Author's Note: This story takes place after the events of "Year One: October." It ties into "Preludes and Beginnings," "The Elfsong of Eternia," "The Crossroads of Destiny," "Prophecy & Change," "Just Another Day," "Liberty and Valor," "Manifest Destiny," "Roots," "Dues Ex Machina," "My Blue Reflection," "The Last Battle," "Return to Eternia," "A Winter's Heart," "The Shroud of the Horde," "Prelude to Hope," "Across All Worlds," and the up-coming "Endings and Epilogues." These characters don't belong to me.

He-Man: Year One

November

"Too Bad, Two-Bad"

Beast-Man smelled him . . . or them. Which was confusing. But Beast-Man didn't care. He was on the move. Large as he was, he was also quite silent when he wanted to be. So, as he rushed around the rocky spires of the Valley of Storms, he moved without a sound. Whoever it was that dared near Snake Mountain had no idea he was coming.

That was until the person (or people) that Beast-Man was after took a shot at him.

Beast-Man dodged the laser blast and landed in front of the creature that was on the path to Snake Mountain. Even to Beast-Man, the sight of a two-headed man was strange. One side was purple and the other blue and even their heads looked different.

"Who are you!?" roared Beast-Man, fighting back a feral rage.

"They call us Two-Bad," the blue head said.

"For obvious reasons," the purple head followed up.

"What is this all about?" asked Evil-Lynn coming out from the entrance. "And . . . who are you?"

"Two-Bad," growled Beast-Man.

"Too bad for who?" asked Webstor, appearing from behind one of the rocky spires.

"We are Two-Bad!" yelled the purple head. "That is our name!"

"Odd," Webstor noted.

"What is that smell?!" shouted the blue head.

Stinkor arrived then and stopped in mid-stride. "What in all the odors is that?!" he cried out.

"We are Two-Bad and we are here to see Skeletor, master of Snake Mountain!" said the blue head, his blue hand on his nose.

Evil-Lynn studied the creature(s?) before them and nodded. "Beast-Man, escort them in. Alert the others. Have them ready if this is a trap."

Beast-Man grunted and allowed Two-Bad to walk in front of him. He lumbered behind them, ready to strike in case they grew . . . worrisome.

"What a strange persons," Stinkor observed.

"Says the one whose power is to smell bad," Evil-Lynn remarked before leaving the other two.

"Two heads? I wonder if they have two of anything else?"

Stinkor sighed. "You're not supposed to ask questions like that, Webstor. That's why no one likes you."

As Stinkor walked off, Webstor shrugged and ate a lingering fly. "I like me."

"It's troublesome, Skeletor," Tri-Klops reported. "The bonding process is almost impossible. Getting Eternium and Coritide to even get to the melting point is hard enough. Binding it with Faker's weak bones? It's even harder."

"Are those excuses I'm hearing?"

"He speaks the truth," Spikor followed up. "It is not impossible, but –"

"Then it should be done," Skeletor snapped. "Find a way and do it."

At that moment, the doors to the throne room came open. Two-Bad entered with Beast-Man and Evil-Lynn in tow.

"What is this?!" questioned Skeletor, rising from his throne.

"My name is Two-Bad. We'd like to join your Evil Warriors."

"How thoughtful," Skeletor replied and looked Two-Bad up and down. "Tell me, were you born this way? How did you befall this predicament?"

"It was called the Unity Stone. We were treasure hunters," the blue head explained. "I was once Tuvar."

"And I was Baddhra," the purple head continued.

"We went after the Unity Stone, only to find that it did just that – unify."

"We later learned that only by combining the Unity Stone with a powerful weapon wielded by an uber-mage can use the Unity Stone properly."

"We thought that might be useful to you."

"We call ourselves Two-Bad now."

Skeletor looked away and considered the words of Two-Bad. Not only would the Unity Stone solve the problems that Trap-Jaw, Tri-Klops, and Spikor were having with the Faker unit, but it would also give him the chance to merge the Swords of Darkness and Power.

"You know its location?" he asked of them.

"Yeah."

"Then I want you to do one thing for me."

"What's that?"

"Attack He-Man."

"Okay."

"And when you do . . ."

"It's getting colder," He-Man said as he walked across the courtyard.

"Yep," Teela responded. "Maybe you should put on more clothes, then." Her tone was a little harsh, which surprised He-Man. As Adam, he hadn't noticed her acting any differently, but as He-Man, he noted that her mood was tense around him. Of course, it could have something to do with breaking her nose three weeks ago.

"Good idea," He-Man replied. He concentrated. His battle armor appeared around his chest and abdomen, replacing his harness. "How's that?"

"Just fine," she answered, starting to walk faster than he.

"Teela, wait."

She stopped and turned. "Yes?"

He-Man felt like snapping himself, but bit it back. Better to treat her better as He-Man than he did as Adam. Better to me more truthful.

"I'm sorry again about breaking your nose."

"I know." She paused and then sighed, letting down her guard. She did that so much easier around He-Man than she did around Adam. "Honestly? Some of the others aren't exactly respecting me because of this." She pointed to her nose brace. "People are giggling. So . . . I'm a little pissy about it."

"Oh. Uh, well . . . how about I make up to you? How about lunch?"

She perked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"When?"

"Now?"

Teela rolled her eyes up in thought, then nodded. "Sure."

"Awesome, er, I mean good. Great. Let's go. Adam was telling me about this place on the Third Level . . ."

"Oh! I've got training with Adam!"

He-Man rolled his eyes. "Uh, I wouldn't worry about that, Teela. I'm sure he doesn't care."

She nodded a little. "Yeah, you're right. He's probably napping as it is. He's so lazy sometimes."

"Er, it could be that he's under pressure right now. You know, I'm sure being the heir to the throne isn't easy."

"Oh please, He-Man. I know Adam. If there's anything his life is, it's easy."

"They have marvelous soup here," He-Man said suddenly, just trying to change the subject.

"What?"

"The place we're going. Damn good soup."

"Uh-huh. Gotcha. But as I was saying, Adam just drives me up a wall."

"He seems like a good guy. The few times I've met him, I mean."

"Yeah, well . . ." She paused. "He is a good guy, for the most part. A little spacey and pretty lazy, but he's . . . a good friend. After I slapped him a few months ago, I thought our friendship was pretty much over. But lo and behold, he took me back!"

"Pretty forgiving, I'd say."

She shrugged. "I suppose."

"I never really thought of the two of you as friends, though. I mean, you don't really act like it," He-Man continued. If they were going to continue down the line of conversation, he wanted to fish for how she really felt about Adam and/or him.

"Really?" she questioned. "To be honest, he's very understanding. I guess you could say he can be sweet . . . when doesn't have his eyes planted on some girl of the moment, that is." She laughed and it came out like a snort. "But he's no you, that's for sure"

"Hrm?"

"Well, come on, He-Man. I don't mean to be flattering, but not only are you this big, larger-than-life hero of Eternia with the fate of Eternos, Grayskull and (for all I know) the whole flippin' universe on your shoulders – but you feel so bad about breaking my nose, you're taking me out for lunch."

"Uh, well, you did lay on the guilt."

"I was complaining. Usually when people complain, they get sympathy, not lunch."

"Yeah, well . . ."

She turned to him, smiling and with green eyes wide. "Face it, He-Man. You're a great guy."

Why was she saying that? He never heard her say anything like that before. And why was he blushing?

"Well . . . uh . . . thank you, Teela."

"Hey, I speak the truth."

"I suppose you do."

They had just arrived on the Third Level . . . when explosion greeted them. He-Man pulled Teela behind him as people ran for cover. From the middle of the explosion came forth a man who two heads – Two-Bad.

"Dinner date's over, He-Man," Two-Bad said in unison.

"Who are you?" questioned He-Man, unsheathing his Sword of Power.

"Two-Bad," they said.

"Too bad?" questioned Teela.

"No! Two-Bad!"

"Are you – is that a threat? Too bad for me?" He-Man asked.

"It is our name," they answered.

"Oh. That makes sense," He-Man said and promptly threw a rock at them. Two-Bad leapt right over it, which was surprising because the creatures bulk.

They landed, dropping small charges onto the ground. They exploded, sending He-Man and Teela flying back.

"Teela!" commanded He-Man. "Set up a perimeter and get the Heroic Warriors out here!"

"What?" asked Two-Bad. "Can't handle this alone?"

"No, you're just enough company for me," He-Man said, punching the blue head.

Two-Bad swung and punched at He-Man. He-Man ducked, but was surprised to find the other fist grab him by the hair.

"I bet you thought we were the same person in two heads," the blue head (Tuvar) laughed.

"We're not."

They punched in unison, then kicked, then punched again. He-Man deflected best he could, but they were both wild and fast. Not to mention unpredictable. He had to file that away for the future.

"DAMN IT!" He-Man suddenly cursed, feeling a knife slid into arm. The purple hand that stabbed him pulled the knife right out.

"Cordite," the purple headed one (Baddhra) laughed, slipping the knife into a capsule on their belt.

Suddenly, Teela's snake staff smashed onto Baddhra's head. Two-Bad turned around, snarling. "What the?"

"Teela, the perimeter!" He-Man chided her, his arm burning.

"Taken care of, He-Man," she answered, blocking one attacking while He-Man did the same. "Besides, two heads are better than one."

"As we are proving," Two-Bad answered, striking at both of them at the same time.

"Or three," came the voice of Man-At-Arms.

A massive laser bolt struck Two-Bad in the back. Two-Bad went spilling forward, but managed to release a dozen small charges. Explosions covered their tracks.

"Our initiation is over," Tuvar said.

"Until next time, He-Man."

They ran down the road and leapt onto a hoverboard. They zoomed out of the city.

"I'll send a pursuit squad," Teela said, on her communicator already.

"How much you want to bet we won't catch them?" asked Duncan, watching as they vanished on the horizon.

"How much you want to bet they're heading to Snake Mountain?" followed up He-Man. He sighed heavily. "What is going on? What is Skeletor planning?"