He-Mon and the Monsters of the Omniverse

[Skeletor]

Kul’Shar led Skeletor and Panthor through the storm with an uneasy shuffling. Skeletor chuckled slightly, realizing how nervous the troll was. The runt had been sent back out immediately after returning to their camp, and hadn’t even been given the chance to eat a hot meal.

The Trolls were correct to fear his impatience, but in their haste to appease him, they had made it quite painfully clear just how little regard for their own tribesmate. Perhaps Skeletor could capitalize upon this misstep. He had lost all of his minions to Darkshire’s blasted walls, and it could be advantageous to get himself some supporters before meeting this Zul’jin. The patrol had been cowed easily enough, but their leader might prove a challenge to overthrow without allies of his own. Blast this weakening Omniverse!

Skeletor nudged Panthor to move faster, and the great cat lazily moved in beside the trudging troll. For the supposed runt of the group, he was well-nigh six feet tall, though Skeletor suspected the blue mohawk made his height seem somewhat exaggerated. Yet he was clearly a fighter, well-built and confident, but light-footed enough that he could likely defeat a larger foe if it came down to it. The troll didn’t look exceedingly bright, but that was difficult to do when you hunched forward with five-inch tusks, and he showed enough fear of Skeletor’s power that he would be sufficiently willing to take orders.

“How much farther is it to the Troll camp. I must speak with your leader Zul’jhin!” he inquired with a sort of bored irritation, just to be extra grating on the troll.

“It’s going to be two days trip, Mon! Don’t start wit’ that already!” the hunter snarled at him, but the front the troll was putting up was easy enough to see through. If the trolls weren’t terrified of Skeletor, they would have let Kul’Shar at least rest first.

“Two days? How slow do you trolls walk?” Skeletor asked incredulously. The troll snorted out a laugh before his reply.

“You wanna go over the mountains, mon? Zul’gurand is on the shores of the frozen sea. We have to go around the peaks if we are getting yourself to make it there in one piece.” Kul’Shar spoke with a twinge of pride, and now it was Skeletor’s turn to laugh.

“Do you think I cannot climb so small a height? You are dangerously underestimating my power. If you have a faster way to get to Zul’gurand, you will take me by that avenue. Any challenges the route possessing will be immaterial compared to spending too long with one of your intellect.”

Kul’Shar stared at Skeletor with his naturally slack-jawed expression, his tiny troll mind slowly grinding its way through what Skeletor had just said. He spoke up before Beast man would have, but slower than Trapjaw or Triclops. Passable enough.

“Your panther won’t make it.” He said finally. No protest at the slight, interesting. Skeletor wondered if he had missed the insult or just chosen to ignore it. The Warlock leapt from Panthor’s saddle, landing in the snow with a spray of powder. He sank to his knees and the snow was icy daggers against his bare shins. Skeletor allowed a small amount of his vast Eldritch power to flow, melting any snow that dared to come too close.

“I don’t need Panthor for a stroll like this! Get out of here, you mangy beast!” he shouted, then began strolling away, snow sizzling pleasantly under his feet. It was nice when things knew their place. Panthor growled softly, then her ears perked up and the great feline bounded away down the slopes into the wooded tundra below their trail. Kul’Shar shrugged.

“Your funeral mon.” he said and began to lope through the snow on long and muscular legs.

“Is this how most of your hunting party gets to Zul’gurand?” Skeletor asked, and to his glee the troll shook his head.

“Nah, they be taking the long way around. This is my shortcut; the others be saying it’s too dangerous.” He pulled a coil of rope and a bladed grappling hook from where it hung at his side. “I be saying otherwise though.” He said, with a wild grin. There was definitely pride in the troll’s voice now. He had conquered this trail on his own, and claimed it as his own. Good, this would be perfect for Skeletor’s purposes.

“The other trolls don’t think you have what it takes in a fight.” Skeletor stated more than asked, and the Troll’s grin dropped instantly, the mohawked hunter turning and starting to trudge his way faster along the path.

“What’s the strongest thing you’ve killed?” Skeletor asked, not that he really cared.

“Winter wolf,” the troll mumbled from up ahead, “big one, bigger than your cat. I got its pelt hanging from me wall in town. It jumped me a year or two back, nearly tore me two throats mon. But I got him good in the head wit’ me axe, and after than it was all over.” Skeletor nodded.

“And your hunting party, they send you on an escort mission for someone who is doesn’t need it?”

“They send me on this mission so that my brothers don’t riddle you with spears, mon!” The troll shot back, clearly unsettled by Skeletor’s prodding. He was suitably unsatisfied with his lot as well. Excellent. Their path had left behind slopes and was now winding between clefts of snow-capped rock and ice. Skeletor’s magic kept him warm, despite the ice borne wind that whipped through their path. Skeletor paused, as a sharp ravine cut straight across their path, dropping dozens of feet into the rock below.

“Did you take a wrong turn, Tusky?” he asked, but Kul’Shar just gave him that wild grin again, then began to spin the grapple, before flinging it across the expanse. It lodged into the ice with a solid thud, and the troll gave it a couple of tugs to test its placement. It held firm.

“Watch this Boneface!” he spoke with glee, then leapt, swinging down a good fifteen feet to the other wall of the ravine. He began repelling up the rope with practice, moving with an almost spider-like speed. He was across the ravine in next to no time.

“You gonna be able to make it, mon?” Kul’shar asked snidely from the other side, “You need a hand?”

Skeletor cackled, and backed up from the edge. His eldritch power flared out, searing away a clear path to the lip of the ravine. Skeletor ran, insanely strong muscles building up speed before he leapt, eldritch power adding enough energy to send the Warlock arcing over the expanse, to land beside the slack-jawed troll. Skeletor enjoyed the incredulous response as he set off again.

“Is that all there is to this route? Your so-called friends are a bunch of sissies!” Skeletor cackled. Things were going perfectly, he had shown his superiority to the troll’s current allies, and sown seeds of dissonance with his current lot in life. Now he had only to showcase just how much better the troll’s life would be under his employ, and the fool wouldn’t even need to be coerced into following him. Simpletons all.

The path continued to snake through the mountains for several hours, and Skeletor made two more similar leaps, utterly stunning Kul’shar into silence as they travelled. At last the troll stopped and pointed. Though their trail continued along the edge of a sharp and spiky cliffside, Kul’shar’s gaze was fixed upon a rocky outcropping some thirty feet above them on the other side. Skeletor looked at the expanse in surprise. The cleft between their trail and the point Kul’shar was watching was over twenty feet wide, and yet the troll was winding up his grapple, though Skeletor noted his focus was much more intent this time. This was most definitely the hardest throw he had to make on the trail. The most personal moment of triumph.

Kul’shar let fly the grapple, the blade arcing up and away into the air, the rope coiling away beneath it. All it took was two small nudges of magic, one to edge the axe away from the cleft it was aiming for, sending it skipping off the cliff face, and the other to slip the end of the rope past the trolls three fingers. Kul’shar let out a cry of alarm as the rope trailed the metal away into the frosted depths. Skeletor watched as the troll sank to his knees.

“…We just died up here, mon.” he spoke dully, eyes fixed on the rope, snagged around a shard of razor sharp ice nearly the full way to the bottom of the ravine. Yes, see what you have lost.

The warlock pulled forth his sphere of Omnilium, focusing his energies onto a complex design. Now see just how much better I can give you.

Within moments, Skeletor’s wish became reality, and he tossed the contraption at the surprised troll. It was a metal backpack, with two long extensions that strapped to the troll’s wrists like gauntlets.

“You aren’t going to let such a paltry problem defeat you, surely? Put that thing on, and you will have no trouble scaling that mountain. It will be mere child’s play.” The troll looked confused, but in his current state didn’t argue, which was more than enough for Skeletor. He pointed one arm at the top of the cliff, and pressed a button on his gauntlet. A wire cable shot from the casing, sailing straight as an arrow to embed itself into the ice with a very satisfying thunk.

“now press the other one.” Skeletor said with a touch of self-satisfaction. It was good to see that the elders had not been able to impinge upon his brilliant mind, whatever other limitations they had placed on him. Kul’shar pressed the other button, and with a jolt, the cable started to retract, pulling the shocked troll off of his feet and across the expanse with ease. He reached the far side and scrambled up to the top. Turning down to face Skeletor, the troll let out a whoop of excitement.

“That be somethin else entirely, Mon!” he shouted down. That’s right, and remember who you got it from.

“Now get me up their too! I don’t have all day!” Skeletor replied. The cable zipped back and Skeletor grabbed hold, streaking through the air up to join the troll, who had braced himself on a rocky outcropping. It was quite useful, Skeletor had to admit, you’d never need a bridge or a ladder… hmmm…

“Neeheheeheehehe! That was no problem after all.” He said as he looked down the slope at the buildings of Zul’gurand, the city built into the base of the mountains below them “Lead the way, Trollbridge!”