Man-E-Faces opened what he assumed to be the main power box in the cramped maintenance room; most of the electrical lines he saw emanated from the panel. He inspected it carefully, using a small flashlight. Duncan had supplied him with everything he needed: the file to open the lock on the door, the flashlight, some electrical tape, and a few other items Man-E could not see a use for at the moment. He often wondered just how much Man-at-Arms carried in his armor at any one time; the man seemed to be a walking arsenal and toolbox, all rolled into one. He sometimes seemed to defy the laws of physics, carrying all that with him constantly, and Man-E wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him pull a battle ram out of his boot someday.

The next step, though, was something Man-E would have to do without Duncan’s aid. He had to change form, an action he never looked forward to. Though most of his false faces were mere disguises, thanks to an evil spell cast many years ago two of his changes were actual physical transformations. In his monster form, he became a super-strong beast that could easily match Beast Man in power and savagery. He had to struggle to control his animalistic instincts in that form, a task that became more difficult the longer he remained a beast. The second form was that of a robot. He had tremendous strength in this identity, as well, but without the primal urges. The problem with this form was exactly the opposite, in fact: most his mind became a dispassionate computer, and he had to fight to keep his emotions alive. It was all too easy to slip into the cold, methodical way of thinking of a machine, and he often feared he would, while in this mode, conclude he should abandon his humanity and illogical emotions and continue his existence in this passionless state of perfect logic. These changes had once caused alterations in his human form, as well, though not magical in nature. He became a bitter outcast for a time, using his curse to take what he pleased form those who couldn’t fight back. It was a time in his life he didn’t look back on fondly. His rather rude response to Andrea’s innocent comment about intimidating the guard earlier hit that particular nerve, still raw even after all these years. If they got out of this mess, he definitely owed her an apology, and perhaps an explanation. But that was a task for later; saving the planets came before saving face.

He braced himself for what was to come. To do his appointed task here, he had to access the security system, something he was capable of doing in his robot form by tapping into the power lines. He could follow any direct line into the systems and start shutting down whatever he needed to. He was about to make the change when he heard voices outside the door, Andrea and someone else. He didn’t recognize it at first, but being an expert at impersonation, he quickly dissected the tones and inflections, picking out the important factors and weeding out the attempts to alter pitch and cadence. His eyes went wide as he realized the truth.

Hiss.

He couldn’t help but chide himself for not expecting the Snake Men to rear their heads; if Skeletor’s flunkies were here, Hiss and his cold blooded cohorts couldn’t be far behind. He should have known Hiss hadn’t shown his face for far too long. Recriminations aside, Man-E knew he had to act quickly, and pray he could get Andrea and the stone out safely. He’d already fallen to Hiss once during this crisis, and he had no intention of making it two-for-two. He decided against a direct confrontation. A little tweaking of the original plan was in order, but he didn’t need to abandon it altogether. He closed his eyes and felt his body change from flesh to metal. His mind cleared and calmed, but he held onto thoughts of Eternia and the damsel outside who needed his aid, allowing him to keep a firm grip on his human side. Turning back to the panel, he pulled one of the smaller wires loose, and plugged it into a connection in his finger. Instantly, he felt his mind travel through the web of circuits and wiring throughout the entire floor. He paused as he “entered” the room Andrea said the stone was in. She was listening to Hiss rant, apparently trying to bide her time until Man-E made his move. He was relieved to see she was unharmed, a feeling that comforted him in more than one way; the emotion meant his humanity wasn’t slipping , at least not yet. He felt his way around the room, touching all of the machines, and computing their position and distance from each other, Hiss and Andrea. Settling on one in particular, he started his work.

“The gateway helped you find the stone?” she was asking.

Hiss was waving his hand about beside him, as the beginnings of a dimensional portal shimmered into being. “Indeed, my dear. It was the key, in fact. Long ago, I had the stones in my possession, but that era’s resident do-gooder foiled my first attempt at tapping their power.”

“He-Ro,” she said.

Hiss frowned at the name. “So your friends told you that, as well.” The frown was quickly replaced by the wicked smile. “You’re still stalling, I see, but that’s quite alright. It will take a few moments for me to stabilize this portal enough to take me back to Eternia, and your allies are quite busy outside, so we have time. Fortunately, the stone is so full of power, it’s actually ‘bleeding’ a small amount of magic, just enough for me to use to for this gateway. They are getting quite tricky these days, as I’m sure He-Man also told you; my trip here a short time ago was quite an ordeal. And there are some things I feel you should know; after all, I could never have succeeded without you.”

“So tell me,” she said flatly.

Hiss was obviously enjoying his gloating. He knew it was almost a cliche’ for the villain to regale his foes with his plans, but he was in no danger, and he couldn’t resist boasting about his cleverness to someone obviously intelligent enough to appreciate it. “When the stones were taken from me, the Council of Elders put them back, though not in their original resting places. They also masked their presence from magical searches with a powerful spell to prevent a repeat of my scheme; when I returned to Eternia after my long ‘vacation’ from this universe, it was still in effect, blocking any attempt I made to find the Eternia stone. I ventured to Etheria and Earth, and found the same. But here, on your wonderful planet, I also found opportunity. Your world has so much magic, but it used so little. You rely exclusively on technology, and that inspired me to a new plan. The Elders shielded the stones from any magical quest , but technology was still a new concept at that time, something they were not yet that familiar with. I was struck by the notion that where magic failed, science might succeed. So I established an identity on your world, and used my magics and some Eternian technology to build myself a power base.” He waved his hand again as the dimensional gate started to pulse beside him.

“Why a name like ‘Elapidae?’ Is that Eternian?” she asked.

He chuckled. “No, actually it comes from your world. Part of the scientific name for your King Cobra, the most feared reptile on Earth. Seemed quite fitting, so
I just couldn‘t resist.” He held the stone out, tapping it’s excess power for the gate. “Continuing my tale, I quickly amassed enough riches here to begin my project; a scientifically created gateway here on Earth, far from the prying magics of Grayskull or the Crystal Castle, a gate whose power I could use to home in on other dimensional breaches, such as those the stones regularly use to dispose of the excess magics on the three worlds. Hearing about your story a few months back, I realized you might hold the key to breaking the barrier, and I was right. Your information and insight were invaluable, Andrea; none of this would have occurred without your assistance.”

“This is why you were so quick to believe me about Eternia,” she concluded.

“Indeed,” he smirked. “You described everything so perfectly, I was certain your story was true. The readings you recalled from your craft, and your subsequent contributions to our experiment, were the final pieces I needed to break through the dimensional barriers. And as I expected, once that was accomplished, locating the stones was child’s play.”

“So you owe me,” she offered. “I don’t suppose that’s going to make any difference here, is it?”

“Actually, I’ve just repaid you, as far as I’m concerned. You now know the whole story, something you can ponder for the rest of eternity.” Hiss’ smile widened.

“So now you kill me?”

“No, Andrea, nothing so banal. Your going with me through the portal. Part way, at least.”

“Part way?” Andrea was starting to genuinely worry; there was no sign of Man-E or the others.

“I’ll be going all the way through to Eternia; you will be stopping off in between the worlds, that interstice of interdimensional nothing within the gate. You won’t die, I’m sure, just float around in that empty limbo forever.” Hiss looked back at the gate; it was still wavering slightly, but it appeared almost stable.

While his attention was momentarily diverted, Andrea moved. She shot forward and swung her leg out, catching Hiss in the side. The Snake King turned back, more startled than hurt, and snatched her ankle before she could pull back. He pulled up hard, jerking her off balance, then pushed away. She went tumbling onto the floor, and before she could recover, his hand was locked around her right arm. He yanked her to her feet, his sinister grin stretching his face almost to the point of caricature. “Such courage, my dear. A little stupidity thrown in, as well, but still quite brave.” He pulled her toward the gate. “I think we’re ready now. Enjoy your final trip, Ms. Steele.” She was struggling to free herself, kicking at his legs and trying to gain enough leverage to trip him up. He easily countered every move, and his iron grip didn’t loosen in the slightest. They were just about to enter the warp when they both felt a strong tug pulling them back. Hiss whirled around, but couldn’t find the perpetrator, though he could feel the force increasing. Then his eye caught the containment unit that had housed the stone. It was glowing brightly, the magnetic field it generated so intense it was actually glowing. He and Andrea were being pulled back by the metal they were wearing, by the metal buckles on their belts, the jewelry on Andrea’s wrists, the lining in the heavy glove Hiss was using to hold the stone. “The actor,” he snarled.




“Mr. Elipidae didn’t mention anything about any friends when he came back in and told me about the van,” the guard said, visions of alien abductions racing through his head. The Eternian heroes had been vainly been trying to convince the guard of their friendly intentions. The guard kept staring at Gwildor, bewildered by the gnome, and his eyes widened in abject terror every time Orko floated near.

“What do you mean, ‘came back in’?“ Duncan seized upon the guard’s comment, concern etched on his face.

“He locked himself out, and had to come back in the front,” the guard stammered, confused even more by the odd question.

“Was Andrea with him?” Duncan pressed.

“I don‘t know,” the guard lied. He feared he had already said too much.

Duncan motioned to Orko, and the Trollan floated over. With his back to the guard, the older warrior made a snarling face, and surreptitiously pointed behind him at the guard. Orko took the cue, raised his arms, and headed toward the guard, making low growling sounds. Under normal circumstances, the act would hardly have been intimidating, but Duncan had noticed the man’s unease every time he looked at Orko. The guard’s eyes went wide as Orko hovered before him, and he stammered, “O-okay, she wasn’t with him the second time. She was still upstairs.”

“Alright, Orko, leave him alone,“ Duncan said as Orko rolled his eyes around in circles and waved his hands wildly. He started making “booga booga” sounds, and Duncan grimaced. “Orko, enough!” he chided.

Orko turned to him, and said sheepishly, “Sorry, got carried away.”

Shaking his head and grinning, He-Man looked over at the lab. “Man-E wouldn’t have left Andrea alone in there.”

“Agreed,” Duncan said. “Which means the second time the boss came in...”

“It must have been the real Mr. Elapi-whatever-his-name-is,” Ror finished the thought.

“But if it was him, why would he say he locked himself out? That must have been the first time he came in tonight.” She thought for a moment. “And how did he get here? I didn’t notice any vehicle go by. Ror?”

“Nothing came through; even with all the noise Blast-Attak was making, I would have noticed it,” Ror confirmed.

“Remember that bad feeling I had before?” Duncan said.

“It’s back?” He-Man asked.

“With a vengeance. We need to get in there.” Duncan and He-Man started for the lab, and the other Eternians fell in step behind them.

Ror released the guard. “If I were you, I’d head back in that front door, stay there, and figure things are a little too crazy for me to deal with. In other words, find a safe spot and keep your head down.” The guard nodded almost mechanically, and Ror was beginning to think most of his higher brain functions had pretty well shut down. “You going to be okay?” The guard nodded, his eyes still a little unfocused, and then took off running straight for the front of the building. “Yeah, Orko can do that to a person,” Ror chuckled as he ran after the other warriors.



Hiss felt the magnetic pull on the metal lined glove allowing him to hold the stone, as well as the belt on his trousers and the Earth change and keys in his pockets. He was cursing himself for not discarding them as he had his shirt. He felt the glove start to slip, and grabbed it with his other hand, releasing Andrea. She pulled away, but couldn’t go far, as she was caught in the same situation as the Snake King. The containment apparatus was sparking and sputtering, overloading as the magnetic field it was generating kept increasing in strength.

In the hall, just outside the now magnetically charged room, Man-E waited, peeking around the open doorway, and saw Andrea and Hiss. He had reverted to his human form, but not before leaving a few programmed instructions behind that would hopefully provide a means of escape, and, if luck was with them, a way to grab the stone. He counted down as best he could; he had been able to make precise calculations in his robot form, timing everything to the split second. Keeping track of time as flesh and blood without any technological aid was a bit more of a challenge, though, as the reality breakdown had already been enough to render the small chronometer in his suit useless. He was hoping the more complex machinery here would hold out long enough for his hastily made plan to work.

Suddenly, the containment unit shut off. Hiss and Andrea, who had been pulling back with all their might, went stumbling and tripping over each other as the magnetic grip on them disappeared. Man-E shot into the room , aiming himself at Hiss. He closed his eyes for a second, and concentrated, feeling his body swell slightly as he became a red eyed, green monster. He slammed into the snake man with enough force to knock the stone from his hand. Hiss let loose an inhuman howl of anger, and he and the actor fell to the ground grappling with each other. Andrea saw the stone land and then roll back toward the battle. Scrambling toward it, she saw Hiss reach out with his still gloved hand, squirming toward the glowing orb despite the Man-E monster’s attack. Andrea ran over and then slid back down across the floor, striking the stone with the heel of her shoe. It rolled out of the Snake King’s reach. He glowered at her, and renewed his struggle with the savage Man-E. The transformed actor growled and drooled, but still had the presence of mind to pull the glove off Hiss’s hand and toss it to the former astronaut. She snatched it out of the air as she dove for the stone, slipping it on just as she grabbed the ancient artifact. “Man-E! The gate!” She pointed to the portal, which was still open. She wasn’t sure the actor heard her, or understood, for that matter. He didn’t seem to be acting, as his animalistic ferocity was increasing with each blow he delivered. She began to fear he had truly become a monster, but she had to hope there was still something of the man with the talent for impersonation left inside him. “Man-E!!” she screamed.

Her voice seemed to do nothing but startle him at first, but then she caught a glimmer of comprehension in his red eyes. He rose with a jerk, grabbing Hiss and flinging him toward the gateway. Hiss almost plunged through, but caught himself in time. He roared and tensed every muscle in his body, his face contorting hideously. His torso and head faded away, and were replaced by a swarm of writhing serpents, with a large, fanged snake jutting up from the center. Andrea’s face lost all of it’s color, and her eyes bulged; whatever she might have expected from the sorcerer, this wasn’t it. Her friends had mentioned some kind of snake related transformation, but this was something no one could have prepared her for.

Man-E had pulled himself back from the savagery of his monster form and reclaimed his normal, handsome features. He lunged forward, and the undulating Hiss braced for another attack. The actor veered to the side at the last moment, missing Hiss and grabbing Andrea around the waist. His feet barely touched the ground as he hurled them out the door. From inside, they heard a loud humming as the containment unit re-activated. They also heard the thing Hiss had become wail in rage as the magnetic force once again pulled at him, keeping him from following right away.

“Nice little surprise. You programmed it to go back on again?” she asked.

“Yes. I was supposed to be keeping track of time while I tussled with the serpent, but I let my inner beast get the best of me for a moment. Thanks for snapping me out of it. I’m pretty sure the program was supposed to activate it a little sooner; these machines must be starting to glitch like everything else” He helped her up, and she noticed he was none too steady himself.

“Seems to have worked to our advantage for a change.” She looked down at the stone still clasped tightly in her gloved hand. “Regardless, your plan worked. We’ve got the stone.”

“Not for long, if he gets out. I don’t think the machine in there will hold him long; he got caught off guard the first time, but he’s strong enough to break free, especially if that contraption gives out.” As though punctuating Man-E’s comments, they heard the device start to sputter loudly over Hiss’s screeches.

“Good point. Let’s get to the exit.” She grabbed his hand and they bolted down the corridor. Behind them, they heard a small explosion, and Hiss wailing again. This time, however, it sounded different, and they realized why as they turned and saw Hiss charging down the hall after them, the serpents comprising his upper body whipping around madly.

“You do know the way to the nearest door out of here, right?” Man-E asked.

“Yeah, but the way he’s gaining, I don’t know if we’re going to make it in time.” She was breathing hard and sweating more than ever; Hiss’s change had rattled her more than she was letting on. Skull faced villains and giant green tigers were something she could adapt to, but this undulating mass of serpents scared her senseless. “Did I mention I have kind of a problem with reptiles?”

“You’re afraid of snakes?” Man-E asked, glancing back at the rapidly approaching snake man.

“Snakes, lizards, you name it. Scare the bejabbers out of me.”

“Then I suggest we make sure that doesn’t catch up with us, or you may never get past those little phobias,” he said as they rounded a corner. A large door clearly marked “Exit” lay only a few yards ahead. They surged forward, and Andrea’s eyes went wide again as she felt something sharp plunge into her arm. She turned her head and saw Hiss with one of his serpent heads clamped onto her left wrist. She screamed again as her arm throbbed, and she felt her body start to shake. Man-E turned green again, and pounced on Hiss, forcing him to release her arm. She collapsed on the floor, tears steaming down her face as the pain increased. Hiss’s serpent heads whipped about, knocking Man-E aside and once again zeroing on Andrea and the stone. She looked up at him, a mixture of fear and pain in her eyes. The main snake head on his body rose, and stared down at her. “You will die slowly from my venom, Andrea, slowly and in agony,” he hissed. “Betraying me carries a heavy price!”

She pushed back the tears, and looked over at Man-E, lying still on the floor; she wasn‘t sure he was breathing. She looked back at the horror Hiss had become. The thought of the brave man who had just risked his life to save her and her planet lying dead at the hands of this monstrosity filled her with a sudden rage, overwhelming her terror and pain. “Monster!!” she screamed, lunging for Hiss. Startled by the unexpected fierceness of the attack, he tried to sink the fangs of one of his heads into her once again, but missed as she brought the stone still in her hand across the jaw of his central head. There was a flash of magic as the stone’s excess power translated her rage into a physical force. Hiss found himself hurtling back down the hall, stunned by the tremendous blow.

“Might not be a good idea to abuse that poor stone like that,” Man-E said weakly as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.

Andrea collapsed to the floor as the surge of adrenaline wore off. “Sorry, he just ticked me off. You okay?” she said in a raspy voice.

“Alive and as well as can be expected,” he replied.

She winced as a fresh wave of pain shot through her. “I think this is bad.”

“Not if we can get you to Eternia.” He forced himself up, and tried to help her to her feet, but her legs just hung limp. He pulled her right arm around his shoulders, noticing she still had the stone clasped in her hand, and half-dragged her to the exit. His hand had just grasped the door handle when he heard another explosion down the hallway just behind them and braced himself for another attack. Relief washed over him as he saw He-Man round the corner. “Better late...” he sighed.

He-Man turned and started to smile, but stopped as he saw Andrea. “What happened?”

“Hiss’s snake form. She was bitten.”

“Hiss is here?” He-Man glanced down the hall. He saw the snake man slowly rising.

Hiss stood for a moment, watching as the rest of the heroes arrived, and realized his advantage was gone. The stone was in the hands of his enemies, and they had re-grouped. The blow from the stone had been completely unexpected, and he was still dazed from it. He snorted, and resumed his human form, turning back down the hall.

Teela started after him, but He-Man grabbed her shoulder. “Andrea needs to get to Grayskull. We don’t have time for Hiss. Besides,” he gestured to the stone Andrea still held, “he didn’t get what he came for.”

“Let’s contact the castle, and hope they can get a portal opened fast,” Duncan said. “Orko, it’s up to you.”

“Perhaps the mini-key can assist us here,” Gwildor offered, then glanced nervously over at Ror.

“I’m not going to say a word,” he said, looking at Andrea. “Do it, if there’s any chance it’ll help.”

“We’ll get you back to Grayskull, Andrea; you’ll be fine,” Man-E said softly. Unfortunately, even his acting abilities couldn’t cover the uncertainty that crept into his voice...

Fisto waited impatiently as Dree-Elle floated before him, trying to contact Grayskull and the Sorceress; She-Ra was with her, holding her sword out to the Trollan. The stone rested beside him, wrapped in several blankets to allow its transport; the magics spilling from it made it far to hot to touch outright.

“Such a small thing,” Frosta said, looking down at the bundle. “Who’d ever think it could do this.” She leaned against a withering tree, crossed her legs and smiled.

“Big things in little packages,” he said.

“True a lot of the time,” she agreed. “But sometimes the larger packages have their advantages.”

Fisto turned and caught her giving him the proverbial once-over. She smiled, and didn’t seem embarrassed in the least that he’d noticed her gaze. He-Man had mentioned Frosta on a few occasions, and Fisto had noticed a certain discomfort in the champion of Eternia when he did so. He had a distinct feeling he was discovering why. He gave a small smile in return, cleared his throat, and turned back to Dree-Elle. “Hope she can get through.”

“So do I.” Frosta was now beside him. “I don’t think our world can take much more of this.” She gestured to the trees surrounding them, most wilting or already dead. “Think things are this bad on Eternia?”

Fisto lowered his head. “No reason to think they’re not.”

“You’re still blaming yourself for this?” Frosta touched his arm, and took a few steps to face him. “From what you said, you tried to stop this Hiss character from stealing all this magic. Would it have been better if he’d succeeded?”

Fisto looked up, and met her eyes. “No, but if I’d waited just a moment longer, let him finish the first part of the spell…” He trailed off.

“And you would have known to do that how, exactly? From what you said, this Greystar whose been helping you didn’t know in time to stop you, and he’s supposedly the guy with all the information, right?” She cocked her head to one side waiting for an answer.

“I didn’t know in time. But…”

“’But’ nothing,” the snow queen admonished. “You made a decision based on the information you had. Sometimes that’s the best you can do; believe me, I know. As far as this sort of thing is concerned, there’s not a lot of difference between being a hero and a monarch.”

Fisto shook his head. “How do people like you and Randor do it all the time? Make choices that affect so many people?”

“Because someone has to,” she answered. “Fisto, I’ve had to make a lot of decisions I didn’t want to and sometimes I can’t be sure all my facts are 100% right. I’ve sent troops into battle not knowing how many would be coming back; making those kind of choices goes with the job. You take what you know, and try to make the best call you can. If something goes wrong along the way, you take responsibility for your choices and do your best to fix it. From what I can see, that’s exactly what you’re doing, so don’t keep hammering yourself.” She paused for a moment, and smiled. “Besides, it’d be a shame if those worry lines left creases in that handsome face.” She winked, and turned to watch She-Ra and Dree-Elle.

Fisto couldn’t hold back a slight grin; she had some points. “Quite a woman,” he thought. “Maybe He-Man doesn’t realize what he passed up.”

The Sorceress held her temples as she stood beside Greystar; her eyes were closed so tightly tears were welling up in the corners. “It’s Dree-Elle and She-Ra,” she said. “They have the Etheria stone, and they are ready to return with it.”

“Score one for the good guys!” Weldon beamed.

“Okay, let me in on the signal,” Greystar said, resting a hand on the Sorceress’ shoulder. “I’ll try to guide Dree-Elle so she can tap the stone’s power.”

“Looks like they did better than we did,” Mekaneck said to Extendar.

“They didn’t have Greystar around,” Extendar replied, glaring at the stranger.

“You still think he let Skeletor have the stone?” Mekaneck asked.

Extendar nodded. “I don’t trust him. I know the Sorceress does for some reason, but I don’t. So I’m going to be watching him.”

Mekaneck shrugged; he trusted the Sorceress’ instincts, though he had to admit Greystar was a man of secrets. And Skeletor did get away rather easily once he had the stone. Still, Greystar seemed to know more about the stones than anyone else, so they needed his help, and that was the bottom line.

Whether he could be trusted or not.

Dree-Elle’s eyes popped open, and she announced, “We got through! Fisto, we need the stone to get the portal open.”

Fisto grabbed the blankets and unwrapped the ancient object. “What do we do with it?”

“Hold it up, and let She-Ra touch it with her sword. Greystar says since the stone is made from the same stuff as Grayskull, there should be a natural link between them.”

Fisto raised the stone, uncovered but still nestled in the blankets, and She-Ra let her sword make contact. There was a low hum of energy, and the Princess of Power felt a slight tingling in her arm as the sword quivered. “Looks like something is happening. What next?”

Dree-Elle concentrated. “It’s hard to keep contact.” The Trollan put her hand on She-Ra’s arm and closed her eyes again. “Okay, I need to make contact with you, She-Ra.” She opened one eye, looked down at her hand, and giggled.

“You’re a step ahead, little one,” Fisto said.

“Now we need to get a portal open, and let the extra energy leaking from the stone stabilize it. Combining the stone and the sword should let us home in on Grayskull. He hopes.” Dree-Elle wasn’t sure she liked the last comment. “He wants She-Ra to come along. Anyone else who can, as well.”

“Figuring he needs all the help he can get, apparently,” She-Ra said.

Glimmer motioned to Castaspella. “I think Bow and I had better stay behind; with Adora keeping an eye on the edge of Whispering Woods, we may be needed here. Casta, with all the magical problems, we could probably use a skilled magic maker around.” Casta nodded. “Spinerella, Swift Wind, you go with She-Ra. Frosta?”

The snow queen nodded as well. “There’s no way I can get back to my kingdom right now, so I think I can do the most good going to Grayskull.”

Dree-Elle extended her free hand out, as the stone began to shake. She-Ra held her sword as steady as she could, keeping it in contact with the glowing orb. “Looks like our ride is coming,” She-Ra said as a portal started to shimmer into existence.