A
rat scurried through the corridor, thinking of stealing food
and perhaps spreading some sort of nasty disease. Regardless,
one thing definitely not on his mind was an other-dimensional
demon with a staff with a goat's skull on it, which would
explain his surprise when Skeletor began hitting him repeatedly
with the Havoc Staff.
"Heh
heh, heh heh heh heh," laughed Skeletor, menacingly. "Eternia
shall fall just like this pest, and this time, not even He-Man
can stop me!"
"Skaw!
You've certainly piqued my interest, master. How, pray tell,
is this scheme sure to proceed flawlessly, while the myriad
of your plans have been halted, without fail? Skaw!" asked
Beast Man.
"What?"
replied Skeletor, trying to scrape the remains of the rat
from the staff off on the floor, but succeeded only in scuffing
the bottom of the staff and spreading the mess.
"Well,
judging from the way He-Man's always around Grayskull, I think
it's safe to assume that's the source of his powers. So, if
there is no Grayskull, there can be no He-Man!"
"(gurgling
sound) Isn't Grayskull the greatest source of power on Eternia?
How can you possibly destroy it? (gurgling sound)" queried
Mer-Man.
"I
don't need to destroy it, you aquatic abberation!"
"(gurgling
sound) Abberation?"
"I
can't think of an insult that begins with the letter 'a'."
"At
least nothing G-rated."
"Right.
The letter 'a' presents nothing but problems." Skeletor's
eye-sockets gleaned with malevolence. "I was going to use
the Devil Spork to transport Grayskull to Phantos, but you've
given me an even better idea! He heh, heh heh, heh heh ha
heh!"
Duncan
was putting the finishing touches on his new weapon against
Skeletor, the Tevitron. No one was quite sure what it did
precisely, or why it was called the Tevitron, but Duncan had
been working as Man-at-Arms for over 30 years, so his actions
really weren't questioned.
"Whatcha
doing?"
"Orko!
I don't have time for this. It's very important that I present
the Tevitron to the king during this evening's meeting!"
"Oh,
OK." Orko then proceeded to turn the Tevitron into a fluffy,
tasty quiche.
"Orko!"
Prince
Adam and Teela started laughing. "Ha ha ha ha!" they laughed.
"Orko!
That was the product of 7 months of labor! I can't possibly
reproduce that!"
"I
can make more quiche, don't worry."
Prince
Adam and Teela laughed some more. "Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Wait,
is that Zoar?" Adam looked up. "Nope, nevermind."
"Oh."
"No
wait, to the left!" Adam looked up again.
"Yeah,
I think so."
"Must
be trouble."
"Probably."
Suddenly,
the entire room was illuminated with an eerie yellow glow.
Hmmm....on second thought, yellow's not that eerie, so let's
just say it's green. Or substitute the eerie color of your
choice. Whatever. In any event, this definitely made Adam
realize what needed to be done.
"Hey
Teela, what's that over there?"
"Over
where?"
"There."
"What?
What are you talking about?"
While
Teela was distracted, Adam leapt out a window, which turned
out to be some spare glass left from the Tevitron, and realizing
his mistake, darted out the door.
"By
the power of Greyskull, I have the power!" Adam looked around,
expecting the traditional lightning, the chanting of "He-Man,"
and suddenly appearing outside the castle, but just stood
there, holding a sword in the air.
"I
said, by the power of Greyskull, I have the power!" Still,
nothing.
"Adam,
what are you doing?"
"Oh,
uhh...hey Teela. Nothing. Just....I was...nothing. Definitely
not transforming into He-Man." A smooth cover, but unfortunately,
it was true; he was definitely not transforming into He-Man.
And why? Perhaps that's why Zoar was flying overhead.
"So,
Duncan, want to head to Greyskull?"
"Where?"
"Greyskull.
You know, that big castle, shaped like a skull? That place
you, me, and Orko help defend from (dramatic pause) the evil
forces of Skeletor?" (cackles in the background)
"Oh
yeah."
Adam
and Duncan arrived at the castle after a long, uncomfortably
quiet drive in the Battle Ram.
"Sorceress,
I seem to have lost my link with Castle Greyskull. I can't
transform into He-Man anymore!"
"Yes,
Skeletor has cast a long-forgotten spell...a spell which I
hoped would remain lost forever."
"What
spell's that?"
"The
Spell Of Making A Castle's Name More Gothic Sounding. It's
fairly obscure, as you can imagine."
"Yeah."
"By
doing so, Skeletor has severed your link with the castle,
as well as mine. We draw our power from Greyskull...I mean,
Greyskull. Dammit, I can't say it either!"
"It
does sound more gothic though."
"Quite."
"So
what can I do? How can I defend the castle? How can I defend
Eternia? How do I get my power back?"
"There
is but one hope. You need a poster board, a permanent marker,
and duct tape."
Man-at-Arms
sprung to action. "I have all that in my lab!"
"Good!
Collect those items and return here."
"OK,
we'll be back by dusk."
"A
pity you'll never get a chance to see your precious duct tape!"
"Skeletor!"
"In
the flesh!" Skeletor started laughing because he didn't have
any flesh, but he was there anyway. "He heh, heh heh, heh
heh ha heh!"
Adam
was so distracted by Skeletor's sudden appearance that he
failed to notice Trap Jaw sneaking up behind him.
Duncan
shouted, "Turn around!"
"Every
now & then I get a little bit terrified and then I see
the look in your eyes," replied Adam.
"Turn
around bright eyes! Every now and then I fall apart!" shouted
Duncan, twice.
Skeletor
retorted, "And I need you now tonight and I need you more
than ever, and if you only hold me tight, we'll be holdin'
on forever."
Duncan
destroyed Trap Jaw's laser-arm with his freeze ray. "And we'll
only be making it right 'cause we'll never be wrong together."
The
Sorceress just sort of sat there for a while, and then pondered,
"Once upon a time I was falling in love, now I'm only falling
apart."
Adam,
exhausted, muttered, "Nothing I can do, a Total Eclipse of
the Heart." While all of this was happening, Orko flew in
with poster board, a permanent marker, and duct tape.
"Orko,
you received my call!"
"What?"
"You
brought the poster board, a permanent marker, and duct tape!"
"What?"
"We
need that to reverse Skeletor's spell."
"What?"
"Just
give me that stuff!"
"OK."
Orko gave the Sorceress that stuff. In big bold letters, the
Sorceress wrote "CASTLE GRAYSKULL" on the poster board and
then proceeded to tape it to the exterior of the castle. Suddenly,
charged with energy, she teleported the villains back to Snake
Mountain.
"Everything
is as it was, and that spell can never be cast again."
