He-Man waited for the others to get close to Snake Mountain. He'd pointed them in a direction where there were fewer sensors, and chose to make his own approach in an area where the sensors would pick him up almost immediately. He hoped this would keep the attention off of the rescue party.
Eternia's champion gritted his teeth as he finally walked forward. As He-Man, he rarely experienced long-term injuries or weakness. Grayskull's power usually healed him, but the Sorceress had warned him that it could not do so this time, since the strain had been caused by Grayskull's magic in the first place. He'd never had to fight a lengthy battle on his own feeling this poorly. His thoughts drifted towards what would happen if Skeletor, believing the talisman to be fully functional again, trained it on him.
The smell of death and decay penetrated his mind. It always smelled this way around Snake Mountain, but now it reminded him of the dream scene at Grayskull, with bodies strewn all over the place…
He-Man shook his head to clear it. 'Focus, Adam,' he told himself. He concentrated on the gray and black landscape, and the horrible snake twisted around the mountain before him. Suddenly, Evil-Lyn appeared before him.
"He-Man, how nice of you to visit us," she cooed. "I haven't seen you in weeks. I've missed those big, gorgeous muscles of yours."
Bile rose in his throat. "Cut the chatter, Evil-Lyn," he demanded. "I've come as Skeletor requested. Tell him to let Teela and Man-at-Arms go."
"I don't think so, Muscle Boy," she said, her voice still soft but her eyes sparking with anger. "First we get you, then we let them loose."
He-Man had fully expected this, and played along to give She-Ran and the others as much time as possible.
"No way am I going to trust you, witch," he said, trying to bait her a little. "Let them go first, and I give you my word that I will come quietly."
Evil-Lyn looked at him sharply, then suddenly started purring again. "Why He-Man," she said softly, walking in a circle around him. "You look positively awful. What have you been doing to yourself?"
"Let Duncan and Teela go," He-Man ordered again, quietly.
"Very well," she said. Talking into a communicator, she continued, "Skeletor, He-Man has given his word. You can release them now."
"Good! Bring him to me!" Skeletor's voice returned.
"I'm not going anywhere until I see that they are safe and sound," He-Man insisted, straining to keep his voice strong. His legs were already growing weary from standing there.
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Evil-Lyn said. "They're already back at the palace. See for yourself." She held out her crystal wand, which showed Teela and Duncan back at the palace, looking confused.
"How do I know you haven't conjured up a false image?" he challenged her, positive that's what she'd done.
Evil-Lyn had the gall to look offended. 'How I would love to wipe that look off her face…' He-Man shook his head. Violent thoughts weren't going to help.
"You can come inside and see for yourself that our dungeons are conspicuously empty," Evil-Lyn invited. "But first I need your sword."
For the first time, He-Man smirked. "Did you really think I'd let you have both me and the Power Sword? I don't have it. I left it where it's safe from your evil hands."
Evil-Lyn glared at him. "You think you're so smart," she rasped. "Wait until Skeletor gets a hold of you!" With a wave of her wand, she encased him in a floating energy field, wrapped tightly around his torso and legs.
'Now I have to hope I can distract Skeletor long enough for the others to find Duncan and Teela,' he thought.
Having to rely on Battle Cat's nose was slow going. It was nearly a half-hour before he could even pick up Duncan and Teela's scent, and with each passing moment, She-Ra became more concerned about He-Man.
'Oh well, at least we haven't been detected yet,' she thought in relief. Just then, the sirens started to blare for the second time. 'Oops. Either we've been spotted or Orko has.'
Beastman, Tri-Clops, and Kobra Khan suddenly appeared around them.
"Give up, you fools," Tri-Clops commanded. "We have you surrounded!" Evil-Lyn suddenly appeared as well, making his statement true.
Still, She-Ra smirked as she drew the Sword of Protection. "I don't know, I'd say you're severely understaffed for this task."
Everyone seemed to spring into action at once. Battle Cat leaped at Beastman, his claws tearing into the evil warrior. At the same time, Kobra Khan tried to use his sleep gas on everyone. Mekanek, who was closest, extended his head above the gas, as Stratos flew above it. She-Ra took a deep breath and blew it out of the tunnel, blocking one of Evil-Lyn's spells with her sword at the same time.
Tri-Clops landed the first blow for the evil warriors. Shooting a laser beam out of his eye, he singed Stratos' wing, sending the gray Avion to the ground. Mekanek took out a blaster and stunned Kobra Khan relatively easily, but Tri-Clops was on a roll, and kept Mekaneck dodging this way and that. Beastman was useless to his fellow minions, as Battle Cat had severed a tendon in his leg, and now stood guard over him.
Evil-Lyn shot several blasts at She-Ra. After a few backflips, She-Ra managed to deflect one towards Tri-Clops, and he was put into a sound sleep. Realizing she was the only one left standing, Evil-Lyn quickly retreated back to the cell where Teela and Man-at-Arms were being held, to regroup with Trap Jaw and Webstor.
As soon as He-Man and Evil-Lyn entered Skeletor's presence, He-Man knew he was in more trouble than he'd bargained for. The Sorceress had been right; Kaspanya had not fully withdrawn, and in the presence of the green and purple talisman around Skeleltor's neck, an invisible tendril of magic leapt from the stone and reached out; He-Man could feel it in the air, and then it touched him. It was only a small amount of the power, but He-Man's body suddenly felt as if it were on fire again. He clenched his jaw and wondered how long he could survive this war between the two magical forces.
"He-Man?" A hand slapped across his face and he focused in on Skeletor. "Pay attention! How am I supposed to gloat if you're practically sleeping!" He glared at Evil-Lyn. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing, Skeletor," she denied. "He was almost this bad outside. He looks sick."
"He-Man sick…" Skeletor mused. "I would think the power of Grayskull would prevent that. No matter. It simply adds to my moment of triumph to see my old enemy reduced to this!" He cackled gleefully, then lifted the talisman in his hand. "And now, to rid myself of you forever. Say hello to Prince Adam for me!"
'Have to get them more time,' He-Man realized groggily. He muttered something aloud.
"Eh? What's that you're mumbling?" Skeletor said. He was perfectly content to prolong this moment, since He-Man was obviously in so much distress.
He-Man rallied his strength and met Skeletor's gaze. "I said, if this is your moment of triumph, why use the talisman, Skeletor? Let's go at it, just you and me. No weapons, no magic. Just think of how much more satisfying it would be for you." Skeletor seemed to light up from the inside, and He-Man knew he almost had him. Unfortunately, the intruder alarm started screaming just then.
Skeletor turned quickly to Evil-Lyn. "It must be a rescue party. Go stop them. I don't want to lose my bargaining chips." She nodded and disappeared.
"I knew you lied," He-Man spat at Skeletor.
"Of course I did," Skeletor snapped back. "Do you take me for a fool? Now where were we?" he asked with some delight, lifting the talisman again. A spark flew from it to He-Man, and the hero flinched.
Skeletor stared at He-Man thoughtfully. "Interesting. Does the Talisman of Kaspanya bother you, He-Man?" Eternia's champion said nothing. "Is that what's caused you to look so awful? But how could that be? I set the spell on Prince Adam, not you." He continued to stare at He-Man, trying to puzzle it out. Suddenly a look of surprise came to his face.
"It can't be," he muttered, still staring at the warrior.
He-Man felt his blood drain from his face.
After She-Ra healed Stratos' injury, Battle Cat found the scent again, and he led them straight to Teela and Duncan, who were behind a false wall. As soon as they entered the cave-like area, a brilliant flash of light blinded them all. Before they could recover, Stratos and She-Ra were both encased in webbing, and Trap Jaw had stunned Mekanek. Teela and Duncan watched helplessly as their would-be rescuers were overcome in a single moment.
But the evil warriors had not counted on Battle Cat.
Sensing that the danger to He-Man was growing with every second, Battle Cat's ferociously protective nature was kicking in full force. When Trap Jaw pointed his cannon on him, Battle Cat turned his armor towards the villain. The stun blast bounced harmlessly off of the tiger's saddle. Battle Cat used that minute to leap up and tear through She-Ra's bonds, and then charged headlong into the cell, smashing the metal bars to pieces.
Her back stinging where Battle Cat's claw had gone a little too deep, She-Ra dropped to the ground and with a sweep of her leg, knocked Evil-Lyn to the ground. She wasn't disappointed to see the witch hit her head hard and black out. Picking up the Sword of Protection from where it had fallen earlier, she managed to turn and block Trap-Jaw's blast. Seeing both of her enemies focused on her, She-Ra waited for a heartbeat, and then jumped into the air, somersaulting between them. Webstor's net missed her and wrapped around Trap Jaw, and Trap Jaw's blast stunned his cohort.
"That should hold you for a while," She-Ra said. She ran over to Duncan and Teela and quickly broke their chains.
"What a relief," Teela said, pulling a face as she dropped the gag. "Thanks, She-Ra."
"Yes, thank you! Uh, where's He-Man? I thought the Sorceress said he was coming with you," Duncan asked as casually as he could manage. He could tell from She-Ra's eyes that something was wrong.
"He surrendered to Skeletor to buy us enough time to find you," She-Ra quickly explained. "I fear he is in great danger. We must go, now."
After freeing Stratos, they put the still-sleeping Mekaneck on Battle Cat's back and raced towards Skeletor's throne room.
"How did you do it?" Skeletor asked He-Man.
He-Man stared at him blankly, not sure what he meant.
"Prince Adam isn't dead, is he?" Skeletor demanded. "You took on the curse of the talisman for him, somehow. That's not supposed to be possible. How did you do it?" He shook his head. He-Man closed his eyes, relief washing through him that Skeletor had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
"Never mind, I don't really care. All that matters is that by doing so, you've doomed yourself!" Skeletor cackled in delight and lifted the talisman for the third time.
"So you're really going to let that rock do your dirty work, eh bonehead?" He-Man asked, re-opening his eyes and trying to remain calm. "You can see how weak it's made me. Are you still afraid to face me man-to-man?"
Skeletor stared at He-Man thoughtfully for a moment. He knew very well what the muscle-bound buffoon was trying to do, but the idea held an incredible amount of appeal for Skeletor. To crush his enemy with his own hands…. He took careful stock of the hero's appearance. There were dark circles under He-Man's eyes. His body glistened with sweat, and he wasn't even doing anything. Slight tremors seemed to be running through him as well. Skeletor snapped his fingers, and the energy field disappeared, dropping He-Man to the floor.
"Very well, fool," Skeletor hissed. "Let's finish this."
He-Man drew in a great breath. Although the talisman's power was not affecting his mind, the war between its power and Grayskull's power continued to ignite a fever within him. The stone floor felt wonderfully cool, but He-Man knew he couldn't stay there. He slowly drew his feet under him and stood, careful not to let either of his knees touch the ground. He knew it was a foolish pride, but the thought of even looking like he was kneeling to Skeletor sickened him.
He had no sooner climbed to his feet than Skeletor took a swing. Surprising them both, He-Man caught it in his hand—for only a split second. It was more of a deflection than a stop, and proved to them both that the hero wasn't himself.
"I don't think you're going to win this one, He-Man," Skeletor grunted as he kicked He-Man in the stomach. He-Man went flying back, and was grateful to land against a wall so he didn't have to work at standing back up.
'How pitiful is that?' he asked himself with a slight groan. It was time to stop feeling sorry for himself, he decided. He straightened up and called on reserves he didn't know were there. As Skeletor approached and threw another punch, He-Man dodged it and threw out his arm, connecting with Skeletor's side and knocking him to the ground. Skeletor swiped his leg around, trying to trip He-Man, but the hero jumped up and avoided the impact. Skeletor leaped up, prepared to swing again at He-Man. With all his strength, He-Man drew back and punched Skeletor in the face, and the villain went reeling back, still on his feet, but barely. He-Man leaned back against the wall, panting heavily.
"I've had enough of this!" Skeletor exclaimed. "I know that for once I could beat you in a fair fight, He-Man, but I'm not interested in fair fights. I'm only interested in getting rid of you!" He held up the talisman and fired it directly at He-Man.
He-Man let his legs collapse, hoping to dodge the bolt, but he could see it change direction, reaching out for him. The connection was binding it to him. There would be no escape.
Suddenly, Orko was there in front of him, holding something up and muttering a spell. The bolt froze in mid-air. Then, it separated. A ghost-like version of Kaspanya, looking rather bemused, floated to the side, and the rest of the bolt flew into the crystal in Orko's hand. Both Kaspanya and the crystal disappeared, and the talisman shattered.
"NO!" Skeletor raged. He pointed his havoc staff at Orko and began firing blasts at the Trollan, who flew around the room dodging them. "He-Man! Catch!" the Trollan yelled. His extra hand appeared from within his hat, tossing He-Man the Sword of Power.
Adrenaline surging as he watched his friend being attacked; He-Man sprang to his feet and caught the sword. With the raging fire gone from his body, he was finally able to focus. The soreness and weakness that plagued his body seemed like a minor annoyance after the pain he'd experienced earlier. He lunged at Skeletor, knocking him down, and the two began wrestling on the ground for the havoc staff. Skeletor managed to get a foot onto He-Man's stomach and push him off. He-Man fell onto his back and his head smacked the ground; his vision darkened for a few seconds. He forced himself to roll, and felt the heat from one of Skeletor's magical bolts hit the ground where he'd just been lying. He pulled himself into a crouch, and tried to sweep Skeletor's legs out from under him. Skeletor leaped to the opposite side of the room and the two of them stood there, panting heavily and glaring at each other.
"You're mine, this time, He-Man," Skeletor muttered. He lunged forward, and the staff and sword met with a clang. With a twist of his wrist, He-Man disarmed Skeletor, but the villain wasn't done. From his hand, he shot a bolt at the hero, which He-Man barely deflected. Then Skeletor began using both hands, firing rapidly. He-Man blocked most of them and dodged the others, but one of the blasts finally caught He-Man in the arm, and it numbed the entire limb. Skeletor went in to press his advantage when a blanket appeared out of nowhere, covering his face.
"What!?"
Orko chuckled. "Guess you forgot about me, bone brain!"
He-Man gave Orko a tired grin. "Nice going, little buddy."
Just as Skeletor pulled off the blanket, the rest of the rescue party burst into the room. Seeing he was outnumbered, Skeletor disappeared. "This isn't over yet, hero!" his voice echoed.
"He-Man!" She-Ra ran to him and threw her arms around her brother. "I was so worried," she confessed.
"Why?" Teela asked with a smirk. "He-Man can take care of Skeletor any day."
"But he—" She-Ra's voice dropped as He-Man held up his hand to forestall an argument.
"Let's get out of here before we start with explanations," he said. With a huge effort, he swung himself onto Battle Cat, and the heroes left Snake Mountain without further incident.