“I take it you know your way to the throne room, Hiss?” Evil Lynn asked as she followed the snake king.

“I think I can remember,” he said dryly. The months he had partnered himself with Skeletor upon his return to this dimension had been well spent; he had familiarized himself with every tiny detail of the new Snake Mountain. The lowest levels had survived his final battle with He-Ro and the centuries since; the rest of the stronghold had been obliterated, and the present structure veered quite a bit from his original designs. Skeletor had succeeded in building a fair monument on the site, but when the skull-faced fool was finally dealt with, Hiss would return the mountain to its former glory.

“Skeletor should be almost done with the spell by now,” the witch continued. “He said it would take a few moments afterwards before he could absorb the power. That’s when he expects you to strike.”

Hiss laughed quietly. “I’m sure Skeletor made such an obvious deduction sound like some sort of brilliant insight.”

“Just like you would, I’d imagine,” she said, matching his dry tone.

“Unlike your master, I don’t need to feign intelligence, my dear Evil Lynn.” He paused, cocked his head to the side, and held up his hand. “Wait. Did you hear something?”

The witch stopped and listened. “No. I don’t hear anything unusual. These caverns are old; there are always odd creaks and groans down here.”

Hiss shook his head. “It was like that even in my day, witch. I heard something else. Something moving.” He moved forward slowly, and motioned for her to follow. “It came from just ahead,” he whispered.

She followed him past a tight formation of stalagmites, perking her ears, but still hearing nothing out of place. He stopped again, and looked around. “Something right around here.” He glanced back, and pointed to the rock formation. “How long has that been there?” he said suspiciously.

She turned. “These formed all over the place down here. There’s nothing…” Her voice cut off as her eyes fell on Snake Face, who soundlessly slipped out from behind the rocks, his face appendages waggling in the air. Before she could turn away, she found her body paralyzed, and she toppled over.

“Well, what do you know? I did hear something after all,” he said, his wicked smile wider than ever.

Snake Face retracted his debilitating facial extensions as Pythona slipped from behind the stone formation beside him. “Your plan worked, my lord,” she cooed.

“I had to improvise a bit, but I’ve come to know this witch well enough to anticipate her moves.” He roughly pushed Evil Lynn to the side of the tunnel. “I had a bit more difficulty locating you down here than I expected, but even this so-called breakdown can’t destroy my link to my people entirely.”

“I never had any doubts you would succeed,” Pythona said proudly.

He strode over and gently touched her cheek. “Nor did I.” He turned and bade the two to follow. “On to the throne room. Skeletor is about to finish his part in this little drama, and there are still the heroes to deal with, so we can’t waste any time.”

Outside Skeletor’s throne room, Greystar crouched close to the entrance. He could hear the final phase begin, and knew there were only a few minutes left before Skeletor was through. A sound from the side caught his ear as he turned suddenly, peering down the dark corridor to his left. A quick glance at his comrades told him they had heard the faint shuffling of feet, as well. He could just make out four shadowed figures as he crept closer to the others. “Company,” he whispered.

Duncan squinted for a moment, then leaned back on his heels and smiled. “Company with a rather large hand among them.”

Finally stepping into the light, Ror, Fisto, Kittrina and Malaktha made their way out into the chamber. The archeologist seemed a bit unsteady, and Fisto was hugging the wall as he walked.

Ror ran over and crouched beside Duncan. “Found them both in one of Skeletor’s holding cells. They’re a little groggy from some of bonehead’s knock-out gas, but otherwise they seem fine.”

Duncan clasped Ror’s shoulder. “Good job, lad.” He pulled back a bit and wrinkled his nose slightly. “You didn’t by any chance run into Stinkor along the way, did you?”

Ror sighed. “Great. I was hoping I was the only one smelling it. Now I’ll have to fumigate the armor.” Duncan grinned. “So how far along are we?” Ror asked.

“From what Greystar says, I think you got here just in time.”

Ror shook his head, smiling. “Wouldn’t want to miss all the fun.”

Fisto carefully crept over and kneeled beside Greystar. “How are we doing?”

“Pretty much going according to plan. As much as possible, anyway,” the stranger answered. “Skeletor is just about done with the first part.”

“At least that’s going right,” Fisto said, rubbing his eyes.

Greystar turned and saw the big man steady himself with his gargantuan fist. “You need to sit this part out?”

Fisto shook his head slowly. “I’m in ‘til it’s over. There’s a lot more I need to do to make up for…everything.”

Slapping him on the back lightly, Greystar managed a small smile. “You’ve already done more than your part, my friend.”

“Ror told me you explained things to the others, but there was one thing you told me that he didn’t mention. You haven't let them in on it yet?”

Greystar put a finger to his lips. “Keep that between us for now.”

Fisto nodded. “So what’s our plan when Skeletor gets done?”

“We go in and get the stones before he can start the next phase.”

Cocking an eyebrow, Fisto stared at Greystar. “That’s it?”

“Everybody’s got some moves planned, but we can’t get too specific until we get in there,” Greystar explained. “At this point, we’re going to have to improvise a lot. That’s why I want to keep that one last trick in reserve.”

“Just point my fist in the right direction,” Fisto replied.

“I’ll do my best,” the stranger assured him.

“Didn’t take long for Hiss to turn on her, did it?” Man-E noted as Teela bent over the paralyzed Evil Lynn.

“I’m not surprised,” she said, checking the witch’s neck for a pulse. “ She’s just frozen; she‘ll come out of it in a while.”

“Great. She’ll probably find an excuse to take it out on us,” Beast Man moaned.

“I think she’ll have too much else to worry about, fur face. Skeletor isn’t going to be a happy villain when he finds out about this,” Man-E pointed out.

“Maybe Skeletor would be pleased if Spikor brought back a couple of prisoners,” the spiny henchman said, his eyes narrowing as he glanced back and forth between the two heroes.

“Fine. Then you can deal with Hiss and Snake Face alone,” Teela shot back.

“Snake Face? Spikor hasn’t seen him here.”

Teela glowered at him. “Who do you think did this to Evil Lynn? We didn’t see him, Kobra Khan, Squeeeze or Pythona out there. They may all be in here with Hiss right now.”

“She’s right, you idiot,” Beast Man growled. “We may need them if Hiss has more of his snakes with him.” He smiled in a most unsettling way. “Fighting evil snakes is the one thing heroes are good for, right?”

Teela just glared at him, and then stood up. She was almost tempted to leave the traitorous sorceress where she laid, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. They didn’t have time to drag Evil Lynn along, however, so Teela hauled her behind the stalagmite formation, and propped her against the wall. It was unlikely the remaining snake men or the reptons would make it past the rest of Skeletor’s flunkies, but if they did, it was also unlikely they’d notice the witch here. She took a surreptitious glance back down the tunnel, and saw Ram Man poke his head out from behind a small alcove. A slender hand reached out and quickly grabbed the top of his helmet, dragging him back out of sight. Teela suppressed a smile and turned back to Beast Man. “Now let’s get going. Hiss has a head start, but these tracks are pretty fresh. He can’t be too far ahead of us.” She started down the long tunnel.

“Spikor still think we should take them prisoner,” the spiked creature said to Beast Man.

“Spikor shouldn’t try to think until he’s had more practice at it,” Man-E quipped, falling in behind the villains once again.

“It’s right around here,” Hiss said as he felt carefully along the wall. His hand caught on a small rock jutting out just to his right, and he pulled down on it. A portion of the wall slid open, revealing a narrow passageway.

“A secret entrance?” Pythona asked, surprised.

“More of an exit, my dear,” Hiss explained. “An escape route from Skeletor’s throne room. There’s a similar hidden panel in the wall behind his throne; the place is riddled with such passages.” He smirked. “A reliable means of escape is a necessity when your plans fail so often. Since he’s never sure where he’ll blunder next, he has a way out of almost every chamber in this mountain.”

“But if Skeletor knows about it, my lord, we won’t be able to surprise him this way,” she said hesitantly.

“There’s very little chance of surprising him here, Pythona; he built the blasted mountain,” Hiss said. “But I very much doubt the heroes know about this. It may not get us around Skeletor, but it should allow us to bypass He-Man and his cohorts quite nicely.”

“Very clever, as always, my lord Hiss,” she said bowing her head.

“As always,” he agreed. “Now move, both of you. We have an appointment to keep with godhood.”

“Okay, everyone, get ready,” Greystar whispered. “He-Man, She-Ra, Fisto and I will charge in first. Duncan, you and the rest follow. All but you three.” He nodded to Swift Wind, Orko and Dree-Elle. “Swifty, you stay here in case we need some fast transport for the stones; you can carry them up to the snakes head and take off if need be. Orko, Dree-Elle, I want you to hang back. You’re magic is still working better than anyone else’s, so you’re our cover when we take off with the stones.”

“We’ll be ready,” Orko said, rolling up his robe sleeves.

“He’s got about five more lines, and the spell is done.” Greystar unsheathed his sword.

“Okay, if anybody needs to use the little heroes room, now’s the time,” Weldon said.

Gwildor glared at him. “Don’t you ever stop with the jokes?”

Weldon scratched his chin and looked off to the side for a long moment. “Nope,” he finally announced, struggling to keep a straight face.

“I give up,” Gwildor rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“If you two are done,” Greystar admonished. “He’s got one more line to go.”

“Ready for that fun you mentioned?” He-Man asked Ror.

“I suppose it’s too late to go back and wait at the palace, right?” Ror answered with a wink.

“You’ve been hanging around Cringer again,” Eternia’s champion chuckled.

Greystar held up a hand as Skeletor’s voice faded. “Okay, folks, time to go save the world.”

Skeletor stepped back, stretching his arms wide, his face twisted into something akin to a look of satisfaction. The spell had gone flawlessly, as expected. He had heard a few odd noises from the adjoining chamber, confirming what he had already been expecting: he had visitors waiting. Whether it was Hiss or He-Man, it didn’t really matter. He was already feeling a surge of power from the stones; though the mystical artifacts had to rest for several more moments before all of their power could be his, he could tap more of their excess energy now that they were stabilized. He was almost back to full power, and the energy was still filling him. Whoever came bursting in would be no match for him now.

The Lord of Destruction didn’t have to wait long. It had been less than a minute since he completed the spell when He-Man, She-Ra, Fisto and their mysterious new friend charged into the chamber. “Well, well, it looks like I’ll have an audience for my ascension,” he preened.

“The only way you’re ascending is if I send you through the roof, bone head!” Fisto snarled.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to insult a god, you oversized buffoon?” Skeletor taunted.

“You don’t have the power yet, Skeletor. And we’re going to make sure you never do,” He-Man said as the second wave of heroes filed in behind him. He-Man and She-Ra had cautioned them not to rush Skeletor until they had some idea of his present power level, so they held back and stood their ground, waiting for Grayskull's champions and the stranger to make the first move.

“Enough posturing, He-Man. You pose no threat to me now, and we both know it. You’re strength is fading, your friends are weakening, and the magics of Grayskull are waning fast. I’ve already won, fool.” Skeletor picked up his havoc staff, and leveled it at the heroic warriors.

“I disagree, you skull faced dolt,” a voice hissed from behind Skeletor.

The dark lord turned calmly, seemingly not at all surprised when he saw Hiss and his two followers. “And the snakes slither in. Really, Hiss, using the old ‘hidden passageway’? How trite can even you get?”

“I wouldn’t be so quick to gloat, Skeletor. It seems to me you’re caught in the middle,” She-Ra pointed out.

“In the middle, perhaps. But definitely not caught.” He raised his staff, and the air transformed into a large, shimmering cocoon around him and the mystic stones.

“A force field, Skeletor? How original. And you speak to me about being trite?” Hiss glowered.

He-Man and She-Ra took their swords and tried to slice through the barrier. The weapons couldn’t penetrate it. “The magic in the swords must be weaker than I thought,” She-Ra whispered to her brother.

“Looks like it. They should be deflecting the energy of the field,” he replied. “It’s worked before.”

“It’s not energy,” Greystar said softly. “It’s air. Skeletor froze the air molecules in place. It’s like more like a wall than a force field.”

He-Man wondered how their new ally determined that fact so quickly, but decided now wasn’t the time to ask. “Then maybe we can break through,” he said, rearing his fist back and then driving it into the barrier with all his remaining strength. The wall held fast.

“Everyone together!” He-Man urged. “Fisto, She-Ra, Pull back and we’ll all ram the ‘wall’ at once. Put everything you have into it.” The three slammed into the barrier with a force that shook the chamber, but once again it did not budge.

“We don’t have enough power left,” Fisto said, striking the shimmering wall in frustration. “We can’t break through! His magic’s gotten too strong!”

Hiss was having no better luck; his conjurings could not penetrate the barrier any more than the heroes’ physical might had. Orko and Dree-Elle hovered closer, joined hands, and chanted a quick spell, also with no effect.

Ror turned to Gwildor. “Shorty, I don’t believe I’m asking this, but can the key do anything?”

Gwildor’s face contorted in shock, but he managed to bring out the key. “I can’t get much power now, but I’ll try.”

Greystar leaned over and put his hand on the device. “No need, Gwildor.” He looked over at Fisto, then back at Duncan and Weldon; the Thenurian smiled and nodded. “It’s time to pull out my last trick,” he said, stepping up to the barrier. He reached up and pulled at his face, peeling off pieces of a flesh-like covering and discarding them on the floor, revealing the different, yet equally handsome, features beneath. Sword in hand, he flexed his left arm, and placed his right hand over his heart. His back straightened and he spoke, his voice powerful and clear.

“Magic and strength…tempered by heart!” he shouted.

In a flash of coruscating magic, he was changed. His armor and boots were now bright gold, shining even in the dim lighting. A red cape flowed behind him, and a golden band encircled his forehead. His sword became an ornate staff, glowing with power; he held it high and shouted, his words echoing throughout the chamber, “I stand for peace!”

He-Man stood transfixed, his eyes wide. Hiss’ jaw dropped open in utter disbelief as his head shook slowly from side to side. Almost in unison, both men whispered one name…

“He-Ro.”

“He-Ro?!!” Skeletor stared at He-Man, then turned to look at Hiss, who was still staring blankly at the man they had been calling Greystar. “What sort of pathetic ploy is this? I’m supposed to believe this is a man whose been dead for centuries?”

“It’s him, you bone faced buffoon!” Hiss screeched. “I can feel his power from here, even with the breakdown.”

“I think your brain is finally breaking down, you spineless snake,” Skeletor taunted. “No matter. Even if you are He-Ro,” he met the stranger’s eyes, “it only means I can destroy three champions of Grayskull instead of two.”

He-Ro smiled. “Don’t count on that; creating this field out of air rather than energy may have been a good move against the power swords…” he stepped forward, and it parted around him, “… but this sort of thing is my specialty.”

Skeletor looked stunned at the ease with which the champion of Pre-Eternia passed through the barrier, but he held his ground, planting himself between He-Ro and the stones. “I’m almost impressed, ‘He-Ro’, but cheap theatrics aren’t going to stop what’s to come. Thanks to the stones, I am, right now, the most powerful being on all Eternia!” He fired a searing blast of energy towards the stranger.

He-Ro held up his hands to block the blasts; he recoiled from the impact, but was unharmed. “Well, let’s just say you’re in the top two,” he quipped. He turned and placed his hand on the barrier. It glowed for a moment, and then dissolved, it’s component molecules returning to their normal states.

She-Ra whispered to He-Man as they charged forward. “Is it really him, brother?”

He-Man couldn’t hold back a wide grin. “It’s him, alright. I’m sure of it.”

“Then we still have a chance here,” she said. He-Man’s grin widened; the determined tone he’d come to know so well from his sibling was as strong as he had heard it in some time.

The twins joined He-Ro, one to either side, as he raised his arms. They each heard his voice inside their heads. “Distract him for a second. I’ve got an idea.”

Without a word, He-Man and She-Ra ran forward, dodging more magical blasts from Skeletor’s hands. He roared with rage, and backed up, trying to block the stones with his body.

“Skeletor, drop this blasted field!” Hiss screamed. “You can’t hold them all back now, not with He-Ro in the mix.” His voice deepened to almost a growl. “You…need… me!”

Skeletor continued his attack against the twins, but though he was keeping them at bay, he was not driving them back. Add to that the fact that he had to split his focus between them and whatever He-Ro was up to, and he was beginning to wonder if Hiss might have a point, sickening as the idea was.

And He-Ro was indeed up to something; he dropped his arms to his side and looked up, past Skeletor to the altar the stones floated above. The dark lord felt a rumbling beneath his feet and glared at the wizard, who merely smiled again. The rumbling grew stronger, and Skeletor realized it was now coming from behind him, from the rock-hewn altar. Granite spikes shot up from the ground, blocking him from the stones, as the altar itself heaved and stretched. It thrust upward, taking the stones with it, them launched them over Skeletor’s head. He raised his hand to snatch them with his magic, but in so doing had taken his eyes off the present day champions of Grayskull. Together, they tackled him, all three falling into the newly formed stalagmites behind the villain, shattering them with the force of the impact. The stones continued through the air until they were directly in front of He-Ro, then stopped dead. He scooped them together with his arm, and they vanished into his cape. “He-Man! She-Ra! We’ve got them! I need you two to follow me!” He turned and bolted for the door, the twins scrambling to their feet and falling in behind him. Skeletor had been momentarily stunned by their attack, but recovered quickly. He rose awkwardly, swatting and kicking the remains of the rock spikes and his altar out of the way as they shifted beneath him. A quick gesture and a dirty look to the side, and the barrier entrapping Hiss dissipated. The snake king and his two underlings started after the heroes.

“Duncan, you and the others have to hold them at bay,” He-Ro said as Man-at-Arms ran up beside him. “The three of us have got to perform the spell to return the magics in the stones.”

“Skeletor’s still fairly powerful, but I think we can hold him and Hiss for a short time at least.”

He-Ro grimaced. “Problem is, they’ve got back up coming. I felt Skeletor send out a telepathic call to his goons outside; they’ll be joining the party any minute, and they’ll probably bring the reptons with them, whether they want to or not.”

“We’ll make a stand out there,” Duncan replied, pointing past the door to the antechamber beyond. “Can you perform the spell there?”

“No,” He-Ro said. “We have to take a quick trip upstairs.”

“The snake’s head?” Duncan asked.

“Best place next to Skeletor’s throne room,” He-Ro said. “You need to keep them off our backs for a few minutes.”

“We will. You three go do what you have to,” the wizened warrior said, nodding to He-Man and She-Ra.

“Good journey, old friend,” He-Man said, reaching over to grasp Duncan’s shoulder as they ran.

“Same to you, lad,” Duncan said, quickly returning the gesture. “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry about us, just watch yourselves,” She –Ra said as they bolted through the doorway. The three heroes of Grayskull turned sharply and ran for the winding corridor that led up to the top of Snake Mountain, as the rest gathered in the anteroom for their final stand against Skeletor, Hiss, and their minions.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” She-Ra asked as the three warriors bounded up the path to the apex of Snake Mountain. “It certainly would have saved you a lot of grief.”

“Especially from Teela,” He-Man added.

He-Ro shook his head slowly as he raced along. “Stubborn lady. But that was my one, last trick, something to keep in reserve until we needed it. Element of surprise and such. And I didn’t dare transform before; Grayskull’s magic was weak enough without me drawing on it.”

She-Ra gave his back a quizzical look. “Are you saying you didn’t tap into the power of Grayskull to change?”

“Yes, I did, but not from Grayskull itself.” He turned a sharp corner and almost lost his footing on the rain-soaked floor. He snorted in frustration and kept moving. “Once Skeletor stabilized the stones, I tapped the excess power just like old bone head did. I’m still linked to the Eternia stone, remember?”

He-Man nodded. “And part of that power is the magic the stone absorbed from Grayskull.”

“Exactly,” He-Ro said. “Now we have to try to return the rest of that power to where it belongs.”

“From the snake’s head,” She-Ra noted.

“Not as powerful as the magical nexus Skeletor built his throne room in, but it’s the next best thing. It’s in the form of a living thing, and that gives it a certain degree of power in and of itself.” The elder champion paused for a moment as they emerged from the passageway and saw Frosta, Spinerella, and Swift Wind preparing to attack..

“Wait!” She-Ra held up her hands.

Frosta squinted in the dim light, and recognized two of the three intruders immediately. “She-Ra! He-Man! And…Greystar? Is that you?”

“I’ll explain later,” the stranger said, motioning for the twins to follow him into the snake’s maw.

“Frosta, we have the stones, and we need time to cast the spell to reverse what Hiss started. But there’s a good chance we’re going to have some company before long…” He-Man began.

The ice queen cut him off, laying a hand on his broad shoulder. “They’ll have a hard time getting by.” She turned to Spinerella and Swift Wind. “Let’s set up a little welcoming party for any visitors.”

“If there’s one thing I love, it’s a party,” Spinerella said, a lopsided grin on her face as she joined Frosta and She-Ra’s steed. The trio headed toward the rear of the snake’s head to stand guard.

He-Ro pulled out the stones from his cape without actually touching them; they quickly took their places, hovering in front of him in a triangular formation. “I have to warn you, before we go any further, just how dangerous this is.”

“And what we’ve been doing so far wasn’t?” He-Man asked, arching his eyebrow.

He-Ro chuckled. “In a different way, my friend. We’re going to have to channel the power through our bodies; I’m going to try to tap the rest of Grayskull’s stolen energy as we do, to give us enough of a magical recharge to get through this. But the energy may still be too much for us; it could tear us apart. Our chances of survival here aren’t great.”

“And if we don’t try, everyone’s chances of survival are zero, right?” He-Man asked. He-Ro nodded. “Then we do it.”

“We do it,” She-Ra agreed.

He-Ro smiled. “Pretty much the answer I expected. Here’s what we need to do…”