CHAPTER FOUR

"He-Man's First Plan"

"Son," said He-Man. "You have . . . a son?"

"He has a name, He-Man," said Teela. "Addison."

"I . . . who's the . . ."

Teela looked around at the crowd as she picked up her son. "I think we should discuss this later, don't you? At least somewhere much more private."

"Um . . . yeah. Right."

The gang walked through the thick crowd and into a small structure at the end of the large cavern. It was tiny, but had a few break-off rooms. Perhaps the most surprising of it all is that it had a door into another, much smaller cave where maps and whatnot stood.

Teela held Addison's hand as they all entered the small cave. "Alright, He-Man. What should we do next?"

"I'm not sure," he stated flatly, his eyes barely looking over the maps. He couldn't help but stare at Addison. "I . . . I'm just not sure."

"Well, as soon as you get something together, let me know. I'm going to go keep watch some more," said Lubic stepping out of the structure and into the larger cave.

"Right," replied Mekaneck. "In the meantime . . ."

"I need a few minutes," He-Man said.

"Okay. If it's alright with you, I'll be out playing with Addison," Teela told He-Man.

He felt a slight sting at those words, but continued to look over the maps and documents. As he did, he couldn't help but feel left out on a rope. He wanted answers, though Teela seemed too reluctant to give them. He-Man frowned and looked towards the maps more.

Answers . . . it was all he ever wanted.

There was something far more at work here. The dark phenomena on Etheria. The Swords of Darkness and Deception. Teela's son. The fall of Eternia. King Hiss. That ship that had attacked He-Man in orbit.

He paused suddenly.

What was that ship? Some new sort of spacecraft created by Hordak? It had to be. There was no other explanation. Unless . . .

"No," he whispered quietly to himself. He threw up a mental barrier. There was no way HE could have acquired that sort of technology. It was far beyond what was available during the war on Primus.

Besides, Skeletor was exiled. Lost . . . forever.

Or perhaps he -

"He-Man?" asked Clamp Champ. "You alright, old buddy?"

"Yeah. Just a lot on my mind."

"I figured. Listen, I don't think you need me to tell you this, but . . . a lot of people are depending on you and - "

"I know, Clamp Champ. I know. It's just . . . there's a lot of things that need to be done to save Eternia."

"Right. Listen, I'll talk to you later."

"Okay."

***

Back at Castle Grayskull, much time had passed. Gwildor had made himself quite a home in one of the towers. He was watching the constant march of troops around the Castle. There was no way for them to get even near it, considering the gap between the Castle and the rest of Eternia. But still, the reinforcements were ready for an attack.

Deep within the heart of Castle Grayskull, away from all eyes, the Soceress laid back in her large bed and closed her eyes for a sort of meditation/sleep.

In her minds eye, there was nothing but darkness. Which was good for her, and it was exactly what she expected. Exactly what she wished to see.

And then the darkness was blared away by fire and light. And a voice like thunder.

"Soceress!" the voiced shouted. "We are coming at last!"

"What? Why?"

"You have done well, but the time has come. The final trail is beginning at last. We will be there to bear witness and judgement!"

"No. It is too early. The time has come too quickly. You must readjust your - "

"Our agents and contacts have already confirmed this! We are coming! We are coming! We are COMING!"

The Soceress shot up from her bed in a flash, her body drenched in sweat. "No . . ." she muttered.

"No . . ."

***

He-Man walked out of the cave and into the structure. "I have plan. It won't be easy. But I think it'll work. But first, I need to contact the Soceress and Gwildor."

"And Adam, right?" asked Teela.

"Uh, yeah. That's right," He-Man lied. He hated doing that. He hated the fact that with all of his strength and all of his power, he still had to tell little white lies.

***

Fifteen hours later, in the darkness of night, a large stone wall sat situated around a small village in the Northern half of the Fertile Continent. All along this stone wall, there were Horde Troopers making sure that no unauthorized personal got in and none of the trapped villagers got out.

"Quiet night," said one of the Troopers.

"Yeah. My sub-processor are going out of phase, it's so quiet."

"So, do you process the rumor is true?"

"That He-Man has returned? Of course not. You need to get your micro-circuits adjusted."

"I think he is," a voice from their far left said. The pair looked over to see nothing more than a head on top of a very, very LONG neck. "Howdy!"

"What the - ?!"

Mekaneck's head flew down just in time for a large explosion to blow up part of the wall. Immediately, He-Man led Clamp Champ, Stratos, Teela, Gwildor, and Mekaneck into the village.

"Blast at the walls!" shouted He-Man as Teela used the Battle Ram's laser's to smash the great walls surrounding the village.

He-Man rode Stridor through the village streets and shouted loudly.

"I have returned! It is I, He-Man! Come out immediately! Bring only essentials!" he shouted over the continued blaring and the jarring explosions. He turned to Gwildor.

Gwildor lifted the Cosmic Key and pressed the initiation button. A very large portal opened in the center of the village.

"Into the portal!" He-Man commanded as the villagers headed out of their homes. "Hurry!"

He-Man sliced up some in coming Troopers and continued to route people from their houses.

"The sensors are saying that's just about everybody," said Gwildor, looking over a small, hand-held computer.

"Good," replied He-Man "As much as I hate to take these people from their homes, we seem to have no other choice. Come on, let's go."

And with that, the rebels joined the villagers in their desperate flee.

At the other end of the portal was none other than the ruins of Eternos. The Soceress stood there with Lubic and the others from the caves. As soon as the portal was closed and all of the survivors were reunited, He-Man placed a long, staff-like device in the ground. The Soceress fired a bit of energy at the top of the device. Mere seconds later, the staff and the energy launched a huge force field around the ruins of Eternos. It was the third one in series. The other two were larger than the successor and at least 100 meters apart.

"Good job," said He-Man with a wide grin.

"He-Man, we must return to Grayskull."

"Right. Teela, are you coming?" asked He-Man.

She paused and looked to her son sadly. The little boy was gripping onto her hand. "I . . . I don't want to leave him."

The Soceress walked over Teela and laid a hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Bring him with you to Grayskull. I shall watch over Addison."

"Really?"

"Yes. It is the least I can do."

"Alright then."

He-Man looked over to Lubic, Clamp Champ and the others. "You'll be careful, right?" he asked.

"Of course!" replied Stratos.

"Good. Because the only way out of here is with Gwildor's Cosmic Key. If they break through the first force field, get them to the caverns."

"They won't make that far with the traps we've set in place," Clamp Champ said with a wide-toothed grin.

"I hope so," He-Man answered. "Good journey, my friends. We'll be back as soon as we can."

With that, the Soceress teleported He-Man, Teela, and Addison back to Castle Grayskull.

As soon as they arrived, He-Man began to walk away.

"He-Man, wait," Teela cried after him. "I was hoping . . ."

He looked back at her. There was a feeling burning within him to tell her that he was truly Adam. But he stopped himself.

"We'll talk in the morning. I need to meditate and rest."

"Oh," she replied, more than a little surprised. "All right then. I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Right. Good night, Teela."

"Good night, He-Man."

She sighed heavily. Addison was getting restless. Teela then felt the Soceress put her hands on her shoulders.

"I will take you to a room where the two of you can sleep."

The Soceress walked them up to the back left tower. It was safe and secure from all the magic within the walls. Strategically secure as well. No chance of any Horde Troops making it into the tower at all.

"Good night, Teela," the powerful woman said as she left the room.

"Good night Soceress," Teela yawned, putting her son down for the night.

Teela had slipped out of her regular armor and into a lose, teal pair of sleeping wear. She was just about to lay down next to her sleeping son when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said.

Prince Adam stood there. He had to act surprised to see her. For some reason, it wasn't hard to fake.

"Adam!" she said aloud.

"Hi Teela!"

Teela dashed over and kissed him slightly on the lips. After a strange pause, she grinned at him. There was something strangely familiar about that.

"Is that your son?" asked Adam with a smile.

"Yeah. Addison. Who told you . . . ?"

"He-Man."

"Oh. Yeah. Come on. Let's talk."

The two of them walked out of the room and onto a balcony. There were no troops positioned below them, so it was somewhat peaceful. They sat down on a bench and looked out across the sea of trees and fields.

"It's so nice out here," said Teela. The moon was high with the stars. It was fall and the air was a bit on the chilly side, but it was still very beautiful.

"Yeah," responded Adam. He looked over to his old friend. "Teela. Your son . . . if you don't mind . . ."

"You want to know who the father is? Well, okay. It's complicated," she started, her eyes reflecting on the past. "He was a soldier from Northtown. I was helping him prepare a defense. We got very close. Two weeks working side-by-side . . . it was nice to do that again. Both you and He-Man were gone. I was lonely. Then one night, we . . . we had a little bit too much to drink."

"Oh Teela . . ." he said with a strong sense of remorse. He put his hand on hers.

"We didn't plan it," she said with sadness. "Not at all. We barely even spoke about it, but there was a connection there that I had been missing since . . ." she stopped and dropped her hand, looking a bit embarrassed. "Two days later," she continued, "we were ambushed. He pushed me out of the way. A stray beam killed him. He never knew the truth."

"What about Duncan?"

"I was away when Eternos was hit. On my way here, actually. The Soceress hadn't been out at all since you two left. But I wasn't mad at her. I think I understand stronger than anyone does. I'm not even sure how. But we didn't even make it here when we learned about Eternos' fall. A week later, I found out I was pregnant."

"Tough times, huh?"

"No kidding," she said. Teela looked very sad - almost to the point of crying. "We were . . . no . . . I was very lonely . . ."

"Hey," he offered. He brushed a stray hair out of her face. She put her small hand in his once again and turned to face him. Adam looked into her eyes. "I'm here now, Teela. I'll watch over you all."

She paused and looked right at him. There was something far too similar here. But she didn't want to process all of it right now.

Teela just kissed his cheek and sat up.

"I know you probably have a lot of stories."

"Not really," Adam said. "He-Man probably told you most of them."

"Yeah, but he very rarely mentioned you."

"Oh?" asked Adam. "Well, I guess I'll just have to talk to him in the morning before . . ."

"Before what?" she asked.

"Before I, er, head to Eternos to help out."

"Oh. I see."

"Yeah."

There was a long pause before Teela stood up and headed back to the door. "Adam, if I don't see you in the morning, then I wish you the best of luck."

He smiled at her in a way he never had before. "Thank you. The same to you . . . and, er, He-Man."

"Good night," she said, giving him a peck on the lips.

"Good night," he replied.

With that little, innocent, peck-of-a-kiss, Prince Adam felt on top of the world and nothing could bring him back down.