"He what?" Teela screeched. Bow flinched as she glared at him and Glimmer.
"He and Battle Cat were captured," Glimmer repeated, sympathy in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Teela. We just found out. They're long gone by now." She sighed heavily and sat down on a cushioned chair in Bright Moon's main throne room, which was covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust all around. She was exhausted, as they all were. The battle had lasted most of the day and into the night before the Horde had finally given up. It was only a few hours before daybreak now, and none of them had slept.
"Where would the Horde have taken them?" Teela demanded. Her fists went to her hips. Of all the stupid, irresponsible things to let happen…she wasn't sure if she was angrier with He-Man or herself.
"It's hard to say," Bow replied thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "There are prison cells in the Fright Zone, Horror Hall, and even on Beast Island." Madam Razz approached, listening to their conversation.
"Then I'll check every one of them," Teela said firmly. "Do you have a map I can borrow?"
"Are you crazy?" Glimmer asked, her eyes wide. "You can't just break into a Horde facility and rescue them! You'll be outnumbered two thousand to one! That's suicide!"
"They would do the same for me," Teela said, glaring at them each in turn. "They have, and they would. I won't leave them there. If you're so willing to give up on a member of your team, maybe that's why the Horde has been winning the war."
"But they aren't members of the resistance!" Glimmer protested half-heartedly.
Teela barely bit back a sharp retort as Glimmer looked around at the mess that was once the proud castle of Bright Moon, despair on her face. There were injured people who needed Glimmer here, and her home needed a lot of repairs if it was to withstand another attack and protect her people. She felt she couldn't leave. Teela understood that, but she still didn't like it.
"They were today, dearie," Madam Razz said quietly. "Teela's right. We need to help He-Man and Battle Cat." She looked up at Teela, who felt a weight lift from her shoulders at this unexpected source of support. "I can help you find out which prison they're in, dearie. Let me gather a few things."
"Perhaps I can help," suggested a soft yet regal voice.
Glimmer looked up, joy on her face. "Mother!" She ran to her, and the two hugged hard.
Teela's eyes pricked with tears. There was something about watching this reunion that suddenly made her want to be back in Grayskull. She bit the inside of her cheek, telling herself the desire was simply because her only two friends on this world were in the custody of the evil Horde.
"I am so glad you're all right, my daughter," said Queen Angella, the ruler of Bright Moon. Her blond hair was pulled into a loose bun at the nape of her neck, and brilliant white wings were folded behind her back. "But I understand that someone of importance has been captured." She regarded Teela with wise blue eyes. "My soldiers tell me that your friends managed to destroy five Horde tanks and nearly a hundred Horde robots, and in the process created a diversion in the back end of their attack. That diversion gave my soldiers a reprieve until the resistance fighters arrived and Glimmer revived me so that I could reinstate the shield. Bright Moon would have fallen today without their help. We will do whatever we can to help you rescue them."
The tears nearly spilled over as Teela choked back a sob of relief. "Thank you," she whispered, instinctively dropping a curtsey and dipping her head in respect. "Thank you."
He-Man groaned as he came to, his vision blurry. He reached up to where his splitting headache seemed to come from, and drew his hand back to find sticky blood on his hand. "Oh, that's just great," he muttered. A rattling sound right near his ear reverberated through his head, making it throb even more, and he realized with a vague sort of surprise that there were heavy chains on his wrists, hooked into the wall behind him. He raised an eyebrow. Interesting, that they would allow so much play in the length of the chains.
Shrugging, He-Man eased himself into a sitting position, leaning against the wall. He shut his eyes against his pounding head for a moment, then slowly opened them again. He glanced around the cell, smirking in spite of his injury. These people had no idea who they were dealing with. He could break out of here in a heartbeat, provided the chains weren't magically charged or something.
He grew thoughtful. Perhaps it was better to play along for a short while, though. After all, that blond-headed woman was the one destined for the sword. He didn't know why, but if that was the case, then her heart was good. He needed to figure out what was going on—so right now, he was where he needed to be.
As if summoned by his thoughts, the woman opened his cell door, which resembled a ring of teeth-like rocks, and stepped inside, blissfully unaware that he could overpower her within seconds.
"How's your head?" she asked, her tone sympathetic. That surprised He-Man. If she had a kind heart, why was she serving the Horde?
"It'll be alright," he answered nonchalantly, making no move to get up for the moment. "Who are you?"
"I'm Force Captain Adora," she said, a touch of pride lifting her chin. He-Man wondered if that was a recent promotion—say, after she had captured him. "I already know you're He-Man. But that's all I know. Where do you come from?"
He-Man ignored her question. "What have you done with my friend?"
"The tiger?" Adora asked with a mixture of surprise and chagrin. He-Man's stomach clenched. "He's outside the prison walls."
"Outside the prison walls?" He-Man asked, trying to concentrate through his headache.
Adora nodded, her eyes far kinder than He-Man had expected. "We're on Beast Island, so he can't go anywhere. In fact, it will probably be all he can do to survive. There are some large, vicious creatures out there."
A surge of adrenaline surged through He-Man and he flew to his feet, barely remembering not to break the chains. Adora didn't move, but her face visibly hardened. "As I asked before," she repeated, "where are you from, He-Man?"
The question calmed him down, reminding him to tread carefully. He-Man didn't answer her, but instead nodded to the sword in her hand. "I see you have the sword." He kept his voice low and even, in spite of the fury he felt at Battle Cat being in danger.
"Yes," Adora said slowly. She raised it and stared at it for a second. "It feels as if it were made just for me."
"It was made for someone with a special destiny, and that seems to be you," He-Man agreed easily, knowing it was true. Adora looked at him sharply, a yearning in her eyes. "But you won't understand why until you stop serving the forces of evil."
"Evil?" she repeated. "What are you talking about?"
"Surely you've noticed the Horde's habit of enslaving people and destroying homes," He-Man said dryly. "You were at the same battle I was at, were you not?"
Adora stiffened. "Most people appreciate the rule of the Horde. It is only a few that must be punished."
"You can't really believe that," he exclaimed. "No one deserves to be enslaved for having a different opinion than someone else, or forced to work in mines, or-"
"What do you know? You're a traitor to the rulers of Etheria!" Adora scoffed. She raised the sword slightly as if expecting him to attack her.
"I arrived in Thaymoore looking for the rightful owner of that sword, nothing more," He-Man countered, deciding to try another track. "It was your troopers that decided I was a criminal. I had done nothing to them."
"Lies," Adora smirked. "You resistance fighters are well-versed in how to lie. The troopers reported your attack on them."
He-Man noticed a slight furrow on her forehead, and a vague, hazy look to her eyes. He began to suspect she was under a spell, and if she was, the sword would help break it. But to do that, she might need to see the truth herself. "I didn't attack them. But if you don't believe me, then take a trip around Etheria. See for yourself how the Horde rules the people."
Adora narrowed her eyes. "I don't need to. I know we are the rightful rulers of Etheria, and that we rule the people well."
He-Man crossed his arms, the chains rattling again as the cold metal pulled tight across his hips and settled onto his arms. "Then you have nothing to lose, do you?" he challenged her softly. "Tell you what. You go take a look around Etheria, and I'll tell you where I'm from."
Adora backed away hesitantly. "I'll…think about it," she conceded.
He-Man smirked as the sound of her footsteps faded. She'd go. He had planted a seed of doubt, and it seemed that was all he had needed to do. But speaking of going…he glanced around the cell. No way to know where he'd end up if he punched out the back wall. He might be better off going out the front of the cell into the hallway…
Before he could decide on his course of action, another set of footsteps sounded. He-Man faced the doorway, a chill creeping up his spine.
A blue-skinned man, his white metal-like face and red eyes making him look like some sort of half-bionic creature, appeared. A red-robed figure, her face hidden in the shadows of her cowl, floated next to him. He-Man could sense her magical power. His muscles tensed and his guard went up.
"Oh," the red-cloaked woman whispered in an annoyed tone. "He knows how to shield his mind. This won't be easy, Hordak."
"You could try asking what you want to know," He-Man suggested drily. "Maybe I'm in a cooperative mood."
She hissed at him, but Hordak cut her off. "Enough, Shadow Weaver." He stared hard at He-Man. "We know you come from another world. Where?"
"A place of beauty that's free from your evil rule," He-Man answered, unable to keep the pride from his voice.
Shadow Weaver began whispering and circled her hands. A black smoke drifted towards He-Man. He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really?" he asked. He took a deep breath and blew the smoke back at Shadow Weaver and Hordak.
"Argh!" the witch cried as she created a shield and the smoke moved harmlessly around her.
Without warning, a blast came from Hordak's arm, catching He-Man in the stomach and sending him back against the wall. He made no effort to stand against it; he didn't want these two to know just yet exactly how strong he was. For all they knew, he had hit a crack with his sword during the battle. Surely if they had thought it was much more than dumb luck he would be in more secure restraints—assuming such things existed on Etheria. He-Man lay on the floor of the cell, his breath coming in slightly harsh gasps. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, willing his head to stop spinning. That was one injury that was real.
"The name of your planet, Golden Boy," Hordak ordered.
"My name's He-Man. And that's all you'll get out of me," He-Man replied, making his voice sound weak. All his years of acting were paying off. He'd have to remember to thank Teela for all the practice—on second thought, he wasn't sure she would appreciate it.
Hordak rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I believe we have need for a new slave in the mines near Dryl, don't we Weaver?"
"We always need new slaves there," she agreed in a delighted voice, her yellow glowing eyes narrowed at He-Man.
"I'd be happy to bring you there," He-Man offered as he stood, making a show of leaning against the wall. The room began to blur before him; he blinked his eyes hard and they cleared.
Hordak snorted. "Come Weaver. We will leave him without food or water for a few days and see how he feels about telling us what we want to know…and how the life of a well-fed slave sounds to him then."
Hordak's laugh echoed off the walls as he and Shadow Weaver left. He-Man rubbed his stomach. Hordak's blast would leave a bruise; he hadn't been prepared for it. But the injury wasn't serious. His head was more of a concern.
He-Man waited a while, resting to allow his head some time to clear. Finally, he climbed to his feet once more, glancing around. "Time to get out of here," he muttered. He'd have to go out the cell door. He strained against the heavy cuffs on his wrists until they finally broke with a loud snap and clang. Then he carefully broke off one stalactite-like bar at the cell entrance. To his chagrin, an alarm rang out.
"Blast," he muttered. "No point in doing the rest of this quietly." He raised both arms and burst out of the cell door. "Battle Cat!" he called, hoping Adora had lied to him. But there was no answer. Glancing up the hall, He-Man could hear footsteps resounding through the halls. He turned and ran the other way.
There were too many twists and turns, and he had no idea where he was going. Eventually he took a wrong turn, finding himself in a dead-end. He turned to face a group of oncoming soldiers, led by Adora, with no weapon to aid him.
"So I thought you two weren't 'together,'" Bow commented to Teela as they flew towards Beast Island in a ship created by Madam Razz and Queen Angella.
Teela tore her eyes from the sails to give him a look that she hoped implied he was dense. "We're not. We're just good friends. I've fought by his side for years, and known him for what seems like forever."
"Oh." Bow shrugged nonchalantly. "You seemed so worried, I thought maybe there was something else going on." He pushed off the rail and walked away, whistling to himself.
Teela drummed her fingers on the wooden railing, trying to ignore Bow's words and mentally urging the ship to fly faster. Bow and Glimmer had told her stories of some of the terrible things the Horde leader, Hordak, had done to prisoners. If anything happened to Adam before they rescued him…she stiffened as she realized she was thinking of him as Adam, not He-Man. She had to be careful of that. There seemed to be a lot of magic on this world, and He-Man had warned her that some magicians could read minds. Not that she hadn't known that already.
Teela swallowed hard to try to settle her spirit. She twisted her hands anxiously, a small part of her wondering why she was so much more worried this time than the other times he had been captured. Maybe because she knew Skeletor, but not this Hordak. She had a feeling the Etherian dictator was very dangerous.
Teela sighed. Maybe He-Man would escape on his own. Her throat tightened as Beast Island came into view, far below them. They had come in high in hopes of avoiding the radar. The island was immense. How would they find He-Man and Battle Cat in there? No sooner had the thought formed than she saw a familiar figure, albeit one that looked miniature from this height—a green tiger standing on a ledge just above the trees, facing towards the immense prison in the center of the island.
"Battle Cat!" Teela yelled, waving at Madame Razz to swing to the right. She glanced around hopefully as they approached, but He-Man was nowhere in sight.
"Freeze, He-Man!" Adora ordered.
He-Man glanced around. Ten soldiers and the force captain against him, and no cover. He slowly started to raise his hands, then dropped to his knees and pulled up the metal floor so that it both shielded him and cut them off from him. He could hear their exclamations of surprise and the sound of the rays hitting the metal now in front of him.
His options were limited; he had to break through something to go anywhere now. He turned and punched the wall with all he had. It burst open to reveal bright sunlight and a strange-looking flying ship hovering just above. He caught sight of a redhead waving excitedly; it had to be Teela. He grinned. Leave it to her to be in just the right place at the right time. A rope made its way slowly down to him.
A sound came from behind him, alerting him in time for him to duck and avoid Adora's freeze ray. He whirled around, his hands raised defensively. "Back off, Adora," he warned. "I don't want to fight. I just want to leave."
"You're not going anywhere," she said firmly. She fired off another blast, which he deflected with his wristband.
"I'll take you with me if I have to," He-Man threatened, stepping up onto the stones in the wall's newest window.
Adora smirked. "Take me where? Down to the rocks below?"
He-Man ignored her comment; he could still hear the encouraging shouts of his friends. As he had expected, Adora fired again. This time he deflected the blast back at her, knocking her out cold. He hesitated only a second, then slung her over his shoulder as the armored guardsmen tried to squeeze into the opening between the wall and the ripped-up floor. Taking note of the location of the rope, He-Man lunged for it, grabbing it with one hand while still holding Adora in his other arm.
He only hoped he wasn't making a mistake.
"Okay, Battle Cat, he's on," Teela reported, still holding the rope. "Pull!"
The tiger strained forward, the rope tied tightly to the saddle. Every now and then he would stop and Teela and Bow would brace the rope, allowing Glimmer to loop the excess around the saddleback. Madam Razz was steering the ship away from Beast Island the entire time, glancing over her shoulder worriedly.
It wasn't long before He-Man was able to get a foothold on the ship and heave Adora's limp body over the railing. He leapt over the railing himself, landing easily at first, but Teela noticed him sway a bit when he straightened up.
"Are you all right?" she demanded, worried.
"I'm okay," he assured her. He glanced behind them. A few fighters could already be seen in the distance. "Looks like we need to hurry this thing up, though."
"Oh dearie my, yes," Madam Razz fretted. "They're gainin' on us."
"Hold on to something!" As the others obeyed, He-Man took in a deep breath, then blew at the sails. The ship increased its speed so rapidly that Bow and Glimmer fought for their footing, even though they had followed his instructions. Another half-dozen breaths, and they were well out of range of the fighters.
"That should do it, He-Man," Bow said. "They're short-range fighters. They won't follow us out this far." He looked down at Adora, who had rolled to the back of the ship as He-Man had blown wind into the sails. "I can't believe you captured Adora. This is great!"
"You're amazing," Glimmer agreed, hero-worship in her eyes. She grasped He-Man's forearm. "How did you get so strong?"
He-Man gave her a cocky grin. "Trade secret."
Teela hmphed and crossed her arms, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. She looked over at Adora, but that just made it worse. He-Man never took prisoners. Something was going on. "What are we doing with her?" she asked, jerking her chin at Adora. She knew she sounded petulant, but it was too late to do anything about it.
He-Man looked at her with surprise, probably because of her tone.
"We'll use her to bargain with Hordak," Bow said immediately, rubbing his hands in glee.
"The leader of the Horde?" He-Man asked suspiciously.
"That's right," Glimmer replied.
"Well, we won't be using her to make a deal with him," He-Man said firmly.
"What?" Glimmer asked, frowning. "Why not?"
"The Horde has lied to her for years," He-Man explained. "This is our chance to show her our side of things, to try to get her to see the truth. Then we let her go, so she can do the right thing on her terms." He looked down at Adora's still form, pity in his eyes. "She has a good heart. She just doesn't know it yet."
Teela smacked him lightly on the arm. "Hell-oo!" she called. "This is Adora, one of the evil leaders of this planet! Did they cast a spell on you or something? You can't just show her the way of things and expect her to change! You need to treat her just like you would treat Skeletor!"
"If I believed Skeletor had a chance of changing, I would help him every step of the way and watch my back every second," He-Man answered in a dangerously quiet voice. "Teela…" He glanced around and lowered his voice even more. "She's the one."
"The-" Teela started to repeat him, then realized what he meant. "You're kidding."
He-Man shook his head. "I wish I were." He bent down and proceeded to tie Adora's hands behind her back. As he bent forward, Teela caught sight of some hair matted with blood on the back of his head, and a dried blood trail on his neck.
"He-Man!" she scolded, dropping beside him. "You're hurt! You said you were fine!"
He shrugged as he finished tying Adora's hands together and eased her into a sitting position so Bow could tie her to the mast pole. The gentleness in how He-Man handled Adora did funny things to Teela's stomach. She found herself speechless as he turned and held a hand out to her, almost like a peace offering. "Nothing's broken and everything's in working order," he quipped. "The headache will fade."
Teela accepted his hand and stepped closer to him, ending up only inches away from his face. "We should at least clean the wound," she said softly, mesmerized by his eyes. "There are some bandages below."
Bow cleared his throat, breaking the spell between them. Teela stepped away from He-Man, blushing slightly. "You might want to hurry," Bow suggested. "Hordak will stop at nothing to get Adora back. I'm sure there will be more fighters waiting for us when we get closer to the mainland."
He-Man closed his eyes as one of Teela's hands held his hair away from the injury, while the other hand gently dabbed at it with a damp cloth. Her hand slid down onto his neck as she shifted to get a better look. His breath caught at the sensation of her touch.
"It's not as bad as I thought it was," Teela said as she finished, unknowingly interrupting his mental self-berating.
"You know how head wounds are," He-Man said dismissively, glad his voice wasn't betraying his wayward thoughts. "They always look worse than they are because they bleed so much."
He-Man obediently kept his head bowed so Teela could put a salve on it to help keep it from getting dirty as it finished clotting. "I don't understand, though," she said as she worked. "I've never seen you get cut before. Is Grayskull's magic fading or something?"
She slipped her hand from his head, sending tingles along his skin as her fingertips grazed his neck again. Mentally wishing he could keep his body from seeing Teela as anything but a sister, he struggled to focus and answer her question. "Fading? Oh, no." He grimaced as he raised a hand and gestured to his head. "She hit me pretty hard with a broken sword. The broken edge must have had a really sharp piece on it."
"She?" Teela asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean Adora did that to you? A normal woman? Not one of those super-powered creatures we were fighting?"
"Ah, yeah, at least I think so," He-Man admitted sheepishly. "But the bug-eyed guy had-"
Before he could finish, Teela put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "You know, I thought you were different, but you're not. You're just like every other man. Throw a pretty face in front of you, and you completely lose focus! Ugh!" She whirled around on her heel and stormed back up to the deck.
He-Man stared after her, his mouth half-open. "I-what?" He shook his head, irritated and confused. "I've known her my entire life, and I still don't understand her," he muttered under his breath as he followed Teela up the stairs.