Chapter Six: "Day of Honor"
He took a step around, then held his feet solid to the ground. Power Sword raised, ready to strike like a scorpion's tail. Dark Dream, Negator, Fang Man, Evilseed, Toy Maker, Game Master, and Icer stood before him, all set to destroy. He-Man stepped forward and the battle began.
Game Master and Icer were first. A beam of energy and a blast of ice made straight for He-Man. The Sword of Power swung, deflecting both. He then skidded forward, spun and threw his back against Icer. He-Man grabbed hold of Icer's shoulder and tossed him right into Game Master.
Fang Man leapt, mouth of teeth glistening. He-Man slammed his fist right into Fang Man's face, then spun and kicked him. Fang Man staggered back.
Vines shot from Evilseed. He-Man spun his sword, chopping them up as they came to him. Small, golden, winged spheres shot at He-Man from Toy Maker. He-Man leapt into the air and the spheres collided with the wall. When he landed, the Sword of Power flew from his hand, snagged Toy Maker's hat and pinned him to a pole.
A beam of snow and ice shot at him. He-Man ducked and punched Icer right in the gut. A beam of energy struck him, this time from Negator. It burned his back, but He-Man had yet to give up so soon. A second beam fired from Game Master, who recovered as well. It struck He-Man and he stumbled.
From Evilseed, vines once snaked around the ground and ensnared He-Man's entire body. Fang Man, Icer, Negator and the others surrounded He-Man.
"Looks we caught a big one, boys!" shouted Evilseed.
"Not quite caught," He-Man retorted. He tensed his muscles, snapping the vines that had held him. He then grabbed hold of the vines that were still connected to Evilseed. He-Man wrapped them around his upper arms and pulled. Evilseed was swept off his feet and He-Man swung him into the air. Evilseed smashed into his compatriots, sending them back.
He-Man let go of Evilseed, the villain smashing into a wall. Then, He-Man proceeded to punch both Fang-Man and Negator. He rolled across the floor and snatched up his Power Sword. There was a blast from Game Master and Icer then, who stood side-by-side. He was in the air and landed in front of the two.
He-Man's Sword of Power chopped the Game Master's staff right half. He then spun and punched Game Master right in the face, spun again and kicked Icer in the gut. He-Man turned, punched Icer, kicked Game Master. He-Man was then on the floor, kicked their legs right from under them. The pair crashed to the ground, slamming into unconsciousness.
Icer's gun misfired when it fell, unleashing a beam of ice. He-Man dodged it and watched as the frigid beam of energy struck Fang Man as he was in mid-leap. Fang-Man fell to the ground, encased in a huge ice cube.
Toy Maker unleashed a small set of exploding planes. He-Man ducked beneath them and the set smashed into another wall. He-Man jumped and his boot collided with Toy Maker's face. The Toy Maker fell to the ground.
"You may have defeated them, He-Man," hissed Dark Dream. "But I will plunge into your deepest nightmares forever!"
He-Man smirked. "Nope."
He yanked out the Sword of the Ancients and sent it sailing through the air. It slammed right into the ghostly body of Dark Dream and flew out the other side. Energy burst from Dark Dream and he collapsed.
He-Man lifted up the Sword of the Ancients and sheathed it. He looked out at the unconscious and defeated bodies of his foes. "A pointer, gentlemen. Teamwork only works if you know how to do it."
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"Move it! Move it!"
General Tartaran cracked his whip, sending the Goblins in a marching frenzy. Tartaran looked up, passed the high trees before him and saw the faint structure of Eternos. Another ten miles, maybe. If even that. At their immediate left was the River Eternia.
But it was after a few seconds when hope began to rise that Tartaran became to realize something. Just where was Icer's dome of snow and ice?
As if on cue, there were suddenly several explosions roaring in front of the army. The Goblins leapt back at the eruptions. Shadows came upon them from the sky. Tartaran snarled as Stratos and Buzz-Off lead a legion of Avion and Insectoid warriors towards the army of Goblins.
"HALT!" shouted Stratos. "Halt in the name of Eternos!"
"Stand down, interlopers!" cracked General Tartaran. "This does not concern your kingdom!"
"If it concerns one of us . . .," cried another - this one from the ground. King Paw appeared. By his side was King Jade.
". . . then it concerns all of us!" finished King Jade.
At that moment, chimes were heard. Gwildor emerged from the trees, Cosmic Key in his hands, open and spinning. The chimes unlocked the gravitational doors, and portals opened. Out came two armies - one full of Cats, the other full of Bears.
The two armies folded around the Goblins, hissing and growling at their enemies. Above, the Avions and Insectoids locked their weapons on the Goblins.
"We can still defeat you!" General Tartaran declared, but there was definite reluctance in his voice.
"Perhaps, but not us!" shouted Granamyr, appearing in the sky with the Avions and Insectoids. With him was an entire fleet of Dragons, each one in a striking position. General Tartaran, though a smart and very arrogant man, knew the odds of winning this were getting fewer and fewer.
"Sire!" yelped one of his soldiers. "The river!"
Sure enough, Aquaticans appeared, all of them waist-deep in the River Eternia, weapons primed and trained at the army.
"You have two options," said Stratos. "Turn away with no harm done and promise of no chase given to you. Or you can attack us and hope to survive with one man standing."
General Tartaran grunted and stared at the huge army that stood against him. It was hopeless. Utterly, completely hopeless.
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Moss Man leapt onto the landing pad. All at once, Lava Man, Frog Man, Leo, and Hisser dropped the crates they hauling towards the ship and prepped for battle. Unfortunately, Moss Man was way ahead of them. Vines launched from his hands, ensnaring each one and tossing them into the wall a few times.
Count Marzo appeared then, with Sticky-Fingers and Chimera by his side. Moss Man was about to attack the trio, when Count Marzo lifted the Gem of Life. Energy formed around this artifact, and it fired at the Heroic Warrior.
Moss Man stumbled backwards and went crashing against the floor.
"Let's get out of here," Sticky-Fingers told Marzo. "We'll use the transporter on board to grab my crew."
"Agreed, Captain."
"I DON'T AGREE!" shouted He-Man. He jumped off the roof next to the landing pad. Upon his landing, he charged towards Count Marzo, Chimera, and Sticky-Fingers, the Sword of Power swinging about while the Sword of the Ancients sat patiently on his back.
However, before he could near them, all three unleashed energy beams upon He-Man. He was blasted back, pushed against the wall.
"Keep it up!" cried Count Marzo. "We kill him and we win!"
There was a sudden noise, then. A screech, and a huge brown-furred creature shot from the sky on two large bat-like wings. A griffin. It slammed right into Chimera and Sticky-Fingers, sending them tumbling across the pavement. He-Man was freed.
Count Marzo rushed into the ship. He-Man made for it, but not before he realized just who that griffin was. He paused.
"Teela?"
The griffin nodded.
Just then, the ship's engines came to life. It lifted off the ground, rising vertically from the landing pad. It's back engines activated then and it began to rush forward. In flash, Teela tossed He-Man onto her back and took to the sky.
Together, they chased after the ship. He-Man grasped hard on her long, thick fur, realizing that it was just last night they were kissing passionately. Her wings flapped hard, and Teela instinctively made herself sleeker by pulling in her legs.
She neared the ship. He-Man surprised himself by kissing the back of the griffin's head, and then jumped off. He came right against the hull of the ship and slammed his sword into it. He-Man didn't have much time - the air was getting thinner.
He-Man yanked out the Sword of the Ancients and rammed it fast and strong into the hull. A slit appeared. He pushed his hands into the slit and yanked. A breach opened, big enough for him to jump in. The whole ship lurched as pressure was released.
He-Man came into the ship . . . and was immediately blasted. Count Marzo stood just inside the room, holding a laser in one hand and the Gem of Life in the other.
"You've lost, Marzo!"
"Have I? I must say, He-Man, this was the most excitement I've had in decades!"
The ship lurched again. It needed to stabilized - and fast. But first things first. He-Man deflected another beam from Marzo's laser. He-Man's foot then collided with Marzo's laser, sending it skidding across the shaking floor and then right out the breach.
He-Man then flat-out punched Count Marzo in the face. Count Marzo fell backwards, the Gem of Life flying out of his hand. He-Man caught it, then kicked Marzo in the gut and rushed towards the controls.
His fingers danced across the control panels, searching for a way to fix this. Just as he reached for the navigational controls, however, an explosion blew them apart. He spun around and saw Count Marzo standing at the transporter.
"Good bye, hero!"
Count Marzo pressed in some random coordinates and was instantly transported out the ship - and away from Eternia. He-Man rushed over to it, only to find that Marzo had sabotaged the teleporter. There was no way He-Man could get it working before the ship smashed into the ground.
"I never told her," He-Man whispered then. "I never told her . . . anything . . ."
He turned around and watched as the ground came faster and faster towards him. He closed his eyes - and then everything stopped. He-Man went flying forward and he could hear the cargo slam around in the bay.
Opening his eyes, he could see a fleet of Dragons, Avions, and Insectoids circling him. Five huge Dragons were holding the ship, preventing it from falling. There was a knock on the window. Stratos and Buzz-Off waved at him, smiling and laughing.
He-Man did the same.
After the ship was set down, Moss Man, Roboto and Gwildor quickly met He-Man at the hull breach. "Are you okay?" asked Gwildor.
"Yeah," heaved He-Man. "Exhausted, but I'm okay. Where are Count Marzo's cohorts?"
"Escaped," replied Roboto.
"Well, we'll have to deal with that later. Right now, I need you two to figure how to get the Shaping Staff to transform everyone back."
Gwildor and Roboto entered the ship and followed He-Man to a huge piece of equipment in the cargo bay. In the center of it all was the Shaping Staff. Gwildor went over to it and pressed a few keys as Roboto's sensors went to work.
The two conferred briefly as He-Man did a quick inventory of everything else in the cargo bay. When he returned, Gwildor had an answer.
"Just a few quick switches and everyone should be back to normal."
Gwildor and Roboto went to work. He-Man went outside to wait. Teela stood on the landing pad, her huge griffin body dwarfing his.
"Just a little patience," he told his best friend.
Teela snorted, beak clapping together. Moss Man laughed.
"We've secured the Palace and the city," Stratos said then, arriving with Buzz-Off.
"All the animals seem to know what's happening and aren't killing each other," Buzz-Off followed-up. "They've maintained their own minds."
Teela screeched. Buzz-Off jumped. "Uh . . . sorry."
There was a sudden burst of light from the ship, then, and a wave of energy flowed from it, moving across the landscape and into the horizon.
The evidence that it was working right in front of them. The energy wave seemed to leave a field around Teela in her griffin form and the animal quickly changed back into a human.
"Oh, thank the Ancients!" exclaimed Teela, the transformation over in a matter of seconds. She tossed her fingers through her hair.
"Uh, Teela - " started He-Man.
"I feel great!"
"Teela, you're - "
"It's going to sound weird, but it was kinda fun!"
"Teela, listen you're not - "
"What?"
She looked right at them, and suddenly saw their faces were all red. Teela then looked down. She was completely, openly naked. A yell like no other emitted from her mouth and her hands jumped, falling onto the vital areas.
"DON'T JUST XXXXING STAND THERE! GET ME SOMETHING TO WEAR!"
Gwildor pulled off his large, bulky coat and handed it to her. She turned around and quickly put it on, hoping none of the guys looked too long at her naked backside. With the coat on, she rushed (though carefully) into the Palace.
The boys busted up laughing.
"I'm getting a report," Stratos said after the laughter broke up. His finger was pressed against the temple of his helmet. "From North Eternos. All humans and aliens have returned to normal. Now . . . now North Eternos is getting reports from all over the Light Hemisphere. Status quo has been restored."
He-Man smiled and turned to the city below. People were beginning to reorientate themselves, getting into some clothes thanks to their friends the Avions, Insectoids, Cats, Bears, and Dragons.
"This was perfect," He-Man commented.
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Teela and Prince Adam stood behind King Randor stood at the table. To Randor's sides were his siblings, his wife, and Man-At-Arms. Across from him were Stratos, Hawk, Delora, Buzz-Off, Lizard-Man, King Paw, King Jade, Queen Valena, Queen Sumara, Princess Raya, King Marianius, Counselor Cyril, Starchild, and Naomi. In the center of the table sat the military alliance treaty, completely signed and completed.
"This is a momentous day for all of Eternia," told King Randor to the group. "For our allies to come to our aide in our moment of weakness is a true blessing. There was no way we could have survived this day without the help of our friends."
Randor spoke a little more, and then the meeting broke up, everyone going in their own directions. Outside the Palace of North Eternos, Adam met up with Teela.
"Teela!"
"Adam? Hi."
"How are you doing? I heard your transformation was pretty slow."
"It was. Although . . . I was surprised your's wasn't. I guess that just how these things work out, huh?"
Adam smiled a little. "Uh, yeah. I guess so."
"What did you turn into anyways, Adam?"
"A horse, actually," Adam lied.
"Oh? What did you do as a horse?"
Adam laughed. "I slept."
Teela stopped in her tracks and just stared at him. "You WHAT?"
"I walked around, wandered away from the ship and went to sleep. When I woke up, I was back to normal."
Teela just stared at him in disbelief.
"What?! I was tired!"
Teela tossed her arm around the shoulders of her best friend. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"I'm crazy? You're the one that enjoyed it!"
Teela laughed, and pretty soon, Adam joined in. The two of them stepped forward, Teela's arm still swung over his shoulder, and his arm around her back. As they laughed, they felt close as friends do. As best friends do.
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Count Marzo materialized, his feet landing firmly on the pavement below him. All around, people stopped and looked as this strangely dressed man appeared amidst a crowd of walkers. There was blazing sun above him, framed in a wide, blue sky with touches of clouds popped around it. He was lucky to have arrived on a planet suitable for his particular needs.
But as he began to notice the place he was now at - the people, the huge towers of glass and steel, the roar of jets above, the language, the accents - Count Marzo came to terrible, awful realization. He fell to his knees and shouted out in a frustrated cry to the sky.
"NOOOOO!"
Fear gripped his stomach. He was stranded . . . on Earth.
LOOK FOR "JUST ANOTHER DAY - BOOK TWO: FELLOWSHIP" COMING SOON!