King Randor stood at the edge of his throne room in front of the massive doors, which denied others entrance, and looked around the room. Usually at this time, it was filled with noblemen, ladies, and subjects from his kingdom and others, but he couldn't bring himself to open the doors…not today. Things just weren't the same without Adam…

Just that one fact, in and of itself, was an amazing observation. For the past four years, he always wanted Adam present in court because his son would one day rule the kingdom and be the High King of all Eternia. It was a big job with a huge responsibility, and he had wanted to teach him through observation. Of course, there were times when he thought Adam to be indifferent to it all. But it didn't really matter whether that was true or not at the moment. What mattered was his absence. Randor felt it acutely, as did Marlena. The truth was he didn't know how to continue. He didn't want to, not without Adam…not with his son's life at stake.

Man-at-Arms walked up to the king and rested his hand upon his shoulder. "Do you wish to open the doors, Your Highness?"

The king turned weary eyes to his oldest friend. He wanted to say "no." But what kind of king would he be? Regardless of the happenings in his personal life, he still had an obligation. Besides, if he sat around with his own thoughts without doing anything to save Adam, he knew it would drive him crazy. He had to get his mind off of it…as best as he could anyway. "Go ahead, Duncan," he whispered with a sigh as he turned around and walked onto the throne to join Marlena, who was already seated, and Adora, who stood at her side.

Soon, the room filled with people. Each of them looked at King Randor and nodded in acknowledgement. They could tell he didn't want to be bothered. Usually, he was at the door greeting everyone personally, but they understood why today was different. He had to be overwhelmed with worry and devastation, they realized.

For several minutes, the courtiers mingled and conversed amongst themselves. Randor, no longer being able to watch the mirth of others, was about to get up to excuse himself when he heard a loud voice over the crowd.

"I see where Prince Adam is on your priority list, King Randor."

The king immediately stood and scanned the room. He knew that voice anywhere.

With a sadistic laugh, Skeletor and Evil-Lyn appeared in the center of the room, and the courtiers ran to the walls to get as far away from the evil duo as possible.

"Where is my son, villain?" shouted Randor who took a single step down the throne but stopped when Man-at-Arms gestured for him to do so.

Skeletor also took a step closer and replied, "My, you do put on a good performance. Prince Adam is…nearby."

Marlena stood next to her husband and asked, "What do you want from us? We want Adam back, so make your demands."

Skeletor chuckled again and said, "I will get to that soon enough. What I want to discuss now is King Randor."

"We can discuss whatever you like, but bring me my son now!" spat the king.

Skeletor abruptly turned away from the throne and looked around the room. "Do you realize how far the king has pushed away his only son? He drove him to Snake Mountain."

Randor immediately descended the throne. He no longer heeded Duncan's wishes. He stood behind Skeletor and snapped, "What in the name of the Ancients are you talking about? You took him from us, and I will not rest until I get him back!"

Skeletor turned around, chuckled, and spread his arms wide. "This is your idea of getting your son back, huh, Randor? Sitting on the throne and having a party?" He looked at the queen and asked calmly, "Are you really foolish enough to believe the lie?"

He then looked over at Evil-Lyn and laughed. "I believe there has been a change of plans. Call Beastman. I want the prince to tell everyone the truth."

As Evil-Lyn brought the communicator to her mouth, everyone heard a deep voice say, "Not so fast!"

Skeletor turned around and exclaimed, "He-Man! I should have known. No matter. If you come any closer, no one will ever see the prince again!"

He-Man entered the throne room, smiled, and responded, "I have freed the prince, Skeletor. Your games are over. Go back to Snake Mountain while you have the chance."

Skeletor turned back to King Randor and said, "He may think he has let the prince go, but the truth and the situation have not changed. You have driven your son to hate you, and he is here to help me seize the throne and all of Eternia."

King Randor shook his head and yelled, "You're lying! Adam would never…"

"Oh, don't believe me then? The truth will become apparent soon enough." Skeletor made his Havoc Staff glow and said, "Perhaps you'll believe him." He held the staff out and…nothing happened.

=)=)=)

Teela picked up the bag she had prepared for her journey. She didn't know where Adam was, but she was determined to find him. Her first stop would be Snake Mountain, but after that, she would simply cover every nook and cranny on Eternia until she found him. She couldn't and wouldn't wait on Skeletor to decide it was time to play games with Adam's life. She would do anything to prevent that from happening.

She walked through the courtyard and thought about grabbing a Wind Raider or an Attak Trak, but she knew she could easily overlook things as she travelled quickly. It was possible Skeletor had hidden Adam in places where everyone would never think to look, like the Evergreen Forest.

She slipped her bag onto her shoulders and picked up her staff that she had laid on the fountain earlier. As quickly as she could, she went to the side gate and slipped outside of the palace walls. She had a long walk ahead of her and she was determined to get through it as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.

Teela had only walked about thirty feet when she heard a voice hiss, "I thought you would learn to ssssstay out of our waaaay!"

Knowing instantly who the voice belonged to, Teela whirled around and prepared to do battle with her staff, but her confidence and desire to charge at Kobra Khan deteriorated as she saw the quantity of who was with him. Instead of running away or backing down, though, she held her ground. "What are you doing here, and where's Adam?" she questioned hostilely.

Trap Jaw stepped forward and laughed. "Ha, ha, it's the Captain of the Guard. Let's get her and take her to Skeletor. The Royal Guard will have no choice but follow us when they realize we have the prince and their captain."

"We don't need her. We have Prince Adam on our side!" exclaimed Webstor.

"What?" asked Teela in complete shock. "You must be joking."

"Does it look like we're joking?" a voice from behind her asked. Immediately, Teela was seized by two very strong arms.

As Teela turned her head, she saw that it was Two-Bad. "Let me go!" she yelled.

Two-Bad looked to the others and said, "I say we hold on to her. Skeletor may like her as a present."

=)=)=)

Nothing appeared. Nothing happened.

Skeletor's mouth fell open at the empty space before him. He waved the Havoc Staff frantically and said aloud, "Hear me, bring Prince Adam to this room now!" He waved the staff again to the spot where he wanted the prince to appear and again nothing happened. Usually, Skeletor used his teleporter to bring people to him, but his magic could also do it if they were nearby…and on his side.

"Arrrrrgh!" exclaimed Skeletor. Either Prince Adam had been lying all along and was currently fighting his magic pull, or Skeletor had stretched himself too far by taking them all to the Enchanted Forest while Snake Mountain was being searched and when he brought them to their current locations. Both were possible.

"What's wrong, Skeletor?" questioned Evil-Lyn with a shrill voice.

"I don't know. I must have used too much energy bringing us here and sending the prince and Beastman elsewhere. Bring him here for me," he mumbled.

Immediately, Evil-Lyn made her wand appear and waved it in front of her.

Nothing happened.

He-Man, knowing the spells would never work because Prince Adam was already in the room, stepped forward to grab Evil-Lyn and prevent her from any further attempts. His movements were quickly brought to a halt, though, when she shouted, "I can't do it, Skeletor! Something's wrong!"

Seconds later, the room was filled with a frustrated cry that distracted He-Man from the evildoers before him. His eyes scanned the room and fell on his father who appeared to be having a hard time remaining calm. The king's face was now tented a dark shade of red, which was deepening, and he kept clinching his fist uncontrollably.

"What does this mean?" questioned Randor. "Where is my son? Why are you not bringing him?" At that moment, Marlena and Adora rushed to the king. They could tell he was seconds from exploding.

Skeletor, seeing an opening and now knowing Prince Adam's betrayal, replied, "We cannot summon him because he is no longer with us."

The king gasped and asked again, "What does that mean?"

"What do you think it means?" Skeletor asked and then laughed loudly. He knew how everyone would interpret his words and laughter, and he was only too happy to torture the fools while he could.

Randor stepped closer and yelled, "NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT!" He then quickly ran to Skeletor, grabbed him roughly by the arms, and shook him fiercely.

"He is gone!" exclaimed Skeletor with a laugh. "Even I do not have the power to bring him back!"

Immediately, Randor threw Skeletor to the ground. The villain didn't care and allowed Randor's actions. He simply continued to laugh as the king turned to He-Man. "You killed him," whispered Randor. "Skeletor was using him as a bargaining chip, but you freed him and he must have run across someone who…who…"

He couldn't utter the words, but the thought moved him into action. Randor knew what he had to do: he took a step toward He-Man and reached out for the sword the warrior was carrying. He would drive it into Skeletor! He-Man would answer for his part in all of this, but Skeletor was the one who took his son from him and the king could not allow the villain to live, not after this.

Briefly Randor imagined the death of his greatest enemy before he actually did the deed. He knew it wouldn't bring Adam back, and he knew it wouldn't bring him any satisfaction, but at least his son would be avenged. Randor almost had his hand on He-Man's sword, when the "hero" quickly pulled it away and slipped it into his scabbard. Knowing that the opportunity had passed and no longer able to control the emotions tumbling through his mind and body, Randor dropped to his knees. He bent his torso to the ground and wailed sorrowfully as he pounded the ground with his fist.

He-Man dropped to his knees, as well, facing the king and pulled him up so that they could look each other in the eyes. "Adam is not dead," he stated calmly. "Skeletor is lying to you! I know it's hard after everything that's happened, but you need to think rationally about this. You know we cannot trust Skeletor or anything that he says."

"Then, why couldn't he or Evil-Lyn bring him here? They clearly meant to do that, but they couldn't!" yelled Randor, almost in hysterics.

"BECAUSE HE'S DEAD!" Skeletor and Evil-Lyn screamed together gleefully as they disappeared, hoping it would give Randor more reason to believe their words. After all, their current actions showed they still had their magical abilities, so he would continue to question why they couldn't summon the prince. With any luck, he and Evil-Lyn could gather his men and fight their way back inside the palace before Randor pulled himself together or realized the truth. If they could, they still had a chance to take over Eternia!

Randor continued to cry as the villains disappeared and he shook himself out of He-Man's hold roughly. "Do not touch me!" he roared. "This is your fault!"

"Randor!" exclaimed Marlena, as she wrapped her arms around her husband from behind and stared into He-Man's eyes with a look of great relief. "Adam is not dead!"

"How do you know?" he questioned woefully, turning his head slightly to look at her. He felt as though his world had been ripped out from under him, but he wanted hope. There had to be hope that his wife could provide him…but it came from elsewhere:

Adora bent before her father, seeing that he desperately needed reassurance, and answered, "Remember, I feel him, Father. I would know if he had…if something had happened to him. He's not dead. In fact, he's nearby." She turned to stare at her brother who instantly rose to his feet. "Couldn't you go get him, He-Man?"

"Of course," he answered and nearly ran from the room.

=)=)=)

He-Man ran through the corridors back to his room. He couldn't change back to Prince Adam outside the throne room, because the courtiers were gathering there to watch the events but to also stay out of the room incase Skeletor came back.

He opened the door to his bedchambers and saw that his lavatory door was still closed with the table against it. Beastman was still inside. He held the Power Sword up and then looked warily to the door. He didn't want to give Beastman any clues as to He-Man's true identity, so he ran inside his closet, shut the door, and whispered, "Let the power return!"

Instantly, he became Prince Adam, then he ran out of the closet and room, determined to get back to his father to show him that he was still alive. It wasn't until he reached the throne room doors and the other courtiers that he remembered his belt was missing. This slowed him down temporarily. He quickly brought his hands up to hold his opened tunic, which revealed dirt and crud more clearly on his white undershirt, closed. Even though his slightly disheveled appearance wasn't all that important in the greater scheme of things, he knew it might upset his father more so in his current state and make him worry about what Adam had possibly been through. The prince didn't want to cause his father any more unrest that could be avoided.

Being brought out of his worrisome thoughts, Adam heard several people exclaim, "Prince Adam! Are you all right?" The courtiers gathered around him expecting answers, but he simply nodded and worked his way through the crowd. As he stepped inside the throne room, all he could see was his father who was still on his knees and looking down at the floor with tears streaming from his eyes.

"Father!" yelled Adam as he ran towards him.

Randor couldn't believe his ears! He immediately looked up and saw his son rushing toward him. He instantly stood up and ran to meet him, as well. Father and son collided in a fierce hug, and Randor cried louder as he hugged Adam as tightly as he could. "Oh, praise the Ancients!" he shouted gratefully.