Duncan and Randor were pleasant enough, but there the usual conversation dynamics faltered. Marlena avoided speaking both to her son and their visitor from Earth. Teela herself couldn't bear to meet Adam's eyes. Thus excluded, the prince struck up a discussion with his father over the possible solutions to a border dispute that had arisen between two neighboring villages in the kingdom.
Teela drained her goblet of ice water and stared into it. She felt so helpless, as though her entire life had been determined at the moment of her birth and there was nothing she could do to change its course. She knew she had a great deal to offer Adam, if she were only given the chance, but it could never be.
With a sigh of resignation, she asked Duncan to pass the pitcher of water. She reached over to take it from him. As their hands crossed, a blue spark jumped from his into her fingers. She dropped the pitcher in surprise, then watched in horror as the chilled water gushed across the table to splash into Adam's lap.
The prince jumped up, brushing futilely at the cold liquid. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Teela exclaimed. All the attention in the room focused on her. "I'm sorry," she repeated.
"Um, I guess I'd better change," Adam said, excusing himself from the table.
Teela mopped up the spilled water with her napkin. Cringer, on the floor, rolled around with uncontrollable laughter. Finally the captain couldn't take it. She threw the sopping napkin to her plate in disgust and buried her face in her hands. What was happening to her?
Cringer's hilarity subsided to a few snickers. Man-at-Arms was on the verge of attempting to comfort his daughter when a guard ran into the room, shouting, "Captain! Skeletor is attacking!"
Teela was out of her chair and halfway to the exit without a second thought. When duty called, she answered, no matter what. She went through the routine of announcing defense strategies, distributing weapons, and deploying her troops. The well-drilled soldiers followed her commands upon the instant.
How had Skeletor recovered from his defeat so soon? Unless he had held some of his forces in reserve at Snake Mountain for just such an occasion. She noticed his live stooges were missing, so these were probably mechanicals fresh off the assembly line. In any case, robots swarmed around the palace, leaving a path of cracked masonry and shattered marble.
She led a squadron of sky sleds against the invaders. Her father had taken charge of the land assault, and she saw Battle Cat swiping hovering robots out of the air with enormous paws. Where had he come from, and how had he gotten to the palace so quickly?
His partner, He-Man, was to his left, taking on three robots at once. A fourth tried to sneak up behind him, but Teela shot it before it could get close. He-Man spared a glance up at her and waved his thanks.
She wove through the confusion, the blanketing smog of dust and smoke that had arisen, using her laser to good effect. During a low sweep she spotted Duncan cutting a swath through Skeletor's minions. Her vision seemed to blur around him. She blinked to clear her eyes, but it was still there, a scintillating blue aura that glittered with his dance-like moves.
As she neared him, a spark leapt from the tip of his sword to her hand. It crackled up her arm and enveloped the engine of her sky sled, burning it out. With a frustrated curse she wrestled the useless machine to the ground and jumped off moments before it burst into flame.
She had had just about enough. She clenched her fists, sensing the strange energy humming inside Duncan. Energy surrounded her, in a thousand different strengths and colors. She could almost--reach out--and--touch--
The Collector roared by overhead, distracting her. There. That's where Skeletor was, protected by his ship. If she could defeat him, the rest of his forces would withdraw, leaving the palace safe. Right. How could she bring down the Collector by herself?
She fixed once again on the energy she could somehow perceive. Two bright beacons shone in the growing darkness of evening: Duncan's blue flame and He-Man's golden torch. She held out her hands, one toward each of them, and pulled the energy into herself, feeling it build, joining with the center of her being. When she had enough she brought her hands together, lacing her fingers, and aimed at the Collector.
A sizzling beam of red light shot from her clenched hands, impacting with the side of the large ship and burning a hole through the solid metal. Billowing clouds of black smoke rose from the opening and the Collector began a spiraling descent. Skeletor managed to pull up at the last second, but instead of pressing his attack, he turned and limped back in the direction of Snake Mountain.
All around her a cheer went up from the defending soldiers as the remaining robots followed their master. The last of the borrowed energy slipped from her grasp and drained back to its sources. She stared down at her hands, a crushing weariness coming over her. "How--how did I--?" she murmured. Conversations chattered madly in her head, memories and thoughts not her own.
"Teela, are you all right?" She heard He-Man's deep voice by her side.
"No," she announced, and fainted.