Back at the palace, He-Man found that the mounted cannon was keeping the vines at bay for now, but he knew they hadn't attacked in full force yet. When they did, there would be no escape for anyone.

"Hello, He-Man," a vaguely familiar voice greeted him. He turned and found Snowflake, the Ice Lord's daughter.

"Hello, Snowflake," he returned. "I didn't know you were coming." He wished he'd thought of her earlier. Maybe he could have avoided Frosta's presence on Eternia. Then again, Frosta was more used to fighting than Snowflake, so perhaps it was just as well.

"Man-at-Arms asked me to come protect the king and queen. My father and I felt it was the least we could do in return for you saving me," she replied with a kind smile.

"Even so, I don't think you're safe here," he replied thoughtfully. "Let me speak with the king and queen."

A short while later, after he had sent the three of them safely on their way to Grayskull, he took a Wind Raider to rendezvous with the others. Upon joining the small group he saw Evilseed standing atop the dam, encouraging his vines to grow and rip down the dam. He-Man also spotted someone else there.

"Oh, no," he breathed. "Skeletor has teamed up with Evilseed?"

"We don't think so," Man-E-Faces said, using his robot face. "My diagnostics indicate that Skeletor's magic is being channeled by Evilseed, and that is how he's created the forcefield dome."

Looking more carefully, He-Man could just make out that the tree behind Skeletor was indeed holding him captive. Orko must have sent Skeletor wherever Evilseed was, he realized. Just our luck.

"Does this change our plans?" She-Ra asked.

"Just a bit," He-Man answered. "Frosta, you'll need to take care of that tree and free Skeletor so we can get rid of the forcefield. Battle Cat and Swift Wind, you stay here. Everyone else, let's go!"

They split into two groups, freeze guns in hand, and crept towards the forcefield from different directions. There was an unnatural silence; nearly all the animals had been captured or scared away by Evilseed's vines.

Duncan gave the signal, and the groups, one led by He-Man and the other by She-Ra, rushed the forcefield. The two champions drove their swords into it, attempting to get through. Evilseed saw them and laughed.

"So, Eternia's heroes have come already. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you won't be getting through that way," he rasped. His yellow eyes glared at them from his asparagus-shaped head. He motioned with his fingers slightly, and vines crept up behind the heroes, grabbing Duncan and Frosta and dragging them inside. He-Man and She-Ra quickly defended their other friends, cutting the vines down with their swords as Ram-Man, Teela, and Man-E-Faces fired their freeze rays at them.

Seeing that the heroes were holding his precious vines at bay, Evilseed gave a different command. Vines suddenly attacked She-Ra and He-Man from every angle. The two sliced at them, but their sword arms were caught almost simultaneously. The vines wound tightly around the rest of their bodies, immediately draining their strength. There were too many vines for the twins or their friends to do anything as they were dragged inside. The others soon followed.

"Brilliant idea," She-Ra muttered as they were pulled up into the tree. "You didn't tell me the vines would sap our strength."

He-Man grinned apologetically. "Sorry, She-Ra, it must have slipped my mind. Ready?" She nodded. "One, two, three!"

Pushing small controls they had held hidden in their hands, the twins caused an electric shock to burst through their own bodies and travel the length of the tree. It didn't work as well as they'd hoped; it let go of them, but managed to hold onto their friends and Skeletor. He-Man frowned as he and She-Ra hit the ground. They needed Frosta free. He grabbed his sword and prepared to strike the tree just as Evilseed spoke.

"I don't think so, hero!" With a simple motion, he caused the tree to grow to ten times its size. Now, not only was it too thick to cut through, but his friends were perilously high. A fall could injure or even kill them. "Back off!"

He-Man and She-Ra exchanged glances. She-Ra had managed to retrieve her sword as well; she lowered it and took a step back, her mind racing as she thought through their options. He-Man also backed away, eyeing Evilseed cautiously.

"I had a special surprise for you, He-Man," Evilseed hissed. "I didn't expect this woman to show up as well, but it makes no difference. Now is the time of plants, and the end of humanity. And it starts with you!"

With a gesture, he encased He-Man and She-Ra into energy bonds. Then a huge plant, its upper leaves coming together to form a huge mouth dripping with green slime, rose up behind and snatched He-Man.

"No!" She-Ra cried. Teela and Frosta echoed her. Frosta struggled, but couldn't get her hands free to do anything to the tree holding them.

Inside the plant, He-Man realized Evilseed's goal wasn't to destroy humanity, but to turn them all into walking, obedient plant-like creatures. He could feel the ooze on his skin trying to change him. Thankfully his skin was as strong as the rest of him, and although he felt a tingling sensation all over, nothing was happening yet. And he had no intention of sticking around long enough for it to work. He couldn't talk without getting the ooze in his mouth, so instead he focused one thought on his sword, which was still in his hand.

BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL! The sword channeled extra power in a flash of light, and he snapped through the energy bonds. The explosions ripped apart the plant head. He-Man dropped to the ground, covered in green slime but unharmed. He wiped his face off with his hand, slapping the ooze to the ground. Breathing heavily, he turned to confront Evilseed. Behind the evil creature he could see She-Ra back in the tree, the energy bonds still in place. Her sword was on the ground. She wouldn't be able to break the bonds without it, especially not with the tree vines sapping her strength.

"Well, you overgrown vegetable, I have to admit that was unpleasant, but I expected more from you," He-Man taunted, vying for time while he thought of his next move.

Evilseed grinned, and He-Man suppressed a shudder. There was just something disturbing about a walking vegetable with fangs.

"Who said I was done?" Evilseed hissed. Vines came at He-Man from every direction, but he was half-expecting them. He leaped into the air as high as he could and sliced through one of the tree branches, releasing Ram-Man, one of the few who could survive a fall from such a height. Once back on the ground, He-Man kept moving, slicing, dodging, rolling, ripping vines out from the ground and tossing them into the tree where they hung lifeless. He was keeping ahead of them; he just didn't know how long he could keep it up.

Ram-Man was weak from the vines draining his energy, but he bounced back up after hitting the ground and landed near She-Ra's sword. Unfortunately, he was just too slow. A vine grasped his ankle. Ram-Man strained towards She-Ra's sword, grazing it with a finger. Another vine wrapped itself around his wrist and yanked it away from the weapon. More vines joined the first two, and soon Rammy was hanging from the tree again. No help there, He-Man realized. This wasn't working. He had to think of something else.

"Enough!" Evilseed yelled angrily.

He-Man froze, and the vines stopped attacking. Evilseed glared at the champion, whose harsh breathing could be heard above the sound of trickling water. Struck by a sudden inspiration, He-Man allowed his eyes to wander to the tree. Evilseed's face rearranged into a nasty grin. One of the tree's branches stretched out. It was holding Teela.

"Surrender or I drain her life force completely," Evilseed rasped.

He-Man feigned indifference. "Nothing is more important than stopping you, Evilseed," he said, fighting to keep his voice even. "Go ahead. Do it."

"This one is special to you, isn't she?" the villain taunted.

Skeletor's magic must be making him more sensitive to my emotions, He-Man thought. Either that or he wasn't as good at hiding his feelings as he believed he was. He shrugged carelessly.

"Not anymore," he replied in a hard voice, at the same time allowing his irritation over his earlier conversations with Teela to surface slightly. Then his gaze flickered to Frosta again. Evilseed followed his eyes, and the tree pulled Teela back to the relative safety of the branches, and shoved Frosta to the edge.

"So, it's this one," Evilseed stated. "Surrender or I drain her life force."

"I don't think so," He-Man smirked, and threw his blade. It sliced through the branch, releasing Frosta, who was able to catch herself with an ice path. The vines attacked He-Man again, and without his sword, he was more vulnerable. He broke vine after vine, but he couldn't get clear. They snaked up his legs, then there were two on each arm. He was completely wrapped within a moment.

Frosta swooshed around the tree, blasting it with ice until the trunk was completely encased. The branches crumpled and slowly released its prisoners. Evilseed hissed his outrage. With a wave of his hand, vines were attacking Frosta again, wrapping around her and draining her strength.

But it made no difference. Frosta had done her job. Skeletor was free—unconscious, but free. With the loss of his power, Evilseed could not keep the forcefield up. It disappeared. She-Ra dropped to the ground, free of the energy bonds as well as the tree vines, and grabbed her sword. She cut her brother free with a quick slice and whistled for Battle Cat and Swift Wind.

Teela, Ram-Man, and Duncan, although free, were too weak to do much, and the vines quickly re-captured them. Seeing this, He-Man realized that he had only a few seconds to prevent the forcefield from going back up. He grabbed Skeletor by the arms and began swinging him around. Skeletor started to wake up.

"Wha-"

"Sorry, Skeletor, but this party's a bit overbooked. Say hi to Evil-Lyn for me," He-Man said and let go. Skeletor went flying in the direction of Snake Mountain; He-Man knew he'd land on a snowy mountainside, though. Some of the seemingly inane pieces of Grayskull's wisdom could be put to good use.

She-Ra threatened Evilseed, who was so busy conjuring up vines to deal with her that he'd just about forgotten He-Man. The hero ran to his friends and cut them loose as Battle Cat and Swift Wind arrived.

"Quickly, get on board Swift Wind and Battle Cat," he instructed the others as he took the canisters off of the two animals' saddles. "Cat, can you carry three?"

"No problem," the great cat replied. Teela, Frosta, and Ram Man loaded up onto Battle Cat, while Duncan and Man-E-Faces got onto Swift Wind.

"Get them to safety and stay there," He-Man instructed the animals. They took off. He-Man sliced through a few vines to get closer to She-Ra. "She-Ra! Catch!" He threw one of the canisters to her. She caught it easily and they ran in opposite directions, carrying the awkward canisters in one hand and slicing through the vines with the other.

Evilseed watched them with some concern, and mounting frustration. He sent his vines after them non-stop, but the twins kept moving and slicing, running and cutting. They didn't slow down enough for the vines to get a hold of them.

Then, as if by a prearranged signal, He-Man and She-Ra suddenly stopped, faced each other, and threw the canisters, both grunting with the effort. Because they finally remained in one place for more than a few seconds, the vines were able to quickly snake up their legs. But the vines were no match for the Swords of Grayskull. The twins' blades cut through the plants easily, allowing He-Man and She-Ra to turn and run as fast as they could as the canisters flew towards each other.

The two containers collided with a huge white explosion, and Teela, Man-E-Faces, Duncan, Frosta, Ram-Man, Battle Cat, and Swift Wind shut their eyes against it. A blast of frigid air blew outward from the center, sending chills along even Frosta's skin. When the small group opened their eyes, they looked around in awe. The entire area around the dam was in a deep freeze, with the ice extending to only a few feet from where they were standing.

"There was no way even He-Man and She-Ra could have run fast enough to escape that," Man-E-Faces said with his human face. Frosta burst into tears. Teela put a hand to her mouth, shaking from shock. She turned her head to hide her own tears and spotted a familiar muscular form only a few feet away from her. A soft groan came from it.

"He-Man? He-Man!" she cried, running over to him, the others close behind. He was lying facedown; Teela touched his shoulder to turn him over and found that he was freezing cold. The green slime had been turned into ice; patches of it covered various parts of his body and even made his hair stick out in odd directions.

"Battle Cat, you'll have to warm him," Duncan instructed. The big cat complied, carefully lying over his master so as not to suffocate him. "Teela, look for his sword. The rest of you, we have to go find She-Ra. If He-Man survived, she may have as well."

"I'll take two of you on my back; it will be faster," Swift Wind offered, tossing his head impatiently. Frosta immediately mounted up, with Man-E-Faces right behind her, and they took off.

"Ram-Man, the Wind Raiders are over that way," Duncan said, pointing. "Come with me and we'll help search."

Teela had heard her father, but she didn't move. She stood there in the silence for a while, staring down at He-Man and Battle Cat. Battle Cat never took his eyes off of his master's face. Teela felt numb, although her thoughts were racing.

That's Adam lying there. She clung to that thought for a moment, trying to wrap her mind around it and truly accept it. My carefree, lazy friend is Eternia's greatest hero. My charge, the one I'm supposed to protect, has saved me and the entire planet more times than I can count. I don't understand. Why him? And why didn't he tell me? Didn't he trust me?

She was shaking from head to toe now, whether from the trauma of the entire ordeal, the fear she'd felt for him, or anger, she couldn't tell. Her conversation with the Sorceress drifted through her mind.

"If Skeletor, or any of He-Man's enemies, were to find out anything about him at all, they could use it against him. His family, his friends, his home—all of them become targets."

"Teela, we've got She-Ra. She's fine. How's He-Man?" Ducan's voice came over the communicator, interrupting her thoughts. She focused back in on the hero and saw his head moving.

"He's starting to wake up, I think," she replied.

"Good, we'll see you in a moment."

Battle Cat stood up and uncharacteristically licked He-Man's face. He-Man groaned.

"Cat… my sword…" His voice was barely audible.

Humph, Teela thought, suddenly angry again. No thought for the rest of us, just his stupid sword.

Battle Cat, however, understood. He-Man's sword had actually landed not far away, and the tiger quickly got it. Teela hung back, watching the unspoken communication between the two. Battle Cat carefully placed the sword in He-Man's stiff hand.

"By the…power of…Grayskull," He-Man whispered.

Teela watched in amazement as the hero was lifted to his feet in a flash, seemingly completely restored.

"I have the power!" he shouted out. As the lights faded, he looked over at Teela and grinned uncertainly.

"One of the perks of the job," he joked lightly. Indeed, even the green slime that had covered him was gone. Teela took a step towards him almost involuntarily, then she shook her head and turned away. He-Man watched her with a heavy heart, knowing they had a long road ahead.

"Teela, would you walk back with me?" He-Man asked her quietly. She hesitated, then turned back to him and nodded. It will would be worth it just to keep him away from Frosta, she thought, not stopping to wonder why she even cared when she'd been ready to let Frosta have him only a few hours ago.

"Father, He-Man's fine. We're going to walk back. Go on ahead," she said into her communicator.

"Got it," returned Duncan. "See you later."

There was a tense silence between them as they walked. Battle Cat hung back a respectable distance to provide them with some privacy. He-Man wondered whether he should bother trying to break the silence, as Teela seemed set on interrupting him every time he tried to speak.

"I'm sorry about what I said to Evilseed," he finally said. She looked at him in surprise. "I didn't mean it."

"I know that," she said, sounding irritated. "You had to get Frosta free." She stopped abruptly. "Look, not to be rude or anything, but...in spite of the friendship I thought you and I had, it's all been a farce. I need to talk to Adam."

He-Man winced but nodded his understanding. "Let the power return," he said, sword in the air. He and Battle Cat returned to Adam and Cringer.

"So it really is true," Teela said softly. "My best friend has been lying to me for the last six years." She punched him in the arm as hard as she could. Adam flinched. Then, to his surprise, she was in his arms, shaking again. He held her tightly.

"I wanted to tell you more than anyone, Teela," he told her, his voice rough. "But I couldn't. The more people who know, the more dangerous it is for me, my family, my friends..."

"I know that," Teela said impatiently, letting go of him. She started walking quickly. "But you lied to me."

"I thought we went over this," he answered, silently reminding himself to stay calm as he kept pace with her.

"Okay, let's say you never lied to my face, which I'm still not sure of," she said. "But you ran around acting like an irresponsible, clumsy, cowardly, lazy goof-off." She saw a shadow of hurt flicker across his face, and just as quickly a calm, strong acceptance and resolve replaced it.

"That's been the hardest part of all of this," he revealed to her. "That you and my parents believed I would change that much so suddenly. I know I was mischievous, but I was never lazy or irresponsible."

"How could I know?" Teela defended herself. "You started withdrawing from me, and I thought it was the added duties your father had given you when you turned eighteen. I figured you couldn't talk about some things. I also thought you were just rebelling against them for expecting more from you. Then…" She cleared her throat and went on. "Then, after it went on for so long, I just got frustrated with you. I stopped trying to figure out what was going on with you." She looked at the ground guiltily for a minute, then glared back up at him. "But that doesn't change the fact that you put on an act to fool all of us, and that's still lying."

Adam chuckled dryly. "It's not a lie, it's an exaggeration."

"Oh please," Teela said with a roll of her eyes. "I can't-

Adam frowned. "Let me speak, Teela," he said in a commanding voice. She looked at him in surprise. She rarely heard him use that tone, and certainly not with her. He ignored her look and went on. "Compared to He-Man, I am clumsy. Most of my experience fighting comes as He-Man. With Grayskull's power, I am faster, stronger, more agile. I don't have that as Adam. I'm no weakling, and I can hold my own in a fight, but I'm nowhere near the warrior that you are. Yes, I act more clumsy than I am, but only to protect my secret."

"And sometimes he's not acting," snickered Cringer. Adam looked down with a surprised smile. He'd forgotten the tiger was with them.

"Let's see…oh, cowardly. Teela, I can't help that. I have to run and hide to become He-Man. If I stay and fight as Adam, people could be hurt. I tried it once. My father was taken by Skeletor because of it." Her eyes widened. She was starting to feel more and more guilty about all the things she'd ever said to him or thought about him, and she didn't like the feeling one little bit.

Adam was walking even faster now. He may have accepted his role as Eternia's champion years ago, but he was still human. He still felt some frustrations about others' opinions of him, however necessary they were.

"Lazy goof-off…" He stopped abruptly and Teela stopped next to him. "Look at me, Teela." He waited until she complied. "What do you see?"

Teela studied him for a moment. He looked fine at first glance, but as she really examined his face, she saw the ever-so-slight shadow under his eyes. "You're tired!" she exclaimed.

Adam nodded and started walking at a more reasonable pace. "Not very, but between being both the prince and He-Man, I have to steal time away. I have to rest. Skeletor doesn't know it, but he really could wear me down…eventually." Teela frowned. He-Man had always seemed invincible. Acknowledging that he wasn't didn't set will with her.

"As for me being irresponsible?" Adam went on. "He-Man's duty to protect will always come before royal engagements. Since I can't explain where I am when I'm supposed to be at these functions, I can't say anything in my own defense. My father, you, and all the other people draw their own conclusions. I have done nothing to promote myself as irresponsible."

Teela's mouth opened and closed again. Adam halted, hand on her arm. "So you see, Captain, none of it was a lie. An exaggeration at times, yes. But never a lie."

Surprisingly, they were already near the palace. Teela was still too emotional to settle anything, Adam knew. He simply had nothing left to say until she had questions. As a result they said nothing the rest of the way. Upon entering the palace grounds, King Randor stormed over. Teela heard Adam give an almost unnoticeable groan as his father approached.

"Adam, where have you been?"

"I was out in the Evergreen Forest with Cringer, Father," Adam replied easily. Teela watched his face closely, and could see that he expected his father to start reprimanding him. He wasn't disappointed.

"Do you have any idea how irresponsible it was for you to take off like that?" the king demanded. "The first sign of trouble, you run out of the room! Now I find out that you were in the very area where Evilseed's vines were! What kind of sense does that make?"

"None, Father," Adam admitted, his face a bit red.

"What were you doing out there?"

"Just trying to figure out what to do about Evilseed, Father," Adam said quietly.

"Abandoning your people in their hour of need is not the way to do that, I'm afraid. I'm very disappointed in your actions today, Adam," King Randor said firmly. Adam looked down at the ground with a lowered head, and Teela realized that this was no act; he really was upset with his father's words. "We'll discuss this more in the morning. We're having a rather formal party tonight to celebrate Evilseed's defeat. Frosta is visiting with Adora, and I expect you to take good care of them both. You are certainly able to take care of that, I hope. You are of course invited as well, Captain." He nodded to Teela and strode off. She promptly turned to Adam.

"How can you sit there and take that?" she demanded.

"Well, after six and a half years of it, Teela, I'm pretty much used to it," he said, dismissing her question. His mind was already elsewhere. "Frosta. Great. At least she's infatuated with He-Man and not me." Teela couldn't help but give a satisfied smirk at the fact that she knew the secret and Frosta didn't.

"I'll see you later, Teela?" Adam's questioning blue eyes searched her face, asking if they were okay. She shrugged. She really couldn't answer him yet.

"I guess so. Sounds like we all get to go to the party," she said noncommittally. It wasn't until a few minutes later, as she was in her room getting cleaned up, that she realized Adam hadn't lied to the king, and a small part of her trust in him was restored.

Then she realized that five years ago, or even yesterday, she would have been standing next to Randor in support, possibly even yelling along with him, all the while thinking that Adam was getting what he deserved. One hand went to her mouth as the other wrapped around her stomach. She sank slowly onto her bed as tears streamed down her face.