Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. It’s time once again for a trip to Eternia, where the endless battle between good and evil continues. Join Ibentmyman-thing and Matthew K as they bring you a brand new story featuring some of your favorite Masters of the Universe characters. Welcome to Eternia…
Jitsu’s ascension to the throne was not without incident.
Tri-Klops was the most vocal of them, and the one whom Jitsu was the most wary. In fact, it was the blind man’s insistence on holding back and allowing the others to attack that worried Jitsu the most because it forced him to divide his attention among the sudden surge of antagonism and Tri-Klops himself, expecting to be lanced from behind by an energy beam from Tri-Klops’ Veyesor at any second.
But his victory was no less assured. Jitsu’s fighting skills were second to none, and this rabble that Skeletor kept was nothing more than a cadre of bonebreakers whose fighting skills had been honed in either gladiator pits or on weaker opponents.
None of them had ever had the fabled Ninjor as tutor, and it showed.
Clawful and Whiplash only got in each other’s way, which leveled the admitted inferiority in strength he suffered against them, and allowed him to use his fist to its full potential. Mer-Man was quick and powerful, used to the crushing depths of the sea, but it was more a test of endurance between them, and Mer-Man suffered outside his natural element. If the fight was underwater it may have gone another way. Mer-Man got in a few good hits, which only showed how tired Jitsu was after fighting the powerhouses, but, in the end, Jitsu was the more skilled fighter and the ultimate winner. Beast Man was pure unfocused adrenaline and was easy to subdue. He may have fought well against an opponent cowed by his animalistic nature, but Jitsu feared none of them.
He was quickly wondering why Skeletor kept this group around at all. He began to realize why He-Man never believed any of them a threat. There would be changes instituted during his reign.
Trap Jaw refused to fight. With Skeletor limp and powerless, it was like Trap had no excuse to be here, and he left the throne room and Snake Mountain itself without a word.
Evil Lyn clung to the sidelines and awaited the end of the battles. Jitsu had never seen her as she now was. There was an unfocused quality to her eyes. But he would not make the mistake of thinking her tamed just because she had lost her magic. That was a dangerous assumption.
When Mer-Man was finished, Jitsu turned to Tri-Klops. He raised his giant hand and waved him forward.
Tri-Klops refused to move. “Your skills are impressive.”
“Skills are only a weapon. The finest blade cracks, the strongest shield buckles. I am not my skill. I am my determination.”
“To lead?”
“Yes.”
Another entered the throne room. Jitsu had forgotten about Fang Man, but that was because he was easily forgotten. He slinked the corridors of Snake Mountain, becoming lost, buried in caverns and corridors. So little was known about him that he was called “Skeletor’s forgotten.”
“And do you seek to lead as well?” Jitsu asked Fang Man.
He took the scene in with his reptile eyes. He stared at Skeletor’s body, limp on the floor of his throne room, and then the two men who were left standing. Last, his gaze fell on Evil Lyn.
“What is this madness?”
Jitsu folded his arms. “Magic has fled the world, Fang Man. Skeletor’s hold on this place has come to an end. It is a new age.”
“Then it is an age of fools then.”
“Are you content to be the skull man’s pawn then?”
Fang Man’s mouth opened in a horrific grin that showed the glistening fangs that were his namesake. His tongue flicked. “Pawn.” He nodded at the utterance of the word. “How very strange, that word. One believes it to mean something akin to cannon fodder, a useless subject who dies nameless in protection of the greater powers, yes? Shuffling across the board while the ones who have the most importance, in whom true power exists, fight it out.”
Fang man hissed like a snake, though he was not a snake. The nictating membranes of his eyes flickered. Jitsu glanced at Tri-Klops, wary of the man but amused also.
Fang Man walked over to Skeletor and glared down at him. “You are right, though, human. I was Skeletor’s pawn, when he deigned fit to notice me. Fang Man the forgotten. Fang Man, who was left in the past until Skeletor remembered I existed and had need of me. You never remember your pawns until you need them to protect you from a random rook, or bishop.”
“What point are you trying to make, fanged one?”
Fang Man turned from Skeletor to Evil Lyn, who stood elevated from them all on a stone outcropping that led to Skeletor’s throne. “My point, oh great king-in-waiting, is that even a lowly pawn, if positioned just right, can place the King in check.” He took a single step upwards toward Skeletor’s throne. Evil Lyn’s brows lowered at his approach.
“Stop there. Not one more step.” Jitsu was losing patience for this conversation, and for the creature himself. “This conversation is ended.”
“Indeed,” Fang Man said. He reached down to his belt buckle and depressed a button.
The floor of the throne room sparked and sizzled. The current seized up Jitsu and Tri-Klops’ legs, and they twitched. One of Tri-Klops’ eyes sparked and went dark. Evil Lyn and Fang Man, both removed from the floor, were unharmed.
The warriors dropped to the ground, smoking and unconscious, but alive.
“Checkmate,” Fang Man said, and turned his attention to Evil Lyn. “A little insurance I once installed when Snake Mountain was emptied and Skeletor was on another of his foolish quests. You know the greatest power in the world, witch? It’s not magic or weaponry or strength or numbers. No, the greatest power in the world is in the simple act of being underestimated.” His hunched, subservient posture shifted, and the weakness in his eyes seemed to vanish. “Now, witch… or should I say ex-witch? We should talk of allegiances — and the price of betrayal. ”
