"No," gasped Keldor, staring at the boulder high above Lyn, near the top of the huge forcefield dome.
"What is it?" demanded Randor, coming to Keldor's side.
"He wants me to denounce you. To kill you or he'll kill..." Keldor's hand tightened into fists. He looked across to Lyn's bound form and his heart rent in two, because he knew what he must do.
Keldor fired a blast, the force of which revealed the rock to the people. "I will not kill Randor and help you deceive the people of Eternia!" Keldor shouted. He desperately shot out cords of power from his hands and tugged at Lyn, only to be blasted back several steps when his magic touched the bonds that circled around his wife. Keldor fell to his knees. "I will lose everything," he cried out in a broken voice, "before I will serve evil like yours again!"
Hutch's face grew brilliant red as he released his hold on the boulder, and the crowd seemed riveted to the sight. It hung there a few seconds, then seemed to break loose slowly, dropping towards Lyn with ever-increasing speed as Hutch pushed her to the ground directly beneath where the boulder would fall and held her there with his magic. The villain backed away from Lyn with a look of sick anticipation on his vile face.
"No!" She-Ra threw herself towards Lyn, but was blasted back by Marzo's stun beam. She fell onto her side, still conscious but completely disoriented.
Adam was only a few yards from Lyn, and Hutch's back was to him, as the villain had turned slightly to look at Keldor. Before he quite knew what he was doing, Adam scrambled to her. Lyn's eyes went wide as he managed to cover her body with his own, careful to hold himself above her to keep the pressure off of her stomach and avoid touching the magical bonds.
At the same time, Fisto threw Jitsu off of him and ran forward. Turning back to Lyn, Hutch caught sight of Adam and laughed at the futility of his effort.
At the last second, Fisto threw his huge fist into the boulder, but rather than shoving it aside as he had hoped, the boulder broke into large pieces…pieces that still fell directly onto Adam and Lyn, covering them completely.
"Noooo!" screamed Keldor, scrambling to his feet. Without thinking, he let loose a blast of blue light that became a massive plume of flame roaring toward Hutch.
She-Ra shook her head as she recovered from Marzo's stun blast. Randor hauled her to her feet. Faker grinned in delight as Teela and Marlena stood frozen, shocked, Faker's punishing grip still holding their arms.
Hutch merely laughed as Keldor's flames circled around the magical shield he raised. "Your anger and pain serve me now, Keldor. Tsk tsk. Did you mean to lie?" he taunted, sending a blast first at Fisto, hurtling him into the witness podium. "You see this stone powers me by harvesting hatred, pain, sorrow, and grief, and your little trial here today has given me enough power to see you all utterly defeated."
Sickened completely by his magic touching Hutch, Keldor fell to his knees, retching uncontrollably.
"Sword to shield!" She-Ra called. She tossed it to Randor as she ran over to the pile of rocks and began hauling them off of Adam and Lyn, praying silently the entire time. Randor followed her, using the shield to block Marzo and Hutch as she dug at the rock.
She-Ra hauled the last rock off of Adam's back, and he stood immediately, helping Lyn up at the same time. Lyn stared at him in astonishment. "How did you do that?" she asked, staring as if she had never seen Adam before.
"I don't know," Adam answered, breathing heavily, and feeling more than a little shaky. "But now's not the time to figure it out."
"What?" Faker roared. He let go of Marlena and Teela, furious. He stalked across the arena, throwing Randor out of his way in an effort to reach Adam. "You're mine, prince."
"You'll have to get through me first," She-Ra snapped, raising her hands in preparation to fight him.
Teela picked up the Sword of Truth and pointed it at Faker. "No one hurts my husband," she muttered.
As the Sword of Truth began to glow, She-Ra and Faker grappled for a moment, then broke apart, circling each other. Jitsu spotted Teela's raised arm; he ran over and as the ray from the sword reached out for Faker, Jitsu slammed into Teela, knocking her to the ground. She managed to hold on to the sword, but instead of hitting Faker, the sword's ray encompassed She-Ra.
She-Ra gasped as Grayskull's power was pulled from her. She tried to hold on to it, but before she could do anything, she looked down and realized she was Adora already.
There was utter silence around the arena. No one was fighting any longer; the guard had long been subdued by the sheer numbers of people attacking them, and now they stared, stunned by the revelation before them.
Marzo was quick to take advantage; he threw a stun ball at Adora immediately. She flew back against the side of the shield and lay still as Marlena screamed her name.
Hutch saw an opportunity to finish things quickly. Pulling on the power of the red gem, he imprisoned Randor, Marlena, Teela, and the just-recovering Keldor in a smaller forcefield. Hutch grinned as Randor bent down to check on his brother. "I sense victory," Hutch sang out cheerily.
"In your dreams!" Fisto yelled, swinging at him with his mighty fist-only to be met by Jitsu's own oversized hand.
"We weren't done yet," Jitsu sneered. He punched Fisto with his other hand; Fisto ducked, then jabbed at Jitsu's stomach.
Faker ran at Adam, who tossed him over his back and whirled around to face him. Adam felt stronger than he had in a long time, but as he dodged Faker's blows, he knew it was only a matter of time before the other's strength overpowered him. No sooner had the thought formed than Faker caught Adam on the cheek, then twice in the stomach. Years of fighting had prepared Adam for the blows, but he still staggered, dazed. He backed away from Faker warily, trying to recover his senses.
Lyn ducked behind the pile of rubble that was once the witness stand, and blasted freeze whips from her hand. The ice encased Marzo in a thick prison. Marzo laughed as he began to glow white with heat. Lyn reinforced the ice, but Marzo exploded into a fireball and sent his icy prison shattering into hundreds of icy daggers in a dozen different directions.
One of the ice shards pierced Adam in the left leg-the one he had broken at Snake Mountain. With a cry of pain, he went down, and Faker was on him in seconds, his hands closing around Adam's throat. Adam pulled frantically at Faker's hands, but could do nothing to break that iron grip-Grayskull's grip.
"No!" Marlena cried out, pressing her hands against the red force field. It sent a fiery tingle down her arms; Marlena jerked back and stared helplessly as Faker choked Adam.
"Adam! Adam!" Teela raised her arm and fired her freeze ray at the forcefield, but it had no effect. Frustrated, she kicked it, cursing aloud.
Randor made no sound, but his eyes were shining with horror, his lips parted slightly. Keldor strained to sit up, then he tried to fire a blast at the forcefield, but it bounced off harmlessly. He needed a few more moments to recover. 'Truth, please, do something!' Keldor begged desperately.
"Kill him, He-Man, kill him!" Hutch cheered, excitement glittering in his eyes. He looked towards the group enclosed in his red magical circle. "Say good-bye to the prince. Break his neck, He-Man!"
Adam was only semi-conscious now; in his heart, he had already accepted that the fight was over, and had stopped struggling against Faker. His eyes drifted closed as Fisto punched, kicked, and dodged, trying to get past Jitsu so he could help Adam.
Then, suddenly, Adam wasn't really in the arena. He was, in his mind, back in a dark cave, a voice echoing in his mind.
'Rely not on a hunk of metal. I don't need a sword to rescue you.'
In a haze, he felt Faker release one hand and move it upwards, ready to grasp his head and snap his neck. It happened in slow motion, as another echoing memory came to mind.
'Do not doubt again.'
Adam's eyes snapped open as Duncan's voice challenged him.
'You defined He-Man.'
Somehow, Adam's foot came up while Faker's hand was still moving into position. He put his foot into Faker's stomach and hurled the pretender off of him. He got to his knees as Faker stood.
Adam's ears filled with the roar of his blood pumping back into his head, Hutch screaming at Faker to kill him, and the battles between Lyn and Marzo and Fisto and Jitsu. Adam got to his feet shakily as Faker came at him again, but his strength started to return rapidly. As Faker dove at him, Adam stepped aside, and he caught a new sound.
"He-Man! He-Man! He-Man!" the crowd chanted.
Faker turned back and bent down low, ready to tackle Adam. "They're cheering for me."
Forgetting that everything within the dome was amplified, Adam smirked at Faker. "You're wrong, Faker. You might have He-Man's strength, but I have He-Man's heart."
The crowd's roar intensified as the two flew through the air at each other, but Adam suddenly found himself stopped in mid-air. Looking about, he saw that Lyn and Fisto had been taken up by a red ray-the same one he was caught up in, he realized. He struggled against it, but couldn't do anything to break free. The three of them were dropped into the smaller forcefield enclosure with the others.
"You're becoming too dangerous," Hutch said, shaking his head in mock-sadness. "I can't have you hurting my allies."
'Adora, you must wake up. She-Ra is needed!' Malick sent. He shrieked as he dove toward the shield, angry that he could do nothing more to stop the villains.
'Anger!' Serena sent to everyone she could reach telepathically, Malick included. 'That jewel is the Blood Jewel of Uran Gang. It feeds on and emphasizes anger and hate and turns it into magical power. Malick, somehow the anger in the crowd must be averted.'
Malick forced himself to release his anger and frustration. In his falcon form he could cast no spells, but perhaps Keldor and Lyn could, if only She-Ra could free them.
Malick called out to Adora once again.
'Your family is in danger!' Malick sent in the equivalent of a mental shout.
Adora stirred with a groan and opened her eyes to see a hulking figure above her. "What?" she gasped as she rolled out of the way just as Faker reached down to drag her to Hutch's side.
Adora wasted no time. She scrambled to her sword, Faker too close for her comfort. She grabbed the sword, shouting, "For the Honor of Grayskull!" before she even had it in the air.
The entire assembly was transfixed as Adora transformed before their eyes into She-Ra-all except for Marzo and Hutch, who both aimed flaming hands at the glow that protected Adora until the transformation was complete, and Faker, who backed away with a confused look on his face.
'Look out,' Lyn sent as the transformation ended.
Malick soared over the transfixed army of Hutch and mob of spectators mingling in this great stadium. All stood with weapons lowered, stunned by the drama playing out before them.
'I have to do something, but my power outside of the castle fades more and more as each day passes. I don't know what I can do.'
Malick swung around again swooping with the speed that allowed him to cut through the wind like a razor through paper, his precise vision allowing him an enhanced view of everything happening in the battlefield sprawling out below.
Malick made another circle and noticed one creature was oblivious to the activity going on around him. Bedorat had sat humming in the midst the flash and singe of magical rays flying behind and above him; he had been munching on a great stack of pies the entire time and was still immersed in doing so.
'Bedorat!' thought Malick.
With a carefully whispered spell Malick became invisible and dove down, only to invisibly transform back to himself when he arrived to the point in the shield closest to Bedorat. Malick focused all of his telepathic and magical powers on the once-proud warrior.
'Bedorat. You are so much more than you seem right now. Hear me!' Malick sent urgently.
She-Ra leapt in the air just as the magical blast flew from Marzo's and Hutch's hands. She used her momentum to head towards the jewel. 'If I can just get it, I can free the others,' she thought to herself as she prepared to snatch the jewel from Hutch's hands.
"No, She-Ra," Keldor shouted. "That jewel is cursed. If you destroy it, its vile power will fall on you and you will become a vessel of hatred and pain." Cursing under his breath, he added almost absently, "If only we could figure a way to decrease the hatred and anger that fill this arena." Randor's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
She-Ra hesitated, and it cost her dearly. Marzo cast a freezing fog spell that crept up her legs. Hutch quickly used her distraction to capture her with the red jewel as well, the magic pulling her sword away from her and dropping it harmlessly on the ground outside of the forcefield as he put her into the forcefield with the others.
"I've done it!" he laughed triumphantly. Some people were banging on the outside of the shield; Duncan was firing at it desperately. Still, nothing could diminish Hutch's joy. "We have the royal family! Nothing can stop us now! I claim the throne of Eternia for He-Man!" He raised his hand and levitated the crown from Randor's head, and lowered it onto Faker's. The crowd was mixed; some cheered wildly, still not understanding the truth, while others booed and yelled angrily.
"I want to say something," Randor called out.
Hutch rolled his eyes. "None of us want to hear you, o former king."
"I forgive you, Keldor," Randor said, concentrating on fully releasing his anger toward his brother. He turned to face him. "I forgive you for fighting for my kingdom. I forgive you your attacks. I forgive you for threatening my family and almost killing Adam in front of me. I forgive you all harm you've done. Even…" Randor took a deep breath to steady himself. "I even forgive you for taking Adora from me." No longer worried about maintaining a secret that was clearly known by all now, She-Ra allowed her father to hug her close to her side.
"I forgive you as well, Uncle Keldor," She-Ra proclaimed. "For helping Hordak take me from my home, and for kidnapping me again after I finally found them. I forgive you for almost killing Adam with Kaspanya's talisman, and I thank you for coming back to us and helping us."
Lyn gasped as she saw the forcefield around them dim for a few seconds after each one spoke.
"It's working," she whispered. "The shield's power is fluctuating."
"Hutch has to work harder to maintain this prison as the jewel loses some of the hatred that powers it," realized Keldor quietly.
The arena had fallen silent as Randor's and She-Ra's voices carried out. Randor's gaze shifted to the others on trial; he spoke of them even though they were still unconscious. "I forgive Beastman for kidnapping me and for trying to harm my son numerous times. I forgive Tri-Klops for his crimes. And Lyn, I forgive you as well...for turning me into a goat, for attacking us with the creeping horak, for all the times you tried to overthrow us."
"And I as well," Adam said, his voice strong. He looked straight into his uncle's eyes. "I forgive you for erasing my memory and sending me to another planet, for kidnapping me multiple times, for attacking me without provocation, and even for trying to kill me. I forgive you...Uncle Keldor." With those words the last hidden throes of any animosity he had harbored against Keldor disappeared. Adam glanced at Randor and saw true peace in his father's face for the first time in months. The king really had forgiven his brother at last. Adam's legs suddenly folded under him, and he put a hand to his head, feeling dizzy. She-Ra and Lyn went to him immediately.
"I forgive you all," Marlena said bluntly. "For any and all crimes."
The crowd began to grumble. "That's not right," yelled one man. Others echoed him. "You can't just pardon them!"
"No one said we were pardoning them," Randor said calmly. "We are merely choosing to forgive them and let go of the hatred we have held, which has hurt us more than them."
Hawk had been trying to burn his way through the main shield with his cutlass, but Duncan's blasted invention was too strong. Now, as he listened to the family expressing their forgiveness and the crowd arguing, his hands tightened into fists. 'You gave your word to keep it a secret,' he reminded himself. As others voiced their disgust, though, he could see the shield brightening again. She-Ra was pushing against it, but it was still too strong.
Hawk leapt to his feet and turned around in one smooth motion. "Keldor has been helping some of you all this time!" he shouted. Seeing a way he could help, Orko quickly cast a spell to increase the volume of Hawk's voice, relieved when the spell actually worked.
"Yeah right!" an old man shouted.
"Oh, shut up!" a woman yelled back.
Keldor groaned and raised a hand to rub his neck.
Adam glanced at him from his seat on the ground. "Care to clue us in, Unc?"
Hawk glared at the crowd. "He's set up trust funds all over Eternia to help you! He's supplied scholarships, built schools, fertilized your farms, and he did it all without anyone knowing except for me!"
Keldor blushed bright lavender.
"Oh really," Marlena said with a sly smile. "Keldor, I'm impressed."
"In fact," Hawk continued, "Keldor, Skeletor, whatever you want to call him-he didn't keep one bit of the fortune King Miro had saved for Keldor his whole life. He didn't keep even one copper coin, but asked me to find any and every way possible to make restitution for his crimes, and he made me promise-a promise I break now for the greater good-to not share what he'd done with anyone because he didn't want to buy his way out of the punishment he deserved."
Hawk was about to say something else when he felt a tug on his pant leg.
"Can I get a lift, big guy?" asked the widget Laura, her blond hair bouncing as she put her hands on her hips.
Hawk nodded and helped her onto one of his shoulders so she could be seen.
"Quiet!" Laura yelled, and surprisingly, much of the crowd obeyed. "You heard Squinch and Candoo testify against and for this person, Keldor, Skeletor, whatever he's called now. And I guess pretty much all of us have reason to hate all four of those prisoners down there, but there's something a lot of you are forgetting."
"We saw enough down there to know that the one down there claiming to be He-Man isn't him. He's a bully that doesn't care if people get hurt and he's working with Count Marzo and the evil ex-baron Hutch. We also saw that She-Ra is Adora. And that means that the real He-Man down is in that cage." Laura pointed directly to Adam. "And he never did anything but the right thing. We teach our children to be like He-Man, and I'm going to be like He-Man-like Prince Adam-right now. If Prince Adam thinks we should forgive Keldor, well I do too. And I forgive the lot of you for your stupidity and for being great big thieving bullies-just like He-Man would do."
Some people chuckled at her speech, others grumbled. A few began to look thoughtful. A good number ignored her insult and turned their eyes to Adam, who was nodding his thanks to Lyn and She-Ra for healing his injured leg.
She-Ra heaved a fist at the forcefield, but still it didn't break.
Hutch laughed. "It's not going to work, although I applaud your puny effort," he said menacingly. "There's enough hatred in this arena to power this forcefield for a hundred years." He closed his eyes, pulling more power from the jewel to solidify the forcefield-forever.
"I forgive him!" cried out a man. Several disbelieving villagers turned to him. It was Drak, whose sister had been killed by Skeletor's raid. "I've harbored hatred for too long. If my hatred is fueling that-" he gestured to the red-colored forcefield-"what's it doing to me?"
"Listen to him!" Adam called to them, getting to his feet. All eyes went to him automatically. There was something distinctly like He-Man in his tone, in his stance, and it commanded their attention. "Your hatred does nothing to Keldor. It only poisons the good in your own hearts. It allows evil into your life."
"Shut up!" Marzo growled. He raised his hands and let out a blast of energy that penetrated the shield and wrapped around Adam tightly, preventing him from speaking.
Adam's words had had the desired effect, however. People throughout the arena began standing and shouting their forgiveness, letting go of the hatred they had held close for years. She-Ra tried the forcefield again, but Hutch had almost finished with it. In a moment, they would be trapped forever.
Duncan lowered his laser, which had failed to burn through the force field. He turned to Lana and grasped her upraised arm. She had been combining her magic with the laser to try to get through, but it wasn't doing any good. He had built a forcefield that was impervious to attack. Duncan felt more embarrassed than proud over that fact, now that they couldn't get to the royal family.
"You've got to forgive him," Duncan said to Lana urgently.
"What?" Lana's green eyes widened in disbelief.
"You may be good at hiding your feelings, Lana, but I know deep inside you're still angry at him. You must forgive him," Duncan repeated. "Their lives depend on it."
"I-I-" Lana faltered. She swallowed hard as Adam struggled against his magical bonds.
She-Ra looked from her brother to the shield, then around their forcefield prison, seeking something to help them break free.
Suddenly, Teela was at Adam's side, tears streaming down her face. She looked at her husband, who could only breathe in small, shallow gasps, to Keldor.
"I forgive you for killing my father, Keldor," Teela said in a broken voice that could barely be heard in spite of the projectors. "And for stealing what should have been my childhood with my parents."
Keldor was dumbfounded for a moment. Lyn grabbed his hand and motioned toward Marzo's spell. As one they pulled the dark magic away from the bonds that surrounded Adam, but the evil magic held fast and fired defensive bolts into them, sending them both to their knees. Keldor crawled forward and lifted his hand again and pulled at the power surrounding Adam until, with a blast, he was knocked to the ground.
Faker and Jitsu prowled about restlessly, beginning to think that this was all going wrong. Marzo whirled around and began sending a sleep mist into the crowd, desperate to silence their words of forgiveness.
"No you fool, we need them angry, not asleep!" Hutch cried out. He raised one hand and pulled Adam out of the inner forcefield. The prince ground his teeth together as he passed through the shield; the magic between his bonds and the shield seemed to burn against his skin.
The shield was strong enough to do without the jewel's power for a few moments. Hutch tossed the jewel to Marzo and sneered at Adam. "And I know exactly how to fuel their hatred," he said. "It will turn on me when I kill their beloved prince in front of them." What he left unsaid was that the power he gained from that hatred would be more than enough power to cast a spell that would alter the people's memories of today's events. He would be the loved one, and Keldor and Adam the hated. Hutch grinned in anticipation as he raised a sword to strike Adam down.