He-man
Twenty, twenty-five water spots. The ceiling was a dark gray, stained cement, and sadly one of the cleaner parts of the den. Sprawled on the couch, Donatello eyed one particular water spot as a droplet began to pool. Drawing all the moisture around it, it weighed down. Pregnant with gravity, it swirled the light around it from the weak lamp. He began willing it to drop, even though he could tell it still had the hold on the micro-textured cement. Heavier and heavier…Splip.
The ceiling was only wet after a good rainstorm. And they were in the middle of a doozy. In fact, it was so bad outside that Splinter had forbidden them to go out. The sewers were flooding, so the door had been sealed shut with clothes and boards. After the storm there would be a flux of goodies that had been washed under. But until then, four five-year-olds had been locked into five rooms. Just when they had been in the middle of learning the ways around the tunnels nearer the surface. Something they had been eagerly looking forward to for weeks. And not even five rooms, when they weren't allowed in Splinters bedroom during his nap.
The den was sadly quiet that late afternoon. Donatello, the second best reader, had no books to read. The radio, the only other entertainment, was broken thanks to Raph and Mike, ironically trying to fix it. So when Michelangelo came up to the couch, asking for help with a word on the back of a video box, Don was more than willing to help.
The two brothers sat on the couch clutching the box, reading aloud. Don more than Mike, who simply followed the syllables after being said.
"That one." He pointed his bandaided finger to a sentence on the box. Also a repercussion of the radio repairing incident.
"Trrrrrr, tRRRrrr… that part says 'form'." Donnie began. He began taking apart the word, into what he knew. "Train… form. Trains form. It says Trains-form."
"OOOooooh." Mike's eyes grew wide. "Traaaains-form…trainsform-what's a trainsform?"
"I dunno. I guess it's… one of the bad guys." Don turned the box over, examining harder the picture of He-man. There was no picture of Trainsform. Mikey shuddered.
"Oh no, what does he do?!" He stuck his beak in front of the box, looking for the evil nemesis.
"I donno. But maybe Raph does!" They both bolted off the couch, and ran as fast as their short little legs could carry them. Raph was the keeper of most of the comic books. He had three He-mans, and was the ultimate knowledge on all comic facts. In their room, they found Raph lying on the mattress with a comic open. "Raph! Raph!" They chanted, coming around to his sides. He looked up at both of them, laying his hand over the open pages of his comic. "Who's Trainsform!"
"What?"
"Trainsform! The bad guy in He-man!" Mikey insisted. Raph thought for a moment.
"He's one of Skeletor's guys." Donnie and Mikey exchanged knowing looks. "Where'd you see him?"
"Here." Mike pushed the empty video case into Raph's face.
"Oh yeah." He examined the box. "He's in this one."
"I knew it." Mikey sat down on his part of the mattress, followed by Donnie. "I wish we could fight him." He gave a few of his new karate chops to the air. "Then we could be in a movie too."
"We can't fight him, dummy." Donnie corrected. "Only He-man can."
"Oh. Right." Mike slumped his shoulders. They all sat silently for a few minutes. A dim bulb began to brighten for Mikey. "Then let's be He-man!"
"Wha?" Raph turned away from his comic again, which he was pretending to read.
"Let's be He-man! Yeah!" Mikey climbed to his feet. His excitement was contagious as usual, and pretty soon Don and Raph were all jumping around with him.
"I wanna be He-man!" Raph proclaimed.
"Me too! Me too!" Donnie added.
"I'm gunna be Battlecat!" Mikey nearly squealed in excitement.
"By the power of Grayskull! I have the power!" Raph yelled as loud as he could.
"By the power of Grayskull, I have the power too!" Donnie finished.
"Rooooooaaaar!" Mike nearly bounded off the walls, taken over the edge by his brothers' cries.
"What are you doing?" Leonardo came into the room from the dojo. "You're gonna wake up Splinter."
"He-man." Raph growled, his shoulders rising and falling. Don mimicked this, glaring less fiercely at Leo.
"I'm Battlecat! Look! I'm walking on paws!" Mikey leaned over onto his hands, his tail sticking up into the air. He galloped to Leo, falling over in the process.
"You guys are playing He-man?" Leo asked, not masking his envy. The nodded vigorously.
"You can play too," Raph said briefly, "You can be Princess Adora." Leonardo squinched his face up in distaste.
"I don't wanna be that. I'm gunna be He-man too!" He decided.
"He-man!"
"He-man!"
"Battlecat!" Mikey made it back onto his feet and hands. He started to take experimental steps forward, leaning against the wall for a crutch. "Roar!"
In the dark cave escape in Eternia, long stalactites hung from the tall ceiling. Heavily humid air turned mist slunk around the corners of the great cave, wisping around the hulking boulders. Examining their armor, He-man, He-man, He-man, and their faithful companion Battlecat held their places inside the secret cave.
Outside, Skeletor had begun wrecking havoc among the innocent people of Eternia. Their cries reached the He-men's ears, instilling in them the desperate need of the people. Thrusting forward their fists, they proclaimed in their resonating voices-
"By the Power of Grayskull!"
"On behalf of all Eternia!"
"We are He-mans!" Galloping forward, Battlecat launched into the web of arms.
"And Battlecat!" The He-men's arm didn't hold, and they four mighty warriors faltered to their knees under the weight.
"Battlecat! You messed it up! Don't do that!" He-man Raph declared. Battlecat Mike hung his furry head. He stalked solemnly away, and rested on a boulder to simply watch.
"Ok, let's start." Mighty He-man Leo rubbed his firm jaw, pondering their predicament. They had faced Skeletor many times before. But never had it been so dangerous. Never had so much been at stake. The north gate had been sealed off from escape. Leaving Skeletors forces to roam unhindered through the land.
Setting off from the cave of solitude, the He-men and Battlecat departed to patrol Eternia. The mountain cave opened broadly into the rich valley, winding down between the rocky peaks. And stepping out into dusky evening, the warriors paused.
Observing both paths, The He-men focused on the long valley rift that would eventually lead them back to the castle. Through the dense foliage and forgone paths, overladen with years worth of branches and debris, they must pass. Their enemies, which may lie in weight behind any shadow, beneath any stone, could emerge at a moment's notice.
But the He-men and Battlecat were not put asunder by these thoughts. Enlivened, they set forth through the massive forests, crowing defiantly at all whom would stay them in the shadows in stones they passed.
It wasn't long before the heroes reach their first impasse. No creature stood in their way, and no enemy threatened them. But Mother Nature herself had sealed them from going forward. Gasping in surprise, He-men and Battlecat gazed at the enormous lake that was slowing advancing on them. Miles long, and as deep as the world, it crept forward. Touching their bare toes, they backed away.
He-man Leo was the first to discover the source of the mysterious lake. "Look! It's water from the sky!" He pointed his friends to the fine, but steady stream of water that fell from the dark sky into the middle of the lake. "That's what's making it!" They gasped again. Stepping back from this unnatural act of nature, the edge of the lake continued to advance on them. Looking all around, there was no room to travel to pass the lake, as it had already moved into the valley itself. He-man Donnie began moving back.
"We're trapped!" He exclaimed.
"We can't be! We're He-men for Christ's sake!" The heroes froze in shock. Never had He-man Raph used such bad language outside of the cave of solitude. They looked far and wide to see if anyone else in Eternia had heard. "He-men can find a way out!"
"He's right!" He-man Leo concurred. "We'll have to find a way across!"
"I know! I know!" Battlecat scratched at He-man Leo's leg. "Watch me!" Tearing up the earth beneath him, Battlecat ran out to the lake, and up on the water. The He-men watched in awe as he flew over the surface, kicking up a wall of water behind him before returning to the valley. "See! I can run on the water!" He said breathlessly. "You can ride on my back and I can take you to the otherside!"
"That's a good idea, Battlecat!"
"Wish I'd thought of that."
"Good work!" Battlecat grinned like Cheshire cat at the praise. Holding his head high, he trotted over to the edge of the lake and laid low. He-man Donnie was the first to go, straddling Battlecat and holding tight to the collar around his neck for support.
"Okay!" Hearing this, Battlecat stood and raced off. They disappeared into the distance, over the horizon of the lake. He-man Raph and Leo waited patiently for their return. Several minutes later, Battlecat came back from the farside of the lake. He slowed as he came to the He-men, and sat carefully on the lakes' shore.
"What is it?" He-man Raph asked, seeing Battlecat's pained expression.
"Don didn't hold on right, and hurt my bottom." The He-men hurried to their friend's side and brought him back to his feet.
"Does it hurt?"
"You wanna break?" Battlecat nodded. "Hey look!" He-man Leo lifted his arms and looked down to his feet. He was standing on water, just as Battlecat had been running. "We can stand on the water!" He-man Raph looked too.
"Wow! It's magic!"
"Magic water!" Battlecat proclaimed. " Now you can run across too!"
"Well what are we waiting for!"
"Race ya!" He-man Raph yelled, taking off across the lake, He-man Leo coming up from behind. They raced over the lake to the far side, finding that He-man Donnie had discovered the same as they. "Hey Donnie!" He-man Raph stopped short, sending a spray of water into He-man Donnie's face.
"Ew! That's gross!" He spat some of it out. Kicking in He-man Raph's direction, he sent another line of water out and onto his friend's armor. "Ha!" The two began kicking and splashing their feet. "Take that!"
"No, you take this!"
"No, you!"
"No-"
"He-men!" He-man Leo exclaimed. The two paused, beginning to drip. "We can't be apart of this foolishness!"
"Wee hee! Waa yaa!" Battlecat came hopping across the lake.
"Mikey!" He-man Leo glared at Battlecat, who stopped in his tracks. "No playing on the Magic Lake! We have to get to the Castle first!"
"Oh…" Battlecat walked onto shore, his head hanging. "Fine then." He paused, and then shook his fur of all the water.
"AAHHH!"
Chapter 2 coming soon!
Suggestions welcome as always
~Sasami