An uneasy wind blew across the Sands of Time as if to anticipate the coming of a bad day. The sun was newly rising over the barren desert, casting a pale green light in the sky and striking shadows across a certain archaeological site.
Among the great expanses of sand, dunes and nothingness a deep trench was dug into the very sandstone, supported with rows of scaffolding. A few tents were set up with sleeping lizard-men inside and tired lizard guards standing watch at the entrance to the site.
Word had gotten around that they'd possibly discovered The Ancient Archives of Time that were rumored to house the Time Belt, an artifact that would allow one to stop time for short periods whilst still remaining active.
A pink haired woman grinned from atop a sandstone stack that overlooked the site. Anyone with that device could cause a world of mischief and never once be caught doing it. She adjusted her focusing goggles to sit over her eyes and peered down at the camp, tugging a small box near with radio communication dials on it.
"Alright, it's now or never. Gotta wurm my way into that camp" she said with a snicker at her own joke, pressing a button on the box and adjusting the dial slowly.... nothing would happen just yet.
Among the great expanses of sand, dunes and nothingness a deep trench was dug into the very sandstone, supported with rows of scaffolding. A few tents were set up with sleeping lizard-men inside and tired lizard guards standing watch at the entrance to the site.
Word had gotten around that they'd possibly discovered The Ancient Archives of Time that were rumored to house the Time Belt, an artifact that would allow one to stop time for short periods whilst still remaining active.
A pink haired woman grinned from atop a sandstone stack that overlooked the site. Anyone with that device could cause a world of mischief and never once be caught doing it. She adjusted her focusing goggles to sit over her eyes and peered down at the camp, tugging a small box near with radio communication dials on it.
"Alright, it's now or never. Gotta wurm my way into that camp" she said with a snicker at her own joke, pressing a button on the box and adjusting the dial slowly.... nothing would happen just yet.
Nearby, a certain skull-shaped airship has landed, and a small line of people now walk up the nearest sand dune. It's Skeletor, and he brought both his right-hand lady Evil-lyn, and a number of his henchmen. Trapjaw, Beast-Man and Clawful seem very confused as to why they're there, looking around. The furry one is the first to bring it up.
"Why are we here again?", he asks.
Skeletor stops and turns around. "These are the Sands of Time, my minions!" He opens his arms. "This is where we will find the Time Belt, an ancient artifact that will give me power over time. And with it, I will be able to defeat He-Man and rule over Eternia! Ha hahaha ha!"
"But how will we find it, this place is huge!", Clawful intervenes, sounding extremely confused still.
The Overlord of Evil replies by using his staff to zap the ground at the lobsterman's feet, causing him to comically jump out of the way. "We look for it, you fool! Now get moving. We don't have all day."
"Why are we here again?", he asks.
Skeletor stops and turns around. "These are the Sands of Time, my minions!" He opens his arms. "This is where we will find the Time Belt, an ancient artifact that will give me power over time. And with it, I will be able to defeat He-Man and rule over Eternia! Ha hahaha ha!"
"But how will we find it, this place is huge!", Clawful intervenes, sounding extremely confused still.
The Overlord of Evil replies by using his staff to zap the ground at the lobsterman's feet, causing him to comically jump out of the way. "We look for it, you fool! Now get moving. We don't have all day."
From Mischief's standpoint, she could see the arrival of Skeletor and his minions but they could not see the archaealogical site hidden behind the rocky outcrop from where they were on the ground. She hissed irritably and glanced between them and her original targets. Deep thought went into the best strategy for this and with a menacing grin she turned the dial on the box slowly up and then turned the other dial in the opposite direction.
Beast-man was the first to react, being the only one to hear it he let out a roar of pain and hunched over grasping at his ears. The group had little time to react as the ground started to shake around them, violently. Whatever it was first passed the camp and collapsed the ground beneath the sleeping lizardmen, sucking them into the smothering abyss of sand and further then down into a network of caves beneath the ground, drilled into the sandstone.
The rumbling quickly approached them, with beast man fairly disabled by the whole thing and unable to shed any light on the situation, the sandstone and sand beneath them started to crack open violently, opening a deep cliff hole down into the caves far below, the light revealed only parts of what must have been a sand wurm as it moved fast through the ground.
Beast-man was the first to react, being the only one to hear it he let out a roar of pain and hunched over grasping at his ears. The group had little time to react as the ground started to shake around them, violently. Whatever it was first passed the camp and collapsed the ground beneath the sleeping lizardmen, sucking them into the smothering abyss of sand and further then down into a network of caves beneath the ground, drilled into the sandstone.
The rumbling quickly approached them, with beast man fairly disabled by the whole thing and unable to shed any light on the situation, the sandstone and sand beneath them started to crack open violently, opening a deep cliff hole down into the caves far below, the light revealed only parts of what must have been a sand wurm as it moved fast through the ground.
"Whaa-?"
This is the intelligent interjection that the Overlord of Evil lets out just as he starts to lose balance. Even using the Havoc Staff as a cane doesn't help much, and soon enough he has fallen face first in the sand.
"Blast it! What's going on? Is it those meddling Masters of the Universe again?!" In his attempts to get back up, he looks around at his minions, expecting at least someone here to have an explanation. Most of them are too busy trying to stay up to be of any help, though.
This is the intelligent interjection that the Overlord of Evil lets out just as he starts to lose balance. Even using the Havoc Staff as a cane doesn't help much, and soon enough he has fallen face first in the sand.
"Blast it! What's going on? Is it those meddling Masters of the Universe again?!" In his attempts to get back up, he looks around at his minions, expecting at least someone here to have an explanation. Most of them are too busy trying to stay up to be of any help, though.
Madam Mischief giggled frantically to herself as they all started falling about, standing up now that she didn't feel she much needed cover anymore "Bye bye~" she said to herself and tuned the small box to the maximum. The ground beneath them split wide open and Skeletor's minions (and probably Skeletor) plummeted down, Beast-man still howling in pain from some undetectable sound.
The group would hit the back of a moving, thrashing wurm as it moved beneath them but then would be quickly tossed off the end of it down into the caves below, dark wurm tunnels leading back and fourth through the area, though to the north there were bits of ancient looking pottery, bricks and soggy books in puddles, as if the tunnel itself lead through some ruins.
The sound must have stopped, because the earth around them went still and the wurms, wherever they were, seemed to stop moving entirely. Beast-man too was lay on his back growling and rubbing at his forehead. He snorted "Skeletor- Someone was controlling the wurms, i couldn't think for all the *snort* nooise" he growled and slowly pushed himself to his feet, dusting himself off half-heartedly "We must be in the gnhhrr wurm tunnels.." light shed down onto the section of the tunnels from above them where the ground had split, but the rest of the tunnels were dark and unforgiving.
---
Meanwhile, back on the surface a smug Mischief put the safety settings back on the box and quickly hopped on her hover bike and rode down the slope of the cliff towards the camp "Easy as pie" she chirped to herself as she skidded sideways and hopped off the hover-bike near the entrance to the site. Drawing her whip she grinned and proceeded down the steps into the Ancient Archives.
The group would hit the back of a moving, thrashing wurm as it moved beneath them but then would be quickly tossed off the end of it down into the caves below, dark wurm tunnels leading back and fourth through the area, though to the north there were bits of ancient looking pottery, bricks and soggy books in puddles, as if the tunnel itself lead through some ruins.
The sound must have stopped, because the earth around them went still and the wurms, wherever they were, seemed to stop moving entirely. Beast-man too was lay on his back growling and rubbing at his forehead. He snorted "Skeletor- Someone was controlling the wurms, i couldn't think for all the *snort* nooise" he growled and slowly pushed himself to his feet, dusting himself off half-heartedly "We must be in the gnhhrr wurm tunnels.." light shed down onto the section of the tunnels from above them where the ground had split, but the rest of the tunnels were dark and unforgiving.
---
Meanwhile, back on the surface a smug Mischief put the safety settings back on the box and quickly hopped on her hover bike and rode down the slope of the cliff towards the camp "Easy as pie" she chirped to herself as she skidded sideways and hopped off the hover-bike near the entrance to the site. Drawing her whip she grinned and proceeded down the steps into the Ancient Archives.
Skeletor gets up with the help of his staff, and looks around at his evil minions; he doesn't look pleased at all with how things. The large, furry man in particular gets an angry glare from the overlord of evil.
"That's nothing new, Beast-man. You can never think!"
After this moment of fury, though, he seems to calm down again. His hand moves to scratch at his bone-chin. "Hmm. If we found a way to find what's controlling the wurms and seize it for ourselves, we could use them together with the Belt to unleash an attack on Castle Grayskull the likes of which Eternia has never seen! It would be an earth-shattering event!"
His evil laughter echoes through the tunnels, as he imagines the delicious mayhem that would cause.
"But first we must get out of here and find the woman that did this to us. Nobody messes with Skeletor and walks away unpunished! Evil-lyn! Can you fly up and out of here, and come pick us up with the Collector?"
"That's nothing new, Beast-man. You can never think!"
After this moment of fury, though, he seems to calm down again. His hand moves to scratch at his bone-chin. "Hmm. If we found a way to find what's controlling the wurms and seize it for ourselves, we could use them together with the Belt to unleash an attack on Castle Grayskull the likes of which Eternia has never seen! It would be an earth-shattering event!"
His evil laughter echoes through the tunnels, as he imagines the delicious mayhem that would cause.
"But first we must get out of here and find the woman that did this to us. Nobody messes with Skeletor and walks away unpunished! Evil-lyn! Can you fly up and out of here, and come pick us up with the Collector?"
Beastman winced as he was yelled at, growling under his breath and glancing away irritably. He might have provided more insight but felt far less inclined to bother now.
Evil-Lyn nodded "Of course." she drawled and in a flash of white light she became an orb and flew up out of the chasm, leaving the group behind as she went to fetch the ship.
---
MEANWHILE back at the excavation site, Mischief made her way down the long staircase into the Ancient Archives, not that there seemed to be much left of them. The walls were a ghost of ancient carvings in time symbols and much of the way down there was nothing more than empty book shelves or rotting old books covered in sand.
At the bottom of the staircase an archway led into the main room, a huge circular room with gold and blue colored mosaic floor patterns. As grand as it must have once been, it was now in ruin, destroyed by tunneling wurms. Holes ran in and out of the room, leaving pillars and toppled book cases smashed on the ground. Rubble scattered across the room so terribly it was hard to navigate on foot, but not impossible.
At the centre of the room, there it stood. A round pedestal with a glass dome covering a grand leather belt with gold symbols glowing across its front and buckled by a sun dial-type device. "There it is!" she gasped and stumbled across the rubble towards the centre-piece when suddenly the room lit up. Great beams of light shone out from the cracks in the rubble, revealing some kind of magical lamps below in the floor.
---
Back in the tunnel the light suddenly shone up their way and Beast-man yelled and covered his eyes "Skeletor! gnngh- It must be that way!" he growled urgently.
Evil-Lyn nodded "Of course." she drawled and in a flash of white light she became an orb and flew up out of the chasm, leaving the group behind as she went to fetch the ship.
---
MEANWHILE back at the excavation site, Mischief made her way down the long staircase into the Ancient Archives, not that there seemed to be much left of them. The walls were a ghost of ancient carvings in time symbols and much of the way down there was nothing more than empty book shelves or rotting old books covered in sand.
At the bottom of the staircase an archway led into the main room, a huge circular room with gold and blue colored mosaic floor patterns. As grand as it must have once been, it was now in ruin, destroyed by tunneling wurms. Holes ran in and out of the room, leaving pillars and toppled book cases smashed on the ground. Rubble scattered across the room so terribly it was hard to navigate on foot, but not impossible.
At the centre of the room, there it stood. A round pedestal with a glass dome covering a grand leather belt with gold symbols glowing across its front and buckled by a sun dial-type device. "There it is!" she gasped and stumbled across the rubble towards the centre-piece when suddenly the room lit up. Great beams of light shone out from the cracks in the rubble, revealing some kind of magical lamps below in the floor.
---
Back in the tunnel the light suddenly shone up their way and Beast-man yelled and covered his eyes "Skeletor! gnngh- It must be that way!" he growled urgently.