One more chapter after this and then this story goes on hiatus for a while. With that said, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is produced by Dreamworks Animation Television, and both She-Ra and He-Man are owned by Mattel.

Chapter 15: Vengeance is Mine

(1.23456 seconds later)

As if to serve as a pallet cleanser after that last disturbing scene, the two narrators threw the group into yet another montage of stills.

"And thus began the five year period known as the Great Unrest." The Sorceress began. "Kingdoms were sacked. Villages burned. Every day was a new catastrophe. But compared to the two hundred years of darkness brought on by Etheria's disappearance, the Unrest was quite manageable."

"Indeed." Shadow Weaver took over. "For although the Elders had vanished, the Elder Guard was still intact. And under your Father's leadership, they along with the fledgling Masters of the Universe set about the task of taming the world's madness. And when at last this task was complete, the people of Eternia all but unanimously proclaimed him to be their new King."

"Never being one to refuse a good offer, he graciously accepted his new position and with the help of his friends and allies he worked tirelessly to rebuild Eternia from the ground up. For a time it seemed as though our world had entered a new age of peace and prosperity." The ancient goddess took over again before adopting a slightly more somber tone. "But unfortunately, it was not to last. For peace had made Randor careless."

XXX

(Half a second later)

Once more, our heroes found themselves in a brand-new scene. This time it was in what appeared to be a large brightly colored room. The walls were decorated with painted images of winged horses, golden deer and a man with horns playing some kind of flute. The floor, which looked to be covered in soft shag carpeting, was littered with blocks and all manner of other infantile toys. And in the far corner there was what seemed to be a changing table and diaper pail.

Clearly this was a baby's room.

Over in the corner, next to some kind of ornate chest of drawers, was a large crib. And standing over said crib, looking down at two, adorable, probably only a few month old infants, was her Mother.

Suddenly, the young Heroine felt a strange fluttering sensation inside her chest; or at least where her chest would be if she had a body. It was like what she felt when she first saw her Father fighting Keldor, but different. It was difficult to explain. But somehow, even though she knew this was only an illusion, she could almost feel the love radiating off the older woman.

That's when she began to sing.

"Baby mine, don't you cry~ Baby mine, dry your eyes~ Rest your head close to my heart~ Never to part~ Baby of mine~" the Queen sang so soft and sweetly that the fluttering sensation grew even more pronounced. "Little one, when you play~ Don't you mind what they say~ Let those eyes sparkle and shine~ Never a tear~ Baby of mine~"

Adora wanted to cry, but at the moment she had no eyes. So instead she just let the fluttering grow worse and worse until there was a light knock on the door.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

"Come in." the Queen answered softly.

Slowly the door opened and in came a short, elderly woman with snow white hair and a maid's outfit.

"Oh, hello there, Eve." Her Mother said sweetly. "What can I do for you?"

"Begging Your Majesty's pardon, but it's time you went to bed." The old woman replied. "You're still not quite up to snuff after that scare you gave us during the delivery."

"I know, but I just wanted to stay with them until they fell asleep."

"Now, now, dearie. It's His Majesty's orders. And don't you worry one bit about the wee ones. I'll watch over them tonight. It's what you pay me for, after all."

"Well… alright. I suppose I am a little tired." The Queen admitted before turning around to kiss her children on the foreheads. "Goodnight, my lovelies."

And with that said, she quietly made her way out of the room; pausing for only a moment to talk to the nursemaid.

"Goodnight, Eve."

"And goodnight to you too, dearie."

And then she was gone.

At first, the old nursemaid just stood where she was, as if waiting for something to happen. Then after several minutes she smiled and said,

"Alright, the coast is clear."

Suddenly, there was a series of sickening cracks. The old woman's body began to stretch and convulse as if her skeleton was being rearranged. After about five minutes of this disgusting display, the old bag finally stopped, only now she wasn't an old bag anymore. Now she was a young girl, about fifteen years old, with lavender hair done up in a bun.

"Phew. That really takes it out of ya." The young girl said, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Starting to regret not bringing along some of Daddy's special salve."

'Daddy?' Adora repeated to herself internally. 'Is that Evelyn? Nikolas' little girl?'

But of course, she already knew the answer.

As the young minx walked across the room to the crib, a long staff with a crystal ball on top materialized out of thin air and into her hand. Upon reaching her destination, she looked down at the two infants and smiled again.

"Aww~ So cute~" she said sweetly before waving her free hand over the innocent babes. "Fires of Hate and Plains of Starkness, send these brats to the Well of Darkness!"

And with a quick burst of purple light, they vanished without a trace.

"And now, the coup de gras." The young witch said smugly as she placed a small scroll into the crib.

Then with a gentle tap of her staff against the floor, she vanished as well.

XXX

(One second later)

Once more, and for the final time, Adora and the others found themselves in a new scene. And oh what a dismal scene it was. All around them was a barren rocky wasteland, while high above a pitch black sky cracked and boomed as if the world was coming to an end. But by far the worst sight was the one directly in front of them; a gigantic swirling vortex of dark energy.

Suddenly, the young Heroine wasn't feeling so well.

"Okay, that's enough." Said Adam, having apparently sensing his sister's distress. "We get the gist of it, we don't need to see the rest."

"I'm sorry." The Sorceress replied. "But once begun, these visions cannot be stopped. I'm afraid you must all see this through to the end."

Just then a new figure arrived on the scene. It was her Father, Captain… no… King Randor. He looked much older than the last time she'd seen him, but he was still unmistakable. Only now instead of righteous determination, his face was a mask of fear and anxiety. Which was understandable, given the circumstances.

"Keldor!" he shouted. "Where are you! Show yourself!"

"Alright, alright, you don't have to yell." Said a familiarly snarky voice from the opposite shore. Seemingly from out of nowhere, the vile villain appeared; his face still conveniently concealed by his hood. "About time you showed up. I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost."

"Where are they?"

"You'll see soon enough." Keldor replied smugly. "But first, a brief history lesson. Ahem. One thousand years ago, our humble planet was struck by a mysterious cataclysm which created the Light and Dark Hemispheres, as well as the swirling vortex of evil you see before you. Behold the Well of Darkness. A natural portal that opens but for a few hours once every hundred years. Some say it leads to a nightmare realm, home to ancient horrors older than the universe itself. Others say it just leads to an airless void. Either way I…"

"Enough!" Randor belted harshly. "I'm in no mood for your games, Keldor! Just tell me…"

"THAT IS NOT MY NAME!" the hooded man roared back; a glow of hellish red emanating from where his eyes should be. "That man died! You saw to that! Now there is only me. Now there is only Skeletor!"

As if to illustrate this fact, the villain pulled back his hood just a bit; enough to allow everyone present to get a good look at his face. Which, to both Adora and her Father's horror, now consisted of an eyeless, fanged skull.

"Not a pretty sight, is it?" the faceless man asked jokingly before his anger resurfaced. "You did this to me!"

"You… You brought this on yourself. Just like everything else." Randor replied, his horror quickly replaced with rage. "My Father took you in when you had nothing. I welcomed you as a brother. And you repaid our kindness with pettiness and betrayal."

"Oh don't give me that. You were always jealous of me. I was the better student. The better fighter. The better son! You hated me. That's why you begged Miro to name you as his successor instead of me! Just to spite me!"

"That's not what happened!"

"LIAR!" the skull-faced man roared, his voice rattling some of the nearby rocks. "sigh. But no matter. All that's in the past. The only thing that matters now is what happens next."

With that said, an ornate staff topped with the skull of a ram materialized in Skeletor's hand. Then without the slightest hesitation he tapped the bottom of the staff against the ground, causing the earth beneath himself and Randor shoot upwards; forming a pair of narrow rocky towers. Said towers rose to about fifty or sixty feet high before they finally stopped; leaving one man shaken and the other one smirking.

"There, are you satisfied now, Keldor?" the warrior King asked sternly. "You wanted to see me scared? Well I'm scared! I'm scare for my children's lives! Now where are they?"

"Patience, Randor. You're ruining the ambiance." Skeletor said mockingly. "Your children are fine. In fact they're right here!"

With another tap of his staff, two glowing orbs appeared in the space between the two men; each one containing a small, sleeping infant.

"Adam! Galatea!"

"Shhh~ They're sleeping." Said the faceless man jokingly. "Now, I had this whole speech prepared, but since you took so long to get here I'll make this brief. I'm going to throw one of your children into that portal and you're going to pick which one."

"What?"

"I said…"

"I heard what you said, but you can't be serious! Keldor, this isn't…"

"Stop calling me that!" the vile rogue roared. "Keldor is dead! I am Skeletor now, do you hear me? Skeletor!"

"Dear Lord… you've gone completely mad…"

"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Skeletor cackled manically. "Are you kidding? Between your father robbing me of my rightful position and you melting my face off, I'm surprised I'm even this sane."

"Enough!" Randor shouted sternly. "This is just between you and me. So why don't you let my children go and we'll settle this like men. What do you say?"

"Hmmm…. NOPE!" the madman replied cartoonishly. "Now, point and choose the one you want to die."

"Keldor, this is insanity."

"Stop calling me that and choose!"

"I'm not going to….

"CHOOSE NOW, RANDOR!"

"NO!"

"FINE!"

And with another tap of his staff, the orbs dissipated and the twins dropped like a couple of lead rakes.

The next couple of minutes happened so quickly that Adora could barely keep up, but I'll do my best to summarize.

Almost the exact second his children began to fall, Randor sprang into action. He dove off the side like an Olympian, and once he was about halfway down he fired a grappling hook from his wrist at the opposite tower. He then used his momentum to swing around and grab one of the falling infants. He nearly managed to grab the other one, but he missed by just a hair.

"NO!" screamed the King.

"YES!" cried Skeletor.

And a split second later, the wailing child disappeared into the inky black vortex.

"GALATEA!"

And a split second after that the vortex was gone; leaving only a large, shallow hole.

"NO!" Randor screamed again before detaching the cable from his wrist; causing him to fall and land roughly on his feet; his infant son still wailing in his arms. "GALATEA! GALATEA!"

"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Skeletor cackled from atop his rocky tower. "Yes! That's it! That's the face I've been waiting for! The pain! The despair! The soul crushing loss! OH~ It's so delicious it just has to be fattening."

But of course, Randor did not find this at all amusing. After gently setting his son down, he drew his sword and fixed the faceless fiend with a glare that would freeze the blood of Lucifer himself.

While hopelessly insane, Skeletor was far from stupid. So rather than risk a beating from an enraged tyrant, he tapped his staff on the ground one more time and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Left with no outlet for his rage, Randor soon succumbed to his sorrow and fell to his knees in tears.

Elsewhere in present day, Adora was on the verge of doing the same.

End Notes:

"Baby Mine" is the property of the Disney Corporation. I do not own the rights to this song.

With that said, thanks for reading.

Peace.