Adam remained on the ground for a few moments, trying to gather his strength. He glanced behind him at the light, and discovered that as its pull had increased, so apparently had its size. He got to his feet and gazed at the light. Peace radiated from it, creating a longing within him. 'I'm so weary of it all,' he realized. 'Of fighting Skeletor and never getting anywhere; keeping secrets from my family and Teela; being thought of as a coward...I'm tired of feeling that my life is not my own. But most of all, I'm exhausted, and I can't seem to escape from feeling that way. I'm tired of being tired.' The light sang to him of peace and rest. He took a step towards it.
"Adam, stop!" his mother's voice came, desperate in its worry. "Stop whatever you are doing! You have to fight this. I KNOW you have the strength within you to break this spell and return to us. We love you. We need you. Fight, Adam, fight!"
Adam turned suddenly, breathing heavily. He'd almost forgotten where he was. The spell's power was growing stronger.
"I will not let it beat me," he muttered. "I'm getting out of here!"
He strode forward, ignoring the weakness, and immediately found himself on the palace grounds. Two girls ran forward to greet him, with his blond hair and Teela's green eyes, yelling, "Daddy, Daddy!" Astonishment and love for the two of them immediately filled his heart, and he bent down and scooped them both up in his arms, a huge grin splitting his face.
"It's about time you got home, my 'He-Man,'" Teela teased as she approached him. She gave him a proper kiss that he felt all the way to his toes, but her eyes told him how much she had missed him. "Is Skeletor finally gone for good?"
"Uh…" Adam hesitated, confused. Where had he just been? He didn't remember seeing Skeletor, much less defeating him.
"He may be gone, but I'm not," a gruff voice called out. Adam looked up to see Hordak and his minions dropping to the ground from a Horde ship. "I'll take those children with me."
"No," Adam whispered. Then again in a more panicked voice, "NO!"
"Who's going to stop me, whelp?" snorted Hordak. "You? You're nothing; without your sword, you can't become He-Man!" He grabbed Teela and threw her to Grizzlor, who held a knife to her throat. With a black mist, Shadow Weaver took the children from Adam's arms. He tried to hold onto them, but their arms were slippery, as if they had oil on them. The girls cried as they slipped from his grasp. Shadow Weaver and Catra held them tight. One of them looked up at the witch, defiance in her jutting chin.
"My daddy's gonna bash your brains in," she told the witch matter-of-factly. Adam's stomach clenched at the trust shown in him by his daughter.
Hordak transformed his arm into a blaster and pointed it at Adam, and evil grin twisted his face. "With your family as my prisoners, you'll have to obey my every command, 'He-Man,'" he spat with venom in his voice. "I'll rule Eternia through you, and learn the secrets of Grayskull."
It was a fear that haunted Adam every time he became He-Man—that he would have to choose between the life of an innocent and the fate of the world, possibly even the universe. But this…this was the reason he kept his identity a secret. As he recognized one of his greatest fears brought to light, Adam began to remember where he was and what was going on. He remembered that his sword had been missing earlier. He reached back and found nothing, as he'd expected.
'But if this is all in my mind, then I can control it,' he thought, hope stirring in his chest. 'Being without my sword is just another fear.' He concentrated for a moment, then reached again, this time coming up with the Sword of Power. Feeling both triumphant and more anger than he could ever remember, Adam tossed it easily from hand-to-hand, just as he did when he was He-Man. Hordak's face grew fearful, and he quickly fired at Adam. The prince blocked the shot and sent it directly back at Hordak, and the scene dissolved.
With the danger past, Adam felt the dizziness return. Each round of these memories and dreams seemed to take more and more out of him. He sat down, placed his head on his knees, and struggled to ignore the pull of the white light.
"We're losing him!" the Sorceress cried out frantically. "The spell has begun attacking his body!"
"Adam!" Cringer yelped. "Fight it!"
Orko was tired of feeling useless, so he tried to find the words that would encourage his friend. "Adam, please keep going. Eternia needs you. Teela and Man-at-Arms need you, too. Skeletor has them!"
Randor looked at Orko blankly, trying to figure out why Adam would be needed to rescue the two of them. Before he could dwell on it for too long, however, a new, anxious voice interrupted them.
"Where is he? Where's Adam?"
"Adora!" Marlena cried out.
"Thank goodness," Randor breathed.
Adora ran into the room and straight to Adam's side. Tears had been falling ever since her twin had gotten hit by the talisman. She had been in the middle of a fight, but she knew immediately his life was in grave danger. She swiped at her eyes as her parents both came up and put their arms around her. Her brother was so still and pale, and his breaths were shallow and few between. She placed a hand on his head; he was burning up. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen anyone so sick, except perhaps when Hordak ate that doomberry pie Skeletor had sent him.
"I came as soon as I could," she told the king and queen. "I knew something was dreadfully wrong. He's dying, isn't he?" Her heart stopped as Granamyr nodded. The great dragon was the only one responding. The others wouldn't meet her gaze. "Isn't there anything we can do?" she asked in a whisper.
"Talk to him, Adora," said the Sorceress. "He has been put under a powerful spell by Skeletor—"
"It should have been me," the king interrupted. "It was intended for me. Adam saved me." His voice choked on the last word, and he turned and strode out of the room. Marlena cast a worried glance at Adam and went after her husband. Adora watched them, surprise on her face. 'Adam saved Father without being He-Man?'
"Can't the magic of Grayskull heal him?" she asked. "Perhaps She-Ra could-"
"I'm afraid not," interrupted the Sorceress. "Any attempt at curing him by magic will only harm him. Science can do nothing either. Adam alone holds his fate in his hands. The best we can do is talk to him. He seems to be able to hear us."
At Cringer's and Orko's urgings, Adam struggled to his feet and trudged on. He was feeling much worse this time. Even the thought of Duncan and Teela being held captive by Skeletor didn't give him any additional energy. He knew that his body was losing the fight against this spell. He ached all over, as if he had run a marathon, swum across the Eternian Ocean, and come down with a fever. 'It's in my mind,' he told himself, not knowing that his body truly was fighting a raging fever. He focused on thoughts of his family and friends, and ignored how his body felt.
Suddenly, he was faced with his worst fear. Like the last one, this didn't start with a memory, it just appeared. He stumbled over something, and as he caught himself and looked down, he found the lifeless face of Fisto. Bile rose in his throat as he scrambled awkwardly to his feet again, his eyes casting wildly about. Bodies surrounded him. The ground was covered in blood. Adam began walking again, tears burning in his eyes as he recognized the bodies of Ram-Man, Man-E-Faces, Stratos, Buzz-Off, and all of the other Masters.
"Orko," he whispered, crouching down next to the tiny Trollan's lifeless form. "Oh, no." He stood reluctantly, knowing he had to continue on. He could no longer control the tears when he spotted Battle Cat, Duncan, Teela, his parents, even Adora…all dead. The stench of death was heavy in the air, as was the complete and utter silence that spoke of a great battle.
"Oh, Ancients, no," he prayed. "Please don't let this happen. Don't let it."
Resisting the urge to remain near his family and friends, Adam made his way towards Castle Grayskull, which loomed before him in the darkness. He already knew in his heart what he would find there. Every step was full of agony. He desperately wished the nightmare would end.
The Sorceress lay in the doorway, her lifeless eyes staring up at him as if to ask why he hadn't prevented this, and Adam shuddered. He forced himself to continue on. There, on the throne of Grayskull, sat a triumphant Skeletor, his laugh echoing off the walls of the castle.
This Skeletor was twice his normal size and radiated power; he'd obviously already learned the secrets of Grayskull. He ruled Eternia, and soon would take the universe. Adam knew all of this as he stood there, sword in hand. This threat, more than anything else, was what drove him to protect Grayskull. It was the reason he became He-Man. It was why he feared failure in his task as Eternia's champion.
"So the cowardly Prince Adam has managed to last longer than any other person against the Talisman of Kaspanya," Skeletor cackled. "It will do you no good! Your body is weakened with disease, and your mind is exhausted! You cannot win! And I have already claimed Grayskull for my own! There is nothing you can do to stop me! Nothing!" He raised his havoc staff and fired a blast at Adam, who tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough. The blast hit him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. He lay still, completely spent.
'I can't do it. I'm so tired. Maybe if I just rest a few moments. Maybe then I'll feel better. No. I must get up,' he thought. 'He said I've lasted longer than anyone else. I mustn't give up. I can beat him.'
He raised himself to his hands and knees, then heard a new voice.
"Adam! I know you can hear me," Adora said. "Listen carefully. Adam, you must remember that He-Man's heart is your heart. His mind is your mind. Without you, there wouldn't be a He-Man. Use those powers, my brother. Use your hero's heart and mind to break this spell and come back to us, now!"
"What's this?" Skeletor snapped, his eyes glowing red. "Somebody's CHEATING!" Adam set his jaw and sprang to his feet with renewed determination. Skeletor sent another blast at the prince, but this one missed as Adam dove to the side. He deflected the next blast right back at Skeletor. When it hit the evil villain, the façade faded away, leaving someone Adam didn't recognize.
"Who are you?" he demanded. The figure's long black hair flowed around bony shoulders. The pale face twisted into the same sinister smile Adam had seen on He-Man's face earlier. The eyes were nothing but black emptiness, reminding him of Skeletor's eyes when they weren't glowing red. But this thin man was not He-Man's eternal nemesis.
"I am Lord Kaspanya, whelp," the creature rasped. "You may as well give in to me now. I will never leave you until I have conquered you. Your soul will be mine. I have waited long for a soul with strength such as yours, so that I may be free of this wretched prison."
"You'll not have me," Adam responded, tightening his grip on the sword. The villain laughed.
"The only way I will ever leave your mind is for you to destroy my talisman, and if you do that, I am free. Either way, I win."
"I don't think so," Adam challenged. But doubt lingered in his mind. He couldn't unleash this evil on the world, but if he didn't, it seemed that it would eventually kill him. Was there any way out of this?
'First thing first,' he told himself. 'I have to break this spell, and wake up.' Adam looked around and suddenly realized that Kaspanya's spell was already weakening. The walls of Grayskull were becoming hazy. With a yell, he suddenly charged up the steps to the throne, right at Kaspanya. He expected the blade and staff to meet, but instead he went right through the wizard, and in a burst of light, it was over.