A/N: Expect a slowdown in chapter postings this month. LLG and I both plan to attempt the "National Novel Writing Month" challenge, and will be lost in our own worlds for a bit. We have a few chapters pre-edited and pretty much ready to post, but it more than likely won't be weekly as we've been doing. Wish us luck!
Keldor felt uneasy. For the past several days he had stayed in his suite as much as possible to avoid any more arguments--but it was more than restlessness that bothered him.
Mira had decided that she finally did want to know why he became "Skeletor," and listened to everything. It had been such a difficult experience for him. Sharing his great evils with a sister who, he knew from his time in the Waters of Truth, he would have completely adored. But she asked for the Truth, and so he gave it. She was silent as she left with Miro that afternoon. She had clasped his hand briefly before she left, but had not been around in nearly two days.
Keldor ran his fingers through his hair. He shouldn't be upset, but for a brief moment he had felt like he had at least regained his baby sister. He knew now that he was fortunate to have his father's love and he could hope for no more. So he remained hidden, to spare his family more pain. Besides, he still couldn't look at Randor without feeling some remnants of the old jealousy that he had thought was long gone.
Even being in hiding hadn't seemed to help completely. He had a strange feeling that something other than Josiah's illness was bothering Adam and Teela. Something about the way they looked at him was almost accusing. As though they were laying yet another crime at his feet. Keldor slammed his fist into a wall. Even if they were he'd probably committed whatever it was.
'I'm sick of this. I'm going to find out what is bothering Adam. At least then I won't have to wonder what I've done wrong this time.'
Just as Keldor stepped out of his suite, an explosion rocked the foundations of the palace.
An alarm sounded, and Adam burst into the hallway across from Keldor. Adam eyed Keldor for a few seconds as the alarm continued to ring, his indecision clear.
"What's going on?" Keldor demanded as another explosion vibrated the floor on which he stood.
Instead of responding, Adam took a step back into his suite. "Don't go anywhere," he ordered Keldor.
"What's going on?" Lyn asked from behind Keldor.
The mage ground his teeth together. "Blasted if I know," he muttered as the door across the hall opened again and He-Man appeared. "I ask again, Muscle-head, what's going on?"
"The prison block is under attack," He-Man answered grimly, suspicion bright in his eyes as he studied Keldor, his arms folded.
Keldor sighed impatiently. "I can't help you if you don't stop treating me like Skeletor," he pointed out harshly. With an effort he tempered his voice. "I had nothing to do with this."
The alarm beckoned to He-Man, and he knew he had no choice but to go. "All right, then, follow me," he said, and took off at a run.
"Duncan," He-Man called into his communicator.
"He-Man, thank goodness," Duncan's voice returned. "The Collector is blasting out the walls to the prison wing, but we've just spotted a battle group of robots making their way to the eastern entrance nearest the official meeting chambers."
"Ancients," breathed He-Man. "The hospital wing's in that area. Josiah and Teela are there!"
Keldor poured on greater speed. "Hurry, Lyn. Something's happening. We have to get to the prison levels now."
He-Man's suspicions grew as he saw Lyn morph into a ball of light and zoom away with Keldor racing behind her, but Teela and Josiah's faces were firmly fixed before his eyes. It didn't take long for him to decide what to do. He couldn't leave Teela and Josiah, or any of the other patients in the healer's wing, to fend for themselves. He changed direction and prayed Keldor and Lyn were going to help, and had not suddenly decided to free their former cohorts. 'Not that praying does Josiah any good,' he thought bitterly. The thought took him by surprise, and his step faltered for a second. Then he pushed it firmly from his mind as the sounds of battle reached his ears.
Keldor was almost thrown off his feet as he reached the primary entry to the main holding corridors.
"Blast!" he cursed and teleported himself beside Lyn, who had materialized into the midst of several guardsmen firing on their attackers.
Clawful and Trap Jaw fired shots in return but made no progress against the guard. Keldor and Lyn raised a shield to protect those fighting against invasion. Suddenly, a strange green crystal rolled past the impromptu battlefield, only to divide into two equal spheres and enter through the force fields surrounding Beastman's and Tri-Klop's cells.
Without warning the shields protecting the guardsmen were dropped and they were forced to dive behind smoking computer consoles and twisted metal that once made up security stations.
"What the-?" exclaimed Fisto as he and several guardsmen entered just as Keldor and Lyn abandoned their defense of the troops.
Amidst the distraction, Kobra Khan spewed forth his sleep gas and put the hiding guards into a deep sleep.
Teela blasted another robot with the freeze rays installed on her armbands as Ramos rummaged around for something to fight with.
More robots floated through the hole that had been blown in the wall. "A little help would be nice," Teela muttered under her breath as she ducked behind a bed turned on its side. As if on cue, the door flung open forcefully, coming partly off of the hinges as He-Man fairly flew into the room, the sword in his hand blocking the stun beams the robots immediately turned on him.
Josiah, safe behind the overturned bed, chose that moment to scream as if his foot were being crushed by an unseen force. Ramos' eyes widened at the sound as Teela scooped up the child. "It's okay," she murmured. "Da...He-Man's here. He'll beat up the bad robots."
He-Man's fist flew through one robot, his foot connected with another. He ducked under the cutters of a third, then cut it in half with his sword. Still the robots kept coming.
"Ah ha!" Ramos exclaimed, locating an old stun gun that had been buried in a drawer that was otherwise full of medical supplies. He held it out carefully, closed one eye, and took aim.
"Ramos, be careful!" Teela cried out.
Fisto's eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. Prince Keldor and Lyn were racing toward Beastman and Tri-Klop's cell even as Khan and Trap Jaw were heading to Mer-Man's cell.
"A-group, keep out the other insurgents. B-group, surround all of them. Let none of them escape!" ordered Fisto. The new Captain of the Guard ground his teeth together in frustration as he readied himself to fight on two fronts. It looked like Skeletor and his witch were joining in the prison break, as first Keldor then Lyn blasted the controls for the force fields that contained Tri-Klops and Beastman.
"Thank the Ancients," breathed Fisto as She-Ra entered the room. He raised his voice. "She-Ra! They are trying to break out all of Skeletor's old crew! Even Prince Keldor and Lyn!" Fisto spat the last two names.
"They're trying to break out Keldor and Lyn?" She-Ra repeated in confusion, knowing the two of them were in Adam's custody but not incarcerated.
"No," Fisto answered impatiently. "Keldor and Lyn are helping Tri-Klops and Beastman to escape!"
"I think I'd worry less about them and more worried about Kobra Khan and Trap Jaw!" She-Ra exclaimed as she just managed to dodge out of the way of one of Trap Jaw's lasers. The flash from the laser caused Fisto's eyes to blur for a moment.
Fisto's sight began to clear just in time to see She-Ra deflect a bolt from Trap Jaw. It rebounded to a security station, sending the console tumbling down in a brilliant display of sparking wires and knocking the evil warrior down beneath it with a metallic crunch that was as much from Trap Jaw as it was from the ruined machinery.
Before another shot could be fired Mer-Man, Trap Jaw, and Kobra Khan vanished in a flash of blinding red light.
"Hands up!" ordered Fisto to Keldor and Lyn, who were both dragging two unconscious prisoners from green smoke-filled cells.
Keldor gritted his teeth together as he raised his hands slowly. "They are injured," he tried to explain calmly. "Marzo sent green death fog in two spheres to destroy them. Lyn and I must be able to lower our hands so we can heal them."
"Likely story," muttered Fisto. "She-Ra, can you check and see if these two creatures are sick?"
She-Ra flashed him an annoyed look that Fisto did not understand, but nodded and moved to do as he asked.
Teela barely resisted the urge to tackle Ramos as he took careful aim in He-Man's general direction. As fast as He-Man was moving, it would be easy to hit him instead of the robots. The hero swung his sword, taking out two more robots effortlessly.
"These things aren't any more difficult to defeat than they were when Skeletor was building them," He-Man called to Teela. Ramos chose that moment to fire, the electrical charge shorting out a robot that had been behind the hero.
"Pay attention!" she snapped back, tossing Ramos a grateful look. The older man wore an extremely rare and self-satisfied smile.
"My point is there's got to be-" He-Man paused to grab one robot by the arm, swing it around, and send it sailing back into an oncoming group of them, "-a reason for it!"
"The prison block!" Teela exclaimed.
"Or maybe that's the distraction," a familiar voice jeered at her from the doorway.
"Marzo!" He-Man growled, grabbing a nearby robot and throwing it at the magician. Marzo stepped aside easily, his black eyes glittering with magic as he prepared to attack.
He-Man raised his sword and stepped in front of Teela and Josiah. "What do you want here, villain?"
"Just some medical advice," Marzo replied in mock innocence.
"Good," snapped Teela. "Cause you're sick!"
"Drink a glass of dragonberry juice every day," Ramos growled. "Now leave!"
"I think you've already worn out your welcome, Marzo," He-Man said.
"But the fun's just starting," Marzo protested. His eyes glowed and he fired a white ray at He-Man, who blocked it smoothly. While the hero was distracted, Marzo muttered a brief spell, and a hole appeared in the floor underneath He-Man. Thinking fast, He-Man used his sword to span the opening, just barely catching himself. He hung there for a few seconds. Marzo appeared at the edge, tsking as he casually placed a force field over the hole and turned his glinting eyes on Teela and Josiah.
Marzo sent forth a ray of red power around the examination table Teela was crouched behind, disintegrating it. Ramos dashed in front of her and Teela grasped Josiah tighter and scrambled behind Ramos' desk.
Josiah's cries mingled with Marzo's cruel laugher as he bounced Ramos' stun ray off a shield and back to the healer. Ramos hit the ground with a heavy thud.
"Now where were we?" began Marzo as he approached the desk that was the only shelter between Teela and her child. "It's too bad you're so protective of the child, Princess Teela. I know it's the only reason you haven't used your sad combat skills against me."
"It's disappointing, really," he continued in a conversational tone as he teleported the desk out of the room. "It would be so much more interesting to take you and the babe as hostages if you put up a fight."
"I'll put up a fight all right," Teela snarled as she backed against the counter. A glint of metal caught the corner of her eye. Teela grabbed the tray of sharp surgical instruments and flung them at Marzo without a second's warning.
In his distraction, Marzo's force field over the floor faltered just enough for He-Man to get his hand around a part of the opening.
Cursing, Marzo rounded on Teela just as a creak of metal echoed through the room. Marzo turned to see He-Man peeling another hole in the floor just a second before he lifted himself through with a truly venomous look on his face.
"Really, He-Man," Marzo began with a sneer. "I thought the rumors were just that, but you seem so very concerned about these two. I wonder if these tales could be true."
Josiah let out a tortured wailat that instant. He-Man's concerned glance at the baby didn't go unnoticed.
"What's the matter with the child?" Marzo said with an evil snicker. "I thought he was here for a routine check-up. Is Prince Adam's whelp sick? "
Before either man knew what had happened, He-Man had backhanded Marzo so hard that the magician smashed into the wall, displacing one of the stones. Marzo had managed to raise a shield at the last possible second, softening the impact of his body against the wall, but he still lay motionless, stunned.
He-Man and Teela stared at Marzo's unmoving form in shock. "I can't believe you did that," Teela whispered. He-Man was always so careful not to hurt anyone.
He-Man looked down at his own hand in disbelief, then back at Marzo. The magician began to stir, and the relief hit He-Man so hard that he staggered a step and raised a hand to the wall to steady himself. Then he straightened up and strode over to Marzo. "You're under arrest," he said sternly.
Marzo opened his eyes and sneered. "You wish," he said in a weak voice, and then he vanished.
"Blast it!" He-Man yelled, clenching his fist. Josiah let out another scream, and Teela got to her feet, the baby in her arms. He-Man glanced around and changed back into Adam, his face full of worry.
"He's getting worse, isn't he?"
Teela nodded, her chin raised as she tried not to cry. "Ramos just told me-" she swallowed hard and continued on. "If he loses any more weight, they'll have to start him on an IV."
At the mention of Ramos' name, Adam went to the healer's side. The old man groaned as he woke up. "Everything's blurry," he complained. "And I feel all tingly."
Adam smiled weakly. "It'll pass," he promised. 'Unlike Josiah's problem, whatever it is.' His eyes met Teela's, and he could see she was thinking the same thing.
She-Ra rushed in between Beastman and Tri-Klops and placed a glowing hand one each of them.
"By the First Ones," gasped She-Ra. "Whatever this is, it's vicious. They are choking even now that they are out in the open air."
"It's the nature of the death fog," explained Lyn, rage still in her eyes and her hands still raised. "It coats the lungs and uses all of the oxygen that enters them to make more death fog."
"Ew!" She-Ra said, a look of disgust crossing her face. Her healing magics began to filter through the fallen warriors' bodies, and slowly a green gas wafted from their open mouths. They both began to cough violently. She-Ra helped Tri-Klops to a sitting position as Keldor remained in a position of surrender. Beastman turned on his side away from everyone and began to wretch.
"Captain Fisto, I think it's rather obvious," said She-Ra as she motioned to the cells that still reeked of the sickly green gas, "that Keldor and Lyn were attempting to save two people that were not meant to be rescued, but assassinated. Else they would have been teleported away with those other villains. I'm not sure why they were targeted-"
"Because we defected," rasped Tri-Klops. "Marzo, Hutch, and Damien were going to kill me for even thinking of it. Now that they know where we are, they won't rest until we're dead." He finished defiantly, practically daring someone to disagree with him.
"Yeah," agreed Beastman weakly. "They hold a grudge worse than Stinkor holds a smell."
"We'll keep you safe," She-Ra promised.
"You don't know what they're capable of," Tri- Klops argued, his voice slowly gaining strength.
She-Ra's face hardened as she exchanged determined glances with Keldor. "I think we know more about them than you realize," she said.
Keldor's chin rose as he gazed at his former minions. "She-Ra's right. We know exactly what we're dealing with. We'll figure out a way to keep you safe."
Fisto shook his head, wondering if he would have taken the Captain of the Guard position if he had completely understood the insanity he would have to deal with. "You want to put a priority on keeping two known villains safe? Do you think King Randor will really agree to that? "
She-Ra gazed at Tri-Klops and Beastman thoughtfully. "I'm sure these two still have some valuable information to share. We know who and what Damien, Hutch, and Marzo are, but not what they're up to. So yes, I think King Randor will be very interested in keeping them alive."
Beastman and Tri-Klops looked at each other with a mixture of trepidation and relief. "Have things just gotten better or worse?" Beastman asked lowly.
Tri-Klops blinked slowly, his three eyes taking in the tension of the guards, Keldor, Lyn, and She-Ra. "I'm not sure," he replied sourly.
"If I'm no longer 'under arrest,''' snapped Keldor, standing with disgust, "I will go speak to my brother and find out."
"Brother?" Beastman repeated dumbly.
Tri-Klops rolled all three of his eyes. "Miro's his father, remember?"
"Uh-huh," Beastman agreed.
"Randor's father is Miro too," Tri- Klops prompted.
"So...Skeletor is Randor's brother?" Beastman finally asked.
"Skeletor?" a lieutenant repeated in shock. "What?"
"Don't pay attention to him. He's sick from the death fog. Fisto, get them into secure prisons," She-Ra ordered, striving for a distraction. "We're going to go speak to the king." She looked imploringly at Lyn. "Could you-?"
"I will stay with them," Lyn agreed reluctantly, her stomach churning from She-Ra's cover-up. 'And try to keep their mouths shut,' she added silently.
"Thank you, Captain Fisto, for your report," Randor said stiffly.
Keldor shifted uncomfortably next to She-Ra. Randor would be burning a hole through Keldor if his eyes were lasers, and frankly, the mage was getting sick of it.
Stephen looked to She-Ra. "I know Randor has already thanked you for your assistance, but I would like to add mine as well, She-Ra."
"I wouldn't have been able to help at all if Keldor and Lyn and your guards were not already there defending the cell block."
Randor snorted in derision. Before another word could be said, however, He-Man entered the throne room.
"He-Man," Marlena began, her voice thick with emotion, "I understand that you saved Teela, and my grandson. I can't thank you enough."
"Are they okay now?" asked Randor.
He-Man nodded once. "Prince Adam escorted Teela and Josiah back to their chambers."
She-Ra walked over to her brother and clasped his shoulder.
"If I may," interrupted Pierce, looking at She-Ra, "I would like to ask a question of you? She-Ra, at first Captain Fisto reported that he thought Keldor and Lyn were attempting to free Beastman and Tri-Klops, but he has since then reported that evidence suggests that they were trying to save them from an assassination attempt. I would like your perspective on the situation."
She-Ra leveled her blue gaze onto Pierce's. "I assure you that neither Keldor nor Lyn were doing anything other than protecting two people who have defected to our side and have provided us with invaluable intelligence that has already averted three potential disasters with their reports."
"I know of Keldor's past, as does my brother," She-Ra continued. Gasps echoed around the room from Adora's aunts and uncles. "And I have fought beside him in the liberation of your kingdom and the freeing of countless slaves. I assure you that he has no desire to see that those seeking to bring down the rightful rulers of Eternia prevail."
"Wouldn't you agree, my brother?" She-Ra asked. She knew it would not be well-received by her father, to use her clout as She-Ra to ease things for Keldor, but she felt she must try.
"I'm sorry," apologized He-Man. At She-Ra's confused look, he flushed slightly. "I'm afraid I didn't hear you," he admitted. "My mind's someplace else."
"Perhaps you can give your report to Man-at-Arms," suggested Marlena kindly. "I'm sure both you and She-Ra are tired after your fight."
"Thank you, Your Highness," He-Man said gratefully.
Man-at-Arms walked out behind the champions, leaving Keldor facing the rest of the royal family.
"Your Highness," Keldor began stiffly. 'How I hate this!' he fumed internally. "It seems that your enemies seek to destroy Tri-Klops and Beastman for their defection. I ask that they be moved to a more secure location until they are tried. I realize that they, like myself, do not deserve the protection of the crown, but they have willingly surrendered into your custody and have attempted to assist you in the defeat of Marzo, Hutch, and Damien. In addition, they can be called up for trial with the Sword of Truth to disprove the rumors and prove that there is a plot to undermine your rule, and that of Prince Adam."
Randor looked as though he swallowed something vile, but he nodded his consent. Keldor turned and left the throne room and its tense silence.
Man-at-Arms was striding down the hall, tension radiating out from his every muscle. He couldn't believe that he had just spent over an hour making sure that Tri-Klops and Beastman were completely secure. Not to keep them in prison, but to keep them safe. He was almost as disgusted as he had been when he'd first learned of Adam's calling Skeletor back to Eternia.
He turned the corner down the hallway that passed by Orko's room. Ordinarily he would have avoided this hall like the plague, but in addition to his annoyance, his mind was occupied with all of the turmoil surrounding the upsetting events he had learned of in his debriefing with He-Man.
His distraction was interrupted when he was smacked in the face with paintbrush dripping with green gloppy paint.
"Orko!" growled Duncan, wiping a line of paint from his angry red face.
"Oops! Sorry Man-at-Arms!" Orko apologized quickly. "I'm painting our room. Dree Elle has color sickness now and she can't keep her meals down if the wrong colors are in the room."
"Color sickness?" Man-at-Arms repeated incredulously.
"Yes, right now she can't stand any colors other than green and yellow."
"Well at least that explains why your robe matches Cringer now. Clean up this mess and get a better control of that paint, and I'll forget this happened."
"Thank you Man-at-Arms," said Orko with a sigh of relief.
A very sick-looking Dree Elle floated into the hall, her eyes closed tightly. "Orko? Are you okay?" Opening her eyes, she saw the brown of Man-at-Arms' belt, and promptly projectile-vomited all over him.
Without another word, Duncan spun on his heel and strode out of the hall with as much dignity anyone could muster when coated with something that added a whole new dimension to the word disgusting.
Randor paced in his office, a scowl on his face and his hands clasped behind his back. A soft knock at the door interrupted his dark thoughts.
"Enter," he said absently.
Adora opened the door and walked in.
"Hawk and I saw to it that Keldor and Lyn were escorted back to their chambers. The Syriak is still secure in the room next to theirs."
Randor looked up at his daughter. "Why?" he asked, bitterness and weariness clear in his voice.
"Why what, Father?" Adora asked as she stepped towards him.
"Why did you have to support him even as She-Ra?" Randor asked, his eyes accusing.
"Because I believe he has changed completely, as surely as I did when I left the Horde," Adora said firmly, refusing to back down.
"You were under a spell!" Randor retorted. "He has no such excuse!"
"Father, please listen. There was a very compelling reason for his feeling of betrayal, and though his fall into evil is something neither he nor I would ever try to excuse, there were reasons. Reasons you won't even deign to hear!"
"I don't need reasons, Adora! He placed a spell on your brother and me that tortured us! He beat Adam mercilessly. And when he realized that Adam knew He-Man's secrets, he brought him to the brink of death before my very eyes. Even then your brother would have kept that secret. He would have died protecting Grayskull and this kingdom if that foul beast did not threaten to kill me! If Adam hadn't admitted that he was He-Man, I would be dead now. Yet you defend him! He took you away from me once and almost took me away from you, and you defend him, not only as Eternia's princess, but in your role as Champion of Grayskull. As She-Ra!" Randor ranted.
"And he risked his life to stand beside He-Man and me in front of Hordak and his elite guard. He didn't have to rescue you from Hordak. He could have spilled the secret that Adam is He-Man and I was She-Ra any moment he was in Hordak's presence. He never would have had to be imprisoned again and I'm sure would have found a place of honor within the Horde for that information." Adora's voice rose as she countered his arguments with her own. "He chose to defend us. And later he was one of the defenders of Grayskull at the final battle between the Horde and Eternia. He easily could have turned that battle to his advantage and taken over Grayskull, and with its magic sent back the Horde and conquered Eternia, but even then he was beginning to make changes. Changes that are now complete. He acknowledges his crimes and has surrendered himself for trial. I know how hard it is to make changes like that, and I will support him as he makes them." Adora's eyes flashed passionately.
"And I suppose you would release him like you did with that vile Specter?" accused Randor.
"Reuben was an angry and hurt young man. And he was tried and given a perfectly acceptable sentence."
"Exile…to his home planet?" exclaimed Randor. "That wasn't a sentence. That was a farce that I still resent deeply. I know you were behind Adam's circumventing my decision for Reuben's sentence, but I never thought you would go this far." Randor took a ragged breath. "To defend the very person who took you from me." He shook his head.
"Hordak took me from you. Not Keldor. He helped, and I'll tell you now that it was a good thing. If Keldor hadn't wanted you and our family alive for his revenge, Hordak could have brought one of his more violent allies along and Mother would have died before she even knew what was happening and then both Adam and I would be gone."
Randor crossed his arms, his jaw twitching rapidly, but he held his tongue as she continued.
"And then Eternia would have never had He-Man and Castle Grayskull would have fallen to the Horde eventually. It happened for a reason, Father. She-Ra was meant to set Etheria free, and only as Hordak's protégé could I have gained access to the codes that stopped the robot armies during that last battle." Adora reached up to gently grasp her father's forearms. "Father, everything happens for a reason. Including Keldor's presence among us now. And locking him in a cell is wrong when the Sorceress of Grayskull herself said we needed his help." Adora looked into her father's stormy eyes pleadingly then added softly, "I promise, Father. I told only the truth."
Randor stepped out of his daughter's grasp stiffly. "I suppose I'll see for sure when Captain Fisto provides me with the information from his investigation."
"Why are you so-" Adora broke off as the door to Randor's office hit the wall with a soft thud. It had obviously been opened rather slowly, and Mira stood in the doorway, a dumbfounded look on her face.