Atop the jagged peak of one of the rocky cliffs, He-Man, Extendar, Rio Blast and Fisto looked down on the power station below. The building, its dome crackling with electric light energy, was surrounded by Horde Troopers on every side. "What exactly are the Horde doing here?" asked Extendar. "Hordak is using the energy from this power station to charge his machinery." replied He-Man. "He’s hoping it will help to make the Horde more powerful. She-Ra called me from Etheria a few days ago to say Hordak had attacked several power plants there- so obviously he’s now using energy from Eternia to strengthen the Horde." "Well let’s waste no time." said Extendar. "We’d better attack!" He-Man drew his gleaming sword. "Make your way slowly down the cliff face, warriors." he said. "The Troopers will sense us approaching, but let’s not worry about them. They usually fall apart with just one blow." "That’s gonna be way too difficult." complained Fisto. "I mean, I’m not worried about the Horde- but this cliff is way too steep. I don’t know about you, but I’d fall straight away." "Yeah, I agree with Fisto." said Rio Blast. "I’d stand no chance of getting down there without falling- and my lasers would be damaged! Can’t we find an easier way down, He-Man?" "This is the only way I see." said He-Man. "There’s no easy pathway down. But I guess you’re right. We’ll have to go back to the palace and get some Jet Sleds, so we can fly down there. I should have thought better before coming here. Come on, let’s go back." He turned, ready to lead the warriors away. "Hey, wait up a second." said Extendar. "There’s no need to go back! There is actually an easy way down." "What’s that?" asked He-Man. "I’ll get you down!" Extendar replied. "If I grow to full height, that drop will be no match for me!" "Of course!" said He-Man. "Where would we be without you on our side, Extendar? Go ahead!" Extendar leaped over the edge of the cliff, then quickly shot out his limbs, torso and neck, until he had reached full size- then he hit the ground with no trouble. He gripped hold of He-Man, Rio and Fisto in his hands, and placed them on the ground. The Horde Troopers instantly detected the warriors, and turned, firing their lasers at them. "I’ll deal with these rust buckets!" said Extendar, towering above them, and kicked several Horde Troopers away with the heel of his boot, before stepping right on them and crushing them to scrap metal on the ground. He stepped on Trooper after Trooper, until they were all reduced to sizzling heaps of scrap metal. "Well done, Extendar!" said He-Man. "Now let’s get inside the power station!" Extendar shrank to normal size, and together with He-Man, Rio and Fisto, ran through the doors of the power station, to see Hordak, Modulok and Dragstor using the controls to zap energy into a Horde machine. "Hold it right there!" He-Man shouted. The evil warriors spun round. "He-Man!" exclaimed Hordak. "This power station ain’t gonna help with your experiments!" said Rio Blast, and opened up the lasers built into his body, firing at the Horde machines and blasting them apart. "My work- ruined!" exclaimed Hordak. "Dragstor- destroy them!" The cyborg warrior Dragstor launched himself into fighting mode. This unique warrior was half-man, half vehicle. In his chest was a built-in wheel, which he used to propel himself along. Dragstor zoomed along the ground at top speed, towards Extendar. He leaped up and smashed Extendar in the face. Then he gripped hold of his robotic neck and forced Extendar to the ground. He pummelled on his face repeatedly, and kicked and smashed Extendar with all his might. "What’s the deal here?" said Rio, confused. "Extendar can handle this guy easily! Why isn’t he fighting back?" "Don’t you worry, I’ll deal with Dragstor!" said Fisto, running forth and pulling back his huge fist, ready to smash Dragstor violently. "No Fisto, don’t-" called Extendar. "Huh? What’s wrong with you?" asked Fisto. "I’ve gotta save you, we don’t want the Horde to win!" He smashed his gigantic metal fist down violently on Dragstor’s cyborg body, several times, until the evil master of speed was too badly hurt to fight on, and trudged back to Hordak. Fisto, Rio and He-Man went over to the Horde members- but strangely, Extendar remained crouched in the corner, his head hung low. "Hey Modulok- I’ll smash you into pieces- literally!" laughed Fisto. "It is no use sticking around." said Hordak. "We have nothing to gain now that the heroic warriors have foiled our plans. We must journey back to Etheria and begin our work again!" Hordak, Modulok, and the badly beaten Dragstor left the power station, and a few moments later, the air was filled with the roaring sound their Batmex machine as it blasted off into the skies. "Well, we managed to foil that scheme pretty easily." said Fisto. "But why wouldn’t Extendar fight back?" "Yeah, why wouldn’t you?" asked Rio, turning to face Extendar, crouched in the corner. "You could have let us down there, if the attack had been more serious. A heroic warrior’s duty is to fight- and if you just lie back and let the bad guys beat you up, then you’re no warrior!" Extendar hung his head in shame. "I’m sorry." he said lowly. "I….. I did badly there. Maybe you guys would be better off without me." "Oh no, you’re a crucial member of our army, and I mean that." said Fisto. "I’ve seen you save the day millions of times- but why didn’t you fight then?" "Easy now." said He-Man. "Extendar has a little problem here that he prefers not to talk about. Come on then, you all did well. Let’s get back to Eternos." Extendar got to his feet and followed the other warriors out of the power station. As before, he grew to full size, and lifted them to the top of the cliff, before pulling his gigantic body upwards, and shrinking to normal size. "That’s an amazing feat." said Fisto. "I wish I had your power, Extendar. I’ve no idea what your little problem is, but you sure are a great warrior. No doubt about it." "Well, just remember we have Hordak to thank for my power." said Extendar. "He made me this way." "Yes, it’s quite ironic that one of our greatest fighters was created by one of our greatest enemies!" said He-Man. "And don’t feel down about your problem, Extendar. We’ll never give up." The warriors made their way back to Eternos City, but Extendar was silent the whole way. After they reached the palace, Extendar retreated to his own private room there. He had proven such a powerful warrior since his recruitment into the heroic forces, that King Randor had allowed him to stay at the palace whenever he liked. There had been many times since joining the army that he had been praised to extremes….. but at the present moment, he felt a little guilty about not fighting back when Dragstor had attacked him. What must Rio and Fisto have thought of him? But still, he just couldn’t help it. He’d always tried to avoid fights with Dragstor- he could never bring himself to fight this warrior. Because he remembered all the memories he treasured from the past, when Dragstor had been his closest friend. Both Extendar and Dragstor had been normal humans, called Theydon and Doodon respectively, before Hordak had made them into what they were. They had known each other since they were about three, and had grown up together, meeting at youth centers, going out together, seeing each other nearly every day. As they got older they got closer, and Theydon had been able to confide anything in Doodon, including all his greatest secrets, and Doodon had done the same likewise. They always felt they had an eternal friendship. Both keen runners, they became great athletes, and would often race each other in places all over Eternia. Then had come that fateful day when the Horde invaded Eternia to find new recruits. That day had been the day that Theydon and Doodon had been racing in the annual athletics tournament. They had been way ahead of the other runners, until a fateful moment when Theydon had caught his leg in some quicksand, and was sucked down quickly. Doodon had been running ahead at the time, and was just about to reach the winning line. But when he saw that his friend was close to drowning in the quicksand, he had sacrificed his win, turned back, and rescued Theydon from the murky depths. At the moment that he saved him, someone else reached the winning line before him. Theydon’s heart had been gladdened and moved by the way his friend had put his life before the victory in the great race. Feeling he owed his life to him, he now liked Doodon even more than before. But only moments after he was rescued, Modulok and Leech had suddenly emerged from behind a tree, captured the two friends, and dragged them to the Eternian Fright Zone. They had been thrown into Hordak’s laboratory, where he had begun to conduct deadly experiments on them, intending to turn them into Horde minions. Knowing that he owed his life to him, Theydon had been thinking the whole time of how he could rescue Doodon. Both Theydon and Doodon had been struck unconscious by Hordak as he completed the experiment. When they awoke- they had become Extendar and Dragstor. At first, Extendar had been struck by amnesia. He could not remember who he was, where he’d been, or anything- but together with Dragstor, he’d been given an introduction to the Horde and the Fright Zone. Although led to believe that Hordak was his master, the whole time he was convinced something was not right. As night fell, and the Horde members all retreated to their private chambers, the memory of who he was, his whole past, and his life being saved by Doodon, had suddenly struck into Extendar’s mind. He was not a member of the Horde at all. But he had felt powerful- and knew he was powerful enough to escape. He had assumed that Hordak’s experiment had been flawed, and so Dragstor must have regained his memory too. So in the middle of the night, he had woken Dragstor up, telling him that they must escape and contact the heroic warriors. And the moment that followed had to be the saddest moment of his entire life. Dragstor’s response had been slow at first- he’d simply uttered "Huh?….. contact….. the heroic….. warriors? Why….. that means….. THAT YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO HORDAK!" Heartbroken, Extendar had fled from the Fright Zone, cursing Hordak for what he had done to his friend. And since then, Extendar had never been able to bring himself to fight against Dragstor properly. He could not even bear to watch any other heroic warrior inflict any kind of injury upon Dragstor. For he knew that underneath that metal body- behind those blazing, evil eyes- lay the friend he had known and loved for many years. And somewhere, in the subconscious mind of that psychotic man-vehicle, ever-loyal to Hordak- lay the memory of all that they had done together as friends. Although Extendar had been treated like some kind of God since joining the heroic warriors, because of his incredible skills, a part of him felt extremely lonely, and sad- through knowing what had happened to his friend. He had lived this way for three years, and was not sure he could stand it much longer. Dragstor HAD to be freed from Hordak's curse soon. He would have to hope that He-Man would be able to find some way of freeing him. But would that ever be possible? As far as he knew, Hordak owned no equipment that was capable of changing him back. For the past three years, Snout Spout, who had felt like a freak as the elephant-like being that Hordak had turned him into, had switched back and forth between Eternia and Etheria with the hope of finding a way to change back- but had met with nothing but failure. If Snout Spout had to remain stuck in his cyborg form forever, then maybe Dragstor was doomed to be an Evil Horde minion forever? Extendar simply could not let that happen. But there was no point in just sitting around and hoping that somehow a miracle would occur and He-Man would find out how to change Dragstor back. Extendar would have to do something himself. He got to his feet, ready to leave. He would journey to Etheria, and do his best to find some way of returning Dragstor to his human form. And he would continue until his quest was complete. And if by any chance it appeared that there was NO way of freeing Dragstor from the curse- Extendar would induce a slow and painless death on Dragstor. He knew it was against a heroic warrior’s code to take any life intentionally- but nevertheless, he would rather Dragstor was dead than doomed to a life of evil. He left his room, and set off for Castle Grayskull, to use the portal to Etheria.
As Extendar approached Castle Grayskull, the jaw bridge sensed his presence and creaked open before him. He entered, and made his way through to the throne room. The beautiful Sorceress of Grayskull sat there, practising her magic. With Doodon gone, the Sorceress had to be the most comforting presence that Extendar knew. She meant even more to him than He-Man/Prince Adam did. After his recruitment into the Eternian army, the Sorceress had comforted him many times over the loss of his friend. She had the most beautiful, refreshing, reassuring presence that Extendar had ever known, and she was always open to him. Sometimes he had spent hour after hour in Grayskull, just to be near her. He wanted to be close to her- she had never failed to make him feel better. As she saw him approach, she looked up, and said "Extendar! What brings you to Grayskull?" "I….. I have a problem, Sorceress." he said, climbing the steps to her throne. "And what is that?" "Well….. maybe you’re sick of me saying this, I’ve told you about ten million times before. It’s about Doodon." "Yes." she said, stepping towards him, her beautiful, feathered costume brushing lightly against the ground, her delicate voice echoing softly through the chamber. "I know that the loss of your friend causes you great sadness. But although Dragstor remains in service to Hordak, the heroic warriors- and even the Rebellion on Etheria- are doing the best they can to reverse the brainwashing." "Yeah, I know." said Extendar. "But that’s just not enough. Face it, they’re never going to get anywhere. They’ve been trying for three years, but they’ve met with nothing but failure. I’m beginning to think he’s gonna be doomed to stay with the forces of evil, not even remembering all the good times we had together." "Extendar, you must not worry." the Sorceress replied. "There WILL be a way. I promise you. On Etheria, the Rebellion is getting very close to breaking apart the Horde Empire. Once it has collapsed, they could easily find a way to change him back." "I….. I’m not sure." said Extendar. "There’s an almost equal chance that Dragstor will be killed in battle, before we can find anything to do- or that any machine that can change him back could be destroyed. And I came here because- I think I'm gonna have to do something to change him back. I’m gonna have to take the portal to Etheria, and do something myself. It’s our only hope." "There is no need, Extendar." said the Sorceress. "I can guarantee you, there will be some way of changing Dragstor back to human form. And we will find it! If you go alone, you will only land yourself in trouble. You would be better to wait until we pick up some chance to change him back. It could seem like a while….. but I assure you, it will happen." "Okay then." smiled Extendar. "I’ll wait. Thank you, Sorceress." he turned away, and left Grayskull. But as he walked away from the castle, the thought of Dragstor causing havoc on Etheria, with no memory of his wonderful life as Doodon, played on Extendar’s mind. He could not let it continue this way. He had to break Hordak’s brainwashing- even if the Sorceress thought it better not to. After all, how was anyone to know that there would not be some fight between the Horde and the Rebels this exact day, in which Dragstor would be crushed to death? Extendar could not let that happen. For once, he would go against the Sorceress’ wishes. He would have to sneak through the portal without her noticing. Slowly, he made his way to the edge of the abyss. Then he grew to full size, reached out his arms, and gripped onto a window ledge. He pulled his whole body up, right through the window. Then he made his way through the corridors, until he reached the portal chamber. He found the portal to Etheria- and stepped through.
On the planet of Etheria, in Hordak’s laboratory in Doom Tower, the metal-faced dictator carefully monitored the power graph on the computer system, as inches away, Modulok used a nozzle attached to a power console, to flood in energy from the Etherian power plants. The energy flow was going fine. Even though they had failed to gain extra energy from the Eternian power station, and the power consoles they had taken there had been destroyed, they still had plenty from the Etherian ones- but they would still need more if they were to gain the appropriate amount required to power the ultimate weapon, which would create a hurricane so strong that it would blast away the whole kingdom of Bright Moon, killing all the rebels. It shouldn’t be any problem, thought Hordak. There were still other power sources on Etheria which they could steal energy from. They desperately needed it, amidst the growing threat of the Great Rebellion. The Rebellion had become so powerful, that several areas of Hordak’s planet-wide empire had collapsed, fewer people were now held as slaves, the number of Horde minions had decreased massively, and it was looking more and more likely that the Rebels would be able to overthrow Hordak altogether. Horde Prime had become increasingly angry with his all-time favorite student’s constant failures. Hordak had even failed to pose any major threat to He-Man, over on Eternia, even though he had made several attempts to seize Castle Grayskull. He knew that one of the main reasons why the Horde’s rule had weakened was his own fault- though of course, he would never admit it to his minions. He had become way too over-confident in the war, and this had caused him to think up several schemes which were totally flawed from the start, and had cost him dearly. He had been driven to so much madness by his power and determination to defeat the rebels, that it had caused him to lose his brilliant thinking ability. He had decided a while back that he must stop getting so worked up, and think more carefully when planning a scheme. He could not afford to lose the war. He had returned to his old way of running the Horde- the way he had run it when he started up the army, before they took control of Etheria. He ran the Horde like a business, thinking carefully and even negotiating with his minions from time to time. Now that he was once again working along the lines which had led him to become ruler of the planet, he hoped that he could strengthen the Horde once again. With the new invention he was working towards- the gigantic machine which would generate a whirlwind so strong that it would blow up Bright Moon- he would hopefully be able to greatly minimise the Rebel threat. As the power graph on the computer screen got higher and higher, Modulok said "The power for the machine has been increased by 90%. We’ve got an incredible amount of electrical energy to use in our machine- but we’re still going to need more." "That should be no problem, Modulok." said Hordak, as Modulok placed the nozzle back on the energy console. "I know somewhere that we can gain extra power. We must invade the laboratory of the Rebel scientist- Carlos." "Excellent idea." replied Modulok. "Carlos has a lot of machinery- we may be able to steal some of its power! We may even be able to steal some of his machinery….. I’m sure I could put it to better use than he ever could." "Then let us not waste time." said Hordak, his red eyes glowing brightly as he bared his sharp, metal red teeth. "You and I shall journey to Bright Moon at once and find a way to break into his lab. We need someone to stay here and use the power we have gained to feed into the Tornado Generator." "No problem." said Modulok. "I’ll summon my assistant." he flicked a red button on one of the computers to send a signal to his own laboratory. Several moments later, the doors to the lift in the room opened, and out stepped a robotic figure, with two metal heads, four arms attached to his black metal body, and a long metal tail out of which sprung several robotic legs- looking like a robot version of Modulok. It was his robot assistant, Multi-Bot. Multi-Bot stepped towards Modulok, his mechanical circuits whirring. "Now, Multi-Bot," ordered Modulok, "You must stay here and feed the energy from the computer systems into the Tornado Generator." he flicked another switch, and the wall at the rear of the laboratory rose upwards, revealing a huge room behind, in which stood the gigantic, metal, but as yet unpowered machine- with a large fan behind a metal grating at the front. "Just use all the energy from the systems to zap into the machine." "Yes Master. I will follow your order." Multi-Bot responded, in his electronic, metallic voice. He went over to the computer systems, and started work. "Now I shall summon three of my most trusted warriors." said Hordak, and went over to a microphone built into his computer system. It was one of the many microphones, throughout Doom Tower, from which he could issue orders and important announcements to his Horde. "Catra, Dragstor and Vultak- come to the vehicle bay immediately. I repeat- Catra, Dragstor and Vultak- come to the vehicle bay immediately." Then he put the microphone down, turned to Modulok, and said "Now, Modulok, we shall be on our way to Bright Moon. Those warriors should be waiting in the vehicle bay when we get there." He led Modulok out of the laboratory, and towards the vehicle bay.
Out in the vehicle bay, where the many Batmex and Flying machines stood on the launchpads, Hordak and Modulok saw Catra, Dragstor and Vultak waiting for them. The three warriors stepped forward- the black-haired, long-nailed beauty with her cat furs wrapped round her waist, wearing black eyeshadow and black lipstick, the cyborg warrior with the built-in chest wheel, and the obscure-looking vulture man with his huge, gray wings. "You called us, master?" asked Catra, in her smooth, slinky voice. "Modulok and I are setting off to Bright Moon," replied Hordak, "to steal energy from the laboratory of Carlos, the Rebel scientist. I am trusting you three to keep guard of the Fright Zone while I am gone, and to fend off any intruders." The three evil warriors nodded at once. "Contact me if you face any problems." said Hordak. "Now we shall be going." He and Modulok went over to the Annihilator, boarded the machine, and blasted off for Bright Moon.
In an open meadow, not far from the kingdom of Bright Moon, a red portal opened in mid-air. Out stepped Extendar. As the portal closed, he took a glance around him, at the fields nearby and the towers of Bright Moon. He had reached Etheria. Now to find a way to reach the Fright Zone. He knew from his previous visits to this world that the Fright Zone was some way away from Bright Moon, and it would take a long time to get there if he just walked. He must find some means of transport. He could, of course, ask She-Ra and the Rebels- but they would probably advise him against the task he’d set himself. He wanted to accomplish it, no matter how dangerous it may be. So he walked several miles away from Bright Moon, until he came across a long, winding road. A digital sign, erected at the side of the road, bore the words "FRIGHT ZONE- THIS WAY". Extendar waited there several moments, wondering if he should follow this road. Before he could decide, he heard a rumbling sound behind him. He looked round, and saw a Horde tank approaching. It ground to a halt when it saw him. Extendar was just about ready to defend himself….. before it occurred to him that he could use this tank to sneak into the Fright Zone. The top of the tank opened, and a Trooper looked out. Extendar walked over to the trooper, and with one extension of his right arm….. BANG! He sliced the Trooper’s head clean off. Then he climbed inside the tank. Luckily, there were no other Troopers on board- just the smouldering remains of the one he’d just smashed. Extendar sat at the controls, and propelled the tank in the direction of the Fright Zone.
Atop one of the balconies of Doom Tower stood the evil Vultak, his wings spread out wide, ready to fly towards any intruder and tear them apart with his long, sharp talons. On another balcony, lower down the great tower, stood Catra, her long, flowing black hair drifting slightly in the faint breeze. She had worked for Hordak for several years now, and was still as determined as ever to take the Horde leadership for herself. And watching from the vehicle bay, was the man-vehicle himself- Dragstor. He was one of Hordak’s most trusted warriors, having been programmed to be fully loyal to the great leader of the Horde. Out of three experiments conducted on humans, in order to turn them into evil cyborgs, Dragstor had been the only successful one. The other two, Extendar and Snout Spout, had defected to the side of the Masters of the Universe. Except that Dragstor was totally unaware that he had once been a human being. As far as he could see, he had simply been created from scratch by Hordak. As he saw it, he’d been created alongside Extendar, except Extendar had been a traitor and betrayed Hordak. Dragstor hated Extendar more than any other heroic warrior because of the way he’d betrayed his master. He hoped he could destroy him someday. For Dragstor’s first thought was to kill. He had little other thought- with the way Hordak had programmed him, he was little more than a mindless killing machine with nothing but hatred for all heroic warriors, and loyalty towards his master. Dragstor stood guard in the vehicle bay, keeping watch for any enemies who may be approaching.
After several hours in the Horde tank, Extendar drew closer to the Fright Zone. He rode the tank over the barren, rocky land around the city, and then zoomed into its streets, heading towards Doom Tower. As he drove the tank up the ramp towards the Tower, none of the Hordesmen on the lookout noticed anything suspicious. Since he was in a Horde tank, none of them could see Extendar inside. Extendar drove the tank over to the vehicle bay of Doom Tower. He parked it in a space between several other Horde tanks, so he would not look suspicious. Then he peered through the small window of the tank, and took a glance around the vehicle bay. It seemed pretty clear. The only other forms around there were Horde Troopers- and they posed no threat to him. He knew how easily those things fell apart. But there was another figure….. a little further back….. he could not see it quite as clearly. Extendar opened the top hatch of the tank, and looked out, then he strained his eyes to make out the figure. And he panicked when he realised who it was. There was no mistaking the vehicle-like appearance….. the striking, yellow, headlamp-like eyes, the wheel built-in to the chest. It was Dragstor- the very being he had come to find. Extendar ransacked his mind. What should he do? Normally Dragstor would attack automatically at the sight of a heroic warrior. But Extendar could never fight back to Dragstor. He could never stand to inflict pain on his former best friend. Yet he had to get hold of Dragstor somehow- he had to see if he could restore his human memory. Since he was alone with Dragstor, (ignoring the useless Troopers) this could be his opportunity. He would use it. Extendar got out of the Horde tank, and walked quietly along the vehicle bay. He slowly approached Dragstor. But upon the sight of him, Dragstor instantly switched into vehicle mode, and came cruising towards Extendar like a raging juggernaut. Extendar shot out his legs, and leaped over Dragstor, whose speed caused him to cruise straight across the vehicle bay, missing Extendar and almost crashing into a parked Batmex machine. Dragstor ground to a halt just in time, but he swerved round, ready to charge towards Extendar once again. Extendar shot out his torso slightly….. and his neck and limbs- so he was taller, but not at full height. He may have to inflict some slight pain on Dragstor in order to get hold of him. He watched carefully as Dragstor came cruising towards him again….. quickly flinging his fists up as he approached Extendar….. And Extendar seized hold of Dragstor’s fists with his extra long arms, and pulled the man-vehicle off the ground, his chest-wheel still spinning rapidly.
"Listen Dragstor-" said Extendar. "I don’t want to fight you. You used to be my friend- don’t you remember? When we were Theydon and Doodon! You were Doodon- we used to race together, do you remember? And then one day, I fell in some quicksand, and you saved me….." He stopped, and looked into Dragstor’s eyes. His words seemed to be having no effect. Dragstor’s eyes were as evil and bloodthirsty as ever, and he didn’t seem to be listening to Extendar at all- just struggling to break free from his grasp. "Let….. me….. go!" he hissed, breaking his left arm free from Extendar. Then he called to the nearest Trooper- "We have an intruder!!! We must arrest him immediately- summon Catra and Vultak!" The Trooper punched in a code on his wrist-radio, and called "Catra and Vultak to vehicle bay- we have an intruder!" Dragstor started punching at Extendar’s metal torso with his left fist, as he struggled to free himself. Extendar felt no pain, but he had to tighten his grip on Dragstor to prevent him from escaping. He had to restore his memory- and he could not hurt him too much! "Dragstor, just stop struggling- I don’t wanna fight! I have something important- you must listen!" "Why should I listen to you? I know all about you and how you betrayed Hordak! I live to destroy you!" "Please Dragstor, you don’t understand- you see, you weren’t always like you are now….." He was cut off as a huge, repulsive flying creature swooped down and seized hold of Dragstor’s shoulders, writhing him out of Extendar’s grasp. It was Vultak! The grotesque creature landed in front of Extendar, and said "Who dares intrude on Fright Zone premises?" "I know him!" said a striking, delicate female voice. Extendar looked round to see the beautiful but evil-looking Catra, with her claw-like hands, and her deep black make-up. "He is Extendar, one of He-Man’s warriors. We must overpower him!" "And he betrayed Hordak when he was created!" said Dragstor. "We must destroy him at once!" The three evil warriors charged towards Extendar, grabbing tight hold of him. Extendar knew he was strong enough to knock Vultak and Catra back….. but he could not risk hurting Dragstor. The evil warriors dragged him through a door, towards the Fright Zone dungeon. Extendar could not risk being slaughtered before he had the chance to save Dragstor. With one burst of might from his cyborg body, he broke himself free of the evil warriors’ clutches, kicking Catra and Vultak to one side, and pushing Dragstor away from him gently. "You can not escape this so easily….." hissed Dragstor. "He cannot." said Catra. "Especially since earlier, I activated Dylamug!" Out from the shadows stepped a huge, robotic figure- a massive, rectangular-shaped droid with a skull-like face and long metal claws. This was a dangerous Horde machine known as Dylamug. The robot seized tight hold of Extendar with its metal claws, then smashed him down on the ground several times, until Extendar was completely knocked out cold.
When Extendar awoke, he was imprisoned in a dark cell, his electronic limbs held tightly to the wall by electro-bonds which he could not break. Catra, Vultak, Dragstor and Dylamug stood before him. "We knew you’d easily escape from our regular prison." said Catra. "So we decided to use the electro-bonds. You can’t possibly escape." A slow, evil smile spread over her black lips. Then she pulled out a communication device, and punched in Hordak’s code. "Catra to Hordak- come in, Master." The deep, striking voice of Hordak was heard over the radio. "Yes, Force Captain Catra, what do you want?" "I have captured the Eternian warrior Extendar. He had the foolishness to intrude upon the Fright Zone. I’ve imprisoned him by electro-bonds from which he has no chance of escape." "Perfect." said Hordak. "It is about time I took revenge on that fool who had the nerve to betray me. Once my mission is complete, I will return- and choose the appropriate way for Extendar to perish." "I’ll await your return Master. Over and out." As Catra tucked her communicator into her belt, Dragstor hissed "I hope Hordak allows me to destroy Extendar. I can’t wait to make him pay for betraying Hordak." "Then you keep guard of this cell, Dragstor." said Catra, "Just in case he does find a way to escape. We’d better leave and continue our patrol." Catra, Dylamug and Vultak departed, leaving Dragstor to watch over Extendar. Extendar felt a great sadness as he watched the evil eyes of his former friend look down on him with evil contempt. "Dragstor….." he said, "Please….. just listen….." "For the last time, I will not listen to your foolishness!" shouted Dragstor. "Now you just wait until the Master arrives. He and I shall find a most fitting demise for you, you foolish traitor!" Dragstor went over to the entrance to the cell, and stood guard. Extendar was left held there, tight against the wall, barely able to move. And he was being guarded by the being who should be his best friend. And Dragstor wouldn’t even listen to him. But surely it was still possible? Surely there must be some way that he could restore Dragstor to his true self?
Back on Eternia, in the Royal Palace of Eternos City, Man-At-Arms worked hard on a new vehicle, as just outside, Teela fought against her father’s battle robot- a small, round machine that hovered in mid-air, fighting against her with a sword. This robot had helped her to train and improve her fighting skills many times. The robot came hurling towards her through the air with its sword. Teela quickly countered the sword with her own, but the robot was too fast for her and knocked it out of her hand. Teela dodged aside, then dove to the ground to retrieve her sword. Once she had hold of it, she leaped into the air, bringing it crashing against the robot, which hurled backwards through mid-air, dropping its sword as it did so. Teela stood triumphant, as the robot stopped and hovered in the same place for several seconds, recovering from Teela’s blow. "I win." said Teela, smiling triumphantly. Man-At-Arms came out of his laboratory. "That robot sure does put up a good fight, but you’re beating it far more often now!" he said. "You bet I am!" laughed Teela. "That thing used to scare me as a kid, with how fast it was!" "Ah well, bet I could have done better." came a voice from behind Teela. She spun round to see Prince Adam standing close behind her. "You?!" laughed Teela. "Don’t be so boastful, Adam! I’d like to see how you fare against that robot!" "Oh yeah? Well watch this!" said Adam. He drew his power sword, which Teela still did not recognise as He-Man’s sword of power. The robot came flying towards him, and Adam stood brandishing the sword, ready for defence. The robot paused briefly to retrieve its sword from the ground, then came flying towards Adam once again. He struck out his sword to clash against the robot’s….. and the robot struck back, knocking his sword back, then swiping at it again and sending the sword crashing to the ground. The robot hovered in mid-air, its eyes flashing in triumphance. "Damn, looks like I need more practice against that thing!" laughed Adam. Teela laughed out loud. "I think you’ll need a lot of practice!" she smiled. "Ah, well….. maybe." said Adam. Then he whispered under his breath "Or maybe when I’m not He-Man, anyway." Teela didn’t hear him. Adam shrugged, knowing that hiding his secret from her was considered best by the ways of Grayskull. "Anyway, the real reason I came here was because I’m a little worried about something." "What’s wrong?" asked Man-At-Arms. "It’s Extendar." replied Adam. "I haven’t seen him since this morning, and….. I know he sometimes just goes out, but….. he was a little down earlier." "Why? What was wrong?" "Well, you know all that about him and Dragstor." said Adam. "Oh yeah." said Teela. "They used to be best friends when they were human." "Yeah, well….. I think He-Man and Extendar had had a fight with some Horde members when they went to save that power plant….. and Dragstor was one of them. I think seeing his former friend fighting against him made Extendar a little distraught. He was feeling really down when he got back, and I’m just worried because I haven’t seen him since." "He’s probably just taken a lone walk to recover." said Man-At-Arms. "You can imagine how it must feel, having his best friend taken from him that way. Or maybe he’s gone to Grayskull. He often seeks comfort from the Sorceress when he’s feeling down." "Yeah, that’s probably where he is." said Adam. "I think I’ll just go to Grayskull and take a look for myself." "Come on, Adam, there’s no need to go that far." said Teela. "I’m not sure The Sorceress would want you coming into Grayskull just to see if your friend’s there. Extendar will be back soon. There’s no need to worry." "Teela, I just wanna make sure he’s okay." said Adam. "He’s my friend, so I’ve a right to be concerned about him. I want to show him I’m always here for him too. So I think I’m entitled to go to Grayskull, okay?" "Well….. yeah, I guess so." said Teela. "I shouldn’t be long." said Adam. "I’ll just take a Wind Raider." Adam went over to the vehicle bay, stepped into the cockpit of one of the Wind Raiders, and blasted off for Grayskull.
Shortly afterwards, the figure of the great stone castle came into view. Adam landed the Wind Raider before the abyss, and the jaw bridge creaked open. He walked across it and into the dark castle. He entered the throne room, where he was greeted by The Sorceress. "Greetings, Adam." she said. "What brings you to Grayskull?" "I’m just a little concerned about Extendar." said Adam. "He accompanied me on a mission at the power station earlier, and we fought against some Horde members there. But one of them was Dragstor, and….. as usual, Extendar couldn’t bring himself to fight him. We won, but after the battle Extendar seemed really down, and he seemed to suddenly vanish a while after. I just wondered if he’s been here, since he visits you so often." "Don’t worry, Prince Adam." replied the Sorceress gently. "Extendar did come here earlier to seek my help. He told me he was thinking of going to Etheria to try to turn Dragstor back himself." "Oh no- you didn’t let him go did you?" said Adam. "Because if he went alone, he’d….. he’d fall victim to the Horde within seconds." "He did not go." said the Sorceress. "I told him it would be wiser to wait and see if you or She-Ra found a way to turn Dragstor back. He agreed, and left the castle." "Ah, right." said Adam. "That’s okay then. He’s probably just gone somewhere alone, to recover. Thanks for your help, Sorceress." "Any time, Adam." the Sorceress replied. Adam left the castle, returned to the Wind Raider, and blasted off, heading back to the palace.
On Etheria, in the kingdom of Bright Moon, in the scientific institute, the rebel scientist Carlos was discussing plans with his closest comrades- Glimmer, the leader of the Great Rebellion, and Adora, the former Horde Force Captain who now defended Etheria in her other form of She-Ra. "We’ve been doing some great work lately." said Glimmer, sitting with the other two around Carlos’ research table. "You couldn’t be more right Glimmer." replied Carlos. "We’re on the verge of eliminating the Horde rule of Etheria once and for all! Hordak has outstayed his welcome far too long!" Adora hung her head slightly. "It still hurts me to think of how I helped Hordak out for so many years." she said. "So many people’s lives were wrecked because of me. I keep feeling I don’t deserve to be part of the Rebellion." "Don’t worry, Adora, of course you do!" said Glimmer. "You’ve more than made up for all you did in the Horde, with the way you’ve saved Etheria as She-Ra. Just think of the amount of people whose lives you’ve helped restore since you joined the Rebellion!" "Yeah, I suppose so." said Adora, thinking back to the times when she had been an aggressive, psychotic Horde captain, who loved nothing more than slaughtering people, sleeping around and generally doing anything immoral. She was glad that Horde Prime’s brainwashing had been overcome, or Etheria could have been in a complete state of wreck by now. She looked up at her friends. "But there seems to always be this voice in my head….. that tells me I don’t deserve to be in the Rebellion." "Obvious diagnosis- paranoia!" said Carlos, snapping his fingers, "You need think nothing of it. You know, I need to work on a device to prevent your paranoia, Adora. It has to be cured!"
"Sounds a pretty weird idea." said Glimmer, tauntingly and half-smiling. "What was that?!" said Carlos, spinning round to face Glimmer. "I hope you didn’t say what I thought you said….." "Er….. no, I said, er….." she struggled for an answer "I just said ‘I feel like drinking Beer’!" "Yeah, right." said Carlos, getting to his feet. "I know what you said!!! And I can tell you that no science is weird!" Suddenly a machine nearby started bleeping loudly, flashing a red light.
"Actually, I take it back." Carlos said. "HIS science is weird." "What are you on about, Carlos?" said Glimmer. "Whose science is weird? And why’s that machine beeping?" "It’s beeping because it’s a new machine I invented that senses the presence of Horde Members. And since I know everything, I know which Horde Members are lurking outside at this very moment. And one of them dabbles in….. very weird science." "There’s Horde members outside?" said Glimmer, jumping to her feet. "We’ve gotta get at them- come on Adora!"
Outside the lab, Modulok and Hordak were looking up at the window. Already it looked like their plan could have been foiled- since the moment they had approached, some machine in the lab had started beeping. "Blast it." said Hordak. "It looks as though they may have sensed us already. But we can still go ahead with our plan. I’ll keep those fools busy while you steal some machinery." "No problem, Hordak." said Modulok. "Let us not waste time." Hordak converted to rocket mode, and shot up towards the window, while Modulok split his body into many small parts, and stealthily climbed up the wall.
In the lab, Carlos, Adora and Glimmer made their way towards the window- when a huge, rocket-shaped form burst through the glass and into the lab. It was Hordak, in rocket form. "Hordak!" cried Glimmer. "Is he the one whose science is ‘weird’, Carlos?" "No, I meant- him!" said Carlos- pointing to the thin, red limbs inching their way through the smashed window, followed by a head, torso and legs. "Modulok!" cried Adora. "Yeah, his science is pretty weird alright!" "Anyway, why are you invading my lab, Hordak?" said Carlos, as Hordak reverted to his regular form. "If you want something, you only need to knock. Not that I’d let you have it anyway, but it would be much better manners!" "Out of my way!" bellowed Hordak, his red eyes flashing as he converted his arm to cannon mode and blasted a shot at the three rebels. They each dodged aside, and Adora took out her pistol and fired a blast at Hordak. "You dare fire at your master, Adora?" said Hordak, angrily. "You’re no master of mine, metal head!" scowled Adora. "I’ll never join the Horde again! Now get out of here at once!" "Not without a fight first." said Hordak, and his chest opened, unleashing the electronic buzz-saw within. The buzz-saw came whirring towards them, but Carlos took out a small device from one of the inner pockets of his jacket….. and fired a blast of lightning at Hordak, sending him flying back. Carlos held up the device with pride as Hordak fell to the ground. "This is my new device- the lightning striker! Inspired by the works of Layan Karv of Illashia." "I care not for your pathetic devices." said Hordak, charging towards them. "I want only your power!!!!!" Glimmer countered Hordak with a bolt of light from the palm of her hand, and the battle raged on. None of the Rebels had noticed that Modulok had sneaked over to the far side of the laboratory, and was slowly gathering together the metal power chargers around the lab. He held one in each of the six arms which sprouted from his torso. Then he made his way over to Carlos’ teleportation machine. Just then, Carlos sensed that Modulok was stealing his chargers, and he leaped away from the fight and ran towards Modulok. "Drop my chargers right away, Nycoff!" he shouted. "How many times have I told you, Galen Nycoff is no more! My name is Modulok!" "You’ll always be Galen Nycoff to me, I’m afraid." said Carlos. "I remember all those crazy ideas you used to come up with when you were human! I never met you then, but I sure did hear about you!" "What crazy ideas?" scoffed Modulok, his tones sounding slightly hurt. "Year after year I have put up with such jibes from those with only narrow scientific views. I have learned to ignore them, but I must admit it sounds hurtful coming from one with such marvellous and innovative skills as yourself. You would be a perfect sidekick to me with your science, Carlos, If only you would devote your skills to the Horde." "Then if you really admire my skills so much, why don’t you just defect to our side?" said Carlos. "It would be a heck of a lot better. But quit the small talk and give me those chargers back!" Modulok ignored him, and shouted to Hordak. "I’m ready! I have six chargers which should be just what we need!" Hordak stopped fighting, and ran towards Modulok. "Excellent work." he said. "Now we can leave." Adora and Glimmer went over to Carlos, and the three of them were about to fire at the evil warriors- but it was too late. Modulok flicked a switch on the teleportation machine to teleport them back into the Batmex outside. "So they just came to steal my chargers." said Carlos. "They must want it for some new machine. No doubt it’ll be for the same reason why they’ve invaded those power plants. I don’t know exactly what their new machine is, but I know it’s something big." "Then let’s get over there and get ‘em back!" said Glimmer. "Sure thing." said Adora. "But I am going as She-Ra!" She took out the sword of protection from the invisible sheath on her back, held it above her head, and shouted:
"FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL…..
I AM SHE-RA!!!!!"
The familiar coil of light erupted from the sword, encircling her body and transforming her to She-Ra, Princess of Power. "Let’s get to the Hover Beetle, quickly!" said Carlos. "We must follow them to the Fright Zone!"
Several hours later, Hordak and Modulok had reached the Fright Zone, and in Hordak’s laboratory were zapping the energy from Carlos’ chargers into the Tornado Generator. "This is excellent work." said Hordak, his eyes blazing. "Soon the whole kingdom of Bright Moon will be destroyed by our power." "Carlos’ chargers are giving us an incredible amount of energy." said Modulok. "Before long the weapon will be complete, and it will achieve just the effect we intend." "You have assisted me well, Modulok." said Hordak. "I will promote you greatly in the ranks of my army, once we’ve finished this machine." "I have enjoyed working alongside you." Modulok replied. "It’s been good to work with someone who appreciates my skills… at least you appreciate me more than Skeletor ever did." Hordak laughed at the thought of Skeletor. "Skeletor! It amuses me to think of how pathetic his attempts to conquer Eternia are. He will be defeated before long- and shall end up kneeling at my feet as he watches me take over the universe!" Suddenly there came a shout. "You’ll never take over the universe while we’re around!" Hordak and Modulok spun around. She-Ra was standing in the doorway, with Glimmer and Carlos at her side! "Blast it!" exclaimed Modulok. "I knew we’d be followed here by Rebels! But they pose no problem- we’ll get on with the job nevertheless, Hordak. I’ll summon Multi-Bot to deal with them! He flicked a switch on the computer console nearby, to summon Multi-Bot. Within seconds, the robot emerged from the lift, and slowly inched his way towards the Rebels. "This robot is no match for us!" shouted She-Ra, striking her sword against the robot’s metal chest. But then, Multi-Bot split up into thousands of small electronic body parts, and scattered wildly around the room- firing laser bolts from his eyes and wrist-guns in every direction!!! "Defend yourselves!" shouted She-Ra, swishing her sword to block the lasers in every direction. At the same time, Carlos shot out bolts from his lightning striker, turning several of Multi-Bot’s body parts to smouldering rubble, as Glimmer shot out beams from her tiara jewel and her hands. Multi-Bot’s lasers forced them to back out of the laboratory as they fought with him, but She-Ra shouted "If you really don’t want us to win, Hordak, then you and Modulok should join in the fight- Multi-Bot is no match for us!" "Then it’s fortunate that I left extra fighters outside." replied Hordak. And before the Rebels could look, Vultak and Batros swooped down on them from the ceiling! Batros caught Glimmer in his huge bat wings, and wrapped them around her! She tried with all her might to break free, but it was no use- his wings were invincible! Vultak was clawing wildly at Carlos, as the scientist shot bolt after bolt at him from the lightning striker. But Vultak was too fast, and flew to the other side of the corridor each time Carlos fired. And before She-Ra could try to rescue her friends, a segment of the wall slid open….. and out stepped Hordak’s most feared assassin of all- the blood-lusting Mosquitor. The terrifying, colossal insectoid gripped tight hold of She-Ra, and jabbed into her neck with his long, metal insectoid head. He sucked rapidly at her blood, and his chest slowly began to fill up….. "Drag her away, Mosquitor!" shouted Hordak. "Get her into the dungeon, where I can give her her final punishment later!!!!!" So Mosquitor tightened his grip on the Princess of Power, forcing her through the corridors, down several floors….. until they reached the basement dungeon. Mosquitor dragged the struggling She-Ra past several cells- and She-Ra’s eyes opened wide with shock as she saw that imprisoned in one of the cells was her brother’s close ally- Extendar! And he was being guarded by Dragstor! "She-Ra!" called Extendar. "You must help me! I’m completely trapped!" "Hang on Extendar!" called She-Ra. She struggled to break free of Mosquitor’s grip- but he had her pretty tight, and had drained too much of her blood, so she was too weak to break free. He dragged her further down the corridor, towards an empty cell! "She-Ra!" she heard Extendar call. "I’ll get help! I will!" she called back, hoping he could hear. Mosquitor struck her against the wall, and cuffed the electro-bonds around her feet, tightening her to the wall. So she quickly got out her sword, and called into the jewel in the center….. "Sorceress! I need He-Man’s help! Extendar is imprisoned in the dungeon at Doom Tower! You must get help….." She was cut off as Mosquitor knocked the sword from her hand to the ground, and tightened electro-bonds around her wrists. She was now held tightly to the wall, feeling weak….. with blood pouring from a gash in her neck, which Mosquitor had drunk from. Once she was held firmly against the wall, Mosquitor departed from the cell, his chest pumping with swirling red liquid which was the blood of She-Ra. She-Ra looked down at the sword on the ground, hoping and praying that the Sorceress had heard her call. And within a few seconds, she heard the delicate voice of the Sorceress saying: "Do not worry She-Ra….. He-Man will come….. quickly!"
As Extendar approached Castle Grayskull, the jaw bridge sensed his presence and creaked open before him. He entered, and made his way through to the throne room.