's shock.
"Beast Man!" Orko gasped. "But how did he get here?!"
"A question to be saved for later, right now the Guardians need your help go to them now!" The Sorceress urged.
"Okay lets go Cringer!" Adam exclaimed as he hurried out of the room.
"Oh no I'm staying here mama Cringer didn't raise no fool!" Cringer protested.
However Adam had other ideas when he raised his sword and said the magic words. "BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!"
The sword hilt unlocked and surging from across the veil was the power, as it blasted down from the heavens and struck the tip of the sword surrounding the prince with power.
"I…HAVE…THE POWER!" One epic transformation later he was now He-Man. Cringer quickly hid behind some of the boxes in the basement. He-Man pointed his sword and the power surged from it and hit Cringer which then turned him into Battle Cat who unleashed a loud roar.
He-Man moved to mount his loyal companion and the beast roared as he reared up like a horse.
On the rooftops of the city He-Man rode Battle Cat as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop like a race horse over hurdles towards the darkened part of the city with Orko close behind.
Meanwhile:
The Guardians were losing ground against the Shadow Beasts. Taraneee fired fire blasts to the ground surrounding them in a ring of fire to try and force the beasts back. Cornelia, Hay Lin and Irma gathered round the fire.
"This is crazy these things can blend into the shadows we can't hit them!" Irma exclaimed.
"No we can't." Cornelia wondered but then she had an idea. "Guys I know it's crazy but trust me!" The Earth Guardian then touched the ground beneath her feet and closed her eyes. Moments of silence followed and then suddenly, she sensed it.
"Irma on the left spray it!" Cornelia exclaimed.
Irma fired a water blast which hit something which was one of the beasts much to their surprise.
"Whoa! Corny how'd you do that?!" Hay Lin exclaimed.
"I used the earth to see, besides I saw it in a tv show when I was babysitting Lillian once." Cornelia explained. "Figured it was worth a try!"
Another Shadow Beast was about to attack when suddenly Caleb ran in and threw a large rock at its head knocking it back. It growled in anger towards the young rebel. Just before it attacked a blast of fire separated them both. The fire seemed to blind the Shadow Beast. Caleb looked and saw it was from Taranee.
However they heard a scream from the Guardian Leader. Will was avoiding whip strikes from Beast Mans whip. When suddenly it wrapped around her left ankle and he pulled her down and slammed her into the ground.
"Will!" Irma exclaimed the other Guardians tried to hurry to her aid, but their path was blocked by the Shadow Beasts that surrounded them.
Will groaned as she tried to get up and saw Beast Man standing over her with his whip. He took one sniff of the air then looked down on her.
"Ah the scent of fear thats one scent I like!" Beast Man Snarled. "And here I thought this was gonna be tough Skeletors gonna reward me for getting this power!"
"Skeletor?" Will breathed having heard that name before. Beast Man cracked his whip and was about to strike her down when suddenly someone grabbed him by the wrist before he struck. The Berserker looked and it was He-Man.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" He-Man said still holding the beasts wrist.
"HE-MAN!" Beast Man exclaimed. Before He-Man punched him away with all his strength sending Beast Man crashing into a lamp post.
"Will are you alright?" He-Man asked as he helped the Guardian Leader to her feet.
"Yeah I'm okay?" Will asked. "Real glad you showed up." He-Man then noticed the unconscious body of Professor Collins lying at one of the pillars. Will could see he was waiting for an explanation. "Yeah we'll explain later." Will said sheepishly.
Beast Man soon stirred from his unconscious state and was soon face to face with He-Man who had his sword drawn as he stood by Will.
"He-Man what are you doing here?!" Beast Man demanded.
"I would ask you the same thing Beast Man, you're a long way from Snake Mountain!" He-Man said pointing his sword.
"It don't matter, once I take you down and get this mystery power Skeletor's bound to reward me!" Beast Man replied cracking his whip.
"Not today!" He-Man charged at him and Beast Man lashed his whip which the champion avoided while Will flew in from above and kicked him right in the face knocking him back.
"Guardians listen! The Shadow Beasts are creatures of shadows, they're venerable to light!" He-Man called to the other guardians.
"Oh so thats why they hated my fire! It weakened them!" Taranee realised.
As Will avoided another whip strike from Beast Man just as He-Man clashed his sword against his whip she looked to her comrades. "Taranee give us a fire a big one!"
"All over it!" Taranee called and she concentrated all her powers into one fire ball and launched it in the air and it exploded as a bright light completely blinding every one of the Shadow Beasts who cried in pain by the bright light.
One was quickly tackled down by Battle Cat who bit it in the shoulder and tossed it into another one.
"Aw yeah payback time!" Irma smirked and she summoned a large blast of water engulfing three of the Shadow Beasts.
Then it was Cornelia's turn, she punched the ground and large pillars of rock shot out the pavement and struck the beasts right in the heads knocking them down. Caleb leaped onto the back of one of the beasts and pulled the fur on its back while it was blinded it roared in pain and ran uncontrollable. The Rebel leader pulled its fur and diverted it towards another beast which was struck to the ground by the beasts uncontrollable fists. Another beast was about to attack, when Orko suddenly appeared and pulled out a small fire cracker like too.
"Say cheese!" Orko pulled on the cord and a bright light shined from it. The beast cried in pain from the light before it was picked up by a small air tornado and flung into a trash can. The tornado was compliments of Hay Lin who gave the small Trollan a thumbs up which he was more than happy to return.
Beast Man and He-Mans weapons clashed as they forced each other back. Beast Man cracked his whip which caught He-Man's right wrist but he used his strength to pull the beast towards him but evaded to the right as Will delivered a double fist punch straight to the face knocking him upwards, then slammed into the ground.
BeastMan wasn't one to give up, he tried to get up, but suddenly found he couldn't move he looked down and saw his feet tied down with vines.
"Hey what gives!" Beast Man exclaimed, when suddenly he was pulled down to the ground and spun round on the vine.
"Time you had a spin cycle fur ball!" Cornelia said.
"Once spun immediately apply cold water." Irma smirked as she fired a blast of water at Beast Man who growled when he felt the ice cold blast. Only to then suddenly be picked up by a tornado of air.
"WHOA WHOA WHOAAA!" Beast Man cried.
"Immediately dry after wash." Hay Lin smirked as she blasted the beast down to the hard concrete. Before he could get up again he was facing down the point of a fire ball compliments of Taranee.
"Go on make my day." She said as everyone gathered around. Looking down on the defeated beast.
"Its over Beast Man, now what are you doing on this world?!" He-Man demanded.
"Yeah why did Phobos send you here!?" Caleb demanded.
Beast Man however just looked at them with a confused look by that question. "Eh?….Nope never heard of him." He said surprising everyone else.
"But if you ask me you better think about those other Shadow Beasts you neglected to defeat!" Beast Man pointed to the dark silohetes of the Shadow Beasts which seemed to be ready to attack the still unconscious Professor Collins.
"No!" Will cried in horror, then suddenly out of nowhere something in her chest started to glow and the Heart of Kandrakar materialised glowing in a bright golden light. Everyone was bewildered by this and it just got stranger. For then another golden glow emerged, and it was from He-Man's sword.
He too was curious by this strange turn of events. The two of them looked at each other and it was almost like they knew instinctively what to do. Will raise the heart and He-Man raised the sword then the two glowed brightest as if they harmonised with each other. The bright light increased blinding everyone around it the Shadow Beasts cried in pain as they retreated back, then out of nowhere they were consumed by a black and purple shadow as they along with Beast Man vanished without a trace. The light soon faded and the crystal and sword returned to normal.
"Whoa." Will and He-Man breathed in surprise.
"What in the name of Trolla was that?!" Orko wondered.
Battle Cat growled getting everyones attention seeing that Beast Man had all but disappeared. "Great that overgrown fuzz ball got away." Cornelia groaned.
Just then the streetlights shot back into life as did the rest of the block. "Hey the lights are back!" Hay Lin noticed.
"Guess it must've gotten fixed. "Taranee said.
However right now they had bigger problems namely the unconscious professor. The girls looked at He-Man who had his arms crossed expecting an explanation.
"I..I know we screwed up its all my fault." Will admitted.
"No Will we all take the blame, we all went along with it." Irma admitted.
He-Man simply sighed. "We better get Collins home before he awakes hopefully he'll believe this was simply a dream." He then said before looking at the girls rather sternly. "Explanations can come later, from all of you."
The girls looked rather guilty and sheepish about this whole situation. While Caleb just stood next to He-Man. "And I believe the word you're all searching for is. You were right Caleb and Adam." He said.
"Suck up." Irma grumbled.
"So where does he live?" Will asked. Hay Lin reached into Collins's pocket and found his wallet where inside was his drivers license.
"Cedar Terrace." Hay Lin explained.
"But thats miles away." Taranee whined.
"Not with Battle Cat it isn't." He-Man gestured to his loyal companion who growled in response.
After a long ride over rooftops they soon arrived at Collins apartment building. The Guardians flew Collins into his home through the window and placed him on his chair still unconscious.
"Ah, he looks so peaceful." Hay Lin gushed.
"Yeah he should have five girls zap him unconscious and at the mercy of giant shadow monsters more often." Irma agreed.
Taranee meanwhile was admiring the small animal pen in her teachers apartment a small lizard had just caught a cricket in its tongue which explains why Collins bought so many crickets from the pet shop.
"Well cricket mystery solved, his pet lizard Mr Scales." Taranee explained looking at the lizard.
"Okay I think we can all agree neither Adam nor Caleb should know about this!" Irma notioned to which everyone agreed.
"Come on lets get out of here before he comes to." Will said.
"But what about his PTA stuff?" Hay Lin asked.
"I asked Orko to drop it off in his school desk, and I've called to have his car towed so he'll believe the whole thing was a dream." Will explained. "Lets go."
The girls all nodded in agreement and they flew out the window as Hay Lin shut the window behind her. They soon met with He-Man, Caleb and Battle Cat on the opposite rooftop.
"So are we in the clear?" Caleb asked.
"Yeah I'd say so." Taranee said. "So how did you know Collins really wasn't the beast?" She then asked He-Man.
"Simply I consulted the Sorceress, and she summoned Orko back to the Silver Dragon to help confirm our suspicions." He-Man explained.
"Wait so thats where he floated off to?" Irma realised.
"Uh yeah thats why sorry guys." Orko who had just recently arrived back sheepishly said.
"The Sorceress gave Orko an amulet, that would help us determine if Colins was the beast before the Heart could be used." He-Man explained as the small Trollan, showed said amulet to the girls. "Its used to sense a persons aura to determine them from mortals and beasts. So while you girls were following him so was Orko, its how the Sorceress could sense he was a mortal man."
"So she sensed it." Hay Lin cringed seeing where this was going.
"Yes something that could've avoided this mess if you'd listened to us." Caleb said siding with He-Man.
"Well if you ask me it serves him right for that surprise test he gave us last week." Cornelia said which got a glaring look from everyone else. "What he did."
Will just looked down with guilt. "Sorry guys, I…I was sure it was Collins but I guess I got caught up with how close he looked with my mom that..that maybe I jumped to conclusions."
"Thats the trouble with trying to uncover a spy Will, even when you think you know, you don't know. And when we allow our emotions to cloud our judgement." He-Man said with an understanding hand on her shoulder. "It was the same when Ram Man was accused of being a traitor, we all didn't want to believe it as he was the most loyal of the Masters, but we learned the hard way he was manipulated by Evil Lyn, so a lesson learned the hard way is learned none the less. But we learn from our mistakes and we never stop learning."
Will couldn't help but smile at how understanding the champion was of this whole situation. While the girls were completely surprised to hear such wisdom.
"Seriously how can Adam sound so wise as He-Man?" Irma wondered.
"Must be that Grayskull juice makes one feel all wise." Hay Lin wondered.
The Following Morning:
The next morning at the Sheffield Institute, all seemed normal and first period was History Class. Professor Collins was looking through his desk and he found his PTA papers. He still looked confused given last nights events.
"Hey are you okay Professor Collins?" Elyon asked as she came up to his desk.
"Ugh I'm fine Elyon I just.. last night I had a dream that I was attacked by evil fairies, and nearly eaten by giant monsters." Collins explained. "Then I swear I saw a barbarian riding a giant cat."
"Oh yeah I have that dream all the time." Cornelia said as she came into the classroom with Will and Adam. "The price to pay for watching late night movies."
"I suppose." Collins said. "But..it felt so real."
"Well some dreams do appear real Professor Collins, but you know sometimes the mind can play tricks on you." Adam explained.
Collins took a moment to consider all of his students had said. "You know your right it's probably all in my head." He said as he got out his lesson plan.
Will, Cornelia and Adam gathered to the side out of earshot of everyone else. "So we all good?"
"Yeah I'd say so." Cornelia nodded as did Adam.
"So our only problem now is, if Collins wasn't the beast, who is?" Will then wondered.
"I don't know about that, but after what we saw last night, I think we may have bigger problems." Adam realised.
"You mean that Beast Man, one of the bad guys from your world?" Cornelia asked.
"Yeah and I have a bad feeling that won't be the end of it." Adam said. "If Beast Man showed up here, that can only mean one thing…..He's not to far behind." Realising that maybe Phobos isn't the only problem they have to contend with now.
Meridian:
"You have no idea of the beasts that you saw attack the Guardians and He-Man?" Phobos asked Cedric in his human form in the hallway of the throne room.
"None my prince, but I recognised those creatures. They're called Shadow Beasts creatures of the night that I thought existed in legends." Cedric explained.
"Still as long as, they do not suspect your presence Cedric I care not where they came from." Phobos said. "Now its time for you to return to Earth."
"At once." Cedric then went away down the dark corridors of the castle.
Earth:
Moments later a bright light emerged from a small book store on a corner street. Inside was Cedric in his snake form but when he went into the back room a bright light shone and he was now in his human form. Only in a different attire, a white shirt with blue jeans and black shoes. His hair was in a pony tail and he wore rectangular glasses. However despite the change his scar was partly present.
He gave a simple smile as he turned the sign from closed to open on the door opening his store for business. As his search for the lost heir had begun. While the Guardians were unaware of his very presence.
Pre School:
Meanwhile Cornelia had returned to Lillian's preschool to complete her community service work. "I'm back! And today, I have a special surprise for you." She said rather cheery. " When you kids are older, you'll learn about something called community service." Just then entering the class room was Taranee and Irma who had just wheeled in two wheelbarrows full of letters and envelopes that they had yet to finish for their community service job. "But you're all going to start right now. As you and my darling sister lick these 48,750 envelopes." Cornelia then explained.
Irma and Taranee just had smirks on their faces at the fact this was no longer their problem. While Lillian's jaw dropped, as she saw the vengeful and enjoying look in her elder sisters eye. It would seem her little payback prank had come back to haunt her.
"And no, we don't have any sponge tongues." Cornelia added answering the preschoolers question.
Vandom Residence:
After Will, Adam and Hay Lin had completed the rest of their Community Service work, the red haired girl invited Adam to her place for dinner. Upon arrival and meeting Wills mom she immediately assumed that Adam was her daughters new boyfriend. An embarrassed Will cleared everything up that Adam was a new boy at school and he in turn assured there was nothing between them, simply friends. Ms Vandom accepted that and welcomed the Eternian Prince into her home.
The two were served soup cooked by Will's mom. "So, Mom, you were never interested in Mr Collins?" Will then asked.
"Please. He's so unreliable. He was supposed to drop off some papers but he never showed." Ms Vandom explained as she put some dishes in the sink.
"You know, I don't mind you dating." Will then said. Just as Adam took a sip of the soup he had to admit the taste didn't seem to agree with him.
"A talented cook would be an idea." He whispered to Will not wanting to be rude to her mother.
"Who has time? I've got an emergency block meeting." Ms Vandom explained as she picked up her coat and purse. "Apparently the whole block had a power cut last night, and something about someone seeing a man riding a giant cat on the roof."
Adam nearly chocked on his soup at that statement but just smiled covering up his surprise. "Uh sorry just went down the wrong way situation normal." He smiled nervously. Ms Vandom just looked at him weirdly but none the less ignored it and left.
"I did use that word correct right?" Adam asked Will.
"Yeah I think you did." Will nodded in assurance.
Snake Mountain: Eternia:
In the darkness of Snake Mountain, a large beastly scream could be heard and then suddenly Beast Man was blasted into a wall compliments of a blast from Skeletor's Havoc Staff.
"I can forgive your failure Beast Man….BUT NOT YOUR INCOMPETENCE!" Skeletor yelled. "You are supposed to be my fiercest warrior and yet you tell me you were beaten by five measly girls!"
"But..But Skeletor, these weren't any girls they were tough and…and had wings like fairies only taller. One of them had this crystal it was powerful enough to repel the Shadow Beasts."Beast Man said.
"What crystal?" Evil Lyn then asked with interest.
"It was pink like a jewel necklace." Beast Man said.
"Then maybe I should see for myself." The witch then placed her staff on Beast Mans head and it glowed showing her what it was he'd seen. And in the crystal in her staff it showed an image of The Heart of Kandrakar.
"So it is true." Evil Lyn gasped in realisation.
"Enough mumbling speak witch!" Skeletor demanded.
"I believe I know the crystal that Beast Man speaks of and these girls." Evil Lyn explained. "There is an old legend regarding a realm known as the Heart of Infinity dubbed Kandrakar said to be the heart of the infinite dimensions. With power equal to that of Grayskull itself."
Skeltor however just scoffed at this. "Bah thats nothing but an old story, the Elders of Eternia conjured up in the Hall of Wisdom archive centuries ago!"
"But my lord this crystal all but confirms it, for it is the Heart of Kandrakar itself, which is held by five beings known as the Guardians of the Veil, five protectors said to only exist in legends." Evil Lyn persisted.
"I don't know about that but Skeletor there was somethin else." Beast Man then said. "I found on a structure the language of my people, the writing of the beasts."
This immediately peaked Skeletor and Evil Lyn's interest. "Pft why would that language be on a back water planet like that?" Tri Klops asked.
"Yeah seems fishy, and thats coming from me." Merman agreed.
"What did the message say mongrel?" Evil Lyn asked.
"Uh i..it said. 'You are still undetected. Begin your search for the girl.'" Beast Man replied.
Skeletor pondered with his finger close to his chin. "Hmm this is becoming more and more interesting by the minute."
"It would seem there is more going on this planet than meets the eye." Evil Lyn agreed. "There maybe more at work than first appears."
"Oh it is." Beast Man said. "Because I saw him Skeletor, I saw him He-Man was there too!" He suddenly received a blast from the Havoc staff blasting him right into Two Bad and causing a rather large hole in the stone pillars.
"Do not mention that name in my presence!" Skeletor exclaimed as he turned to his throne and out of nowhere started cackling. "But it maybe even better! For if He-Man is on this back water world…" He turned to his acolytes with glowing red eyes in his skull eyes. "That means Castle Grayskull lies undefended mine for the taking!"
"Uh but boss there's still the Masters." Trap Jaw pointed out only to be also blasted by the Havoc staff.
"I know that you tin tongue dolt! YOU DONT HAVE TO REMIND ME!" Skeletor yelled. "But without He-Man they will fall easily and the secrets of Grayskull will at last be mine!"
"But what of the crystal Skeletor?" Evil Lyn asked.
Skeletor simply cackled at that. "If it is this new power we've found, then we will claim it, who knows with all the chaos we cause on Eternia will sure to bring that muscle bound fool He-Man running along with these so called Guardians. Then that power shall be mine!" Skeletor yelled raising his Havoc staff. "For now we march...!"
"To Grayskull!" He said with bright red eyes piercing his dark eye holes.
Moral:
Will sat at the dinner table eating some soup. But still cringed at the taste. She then faced the fourth wall.
"Sometimes proving a fact right is more than just a gut feeling." Will said. "It comes down to knowing the facts, and as we saw in todays chapter when we let our feelings get in the way, it can sometimes lead to bad judgement. So get all the facts before you go jumping to conclusions." she said before taking another sip of her soup.
"You never know the real answer may come as a surprise." She said with a smile. "Until next time."
Authors Notes: A..nd scene! Well I'd say the Guardians have learned a valuable lesson about jumping to conclusions, but now they know a beast from Meridian is on Earth, namely Cedric. However now an even greater threat lies on the horizon, and will come into play later on in the story.
Speaking of which, in the reviews many of you have caught onto the way the sword and the Heart of Kandrakar interact, lets just say the reasons why will be revealed when we reach Eternia.
So until next time.