He-Man 1. The Bazaar

KrissyKat91: I was looking at pictures of Orko on DeviantART and got inspired. The little guy needs more love. I only have three or four chapters planned for this, so it shouldn't take to long.

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Ch. 1: The Bazaar

Adam sighed tiredly as he wondered through the Eternos marketplace.

He was, once again, hiding from Teela. He wasn't lazy, no matter what she and his father, King Randor, seemed to think. It was just that Skeletor had been attacking Castle Grayskull almost every day for the past two weeks, and He-Man, Adam's alter ego, had been needed every time. Not that he could tell them that.

Well, Grayskull may have needed He-Man, but _Adam_ needed a break. Duncan had understood, and had promised to steer his daughter in the wrong direction.

So here he was, in the one place he could think of that Teela might _not_ think of. As he meandered down the street, he passed a booth selling trinkets from some of the more rural villages.

In another world, Adam would have walked on by, never sparing the booth a glance, never knowing what he would have found, and life on Eternia would have continued just as it always had. In this world, however, the sun chose that moment to shine in just the right way to cause one of the objects to glow brightly.

The red light caught Adam's attention, prompting him to glance down as he walked past. Seconds later he stopped dead in his tracks, swiftly backtracked, and stared in disbelief.

A memory rose up as he gazed at the object, a memory of black fear, purple danger, and crimson salvation, a memory of spectral power pulling him out of harms reach.

Shaking himself, Adam called, "Excuse me, sir?"

Turning from where he'd been rummaging through a trunk, the merchant replied, "Yes? What can I do for—Oh! Prince Adam!"

"Where did you get this?" said prince asked, holding the item up.

"A friend of mine found it in the stomach of a dead Swamp Hopper six years ago. Not a mark on it," the man responded dutifully, looking somewhat awed at the fact that he was having a conversation with the Crown Prince of Eternia.

"How much?" Adam immediately asked.

The older man's eyes bugged out a bit, but he said, "W-well, normally I'd ask for forty silver pieces, since all the components are of high quality, but for you, Your Highness, I'll say ten."

Adam frowned. "I don't want to be treated better than anyone else just 'cause I'm the prince," he said, pulling six gold coins from a bag on his belt. "I'll pay full price, and keep the change."

The merchant tried to protest, but quieted when the teen held up a hand.

"If this is what I think it is," he murmured, "then it's worth more than I could ever pay." So saying, he tucked his purchase into his vest and started jogging back towards the palace, bidding the bewildered merchant a good afternoon over his shoulder.

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"Hey, Orko!"

"Ack!"

**Pop!**

Adam cringed as the flowerpot the Trollan had been fiddling with exploded, spreading purple smoke and multicolored bubbles throughout the courtyard.

"Sorry, buddy," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"It's okay," Orko sighed, gazing mournfully at the mess around him. "At least I didn't destroy anything important this time. Did you need something?"

Grinning slightly, Adam rocked back on his heels and said, "I went into town today and got you a present."

Orko's eyes lit up. "Really? What is it?"

Adam laughed. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands."

The little mage did so, and Adam removed the object he had purchased earlier from his vest. Taking a deep breath, he placed it in Orko's outstretched hands.

Immediately, the magician gasped and went rigid. Eyes flying open, he stared at the gift in clear disbelief.

There, in his hands, as if it had never left, was his wand.

"Ad-Adam," he croaked, shock having stolen the air from his lungs, "how did you—?! _Where_ did you—?!"

Feeling quite pleased with himself, the blonde leaned back again and closed his eyes as he replied, "Someone was trying to sell it at the bazaar in town. It was sheer dumb luck that I stumbled over it when I did."

He cracked one eye open to see Orko's reaction, only to straighten up in alarm. The Trollan was gripping his wand so tightly his knuckles had turned white. His head was lowered, the brim of his hat obscuring his eyes, and his shoulders were shaking.

"Orko?" Adam asked in concern, reaching for his friend. The next thing he knew, his arms were full of laughing, crying Trollan.

"_Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!"_

Adam just smiled and hugged him back.


	2. Surprises

KrissyKat91: Okay, I'm not sure what you all expected me to have Orko do to show off his newly regained control, but I tried to pick something that would be suitably impressive while still maintaining his role as court jester, which, all things considered, he really does seem to enjoy. Here's hoping it turned out well (y'all go look at _Through a Fractured Looking Glass_ while you're here; I'd like at least one person to review it).

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Ch. 2: Surprises

"I wonder what has Orko so excited," King Randor mused as he, Queen Marlena, Man-at-Arms, Teela, and Adam waited for their friend.

The Trollan had been zinging around the palace all morning, moving at speeds he hadn't displayed since the day he'd discovered coffee (a memory that still haunted Duncan's nightmares).

After the mage had calmed down, he had requested the group now waiting more or less patiently to gather in the throne room, telling them that he had something to show them.

"Whatever it is," Man-at-Arms grumbled, "I hope it doesn't backfire too horribly."

"Father, be nice," Teela admonished. "It's not like he does it on purpose."

"I sometimes wonder," Duncan muttered.

Adam laughed. "Don't worry. You'll like this."

Randor raised a brow. "Do you know what this is about, Adam?"

"I might," the blonde drawled slowly, a playful grin on his face. "I also might have promised Orko I wouldn't tell."

Before anyone could press him further, Orko himself flew into the room, his arms full of small chunks of onyx, the type Marlena liked to line her private gardens with.

"Sorry that took so long," the Trollan puffed. "I had to iron out a few details. Um, you don't mind if I use these, do you, Your Majesty? It's the only onyx I could find on such short notice."

"Of course not, Orko," Marlena replied, although one could tell by the look in her eyes she was worried about what type of spell might require the rocks. "Just... be careful."

To the surprise of everyone (save Adam, who alone knew how badly the mage's constant failures affected him), Orko's eyes narrowed.

"I'm always careful," he said shortly. "It's not my fault I can't control my magic without a focus."

"Could have fooled me," Duncan muttered.

"Father!" Teela hissed, obviously mortified.

Orko, who had been arranging the pieces of onyx on the floor of the throne-room, stiffened, and for just a split second Adam could have sworn his eyes turned solid yellow. But then the second passed, leaving Adam wondering is he was finally losing his marbles.

"Alright!" Orko announced, positioning himself over the stones. "For your viewing pleasure, I am going to transform these stones into replicas of He-Man and the Masters, as well as Skeletor and his soldiers, and have them preform a mock battle."

Duncan immediately squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself.

Orko raised his hands, then whipped his wand out of his sleeve. With a twirl and a twist, something like blue electricity struck the chunks of onyx, which shifted and warped into exactly what Orko said they would, accurate down to the very last detail. The only real difference was that the figures were all pitch black.

"Father, look!" Teela said, poking Man-at-Arms in the side.

Duncan cracked one eye open warily, then snapped them both open. "What?" he squawked incredulously.

Orko snickered, then waved his wand again. The stone figures immediately lifted their weapons and attacked each other, the stone Skeletor and the stone He-Man in the thick of it.

It didn't take long for the "battle" to end, with each of the stone Masters having their adversaries at their mercy. Orko spun his wand counterclockwise, and in a flash of blue light the statues all turned back to chunks of onyx, clattering harmlessly to the floor.

Tucking his wand back into his sleeve, the Trollan raised an unseen brow and asked, "Well?"

Randor, Marlena, and Teela all gaped in dumb shock, while Adam nearly swallowed his fist to keep from laughing at the looks on their faces.

"That—that—you—how—?" Duncan spluttered.

Though no one could see his face, there was still the sense that Orko was smirking smugly. "Adam found my wand. I can finally control how much magic I use."

"What do you mean, Orko?" Randor asked.

The Trollan's eyes narrowed again. "You didn't think I was really that incompetent, did you?"

An uncomfortable silence (minus a disbelieving snort from Adam) was the answer.

"I see." Orko shook his head and sighed. "I'm not really—"

Whatever the mage was going to say was cut off as a massive explosion rocked the throne-room, and a distant voice bellowed, "IT'S SKELETOR!"


End file.

He-Man, Fantasy, Sci-Fi