Chapter Three: "Teela's Resistance"


Across the Desert that afternoon, a large transport ship filled with Horde troops headed east towards the Great Towers. Nothing really out of the ordinary. The troops were in need of an up-grade and therefore, were ordered to report to the Great Towers for one.

"All ship systems are fully functional," said the commanding Trooper.

"Excellent. Continue on course," replied his second-in-command.

"Wait a minute," said a third. "What is that?"

The bridge crew looked out the large open area towards a sand dune. The transport slowed down so as to catch a glimpse of . . . something out there.

"It looks like some sort of . . . pole."

"Then why is it shrinking?"

"Wait! What is this?"

Suddenly, two missiles came barreling from the sand dune and smashed right into the transport ship. It exploded wildly. Two more missiles shot forth, completely demolishing the vessel. There was soon nothing more than burning debris on the sandy floor.

"Great shot!" shouted Teela from the sand dune.

"Thanks," answered Clamp Champ from the Battle Ram. "It's good to know this thing still's got it."

"Trouble," said Mekaneck suddenly.

"What is it?" asked Stratos, the final member of the rebellion.

"Someone checking out the debris."

"Do you know who he is?" Teela asked.

"No. He's armored."

"Friend or foe," mused Clamp Champ.

"Probably foe. He's on his way here. And fast."

Teela took immediate command of the situation. "Form a defensive barrier. I want to be completely prepared to ensnare him and - "

But she was too late. The armored figure appeared on top of the sand dune. Before anyone could say anything, Clamp Champ fired a beam of energy straight at him. The figure dodged it and fired a cord around Clamp Champ, trapping him completely.

"Hey!"

Stratos flew forward then, ready to pummel the figure. The figure dropped to the ground and fired a stun grenade at the flying hero.

Mekaneck came from behind, ready to bash the man's head in. The figure spun around and kicked the club out of his hand, then followed through and kicked Mekaneck to the ground, capturing him in a net.

Just then, Teela's snake staff caught figure off guard. He fell to the sand, but stood immediately. While he did this, he also unleashed a long, silver blade. He used this to block a thrust made by Teela.

"Who are you?" she asked harshly leaping back, watching the man move.

"You know who I am."

She leapt forward and went to strike hard against his shoulder. The man docked and struck her lightly in the abdomen. Teela slid over to kick him, but he blocked. She swung in with her staff, but it was blocked again.

"Did Hordak send you?"

"You know who I am, Teela."

It was then that Teela saw the sword the man was wielding. Her green eyes widened. "Where did you get that?"

"It's mine," the man said and stepped back.

"Take off your helmet! NOW!"

The others were now started to stand. The man pulled off his helmet. Beneath it was the tan face, blonde hair, and blue eyes of He-Man. Teela stood in place, eyes wide and uncertain.

"Hello Teela."

"He-Man . . ." she whispered. "Is it really you?"

"Yes! It's him!" shouted Gwildor, clamoring over the sand dune.

Stratos, Clamp Champ, and Mekaneck stood up and surrounded him.

"It's me," He-Man said. "I'm back."

Teela's eyes started to water. She couldn't believe it. She leapt forward and tossed her arms around him. "You're back. You're home."

He hugged her and smiled. Despite the armor, it felt good to hold her close to him again. He missed her and didn't seem to realize just how much until this moment.

"He-Man, it's good to have you back," Mekaneck said, hand out. He-Man shook it after he and Teela released it.

"Nice to know we can turn this war against Hordak," Clamp Champ said, smiling wide as well.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that's good to know you're with us once more," Stratos added, rounding out the group.

He-Man smirked and looked over to the shell-shocked Teela, trying to figure just what she was thinking other than the pure surprise.

"I'd like to say it's good to be back – and it is – but considering the circumstances . . ." He-Man sighed. "Well, let's get to safety. We need to have a long talk about all this."

Teela looked to the others, and then back to He-Man. "There's a cave we use every now and then for refuge when we're on runs out here. We can go there for the night."

As they traveled out of the Desert and into the Sands of Fire, the hours rolled on by. He-Man had taken notice of just how much older Teela looked. Over five years ago, he had left her for Primus. And while she retained her figure and, of course, her looks, she was indeed older. Twenty-eight, to be precise.

It was the small differences that made it all.

The talk on the way to the cave was mostly from He-Man, who answered questions regarding Primus. Most of them came from Mekaneck and Clamp Champ. Stratos was in the sky, most of the time, keeping watch for danger and Teela was driving the Battle Ram. Gwildor had since used the Cosmic Key to get back to his home.

The evening sun set and the group arrived at a small cliff. At the bottom was a small cave where they parked the Battle Ram and hid it behind huge bushes. Then came a bit of a climb to another cliff. This one had a ledge that stuck out about ten feet.

"The walls of Eternos were torn down," Mekaneck explained, the group huddled around a small fire behind a large rock within the cave. "They were then shipped to all of the villages in the kingdom and were rebuilt to keep the villagers in."

"Appalling," He-Man grunted, the Prince in him angry at Hordak for desecrating the ancient Palace.

Clamp Champ continued. "From what we know, the farms are allowed to operate like normal, however . . ."

"However, anything that can vaguely be misconstrued as a weapon has been taken and melted down," Teela cut in. "Making it difficult to farm. The Horde keeps a close eye on everyone."

"What about the people of Eternos themselves?"

"Lubic was able to get out a third of the population. We have them hidden in that cavern I found with Queen Marlena a few years ago," Teela answered. "It's been a tough fit, but we've all survived."

"I'd like to see them."

"Tomorrow," Teela responded. "Where's Prince Adam?"

"Back at Castle Grayskull."

Teela nodded and He-Man noted a subtle bit of a disappointment in that nod.

"What are we to do now?" asked Stratos.

"According to the Sorceress, a few members of the Great Rebellion have been able to hold out in the hidden Crystal Castle. I figure we go there, grab them, storm Doom Tower, rescue the Heroic Warriors, bring them back here, clean them up, and destroy Hordak's empire."

"Sounds like a plan," Stratos laughed.

"More than just the Heroic Warriors are at Doom Tower. The entire Royal Guard is there," Clamp Champ said.

He-Man smiled. "Even better."

"We can't teleport them out."

"We'll figure that out. Hordak has some way of getting between Eternia and Etheria. It's all just a matter of finding out how," He-Man answered.

"Your plan sounds too good to be true," Mekaneck said then. "I mean, it's a good plan, but how are we supposed to get to Etheria? And even with all of the Heroic Warriors and the Royal Guard behind us, how can we defeat Hordak?"

"Well, as far as defeating Hordak goes, 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall.' Hordak's set-up in the Great Towers, correct? It's just a matter of getting me into Grayskull Tower. Once we do that, I can handle Hordak. And as far getting to Etheria goes, well, Hordak doesn't know what I brought with me from Primus."

"And what would that be?" asked Clamp Champ.

"The best damn spaceship in the Tri-Solar System."

About an hour more of discussion later and He-Man walked out onto the ledge and sat down on a large, tablet-like rock. He pulled out his communicator and contacted the Starship Eternia.

"Gleep, what is your report?"

"All ship systems will be operational by morning."

"Cloaking status?"

"The cloak is operational."

"Any visitors?"

"None."

"Good. We'll be leaving tomorrow, probably in the afternoon or evening."

"Are we going back to Primus?"

"No. A planet in this solar system called Etheria. Check the star charts. It's the really dark one. Set-up a course for best possible speed."

"Affirmative."

"He-Man out."

"Was that your robot buddy?" asked Teela suddenly.

"Yeah."

She smiled and sat down next to him. "So . . . what was Primus like?"

"Beautiful," he said. "But not like Eternia. I came to love it, to be honest. I suppose when you fight for something for so long, you start to realize just what you're fighting for. But it wasn't home. It wasn't Eternia."

"No, it most certainly wasn't," she sighed.

There was a moment of silence between the two and they both looked out into the horizon; the sand dunes sat beneath a deep, star-studded sky. For some strange reason, the sensation of déjà vu came upon them. It came and went very quickly and neither one said anything about it.

"We . . . were afraid you would never return," Teela said then.

"I told you all I would."

"I know you did," replied Teela as she played with her long ponytail. "But when the Great Towers fell, then Eternos . . . well, it's five years later and you're finally back. People can lose hope in five years time."

"I'm here now."

"Yeah," she said, looking at him deeply. "You are. And I'm glad."

There was something she wasn't telling him. Something she was keeping a secret. He looked deeply at her, hoping to figure it out.

"What aren't you telling me?" he asked at last.

He watched as she seemed to decide what to do. "It doesn't matter," she answered, lying through her teeth.

"Teela . . ."

"Five years, He-Man. Life changes. And since Hordak came here, it's only changed more. I'm not going to sit here and pour my heart out to you about everything that's happened. But if you were expecting to come back to Eternia after you were done with Primus and expect everything to be the same, then are completely wrong."

"Don't blame me for leaving."

"I don't," she replied, trying honestly to cut down the aggression in her voice. "But without you, Eternia pretty much crumbled. My . . . all our lives crumbled. And yes, you probably a lot of good on Primus and that's great. I'm glad. You defeated Skeletor and sent him into exile and defeated Mutants and restored Primus."

He put his hand on hers. "And now it's time for to do that to Eternia," he said to her hard, but not harsh. Their eyes locked and she could see that he really meant it.

"Okay," she responded.

"Now what happened to you? You're hiding something."

She smirked just a little and kissed his cheek. "Why don't you get some rest, He-Man? I'll take up first watch."

He-Man sighed and looked back out to the horizon. "Okay."

"He-Man?"

"Yes."

She grabbed his shoulders and pulled his face to hers. She kissed him and after a second, his kissed back. It was an amazing sensation, having been over five years since their lips last met.

"Welcome home," she said.

"Thanks," he replied, smirking now as well and turning back. "It really does feel good to be back."


Crossing through the Sands of Time was no easy thing to do, but the group had done it before. With the correct directions, it's fairly capable to get through without worrying about Hordak nor accidentally getting stuck in a legendary 'Time Storm.'

Nothing has been said of the previous kiss, but still - conversation continued through the group. As the morning rose, He-Man found that he and his fellow warriors spoke nothing but of the events while separated.

He-Man couldn't help but feel guilty. His stories seemed much more exciting and up lifting than theirs. But still, the entire group was taking them in large doses. In fact, it made them all feel a lot better and lightened the overall grim mood.


Mantenna stood above the wreckage of the transport that the rebels had destroyed. He opened a comm-link to the Great Towers.

"Master Hordak, it is true. The rebels have demolished the transport," Mantenna reported, his large eyes still surveying the area.

"Curse them!" shouted the power-hungry fiend. "Try to find them."

"We're trying, but many of their tracks have been whisked away. It's very difficult. I'm sorry to say, sir, but -"

Hordak snorted with rage. "But nothing! Find them! Find them all and bring them to me!"


After spending most of the day crossing the Plains of Perpetuia, the group walked up and down a series of grass covered hills. A lot of them had huge rocks jutting from the surface. At long last, they reached the base of a hill that had a small cavern.

"About time you came back."

He-Man looked up and saw the bald-headed Earthman Lubic standing on the hill. "Lubic!"

"Lot of people are going to look forward to seeing you again."

"I bet."

He-Man and the group walked into the cavern. Lubic pulled out a small key and pressed it on the wall of the cavern. Suddenly, the wall vanished, revealing a long set of stairs. Lubic led the way, followed, by Stratos, Clamp Champ, Mekaneck, Teela, and He-Man. As soon as He-Man walked in, the cavern wall reappeared.

"ATTENTION!" shouted Lubic as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, which was the entrance to massive cave. Two Royal Guards stood next to the door and stood straight up at Lubic's arrival and announcement.

When He-Man walked through the door, it was pandemonium. He took in the sight of all the cave. It was basically a shantytown, with wooden planks and large blocks of stone serving as homes. As He-Man followed Teela and the others, people poured out of their loose homes and stared at him.

"He-Man!"

"He's back!"

"Thank the Ancients!"

"Better make a speech," Clamp Champ suggested.

"PEOPLE OF ETERNOS! I HAVE RETURNED!" he shouted.

There was a great shout of joy and exhalation from the people.

"As we speak, I am working on a plan to free all of Eternia! Whatever hope you have held onto, I ask that you hold to do just a little longer! I shall bring us all victory and freedom from the Horde!"

Thunderous clapping and yelling followed. He-Man smiled and walked along as people continue to yell out his name. For a moment, as he walked towards a 'house' that Teela mentioned was the 'command center,' He-Man thought he saw very familiar face. Any pursuit of this, however, was shattered by the cry of a three-year-old brown haired boy that went out as he sprinted in front of He-Man.

"Momma! Momma!" the boy shouted.

He-Man watched as the young child ran through the group . . . and into the arms of Teela. She hugged the kid and smiled warmly at him.

"Hello Addison. Did you miss Mommy?"

He-Man's jaw dropped. "What . . .?"

"This is my son, He-Man," Teela told him as she hugged the child named Addison.

"Your . . . son?"

She gave him a half-hearted smile. "Surprise."