The swarm of people trying to ascend the castle perched above the stone spires that shouldn’t be able to hold the impressive stone structure up.
“Do you think it is magic?” the Blonde Batgirl asked.
“Don’t be stupid,” the Young Robin quipped.
“Says the boy who’s mother dips in fountains of youth to stay agelessly young for centuries,” was her retort.
“Enough,” Batman cut them off with the gruff proclamation.
“I wager that it will take less than twenty minutes to subdue this army,” Robin’s smirk matched the arrogant tone of his voice, “It would be ten if we didn’t have Her with us Father.”
“They have spotted us!” Batgirl looked at the three armored figures pointing at them.
“Get Ready!” Batman ordered.
The three figures ran over to the three vigilantes but rather than attack they stopped some paces away and formed a line. The one on their own left called them to march forward, stop and salute.
“Victory for the Horde!” The three armored figures called.
“General! We are glad to see you!” the figure on their own left spoke up, “We lost contact with all of the captains and force captains for the Horde on Etheria, we didn’t have orders and then something happened and now we have no contact with any other Horde forces!”
All three of them looked at the figures and looked at the red bat winged skull on the chest of their armored torsos.
All three could feel the armored idiots staring at the bat logo on Batman’s chest. Batman swept his arms out and hugged his cape bunched together against his back and took the posture of a commander.
“You are most certainly not troops under my command,” Batman growled, “Identify yourself, your commander and your mission! NOW!”
“General, this unit is serial number 7529382B10283, Status Sergeant. Commander is General Hordak. Orders were to make a surprise attack on Mystacor, take the Capital known as The Enchanted Castle and then deliver the rebel leader Castapella and her forces to Hordak for execution.”
“Sergeant?” Batgirl arched an eyebrow, “Where Are your officers?”
“Lieutenant, this unit is unable to answer that question,” the Trooper said.
“What can you tell us you useless thing,” Robin crossed his arms.
“Cadet,” the trooper answered, “We were deployed by airship over Mystacor achieving complete surprise, and began attacking the castle. An order went out recalling the Captain Vultak from the main attack. Since then we continued the attack on the castle. Shortly an event occurred and we lost contact with all other Horde Units on Etheria.”
Batman put a hand in front of Robin keeping him at bay and not dismantling the trooper.
“Trooper you are no longer on Etheria,” Batman growled like a Hollywood General Patton, “You are on my world and under my command!”
“Yes Sir! It is clear why Horde Prime made you the General of the world!”
“Give me the tactical run down on the castle as you started your attack,” Batman ordered.
The Trooper exetended a hand and a hologram appeared of the castle standing surrounded by cliffs and a river going throw the base of the spires.
“We first tried to land in the castle, but the rebels used shields to keep us out. We regrouped here and here and made repeated attacks General. We lost all of our air attack packs.”
Batman looked at the image.
“Sergeant pass the word for all of your forces to reform by unit in the park five units to the rear,” Batman pointed back towards Robinson Park, “I will have my captain Red Robin do an evaluation and inspection. You are to follow his orders and the orders of the city security forces completely. I have much more faith in them than I do in your failures so far!”
“Yes SIR!”
The troopers turned and moved to the others without question.
“Oh captain Red Robin…” Steph sang into her communicator as she reached up to touch the ear piece.
*
“Queen,” Ariel the coopery oranged haired apprentice to the magician queen rushed into the main chambers, “The Horde Troopers are breaking off their attack.”
“Good,” The red haired queen of magic said, “Pass word for the troops to rotate back and eat while the enemy regroups. It will not be a long respite.”
The younger lady ran off just as quickly causing her short skirt to flutter up as she ran. Something had goon wrong, this was not Eternia and she had not brought her people to the waiting protection of He-Man and the champions of King Randor. Shaking her head, Castaspella conjured a royal feast for her heroic defenders who kept up their defense even when she had had to sneak away to answer She-Ra and Light Hope’s call.
*
“How is this anything resembling a good idea?” Dick asked from the still present remote batcave.
“Scaring armed and hardened people into surrendering is Bruce’s thing,” Steph shrugged, “Seducing cheap girls is yours.”
“Wait a second,” Dick protested, “What about Bruce’s bimbos?”
“Sense handles expensive girls,” Cassie quipped as she pulled on her black batgirl cowl, “Nighwing handles cheap girls.”
“So why aren’t you soloing this?” Barbara’s voice came over the comlinks.
“We must make it clear that a military conflict won’t work,” Batman explained, “If everyone accepts me as the general, then I can get a peace pact from the castle as well as the horde in the park.”
“So we are on escort duty?” Dick said.
“I know you can disarm and subdue the defenders without killing them,” Batman said.
*
The rebels and Mystacor soldiers had been re-enforced with the peasants of the surrounding towns. No one sat, but rather milled around the table with a plate of food in hand and quickly ate so that they could return to where they had been and let a comrade come to eat as well. Ariel and some of the common women of Mystacor had taken plates of food up to the defenders manning the battlements. Castaspella stood by her thrown thanking the brave defenders and conquering more food every so often.
“Your majesty,” Ariel said as she stepped closer to the Queen, “I have brought food to everyone and stolen peaks at the surrounding city… We are in a world with technology far different than anything on our world.”
“What of the Horde?” the red head smiled as she quietly asked.
“They moved to the north some distance and are formed in an open area just out of sight,” Ariel informed her mentor, “Do you fear they will try another attack?”
“I am certain of it,” The queen softly said, “It is only a matter of time and manor.”
“That time is now!” a dark and menacing growl echoed in every corner of the great hall.
The lantern and lights were snuffed in explosions of light and clouds of smoke and the room was plunged into darkness. Many attempted to summon magical lights only to find themselves face to fist or foot with an attacker. A figured appeared next to the wall on the far end of the hall and began marching forward. In the flickering and fleeting flashes of light horror washed over the queen as the dark figured marched like a specter of death forward and around it with each step more and more of her defenders lay motionless on the ground battered and broken. The pointed horns atop its head stood as a clear mark of its right to wear a crown of an evil conqueror! Around it, in the flicking lights at least three killer shadows in humanesque forms went about dispatching all of the Queen’s men as their master marched forward. Even women who dared to raise their firsts in self-defense were brought low with a swift strike from the whirling phantoms in the darkness. From the specter an arm shot out and dark forms buzzed past Castaspella’s ears on either side and lodged into the thrown behind her with powerful and sharp thuds. She was too scared to scream. The specter was over half way down the hall. Nothing could stop it. By the time it was mere steps from the queen, the table of food was turned over and all but Ariel and two other ladies who cowered next to the queen were heaped upon the floor and a few were even dangling from the rafters as slain animals waiting to be butchered. The specter continued and pasted silently past the quivering queen and a tingle ran up and down her. Something changed in how she looked upon this figure. She turned and watched as the figure stood before her own thrown. With a whoosh, the figure exploded out and the figure reformed in her thrown. In the dark silence the queen looked and shivered in shock. A fist appeared in the grim darkness above the seated specter and all around her the hall was filled with blinding light. As her vision cleared, Castaspella fell to her knees.
The figure was a man that rivaled even the Eternian Champion He-Man and Adora’s brother Prince Adam… While He-Man was champion and Adam a figure of light… This was the prince… no, the King of DARKNESS!
“This is my city. You and the tin cans will not upset my work here. Surrender now!” the specter’s bass voice was strong but smooth and made Castaspella tingle inside.
Something made her look away from the hypnotic figure dominating the room. In each column a bat shaped burning light marked the advance of the king that had defeated her without a single blow or spell. She had been a master magician but she and an entire hall of her warriors had been defeated without a single conjured spell. Next to the figure two more burning bats stuck out of her thrown. At each side was lethal shadow in the form of a man and woman, each in black with a bat shape across their chest. There was a third perched on the back of the thrown above King’s shoulder, a lilth figure of a woman in all black with a golden bat of on her chest as well. These Horde Warriors were far beyond anything Hordak had ever commanded and they had defeated her is seconds…
Castaspella was working up the shattered confidence to speak…
“Lord,” Ariel sputtered, “I surrender myself and my body to you… I only beg mercy…”
“Lord I surrender to you. Do with me what you will…” Castaspella heard her quivering voice squeak like a timid girl as she felt her hand removing her dress, “Take what is yours by right of conquest…”
Castaspella felt her loincloth dripping with a new feeling of lust looking upon the new king of the Enchanted Castle…