A/N: I am making a future AU of the Original He-Man storyline – NOT to be confused with one season "The New Adventures of He-Man" series. And please let me know if any of you would like to archive my story 'coz I may not finish this here in FF.net – logging on here is becoming a pain – even with DSL.

The next day

Prof. Glen Adams knew he was running late.  He had woken later than usual because he'd been having nightmares again.  Nightmares, he mused, had been the driving force in his quest in the study of archeology.  Not minding that fact his dreams had that certain "Dungeons and Dragons" feel to it, but a part of it actually felt real! 

Especially since most of them centered on a magnificently crafted sword, which drew his gaze to it like a magnet every time he saw it.  And he was quite wary of telling his colleagues about it being one of his reasons for entering the field since they would undoubtedly lock him up in a padded room, and throw away the key.  And to make things worse, he's had those dreams since his childhood days at the orphanage where he was raised.

He entered the classroom at a dead run, looking a cartoon as he screeched to a halt in front of the class before him.

"Uh," Adams blushed, nervous. "Sorry I'm late, class. Anyway, Prof. McNeal has asked me to fill in for him for a few weeks since he left for a dig in Mexico last night."

He placed the books he carried and took the one on top and opened it.  He gazed uncertainly at his charges and began to read.

"Um – uh, I've decided to add a little known study into McNeal's lessons.  Since we were all into the topic of medieval arms, weaponry, and exploration around Europe – I've included some of the European expeditions that might have made it into the United States by pure happenstance.  Now this may sound a bit out of the norm, but it also talks of travels by spells and teleportation – quite normal for an era full of superstition."

He began reading from his little book as the class took notes.  Willow's brow furrowed as she took down some of what the professor said, thinking of some of the things they've run into.  Due to Professor Adams's current lecture – the fact that Willow and her friends were more than surprised that the Gem of Amara and the petrified witch she herself raised, among others – were buried in Sunnydale, made her wonder what else lay beneath this town.

Night had fallen once again, and had Sunnydale Park's many picnic-happy denizens stayed out a little later they would have noticed an energy vortex quietly opening up behind a dense clump of trees.  As it was, three distinct figures appeared before the vortex closed.

"Whew!" A floating figure clothed in lavender robes topped with a wide brim hat spoke. "Even though we've crossed the dimensional bridge more times than I can remember, it still makes our bodies tingle with static! How about you guys?  Are you all okay?"

"We're fine." Both of his companions, a male and a female, answered. The man checked his equipment that looked similar to earth's pc handhelds. "It seems we've arrived in a place that is teeming with mystic energy – just looking at these readings, this whole town is abundant with power.  According to the Sorceress, the sword should be within the area.  You feeling anything Orko?" He asked his floating companion

"Do I?" Orko replied, his Trollan eyes widening at sensing the mystic energy of the Hellmouth. "This place feels almost just as powerful as the inside of Castle Grayskull! There's a lot of untapped power here – and it can be both a good thing, and a bad thing – depending on who's using it."

"Hmm." The man checked his readings once more. "I'm getting some familiar readings. I could have sworn I saw the scanner detect Horde technology for a minute there."

"Then we have to be extra careful, dear brother." The woman spoke, studying the house lights in the distance. "We have to adapt to our surroundings, and that means we have to dress as the locals here do. I'm just glad Dad was able to cook up some universal translators in a jiff.  And judging from the lights over there, this place is heavily populated."

"Both of us can blend in pretty well, sis." The man pointed at Orko. "But no way will Orko be able to blend in during the day.  We've got to find a safe place to stay and hide – and then we worry about the rest of our adventure here.  Besides, other than the sword, we also have to look for the prince the grand queen mother sent here for safety before she died. And I doubt it that he may be in the immediate area."

Suddenly, the bushes behind them shook and four new risen vampires burst out and ran towards them. 

Used to reacting instinctively, the warriors brought their weapons up to bear. The man fired his wrist blasters, felling two of them at once.  Orko just glided out of his adversary's way and zapped him unconscious, while the woman took on two at the same time and easily overcame them with her retractable staff.

"Odd." The man studied their foes. "According to the scanner, these humanoids are dead – yet filled with mystic energy."

"They're blood suckers." Orko said, "I can sense their difference mystically. They're the living dead."

"Still a bunch of overgrown blood wasps to me." The woman said, "Do they have any weaknesses?  Can they be killed?"

"I don't know." The trollan looked them over. "I've never encountered these kind of creatures before. All I know that each and every planet have their indigenous lifeforms.  They may be similar to the inhabitants of Telez-Parn, but I've never seen one whose face changes."

"We can only hope that the rest of the population aren't like these." The man wondered aloud. "History had it that Queen Marlena came from this world, and she sure as heck didn't suck anybody's blood back on Eternia."

The woman looked the unconscious vampires over, thinking.  "Their clothing is strange."  Rummaging around for more clues, she found pieces of green paper inside one of their pockets. "What is this?"

"That's money!" Orko shouted with glee. "I recognize it after Queen Marlena showed me some a long ago.  We can use it to get some clothes, and food, and lots of other stuff."

"But we can't steal!" the man protested.

"Too late for that, bro." The woman said, slipping the money into her pack. "We have to do whatever we can to survive on this planet.  Besides, there's more at stake here than these wretches who attacked us.  For all we know, they stole this money in the first place! It's only fitting it be used for something better than what they had in mind."

"But Neela, it's still stealing!" the man squawked.

"Come off it, Ezren." Neela patted the vampires down and stripped them of their ill-gotten cash, stood up and headed in the direction of the lights. "We have to get Orko out of sight and find shelter soon. I, for one, don't want to take on a few Horde soldiers this early in the game in case your scanner really did pick them up.  Come on, brother dearest!  We have a lot to do, and very little time in which to do it."

TBC