Chapter Five: “Skeletor’s Journey”

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The journey back to Eternia began with the moment Skeletor stepped out of the chamber and had the Sword of Darkness once more repowered. He sensed Drissi pulling the ancient energies to her and was surprised that she had that ability. However, it was no longer his concern. Between having the Sword of Darkness recharged and now a ship in his sights, he felt as though his business regarding the Tri-Solar System was coming to an end.

He waited for Caz to abandon the ship. He couldn’t allow anyone to know he was on the planet. Skeletor had spent the past few days planning and plotting his next moves and anyone finding out he was Primus would completely destroy those plans.

Skeletor sensed Drissi launch a blast of intense mystic and telepathic energy into Onnor. When Caz went off to help his sister, Skeletor was in motion. He leapt into the ship and whispered a spell that translated all the controls for him. It took him mere moments to activate and cloak the ship.

His first stop was still on Primus.

The Oasis.

After the suns set, Skeletor landed the ship in the middle of a field near Sebrian’s home. He emerged from the ship and stood in the field, Sword of Darkness raised up.

“I can sense you,” Skeletor whispered. “In the dark, barely alive . . . even for you. I know you were not destroyed. I knew that when I told He-Man how to finish you three years ago. Sense my power, feel my blade as it slips between the dimensional cracks, and wrestle yourself free.”

As Skeletor spoke, the Sword of Darkness began to glow red. Small lightning streams began to form around the field. Magic was swirling, then, in the form of blue and white light.

Skeletor slammed the Sword of Darkness forward. There was burst of silver energy and light. He withdrew his blade from the burst. Falling right from it was the body of a heavily damaged Faker.

“Access: protocols: primary root commands: repair systems: deactivate all auto-repair systems,” Skeletor spoke into Faker’s ear.

“Compliance,” Faker responded, his voice purely mechanical.

Skeletor did his best impression of a grin, then telekinetically lifted Faker into the ship. A few minutes later, the cloaked vessel blasted away from Primus and headed straight for Nordor.

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Hours later, Skeletor stood in the abandoned debris field of one Flogg’s bases. Four years ago, Skeletor had accidentally been responsible for destroying the base. Flogg had held it against him for years, though Skeletor had never seen the revenge come to manifest. As Skeletor stood in the center of the base, the smell of ash from the now dormant volcano upon which the base had once been reached his non-nose. The ground beneath his heavily armored boots was warm.

Skeletor didn’t care.

The Sword of Darkness pointed to the ground, he channeled all of his will upon that which was far below him, trapped in now cool lava. The subtle energy that he sought after began to respond to his presence. The connection between he and it was intense.

The ground shook a little. Ten feet ahead of him, there was split in the surface and lava bubbled out. Skeletor watched as it splurged and surged into the open air. And then . . . it all seemed to spit out a glowing crimson jewel. It landed right at Skeletor’s feet.

The Jewel of Amara.

A small spell caused it to cool. He placed it in a compartment in his armor and headed back to the ship.

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Skeletor’s journey back to Eternia from there on out was rather uneventful. He quickly learned of the Horde invasion and was surprised at just how easily the Tri-Solar System was able to repel it. Unlike He-Man, Skeletor had learned that the zone of space that had been blocked off was now open again. As soon as Skeletor had recovered all of his effects from a storage bunker on Denebria, he zoomed out into the newly opened space and prepared to meet He-Man head on back on Eternia.

Even as he left the Tri-Solar System, Skeletor knew that he would return soon. He still had business to fulfill on Denebria.

Skeletor arrived in the Eternian star system weeks before He-Man and therefore, became aware of the situation much faster. The Horde had taken control of Eternia, leaving Etheria in state of suspended animation. While this indeed did anger Skeletor, he was completely enraged when he learned that Evil-Lynn had non-aggression pact with Hordak and had even accepted the Snake-Men back into Snake Mountain.

But Skeletor would wait until He-Man was dealt with before handling the traitorous Evil-Lynn. Thus, Skeletor waited on the moon of Org, working on Faker. He deleted all of his personality files, putting him back under Skeletor’s complete control again. However, it was during this time that Skeletor witness an Earth probe coming through the long-dormant wormhole.

It was through this probe that Skeletor had contacted the now President Marzo. After He-Man was dealt with, Skeletor would aide Marzo in making Eternia look far more hostile than it actually was. This would include flying Skeletor’s ship into Earth’s solar system and destroying probes on that side of the wormhole.

So be it.

The day came, then, that He-Man arrived in the Eternian star system. Skeletor attacked, hoping to outright destroy the Starship Eternia. Was Skeletor surprised when it was his ship that took the damage? No, not really.

The ship survived the crash and Skeletor waited patiently for He-Man to handle Hordak. He reorganized his plans rather quickly. Shadow Weaver joined with him, as did Tri-Klops. He arranged for Marzo’s invasion to go completely off course – the alliances battle against Horde Prime in orbit was enough to scare the Earthlings, but Skeletor needed Marzo.

Skeletor plotted his next moves. Despite the loss of Shadow Weaver when things fell apart on Etheria, Skeletor had things under control. There was only one thing he needed now – his Havoc Staff. The ram skull sat in Central Tower, though he wasn’t certain where.

Eleven months after his supposed exile and three weeks after Adora and SeaHawk’s wedding, Skeletor prepared to strike . . . and thus make his presence known on Eternia.

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The doors to Viper Tower flew open. The four guards, taken completely by surprise, were flung down the corridor and then pinned to the walls.

Skeletor strode through the corridor, Sword of Darkness in hand. He wore his battle armor, which was much more preferable to his cybernetic armor. Alarms blared as he walked down the corridor. A glance back at the doors indicated that they had had a sensor on them. With the doors now open, all of Central Tower was aware of his intrusion . . . perhaps even Eternos.

“Fine,” he muttered.

Soldiers appeared at the end of the long corridor. They tried to keep their composure as the overlord of evil walked towards them, their laser blasts curving away from his body.

“Silly soldiers.”

Skeletor moved fast, his fingers opening and unleashing an array of lightning that struck each one of the Royal Soldiers. They crumbled to the ground, chests smoldering. Skeletor turned the corridor . . . and came face-to-face with Man-At-Arms.

“Skeletor!” shouted Duncan, preparing his weapons.

“Hello Duncan. How’s the leg?”

Laser beams fired out from Duncan’s wrists. Skeletor was struck in the arm, but the other was curved away. Skeletor unleashed a bolt of energy from the Sword of Darkness and Duncan was sent sailing back.

“Five years ago, something like that would have been so easy for you to dodge,” Skeletor said, rushing towards him. “But now . . . you’re a cripple.”

Skeletor swung the Sword of Darkness at Man-At-Arms, but Duncan blocked it his cane.

“At least I have a face,” he grunted and kicked Skeletor in the abdomen with his good leg.

Skeletor slid back and pulled out the Jewel of Amara. Man-At-Arms barely had time to recognize it when he was suddenly engulfed in its crimson light. The world spun in series of images that caused Duncan to collapse onto the floor.

“I wonder what nightmare this has brought forth within you, Duncan?” questioned Skeletor.

Duncan had no reply and started to convulse.

Skeletor journeyed into the vaults below Central Tower, where he could sense the ram skull summoning him. In his wake, Central Tower was filled with soldiers that were on the ground, convulsing, their worst nightmares being displayed in their minds eyes.

He stood then in front of the main vault, working his best magics to unlock door. It had taken time – too much time – to do so. But after a few long minutes, there was a series of clicks, that quickly turned into clacks, and soon became a full out grinding. The vault door opened and within were various objects of little interest to Skeletor.

Save one.

A box upon a pedestal in the center of the vault.

Skeletor shattered the box with a blasted from Sword of Darkness. The ram skull lifted up and landed on his open palm. He then hitched the skull on his belt and turned out . . .

“Skeletor.”

He-Man stood at the vault entrance, Sword of Power at the ready.

“Adam.”

He-Man gritted his teeth.

“I thought you were defeated. I put you into exile.”

“That you did, dear prince. But surely you knew I would return to continue our endless battle.”

“I’m King now, Skeletor. Or perhaps I should call you Keldor. Bring an end to our so-called endless battle and I’ll let you live.”

Skeletor laughed and walked towards his nemesis. “I thought you knew me.”

He-Man smirked. “I do.”

And thus, the battle began.

The Swords of Power and Darkness slammed against each other. He-Man was aware that Skeletor had recharged his blade, but wasn’t very surprised. Nothing about this situation surprised him. As He-Man pulled back, he allowed Skeletor to fire a bolt at him; He-Man blocked with the Sword of Power.

He-Man slid forward, pushing his blade against Skeletor’s. A pulse of energy caused He-Man to stumble back, but he was ready for whatever Skeletor had to serve. Their swords struck again.

“Did you enjoy your time without me, He-Man? Your vacation, your holiday?”

“How long have you been pulling strings Skeletor?”

Their battle continued towards the stairs, swords crashing and slashing.

“Months.”

“Shadow Weaver? The ship?”

“Both mine.”

He-Man flipped back. Skeletor moved forward, swinging hard. They were in the First Chamber of Central Tower now, swords striking harder and harder now as their warred across the floor.

“This is useless,” He-Man said, taking a swipe.

“Is it?” questioned Skeletor, blocking it.

He-Man punched Skeletor straight in the chest, then kicked him in the abdomen. Skeletor went reeling back, but held fast to the Sword of Darkness.

“We’ve been manipulated into this battle by the Cosmic Enforcers. Everything has been based on what they set in motion.”

Skeletor laughed and unleashed a few lightning bolts. He-Man dodged two, but three others struck him straight on. He struggled against them.

“Oh, I know it, Adam. I am all too aware.” Skeletor strode forward, lightning still striking He-Man. “But you know? I don’t care. Not one bit, King Adam.”
He-Man straight out punched Skeletor in the face.

“It’s He-Man, Keldor.”

His fists charged forth and struck Skeletor in the shoulders. The Sword of Darkness clattered to the ground. He-Man then elbowed Skeletor in the chest and punched him again in the skull face. Skeletor tumbled back, allowing He-Man to kick him a few times again in the abdomen.

Skeletor lifted up his arms and summoned down two intense beams of energy. They struck He-Man hard, causing the champion of Grayskull to falter.

“This is far from the end of this,” Skeletor said, taking advantage and grabbing the Sword of Darkness.

Skeletor ran to the door of Central Tower. It flew open at his whim and he rushed out, cloak flowing around him. He-Man was nipping at his feet.

In the sunlight of the Sands of Time, Skeletor came to a stop. He-Man jumped out to face his enemy once more.

“No worries, Adam,” Skeletor said, his ship appearing behind him, “I’ll see you soon and you can resume this endless struggle.”

With that, Skeletor teleported into his ship and it turned to the south, blasting away into the blazing blue sky.

He-Man sighed heavily.

“Now we have a problem.”

TO BE CONTINUED IN “ACROSS ALL WORLDS – BOOK FOUR: ETERNIA!” COMING SOON!