Chapter Five - "Roll of the Dice"
In the pre-dawn hours of the day, in the situation room of North Eternos, Stratos pounded his fist on the table. "You can not stand here and allow Eternos to be destroyed!"
King Paw scoffed. "On the contrary," he spoke, "I'm going home. The military alliance was not signed. And after the recent - and misguided - war with the Bears, we are in no condition to content with the Goblins."
"Insectia stands with Avion, Paw. And Avion stands with Eternos," Buzz-Off declared. "There is no true reason why you shouldn't."
At this, King Paw stood up, hissing. "The Cats and the Bears just got down ripping into each other, Buzz-Off! We can not involve ourselves in another war! Our casualties are too high! Let this situation work itself out!"
Stratos stepped forward, enraged. "Let it - ?! King Paw, you fool! An army of Goblins is marching to Eternos! The Palace is being raided by a group of villains! All of Mankind and all the aliens on Eternia have been transformed into animals! This situation will not work itself out!"
"The Spirit of Evil was defeated by four people. A rag-tag group of mercenaries can be handled by a few remaining Heroic Warriors," King Jade of the Bears remarked.
"That was a different situation," Stratos retorted.
"Just where do you stand, King Jade?" asked Buzz-Off. "Are you willing to send troops against the Goblins?"
King Jade grunted, and paused before answering. "I can not spare a strong military force. King Paw is right when he says that both our people have suffered great losses due to our war of insanity. However, if King Paw sends a contingent of warriors, so will I. Avions and Insectoids are mostly air-to-surface fighters. Give me more ground troops and I will consider adding the weight of Bears in this."
Stratos looked to King Paw. "Does that satisfy you, Paw?"
"No, Stratos. It doesn't. This isn't enough to convince me," Paw replied.
"I should have known. You Cats are so stubborn," Stratos snapped.
"If you ask me, Stratos," King Paw then told the Avion, "you are taking this too personally. You alliance with the Eternians is - "
Stratos head about exploded. "TOO PERSONAL!?!" he roared at King Paw. "My wife is outside eating grass! She was transformed into a Deer! My best friends are out there somewhere in the same condition! OF COURSE I'M TAKING THIS PERSONALLY!"
King Paw was suddenly on his feet. His ears went flat, his pupils huge, his mouth open, teeth bared. The leader of the Cat-People hissed loudly, but Stratos held his ground.
"Stop it! Both of you!" shouted Buzz-Off. "This isn't solving anything!"
Naomi of Aquantica walked in from the shower rooms. She could only keep her non-mermaid form for another few hours. "If you can draw them near a river, the forces of Aquantica are willing to help."
Stratos turned to King Jade. "Is that enough for you to join us?"
"No, it won't be. I'm telling you, Stratos, we can not afford to spare the troops."
"Damnation!" screamed Stratos. "Fine! We'll go without you!"
Suddenly, Hawk came running inside. "You guys may want check this out! There's someone here to see you!"
"Who is it? Send him in!" replied Buzz-Off.
"Uh . . . he's a little too big!"
Stratos glanced at the others, then lead Naomi, Buzz-Off, King Paw, and King Jade out to the courtyard of North Eternos. It was there they received the biggest surprise of the day.
"What in the Ancients name are you waiting for!?" shouted Granamyr. "We have misdeeds to make up for!"
"Granamyr, you ally yourself with us?" wondered Stratos.
"We nearly destroyed Eternos and all that reside there two weeks ago," grumped Granamyr. "We will stand with all those that wish to save it to make up for our misdeeds."
"Dragons and Trolls?" Buzz-Off asked.
"Of course."
"Will that be enough?" asked Stratos of King Jade.
The Bear king laughed. "Between the Aquaticans, the Avions, the Insectoids, the Trolls, and the Dragons? I think we can spare some warriors! Paw? What say you?"
King Paw thought for a long moment, then finally conceded. "Alright. Since all of Eternia seems to want to unite behind Granamyr for the sake of saving Eternos, then we shall join. For diplomatic reasons."
"But how will we get there in time?" wondered King Jade.
"Let me handle that!" answered Gwildor, Cosmic Key in his hands.
"We ride at dawn, when the Goblins come to the River Eternia," Stratos declared.
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When He-Man awoke, he was surprised to find that Teela was no longer at his side. "Teela?" he asked softly. He sat up, turned off the alarm that was coming from his communicator. He blinked. "Teela?"
"I'm . . . I'm here."
He-Man stood and followed the sound her voice. It was still early and the night had grown dark before the dawn. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw her standing in the path. He-Man was a little more than shocked at the sight.
On Teela's back were two, bat-like wings that hung limply. A tail dangled from her lower back. The lower portion of her face was puffed out and her lips looked very chapped. Her fingers were thinner, and the nails were well on their to becoming claws.
"Teela?"
"I'm a freak!" she cried.
"No, no. It okay."
"Just leave me here. I'll be no good to you."
He-Man shook his head. "No, Teela, it's alright. I understand. Listen, I need you." He stepped towards her and took her hands. "Maybe not fighting with me, but I need to know you're okay. I need you with me."
Teela looked away, thinking. She nodded, her hair dangling in front of her face. "Okay. I'll come with you."
"Do your wings work?"
"No. I don't think so. I can move them, but I don't think I can fly yet."
"Okay, well, let's just get moving? We don't have a lot of time."
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After processing the information all night, Negator got up and walked over to the panel. Count Marzo watched in shock as the Negator casually pressed a few keys. The locks undid themselves and the door swung open.
"Well done!" yelled Count Marzo. "Icer?"
Icer stepped forward and iced all the walls and the ceiling of the corridor beyond the now-opened door. Count Marzo walked up, followed by the rest of the group. When they came to the next door, Negator punched in a certain number of keys on the computer pad.
The door unlocked, opened and the great vault of Eternos was now revealed to them. Count Marzo laughed heavily.
"Get the boxes, gentlemen! We're very close to pulling off the greatest heist this planet has ever seen!"
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Dawn came. At this point, Teela and He-Man could see the great ice dome in the north. Stratos and Buzz-Off, informing them of the military force about to collide with the Goblins had already contacted the pair. Now all He-Man had to worry about was getting through the dome of solid ice, taking on about a dozen very powerful villains, securing the vault and all of its belongings, and worrying about Teela's transformation.
"He-Man to Sorceress!" He-Man said then.
The Sorceress appeared telepathically in He-Man's mind. Yes, He-Man?
"I need your help. I think I can handle Marzo's posse, but I'm worried about Dark Dream. How can I take him down?"
The Sword of the Ancients has the power to neutralize Dark Dream.
"Gotcha. Now, about the ice dome. I don't know. I'm worried about just smashing it to bits. I need someone to actually take it apart. Any suggestions?"
Moss Man is still in the Evergreen Forest. He may be able to help you.
"He wasn't affected by the Shaping Staff?"
No.
"Alright. I'll try him. What about She-Ra?"
The energy field in place keeps me continually blocked from contacting your sister.
"Okay. Well, I think we can handle this. I'll talk to you when we're done with this."
Teela looked over at He-Man. He noticed she now had a light cover of fur on her skin. "What did she say?"
"We need Moss Man."
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A minute later, a voice carried through a half-buried communicator into the heart of the Evergreen Forest.
"Moss Man? Moss Man, this is He-Man. We need your help. I know you're on sabbatical. I know you need time to recover from what happened to you. But Moss Man . . . it happened to all of us. The Spirit of Evil's power affected us all. Even me, for a period of time. And I did some things I regret. All of us did. But, listen . . . it's been over two weeks. Maybe you're still regretting what you did. I understand that. I do. But you need to know . . . I forgive you for what you did. It wasn't your fault. We need your help. Evilseed is here . . . and he's about to do what you did. He's about to take control of some plants and use them against us. Do you understand that?"
There was a long silence. And then a pair of yellow eyes opened.
He-Man continued. "Damn it, Moss Man. I know what you did to the plants was wrong, but you're part man! Maybe you can't forgive the part of you that's plant that did those things. But the part of you that's a man needs to forgive! We need you to! We need you!"
A hand appeared and lifted up the communicator. Moss Man spoke for the first time since the war ended. "What's the situation?"
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Teela and He-Man positioned themselves behind a huge rock near the ice dome. "How are you feeling?" He-Man asked Teela. The fur was getting thicker and her wings were larger. She sighed and shook her head. The lower part of her face was pushed out a bit.
"Weird. Not in pain. But I feel like the big changes are coming. I'm not going to be much use to you."
He-Man nodded, and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. She laid her furry face on her arm. "Don't worry. I'll take of this."
"I hope so."
Right before them, the ground began to shift and turn. Moss Man emerged, bigger and stronger than he had ever looked before. Apparently all that time in the forest, feeding off the fertile soil and the water was quite good for him.
"Teela?" the half-man, half-plant asked.
"The Shaping Staff," she answered as He-Man pulled her arm out from shoulders.
"Oh. That explains what the trees were talking when they said 'more animals.' What am I dealing with?"
He-Man pointed to the dome. "It needs to shatter, but I'd rather it not fall on Eternos."
"I can do that. The plants are willing. I'll put up a dome within, have to grow and shatter the ice. Will that suffice?"
"How long?"
"Twenty seconds."
"Sounds good," He-Man returned. He turned to Teela, how was holding her arms. "Teela?"
"Go. I'll be no use to you. Go."
"Right."
He-Man pulled out the Sword of Power and sheathed the Sword of the Ancients. He and Moss Man rushed to the dome.
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The Space Pirates continued to load crate after crate into starship. Count Marzo fingered the treasure he had come for - the Gem of Life. With this, he could grew entire fields of Black Roses. Sticky Fingers smiled at Marzo.
"This is going well, Count Marzo."
"Yes, quite well. I - "
Suddenly, the light that was streaming through the ice dome began to darken. Count Marzo watched in shock as the entire interior of the dome began crawling with huge, thick vines. In a matter of seconds, the whole dome was encompassed in plant-life.
"WHAT IS THIS?! EVILSEED!"
Evilseed rushed to Count Marzo's side. "I don't know! I'm trying to stop it, but it's not working!"
Marzo grabbed Evilseed by the neck. "What's causing this?!?"
"Moss Man!" gasped Evilseed.
As soon as he said that, the dome cracked and the plants began to curl back. While hunks of ice did land among the city and the palace, most of fell onto the ground beyond it. Sunlight streamed onto Eternos.
"Stop him! He'll ruin everything!" roared Count Marzo. "Pirates! Keep loading! Chimera, start the pre-launch sequence! The rest of you, guard the vault!"
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He-Man and Moss Man rushed into the city, making their way through on the main road towards the Palace. He-Man spotted a few pens full of animals (a few, he noted, with some oddities - like a goat with an extending, mechanical neck; a ferret with rotating faces) and he thought of Teela, who was now going through the last of her transformations.
"We're almost there. When we reach the Palace, I need you to - "
A sudden branch appeared, slamming right into Moss Man. It bored right into his chest, turning his green, leafy skin brown.
"Not so fast!" exclaimed Evilseed, the branch coming from his hand.
He-Man swept in, the Sword of Power slashing the branch right in two. Moss Man began to recover.
"We weren't expecting you," snapped Evilseed.
"I like to crash parties," He-Man replied, stepping towards him. A vine suddenly wrapped around He-Man's leg and it sent him barreling forward. Right onto a robotic, explosive teddy bear. At the last second, however, a second vine pulled him back.
"Thanks Moss Man," He-Man told his friend.
"No problem. Evilseed headed back into the Palace. I need to recharge, but I'll be able to join you shortly."
"No, Moss Man. Try and stop Count Marzo from leaving. Now that he knows we're here, he'll try and cut his loses and get out of here."
Moss Man nodded, rushing through the streets, careful of booby traps. He-Man took a deep breath, then ran, just as careful. He leapt over the teddy bear and made for the Palace. As he climbed the stairs and went through the last gate into the Palace, he steeled himself.
"Okay, Adam," he told himself under his breath, so silent that no one could possibly hear him. "Be strong. Be tough. Remember everything everyone and anyone has ever taught you. You carry the Sword of Power and are the guardian of Eternia and Castle Grayskull. You can do this."
He-Man went through the doors and came to a halt. Here they were, standing in his house, in the first hall of the place he had called home for his entire life.
"Look who showed up," Fang-Man snapped.
"Prepare to face your worst nightmare," hissed Dark Dream.
"You've interfered for the last time, hero," Negator threatened.
"You'll be taking a dirt nap by the time we're done with you," issued Evilseed.
"When we're done with you, you'll be nothing but a rag doll," laughed Toy Maker.
"Get ready for game over, He-Man," taunted Game Master.
"Time to put you on ice," Icer cackled.
He-Man snickered, grinned, and lifted the Sword of Power so that the blade faced out towards them.
"All right, gents," he beckoned with one hand waving them forward. "Come get some."