Author's Note:
99 percent of the characters presented in this story are the property of Mattel and Filmation and do not belong to me in anyway. This is a Fanfiction, written solely for the entertainment of its readers and myself. I make zero cash off of this.
This is a continued re-write of the original "The Final Adventure." It is the beginning of much longer fanfic that will now be in tune with the fanfics written since then. It is therefore in the same continuity as "Preludes and Beginnings," "He-Man: Year One," "The Day That Nothing Happened," "The Elfsong of Eternia," "The Crossroads of Destiny," "Prophecy & Change," "Just Another Day," "Liberty and Valor," "Manifest Destiny," "Roots," "Deus Ex Machina," "My Blue Reflection," and "The Last Battle."
It continues the "Final Adventure" storyline that began in "Return to Eternia," and continued into "A Winter's Heart," and "The Shroud of the Horde." Both fics were edited slightly to reflect changes in the continuity. It is important to have read these three stories first. But if you didn't, here is what happened last time.
Previously:
During the five years He-Man and Skeletor were in the Tri-Solar System, Horde unleashed a renewed attack on both Eternia and Etheria. With Etheria placed into suspended animation and Eternia conquered by Hordak, He-Man was in for quite the shock when his long-term mission on Primus ended. However, with the help of his friends, he managed to overthrow Hordak and free Eternia. In time, Etheria was as well restored.
Not long after his return, though, He-Man met with Galactic Guardians once again. He learned that the Horde had attempted an attack on the Tri-Solar System. They had succeeded, but He-Man never learned the details of the battle . . .
Nor the true fate of Skeletor and Crita.
Chapter One – "Exiles of the Tri-Solar System"
Eleven Months Ago.
A week after He-Man left the Tri-Solar System and began his long, seven-week journey back to Eternia, Skeletor discovered exactly what he needed to end his exile. He had been concentrating all of his thought upon the magics that kept him and Crita contained in the Terror Pod and on their course to the far-reaches of space. These same energies had once been his own, but under He-Man's will, they being used against him.
Two weeks in the cramped ship with Crita had been a rather annoying fate, one that Skeletor had wanted to avoid. Not that Crita wasn't fun . . . but two weeks of being around her (without her showering at that) was enough for him.
He was in the small two-feet deep compartment behind the cockpit, where the small toilet was – just in case such an event like this was to happen. Skeletor hung suspended in the air, since they had long had to shut down the gravity to conserve energy. The Sword of Darkness – for all its good – was sitting in his hands, the blade pressed between his palms.
Crita was sitting in the cockpit, bored out of her mind. She was absently looking over the starcharts as they flew through the empty regions of space that existed between galaxies.
She looked back at Skeletor as he floated near the ceiling. "I have no idea where we - "
"SILENCE!"
Crita turned back to the window and sighed heavily.
"I just wish you'd do whatever you are doing."
"I am close, Crita. If you will silence your infernal speaking, then I will get us out this rather rotten situation."
Crita grunted, but Skeletor did his best to ignore her. He instead returned to the task at hand. His thoughts and his power ran through the Sword of Darkness and into the field around them. He could himself reaching into the power matrix of the binds, like claws reaching through a fence.
His power was weak and hard to control. It was like taking pebble to a concrete wall. It required skill . . . which was something he did have. The more he concentrated, the more he channeled, the more he could will his power into the matrix and bend it to his whim.
There was a burst of light from the Sword of Darkness. It began to glow white and red. The ship started to spin and turn uncontrollably.
"You did it!"
"Yes. Move."
She shifted out of the cockpit chair and Skeletor took her place.
"What now?" she asked. "Turn the ship around."
"We don't have the rations nor the power supply for that. No, there's a new plan."
An arm swung up from next to the chair. It was lined with various keypads and panels. He immediately began to punch in a few coordinates.
"That's the emergency teleporter! What are you doing?"
"You want to be free or not?"
"Yes, but . . ."
"The energy that binds us is like a rope. This ship is tied to Primus by this energy bind. With just a few adjustments, I can teleport you to Denebria. After that, I'll be resetting the coordinates for Primus."
"You're going to Primus? Why?"
"That is no longer your concern. I have no further use for you, Crita."
"WHAT?!"
"You're the test for the teleporter." He energized the teleporter array and it began to power up, the new coordinates set.
"It may not work!"
"It will. And if not, then you'll find out for me."
"Skeletor! Wait! Skeletor, there's something I need to tell you!"
"Tough."
Before she could utter another word, Crita vanished in a drizzle of green light and energy. She was gone. Skeletor studied the displays before him, watching as she was teleporter along the energy beam that held them to the Tri-Solar System. He used his connection to move the beam to Denebria briefly and as he did, she arrived on the spot, perfectly fine.
The beam defaulted back the Ruins on Primus. Clutching the Sword of Darkness, Skeletor reactivated the teleporter and everything went green and numb . . .
Skeletor landed on Primus. As soon as he did, he hated it. After too long a time being stuck in the Terror Pod, such fresh air and beautiful sights made him almost vomit. So evil was he now that in fact hated almost all forms of beauty.
No one was around. Did they even know about the chamber where he had repowered the Sword of Darkness? Surely not. As they said on Eternia, 'history repeats for those that are ignorant.' He walked across the ground where he and He-Man . . . Adam . . . had last battled.
He stopped suddenly and saw a pair of scientists standing around. A simple spell put them to sleep and they collapsed to the ground. He grabbed their communications equipment and made for the ancient chamber.
Again, he placed the Sword of Darkness upon the altar so that it lay directly under a large Trithuseum Crystal. He then summoned up all his power and unleashed two small lightning bolts that struck a pair of Trithuseum Crystals on the walls. These began to glow, though much slower than before.
"This could take weeks," Skeletor muttered, sitting down upon the ground. The Trithuseum Crystals would take his power and use it to restore that of the Sword of Darkness. But with his own power levels so low and that being all he could muster, by the time it recharged the Sword of Darkness . . . it could be quite a while.
So he sat.
"Your destiny lies before you, Skeletor."
Skeletor hadn't heard his voice in years, but knew who it was. He jumped, startled to hear it. The very sight of Scare-Glow was nothing frightening to one such as Skeletor, but his presence was enough to intimidate even him.
"What are you doing here? I left you back on Eternia."
"I am part of you now, Skeletor. I always have been and I always shall be."
"Riddles."
"Seedlings of the truth."
"The last time I saw you, it was in Snake Mountain. Before that, the Fright Zone. Who are you to me, Scare-Glow? Why you stand here? Why have you haunted me?"
"I am no ghost. Not in the conventional sense. Haunt is the wrong word."
"I don't care. Who are you?"
"To understand me, you must look upon your past. You, who were once Keldor, son of Miro and Lara, heir to the royal throne of Eternos."
"I was never to be named king. I was no heir."
"You were in fact an heir. You are the son of the king of Eternos. You've acknowledged that not long ago when you took up the Jewel of Amara again."
"What is your point?"
"My point is that Adam is also the heir to Eternos. The House of Eternos and the House of Grayskull . . ."
Skeletor looked hard at the skeleton before him. "What are you saying? That the royal family is in the same line as . . ."
"King Grayskull. Veena, the Goddess. He-Ro. They're your own descendants. You have as much right to the power of Grayskull as your nephew. The greatness in your blood puts you as not only the heir to Eternos . . . but the heir to Grayskull."
"You're saying . . ."
"What you have lusted after since you were a child is yours by right."
Skeletor could feel anger filling him from deep in his stomach. He turned to the Sword of Darkness as it just laid there.
"You have come so far, but still have more to travel before you at last reach your goal. Skeletor, you shall stand in the throne room of Castle Grayskull once again. It is your destiny."
"And what role do you have to play in my destiny?"
"We come down to it, then. I will tell you who I am then."
Skeletor listened as Scare-Glow revealed his origins to him. He skirted many details, but the origin itself was such a revelation that it stunned even Skeletor. His mind whirled with the possibilities it presented, with the story that was being unspoken. It didn't make sense, but it did. It had to.
"You understand now?" questioned Scare-Glow.
"Yes. I suppose I do. Tell me, though, if you what you've said is in fact true, then why have you come to me?"
"Because I had to. Now, there is something else you must know. It is about the Cosmic Enforcers . . ."
Again, Skeletor listened to the words of Scare-Glow. Scare-Glow proceeded to tell him the same story that the Faceless One told Adam. The Cosmic Enforcers had come to Eternia in the era of Preternia and brought forth humanity from Earth. In the years afterwards, the world was then manipulated in ways both subtle and blunt to serve the ultimate goal of the Cosmic Enforcers. Skeletor listened to this quite emotionlessly. It was not completely new, as he had gleamed some of the plans when he had the Golden Discs.
"That is of little importance to me," Skeletor stated as Scare-Glow finished.
Scare-Glow nodded a little. "I am not surprised. My time here has ended, Skeletor. Your destiny awaits. I shall not see you again."
Skeletor then watched as Scare-Glow dissolved away. Then, the overlord of evil sat down upon the stone floor . . . and waited.