Noticing Adam: The Uprising Chapter 5

He wanted to run, but Hordak had a firm hold on his shoulders. He was sure he could knock the villain away and free himself, but then they would know he had broken Shadow Weaver's spell if they didn't already. He wasn't one hundred percent sure what Hordak meant by his words so he tried to remain calm, but it was hard. "What do you mean?" he asked softly. Hopefully, he would get a response that told him what he needed to know and do from this moment forward: stay or run?

Hordak massaged his shoulders comfortingly. He knew what Hordak wanted regardless of what he did or didn't know. The Horde leader replied, "You have doubts. We want to make sure you know that you are a part of this family and that we will get Adora back."

He swallowed roughly and glanced behind him to look into Hordak's eyes as best as he could. "I know you want that to happen, but…"

"There are no 'buts'," Hordak insisted firmly. "The next step to make sure that it does occur is to convince you of that." He looked over at Shadow Weaver and nodded.

Adam turned and saw that she was floating his way with her hands raised slightly. "No," he said and forcibly ripped himself away from Hordak. He knew she was going to try to cast another spell on him and he feared the consequences of that action if he allowed her to do so.

"He has broken the spell, Hordak!" exclaimed Shadow Weaver as she rushed towards them and pointed at him.

Adam knew it was time to get out of there, so he quickly ran towards the door as Hordak yelled, "GUARDS! SEIZE HIM!"

As he ran out the door, he saw dozens of Horde Troopers rushing from down the hall on his right with their freeze rays ready at hand. They started running his way, so he ran to his left, desperate to get away. Then, the entire Fright Zone seemed to brighten and an alarm started blaring throughout its halls. He knew the entire army was being called on just to keep him there. He knew then that he couldn't make his escape now. His best course of action was to hide and hope he stayed hidden long enough to make them think he had escaped.

Turning down numerous corridors and paying special attention to where there was and wasn't cameras, he tried to find a good hiding place. Eventually, he turned down a hallway that looked like all the others, but he noticed there was a somewhat large air vent on one of the walls. He quickly made his way to it and saw that the barred cover that kept it closed was somewhat bent, so he used all of his might to pull it open. Getting down on his knees, he crawled inside and grabbed the cover to pull it shut again. He travelled down the vent a good five feet and turned down another duct to sit there. He couldn't go much farther in any direction, because the openings got smaller and he couldn't squeeze in them even if he wanted to.

At least he was out of vision if anyone happened to look inside the vent.

Relaxing and leaning his head against the wall behind him, he breathed deeply and hoped he was able to get away and find his way back to the Whispering Woods before She-Ra came to find him. After all, if she came and couldn't find him, the odds were great that the Horde would catch her, too. He wanted to avoid that at all costs.

=)=)=)

Adora was downright angry. No, she was furious at the Captain of the Guard! Adam had always told her that Teela was a little hardheaded. She now knew it was a little more than that—Teela seemed to have a talent for trouble just as much as Orko did, but in an entirely different way. In her opinion, Teela's way was a lot worse and had far more dire consequences…

But Adam loved her.

That was the only thing that stopped her from ripping into Teela more than she had. She knew her brother would not be pleased to know that they had fought once he returned. She hoped he wouldn't find out, not because she was afraid that he would side with Teela over her. She simply felt like he shouldn't be put in the situation to choose between them. He loved them both in different ways, and she knew he would love nothing more than for them to get along.

She had a suspicion that was going to be a very tall order and she knew she wouldn't be able to do it until they got Adam back safe and sound. If she tried now, she knew she would fail miserably, because the mere sight of the woman reminded her of the captain's stupidity which led to her brother being captured by the Horde.

Besides, she had a job to do that wouldn't include Teela. She may not be able to save all of her friends right now because there were so many of them captured, but she could get Adam. She had done it before and she would do it again.

=)=)=)

Skeletor sat in Hordak's throne room on his chair and listened in amusement to the alarms that blared throughout the Fright Zone. He chuckled at the thought of his dear old teacher being reminded of how slippery and troublesome Eternians could be. Hordak had easily captured Etheria and made slaves of most of its people, but Eternia had always been the one place that Hordak hadn't been able to conquer. In fact, the Eternians had driven the Horde off the planet…

But they didn't get rid of Skeletor. As a matter of fact, he had managed to rule the entire Dark Hemisphere without the Horde's help. Hordak didn't have much to brag about when it came to Eternia besides the fact that he had kidnapped Princess Adora. But really, his old friend had done that with him by his side, so did that really count as a win for just Hordak?

Sure, now, Hordak had Prince Adam, but just like Skeletor had learned recently, there was more to the prince than meets the eye. And, if the sirens that were now sounding meant anything at all, it meant that the Prince of Eternia was teaching them of that very fact right now. He chuckled and the laughter only got louder as Hordak rushed into the room and noticed he was sitting on his throne.

"Get off of my throne!" Hordak snapped menacingly.

Skeletor chuckled again and quipped, "What's wrong, Hordak? Having a little trouble this morning?"

He responded by morphing his arm into his freeze cannon and pointing it at him. "As a matter of fact, I am and I would be careful if I were you! Defeating you once and for all would brighten my day!"

"Ha!" scoffed Skeletor; "Your threats don't scare me. You know that…but tell me, what has you in such a bad mood?"

Grumbling again, Hordak finally met Skeletor's gaze when the Lord of the now non-existent Snake Mountain stepped off the throne and came to stand in front of him. "Shadow Weaver's magic wore off. Prince Adam remembers who he is and ran off."

If he had the eyes to do it, he would have rolled them at his old teacher. "That's what I thought. I thought I told you to keep all reminders of Eternia away from him."

Hordak growled loudly and snapped, "I did!"

"Did you change his clothes? I doubt it. Did you bring up the Rebels right away? Probably." He shook his head for a moment and then said, "Perhaps, you should allow me to try my hand at a little magic."

At that moment, an intense whine was heard as Shadow Weaver floated into the room and declared, "What makes you think your magic is stronger than mine? Besides, we know we can't trust you!"

Skeletor chuckled and said, "It doesn't matter what you think, Weaver." He looked back at Hordak and continued, "It only matters what he knows in this case. As for trusting me, you can trust me as much as I can trust you. I'm still here. I could have gone back to Eternia at any time, but I see the benefits of staying for now and helping you to destroy the Rebellion…but I expect you to keep up your end of the deal." He chuckled again. "Helping you with Prince Adam will not only help you conquer the entire planet, it will also help me to defeat King Randor."

Hordak rubbed his chin thoughtfully during Skeletor's speech and then nodded once he stopped speaking. He looked at Shadow Weaver and said, "He's right." Turning back to Skeletor, he asked, "What do you have in mind, my old pupil?"

"It's quite simple, Hordak. We find Prince Adam and let me wipe his memory away. THEN, let Shadow Weaver cast her mind-control spell."

Hordak shook his head and said, "I want him to remember Adora. It's one of the ways we will get her back. I want…"

"You are too sentimental for your own good, Hordak! I'm shocked!" interrupted Skeletor amusedly. "…BUT, I do have another idea. Recently, I was made aware of the hardships between Prince Adam and his father."

"What are you talking about?"

"Prince Adam and King Randor were not getting along. I am willing to bet that they have only recently forgiven one another. What if I focus on erasing that? Let's allow Adam to believe they're still at odds. We can make him believe that his precious father kicked him out of the palace…"

Hordak thought about this and interrupted, "He'll never fall for it."

"That is where Shadow Weaver's spell comes in. We'll make him believe it. This spell will be grounded by a little truth in the animosity that the prince and king have shown towards one another. That will make it harder to break. I will merge my power with Weaver's when she casts this spell. This will make it stronger…"

Hordak paced a little and then replied, "It's worth a try, but if you betray us, Skeletor…"

"I wouldn't dream of it!" he exclaimed, again amused. "As long as you keep your promise."

Skeletor laughed a little and then, not waiting for an answer, began to leave the throne room.

"Where are you going?" Shadow Weaver asked angrily.

"Why, to find Prince Adam, of course."

They followed Skeletor to the dining room and watched as he spun his Havoc Staff in the air. He could see Adam's earlier actions and used the staff to follow the prince's movements throughout the Fright Zone.

=)=)=)

Adam was sleeping silently in the air shaft but woke when he heard footsteps down the hall. He held his breath so it wouldn't echo and give away his whereabouts.

"Where is he?" he heard Hordak ask whoever he was with.

No oral response was given, and Adam began to worry. The absence of footsteps let him know that they were still standing in the hall. "What are they doing?" he asked himself silently, but he wasn't given much time to wonder when suddenly he heard the vent cover being torn off and a mechanical claw, of sorts, grabbed ahold of his leg.

"Ahhh!" he screamed and tried to hold onto the corner of the vent as the claw tried to pull him back into the hallway. It was no used, though. It was either let them rip his leg off or let them pull him out. He let go. Once he was back in the hall, he shut his eyes and covered them with his hands. The lights were bright in comparison to his dark hideaway.

"I should have known you would be there," he heard Hordak mumble. "When Adora had been upset as a child, she used to hide in the same place."

He opened his eyes and stared at Hordak for a moment. In front of him was his enemy, and yet, this man knew his sister better than he did. He knew of her childhood and her tendencies. He knew he could learn a lot from him if he would give Hordak the opportunity…but he couldn't. He wouldn't. The consequences would be too great.

He sprung to his feet and tried to run, but he couldn't get far because his leg was too sore from being pulled on. He almost stumbled and Hordak grabbed him.

"This is for your own good, son."

He tried to wrench himself free as he cried, "I am NOT your son, and Adora is NOT your daughter! We never will be! Do you hear me?" He knew that's what Hordak wanted. He wanted Adora back. He knew better than to doubt that there was some emotion there when it came to his sister. Hordak had raised Adora and the pictures that he had seen earlier told him that Hordak loved her like a daughter…but there was no love between the prince and the Horde leader whatsoever. He wanted him simply to ensnare Adora and to hurt King Randor. He had no doubt of that, and he wasn't going to allow it.

"We'll see about that," snapped Hordak, getting a little rough with his voice and his hold on him. He shook him a little and growled in frustration.

Two more Horde Troopers walked up and helped Hordak hold the prince. "Do it!" he commanded.

Skeletor stepped forward and Adam widened his eyes. It was the first time that he had noticed the Lord of Destruction's presence. He gritted his teeth and began to speak, but Skeletor beat him to it. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Prince Adam, especially like this."

He held his Havoc Staff out at Adam and the prince flinched as he remembered the last time Skeletor had done this action. He had killed him, but something told Adam that wasn't his intentions this time. Hordak wanted him on their side; he wanted him to no longer remember his family on Eternia. Squeezing his eyes shut, he chanted in his head like a mantra, "King Randor is my father; King Randor is my father; King Randor is my father!"

Suddenly, he heard a sound like a gun shooting and then he felt a lot of heat on his head. He didn't dare open his eyes, but he struggled to break free. There was no use, though. Soon, Adam felt weak and he could almost see a barrier in his mind crumbling. He wasn't sure if their spell was working, though, because he still remembered that he was from Eternia and that King Randor was his father…but he could tell they weren't through yet.

His thought was confirmed when he heard Skeletor say, "Now, Shadow Weaver."

He didn't know what they were planning, so he continued with his earlier mantra and prayed that it worked. Soon, he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness and even his thoughts turned to black.

=)=)=)