Chapter Three: "Training Day"

Caz and Drissi led He-Man across the wide-open field. To Drissi, it was yet another chance to see the hero of Primus, the mighty He-Man. To Caz, however, their little trip was a mission of vast importance.

"How much further?" He-Man asked out of curiosity.

"Not much," Dissi replied. "Just over this next hill, actually."

"Over here over here!" shouted Caz from the top of the hill in front of them.

He-Man smiled, and really laughed for the first time since leaving Eternia. When he reached the top of the hill, he looked down upon the huge forest at the foot of the hill.

"What do you think?" asked Caz as the three of them entered the forest.

"Seems thick enough. How far does it go?"

"Nineteen telks," Caz replied.

"What is that in Eternian, He-Man?" asked Drissi.

"About fifteen miles, give or take. Okay, this will do." He pressed a button on his wrist. "Starship Eternia, this is He-Man. Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, He-Man."

"Teleport on down."

There was a sparkle of light and energy as the Galactic Guardians materialized in front of He-Man. Though he had met them all yesterday, he took the opportunity to size them up once more. There were similarities between this team and the Heroic Warriors he had known and worked with up until just a few days ago.

Days, he realized. I can't believe it's been that short of time.

Besides Hydron, Flipshot, Vizar, Kayo, and Nocturna, there was now the four-armed Sagitar; the wind-warrior Spinwit; the robotic Artilla; and Tuskador, the man with the elephant-like armor.

"Good morning," He-Man greeted.

A jumbled 'good morning' from the group was the reply.

"I've met all of you, however, besides your name and your powers, I know virtually nothing about most of you. Most of all, I don't know quite how to fight with you. I've had experienced with your powers, though. I've either fought against or alongside beings like yourselves. But you've never fought with me. So, I've decided on this little test."

He-Man waved his hand to the forest. "I am going to enter into this forest. Five minutes later, you all will follow. You have one goal: disable me before I disable you. Simple enough? Good. Many thanks goes to Drissi and Caz for helping me find this forest here."

Caz beamed proudly, grinning like an idiot. Drissi hid her face in embarrassment.

Everyone clear?"

"Yes sir!"

He-Man smiled, though he hated being called 'sir' as He-Man.

"Five minutes, then, starting now."

With that, He-Man leapt into the air and landed somewhere in the forest with a rattle of branches.

"What are minutes?" asked Spinwit.

"Eternian way of telling time," Caz answered, somewhat nervously. He showed them a small clock that was counting down. "He told me to tell you when the clock reaches zero."

It soon did and the Galactic Guardians were off, each heading in their own separate directions.

Vizar headed southeast. As soon as he put on his visor, his body became shrouded in a field of light-bending particles that only his visor was capable of seeing through. He walked as quickly as he could, guessing at He-Man's location.

He had been working with the visor for some time now, ever since the war began. His career had started as a special ops and moved to intelligence. He had even been to Denebria twice. When a call went out for a team of specialist, he was the first to sign-up.

Vizar stopped completely. He saw He-Man crouching low in the bushes, looking the other way. Vizar snickered and stepped forward.

As soon as he was close to He-Man, however, the hero of Eternia reached out and grabbed hold Vizar's leg. Before Vizar even had time to wonder how it was He-Man had known he was there, he was on the ground. He-Man smacked Vizar in the belly, then reached up, and fondled his face until he found the visor, then lifted it up.

"Gotcha," He-Man stated with a grin.

"You're good."

"It was the snickering that gave you away. It seems, despite being good at not being seen, you're not good at not being quiet."

He-Man then heard a trig snap. He stood up, then leapt up into a tree. Vizar laid there, stunned at how quickly he had been taken down. The man was impressive.

A moment later, Kayo appeared. Once a low-level grunt, Kayo had made it into the ranks of the Primus army as being a world class fighter and an ace pilot.

"Vizar, you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just my ego."

At that moment, He-Man came swinging down, feet colliding with Kayo's chest. Kayo went flying back, smacking against a tree. He-Man landed on his feet, only to be punched by Kayo. He-Man smiled and punched back. Kayo crumbled back, stunned at He-Man's strength.

"Whoa, quite the hook."

"Thanks. You two are out, by the way. Head back to the starting point."

Kayo helped Vizar up and the pair walked back. He-Man started running in the opposite direction, heading deeper into the forest. On the hunt.

Spinwit had come across his wind-generating equipment when the war began. Despite his intense hope to join the military, he just didn't have what it took. However, the scientists (Alcon, Gepple, Meloc and Krex) had helped him with that. Spinwit had been a meteorologist. With that knowledge, the scientists built him a suit that could control and create wind.

He had been burning up inside with desire to let it loose in real battle.

"Hey," He-Man greeted, appearing from the bushes in front of Spinwit.

"Hey yourself," Spinwit replied. His arms went to work, activating the controls. The scoop-shaped gloves went to work, creating a whirlwind. It struck He-Man, attempting to push him off balance. But He-Man was ready for this.

He spun the Sword of Power against the whirlwind, dispersing it long enough for him to jump up and kick Spinwit to the ground.

"Better luck next time. You're out."

Artilla walked along, scanning for life forms. Like many of his compatriots, this artificial intelligence came about as a result of the war. It was originally a prototype for a series of war robots, but when it was discovered that Artilla was capable of emotions, the project was shut down. Artilla was therefore, one of a kind.

"Life form detected!" Artilla shouted, weapons appearing. "I have you now, He-Man."

Low-level lasers blasted at He-Man's blurring body as he ran by. He-Man far into the forest, knowing that Artilla was right behind him. Exactly as planned. He-Man stopped suddenly at the figure before him.

Sagitar, a red-clad man nearly 10 feet tall with four huge arms, the lowers set long and thicker. He was capable of walking on the second set and his legs or standing upright. He came from a nearby solar system, asked to join as He-Man had been.

"That didn't take long."

Sagitar reached forward to grab He-Man, but He-Man was faster. He grabbed hold of both of Sagitar's left arms, swung him around, and slammed him right into the on-coming Artilla.

"You guys okay?"

"Affirmative," Artilla replied.

"Just fine," Sagitar grumped.

"Good. Head on back."

"THERE HE IS!" shouted Tuskador, rushing forward, twin tusks rising up from both sides of a long, elephant-like nose.

He-Man grabbed both tusks, pulling Tuskador forward, and head-slammed his armor. The helmet reverberated.

"Ow!" Tuskador shouted. He was from the Tri-Solar System, a grandchild of the small Mites from the last planet in the system. The armor added protection.

"Done. Next?"

Nocturna leapt from the trees and landed directly in front of He-Man.

"Now it's my turn," he snarked, fists raised.

"Then let's do it."

Nocturna landed a punch, but the other two didn't meet. He-Man took two shots and Nocturna was flat on his ass. Nocturna leapt back up to kick He-Man, but He-Man grabbed his leg and flipped him backwards. He-Man then swept quickly in with a kick to the face. Nocturna was down.

"Back to the starting point," He-Man ordered.

Nocturna angrily walked away.

Hydron and Flipshot then showed up. He-Man saw this coming, as it was probably Tuskador's stupid shouting that had brought them here. Hydron fired a grappling hook at He-Man. He-Man dodged it and it snagged Flipshot.

"Damn it," Hydron cursed. A second later and the Sword of Power was at his neck. "That's all of us."

He-Man grinned. "Yep."

A few minutes later, the Galactic Guardians regrouped at the edge of the forest. Taking a deep breath, He-Man looked them all over.

"So . . . what did you guys do wrong here?"

No one really answered. Nodding a little, He-Man stepped up. "You came in after me by yourselves, depending on only your own skills. You had no plan, no strategy, no desire to find my weaknesses. You had no teamwork. No surprises. No ploys or traps. You want to beat the Mutants? You'll have to do more than just go after them, using your powers. You'll have to use your heads."

He-Man then turned to Caz. "Five minutes again, please, Caz."

"Yes sir!" replied Caz loudly.

He-Man then turned around and ran back into the forest.

Fifteen minutes later, He-Man leapt from his hiding spot and landed right onto Kayo.

"Down and out, pal."

"Maybe."

At that moment, something invisible collided with He-Man. Vizar. He-Man went flying back, unable to see his opponent. However, four arms grabbed hold of him. Sagitar.

He-Man shrugged the four arms off and shoved his back against Sagitar. As he did, intense laser fire shot out all around him. Artilla. He-Man dodged the beams, leaping over and under them, each one narrowly missing his flesh.

He-Man leapt towards Artilla, but was intercepted by Nocturna. The two of them landed, but He-Man got off a kick at Nocturna. He then turned around and faced Spinwit. Spinwit once more used his wind powers. He-Man moved out of the way just in time for Nocturna to get spun into the air.

Tuskador came rushing over. He-Man grabbed him by the truck and shoved him into Spinwit. He then flipped backwards, just in time for Flipshot and Hydron to head towards him. He flipped up again and slammed their heads together.

He-Man landed, those still 'in' heading towards him. They were far better organized this time; now demonstrating teamwork and cooperation, though it was obvious they still had a long way to go. He turned around, then, deciding to have the 'survivors' hunt him down again.
As soon as he turned, He-Man found himself facing the business end of a laser pistol.

"Bang, bang, He-Man," came the voice of Mara, the woman he had met the day before. "You're out."

"What's this?" asked He-Man, stunned.

"Strategy. The element of surprise," Hydron stated, smiling.

He-Man smiled back. "Good idea." The others gathered around him, then. "A good job, gentlemen and lady. Let's just hope you'll be good enough when we face down the real thing."