- by Owen Morton
Buffy pounded on He-Man's back, desperately attempting to free herself before he could take her to Spike. She had no particular desire to run into the vampire again, especially not while he had this muscle-bound idiot doing his bidding.
He-Man, for his part, paid no attention to her ineffectual fists. He merely headed at a slow but steady pace, back towards the factory.
"Giles, what're we going to do?" demanded Xander.
Giles turned to glare at him. "Xander, this is a foe beyond any of us. Maybe beyond even Buffy. Spike has found and released He-Man."
"He-Man?" Willow repeated. "Who's He-Man?"
"The legends say he used to work for the forces of good," Giles told them, "but he was corrupted by evil spells when he came to Earth centuries ago. The Watchers' Council imprisoned him within a magical sphere, but he has been released. I don't know whether the power even exists anymore to recapture him."
"Great," said Xander. "What're we going to do about it?"
"I don't know," Giles snapped. "Just let me think. He-Man is the most powerful man in the universe. I don't know of anything we can do to prevent him from doing anything he likes."
Deep beneath the ground, a malign presence stirred. A shadowy figure, linked to He-Man, and on his awakening had begun to awaken itself.
Gradually, consciousness returned to it. Centuries ago, it had hatched a particularly brilliant plan: it would conquer the planet Earth and train its inhabitants to be the most effective soldiers the universe would ever know, which could then be used to conquer Eternia. It had been a plan of pure genius!
Unfortunately, it had also been a plan which He-Man had got wind of, and he had pursued the figure to Earth and almost destroyed it. But demons had found He-Man just as the killing blow was administered, and the magical spell had preserved the figure's life - barely. He-Man's imprisonment had meant the figure had lain dormant again.
But now it was rising again.
The factory's door swung open, and Spike looked up. A wide grin spread over his features as he noticed who the newcomers were. He bowed mockingly.
"As ever, I am at your service, Slayer," he said.
Buffy glared daggers at him. "Okay, Spike," she hissed. "You wanted to see me so bad you send Mr. Muscles after me, you'd better have something damn good to say to me."
"It's not a matter of what I want to say," Spike returned. "There's something I've wanted to do to you ever since I first saw your lovely little neck, and I finally have the perfect opportunity. He-Man, hold her still, would you?"
This instruction was completely unnecessary, since Buffy couldn't move anyway.
Spike let his face transform, bared his fangs and prepared to bite down on Buffy's neck - then stopped and turned to Drusilla.
"Dru," he said. "Would you like the first bite?"
Drusilla's eyes lit up, pale and cold, and she approached Buffy hungrily. Buffy eyed her carefully. One little mistake, she vowed. Just one.
Her opportunity came suddenly. In an attempt to be helpful and allow Drusilla to bite Buffy's neck more easily, He-Man had shifted his grip ever so slightly. Buffy seized the chance and jabbed an elbow sharply into He-Man's stomach. He-Man doubled over in surprise, and Buffy leapt free.
"Oh, bugger," exclaimed Spike, grabbing Dru and pulling her away from the enraged Slayer, in case she decided to take revenge by staking Dru.
Buffy had other concerns, however, He-Man being first among them. She wasn't sure if she could win in a fight against him, but something had to be done. She couldn't let him continue to roam the streets of Sunnydale. She realised that a stake would not be her best weapon against him, but unfortunately that was all she had. Perhaps, therefore, a tactical retreat would be in order, until she could acquire some other type of weapon. Like a ten ton weight, maybe.
She hurled the stake at He-Man, but he merely snatched it out of mid-air and sent it back in her direction. Buffy's eyes widened slightly, ducking just in time as the stake whistled over her head and impaling one of Spike's more unfortunate minions.
He-Man sucked in air sharply. Buffy frowned, adopting a defensive posture, wondering exactly what he was going to do next. She found out seconds later, when He-Man exhaled and sent a huge gust of air in her direction. She found herself flying backwards, and impacted unpleasantly hard with a wall.
Clambering to her feet, she leapt at He-Man and got close enough to get in some good punches and kicks to his head. But He-Man merely laughed them off, caught her arm and hurled her back at the wall. Buffy stood up again, deciding that a tactical retreat would definitely be in order, if she could only reach the door.
He-Man approached her, trying to stop her moving. Buffy glanced quickly around; if she could get past He-Man, the way to the exit was clear. All the vampires seemed to have vanished, realising that the factory could be completely wrecked by this battle. She hoped Spike was beginning to worry about the force he had unloosed, and what would happen if He-Man ever decided to turn on him.
She feinted to the left, then darted swiftly right - away from the door. He-Man, puzzled, moved to follow her - and was taken completely by surprise by Buffy barrelled past him and headed for the door. She reached it without incident, grabbed the handle, and turned it.
The door was, of course, locked.
"Oh, perfect," Buffy muttered, as she turned to see He-Man slowly advancing on her.
"I heard a noise in there."
Giles, Willow and Xander spun round, relaxing slightly when they saw that it was Angel.
"So did everyone in Southern California, I should think," Xander snapped.
As usual, Angel completely ignored his taunts. The only time Xander had got a rise out of the vampire was when he'd called him 'Dead Boy', which Angel had really not seemed to appreciate. He turned to Giles.
"What's happening?" he asked. "Where's Buffy?"
"He-Man has risen again," Giles informed him, briefly. "He's taken Buffy to Spike."
"Buffy has no chance against He-Man," Angel said.
"And He-Man has no chance against me!" cried another voice, this one thin and nasal. All four of them whirled round, to see a skeleton dressed in blue and purple, clutching a purple staff with a model goat's head positioned on the end, standing several feet from them.
"Now what?" moaned Xander.
"I am Skeletor, He-Man's nemesis," the figure announced. "And this time, I will defeat him once and for all! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaa!"