Well, you're either going to hate this chapter or love it. I think that's been the reaction to this story as a whole, so I might as well accept that as the norm now, haha. I really do hope that everyone who has been enjoying this story will like this chapter, as well.
Noticing Adam: The Uprising Chapter 15
This was only the second time King Randor had been present while Adam turned into He-Man. It was a remarkable thing to behold and he had a feeling it would always give him that overwhelming sense of awe. He watched He-Man's face carefully as the hero brought his sword down and tilted his head to the floor.
"Brother?" Adora questioned as she grabbed his arm tenderly to show support.
He lifted his eyes and stared at her for a moment before looking at the king. Everyone held their breath. Did it work?
"Adam?" Randor then questioned. The silence was killing him…
And, then it happened!
He-Man smiled almost mischievously and replied softly, "Father."
Randor couldn't grab his son fast enough! He gathered him in his arms and exclaimed, "Don't play with us like that, Adam!"
His son laughed a little in response and chastised, "It's He-Man, remember?"
That was all the proof he needed to verify that Adam's memory had been restored. After all, they had made sure never to mention He-Man in his son's presence. He continued to squeeze his son tightly, smiled brightly, and replied, "Then, I suggest you turn back into Adam."
He-Man nodded, stepped away from his father, and lifted his sword to do so, but before he could say the incantation, the Sorceress called to them using Adora's sword. When Adora pulled it out, it floated into the middle of the room and everyone surrounded it.
"I'm so happy to see that you have returned to us, He-Man," she greeted. "And, it is just in time, too. Skeletor is here on Eternia and the Royal Palace is under attack!
"What?" He-Man cried out. He turned back to the others and said, "We have to go now! We don't have a moment to lose!" Without waiting for a response, he looked back at the sword and said, "Open the gate now, Sorceress."
Before He-Man could do anything else, King Randor grabbed his shoulder and pulled to get him to turn around. He-Man watched his father scrutinize him carefully. "Are you sure that you're up for this?" the king asked softly. Randor knew his son a lot better now, and if everything that had happened recently taught him anything, it was that Adam would keep going and going until he drove himself to sickness or madness to protect Eternia. He'd do anything to ensure its safety, even to the detriment of his mental and physical health. Randor could not allow that to happen again.
He-Man sighed and said hurriedly, "Father, we don't have time for this! I'm needed on Eternia and…"
King Randor grabbed his wrist and insisted firmly, "Well, we're going to make time. It's not going to do anyone any good if you show up and get hurt or kidnapped again. It will have solved nothing and it might be worse since they would have 'He-Man' instead of 'Adam.'"
"I'm fine! Honest!" he cried. "Now, let's go help Mother!"
When Randor gave a single nod in approval, He-Man turned around and ran into the dimensional gate. Everyone else quickly followed.
=)=)=)
Hordak stood in his throne room and glared at Shadow Weaver. "We lost Adam," he grumbled. "He was the only leverage we had to get Adora back, and now he's gone." He looked thoughtful for a moment and then questioned, "How easy will it be for them to break the spell? Despite his hesitancy, I could tell he didn't trust them when they were speaking to him."
Shadow Weaver assured him, "It will be very difficult, Hordak. It will take more than simply telling him that he is not a member of the Horde, at least at first. If we could possibly get him back, we could strengthen the spell…"
The Horde leader groaned aloud. "The question is how to get him back. If he's still under the spell, that means he would willingly come to us if he could." He then glared at her and spat, "This wouldn't have happened if that turncoat, two-faced villain had shown up! Where is he?"
Shadow Weaver raised her hands and replied, "I shall go to my quarters. I will use my pool of vision to locate him." She instantly disappeared.
Hordak rubbed his chin and said, "And, then, I'll get my revenge, one way or another, on him or King Randor."
=)=)=)
Man-at-Arms quickly grabbed the queen as rubble and smoke surrounded them. He knelt her down on the ground and used his body and armor as a shield over her. When the dust cleared, he cried, "Are you all right, Your Majesty?" Before she could reply, he noticed that he heard the sounds of an aircraft behind him. He turned around slowly and saw Trap Jaw and Mer-Man in one of their own Windraiders! They were hovering just over the balcony and he knew if they shot at them, they would be finished.
"Heh, heh, heh!" Trap Jaw laughed. "Look at them, Mer-Man! I bet they weren't expecting to see us for a very long time!"
Man-at-Arms turned his attention back to the queen and said, "I need for you to run back inside the palace, Your Majesty! I'll cover you!"
"But Duncan, there is no way you can take them on alone! We'll run together!" she cried worriedly.
He grabbed her shoulders and stated firmly, "My duty is to protect you, Your Highness! I will make sure you have a greater chance of getting to safety. I will not have it any other way, and the longer you argue with me, the more likely that I will fail. I can't live with the mistake of losing a member of the Royal Family again." His eyes nearly pleaded with her.
She nodded at him sadly, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Get ready," he muttered as he turned around. He stood up as Queen Marlena did the same behind him. She faced in the opposite direction as he lifted his arm and yelled, "Go!" Immediately, Duncan shot his freeze ray at the ship continuously and she ran.
Within moments she was in the hallway and she turned around to see how Duncan was faring. She couldn't see anything. Once again she had heard the sounds of the Windraider firing and smoke covered the air again. Then, she heard Duncan yelling out, almost as if he were in pain, "Run, Your Highness! Run!"
Doing as she was told, she ran and looked back every so often to see if she could catch a glimpse of him following her. He never came. Turning back around, a tear slipped down her cheek. She turned the corner at a high rate of speed and unfortunately, she was going too fast in her dress shoes to stop herself without sliding. And, who she slid into made her heart stop!
He wrapped his arms around her and held her closely. Only Randor had ever held her like this and the irony of who was doing it now made her skin crawl.
She looked up into the boney face of Skeletor as he exclaimed, "Why, Queen Marlena, what a pleasant surprise!" She tried to wrench herself free from his grasp, but he was too strong. Instead, he turned her in his arms to face outward and whispered in her ear, "With you as my prisoner and King Randor and He-Man on Etheria, I rule this planet now!"
=)=)=)
The dimensional gate brought He-Man and the others into the throne room. Unfortunately, no one was present and it worried He-Man greatly. "Where is everyone?" he cried; "Where is the queen?" Then, he heard a boom on the other side of the palace so he immediately took off running. He didn't care that he wasn't giving Adora time to turn into She-Ra or for the others to keep up. He had his reasons: he had a feeling that he just couldn't shake. His top priority was to find his mother.
He turned down the palace corridors as quickly as he could, following the sounds of stun rays and various other weapons. Soon, he found himself stepping into the courtyard and saw members of the Royal Guard on the ground shooting at a Windraider high above. He then noticed that other guardsmen were coming up on their sky sleds in the opposite direction. Seeing that they were doing fine on their own, he scanned the area for his mother. When he didn't see her, he yelled, "Where is the queen?"
Several guards turned their startled gazes to him. They obviously hadn't expected He-Man to be here since he was supposed to be on Etheria. "She was with Man-at-Arms earlier! We have no idea where they are now!"
"Where were they last?" he questioned in a near panic. After this question was asked, a freeze ray hit the man he was speaking to. Growing angrier, or perhaps more frightened, than he had ever been in a while, he gritted his teeth and grabbed a large boulder that had fallen from the palace walls. He stated with a strained voice, "I have had enough of this!" He then grunted as he threw the large stone at the Windraider and it immediately crashed into the backseat area. Instantly, the aircraft went down to the ground with a sickening thud.
Seeing that Trap Jaw and Mer-Man were fine, aside from being a little banged up, he turned to the other guards to see that they had dropped their arms and were gaping at him. Grimacing because they had seen him lose his self-control momentarily, he asked again, "Where did you last see Queen Marlena and Man-at-Arms?"
The soldiers pointed above to a balcony that was badly damaged. He quickly ran to the destruction below and shifted through the debris to make sure no one was there. He sucked in a terrified gasp when he found what might be Duncan's helmet, but there were no other signs of him. He then turned to go back into the palace, when She-Ra, Battlecat, Teela, and King Randor ran outside.
"He-Man?" Teela questioned, running to his side.
"We need to find the queen!" he exclaimed. He ran back inside and everyone followed him. He made his way up the stairs to get to the same corridor that the balcony was on. As soon as he stepped foot onto that particular hallway, he saw a sight that made his heart stop! His mother was in the arms of Skeletor and he was holding the top of his Havoc Staff to her head.
"Skeletor!" He-Man warned, taking a step closer as the others gathered behind him.
"Marlena!" King Randor cried worriedly when he saw his wife. "Are you all right?"
She nodded slightly and replied, "I'm not hurt." She then looked at He-Man and tears filled her eyes.
He-Man knew that despite the situation she was in, she was glad to see him and grateful that he was okay. Now, he had to ensure that she would be. "What do you want, Skeletor?" he questioned, taking another step forward. "What do you hope to gain with the queen?"
Skeletor tightened his hold on Marlena, stepped back a little, and shouted, "Don't come any closer, He-Man, or Queen Marlena is going to have a little accident!"
He-Man immediately froze.
Skeletor had tried to kill Adam and King Randor more than once recently. Some might even say he succeeded when it came to the prince, so he could not ignore Skeletor's threat. So, instead of continuing towards him, he gave a threat of his own. "So, help me, Skeletor, if you harm her in any way, you will answer to me and it will not be pleasant!"
Skeletor's mouth dropped open a little and he seemed genuinely surprised. "Why, He-Man, I don't think I've ever heard you so…angry before. What is it about the queen that has you so undone?" He brought his hand up, wrapped his hand around the backside of her crown, and yanked on it to bring her head back towards him even more.
Marlena let out a startled gasp and a hiss of pain at his actions.
He-Man took out his sword and twisted the hilt in his hands impatiently. He knew he was about to lose control again. "Skeletor," he warned again. "Let her go!"
Skeletor observed He-Man's reaction with amusement and turned his head back to Marlena. Because his hand was still holding her crown, it caused his mouth to be very close to her ear and neck now. It almost looked like he was going to kiss her there because they were so close, but instead he whispered in her ear.
He-Man had no idea what he said, but Marlena cried out in alarm and tried to pull away. It was like she was a wild beast that found itself in a cage. Despite this, she didn't succeed. Skeletor only tightened his grip and laughed as tears slipped down the queen's cheeks.
King Randor stepped forward in front of He-Man, and said, "What do you want, villain? Name your price and let my wife go!"
"You know my price," answered Skeletor with a chuckle; "I want you to step down and give your throne to me!"
"No!" Marlena yelled. "Don't do it, Randor!" If she had wanted to say anything more, it was cut off by Skeletor using his grip on her crown to shake her head and neck furiously.
"Stay out of this, woman!" he shouted irritably.
"Mo—" He-Man caught himself before he finished the exclamation. He breathed deeply and began to look around the room. There had to be some way to free his mother. He just had to find it! He glanced over at She-Ra, who was also fighting murderous impulses. They met each other's gazes and each saw that the other was clueless for the moment.
Then, he saw something over Skeletor's shoulder that might give him hope or kill it all together.
Hordak and Shadow Weaver appeared behind him unbeknownst to Skeletor. They walked right behind him before Hordak spoke aloud. "Well, well, well," he said in mock amusement, "what do we have here? A room full of Horde enemies and even one traitor who has his hands full. What to do?"
He then glared at Skeletor and laughed loudly. He morphed his arm into his stun cannon and held it to Skeletor's head.
"Wait!" Skeletor yelled. "Why such hostility? I thought we were working together to make our enemies' lives miserable!"
Hordak growled and then spat, "Yes, I thought we were until you betrayed me again, you sorry excuse of a villain! Where were you when we attacked the Rebels? We lost Adam because you didn't show up!"
Skeletor dropped his hand from the queen's crown and waved his hand out. "I was gathering more insurance to stop the King of Eternia! I thought we could use even more leverage, just in case Prince Adam wasn't enough. You say we've lost Adam, but now we have Queen Marlena, my old teacher!"
Hordak glared at the villain and He-Man could tell he didn't believe a word that his old pupil was saying, but he also could tell that he was going to accept the excuse nonetheless. Realizing at that moment that they were about to take his mother to Etheria and perhaps play with her mind as they did him, he cried out, "Hordak, before you accept what Skeletor is offering, why don't you listen to my offer?"
Both Skeletor and Hordak looked at him. "What is it, He-Man?" Hordak questioned, sarcastically saying his name. "What is it that you could offer me that is better than the Queen of Eternia?"
He-Man glanced at his father and Teela sadly for a brief moment and answered when he turned back to them, "Adam."
"What?" shouted She-Ra, Teela, Battlecat, and King Randor simultaneously.
The hero ignored them and continued, "Adam is still under the influence of the spell you have cast on him. He wants to return to you and we haven't been able to break the spell. Hordak, you want Adora back. Well, Adora is closer to Adam than she is the queen. Sad but true. Adam will be a much better lure. She will not stop fighting until she gets him back. You know that as well as I do."
"No, we have won the throne!" Skeletor cried. "We have beaten them!"
Hordak shook his head and stated, "There will be another time when we can take over Eternia. Etheria was first, remember. Besides, Adam is already the Crown Prince of Eternia. They cannot take away his birthright. We will have the heir to the throne. Eventually, the throne will be ours guaranteed if we have Adam."
"Why, you!" Skeletor cried, but Hordak quickly shifted his stun cannon to his head.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you, Skeletor," he stated confidently. He then looked at He-Man and said, "I accept your offer. Now, bring the boy here."
He-Man pointed behind him with his thumb and said, "I have to go get him." Battlecat and he left hurriedly and King Randor looked at Marlena helplessly before telling the others to stay and running to follow his son.
=)=)=)
He-Man ran into his bedchambers and quickly returned his power to the sword. He told Cringer, who was complaining about the prince's plans, to stay put. He then went back his door to leave when King Randor suddenly burst inside. "Adam, have you lost your mind?" he cried immediately. He pushed on his son to keep him from walking out of the room. He slammed the door shut and continued, "How could you offer yourself after everything they've done to you? We have fought so hard to get you back and now you're just giving up! Please, son, don't do this! We'll find another way to get your mother back! She doesn't want you to risk yourself, I promise you that!"
Adam didn't look away. He locked his jaw determinedly for a moment before replying, "I'm not giving up, Father. I'm simply giving us the best option of a bad situation!"
The king flung his hands out before bringing them down to his sides. "How is this the best option? I can't bear to lose you again, Adam. It's been killing me!"
The prince hugged his father tightly and whispered into his ear, "This is the best option, because I can break the spell a lot easier than Mother can." He pulled away and continued, "And besides, they might not even cast the spell on me again. You heard what I told Hordak. I told him I was still under the spell." He looked down at the floor before meeting the king's eyes imploringly. "Father, I now have my memories back. I know the truth, but when I turned into He-Man…I didn't lose those implanted ones either. I still remember them. Yes, I can tell the difference now, but I still know them. Don't you see? We can use that to our advantage! I know the Fright Zone now, just as well as Adora does. I know what to say and how to act to make Hordak believe that I'm still under their influence. And, most importantly, I will be an asset on the inside when we bring the Horde down. They may no longer have our friends, Father, but they're still a threat. Hordak and Skeletor are obviously still going to fight together, so we cannot ignore them like we have been. This is the best option and I'm going to do this."
Randor bit his lip as tears came to his eyes. After a moment, he admitted, "I'm frightened, Adam. We have been through so much recently and I've almost lost you numerous times in more ways than one." He walked away and sat on the bed. "Son, my job is to protect you and…I don't know how to do that now."
Adam walked over and bent before him. Grabbing his father's hand, which had been resting on his knee, he whispered, "Father, my job is to protect Eternia. That's my calling—it's my duty. I know you want to protect me, but you can't do that by compromising everything else that we believe in. You have always said that the needs of the people outweigh our needs. That is our family's motto and we have to continue to live by that. There's more at stake here than just Mother's life. Numerous lives on Etheria and Eternia are in danger if I don't do this. We have a chance here to stop this madness, so I have to take it." He then stood up and towered over his father. Staring at him hopefully as Randor raised his eyes to his, he asked, "Do I have your support?"
After only a brief pause, Randor closed his eyes and nodded even though he obviously didn't like it. "Yes, you do."
Father and son hugged before going back.
=)=)=)
Skeletor was still complaining to Hordak as Adam and Randor stood around the corner where no one could see them. They could hear him:
"You have to ask yourself, Hordak, why He-Man would willingly give up Prince Adam! Something is not right there! I know the fool! He has a plan!"
They heard Hordak grumble before replying, "He knew it was his only option. He already said Adam is still under our spell, so he probably thinks it's better to have only one royal in that state instead of two."
"Well, why don't we want two? Isn't that better?"
"I want Adora back! He-Man is right; Adam is the better tool to make that happen! Besides, you want the throne of Eternia and we will get that with Adam. So, stop complaining!"
Adam took a deep breath and hugged his father one last time. "This is it," he whispered. "And, I promise I won't forget you. This time I have my sword, so I'll be fine."
Randor nodded supportively, but the prince could tell he was only barely holding it together.
Turning away, he stepped into the main corridor, and despite the pain that he knew it would cause many, he exclaimed as soon as his eyes met Hordak's, "Father!" He ran to Hordak and with only the slightest hesitation that could only be seen by those closest to him, he hugged him.
Hordak wrapped his arms around Adam and laughed menacingly. He then said, "Son, I'm so glad you're safe. Have these people hurt you in any way?"
He shook his head. "No, my liege, I'm fine." He turned back to face the Eternians and continued, "These people have treated me hospitably under the circumstances. They made my captivity comfortable. I was surprised." Adam then stared at She-Ra and Teela sadly before looking at his father. He could tell that their hearts were breaking, especially King Randor's. He knew his king couldn't stand to see him treat and talk to Hordak like this.
Hordak reached a hand out and rubbed his back comfortingly. "Well, don't let that confuse you, Adam. They were merely trying to gain your trust, so that you would join them and fight against the Horde."
Adam turned away from his real family slowly and looked at Hordak calmly, "Well, it didn't work."
"No, it didn't," the Horde leader agreed. He then turned to Shadow Weaver and ordered, "Let's go, Weaver."
"Right away, Hordak," she cried before raising her arms and beginning to chant an incantation.
It was at that moment that everyone in the room realized they were taking Queen Marlena with them! They hadn't let her go!
"Wait!" She-Ra yelled. "Hordak, you promised to let the queen go!"
Skeletor laughed as the Horde leader shouted amusedly, "Still haven't learned that number one rule, have you She-Ra? Remember, never trust the Horde!"
At the last second, just as they started to disappear, a shot suddenly resonated throughout the hall and hit Skeletor squarely in his arm that was holding Queen Marlena. Instinctively because of the pain, he let go as a body rushed from behind and knocked the queen away. When the Horde members disappeared, everyone gathered around the queen and Man-at-Arms, who were now on the floor.
Duncan was without his helmet, bloody, and dirty, but he was alive and he had saved the queen!
=)=)=)
Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know one way or another! And, K.C., I hope this wasn't enough to make you start biting your nails again, haha!