Chapter Seven: "Heading Home"
Adam's eyes opened gingerly. There was a harsh light that he was used to by now flowing through the window. He was aware that he was home, back in his apartment in Leviton, but wasn't quite sure how he hadn't gotten here. The last thing he remembered was being in the Ruins.
Skeletor knows.
The Galactic Guardians know.
"Hey! You're up!"
Adam looked over and saw Caz walk into his room. "Hey Caz."
"I can't believe it. You're really He-Man! Wow! That is so awesome."
Adam smiled. "Thanks. I think so, really," he said without even thinking about it.
"Caz!" scolded Drissi from the door. "Leave Adam alone. Go get Master Sebrian."
Caz nodded and left the room.
"You gave us a bit of a scare, Adam," Drissi then said, walking over to him. "I still can't believe you're He-Man. You were so good with keeping your identity a secret."
"Thank you, I guess," he replied, grabbing a nearby cup of water and gulping it down. "How long have I been out?"
"All day yesterday, all night last night, and half of this morning."
Adam sighed. "I was exhausted. But I'm feeling better."
"Good!"
At that moment, Master Sebrian walked in. "Hello Adam."
"Master Sebrian," Adam addressed sitting up. It was then he saw the Sword of Power lying across his table.
"You feeling better?"
"Yeah. Drissi, can you excuse us?"
"Oh, um, of course."
Drissi left the room and Sebrian took her place at the chair across the bedroom. Once she was out of the room, Adam turned to Sebrian. "What's happened? Did the energy have any sort of reaction with the shield? Has there been any word on Skeletor and Crita?"
"One thing at a time, Adam," Sebrian replied. "Now, the Terror Pod that you trapped Skeletor and Crita in blasted off from Primus at speeds that transcend the Trans-Hyperspace that a ship would normally use. It has picked up speed since breaking orbit and was out of the Tri-Solar System in ten minutes. Our sensors have lost track of it, meaning it has actually left our quarter of the galaxy."
Adam's jaw dropped. "I . . . um . . . I did that?"
Sebrian smiled. "Indeed you did. Now, as far as the energy you blasted into the shield . . ."
"I didn't mean to do that. I meant to shoot it into space."
"No, no, Adam. You did a good thing. The energy combined with the shield's energy. This was all back fed into the Trithuseum Crystals, which in turn, transformed the energy and processed it back out. This resulted in a massive transformation of the shield. The shield became super-energized, stabilized, then faded away, creating a new, now natural atmosphere. Something about the interaction of your power, the Trithuseum, and the shield restarted the atmosphere. There is no need for the shield for our own world protects itself from the suns. And yes, you did that too. Not all of it, but you played a major role."
Adam sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Crazy couple of days."
"I agree."
Adam looked to the window. "Master Sebrian . . ."
"Yes?"
"Skeletor is my uncle."
"I know." Sebrian paused. "I learned quite some time before you did. I learned it during the confrontation with the Patheon, when I attacked Skeletor telepathically. I decided it was not my place to tell you, despite my wanting to."
Adam paused for a few moments, but then slowly nodded. "I guess I understand. It's just . . . all of this has given me a lot to think about. I'll have a lot of questions for my parents when I go home."
"Yes, I would think so." Sebrian stood up then. "Well, I'll let you get some more rest."
"Master Sebrian?"
"Hrm?"
"Can you get a full status report on Skeletor's Terror Pod, Denebria, and the atmospheric changes?"
It was strange hearing something that He-Man would say coming from Adam, but Sebrian smiled and nodded. "I'll send them right over with Caz."
XXXX
A week passed. It was a busy time for Primus, but one that was filling ever more with optimism. According to reports, Meriac was accepted as new leader of the Denebrian military and had already made himself a man of the people and made sure that peace lasts between the Mutants and Primus. The Mothership had been deconstructed and the moon of Nordor was being completely gutted of all military material.
Unknown to all but Flogg, all of Skeletor's items from his quarters were sealed away in a box and filed away at some unknown random storage facility.
As for Primus itself, life was finding a new status quo. There were very few adjustments needed to be made to the new atmosphere, save for ship redesigns. One such ship was the Starship Eternia, which was undergoing an overhaul.
After extensively reviewing all this information, Adam reached the point in which he felt it was safe to make public his desire to go home. While a few of his friends and allies knew about this desire, Adam told everyone that he was ready to go home.
One week after awakening from his long, restful sleep following the battle with Skeletor, Adam as He-Man approached the assembled Inner and Outer Council.
"I came here five years ago at the request of the Inner Council and the Cosmic Enforcers," he told them. "I was reluctant and unsure, only really concentrating on stopping Skeletor and helping the military get off the ground than anything else. But at some point early on, it all changed. On Primus, I made new friends and I found a new family. And with these new friends and family, I have found the strength help you see the end of this war and to help you restore your world.
"It would be easy to point to me and say that I am solely responsible for doing all of this. But that would be a lie. None of this would have happened if it not for the people of Primus and the Galactic Guardians. It was together were we able to defeat our enemy and find the start of a long-lasting peace with them. It was the united will of good that got us through this darkness of war.
"And so it, with the war over and my destiny here fulfilled, I turn now to my homeworld that I left five years ago. It is now my time to return home."
XXXX
"He-Man, we've got a bit of a problem," Flipshot said to He-Man the next day as He-Man met with him and Hydron at Galactic Guardians headquarters.
"What is it?"
"Well, we assumed your return trip would be the same as what we took to get you here, but there's been . . . an ugly development," Hydron explained.
"I don't like the sound of that."
"Yeah, I don't blame you," Flipshot added.
"We contacted the Galactic Council to verify your trip back. It turns out that a major chunk of space you were to be traveling in is sealed off."
"Why? How?"
"The collapse of the Horde Empire has led to a massive number of Horde generals striking out on their own and eventually creating a huge civil war that stretches far beyond the Horde's initial reach. As a result, a large expanse of space has been sealed off by a combination of the Cosmic Enforcers, the Galactic Council, and the Intergalactic Police," Hydron reported. "Now, it's possible to go around it, but we're talking about weeks and weeks of travel. We estimate up to seven weeks of travel time."
"Oh well, that's just great. Looks like I better get used to a shuttle wall."
"Shuttle?" questioned Flipshot.
"What shuttle?" asked Hydron.
"Well, I assumed I was taking a shuttle back to Eternia."
"He-Man!" Hydron exclaimed. "You helped save our world. You gave up your life on your home planet for us. You really think we're going to send you off in some crappy shuttle?"
"Well then what I am flying back?"
"Dude, you're getting the Starship Eternia. She's yours."
"You're kidding, right?" asked He-Man, smiling.
"Nope. What are we going to use her for? The war? Oh! It's over!" Flipshot added.
Hydron nodded in agreement. "We mean it. It's yours to keep. We've even thrown in a pair of Astrosubs and Bolajets in case something goes completely wrong."
"And what if something does go wrong?" asked He-Man.
"Well, that's why we're sending you off with Gleep and U-R," Hydron answered.
"Really?"
"Yeah. And if you want to, you can send them back in the Astrosub."
He-Man smiled and hugged them both. "Thank you."
XXXX
Adam's last night on Primus was spent packing things away. He took off all of his books from the shelves, the pictures off the wall, and just about everything else – including the sheets to his bed. The ones in the Starship Eternia were terrible. One final item was the ram skull from Skeletor's Havoc Staff. He locked this one up in a special case that Sebrian had given him and placed it by itself.
Just as he was about done overall packing, his doorbell rang.
"Come in," he called out. The door opened and Mara walked in. "Hey Mara."
"Sorry to just stop by, I just wanted to know if you needed help packing up."
"Nah. Just about all packed up. What's up?"
"I was in the neighborhood and I just . . . well, I wanted the chance to tell you that I appreciated everything you went through here on Primus. I, um, well . . ."
"What is it?"
"Well, to be honest, I also wanted to tell you that I'm sorry that things never worked out between us."
"Mara . . ."
"But I also wanted to let you know just how much your friendship has meant to me. Even it was a scrawny prince beneath all that muscle and power, it was wonderful knowing you. I'll always remember you."
Adam pulled her in for a hug and was surprised at just how different hugging Mara as Adam than it was as He-Man. Much to his surprise too, was Mara kissing him. He gave in to it and after a long moment, they broke.
"And what was that for?" asked Adam, her arms around her neck, looking up at him.
"A good bye kiss."
"You know, on Eternia, it's actually more traditional to say 'good journey' than 'good bye,'" Adam said.
"Well, okay." They kissed again. "Good journey kiss, then."
Adam smiled and kissed her forehead. "Thank you."
She pulled back from him and started for the door. "And thank you." She smirked. "You know, you and He-Man, not that different at all now that I know the secret."
Adam's smile widened. "Not much a secret now, huh?"
"Nope. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
XXXX
The next day, He-Man and all his belongings arrived at Sebrian's house. Beside the house was the Starship Eternia, primed and ready to go. He went through the doors of Sebrian's home and joined those guests within. Assembled within were Hydron, Flipshot, Kayo, Vizar, Nocturna, Tuskador, Artilla, Spinwit, Sagitar, Alcon, Gepple, Meloc, Krex, Master Sebrian, Gleep, U-R, Grot, Drissi, Caz and Mara. As they all talked and mingled and said their good byes, a massive breakfast was served at Sebrian's long dinning table.
"He-Man, by the way, I have a message from Counselor Werban for you," Sebrian stated. "He would like to tell you that he is glad he was wrong about not wanting you on Primus."
He-Man laughed a little a finished off his egg. "Nice to know I made a difference in his life."
"In all our lives, He-Man," Caz then said.
"Thank you, Caz."
Caz then lifted his cup. "Here's to He-Man, hero of Eternia and Primus. May he never forget us and may we never forget him."
"So we shall not!" exclaimed all, lifting their glasses.
He-Man was so very touched. As breakfast ended and suns moved ever closer to noon, He-Man pulled something out of his bag.
"This is the shield of Grayskull. It was given to me, quite obviously, after I became He-Man. Yesterday, I rechristened it. I'm going to pass it around. Have a look around the edge, all of you, and you'll see you name engraved in it. This is now the Shield of the Galactic Guardians, for it shall now protect me as you have protected Primus and the Tri-Solar System."
About an hour later, the time had come. With all of his things loaded up into the Starship Eternia and Gleep and U-R preparing the pre-launch sequence, He-Man confronted those that he shared his life with the past five years.
"Gentlemen," He-Man addressed Alcon, Meloc, Krex, and Gepple. "I want to thank you and congratulate for all the amazing break-throughs you uncovered while I was here. It has been an honor and a pleasure being with you fine people during my stay here. Good luck to you all in the future."
"Aw shucks.
"Thanks, He-Man."
"I have something in my eye."
"Good luck to you, too."
He-Man then moved onto Caz. "Caz, you've grown up into quite a man. I hope that I have been a good example to you and I hope that you shoot for your dreams, whatever they may be."
"Thank you, He-Man," Caz responded, shaking He-Man's hand firmly.
He-Man came to Drissi next. "Thank you for your friendship. You've always meant a lot to me."
"Thank you. You have to me too." She smiled and then blushed a little. "Best of luck and have a safe return home."
"I will, thank you." He-Man faced down the Mutant farmer known as Gort.
"I made sure you were well-stocked on fresh food, He-Man."
"Thank you, Gort. I always enjoyed food from your garden."
The Galactic Guardians were all lined up – save for Flipshot and Hydron, who stood by the gangway. "Kayo, Vizar, Nocturna, Tuskador, Artilla, Spinwit, Sagitar – it has been an honor and pleasure to serve alongside such fine warriors. I want to thank you all for your help. We saved not only each others lives, but the lives of millions. It couldn't have been done without you. Good job, men. Mission accomplished."
He shook each of their hands and then came to Hydron and Flipshot. "You two have become my best friends here on Primus. Thank you so much for bringing me the support I needed and for ultimately standing by me when times got tough."
"Yeah, well, you would have done the same for us," coughed Flipshot.
"I think what Flipshot is trying to say, He-Man, is that we owe you just as much of a thank you. Good bye, my friend."
"See ya," Flipshot said, awkwardly.
He-Man smiled slapped them both on the arms. He then met with Mara.
"Don't say anything," she told him. "I'm terrible with good byes or good journeys or whatever and I'll just end up bawling my - "
He did what she asked and threw his arms around her in a huge hug. "I meant what I said last night," she said into his ear.
"I know. You've meant a lot to me too. I'll never forget you."
He withdrew and saw that she had started crying. "Aw, damn, see what you did?" she tried to laugh.
His kissed her forehead then walked to the final one of his well wishers, Master Sebrian. The two shook hands.
"He-Man, I can't thank you enough for all that you have done for us here on Primus."
"I know. And I thank you, 'uncle,' for being such a kind person in such a dark time for your people. You are my inspiration. I am very happy you and I became friends."
"As I am, 'nephew,' as am I."
He-Man then walked up to the gangway and started up. Before he entered, though, he turned to them all and smiled. "I have a strange feeling our paths will cross again." He then looked around at them and then to the morning horizon. "If we do, then until that moment, good journey . . . and farewell. One for all, and all for one."
They repeated it and He-Man turned and walked in the Starship Eternia. The gangway closed up and the group left the launch perimeter of the Starship Eternia.
He-Man walked to the bridge, where Gleep and U-R sat at the controls. He then saw Clobber, his red feathered cybernetic bird sitting on top of his chair.
"Clobber! You're coming too, huh?" Clobber cawed a little and nodded. "It'll be good to have you on board, then."
The Starship Eternia launched up and He-Man watched as the group, the house, the Oasis and soon the entire planet of Primus shrank down in his vision. Within minutes, they were facing the deepness of space. He-Man leaned back in his chair and thought about the next seven weeks and just how long that was going to feel.
"Boys," he said to Gleep and U-R, "lay in a new course. Open the navigational charts and set aim for Eternia." He-Man then smiled broadly with small tears in his eyes. "Set a course for home."
XXXX
Author's Note:
Well, that's that, then. The saga of He-Man and Skeletor in the Tri-Solar System has come to an end. However, as one era ends, another one begins. The story of He-Man and Skeletor – and even the Tri-Solar System – has not yet reached conclusion.
Coming soon, a complete re-write of "The Final Adventure." Be on the look out for "Return to Eternia – Book One: Arrival."
I'd like to issue a special thanks to Wacky Martin, who helped me a lot with getting the source material. WM, if I screwed anything up, feel free to yell at me. Also, thanks goes out to Classic Cowboy, who gave me some advice that kicked this all off (though he probably doesn't remember the advice).
I should note that the majority of this story was written in 15 hour time period (though not consistent, I paused for TV, food, and the potty). I should also note that coffee and caffeine is my best friend. I need to brew a cup right now. Twitch.
See you soon! Remember – "Return to Eternia – Book One: Arrival!"
- thew40