The two boys stood knee-deep in the swamp, ignoring the thick mud that sucked at their legs. They were too amazed at what they were looking at.

Before them lay an enormous body. It was vaguely anthropoid in shape, but far larger than a man. Its features were rough and wrinkled, like those of an ape, and a stubby horn protruded above its brow. It was curled slightly on its side, its huge arms tucked beneath it. It was obviously very, very dead.

“Procrustus!” exclaimed one boy. “That’s a Shadow Beast, isn’t it?”

“Sure looks like it,” said the other. “But…what happened to it?”

One of the boys, gathering his courage, grabbed a stick and poked at the creature’s face. It didn’t move, but its face shifted slightly, revealing empty sockets where its eyes had been.

The boys shuddered in horror. “I wonder how it died,” said one.

The other boy frowned. “Look at its face. It’s all…shriveled up. Like an old plant…or…”

The boy never finished the thought, for at that moment, something grabbed both of them around the legs and yanked them beneath the murky water. A few bubbles, popping at the muddy surface seconds later, were the only sign they had ever been there.

As a kid, Leech was one of my favorite He-Man figures. Like King Hsss, Leech hung around my toy box for years after I’d given away most of my other Masters of the Universe toys. His appeal, I think, lay in the fact that he was a big green monster with sucker hands and a fun suction action feature. He also had a really unique sculpt, which was rare among He-Man figures and may have been part of the reason I didn’t mind using him with other toy lines.

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