We Have the Power!
Copyright© 2026 by Carlos Santiago
Chapter 12: The Death of Adam?!
“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”
— Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene II. Believed to have been written c. 1599 and first published in the First Folio (1623), compiled by John Heminges and Henry Condell and printed by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount. Original Early Modern English text in the public domain.
Adam ran harder than he ever had before. Part of him needed to be grateful for the Man-at-Arms lessons on cardiovascular activity.
The Sword of Power remained clutched tightly in his hand, but he made no attempt to raise it toward the heavens. Every instinct urged him to become He-Man.
He ignored them all.
Had not Marzo just said that he replied on being He-Man more than his alternatives? The wizard could say what he wanted, but Adam could feel his inadequacies to his other versions. He was reminded by what Teela said when she compared him to He-Man. This was that problem compounded to multiple degrees.
There were five main timelines of who he was, and he was the most inferior. Adam wanted to be deserving of the gift of He-Man. He needed to be worthy of the faith placed in him by Lyn, Sorceress, and Duncan.
And so, as Castle Grayskull loomed ahead, he saw the emerald fire battering its ancient wards. The barrier rippled violently with every impact from some stone that was empowered by an amulet. Skeletor’s Havoc Staff floated next to the evil mage.
The drawbridge shuddered beneath the assault.
“Skeletor!” Adam shouted.
The Overlord of Evil turned slowly to see Adam.
“So,” Skeletor said with faint amusement, “Randor’s little whelp finally arrives. Run along, little boy. This has nothing to do with you.”
Adam slowed only long enough to place himself between Skeletor and the bridge before tightening his grip upon the Sword of Power.
Part of Adam felt foolish and stupid for trying to do this without the power of Grayskull, yet he stood his ground for no other reason than he knew it was the right thing to do.
“You won’t take another step.”
Skeletor’s laughter echoed across the empty plain.
“And why should I concern myself with you?” he asked. “You’re no He-Man.”
“No, I’m not,” Adam said, taking the insult as praise.
“You should have stayed safe in your father’r undeserved palace.”
Adam met the disguised tyrant’s gaze without retreating.
“Maybe I should have, but you don’t deserve the secret powers within Grayskull!”
“You have no idea how wrong you are, little boy!” Skeleton proclaimed. “You shall learn precisely why I do!”
Skeletor allowed the Ram Stone and the amulet to float overhead with his Havoc Staff as he charged the child with his twin swords.
Lyn stopped moving to hide with Marzo.
Looking up, she saw how Adam stood alone on the drawbridge, but only one thought crossed her mind...
Why was he not transforming? She looked back to Marzo then back to Adam as Skeletor was clashing weapons against the Sword of Power.
Her heart lurched.
“ ... What is he doing?” she whispered.
Marzo shaded his eyes with one hand before letting out a resigned sigh.
“Oh,” he said. “Like I said...”
The old wizard adjusted the pack on his shoulder as he fiddle with his long raft pole.
“ ... he’s going to die.”
Lyn rounded on him.
“What? Why is he doing this?”
“He is attempting to fight Skeletor as Adam,” Marzo pointed out.
“I can see that!” Lyn all but screeched at him.
“Well,” Marzo replied matter-of-factly, “that would generally end rather poorly for a normal person.”
Lyn stared toward the distant figures. Skeletor’s swords flashed against the Power Sword as the Havoc Staff and trinkets floated behind him.
As brave as he was being, Lyn stepped forward because Adam was being an idiot.
“I won’t allow this.”
Marzo’s voice stopped her.
“I suspected you might say as much.”
She looked back impatiently.
“What do you mean? Speak plainly!”
The old wizard planted the end of his raft pole upon the ground.
“This, my dear Evil-Lyn, is called cause and effect.”
“I know what cause and effect is.”
“I rather think you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t”
He pointed the pole toward Adam.
“You both heard about the multiple timelines, and you both reacted differently. You, as someone who feels out of place, worries that your relationship with Adam will not work. Adam, concerned he is unworthy of the power of Grayskull, wants to compensate for this inadequacy.”
“Okay! Great and wise wizard! What happens now?” Lyn shouted.
“If you run to him now, you may very well save his life, but there will be two potential outcomes.”
“Which are?” Lyn asked, irritated.
“First, you would also leave me when Adam asked you to remain with me, so he could be upset about that, and in abandoning me, I could be crushed by debris or hit by one of Skeletor’s stray spells as I am not as powerful as I could be.”
“And the second?” Lyn pushed in her anger.
“Second, Skeletor would know that Evil-Lyn, his most trusted lieutenant sided with his archenemy. Now, those sort of consequences could be wide-reaching.”
“But if I do nothing, then Adam will die.”
“Yeah,” Marzo admitted. “Probably. But that is an expected outcome. We can manage the results rather than letting the consequences get out of hand.”
He tapped the pole thoughtfully against the earth.
“You don’t know that,” she countered by flexing her hand in powerlessness.
“I think we both know that I know enough about how time works to tell you what could happen.”
Marzo looked toward the distant battle. He seemed impressed by how well Adam was doing. His voice never reached above the level of intensity of one reviewing the weather.
“No matter what choice you make, Lyn, something must follow,” he said analytically. “That is the burden of every decision. Save Adam, and perhaps I suffer. Stay with me, and perhaps Adam suffers.”
His eyes softened in compassion toward her.
“There has never been a path where choosing one good did not require surrendering another. In order to receive, one must give.”
Lyn looked back toward Adam.
Her fingers tightened around her staff until her knuckles turned white. For the first time in many years, magic offered her no answer to her predicament.
Sadly, there was not even a choice. Caring for Adam had weakened herm yet she understood that she respected this champion, not because he was He-Man but because he was Adam.
Man-at-Arms urged his Sky Sled over the final ridge.
Castle Grayskull stood ahead.
The emerald barrier surrounding the ancient fortress flickered where some immense force battered against it, but then it stopped.
Duncan looked more closely and saw the clashing.
“ ... Adam?”
The prince stood upon the drawbridge with the Sword of Power in both hands, facing Skeletor alone.
Duncan’s blood ran cold at the realization. He did not know the journey that Adam went on to reach this conclusion, but Duncan knew the outcome of a battle between a poorly trained Adam and Skeletor.
“No...”
His eyes darted across the battlefield.
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