Chapter Six- Giving In

Man-At-Arms studied Teela and the guards. It had been three weeks since they've been bitten and Skeletor had them transforming and following Adam in simply terrorizing and destroying villages at least once a week. He felt sick whenever Adam recounted their acts, starting with the attack on Moragore. The others had simply sat there and listened to Adam repeating these stories. He wondered what they were thinking now, three weeks later. "Teela, talk to me," he asked. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking…that maybe we should give in."

"'Give in'?"

"Give in to Skeletor and our wolf sides."

"Teela, what kind of talk is that?" he demanded.

"The guards agree with me." She nodded to them and they responded in turn. "No one knows what happened to us and when the full moon comes next week, we'll be wild and commit who knows what evil. It would be better to just give in to evil now than be conflicted during the full moon next week."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His strong-willed daughter was thinking of joining the side of evil. He shook his head as he closed his eyes. I'll get some sleep and when I wake up, I'll try to bring Teela and the guards back around to fighting Skeletor and his control. We will get through this.

Adam headed to the dungeon. The full moon was next week and he thought he might lock himself up since he would be wild those three nights. So, he wanted to choose a sturdy cell that would hold him and of course, Skeletor could order him to sleep throughout the night. As he emerged from the stairway, he saw Teela and the guards awake, but Man-At-Arms was asleep. He ignored the stares of the other three as he tested out the cells at random. He finally decided he would use the one directly across from Teela. Nodding to himself, he turned to leave.

"Adam, can we talk?" Teela asked, sounding calm and conversationally.

"All right." He turned to face her.

"The guards and I have been thinking of giving in to Skeletor and our wolf sides. We figured it would be better to join the side of evil now instead of a conflicted conclusion to evil next week."

"I see. And Man-At-Arms?"

"He hasn't reached the same conclusion."

"I'll talk to Master Skeletor and tell you what he says."

"Thank you," Teela said as Adam headed back up. He was elated at what he had just heard. He suspected the weekly transformations would break down their resistance to evil. He thought the guards would give in first and that Teela and Man-At-Arms would give in after the first or second full moon. Instead, only Duncan was still fighting it. Well, the full moon should fix that.

When Man-At-Arms awoke, he found he was alone in the cell and Adam was standing on the other side. He looked like the Adam he knew for years, but there seemed to be something different about him. It's his eyes, he realized. There's an evil glint in them. He went up to the door. "Where's Teela? The guards?" he demanded.

"They're patrolling the palace," he replied. "They have pledged loyalty to my master. You're only one who hasn't."

"And I never will."

"You will," Adam's voice now held a dark evil tone. "When the full moon comes, you will be feral and wild like the rest of us, only we won't be conflicting with good or evil."

Man-At-Arms bit his lip as Adam left. He was afraid the Adam might be right: When the full moon comes, he would be wild there would be no denying that, but would he be conflicted in between nights? If I'm locked up all three nights, I doubt I'll be conflicted as I wouldn't be able to attack anyone. They won't break me that easily.

A week later, Adam, Teela, and the guards secured themselves in separate cells. Adam suspected that when they changed, they would kill each other if in the same cell. Man-At-Arms looked across the room where Adam was secured with Teela in the one next to the prince. Adam looked calm since he had already changed into a wild werewolf. Teela was apprehensive; she kept glancing at her cellmates and then her hands.

He was about to say something when an agonizing burning was felt in his stomach and then spread to his entire body. He knew he was transforming and resolved to keep his mind after he changed. He would not allow the werewolf within to overwhelm him with wild, feral instincts. The burning feeling faded and before he could begin to fight the internal war, it was over: The werewolf's feral instincts were too strong to overcome. He snarled and growled as he rammed the cell door as did the others. All five doors held firm and as Man-At-Arms readied for another attempt, the voice of his master rang out, "Sleep, everyone. Sleep until morning." Suddenly, very tired, Man-At-Arms curled up and was deep asleep in minutes as were the other four.

Adam awoke to the sound of a cell door opening. He opened his eyes to see Beast Man shuffling past his open door, obviously to release Teela and the guards. He stepped up to the door to see Man-At-Arms waking up. Adam closed the door behind him and allowed Beast Man and the others to leave the dungeon. He was about to leave when Man-At-Arms said, "Adam, there must be a way out of this. What about your sword? Change to He-Man."

"I can't," he replied, looking over at his mentor. "I tried before the full moon and after the first full moon night. When I…killed Mother, I think I was deemed unworthy to have the sword's power. He-Man is dead and you would be better off obeying Skeletor like the rest of us have."

Man-At-Arms' eyes narrowed. "I will never give in!"

"I see. Well, we'll see you tonight." Adam walked upstairs. That didn't go according to the plan. Skeletor had special instructions for me before ordering everyone to sleep and that was to assess Man-At-Arms' feelings on obeying our master. He still hasn't succumbed, but I'm sure my master has a backup plan.

"Of course, I have a backup plan," Skeletor said after Adam gave his report. "We will deliberately leave his cell door unlocked. He will escape and when he changes tonight, with some luck, he'll attack and kill someone."

"Is it possible he'll curse someone, Master?" Teela asked.

"It's possible, Captain. But when wild, it's more likely that death will occur instead of surviving the attack.

"So, Beast Man, when it's noon, you will give Man-At-Arms lunch and leave the door unlocked. We will watch from the Throne Room for his escape. Then we will wait until dawn for him to return. If he does not, I will order him to return."

Adam nodded; he remembered his cell had been left unlocked on the day of the first full moon. If it hadn't been left unlocked, I wouldn't have killed Mother. But, I still would have given into evil, so that detail doesn't matter. Anyway, the plan was a good one. If all went well, Man-At-Arms would willingly join the side of evil by dawn tomorrow.