Chapter Two

"Orko Finally Kicks Some Butt"

The morning sun rose from the horizon, setting the clouds in the sky into a red haze. It was apparent to all of Eternia what this meant - blood had been spilled over the night. Skeletor's forces had taken Castle Grayskull and Eternos - promising to put all of Eternia soon into the same situation.

Orko, Court Jester for the Royal Family, soared over the rocky terrain of the Mystic Mountains, shooting towards Avion as fast as he could. But even the strength of this Trollian was being lost. For six hours straight has he flown, moving at a speed he never thought he could reach. Every part of him wanted to give up, to just set down and wait. Or even try and find a way back to Trolla. Every part of him - save his heart. His heart demanded that he go on.

Avion was the only hope for Eternos.

And so, he soared towards Avion, the white clouds streaking past him on his journey. He began to lose hope when he realized that it took Stratos and Buzz-Off half the time to get to Eternos. Maybe he got lost, then. Maybe he was going in the wrong direction. Maybe he had passed out and this was all a dream - or a nightmare!

And then, rising over the next peek, the spires of Avion appeared. Orko thrusted forward.

***

Hawk walked across throne room, and tensed herself as she approached her advisors. "What do you report?"

The advisor shook his head. "I'm sorry, milady, but we have had no sign of Stratos. And the scouts report Skeletor's forces are consolidating their power at Eternos and Castle Grayskull. It is our estimated guess that they are planning on launching an attack northward."

"Into the Vine Jungle, the Mystic Mountains, and Ice Mountains? Skeletor must be mad."

"No," came the voice of Delora, the human wife of Stratos. "My sister-in-law, with Grayskull taken, Skeletor will be able to grow exponentially in power."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is - "

But the doors of throne room flying open cut off Delora. Orko staggered in, winded and looking like he was about to pass out.

"Who is this?!" shouted the advisor.

"Orko, Court Jester of Eternos," Delora answered.

"What's he doing here?" questioned Hawk.

Orko gasped and wheezed. "Need . . . Eternos needs . . ." he groaned, chest rising and falling with great heaves of air. "Eternos . . ."

"Has fallen," Delora finished for Orko. "We know this. How did you escape? Where is He-Man?"

"He's . . . he's going to fight Skeletor!" gasped Orko.

Hawk looked Delora. "If He-Man plans on fighting Skeletor, then there is still hope. Orko, I take it this is a formal request to join arms against Skeletor and free Eternos?" asked Hawk.

"Yes . . . and Insectia. And we need to do this by . . . midnight."

With that, Orko passed out.

"Get him some water and get a bed! Let him rest for a little while, and then wake him. We must know all that he knows," Delora commanded.

Hawk spun and turned to her advisor. "Get me Insectia."

Within moments, the communication lines between Avion and Insectia were opened. The Queen Bee sat next to Queen Kexia the MVII - the rulers of the Bees and the Kex, respectively. "By midnight? Is he mad?" yelped Queen Bee.

"We're not sure on the details, but we can assume that when Skeletor took Grayskull, certain powers would be released to him at midnight. We must strike before then if we are to believe this. The Avions will do so, even though Stratos is still missing. We know that our three kingdoms have served together for generations and Eternos has sent word of distress intended for the both of us. Will you help us?"

Kexia looked to Queen Bee. They both nodded. "Yes. For the sake of Eternia, we will aid both you and Eternos."

Queen Bee then frowned. "But I fear even our combined forces will be no match for the power of Skeletor's armies."

***

Tri-Klops swaggered into the Royal Throne Room of Eternos and slumped down onto King Randor's chair. The statue of the King and Queen sat before him and for a moment, Tri-Klops considered blasting it to pieces. But he stopped, realizing that Skeletor had called dibs on that.

It was then that Tri-Klops' communicator began to beep. He pulled it out. "Tri-Klops here."

"Tri-Klops, this is Evil Lynn. There's been a development."

"Oh? What kind of development?"

"He-Man rescued our little worm Gwildor, and it turns out he had another Cosmic Key. They attacked the Castle - "

"What?!"

"- But we pushed them away, forcing them to flee into a random portal."

"Have you tracked the signal?"

"Not yet. Karg - " She said this name with great disgust " - Karg has chosen a number of new recruits to lead the retrieval squad. I thought it best, though, to send in one of our own. I thought since you have so many at your disposal . . ."

"Take Beast-Man," Tri-Klops answered quickly. "It's that time of year again. He's shedding like mad."

Evil Lynn cackled. "Good! Send him over immediately. Tell me, how is your hold on Eternos?"

"Stable. Skeletor still have you in charge on plotting out the incursions into the northern territories?"

"Yes. The armies are being moved into position as we speak."

"Should make for an interesting couple of days."

***

Orko woke with a start.

Memories flowed into his Trollian mind, reminding him where he was and what he was doing here. He searched for his watch. 10:00 AM! Oh no!

"Trolly Molly! I'm late!" he shouted.

"Orko?" came Delora's voice. "Orko, what's wrong? Late for what?"

Orko floated up and towards the door, energy rising up within him. "I have to get to the Great Towers and find a way to get She-Ra and the Great Rebellion over here from Etheria, along with some of our own good guys!"

"Wait!" shouted Delora, following Orko out into the hallway. "Avion and Insectia have agreed to help Eternos. We're meeting this afternoon, then launching out immediately. We'll help you!"

"That's great! Then you'll need all the help you can get!" yelped Orko.

"Wait!" Delora shouted again. "Take the Talon Fighter He-Man left here! It'll get you to the Sands of Time faster!"

Orko turned around, his eyes looking wide with relief. "All right! Thank you . . . I'm just so tired . . ."

Delora bent over to Orko. "You can do this, Orko of Trolla. All Eternia rests in your hands. You must hurry. Our scouts report that the Great Towers have yet to be taken. But you must hurry."

Not a scant twenty minutes later, Orko was in the Talon Fighter, headed towards the Sands of Time. With the Talon Fighter on auto-pilot (because everyone knows he would have crashed it if he was doing it on his own), Orko took the time to relax for a moment.

His thoughts raced around all of the different events that had occurred since his return from Trolla. And then . . . they settled on Trolla. He suddenly remembered the great time he had had on Trolla. It was the best he had EVER had. Uncle Montok, Yuckers . . . Dree Ell. The last person - of course - stood out to Dree Ell. Orko missed her already. The touch of her hand, the sweetness of her kiss, the warmth of her hugs. It all lingered merrily around and with Orko ever since they first met.

What would happen to her if Skeletor won?

The though shocked Orko. It scared him to the bone. If he failed here . . . Skeletor would conquer all of Eternia. He suddenly pictured Man-At-Arms, Teela, Stratos - all of the Heroic Warriors, hanging from the gallows. He-Man, executed. She-Ra, burned alive. Grayskull shattered and split open, the Sorceress killed. And then the destruction reaching all across Eternia . . . and then beyond.

With the gateways within Grayskull completely to his disposal, Skeletor could travel anywhere he wanted. Including Trolla.

New, more awful images filled his brain.

The High Muck-Muck impaled.

Yuckers and Montok tortured and killed.

Dree Ell . . .

Anger - RAGE - boiled within Orko. The evil that existed on Eternia must be defeated. All evil. Skeletor first of all. And do that, Orko needed to release his friends from the Eternos prison. To do that - he would have to find away to bridge the gap between Eternia and Etheria. Orko had no illusions - for once - about his role in this game. He was no warrior - but he knew some great ones.

And they - they would save the world.

Orko saw then, the Great Towers. What he saw shocked him. The Snake Men - Rattlor, Sssqueeze, Kobra Kahn, Snake Face, Tung Lashor, Blast Attack, and Twistoid - all stood before the entrance as the remaining Royal Guards faced off with them. They were gathered in an out-cropping rocks, and released their own individual attacks on the Royal Guards.

That was when Orko noticed something then. The Snake Men had hostages - two of them. Stratos and Buzz-Off were both bound and gagged next to the watchful eyes of King Hiss. Not statues, he realized, because they were good bargaining chips.

And that . . . that was when Orko came up with a damn good plan.

"This is Orko to all Royal Troops!" he shouted through the intercom, connecting with the soldiers. "I'm using the my - ahem! - rank to order you to stand down! I've got all this under control!"

"Ummm . . ." came a collective response.

"Sir, this is Commander Gavenor. Orko, I don't know what you're up to, but this had better than your usual egg-in-Man-At-Arms face routine."

"Routine?! That's one of my - " Focus, Orko. "Just trust me, heh heh!"

A few minutes later, behind the out-cropping of rocks, King Hiss noted the distancing of the laser fire. He looked up at Tung Lashor. "What is going on?" he asked, his voice still weak from the battle with Hordak.

"They're pulling back, sire! They're retreating!"

"We're winning!" yelped Sssqueeze.

"Not yet you're not!" Orko shouted from behind then. The whole group turned and faced the Trollian. Orko gasped, fearing fill his body. "Um . . ."

"What?" hissed Tung Lashor.

"In the . . . under the . . ." he stammered. "I place you under arrest by order of King Randor of Eternos! There! I said it!"

King Hiss threw his head back and bellowed. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Kill him, please."

The Snake Men lunged towards Orko. He swooped in, though, avoiding the long arms of Sssqueeze. The tongue of Tung Lashor shot towards Orko, but missed due to his swiftness, and smacked Snake Face in the face. Kobra Khan shot streams of acid out - but it hit Blast Attack, corroding part of his systems.

Then, Orko flew up about three feet up. As he did, he threw a levitation spell out that tossed Stratos and Buzz-Off away from the Snake Men. They tumbled to safety. And then, just as the Snake Men reached for him - Orko opened up a pouch and spun around. Dust flew out and fell onto the Snake Men. For the first three seconds, nothing happened.

And then . . . they began to shrink. Fast.

King Hiss yelled curses towards Orko until he reached a quarter on an inch tall. Orko smiled and waved down at the tiny insect. The Snake Men ran off, now in a much larger world.

The noon reached high above the Great Towers shortly afterwards, and Orko stood up on the top and looked towards Light Hemisphere. "We best get moving," Stratos said, as he walked with Buzz-Off towards the Court Jester.

"Thank you, Orko, you did good work."

Orko smiled. "Ahhh, thanks guys! You wanna hug!"

Stratos looked to Buzz-Off awkwardly. "Ummm . . ."

"Errrr . . ."

"Maybe another time."

"Yeah, when this is all over."

Orko nodded. "Aw, okay guys. Well, I've got to find a book that'll let me open a portal to Etheria."

"You'll find it," assured Stratos.

"We can count on you," Buzz-Off threw in.

"See you on the front lines!" Stratos shouted, taking off into the noon sky.

Buzz-Off flew right behind him and added - "Warrior of Eternia!"

Orko smiled to himself, then made for the library. This little Trollian still had a lot of work to do.