Grizzlor fell back, landing with a loud thump on his furry posterior. The tremors were now literally bad enough to knock him off his feet, with no small amount of help from the wind gusts that were tearing through the ruins. Even with his thick fur, he was shivering from the sudden chill in the air. Even Shadow Weaver was having trouble staying put as she hovered above the ground. “This is getting really bad. We gotta get back to the base where it’s safe!” he pleaded.

Weaver was loath to admit it, but he was right. Buffeted by the wind and rattled by the tremors, she was having a hard time homing in on whatever prize lay here unseen. As she pondered leaving and returning later, the ground beneath her heaved again. The remains of a wall beside her began to crumble, and a huge chunk broke loose, missing her on its way down by inches. Normally, a force field would protect her, but even she was having trouble with magic at present, and the focus required to maintain the field under such circumstances would leave her little energy to search with. “Very well,” she snarled. “We’ll return to the base for now. But whether this clears up or not, we will be back here shortly.”

Grizzlor scrambled to his feet, and sprinted toward the small Horde carrier they had arrived in. He tried to start the engine, but it only hissed and sputtered. He looked over at Weaver, and in a sheepish voice said, “Looks like we’re walking.”

Weaver glared at him for a moment, and then looked around carefully, hoping she would spot one telltale sign that would lead her to the power hiding here. All she saw was the rest of the wall that had nearly hit her collapse as the ground shook again. Sighing, she floated after Grizzlor.

“They’ve finally taken our hint,” Castaspella said.

She-Ra gave a quick nod. “Good. Casta, you come with me. We’ll head into the ruins with Bow, Swifty, Flutterina, and Dree-Elle. Glimmer, you and the others head over to the other side of the ruins and keep our ‘storm’ going for a little longer to discourage Weaver and Grizzlor from putting in a return appearance.”

“That’ll put the wind out of your way, but won’t the tremors make it harder for you to search?” Fisto offered.

“Not as hard as Weaver coming back,” she replied. “Just tone them down a little bit. What’s left of the buildings out there doesn’t look too solid.”

“I’ll try to keep it down,” Fisto replied, managing a small smile. He turned to get up, and grimaced.

She-Ra noticed he was favoring his right leg in an odd manner as he got back down. “How did that happen?” she asked, pointing to his hip.

“Rough landing coming here. It’s nothing.” He forced another smile.

“Casta, you go on. I’ll catch up in a minute,” she waved the others on as she knelt beside Fisto. She noted some swelling in his right thigh, and gently pressed a finger against his hip. He tried to suppress his reaction to the stab of pain that shot all the way down his leg, but didn’t succeed. “I think the bone’s cracked.”

“You’re a doctor?” he asked.

“No, a rebel who’s seen way too many injuries in battle,” she answered. “You learn quickly that way. Hold still.”

“I appreciate it, but we don’t have time to…”

She cut him off. “Hold still,” she repeated in a tone that told him he had little choice. She placed her hand on his hip, and it began to glow. He felt a tingling replace the pain, and his entire leg felt warm for an instant. “There. It should be alright now.”

He immediately noticed the difference; there was still a slight soreness, but the sharp pain was gone as he moved. “That was quick. Thanks!”

“No reason to keep fighting the pain if you don’t have to.” She –Ra rose, grasping and lightly squeezing Fisto’s shoulder as she did, then took off after Castaspella.

The female mage had already joined the other rebels when She-Ra caught up to her. Dree-Elle was nestled in Swift Wind’s saddle. Bow stroked his mustache and glanced toward the woods. “Our ‘storm’ has moved, I see?” He pointed to the rest of the team already in position on the other side of the small clearing.

“They’ll keep it up for a little longer,” She-Ra explained. “We don’t want Weaver turning around before we’re done if we can avoid it.”

“I can feel the stone really close by,” Dree-Elle said. Her quiet voice was hard to hear; even though Spinnerella’s wind was blowing away from them, its din was still loud enough to nearly drown out the Trollan.

“Alright, Dree-Elle, lead the way.” She-Ra bade the small alien forward. Dree-Elle pointed Swift Wind to the left as the rest followed.

“The tremors are lessening,” Weaver noted, pausing on the trail. “Perhaps the storm will calm down as well.”

“Doesn’t feel like it!” Grizzlor snorted, still plodding along toward the horde base. “That wind is still freezing!”

“I’m growing tired of your whining, you over-sized hair-ball.” Weaver shook her head in disgust, and looked out through a break in the trees to a hill some distance away. Its surface was dotted with similar foliage, all blowing like those around them. Weaver almost turned to follow Grizzlor when she snapped back and studied the hill more thoroughly. The trees there were blowing in the wind.

In the opposite direction as those around her.

“Wait, you fuzzy oaf!” the witch shouted. “Look there!”

Grizzlor plodded back, and gazed at the hill, a dull expression on his face. “It’s a hill,” he finally concluded.

“It’s a hill with trees blowing the other way, you buffoon!”

He looked closer. “I told you the weather was getting weird.”

“Much too weird,” she said, pondering. Her eyes went wide, and she grabbed Grizzlor by his chest harness and whirled him around to face her. “This was a rebel trick! The storm. Wind. Cold. Lightning flashes. Spinnerella, Frosta, and Glimmer! And the tremors. Impact tremors. She-Ra!” She released the now completely befuddled Grizzlor. “They wanted to chase us off before we found it!”

“And what was it you were going to find?” a voice purred. Weaver turned, and saw Catra emerge from the trees, flanked by Scorpia and several Hordesmen.

“We’re almost there!” Dree-Elle blurted, her arms waving. “Over by those big beams!” She-Ra flanked Swift Wind as they headed for the spot the Trollan had indicated, followed closely by Fisto, whom She-Ra had called over from his earthquake duty moments before. “It has to be right around here. I can feel it so strong!” Dree-Elle climbed off the unicorn, and floated around for a moment, her eyes closed as she reached out with her magic to touch the stone. She hovered over a spot just beside one of the beams, and her eyes popped open. “It’s here! Right here!”

She-Ra and Fisto approached the spot, and were quickly joined by Castaspella. “She’s right,” Casta said, holding her hands out over the spot. “I can feel it, too, now. The power is unbelievable.”

“Okay, let’s dig it out and get it to Eternia,” She-Ra said, grabbing the huge beam. She pulled on it, expecting it to move easily. It pulled free from the other debris, but she had to exert more strength to heft it up and toss it aside. She stared at the beam for a second, a concerned look on her face.

Fisto followed her gaze, then met her eyes as she turned back. “That seemed harder than it should have been.” He could easily have heaved the beam aside, and knew She-Ra’s strength was in the same range as He-Man’s and his own, just from what he had seen on his previous visit to Etheria.

“It was,” she admitted. “I may wind up needing some of your help here.”

“The breakdown is affecting magic,” Casta offered. “Your strength is from the magics of Grayskull.”

“Yes,” She-Ra said. Though She-Ra had never really made a point to those not privy to her dual identity that her powers came from Grayskull, Casta had long ago sensed the magics in She-Ra and He-Man were from the same source. The conclusion was obvious, though, fortunately, she had yet to make the full Adam/He-Man/Adora/She-Ra connection.

“Then Grayskull’s magic is weakening. He-Man must be feeling it, too, I’ll bet.” Fisto added.

“Then the faster we get the stone, the better.” She-Ra started moving some of the debris aside, aided by Fisto. She didn’t mention the other possible consequence of Grayskull’s magics failing. If things get too bad, they may get a surprise appearance by Adora and Spirit, she thought.

Castaspella and Fluterina bent down to help, but Bow remained standing, looking off toward the forest. He’d noticed that the sound of Spinnerella’s winds had died down, and now saw why. “Uh, She-Ra? You know those Horde re-enforcements you didn’t want showing up?”

She-Ra stood up and followed Bow’s gaze. Catra, Scorpia, Weaver and Grizzlor were headed straight for them, with several Hordesmen training their blaster rifles on Glimmer and the storm-makers.

“One of those days,” she sighed.

“What the heck was that?” The young security guard jumped at the sound of an explosion outside.

“With all the craziness the past few days, who knows?” his older compatriot noted. “You stay here; I’ll go out and see what’s going on.”

“Won’t you need back-up?” the young guard said, drawing his gun.

“Put it back, Dirty Harry,” the older guard pointed to the revolver. “You stay in case anything happens here; the boss is upstairs, remember? Last thing we need is to leave him unguarded.”

“Yeah, but can you handle things out there?”

The older guard shrugged. “Sure; if anything bad is going down, I’ll high tail it back in here and call the cops.”

“Uh, the phones are out, remember?” the young guard pointed out.

The older guard paused for a moment, wondering if venturing out alone was such a good idea after all. “I’m just gonna glance around fast. Real fast.” He walked across the lobby and slowly opened the door.

“Don’t shoot, I surrender,” a low voice intoned just beyond the door.

The older guard jumped back, gun stretched out in front of him. The figure stepped into the lobby and clear view. “Mr. Elapidae?!!” he sputtered. “But you just went upstairs with Andrea?!”

Elapidae arched an eybrow, then smiled. “I heard something outside; sounded like an explosion. I poked my head out the side door, and wound up locking myself out when it shut. Sorry if I startled you.”

“I was just going to check it out myself,” the guard assured his boss. “You didn’t see anything while you were out there?”

Elapidae looked back over his shoulder. “Looked like some kind of van on fire just outside the parking lot. I think it may be Andrea’s.”

“I hope not; you might not have a ride home if it was. You came with her in the van?”

“No, we…took separate modes of transportation, fortunately.”

“Good. I’d better go check it out, though. Marty’ll stay here to keep an eye on the place.” The older guard nodded curtly, and headed out into the rain.

“I’ll hold down the fort here if you want to go back upstairs, sir,” the young guard said, gun still in hand.

“Yes, I believe that would be a good idea,” Elapidae answered, an odd smile crossing his lips.

“I didn’t like the sound of that,” Andrea said softly as she and Man-E-Faces skulked down the dimly lit hallway.

Man-E stopped for a moment and listened. It had sounded like a muffled explosion outside, but he heard nothing more. He knew Skeletor’s henchmen might still be around; perhaps they had followed the van here?

“Should we go out and check?” Andrea asked.

He pondered for a few seconds, and then shook his head. “No, we need to get the stone. Besides, if it’s something He-Man can’t handle, I doubt we’d be of that much help.”

Andrea gave him a look. “Gee, thanks. I’m a trained Air force officer, you know.”

Man-E looked sheepish. “No insult to your abilities intended, dear lady. I just meant we could do more here than out there.”

“I know,” she replied. “Like you said, they have He-Man out there.”

“Exactly.” He looked down the hallway to his left. “The main power box is down there?”

“Right. The whole floor feeds off the junction box. Shut that down, and the security system should be dead.”

“Alright, this shouldn’t take more than a minute or two,” he assured her as he sprinted down the corridor.

Blast-Atak fired off another shot with the pulse cannon as the Eternian heroes dove aside. The second blast was less powerful than the one that had demolished the van, but still left the earth scorched where it hit in a good ten-foot radius.

“Great, Skeletor sends another goon, and he has to arm this one to the teeth,” Ror groaned. “I thought the dimensional portals were getting hard to use?”

“They should be,” Duncan answered from behind a tree, his battle mace drawn. “But Skeletor doesn’t care about the risks involved; that’s probably why he’s sending his lackeys rather than coming himself.”

“What a guy,” Teela quipped.

“We can assassinate Skeletor’s character later,” He-Man admonished. “right now we need to disarm this walking junkpile. Any ideas?”

Ror saw Gwildor reach inside his robes. “Don’t even think about it, shorty.”

Gwildor pulled out his grappler, a small three pronged hook that shot out of the hilt, leaving a strong line behind it. “I wasn’t going for the mini-key,” he emphasized. “I was just looking at the engine block over there.” He pointed to the large, burnt remains of the van’s motor. “He-Man?”

The champion of Eternia fololwed Gwildor’s gaze, and saw the heavy block. He nodded and smiled as Gwildor tossed him the grappler.

Blast-Atak was too far away to hear the Eternian’s conversation; Skeletor had never equipped him with enhanced senses. Fortunately for the heroes, he was truly a machine, not a man, simply following his orders with little thought of his own, and wasn’t considering the wreckage around him as a possible weapon. He fired off another blast with the cannon on his shoulder, noting without emotion that the blasts were weakening with each shot. He calculated a twenty percent decrease in power this time, compared with a twelve percent decline in the second shot. The effects of what Skeletor had called the breakdown were evidently affecting the weapon’s performance.

The blast blew apart the tree Duncan had used for cover; the warrior, however, was no longer behind it when it exploded in a hailstorm of fiery splinters, having dropped and rolled behind a nearby boulder when he saw the robot take aim. “Now would be a good time, lad!” he shouted to He-Man.

He-Man motioned for Ror to join him. The burly guardsman ducked down and nimbly skittered across the short distance separating them. He-Man handed him the grappler, and quickly explained his plan. He-Man waved to Orko, urging him to take off and fly into the villain’s view. Orko gave him a quizzical look, then shrugged weakly and bounded off through the air. Blast-Atak spotted the Trollan at once, and leveled the cannon at him. Ror took careful aim, instinctively plotting trajectories, and fired the grappler in Blast-Atak’s direction. The robot saw the open hook heading for him well before it struck; dodging it took little effort. He came as close as his near emotionless state would allow him to a gloating smile as he swung the cannon around to take aim at Ror and He-Man. So intent was he on his new targets that he failed to notice that the hook had bounced off what was left of the van’s body and had fastened itself onto the ruined engine block. He-Man pressed a small button on the grappler’s hilt; the slack was quickly pulled in, and the line went taut. He yanked hard on the line, then swung to the side. He seemed surprised as the block rose off the ground only slightly. He arched backwards and yanked harder before it could fall back to the earth, and the engine took off into the air, arcing around and forward. Blast-Atak saw He-Man, and turned just in time to see the large mass of metal heading for him. He tried to dodge aside, but the weight of the heavy cannon slowed him down, allowing the motor to strike him full force. The weapon went flying as he stumbled back. He came crashing to the ground with the engine block landing squarely on top of his chest.

“Okay, he’s down, but he’s still operational,” Duncan warned. “We’ve got to move before he starts blasting!”

His weapon gone, Blast-Atak had only his own powers to rely on now. He opened his chest cavity as much as the engine would allow, and a glowing energy started to build within him. After a few seconds, the glow brightened as the block began to shiver. Suddenly, a concusive blast exploded from the robot’s chest, sending the engine once again flying through the air.

As Blast-Atak rose, Teela and Ror charged him, Teela wielding her staff and Ror his clamp. The robot opened his chest again as Teela brought her staff down on his metal shoulder with little effect. Ror clamped onto his arm and shot a jolt of electricity through it, also without noticeable results. “A futile attempt,” Blast-Atak said in a metallic monotone. His chest cavity was glowing brighter again, and his attackers knew he was ready to let loose another blast. The robot stared at the two as they backed away, knowing they could not escape in time. Then he felt his chest suddenly snap closed.

While Teela and Ror distracted him, He-Man had circled around and crept up behind the villain. He wrapped his arms around the robot’s chest, holding tight as the energy surge peaked. With nowhere to go, Blast-Atak’s inner mechanisms took the brunt of the explosion of power and heat, knocking him off-line almost instantly.

“Now there’s the world’s worst case of heartburn,” Orko joked.

He-Man released the now useless robot, and turned to Duncan, who seemed to be studying him. “I hope that’s the last of Skeletor’s little surprises for a while,” the older warrior said.

“Let’s dump this over with the other wreckage,” Ror said, grabbing one of the robot’s arms. Teela grasped the other, and they hauled the villain over to the remains of Andrea’s van.

He-Man walked over to Duncan, looking worried. “You saw?”

Duncan nodded slowly. “You had trouble hefting that motor.”

“It felt heavier than I thought it would. Heavier than it should have.” He-Man frowned. “I’ve lost some strength.”

“The breakdown,” Duncan sighed. “It’s starting to affect Grayskull’s magic.”

“If it weakens too much, I could loose all my powers.”

“You might even transform back into Adam,” Duncan added.

“Wouldn’t Teela be surprised,” He-Man noted, a touch of irony in his voice.

Greystar stood on the ridge, sheltered by the trees, watching as Skeletor and his minions followed Celise as she sang. Her voice was almost hypnotic, and the stranger had to concentrate to keep his focus. The singer had led the villains to the ancient remains of several huge structures. Pillars at least fifty feet tall still thrust up from the ground in several places, and a huge archway stood in the center of the ruins.

“They’re getting mighty close,” Montork said softly as he floated beside Greystar. “What if they get to the stone before the others catch up?”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” he responded. “Saving the Singer is going to be hard enough without being shorthanded.” He looked back at the attack trak; the battle ram carrying Mekaneck and the others hadn’t arrived yet, although Weldon had been able to transmit the trak’s heading before communication had broken off. The Thenurian was sure the signal got through, but there was no telling what mechanical failures might crop up and slow them down as the effects of the breakdown steadily worsened. He looked back at the villains, and frowned. He had to let the rest of his plan fall into place, but Celise had to be rescued first. “Life never does let things stay easy,” he muttered.

“That’s why they need people like us,” Montork pointed out. “If life was easy, heroes would be out of a job. Then again, that’s a reason for retirement I wouldn’t mind a bit.”

“Me, either, Montork. Me either.” Greystar cocked his head to the side as he heard something approaching. He turned once more toward the trak, and saw the battle ram pull up a short distance away. He doubted that Skeletor and company were aware of it; the wind was howling through the trees, and looked worse down below, more than enough to mask the sound of the ram’s struggling engine. Mekaneck and Kittrina climbed down. Stratos and Buzz Off disembarked, as well; the two had caught up with the ram after their trip to Torin, and had been riding on the rear of the vehicle.

“Looks like the crew’s all accounted for,” Montork said, floating past Greystar as the two went to join the other warriors.

“Looks like everybody made it,” Ram Man said. “Let’s go get that stone thingy.”

“First we have to get Celise out of harm’s way,” Greystar cautioned. “Then we can deal with Skeletor.”

“Let me guess: you have a plan,” Extendar said, a note of sarcasm in his usually stoic voice. “Are we going to be let in on this one, or just follow your lead?”

“Yes, there’s a plan,” Greystar replied with a note of annoyance. “Stratos, can you and Buzz Off fly well enough in this wind to swoop down and grab Celise when there’s an opening?”

“I think so, but if we get some sudden gusts, I can’t promise anything,” Stratos answered, glancing at Buzz Off, who nodded his agreement.

“Just keep the flying as steady and fast as you can. We’ll go in the vehicles and try to spread them out a bit. Just watch for your chance, and take it quick when it comes.” Greystar headed for the trak.

Extendar joined Mekaneck as they returned to their respective vehicles. “I’m not liking this.”

Mekaneck scratched his chin. “It’s probably risky, but what choice do we have?”

Extendar shook his head. “Not what I meant. I’m talking about Greystar; I don’t like all this secrecy. Malaktha told him something before when we got through to him, but so far, we have no idea what it was. I know the Sorceress said we could trust him, but…”

“She seemed sure, and I’ve never known her to be wrong about something like this,” Mekaneck said.

“I know. I trust the Sorceress, but what if this breakdown is affecting her, too? If her powers have been weakened, he might have been able to trick even her. Duncan said he’s supposedly a wizard.”

“Possibly,” Mekaneck admitted. “But even if he is a wizard, his powers would be affected, too, wouldn’t they? He’d have to be more powerful than she is to fool her magic, even under these conditions.”

“Maybe,” Extendar said, eyeing the stranger. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be watching him.” The pair split as Extendar turned toward the trak.

Mekaneck continued toward the ram. He had to grant Extendar one point: Greystar had been less than forthcoming since he first appeared. There was something about the stranger, though, something that made Mekaneck want to trust him, though he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. And he had a hard time believing the Sorceress could be so easily misled. Still…

Mekaneck pushed his doubts aside for the time being. Extendar would keep an eye on Greystar, and Celise was still in desperate need of a rescue.