The Origin of Man-E-Faces

The Origin of Man-E-Faces
Copyright Aidan Cross 01/25/99

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 thing’s 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 don’t 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 don’t 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.
"We’ll do our best to find this creature." Man-At-Arms was saying. "There’s enough danger on this planet already, with Skeletor and his minions about!"
Skeletor laughed to himself. "Soon this creature will join me….. then you’ll see just what danger lies in store for you!"
"Then where is this damn creature?" growled Beast Man. "We’ve gotta have him on our side, I’m 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, d’ya reckon he can’t 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, isn’t the guy’s 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.
"That’s the thing that attacked us!" shouted a peasant man, before running back into his house, terrified.
"Don’t worry!" said Man-At-Arms. "We’ll 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 man’s 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.
"Don’t 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 couldn’t 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 it’s 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- let’s 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 creature’s 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 wouldn’t believe it!" said Man-At-Arms. "The stories are true!"
"We saw this thing-" said Teela, "exactly as it was described! We can’t tell whether it’s 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….. it’s 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. "I’ll 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.
"I’ve always wanted to see this thing," said Adam, "and now it looks like I’ll 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 you’ve 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 Eternia’s 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 Skeletor’s influence. And alongside her was the hairy, brutal figure of Beast Man, of the Vine Jungle.
"So, He-Man." said Skeletor. "You finally come! Let’s 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 Eternia’s champion, his blank eyes staring at He-Man’s muscular form. "Destroy….." he uttered slowly. Then he reached out his fist, and threw a punch at He-Man, hitting him in the neck.
"It’s 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 can’t 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 wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up the fight. The creature was tiring him out. Man-E-Faces himself didn’t 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-Man’s 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 creature’s 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 we’re 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 Eternia’s dark shadowlands.
"Assemble the guards!" Man-At-Arms ordered.
"Right away!" said Teela. "I don’t 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 peasant’s 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. "Let’s 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-Man’s 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. Didn’t you say he seemed mindless in human form?"
"Yes. He was like one of those….. what are those creatures called….. zombies. That’s it. He seemed to struggle to speak- it was just like something was blocking his mind. It didn’t 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….. don’t….. know….." he murmured. "I….. am….. man? Robot….. I….."
"That’s 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! I’ll 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.
"He’s 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 Skeletor’s fleshless jaw. "Oh no!" cried Skeletor. "Don’t tell me Man-E-Faces has joined forces with He-Man!"
"I’m 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 don’t 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!"

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