Declaration of War
							A Mineternia Tale
							By Hordak Alpha

		Snake Mountain shuddered and shook.    Skeletor looked about angrily from his throne.  "What is the meaning of this?" asked the grim lord angrily.       Evil Lyn rushed over to the throne.    "Snake Mountain is falling apart.  I can feel great forces of power are at work here."       Skeletor rose from his throne and blasted away with his havoc staff at the nearby rock floor.     With the resulting magic an underground tunnel was created.    "Hurry, all of you to the ower levels now!" commanded Skeletor.            All of his warriors obeyed without hesitation and hurriedly rushed through as the rock walls of the mountain began to crack and the interior began to cave in in several areas.     Skeletor leapt onto the saddled back of Panthor.   "Hurry and follow the others, my noble creature."  said Skeletor.   Panthor hurriedly carried Skeletor through the tunnel with great leaps and bounds.       

          Eventually Skeletor and his warriors made their way through the lower levels of the mountain and up to the surface.   They all watched in shock and horror as their fortress crumbled apart.   "Whoever is responsible for this shall suffer a thousand deaths." cried out Skeletor with eyesockets glowing crimson red.       As Skeletor and his warriors watched, the outer shell of Snake Mountain fell away and the mountain itself became a gigantic living three headed snake.     "The legends are true." said Evil Lyn in utter amazement,    "Snake Mountain really was the body of the ancient snake god Serpos who had been trapped within molten stone by the Council of Elders."         Skeletor looked at the towering snake god as its three heads spewed molten lava.        "My fortress!" cried out Skeletor,  "My kingdom!   All gone!"     

          Suddenly out of the shadows walked a powerful being clad from head to foot in a suit of regal black armor.     A long dark cape was swathed about his body and he held a blackened trident that was longer and larger than the one Mer-Man carried.        "Serpos the living god of snakes is free at last." said the armored being,  "All kneel to his power and mine."        Skeletor dismounted from Panthor and walked towards the armored golitath that stood a few heads taller than the imposing Skeletor.     "I bow to no one." said the former Snake Mountain master,  "Who are you to decimate my mountain fortress such as this?"             The armored one laughed.   "I knew that your voice sounded familiar." he said  "Behold I, Rakash god of the oceans and seas, has been resurrected."             Skeletor was surprised at this.  "Impossible.    He-Man of Vulnar and I made sure that Rakash was sealed back inside his amulet prison."      Rakash laughed.        "No longer am I imprisoned within the stone for  from the power of my fellow Titans I have risen from the ashes in order to reclaim the world."                     Skeletor gestured to his finest warriors.    They all joined him in battle ready formation.            "Eternia belongs to no one else but I, Skeletor, master of darkness and lord of Snake Mountain."                  Rakash laughed again.      "There is no need for me to sully my hands with your blood when my brethern can do such for me."                    The ground quaked and shook as a four armed Titan ripped out of the ground.        "Procrustus, rid me of these bothersome mortals." said Rakash.               The four armed Titan nodded and proceeded to smash his four massive hands down onto the ground in unison.

            The warriors of Skeletor scattered in all directions for fear of being crushed by the powerful Procrustus.      Even the fearless Panthor scrambled away.      "Cowards!" cried out Skeletor,    "Must I do everything myself?"      Skeletor raised his havoc staff and fired a poweful blast of lighting at the levithan that was Procrustus.     The powerful blast struck Procrustus full across his massive chest .     All the Titan did was laugh.             The blast Skeletor had fired had been powerful enough to wound the powerful Monstroid creature he had battled a month before.     The grim lord knew when to retreat.       With a swift gesture of one of his hands Skeletor teleported away and disappeared from sight.              Rakash turned his gaze up towards Procrustus and Serpos.    "Come my brothers.    Let us return to our refuge from the world of mortal man and begin our campaign of punishment upon the world."    he cried out.

              In the morning He-Man, Teela and the Goddess Teela'na surveyed the damage done to the interior of Castle Grayskull the night before.          As the Goddess had explained to them dark spirits had somehow entered Castle Grayskull and stole the Stone of Rakash but took nothing else.        "Skeletor must have done this." said He-Man,  "Perhaps after his rejuvenation he has awakened to a new level of dark power."          "It was not Skeletor." said the Goddess,   "I would have sensed his presence.    The darkness that pillaged Grayskull of the stone was unfamiliar to me.            I would have summoned you but I was wounded in the attack and lay unconscious within the throne room for several hours until dawn."                "I thought my sister was staying here to help protect Grayskull." said He-Man.    "The Despondos threat to the galaxy turned its attention from Eternia to the world of Etheria." said the Goddess,  "I have sent She-Ra to Etheria in order to help deal with the Despondos threat along with Lighthope, a spirit of one of the Elders.   They have gathered a resistance at the Crystal Castle on Etheria and even now are battling the evils of Despondos."                   He-Man felt uneasy.   "If Skeletor was not the one who entered Grayskull than what powers of darkness were strong enough to breach the walls of this mighty fortress?"          The Goddess shook her head.   "I do not know."      Teela, who sat near by,  had remained silent until her comm unit came to life.      As she answered the comm the voice of her father, Man-At-Arms, flooded the throne chamber with an urgent tone.    "Teela, Adam you must return to Eternos at once.      Dire news has reached our ears from an unlikely source."            "What source may that be?" asked He-Man.            "Come to the city and see for yourself." came Duncan's reply.

            He-Man was unable to restrain himself upon his return to Eternos when he saw Skeletor and his warriors gathered in the royal courtyard of the royal palace.         "You lie, foul demon." hissed He-Man,   "You are trying to trick us and lead us into a trap."            Skeletor ignored He-Man.      King Randor also stood in the courtyard flanked by guardsmen and He-Man.            "Randor, you of all people should know that I would never come to you for help except in a crisis such as this that threatens both of our kingdoms." said Skeletor.        Randor nodded.    "That is true, Skeletor,  but if what you tell us is true the ancient Titan gods of Eternia have reawakened and gathered themselves together for some purpose."      The Goddess had decided to join He-Man and Teela to their return to Eternos and reached out with her senses.                She reached them out to a far ancient place that had not been touched in centuries.         What she felt there was utter horror and disbelief.     "Skeletor speaks the truth." said the Goddess,  "Mount Tytus is occupied once more with the ancient deities of Eternia that once forced the peoples across the globe to bow to their rule.  I have sensed it."                      "I thought all of the ancient gods had been defeated by King Grayskull and the Elders during the time of purification and the revelation of the true Creator and Master of the Universe."  said He-Man.     "That they did." said the Goddess,   "But, somehow the ancient Titans have escaped their prisons and have gathered atop Mount Tytus no doubt to plan their revenge on Eternia and her peoples."                 Skeletor nodded.   "They have already destroyed my kingdom and even though I care not for the well being of the kingdom of Eternos I still need an alliance in order to defeat the Titans."                    

        He-Man looked to Skeletor and then looked to Randor.   "Skeletor is right." he said to Randor,  "We need to build an alliance between us and the people of Snake Mountain if we ever hope to counter the potential threat represented by the return of the ancient Titans."       Randor thought for a moment and then said  "The forces of Eternos and Snake Mountain are indeed the most powerful military forces on the planet.    An alliance I shall grant between our two peoples but our powers alone will not be enough to stifle the Titan gods.    I shall summon all kingdoms united with Eternos through the Allied Council in a hopes to build a powerful military might that could be enough to destroy the Titan gods and Mount Tytus once and for all."          He-Man left the king's side and went over to Goddess Teela'na.          "Could such an alliance deem successful against the forces of the ancient  Pre-Eternia gods?"  he asked.     The Goddess shook her head.    "A massive alliance of all of the peoples of Eternia might not be enough to thwart the plans of the Titan gods but it is the best chance the mortal peoples of Eternia have against such a threat."       

           As the gathering in the courtyard ended He-Man began to leave when Skeletor moved in front of him, blocking his way.     "Stand aside, mongrel demon." spat He-Man towards his most hated enemy.    "Come now, Lord of Vines." said Skeletor,  "Is that any way to speak to your new ally?"      He-Man cast a gaze of stern coldness into the haunting skull face of the deposed lord of Snake Mountain.     "It does not matter how many times I rid Eternia of your presence." said He-Man with gritted teeth,  "You keep on returning like the plague you are."         He-Man shoved Skeletor aside and continued on his way.   Skeletor just grinned and followed along behind the hero.     "You did deal me a most surprising defeat last we met, Vulnarian." said Skeletor,  "It took many weeks for my disciples to resurrect me to consciousness."     He-Man whirled around and grinned at the evil one.    "Surprised that in the fact that even when I was at death's doorway I still had enough power to defeat you." he said.       Skeletor waved a hand.   "Lets us stop this talk.  For the moment we are allies against the Titan gods and we must act like allies if we even hope to defeat such power."          He-Man raised an eyebrow.  "I never thought I would live to see the day when you, Skeletor murderer of millions of innocent lives, would speak with sense from your mouth."          Skeletor's eyesockets glowed with faint crimson light.  "My kingdom was taken from me by the Titans and the same shall be done unto you if we do not provide a unified front against them."        He-Man nodded.    "I understand the reasons for alliance but I know full well we both fight the Titans for different reasons."       Skeletor grinned.     "What might that be?"               "I fight to protect Eternia from the conquest of the Titans in order to preserve the societies that have been built." said He-Man,  "You fight the Titans because you believe that they do not have the right to rule Eternia.   You fight because you believe the only being on the planet that is worthy to rule over all is you."     Skeletor grinned.   "Correct you are, He-Man, and I will even join beside my greatest enemies in order to secure my rightful place as master of the world."         He-Man turned to leave.     "I shall work alongside you, Skeletor, but be warned." said the hero,  "Betray the alliance with Eternos too soon and you shall regret it."      He-Man walked away to leave a grinning Skeletor behind him.

           Later on He-Man had returned to Castle Grayskull with Battle Cat and the dreaded Skeletor and Panthor in tow.       The Goddess had requested He-Man to bring Skeletor along with him to meet with her in the throne room.       Skeletor looked about the chamber as he neared the throne of the Goddess.     "I thought the only day I was going to be welcomed into the walls of Grayskull was the day I would enter as its master."       He-Man grinned.    "Such a day is never to come, Skeletor.    You are only here because you chose to become an ally in the cause."        The Goddess motioned for the both of them to be silent.      "In order to be powerful enough to fight against the Titans both of you must have an equal enough power to do such." said the Goddess.     She pulled the dark power sword out from behind her and handed it to Skeletor.     "In most cases I would never hand a half of the ultimate power sword to you, Skeletor, but Eternia needs both the light and dark powers of Grayskull in order to even prevail against the Titan gods."        Skeletor gleefully held the dark power sword within his hands for the first time in a year.    "At last the dark sword is mine once more."      The Goddess silenced him with a gesture of a hand.   "It is only in your possession for a temporary period.      Once the threat from the Titans has been thwarted the dark sword of Grayskull shall be returned to me and it shall be cast into hiding once more."             Skeletor grinned at the Goddess.    "It seems you do not trust me, dear Goddess."           "I only trust that you shall not break your alliance with Eternos too soon or doom yourself you shall against the power of the Titans."           Skeletor nodded and sheathed the dark sword onto his back.            He-Man didn't trust the dark power sword to be in the hands of Skeletor this day but He-Man had to trust the judgement of the Goddess of Grayskull.         Suddenly, the castle walls shook.      The Goddess reached out with her senses and gasped.      "The Titans, Rakash and Procrustus, are laying attack upon Grayskull."                  He-Man quickly mounted onto the saddle of Battle Cat.    "They shall not get far in their attempted seige of this castle."

          The jawbridge of Castle Grayskull opened and Battle Cat and Panthor stepped out carrying their masters upon their backs.         Rakash looked the warriors over.   "Do you see, brother Procrustus, these are the two, although enemies to each other, were the ones who forced me back into the prison that the Elders had banished me to."          Procrustus then spoke and when he spoke the ground rumbled.  "We have come to destroy the Castle of Grayskull and thus destroy the power that has dared to resist the rightful gods of Eternia for eons."            He-Man pointed his finger up towards the face of Procrustus and spoke with a harsh tone.   "Turn away.      Eternia was purified of your rule for a reason and it shall remain purified."            Procrustus laughed and as he did the ground shook.   "We are the ones who created Eternia and the peoples that occupy it.        The world is ours and you are all ours to govern and punish as we see fit."               He-Man shook his head.   "You and the rest of the Titans of Pre-Eternia are all false gods.    You used your power to terrorize the ancient peoples of this world.      It was through King Grayskull and the Elders that the true Creator took his vengeance upon you and banished you all away from Eternia.    It shall be repeated upon you again through me."               

      Procrustus laughed at He-Man's words.   "You are just a puny mortal that needs to be taught how to respect your gods."        He-Man hurriedly leapt from the saddle of Battle Cat and dashed towards the massive Procrustus.    "I shall show you the errors of your ways, false master." said He-Man,  "I shall also show you not to misjudge a person's strengths just on size alone."          With his great agility He-Man leapt into the air and soared high enough to gaze into the levithan face of Procrustus.    He-Man took a swing and Procrustus allowed him to, not thinking a mortal man could inflict harm upon him.         He-Man landed a powerful thunder punch across the massive face of Procrustus and the air cracked loudly in a mighty thunder clap.      The strength of the blow was so powerful that it sent the mighty Titan to the ground and when he landed the ground shook with tremendous force from the weight of his massive body.          

        He-Man landed on the ground expertly.          Procrustus angrily rose to his feet.     "The strength of Grayskull still exists then." said Procrustus,  "King Grayskull was the only mortal strong enough to do battle with the gods and it seems you have that strength as well."         "Cease your battle with the mortal, dear brother." rumbled a voice across the land.         All those at the front of Castle Grayskull turned their gaze towards the voice and saw a mighty giant lumbering his way towards them.       "The traitor comes to us, brother Procrustus."  hissed Rakash.          "That I do, my blasphemous brothers." said the giant who was just as big as Procrustus.       The giant wore a mighty suit of armor and long dark hair hung down out from under his helmet.       "Brother Tytus." said Procrustus,  "Why does the former Titan king bother to come here when know you do that your power alone cannot quench the powers of your brothers."              Tytus cast his gaze from Rakash on the ground below to that of eye level with Procrustus.      "The Goddess of Grayskull summoned me here to face you both down and return the life debt that I still owe towards King Grayskull.   A debt I never shall truly be able to repay."               He-Man was amazed to see the ancient Titan king Tytus standing in defense of Castle Grayskull.         The Goddess had told him long before that during the purification of the land eons ago  King Grayskull had saved the life of Tytus from the treason of his own brother Serpos.     Since that day Tytus reliquished his title as Titan king and joined Grayskull's forces and thus helped the Elders to banish his brothers from Eternia.     It seemed the Goddess had summoned him to Grayskull to do such once again.     

            Talking ended as Procrustus dashed towards his ancient brother and former king.   Rakash calmly walked towards the open jawbridge of Castle Grayskull.    "Stand aside and pledge loyalty to the Titans and perhaps we shall spare you destruction."  said Rakash.    Skeletor leapt down from the back of Panthor and rushed towards Rakash.    "You shall pledge your loyalty to me before this day is through for I, Skeletor, am the rightful master of Eternia."            "Skeletor, stop!" shouted out He-Man but it was too late.       Rakash struck Skeletor down with one blast of his trident.       Skeletor was thrown backwards to the ground.     "You dare challenge the power of the gods?"  said Rakash, his green eyes glowing brightly.        Battle Cat and Panthor growled at Rakash as He-Man stepped towards the Titan.       He-Man unsheathed his power sword and battle axe and stood in front of the Titan.     "You shall be crushed, Rakash, and your soul shall be finally exiled to the hell fires where it belongs." said He-Man.          Skeletor rose to stand at He-Man's side.   "I do not need your help, Vulnarian."  uttered the grim lord,  "I can handle the Titan."        He-Man angrily said  "The only way to conquer Rakash is to join our powers.    We will have to abandon each of our pride for now."        Skeletor nodded and unsheathed the dark power sword while his other hand held his powerful havoc staff.       "You have sealed your fates with this challenge." said Rakash, "Prepare to die."

           Procrustus enfolded all four of his arms around Tytus and began to squeeze with crushing force.    "To believe that you were my king, brother." said Procrustus,  "Your power and strength were never superior to mine."      As Tytus struggled to gain breath he said "You believe you have me at a disadvantage, brother Procrustus, but it is I who have the upper hand."         The warrior giant's eyes glowed and he fired forth a blast of powerful lightning.   The lightning surged through Procrustus and forced the four armed Titan to relinquish his hold upon Tytus.       Tytus unsheathed a massive stone hammer from his back.   "I was king of the Titans because I held the power of thunder and lightning and that, my brother, shall always be more powerful than any strength you can muster from your multiple arms."    Tytus hurled the massive hammer at Procrustus.    The hammer struck Procrustus against his armored chest and sent the four armed Titan sprawling to the ground.     

         Rakash swung his trident and He-Man and Skeletor managed to block the strike with their weapons.     "It is foolish for you to challenge me to battle, mortals." said Rakash as he withdrew his trident and stepped back to gain some space between himself and his challengers.        He-Man and Skeletor rushed forward in a unified attack.        He-Man swung his sword low in a cut aimed at the legs of Rakash while Skeletor swung high in a cut aimed to behead the Titan.     Rakash held up a hand and with a push of air deflected the blows and sent He-Man and Skeletor flying backwards.       "You shall not lay a hand upon me." said Rakash.        "Perhaps we are going at this the wrong way, Skeletor." said He-Man as he pointed his power sword at Rakash,  "Wasting effort we are by attacking the Titan with physical force when the power of the sacred weapons we hold should be enough to breach his defenses and wipe him from the face of the world."         Skeletor nodded.  "Agreed."   Skeletor pointed his dark power sword and havoc staff at Rakash.        He-Man focused his will into the Sword of Power and unleashed a power beam straight at Rakash.      The Titan held the beam blast at bay with an invisible telekinetic screen.       Skeletor unleashed a blast from the dark power sword and then joined it with a powerful intense lightning blast from his havoc staff.       All three beam attacks struck away at the telekinetic screen as Rakash calmly held up his hand keeping the screen intact.     "We need to put more power into our attack, Skeletor,  focus all the power at your disposal." said He-Man.      "Right you are, Vulnarian." said Skeletor.        He-Man and Skeletor focused as much power as they could into their attacks.      The intensity of the beams increased and the beams from the Sword of Power, dark power sword and havoc staff merged into one intense beam of power.          Rakash braced his hand with his free one as he began to struggle against the unified beam.

        Procrustus once again rushed forward in a mad attack against his brother Tytus.    Another blast of powerful lighting blasted forth from the eyes of the former Titan king and surged through the body of Procrustus.    Procrustus fell to the ground once again.   "Crawl back into the depths of the underground with the rats and vermin, brother." said Tytus,  "You have already been defeated before you have even begun to battle."      Procrustus rose to his feet.    "Perhaps I alone cannot defeat you but when all of our fellow Titans converge upon the forces that oppose our rule then be warned, brother Tytus, you and the mortals shall be crushed into oblivion."

          As the beam attack gained in strength and intensity He-Man and Skeletor moved forwards towards Rakash.   The Titan was struggling with all of his might against the attack hoping to keep up his defense screen.       Tongues of lightning shot off of the beam and licked through the body of Rakash burning the insides of the Titan.     "He has almost had it." said He-Man,  "We have him at our mercy."       Rakash could struggle no more and with the last ounce of his strength shoved his telekinetic might against the beam and disolved it.    The power of the telekinetic shove knocked He-Man and Skeletor away.       Battle Cat and Panthor rushed towards Rakash ready to finish the job where their masters had started.   Just then a massive hand of Procrustus slammed down from the sky.   Battle Cat and Panthor hurriedly recoiled and withdrew, avoiding the attack from the massive Titan altogether.       Procrustus grabbed up the wounded Rakash and stated "Defended yourselves successfully you have this day.   We withdraw to the mountain kingdom of the Titans today but return we shall and you will all pay for your rebellion."      In a loud thundercrack Procrustus and Rakash teleported away from the scene.      He-Man and Skeletor regained their footing and looked up towards Tytus.      Skeletor sheathed his weapons and mounted onto Panthor's saddle.      Without a word he disappeared in a flash of light.           He-Man nodded up towards Tytus.    "You have my thanks for coming to our aide, noble giant."        Tytus grinned down at He-Man.    "You have my friendship and alleigiance, Son of Grayskull, but the last we have seen of my Titan brothers we have not."

       High atop Mount Tytus the council of all of the Titans sat in session.    "Defeat our brothers Procrustus and Rakash have endured this day." hissed the three heads of Serpos,  "Secure victory we must in a short time."         The alpha of the Titan council was a giant warrior named Bazrog.    "A mighty army must be raised against the enemies of our realm and the word of the Titans must be spread across the globe.    As we gain followers and power then we shall crush those who still oppose us and victory shall easily come from that."      The entire Titan council agreed.      The war had begun and the battle lines were only starting to be drawn.