by
Aidan Cross
You are reader # to enjoy my story! Thanks!
Copyright @ 2/15/99
One of the first warriors to be recruited into the ranks of the masters of the universe
was Man-E-Faces. For quite a few years this being had been rumoured to exist. Several
people claimed that a strange being roamed Eternia, who appeared to be half-man,
half-robot, and that his faces would change. But no matter what his face was, he was
always a dangerous creature. He would sometimes appear with an ordinary human face, and
would simply rob people of their valuables or just kick them out of his way. Other times,
he would appear with a terrifying monster face, and it was this face which was said to be
his most dangerous, as he would attack people like a wild beast. Sometimes, he would
appear as a robot, and this face was not necessarily dangerous, but he would force the
first person he came across to be his master.
Since there was no proof of this
beings existence, most people believed it was nothing but a tall tale. There were
others who would scout Eternia looking for the creature, but very few people took the
reported sightings seriously.
At the Royal Palace of Eternos City,
a thought was almost never given to this strange man-robot. At this point, the menace of
Skeletor and his evil warriors was new to Eternia, He-Man had not been defending the
planet for long, and the heroic and evil armies were only small. But then, one afternoon,
a terrified peasant burst into the Royal Palace and demanded to speak to King Randor. He
was allowed into the throne room to speak to the king.
"Your highness
.." he
began, "something terrible
.. has happened to my village
"
King Randor recognised this man- a
poorer citizen who lived in a small village near the Evergreen Forest, but had
occasionally done important work for him before. "What has happened?" Randor
asked him.
"Several of our wagons were
overturned, vehicles were smashed, and people badly injured by this strange
creature
.. half-man, half-robot! At first it just looked like a man with metal parts
and wires attached to him
.. but then his face became a monsters, and he went
wild and attacked us! We only just managed to drive him away with pitchforks, but the
village is very badly damaged and we fear his return."
"I never thought such a
creature would exist!" exclaimed King Randor.
"But what you say sounds
familiar
.." said Queen Marlena, walking over to them. "Havent there
been reports of some kind of cyborg creature who changes faces? I never believed it, but
from what you say
.."
"Yes!" said the peasant.
"I believe I have heard something similar myself. You may not believe it, your
majesty, but Im telling you- in our village a short while ago, seeing was
believing!"
"Then we will send someone to
investigate at once!" said Randor.
"Can I investigate?" said
Teela, walking into the room. This girl was always eager to battle against any danger,
however serious it was. Randor instantly admired her courage.
"Why, of course you can,
Teela." he said. "You may only be 18, but we know you are one of our finest
warriors!"
"Ill accompany her,"
said Man-At-Arms, who was standing nearby. "Just in case Teela needs help."
"But father, I can do it
myself
.."
"However confident you are, you
never know just how powerful this creature may be. And besides, if we find it, I may want
to study it scientifically to find out what it really is."
"Okay then. Well leave
right away, your majesty!"
"Wait a minute, cant I
come?" said Adam, who had overheard from the next room.
"Oh, Adam, be realistic
please!" mocked Teela.
"This is a task for a warrior,
Adam." said King Randor, "and I am afraid that you are no warrior. You could be
a warrior if you spent your time training rather than lazing about, but you unfortunately
prefer the latter. Man-At-Arms and Teela shall be enough to do the job anyway." He
looked up at Man-At-Arms. "Good luck, Duncan."
Man-At-Arms and Teela left straight
away. The peasant man went with them, to show them the way to the village.
Prince Adam watched them go. He
didnt really like having to pretend to be lazy to cover up the fact that he was
He-Man, but at least it stopped his father from suspecting. He went back up to the palace
balconies to watch his friends leave from above. He had never said anything before about
the tales of this strange creature, but he had always secretly believed they were true.
And now could be his chance to find out for sure
.. whether or not He-Man was needed.
As Man-At-Arms and Teela made their
way to the village, they were unaware that they were not the only people looking for this
creature. For Skeletor had also heard of the attack on the village through the Eternian
news system, and felt that this creature, if it existed, could be a useful recruit to his
army. He had attacked Grayskull and Eternos City several times, but so far had always been
stopped by He-Man. But it was only early days
.. he was convinced he would win before
long, and new recruits in his army could be just the thing he needed.
Along with Evil-Lyn and Beast Man,
Skeletor crept through the Evergreen Forest, keeping a sharp look out for any other living
creature. They had spied on the village a short while before, and from the damage they saw
had gathered that this creature could easily be deadly enough to wipe out the heroic
warriors. They crept silently through the forest.
"Are you sure this things
gonna be around here?" snorted Beast Man. "He could be miles away by now!"
"Silence, you fool." said
Skeletor. "We cannot be sure yet. Even if we dont find him here, we will
continue our search elsewhere. We are just searching the most likely place!"
Evil-Lyn examined her crystal ball.
Inside it she saw a vision of the village which the creature had attacked. She was
observing it to see if it attacked there again. She saw the villagers had locked
themselves inside their small houses, as the wreck lay outside, pieces of wood and straw
scattered about.
Then she saw three people
approaching the village. As they got closer, she saw that she recognised two of them. One
was a middle-aged man wearing orange and green armour, with a gray, tin helmet. The other
familiar one was a young woman, with long, red hair. They were Man-At-Arms and his
daughter, Teela, two of the heroic warriors. The other person with them was a man dressed
in peasant clothes- obviously a man from the village.
"Look, Skeletor!" Evil-Lyn
said, pointing into the glass. "Those heroic fools, Man-At-Arms and Teela have come
to the village to investigate!"
Skeletor looked into the glass, and
saw them talking with a small group of peasants, who came out of their homes to greet
them. "I might have known they would come along!" he said. "Quickly- we
must go and spy on them directly! We must make sure that they dont reach this
creature before we do!"
Beast Man, Evil-Lyn and Skeletor
quickly made their way to a small clearing in the trees, just by the village. They hid
behind the largest tree, and spied on the heroic warriors.
"Well do our best to find
this creature." Man-At-Arms was saying. "Theres enough danger on this
planet already, with Skeletor and his minions about!"
Skeletor laughed to himself.
"Soon this creature will join me
.. then youll see just what danger lies
in store for you!"
"Then where is this damn
creature?" growled Beast Man. "Weve gotta have him on our side, Im
not gonna wait any longer!"
"Stop being so impatient, Beast
Man!" snapped Skeletor, taking care not to speak too loudly in case the heroic
warriors heard him. "We will find him very soon! No-one can escape the Lord of
Destruction for long!"
"I think we may have him sooner
than you think, Skeletor." said Evil-Lyn, her eyes lighting up as she smiled evilly.
"What do you mean?"
"Look over there."
Evil-Lyn pointed, and Skeletor and Beast Man spun round.
Standing over by a clump of trees
was a tall, muscular figure. The three evil warriors fell silent with triumph. Although
they could only see it in silhouette, and could not make out any features, this looked as
though it could be the very creature they were looking for!
Silently and slowly, the evil
warriors approached the strange figure. As they got closer they could see that it looked
very much like how this strange creature had been described. It looked like a perfect
combination of man and machine. The head was encased inside a large blue metal helmet,
rectangular-shaped and fixed firmly over the head and neck. The torso was naked but for a
combination of wires fixed to the armour, the skin was muscular and heavily tanned. Blue
metal armour was spread over the limbs. But the strangest thing about this man-robot was
the eyes
.. over them was spread a pair of red visors, and the eyes were completely
blank
.. white all over, with no irises nor pupils, and staring straight ahead.
Skeletor, Evil-Lyn, and Beast Man
went right up to the strange man. He did not react in the slightest- he just stood there,
motionless and staring, as if he were oblivious to their presence.
"You are the being for whom we
have been searching!" said Skeletor. "You must serve Skeletor, the Lord of
Destruction!"
The strange man did not respond. He
just remained there, staring straight ahead.
"Hey boss, dya reckon he
cant see us or something?" said Beast Man.
"Quiet, fool. I must try to
communicate with him." He stepped right in front of the man, and stared right into
the blank eyes. "Do you hear me? I am Skeletor, Lord of Destruction, and you must
serve me!"
This time the man did respond,
showing that he was aware of their presence after all. His head moved downwards slightly,
and he repeated, in a flat, expressionless voice, "Skeletor
.. serve you."
"Yes! You must assist me in my
fight against the forces of good!"
His mouth opened slightly, but it
took ten seconds for the words to come out, as if he were struggling to speak. "Fight
against
.. good."
"Yes! Come with me now. We
shall set you upon the heroic fools in the village!"
"Hey boss, isnt the
guys face meant to change somehow?" asked Beast Man.
"We shall get onto that
later!" snapped Skeletor. "First we must find out how strong he is! Come with
me
.. we shall drive those fools from the village!"
Man-At-Arms and Teela had spoken to
several villagers about the thing which had attacked them. One man took the injured off in
his motor wagon to Eternos City where they could be taken for medical care.
"Now to look for this
thing!" said Teela.
"But where shall we
start?" asked Man-At-Arms.
"Here would be just fine!"
came a deep, gruff voice from the trees. Man-At-Arms and Teela spun round to see Skeletor
standing there, with Evil-Lyn and Beast Man
.. and a very strange-looking being,
seemingly half-man, half-robot, encased in blue metal armour.
"Thats the thing that
attacked us!" shouted a peasant man, before running back into his house, terrified.
"Dont worry!" said
Man-At-Arms. "Well deal with it!"
Man-At-Arms and Teela rushed towards
the strange-looking man, who at first just stood there, staring straight ahead with his
blank eyes
.. but then they found themselves spiralling back violently as they made
contact with the mans hard muscular body, and metal limbs.
"Damn, he sure is tough!"
said Teela. "But not tough enough to beat us!"
"Destroy
.." murmured
the strange man, advancing on them, picking up Teela and hurling her across the clearing.
She landed heavily in a clump of grass.
"Dont you dare harm
Teela!" Man-At-Arms said angrily, pulling out his club and charging at the man-robot.
But it picked him up by the scruff of the neck, and its blank eyes stared into his. Then
the face suddenly vanished. The head inside the huge helmet seemed to spin, so rapidly
that it was merely a blur. Then it stopped spinning. And it was now a completely different
face
.. a green, scaly face with sharp fangs and glowing red eyes.
"By the Elders
.. the
stories couldnt be more true!" exclaimed Man-At-Arms. He lifted his club, ready
to smash the creature, but it simply hurled him across the clearing, and he landed heavily
nearby where Teela lay. The creature growled in anger. The villagers locked themselves,
trembling with fear, inside their huts.
The monster began to advance on the
fallen bodies of Man-At-Arms and Teela. It walked like a zombie, without bending its knees
as it advanced on them. Teela managed to recover some of her strength, and pulled out her
gun and fired a blast at the monster. The bullet hit the monster in the chest, but it did
not respond- seemingly unhurt, it only continued advancing on them.
Man-At-Arms shot to his feet.
"Quickly Teela! We must run to get some backup. We cannot defeat this monster on our
own- especially when its working for Skeletor!"
"But what about our
village?!" called a peasant from his house.
"We should be able to lure it
away as we run!" said Teela.
"No!" shouted Skeletor,
running up to the creature. He laid his hand on its shoulder to stop it. "You two
idiots run for your lives. And you pathetic villagers can feel safe for now. Now that this
creature is working for me, your village is of no concern to me. I shall set
him on He-Man and the palace of Eternia! Thanks to this creature, I shall win the throne
of Eternia!"
"He-Man will deal with him in
no time!" shouted Teela. "Quickly father- lets go back to the city and
contact him!"
"You have not won yet,
Skeletor." said Man-At-Arms. "Come on, Teela!" the two warriors quickly ran
from the scene, in the direction of the palace.
Skeletor, Beast Man and Evil-Lyn led
their metal monster away from the village. As they moved on, the creatures face
began to spin, and became human again.
"This is marvellous." said
Skeletor. "Just wait until He-Man comes along! He will stand no chance against this
being!" he turned to the creature. "Do you have a name?" he asked.
The creature did not respond. He
just moved along briskly, staring straight ahead.
"Obviously not." said
Skeletor. "I shall call you Man-E-Faces. With your unique ability, I shall take over
Eternia in no time!"
The evil warriors moved on in the
direction of Eternos, ready to crush anyone who dared cross their path.
Man-At-Arms and Teela arrived back
at the palace in a state of shock. King Randor, Queen Marlena and Prince Adam greeted them
at the gates.
"What did you find?" asked
King Randor.
"You wouldnt believe
it!" said Man-At-Arms. "The stories are true!"
"We saw this thing-" said
Teela, "exactly as it was described! We cant tell whether its a man in
armour or some kind of cyborg
.. but it sure is dangerous! It even changed its face
to a monster, just as the stories said! And worst of all
.. its working with
Skeletor!"
"Skeletor!" exclaimed the
King.
"Precisely, your Majesty."
said Man-At-Arms. "We must call for the help of He-Man! He may be just what we need
to stop this creature before it destroys us!"
"Where can we find
He-Man?" asked Teela.
"I know where to find
him." said Man-At-Arms. "Ill go and contact him now." As he left the
room, he quickly looked back at Adam, who knew just what to do. Adam followed Man-At-Arms
into his lab.
"Ive always wanted to see
this thing," said Adam, "and now it looks like Ill be fighting against it-
as He-Man!" He drew his power sword, held it aloft and shouted:
"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL
..
I HAVE THE POWER!"
A flash of light emerged from the sword, surrounded the Prince, and when it died down,
he had transformed into the mighty form of He-Man.
Moments later, He-Man was seen at
the palace gates, his sword at the ready.
"He-Man! Thank goodness
youve come to our aid!" said Teela.
"I will leave at once to find
Skeletor and his new recruit!" He-Man said. "You can count on me to stop
them!"
Instantly he propelled himself out
of the palace gates and into the streets of Eternos, muscles tensed, ready to fight.
The citizens cheered as they saw
Eternias newest champion pass, and once the mighty hero was a few miles away from
the city, he saw a strange shape moving towards him. He-Man ground to a halt, and
brandished his sword. The figure came closer, and its features came into view.
It looked like a combination between
man, robot, and monster. Its shape was human
.. but it moved like a robot, and was
covered in blue metal and wires
.. and was made monstrous by its overwhelming
sinister presence, and its terrifying eyes, blank and staring without pupils or irises.
Behind the monstrous figure was the
even more monstrous figure of Skeletor. And behind him was the evil sorceress, Evil-Lyn,
once a friend of the Queen, but now under Skeletors influence. And alongside her was
the hairy, brutal figure of Beast Man, of the Vine Jungle.
"So, He-Man." said
Skeletor. "You finally come! Lets see how you fare against the new evil
warrior. Man-E-Faces- destroy him!"
Man-E-Faces walked straight up to
He-Man, and stood straight in front of Eternias champion, his blank eyes staring at
He-Mans muscular form. "Destroy
.." he uttered slowly. Then he
reached out his fist, and threw a punch at He-Man, hitting him in the neck.
"Its gonna take more than
simple punches to defeat He-Man, Man-E-Faces!" He-Man said, and swung the sword of
power at Man-E-Faces. But the strange man was only mildly staggered by the blow, and
continued to advance on He-Man, reaching out his hand to strangle him. He-Man ducked, and
grabbed hold of Man-E-Faces feet, forcing him to the ground. But the creature was
still unharmed. He pulled himself to his feet, and marched towards He-Man, kicking him on
the head and knocking him to the ground.
Man-E-Faces looked down on the
muscular hero. Then his face began to spin. When it stopped spinning, it had become the
face of a hideous green monster, just as Man-At-Arms had said! The monster picked He-Man
up by the scruff of the neck, and hurled him six metres. As He-Man was about to pull
himself to his feet, Man-E-Faces marched on him and kicked him again, then bent down,
seized his shoulders and smashed his head to the ground.
Skeletor laughed evilly. His eyes
lit up red with evil glee. "Man-E-Faces will make short work of He-Man!" he
said. "So we might as well leave him to it. Come on, my warriors- we have business
elsewhere!"
Skeletor led Beast Man and Evil-Lyn
away from the two warriors fighting. "Hey boss, why cant we stay and watch
He-Man get beat?" asked Beast Man.
"We have no time."
Skeletor said. "While Man-E-Faces fights He-Man, we can attack the city! Without
He-Man, the fools guarding the palace shall stand no chance against my army- and I will
place myself on the throne of Eternia! He-Man may only be knocked unconscious by
Man-E-Faces- but when he recovers, he will find a world perishing under the rule of
Skeletor!" he picked out a walkie-talkie from within his cloak, and radioed back to
Snake Mountain. "Trap Jaw- get Tri-Clops and the shadow demons. We will lead them
against Palace Eternia- soon I shall rule this planet!"
The battle between He-Man and
Man-E-Faces raged on and on. And the two were proving to be an almost equal match for one
another. He-Man had to admit that this creature, whatever it was, was almost as strong as
him! And the longer the battle progressed, the more insane the demon seemed to become. The
eyes were going wild with rage, the fangs bared and ready to bite! And the monster roared
an insane growl as it attacked He-Man.
He-Man wasnt sure how much
longer he could keep up the fight. The creature was tiring him out. Man-E-Faces himself
didnt seem to even get tired- probably because he was part-robot.
Man-E-Faces picked He-Man up, and
hurled him into a rock. He-Mans great strength prevented him from being too badly
hurt- but he knew that Man-E-Faces could win if he continued to do this. As the monster
advanced upon him, He-Man brandished his sword, held it straight in front of him, and as
the monster was ready to attack, he fired a bolt of power from the sword, which exploded
over the creatures chest, and sent him stumbling back.
Man-E-Faces then stopped, and
gripped his helmet tightly. The monster growled intensely
.. then his body began to
shake. The creature raised his hands up to the skies, and emitted a huge, deafening roar
which rang through the air. Something was happening in its mechanical body. As He-Man
watched, the creature lowered his arms, so they were held straight across. Then the
monster seemed to calm down, and its face spun again. When it stopped spinning, it was a
robot face. It turned, and looked straight at He-Man. Then it began to advance towards
him. He-Man was unsure whether or not it was going to attack him again
.. the stories
he had heard said that this creature persuaded others to become its master when in robot
form. He-Man moved towards it, slowly and cautiously. In a metallic, electronic voice,
Man-E-Faces said "Master. I obey your commands."
He-Man moved closer. "You are
my master." said the robot. "I shall do what you say."
Now this could be useful. The fight
was over- for the present moment, Man-E-Faces was not an enemy. He would now obey whatever
He-Man said
.. indicating that he was not permanently dangerous.
"Okay then." said He-Man.
"Come with me to Castle Grayskull."
Back at the royal palace, Teela was
pacing around anxiously. "Should we really have let He-Man go alone, father?"
she asked Man-At-Arms. "What if he needs some help
.. that creature sure is
dangerous
and what if Skeletor does something?"
"Hmmm
.. you could be
right, Teela. Yes, I think we should leave right away. we must do what we can
to
" then he caught sight of something from the window. "Oh no." he
said. "It looks as though were needed here!"
Teela looked out of the window, and
saw Skeletor advancing on the palace, with Evil-Lyn, Beast Man, Tri-Clops, Trap Jaw and a
whole host of the evil shadow men from Eternias dark shadowlands.
"Assemble the guards!"
Man-At-Arms ordered.
"Right away!" said Teela.
"I dont know where He-Man is
.. or that strange man
.. but just now,
the real danger is right here!"
He-Man walked across the drawbridge
of Castle Grayskull, Man-E-Faces at his side. They were greeted by the beautiful Sorceress
of Grayskull.
"Greetings, He-Man." she
said. "How may I help you?"
"I want you to help me analyse
Man-E-Faces." He-Man said. He quickly explained that Man-E-Faces was the strange
creature who had been reported around Eternia, and about everything that had happened
since the peasants visit to the palace.
"We must find out exactly what
Man-E-Faces is." he said, "and where he has come from
.. and what we can do
to prevent him attacking again."
"I am most glad to help."
said the Sorceress. "Lets go to my laboratory. There we shall take a closer
look at this
.. Man-E-Faces."
The Sorceress led He-Man to her
laboratory. Man-E-Faces, at He-Mans order, followed behind.
"First I shall see if I can
make mind contact with him." The Sorceress said. She closed her eyes and held her
head, to concentrate carefully on sending a mind signal to Man-E-Faces. For several
moments she remained there, then she opened her eyes.
"What did you find out?"
He-Man asked.
"I could not get through to him
properly." The Sorceress replied. "There is something wrong with his
mind
.. it would appear that he can not think straight. Didnt you say he seemed
mindless in human form?"
"Yes. He was like one of
those
.. what are those creatures called
.. zombies. Thats it. He seemed
to struggle to speak- it was just like something was blocking his mind. It didnt
seem like he was thinking at all- more like he was only fighting me because Skeletor said
to."
"Well I can tell you one thing,
He-Man. However dangerous he is, he is not truly evil. It seems to me that he is simply
confused- because he is trapped inside this cyborg form, and his mind has been tampered
with- so he suffers from a schizophrenic personality- consisting of the man, the robot,
and the monster. Since he is constantly switching between these three personalities- which
I would guess is beyond his control- he is unable to decide who he really is, and is only
barely aware of the world around him. So he only attacked you because he heard Skeletor
telling him to. And he has only been attacking people all over Eternia because it is the
first thing that occurs to him. He probably cannot even think before acting."
"Then is he a robot, or a man
trapped in a strange body?"
"He may seem completely
mindless
.. but I can sense a human soul in there, struggling to break free. I have
no idea who made him like this- but it is our task to help him."
"How shall we do that?"
"First I must ensure that he
can cause no more damage."
She held out her arms, concentrated
with her mind, and cast a spell. A host of glittering stars floated through the air
between The Sorceress and Man-E-Faces. His face began to spin, and turned to the human
face again.
"Now
if I can use my
magic to control his mind to a small extent
so he can answer what we say until the
spell is over."
She concentrated harder, then she
asked him "Who are you?"
"I
.. dont
..
know
.." he murmured. "I
.. am
.. man? Robot
..
I
.."
"Thats it!" said
He-Man. "You are right, Sorceress. He is confused as to who or what he is."
"Why did you help
Skeletor?"
"I
.. I have to
help
.. you."
"Yes!" said The Sorceress.
"Never let evil overpower you again. Fight for good- and we will do our best to free
you!"
"I
.. thank you
..
I
.."
The Sorceress began to feel
exhausted, from using so much energy. They had revealed their problem. She lowered her
arms, and ended her spell.
"Great work, Sorceress."
said He-Man. "What shall we do now?"
"You must return to the city to
help your friends. I sense that Skeletor is attacking the palace. But with Man-E-Faces on
your side, you shall stop him! You must go at once- and when you have won, Man-At-Arms may
be able to free Man-e-Faces from his split personalities!"
"Thank you, Sorceress!
Ill go right away." he gestured to Man-E-Faces. "Come on, my friend!"
Man-E-Faces turned and followed him.
He still seemed barely able to think
.. but at least he was now on the side of good.
At the Royal Palace, the sides were
almost equal as the battle raged. Almost equal
.. but Skeletor was just slightly
closer to winning against Man-At-Arms, Teela, and the Royal Army.
"We could really do with He-Man
just now!" said Teela.
"We sure could-" said
Man-At-Arms, "And hey, looks like your prayers are just being answered!" he
pointed over to He-Man, running towards the palace.
"Hes here!"
exclaimed Teela. "But wait a second
why does he have Man-E-Faces with
him?"
Skeletor was firing his havoc staff
up at the towers of the palace. Only a short while longer, and he would be
victorious
..
"You can give up now,
Skeletor!" came a voice from behind him.
Startled, Skeletor spun round and
saw He-Man brandishing the sword of power. Man-E-Faces was standing by him.
"He-Man!" he exclaimed. "You are still in one piece! Why have you relaxed
fighting, Man-E-Faces? Destroy him at once!"
Man-E-Faces stepped up to Skeletor,
and raised his fist. "No." he said flatly.
"What do you mean?"
Man-E-Faces threw a punch at
Skeletors fleshless jaw. "Oh no!" cried Skeletor. "Dont tell me
Man-E-Faces has joined forces with He-Man!"
"Im afraid so!" said
He-Man, and with that, he blasted the evil warriors with the sword of power. The fight
raged on as the tables were turned in the favour of good, and eventually, Skeletor ordered
a retreat. "We cannot beat them yet!" he shouted. "Quickly my warriors- we
must return to Snake Mountain and plan our next attack!" He cast a spell, and the
entire evil army vanished into thin air.
He-Man took Man-E-Faces inside the
palace. "Thank goodness we won." said Teela. "But why has Man-E-Faces
changed sides? He seemed so
.. dangerous."
He-Man quickly explained how he had
taken him to Grayskull, what The Sorceress had found out, and how Man-At-Arms would have
to try to free Man-E-Faces.
"I will study him right
away!" said Man-At-Arms. "Take him to my lab. I will see what I can do!"
Man-E-Faces was taken to
Man-At-Arms lab, then He-Man told them he had to go. Man-At-Arms studied Man-E-Faces
for several hours, before finally letting Adam and Teela into the lab in the evening.
Man-E-Faces stood completely still,
his blank eyes staring at nothing, as Man-At-Arms explained. He did not react to anything,
as if oblivious to their presence.
"The Sorceress was definitely
right in everything she said." said Man-At-Arms. "Man-E-Faces is a half-man,
half-robot suffering from a split personality. I am unable to determine how he became like
this or who made him this way- for now, that is a mystery to be solved. In human form,
Man-E is no longer dangerous. He will spend the majority of the time simply standing like
this, without reacting to anything. It is not that he is completely unaware of our
presence- simply that he is unable to think straight, and will simply stand here
mindlessly, like a harmless zombie. But like The Sorceress said, there is a human mind
trapped in here somewhere- and we must set it free. But although Man-E-Faces is on our
side, he is still not completely harmless. For he will still become the robot or the
monster from time to time- beyond his will, and almost without warning. From what I have
heard I can hazard a guess at how he changes to another face- it seems that anger will
trigger him to become the monster, and the robot possibly at times of confusion, or when
calming down from his monster form. But I can only guess. As the monster, he may wreak
havoc- so we must keep a constant watch on him. I will continue to perform further
experiments on him, and will look as hard as I can for a way to release him from his split
personalities."
"And what about his true
origins?" asked Teela.
"Well, obviously someone,
somewhere on Eternia, has created him. I dont know who or how- but we must find out.
The search has begun for whoever made Man-E-Faces. He will remain the most mysterious
being in the palace- and the most potentially dangerous, but nevertheless, as a member of
the masters of the universe, his skill still pack a punch." He went over to
Man-E-Faces, and shook his hand. Man-E did not respond.
"Whether you are aware or not,
Man-E-Faces-" said Man-At-Arms, "welcome to the ranks of the masters of the
universe!"
Back to the Grayskull Library