Author’s Note:  This is a revised version of a story I first wrote back in September of 1997.  I recently reread it, and after cringing at some of my grammar, decided a revision of the errors was in order.  As I went along, I found myself adding a fair amount to it, enough that I officially call this a different version of the story now.

 

Evil’s Bride

(Revised Edition, July 2000)

 

Lightning crashed across the top of the black pyramid on Third Earth.  Deep within the heart of the dark structure, Mumm-Ra stirred in his sarcophagus and awakened from his eternal sleep.  Irritated to have been disturbed from his rest, he stepped out and up to his cauldron.  The liquid within it bubbled and an image slowly took form in the murky waters while Ma-Mutt stood at the edge of the pool, barking loudly. 

 

“What is it, my horrible hound?” Mumm-Ra questioned of his grotesque pet.  The dog barked excitedly in response and started running around in circles.  Mumm-Ra could make absolutely no sense of his  behavior and sighed in exasperation.  “Oh just go dig a hole or something,” he grumbled, then quickly added, “and do it outside.”  

 

Ma-Mutt ignored him and continued to bark.  Something had him all wound up, much to Mumm-Ra’s dismay, and he tried to tune the noise out as he looked into the cauldron to see what it was.  All he could see was the image of a lone and gloomy grave in what appeared to be the Forest of Mists.  The stone was weathered and crudely cut, and it would seem like whoever rested there had been long forgotten, except for one detail.  A single flower, a freshly plucked moon lily, was carefully laid at its foot.  A puzzled expression crossed the undead mage’s features.  “Now why would the cauldron show me this?” he asked aloud.

 

At the sound of his voice, the statues of the Ancient Spirits of Evil shook on their stands and their eyes glowed a bright and sinister red.  “Mumm-Ra…”

 

His focus shifted from the cauldron to the giant statues that loomed above him.  He couldn’t tell from their tone whether or not this was good or bad.  “What is it, Ancient Ones?”

 

“Mumm-Ra, after all this time, you still have yet to defeat the Thundercats.  From what we have seen it is apparent that you do not have what it takes to rid this world of them on your own.  To compensate for this incompetence, we have arranged for you to have a partner.”

 

Mumm-Ra was stunned speechless for several moments until the implications of what they said began to register.  An assistant was one thing—he had used those who the Ancients had sent to aid him many times—but a partner?  One who would presumably be his equal, with whom he would have to share the spoils of victory?  That was not going to happen.  “No, spirits!  I will prove myself worthy!  I will defeat the Thundercats!  I don’t need anyone else.  I have both the Mutants and the Lunatacs in my employ.  All I need is some time—”

 

“Time?  We have given you time!  Time and time again you have tried, and time and time again you have failed.  That is why we are sending you one who would join you in your quest to destroy the Thundercats, equal in power to you.  We are sending you a bride, an eternal partner in evil,” the spirits informed him. 

 

Mumm-Ra was furious.  “A bride?  I have no need for a bride!  I am Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!  I work alone!”

 

“Not anymore, Mumm-Ra, unless you want us to leave you with no power at all.”

 

“No!” Mumm-Ra exclaimed, his anger turning to panic.  He knew the Ancients weren’t fooling around, and if they took his power, then it would mean the end of him.  “Please Ancient Ones, don’t take my power… I will prove myself to you.  But don’t force me to—”

 

The spirits cut him off again.  “You will go now to this grave in the forest of mists and place this artifact on the tomb.”  A stone talisman carved with arcane symbols of evil and power then appeared in his hands as the Ancients spoke their orders.  “It will call the spirit back into the body that lies there and create from her remains an ever-living female being like yourself.  She will rise from the grave to join you as your bride.  Once you awaken her you will come back here to be bonded in ceremony in this very pyramid.”  The statues lapsed into silence for a moment.  When the mummy made no immediate move, they shook again with more force.  “You will go now, Mumm-Ra!”

 

“But... who is she?  Who are you forcing me to bond with?” Mumm-Ra asked.

 

“In life, she was a servant of evil, and your servant for a time.  Her name was Torlei,” the spirits replied.

 

Mumm-Ra searched his memory.  “Torlei? The seventh Lunatac?”

 

Mumm-Ra looked in the cauldron as it showed a flashback to times past on Third Earth, before the Thundercats arrived.  The Lunatacs had just arrived on the planet, exiled from their home Moons of Plundarr for being outlaws even among the rogues that lived there.  There were seven: Luna, Amok, RedEye, TugMug, Chilla, Alluro, and one other, a female named Torlei.  She bore some resemblance to Alluro, she was tall, slender, and had long hair the same color as his.  On her belt was embedded a medallion like Alluro’s eye talisman, except that hers contained the image of a lightning bolt instead of an eye.  It was the symbol of her psychic power, the power of telekinesis and energy field manipulations.  She was able to move things with her mind and shoot blasts of psychic energy at her enemies.  Mumm-Ra also recalled that she was Alluro’s sister, but unlike her brother and the others, Torlei was no longer among the living.

 

One day she had ventured alone into an ancient temple ruin and found a black sphere that pulsed with energy.  What she didn’t know was that the temple was once a place of worship for the disciples of the Ancient Spirits of Evil.  In the hopes that it was something magical that would somehow multiply her natural power, she picked it up and energy pulsed through her, a dark and consuming force that was the essence of pure evil itself.  It joined with her own inherent destructive tendencies and took her over completely.  The knowledge of evil she gained by holding the orb drove her into a twisted madness and lust for power from which she was never to escape. 

 

Consumed with ambitions of conquest, she returned to the other Lunatacs and demanded that they make her the new leader instead of Luna.  Though she had worked for Luna for years, she always resented being subservient to her, and knew that the day would come when she would prove herself more worthy and Luna would be history.  But to her dismay the others were less than agreeable to her demands, and in her fury at being disobeyed, she threatened to kill them all, her brother included.  Using her enhanced powers, she imprisoned them in a telekinetic energy field that nearly burned them all alive.  Luna alone was able to escape the field through a small flux in it, one of the rare instances where her size was an asset instead of a handicap, and she shot at Torlei with a small handheld laser blaster.  The beam struck her straight in the heart, and the angry Psi woman fell dead almost instantly, breaking her energy hold on the other Lunatacs. 

 

Though he had heard the story before, Mumm-Ra watched the events replay up until her bitter end.  When the images vanished altogether from the murky waters, he addressed the ancients again.  “I remember that one, the Lunatac who died not long before I got fed up with the group of them and sealed them in molten rock.  So the grave you showed me is hers, and that it is she whom you would bind me with?” he guessed aloud.  “But why, Ancient ones?  I have despised those loathsome and treacherous Lunatacs since the day they landed on Third Earth.  Why would you have one of them be my wife?” 

 

The statues rumbled again and spoke their answer, their ominous voices echoing through the dark sanctuary of the evil mage once more.  “Torlei touched our Dark Orb of Power and with that touch she learned the darkest secrets of our evil.  Those secrets are what drove her mad, but that knowledge is also drew her into our influence.  In her dying moment she agreed to give us her soul and servitude in exchange for even more power and the chance to seek her revenge.  Her spirit is restless and has been waiting since her death to inhabit the physical plane again and carry out her destiny.  We will now grant that by having her join forces with you.  Together you will easily have the power to defeat the Thundercats.  Go to her and raise her now, Mumm-Ra.  You know the consequences for disobedience.”  With that, the statues became lifeless again and the spirit presences fled the pyramid.

 

When the Ancients were finished speaking, Ma-Mutt ran to his master’s feet and barked again.  Mumm-Ra frowned, reached down, and picked up his faithful hellhound.  “A wife.  Of all the ridiculous things, the Ancients want a wife for Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living,” he grumbled.  Ma-Mutt whined back at him.  “What, you don’t agree?  Well, I suppose a woman might be worth having around for a few reasons,” he conceded, pondering the possibility of more earthly pleasures he remembered from times past.  “It doesn’t look like I have a choice anyhow.” 

 

Mumm-Ra sighed and set Ma-Mutt back on the floor.  “Guard the pyramid while I’m gone, Ma-Mutt.”  The spectral dog barked obediently in reply, and Mumm-Ra flew off towards the forest of mists.

 

* * *

 

It was a very chaotic afternoon in Skytomb.  Luna was screeching at RedEye, TugMug, and Chilla to fix some faulty wiring that had just given their leader an electric shock that caused her hair to stand up on end, making it even bigger than usual.  The other Lunatacs were taking great delight in making fun of her, which only served to worsen her mood.  “What on Third Earth is taking you idiots so long to fix this?” she screeched angrily, waving her crop for emphasis.

 

“Luna, the power grid’s destroyed.  The surges burned up a lot of the circuits, and they have to be rewired,” RedEye explained, rolling his eyes while his back was to her.

 

“It’s going to take us hours to get the power cells recharged again too,” TugMug added.

 

“Unless maybe we plug Luna’s hair into them and drain the static,” Chilla snickered, inspiring similar reactions in the other two.

 

“Enough out of you!” Luna hollered.  Her normally near-nonexistent patience was worn even thinner at the moment.  “Just fix it!  I don’t like having only emergency power on in Skytomb.  We’re too vulnerable.”

 

RedEye turned and frowned.  “We’re working as fast as we can.  Alluro’s missing.  If he’d get his lazy hide back here and help we could fix this mess faster.”

 

“Where is he, anyway?” Luna asked.

 

“Right here,” Alluro answered as he entered the room.  He looked at Luna and laughed.  “What happened to you?  Did you stick your finger in an electrical socket?”

 

“She blew up the whole power grid just to get a new hairstyle,” Chilla laughed rudely.

 

“For the last time, shut up and get to work!” Luna snapped at Chilla.  “And where have you been, Alluro?  You were supposed to be helping us!”

 

“I was out,” he replied.  “There was something I had to do.”  His tone changed abruptly as he spoke the words, becoming curt and mildly defensive.  A more sensitive individual than Luna might have picked up on the cue not to press the issue, but Luna was not known for her sensitivity.

 

“What could possibly be more important than your duties at Skytomb?” Luna inquired.

 

Alluro sighed and turned away.  “Never mind, Luna, you wouldn’t understand.  I’ll go get some tools and help fix the wiring,” he said, and left the room.

 

Luna frowned as he left.  “Do any of you know what’s going on with him?  He’s acting very strangely.”

 

“Stranger than normal, you mean?” TugMug snorted.  Then something occurred to him, and an odd expression crossed his face.  “Wait a minute… what day is today?”

 

 “The 189th day of the Third Earth year,” RedEye answered.

 

Almost simultaneously, the Lunatacs fell silent and exchanged looks of realization as they recalled the significance of the date.  Chilla was the only one to vocalize the thought however.  “Oh, this is the anniversary of the day Torlei—”

 

“I have told you to never speak that name!” an enraged Luna shrieked, cutting her off before she could finish the sentence.  She pointed her crop at Chilla threateningly, her eyes ablaze with fury.  “She was a traitor, Chilla, and I don’t want any of you to ever mention her again.  You know how I feel about that.”

 

Annoyed at Luna’s dramatics, mostly because he couldn’t concentrate on the wiring when she was hollering, TugMug set his pliers down and faced her.  “She was crazy, Luna, and she was Alluro’s sister.  You can’t expect him to just forget about it.  Not even you’re that cold.”

 

Luna’s angry scowl deepened and her voice rose in fury.  “She tried to kill me!  She tried to kill us all.  Don’t expect me to forget that.  Now finish this wiring job and tell Alluro to get over it and get back to work.  I’ll be upstairs.  Take me out of here, Amok,” she ordered her steed, who dutifully took her to her quarters.

 

* * *

 

Miles away, Mumm-Ra arrived at Torlei’s forgotten gravesite.  He held the strange artifact that the Ancient Spirits of Evil had given him, a small onyx statue with jewels embedded in it.  He laid the artifact next to the headstone and began chanting in an ancient, forgotten language, the language he’d first learned to speak the dark spells of black magic in during his mortal life thousands of years ago.  The wind picked up and whipped around him as he spoke the spell, and a beam of energy began to emanate from the statue and encircle the entire gravesite.  The dirt began to fall aside as something rose from beneath.

 

Mumm-Ra finished chanting and watched in fascination as a moldering corpse, little more than a skeleton, rose from the grave.  He would have found the thing terrifying and disgusting if he hadn’t been one of the undead himself.  The decayed body stood, and another beam of unnatural light came from the sky and surrounded it.  Mumm-Ra recognized it as the same form of energy that transformed him, the power of the Ancient Spirits of Evil.  It grew brighter as it engulfed the dead form before him, blinding him for a moment, and when his eyes readjusted he could see the figure clearly.  Instead of bare bones covered with desiccated patches of decayed flesh, he saw that she now had a form of supernatural skin covering her body.  It was a sickly pale purple color, much like he imagined it might be for one of her people if they were in the throes of great illness or just after a lingering death.  Her hair was restored to her body as it had been when she’d died, long and gray like Alluro’s, falling to her waist in length.  Her skeletal horns were also restored, as was the moon birthmark upon her forehead.  She wore the clothing that she’d been buried in, repaired from its worm-eaten and tattered state after having been in the ground for so long.  It consisted of a navy blue cloak not unlike his red cloak that he wore in his mummy form, and her lightning bolt medallion hung from a chain of thick silver links that encircled her waist like a belt.  She could have almost passed for a living Lunatac, except that her eyes glowed a deep and evil red like Mumm-Ra’s, and she had what appeared to be fangs when she opened her mouth.

 

Mumm-Ra saw them glistening in the shadowy darkness of the Forest of Mists when she laughed a deep, evil laugh not unlike his own, except for the feminine tone.  She immediately turned her gaze to the sky and spoke.  “Ancient Spirits of Evil, your eternal servant Torlei has been awakened,” she announced.  It was then that she noticed Mumm-Ra.  Immediately her expression changed from one of wicked delight to one of annoyed suspicion.  “I have been summoned back into the physical plane by Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living?”

 

The ever-living mage ignored her rudeness.  “Yes.  I was sent here by the Ancient Spirits of Evil to raise you and take you back to the Black Pyramid to be my bride,” he informed her emotionlessly.

 

“Your bride? You must be kidding,” she said disgustedly.  She hadn’t cared much for Mumm-Ra when she was alive.  Like the others, she resented the arrogant mummy for destroying their ship and trying to force them into servitude.  She and the other Lunatacs had only worked for him at all because they had no choice, but that never meant that they’d enjoyed it.

 

Mumm-Ra quelled the urge to knock her down a peg with a blast of red lighting, but he knew the Ancients would not approve.  Omnipotent bastards, he thought resentfully.  They probably get a sick thrill out of this.  “They feel that I need a partner in my evil existence, and they chose you for me,” Mumm-Ra told her.  His eyes glowed brightly for a second.  “Believe me, I’m just as pleased with this arrangement as you are.” 

 

Torlei let out a low growl, as the Ancients had not told her this particular quirk of her fate, but she was as powerless to do anything about it as Mumm-Ra was.  Defying the Ancient Spirits of Evil was not an option.  She sighed and forced herself to look at Mumm-Ra as a partner and mate, disgusting a thought as it was to her.  “Lucky me,” she said, not bothering to hide her feelings on the matter.  “So we are to be bonded then, Mumm-Ra?  Why you, and why me?”

 

Mumm-Ra shrugged.  “The Ancient Spirits of Evil have decreed it so.  If I don’t comply they will take away my power, and you must comply or they will return you to your ghostly state.”

 

“So be it then.  Lead the way to our home, darling,” she said with a hint of sarcasm on the last word.

 

“As you wish, dear,” Mumm-Ra replied in the same manner, and flew with her back to the pyramid.

 

* * *

 

Lynx-O punched the keys of the Braille board in the Tower of Omens wildly.  “This is strange, very strange...” he mumbled.

 

“What is it, Lynx-O?” Pumyra asked, as she, Lion-O, Bengali, Panthro, and Cheetara walked into the control room.

 

“No trouble I hope.  We just got here to pick you up for the Berbil Harvest Festival tonight.  I wouldn’t want to miss it.  There’s gonna be a lot of good food,” Panthro said.

 

“I’m picking up some strange energy readings emanating from the Forest of Mists.  The fluctuations have caused minor disturbances in the Tower of Omens’ monitoring equipment.  I don’t know what could be causing it,” Lynx-O answered.

 

“Can you get a fix on the signal?” Bengali asked.

 

“Only within a small area, and I can’t bring up any images on the monitor.”

 

Cheetara stared at the equipment.  Her sixth sense was tingling.  “I have a feeling about this.  I don’t see any images, but I think it’s something bad.  Something very bad.”

 

“Let me check the sword,” Lion-O said.  He held up the Sword of Omens in front of his eyes.  “Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight,” he commanded.  The image of Mumm-Ra with Torlei at the gravesite coming back to life played for him.  “Oh no!”

 

“What is it?” Panthro asked.

 

“It seems that Mumm-Ra has raised someone from the dead with the power of the Ancient Spirits of Evil.  She looks powerful.  She also looks like... a Lunatac.”

 

“Another undead enemy?” Pumyra asked incredulously.  “But Mumm-Ra’s already so powerful!”

 

“And how could there be a dead Lunatac on Third Earth?  They’re alien to this planet, born on the Moons of Plundarr.  I thought the Lunatacs of Skytomb were the only ones on Third Earth.  Did one of them die?” Cheetara questioned.

 

“Rrrwowl, it’s not Luna’s grandmother again, is it?  She was on Third Earth,” Bengali said uneasily.

 

“For a while, but she was exiled back to the Third Moon of Plundarr, where she was originally from, by Mumm-Rana.  She died there,” Pumyra answered.

 

Lion-O shook his head.  “No, this ghost-woman doesn’t look at all like Luna.  If she looks like any of them, I would have to say she looks closest to Alluro.  I also get the impression that she’s been dead a while, since before we were even on this planet.”

 

“They must have come with others, then,” Cheetara guessed.

 

“I don’t like this.  We’d better find out what Mumm-Ra’s up to,” Panthro said.

 

Lynx-O carefully evaluated the readings the Braille Board had picked up in light of this new information.  “The energy seems to be shifting.  I think they’re moving, and it looks like they’re going to Mumm-Ra’s pyramid.  What do you think we should do, Lion-O?”

 

“I think we should go and find out exactly what Mumm-Ra’s up to,” Lion-O replied.  “Lynx-O, I want you to stay here and keep monitoring the energy fields.  Keep in contact with us and let us know if you learn anything else.”

 

“Will do, Lion-O,” the blind Thundercat agreed. 

 

Lion-O turned to the others.  “The rest of us will go to the Black Pyramid and find out exactly what is going on with Mumm-Ra and this dead woman.”

 

*  * *

 

In the desert of sinking sands, Mumm-Ra and Torlei returned to what was now their pyramid.  As they set foot on the ancient stone floor, Ma-Mutt rushed to their feet, barking excitedly.  He ran in a circle around the two of them, cautiously sniffed in Torlei’s direction, and barked at her. 

 

“A dog, Mumm-Ra?” Torlei asked with amusement.  “How very domestic of you.”

 

“He’s some company I conjured up a while ago.  Every sorcerer needs his companion animal,” Mumm-Ra informed her.

 

“I believe the magical term is ‘familiar’ is it not?  He’s truly grotesque.  He suits you.”

 

“Enough small talk.  Let’s get this bonding ceremony over with,” the mage said gruffly.

 

Torlei glared at his rudeness.  “How romantic.  No wonder you’ve been single for thousands of years.”

 

Mumm-Ra ignored her remark and walked to the platform by the pool.  “Join me,” he commanded.  She wordlessly walked over and stood next to him, gazing into the murky waters of the cauldron.  She’d seen it before, of course, when Mumm-Ra had summoned her and the other Lunatacs into his pyramid during her mortal life, but she’d never seen it from this perspective before.  It was fascinating.

 

Meanwhile Mumm-Ra began the ceremony.  “Ancient Spirits of Evil, hear your servants Mumm-Ra and Torlei, who have come into your mighty presence to be bonded for all eternity!”  Torlei then snapped to attention and waited with Mumm-Ra for the Ancients’ answer.

 

The statues came to life again and glowed with dark power.  “Mumm-Ra, we hear your plea.  We will bond your souls in darkness for all time that your powers may combine and work to each others’ benefit, and that you may never be separated and may reign eternal on Third Earth.  Do you, Mumm-Ra, take Torlei to be your ever-living companion with whom to plot and scheme in evil triumph or humiliating defeat, power or weakness, to never be separated in power or spirit, until the end of time?” they asked.

 

Mumm-Ra glanced at his evil fiancée and resigned himself.  “I do,” he said grudgingly.

 

“Torlei, do you take Mumm-Ra to be your ever-living companion with whom to plot and scheme in evil triumph or humiliating defeat, power or weakness, to never be separated in power or spirit, until the end of time?”

 

She looked back at him and briefly wondered if this was the biggest mistake of her afterlife, but decided she’d better not push her luck by irritating the Ancients so soon after they’d just restored her to a physical form, no matter how much she disliked Mumm-Ra.  “I do,” she answered with about the same enthusiasm as Mumm-Ra had.

 

Upon her verbal agreement to the bonding, the sound of thunder crashing could be heard, while the eyes of the statues glowed a bright scarlet as they began to work their magic.  Their voices echoed in unison and filled the chamber as they spoke the words that finalized their dark spell.  “By all our powers of darkness, we now pronounce you mummy and wife.”  A supernatural beam of energy then blazed forth from each eye of each statue, striking in the dead center of their alignment to form one massive beam which then surrounded the undead pair, drew them together, and intertwined them.  Both could feel something being bonded in their aural energies, a force that would connect them permanently, before it vanished into the musty air of the pyramid.  The statues became inanimate again, and Mumm-Ra and his new bride were left alone in the pyramid with Ma-Mutt, who was sitting at their feet wagging his tail. 

 

Mumm-Ra leaned over Torlei and leered.  “Every groom must get to kiss his bride.”

 

Torlei looked back at him and his rotting mouth with revulsion.  She might have been no better herself, but she had enough mortal memories that it was just plain disgusting to her to even think about it.  “Er...” she stammered, looking for an excuse to get out of it.

 

Much to Torlei’s relief, their “moment” was interrupted when a slew of Thundercats burst into the Black Pyramid thanks to a blast from the cannons on the Thundertank.  Lion-O, Panthro, Bengali, Pumyra, and Cheetara ran in through the opening, fully armed and ready to strike.  “Whatever you’re up to Mumm-Ra, you’re not going to get away with it!” Lion-O announced, the Sword of Omens drawn.

 

“Saved by the bell,” Torlei mumbled, before she narrowed her eyes at the invaders.  “Thunderians?  Why would Thunderians be here on Third Earth?” she queried, either of them or Mumm-Ra, whoever would answer first.

 

Mumm-Ra roared in rage.  “They are the Thundercats!” he shouted contemptuously.  “Their own Thundera was destroyed, and they came to infest my home planet instead.  They are my enemies on Third Earth now, the ones who would prevent our rule in ultimate evil, the ones that the Ancients brought you to me to help me destroy.  Let’s destroy them now!” the angry Mumm-Ra declared, releasing a deadly burst of red lightning in their direction.

 

Predicting the attack, Lion-O leapt backwards and drew the Sword of Omens.  He let out a loud cry of “HOOOO!” as he blasted Mumm-Ra with a powerful beam from the sword.  Mumm-Ra fell backwards.

 

“I don’t know who you are, but you don’t get away with breaking into our pyramid and shooting my dear husband,” Torlei hissed, and advanced towards them.  The undead Lunatac’s announcement caught them all off guard, and the Thundercats froze momentarily where they stood and stared back in shock.

 

“Your what?” Panthro repeated in disbelief.

 

“Did you say ‘husband’?” Pumyra queried.

 

 “The Ancient Spirits of Evil have bonded us for all eternity.  Say hello to the new ever-living empress of Third Earth—Torlei, wife of Mumm-Ra,” she announced haughtily, and blasted them all with a telekinetic beam.  The force was great enough to knock them all backwards and securely trap them within a force field so that they were unable to move an inch.

 

“Ugh!” Bengali grunted as fell.  “What a—”

 

“She’s Mumm-Ra’s type all right,” Cheetara muttered, struggling against the telekinetic field.  “Evil, mean-spirited, and undead.”

 

Mumm-Ra stood over them and sneered.  “Glad to see you could come to our little wedding reception Thundercats.  What better wedding gift could there be than the chance to destroy my enemies right here and now?” he asked, laughing.  He put an arm around Torlei’s waist and pulled her close to him.

 

Panthro groaned in disgust. “Save it for the honeymoon, will you?”

 

Torlei was not impressed by the possessive gesture, and turned aside.  “Perhaps you’ve gotten what you want, Mumm-Ra, but I haven’t gotten what I want yet.  I trapped and captured your enemies but you haven’t gotten me the same gift.”

 

Mumm-Ra’s temper flared.  “What do you mean?” he demanded.  “We’re partners.  Therefore your enemies are my enemies.  Besides, who could we possibly need to destroy more than the Thundercats?”

 

Torlei narrowed her eyes.  “I still have a bone to pick to with Luna.  She killed me, and I will see her pay dearly for it.  Either you go and get her for me as I have captured the Thundercats for you, or I’ll just let them go!”

 

“What?” exclaimed the outraged mage.  “You can’t do that to me!  We’re partners!”

 

“Watch me,” she threatened.

 

Mumm-Ra grimaced.  “I see loyalty is not one of your traits, but I should have known that from the circumstances of your death.  All right, have your way then. I will capture Luna for you, but only because I want to destroy the Thundercats.”

 

“No,” Torlei interrupted, her eyes gleaming red in the darkness.  “Not just Luna.  I gave you five, so you give me five.  Bring me Luna plus four of the others, at least.  Prove yourself worthy of my eternal company.”

 

Mumm-Ra was livid at her pushiness.  “I raised you from the dead!  Isn’t that enough for you?”

 

“Do it Mumm-Ra,” Torlei argued, “or I might be so distraught over this little argument that I might lose my concentration and with it, the telekinetic hold on the prisoners, and they just might get away.… oh my, wouldn’t that be a shame...”

 

“Oh all right!” Mumm-Ra shouted angrily, blasting out a red-hot beam of energy that seared into the stone floor.   “Have it your own way then, you miserable woman!  I’ll go and get the Lunatacs for you.”

 

Torlei smiled a falsely sweet smile.  “Thanks, honey.”

 

Mumm-Ra’s only reply was to curse at her under his breath and fly out of the pyramid.

 

Bengali glanced at the rest of the Thundercats trapped beneath the force field.  “I think he was better off as a bachelor.”  

 

The others nodded in grim agreement.  They were in big trouble, and they knew it.

 

* * *

 

After what felt like an eternity to them, the Lunatacs were finally able to restore power to Skytomb, and finally had a chance to take a little break.  Luna was across the room trying to de-frizz her hair while the others were just lounging around.  Chilla was still fuming over being the target of Luna’s tantrum earlier and was ranting about it quite loudly to the others, who were half tuning her out.  “How dare she scream at me like that like that just because I said Torlei’s name?  It’s not my fault Luna was in a bad mood because she was dumb enough to shock herself senseless.”

 

RedEye shrugged.  “Luna’s been screaming at us for years.  You should be used to it by now, Chilla.”

 

“Besides, you know how she feels about Torlei.  You should have known better than to say anything,” TugMug added.

 

“She asked, didn’t she?”

 

Sprawled out on one of the couches with his feet up, Alluro sighed.  “You didn’t need to spell it out.  I managed to avoid saying anything, and I’m the one who went to…” he sighed again, not wanting to continue that line of discussion further.  “Never mind, Chilla.  All you managed to do was give her a license to badmouth my sister for days.  I’d rather remember her the way she was before her insanity, not rehash her final moments through the eyes of Luna,” he said grouchily.

 

“Your sister tried to do us all in, including you,” Luna announced coldly as she entered the room, sitting upon Amok’s back, with a towel wrapped around her head.  “We would all be dead if I hadn’t stopped her.  Of course, you forget that part, don’t you, when you reminisce about the ‘good old days’ with that traitorous witch.”

 

Alluro’s only response was to glare angrily at Luna, while the others rolled their eyes and grumbled, a typical reaction after having lived with her for so long.

 

Even Amok was showing the strain of the conversation.  “Stop it,” the usually silent brute growled.  The others cast a surprised look in his direction. Amok so rarely said anything at all that it caught all their attention.  His face retained its usual expressionless countenance, save a somewhat weary look in his eyes.  “No more talk.”

 

“Amok is right,” Alluro agreed.  “Drop it.”

 

“Fine,” Luna grumbled, but her tone made it clear that she wanted to do anything but.

 

Chilla glanced curiously at the towel wrapped around the tiny leader’s head like a turban.  “So how’s your hair?” she asked, changing the subject.

 

Luna pulled the towel off and ran her stubby fingers through the damp and unruly strands of hair.  “It’s wet from trying to get the static out, and charred at the ends from the electrical burns.  I had to cut off two inches,” she complained.

 

TugMug snorted in amusement at Luna’s vanity.  “I don’t see a difference, your hair is still as big as ever.”

 

“And you’re still as ugly and stupid as ever,” Luna retorted nastily.

 

“And you’re all my prisoners!” Mumm-Ra’s voice boomed as he crashed through the outside wall of Skytomb and into the room.  Debris from the mage’s dramatic entrance flew everywhere, and the six Lunatacs all instinctively ducked or took cover behind large pieces of furniture.

 

When the dust began to settle, and the Lunatacs’ shock changed to outrage as they realized that their “ally” had just done them extensive property damage, Luna and Amok charged forth and confronted the undead devil priest.  “Mumm-Ra!” she screeched furiously.  “What in the name of the Moons is the matter with you?  You just broke our wall!” Luna yelled.

 

TugMug hopped angrily and shook his fist.  “You’d better fix that, you worthless bag of bones!”

 

Mumm-Ra didn’t even bother to dignify TugMug’s insult with a reply.  His eyes glowed a malignant red as he raised his arms to attack.  “I’m taking all of you as my prisoners as a gift for my bride,” he informed them with a dark laugh.

 

That announcement shocked them more than his intentions to take them prisoner.  “Your wife?” Chilla repeated.  “Who on Third Earth would be stupid enough to marry you?”

 

Mumm-Ra cackled under his breath.  “You all knew her very well in life, Lunatacs.  In fact, I believe this is the anniversary of her death.”

 

Alluro looked at Mumm-Ra in complete horror and disbelief.  “Torlei?  But she’s...”

 

“Dead?” Mumm-Ra finished.   “Not anymore, Alluro.  Not since she became the bride of Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living, and gained the gift of immortality from the Ancient Spirits of Evil.  Now she lives just as I do!”  The mage advanced toward them, smiling cruelly.  “And she has plans for you, Luna, as well as the rest of you.  She only wanted four, but I think she’ll be quite, heh heh, appreciative if I give her a complete set.”

 

“Give her this,” an unimpressed Chilla hissed.  The ice warrior spat a lungful of ice at him, but Mumm-Ra predicted her attack and blasted her in return with a charge of red lighting.  The beam struck her in the chest, burning her cool flesh, the heat of the blast almost immediately knocking her to the floor unconscious.

 

Having a bad flashback to the first time Mumm-Ra had gotten the better of them, Luna held tightly to Amok’s horn, and the two charged the undead warrior from one side.  Following Luna’s movements, TugMug advanced on the other, hoping to overwhelm Mumm-Ra with a double-sided attack.  The graviton shot heavyweight gravity beams in his direction, but Mumm-Ra deflected them.  The first instead struck Luna and Amok, pinning the duo helplessly to the floor, while the other bounced back and hit TugMug himself, stopping him dead in his tracks.  Mumm-Ra barely had time to move before RedEye hurled his sidewinder at him, but the dark mage’s reflexes were so quick that it only clipped his shoulder before hitting what was remaining of the wall. 

 

Standing defiantly, his arrogant demeanor not betraying the dread he felt after his comrades dropped one by one, Alluro cast his psyche club at their undead enemy. “Give up, Mumm-Ra,” he said forcefully.  “You cannot resist me.  You will release us and leave. You don’t stand a chance at overpowering us.” 

 

A derisive burst of laughter came from the devil priest’s lips in response to Alluro’s attempt to thrall him.  “Foolish Lunatac, you should know by now that your worthless mind powers only work on the living.”  Mumm-Ra pointed his hand in the hypnotist’s direction and shot him with an identical blast of energy with which he had taken out Chilla.  Alluro attempted to dodge it, but he was nowhere near fast enough.  The blast struck him in the gut and knocked him to his knees.  With Alluro taken care of, Mumm-Ra then blasted RedEye.  “Pathetic,” he sneered.  “That was even easier than it was the last time I defeated you.” 

 

Mumm-Ra then recited a simple spell that conjured a powerful net and encased all six Lunatacs within it.  He strode over to pick up the net’s tie, smugly eyed each of his defeated underlings in turn, and flew them back to his pyramid.

 

When he arrived, the undead mummy dumped the netful of Lunatacs on the floor in front of his finicky partner.  “There,” he stated, meeting her gaze.  “Just to please you, I captured all six of them.  I do hope that you’re happy now?”  His voice dripped of sarcasm.  Torlei smiled with wicked glee as she eyed up the prizes, and while she did not say anything, Mumm-Ra could tell that she was satisfied.  He stepped forward impatiently.  “Now can we go on with destroying the Thundercats?  Or would you perhaps like a diamond ring, too?”

 

Torlei narrowed her eyes at his mockery of her desires.  “Don’t patronize me.”

 

“Then don’t delay me any longer with your whims,” he hissed back.

 

Panthro watched the undead pair with grim amusement.  “This situation couldn’t possibly get any stranger.  Mumm-Ra just imprisoned the Lunatacs too.”

 

“This can’t be good,” Bengali growled. 

 

“We have to get out of here,” Cheetara whispered in agreement.  “But I just can’t move under this force field.”

 

“If only I could reach the Sword of Omens, I would call Tygra, Lynx-O, and the Thunderkittens.  But I couldn’t even grasp the handle if I called it under this kind of pressure.  I can’t budge an inch,” Lion-O answered.

 

Ignoring the chatter among the Thundercats, Torlei focused her attention on the Lunatacs that lay trapped before her.  “Hello Luna dear,” she greeted her ex-leader with false sweetness.  “I bet you didn’t expect to see me here, did you?”

 

“Actually I did.  Mumm-Ra gloated to us about your little marriage.  It’s a perfect match if ever I saw one.  You two truly deserve each other,” Luna shot back.

 

At Luna’s side, Alluro watched his dead sister and Luna trade insults in horrified silence for a few moments, until his conflicting emotions demanded he speak and get answers.  Hearing that she was alive was one thing, but seeing it was another.  “Torlei,” he said softly.  “Sister, is that really you?”

 

The undead psychic Lunatac turned and regarded her living brother coolly.  “I’m standing here, aren’t I, brother?”

 

“Why are you doing this?”

 

“Being murdered tends to bring out my vengeful side, Alluro,” she hissed.  “And you all standing around watching while she did it makes it just as guilty of betrayal as she is.”

 

“I loved you,” Alluro argued, heartsick at the unforgiving and hateful look that burned within her now scarlet eyes.  “I mourned your death for years, I’m still mourning it.  I visited your grave this very morning.  You must understand—”

 

For a split second his words sparked a glimmer of affection, but her rage and the influence of the Ancient Spirits of Evil within her vanquished it quickly.  “Understand what?  Understand that you betrayed me and left me to die?”

 

“I never betrayed you,” he stated, turning his eyes downward, away from her terrible stare.

 

She growled and shot him in the neck with a stinging telekinetic beam, making him wince in pain.  “Liar!” she hissed.  “Who didn’t side with me when I came to him with my ambitions for leading the Lunatacs?  Who called me crazy and tried to steal my orb from me?  Who didn’t stop Luna when she took aim at me?” she roared in fury.

 

“You tried to kill us.”

 

“You chose her,” she hollered, and shot the netful of them with another burning beam of energy.  “Luna.”  She spoke the name as if it were a curse.  “You sided with Luna.  And you have the absolute gall to claim that you didn’t betray me, brother?”  She summoned a force to knock the entire group of them backwards, slamming them against the foot of one of the giant stone statues.  “All I ever wanted from any of you was to be the leader.  I was always smarter, more organized, and I even treated you all with more respect than Luna ever did.  But you still chose her.  Why is that?  Was Luna better for you?  Did she satisfy some sick fantasy of yours that I never could?” 

 

From across the room the Thundercats, despite their own dire situation, watched the scene between Torlei and the Lunatacs with interest.  Insight into the enemy was often useful, but always fascinating.  None of the Thundercats had any idea that there had been another member of their group, much less one that was Alluro’s sister and certainly not one killed by Luna herself.  It struck them as strange to think of a ruthless and evil group of outlaws as actually having families or others that meant anything to them.

 

Alluro blanched at the thought of having anything to do with Luna in such a way.  “Never, Torlei.  You know I always felt that blood was thicker than water… but the power in that orb twisted you.  It made you irrational, destructive, and dangerous.” 

 

“He’s right,” Chilla hissed from where she lay.  “None of us would follow you because you would have gotten us all killed.  That black orb thing you had messed up your mind, that’s why we didn’t want you to lead.”

 

“And that’s why I tried to get it away from you,” Alluro finished. 

 

Torlei snarled and shot them all again.  “That ‘black orb thing’, as Chilla so eloquently put it, is what gave me the knowledge and power that allowed me to put you in your places then and now.”

 

“All it put you in was in your grave,” Alluro said bitterly.

 

“Not another word out of you, brother.  It’s you that hurt me most of all, you and your precious Luna.  I sacrificed years of my life caring for you.  I raised you after our parents died, you so young you barely remember their faces or the sound of their voices.  I was but a child myself but still I stole, demeaned, and even sold myself to take care of the two of us.  And how did you repay me?  You lied to me, you schemed against me, and sided with Luna.  How do you think that made me feel?”  Her voice was full of raw rage and emotion.

 

Alluro was stung by her accusations, and her twisting of the events that transpired the day she died at their old base on DarkSide’s Moonfire Peak.  “That’s not how it happened,” he protested.  “You weren’t in your right mind then, and you aren’t now.”

 

“She’s technically dead now,” Bengali remarked from across the room.

 

“Don’t help, Thundercat,” snapped Luna.

 

Torlei glared in the tiger’s direction before giving Alluro one last look.  “I will deal with your betrayal later.  But first, I want to have my revenge on the one who delivered my fatal blow.”  She fixed her gaze upon Luna, who despite her resolve not to give her enemies the satisfaction of seeing her squirm, was terrified that she might actually meet her end here in Mumm-Ra’s pyramid.  Torlei used her powers to part the strands of the magic net just far enough to allow her to grab Luna.  “Well Luna, let’s see how tough you really are when you don’t have Amok to save your neck.”

 

“No, wait!” Mumm-Ra interrupted.  Torlei gave him a venomous stare, which secretly pleased him after she’d interfered on his personal revenge earlier.  Payback was only fair, and in combination with being evil, it was downright delightful.  “I have a better idea, my dear, one that will allow us to have a little more fun with them.  Why don’t we put them aside and save them?  We can seal them all up in molten rock, and keep them around as an eternal souvenir of the day we conquered Third Earth?  They might as well be dead, for we’re the only ones who know how to release them, except for those incompetent mutants, but they can’t even lace their loincloths, much less undo a magic spell without our aid.  If we were to simply kill them, the fun would be all over with.” 

 

RedEye snorted in disgust from beneath the net.  “Molten rock again?  How original of you, Mumm-Ra.”

 

Panthro laughed despite himself at the Lunatac’s remark.  “He never was much in the creativity department.  He has about five basic attack plans that he alters slightly, thinks he’s brilliant when he does so, and then when he’s defeated, wonders why.”

 

Mumm-Ra roared in outrage and shot red lightning from both hands in the panther’s direction.  “SILENCE!  Do not dare to mock me, Thundercat!”

 

Torlei considered Mumm-Ra’s plan.  “I suppose if we entombed them in stone, it would be a good way to preserve them while we think of a truly fitting torture for them.”

 

“Excellent.  Let’s take our prisoners to the proper site for the spell, then!”  With that, he teleported himself, Torlei, and all the Thundercat and Lunatac prisoners to the largest active volcano on Third Earth.

 

* * *

 

A short while later, Mumm-Ra and Torlei stood upon the rocky rim of the volcano with their prisoners secured several feet away.  Mumm-Ra imprisoned both the Thundercats and Lunatacs together in one large Thundrainium cage.  The reddish metal made the Thundercats as weak as kittens, while the Lunatacs were simply trapped, and suffering the indignation of sharing quarters with their enemies to boot.  All the weapons carried by both groups were in the same large pile, far out of any of their reaches.  The cage itself was attached to a pulley setup that would lower them slowly into the volcano so Mumm-Ra and Torlei would have ample time to correctly the imprisonment spell.

 

“I don’t believe this,” Panthro said quietly.  “Of all the ways to end it, I never pictured it like this, imprisoned in a Thundrainium cage with our enemies, about to be sealed up in a mountain by two corpses practicing black magic.”

 

“The irony is disgusting,” RedEye agreed.

 

Luna sat sullenly upon Amok’s back and looked toward the weakened Thundercat Lord, who was sprawled out with the other Thundercats on the floor of the Thundrainium cage, barely conscious.  “Lion-O, why doesn’t your ‘all powerful’ Sword of Omens get us all out of here?”

 

“They took our weapons, Luna.” Lion-O answered, his voice barely above a whisper.

 

“Well can’t you call your stupid sword?  It works every other time you’re imprisoned,” TugMug asked.

 

“I don’t have the strength to call it loudly enough.”

 

“There must be some way out of here, some way to stop them,” Pumyra said, struggling to sit up.

 

“How?” Chilla demanded.  “You Thundercats can barely move.  I’m the only one of us here who has a usable defensive power, but I can’t spit enough ice to put out a volcano.”

 

Cheetara glanced at Alluro.  “I have an idea.”  Her own voice was so weak it was barely louder than a whisper.

 

“What is it, Cheetara?” Lion-O asked.

 

“Torlei... she’s your sister, right Alluro?”

 

Alluro nodded back at the cheetah.  “Yes, when she was alive anyway.  I don’t know what she is now.”

 

“Maybe you could use her.  You are her brother after all.  She might still care for you.”

 

“I think she made it clear how she felt about me back at the pyramid.”

 

“Not necessarily,” Pumyra argued.  “You might be able to get through to her.  She at least listened to you, which suggests that some part of her still wants to be reached.  Maybe if you remind her of your past together, your connections—”

 

“She might renounce Mumm-Ra and let you out,” Chilla reasoned.  “It might work.”

 

“And you can let the rest of us out of here,” Cheetara finished.  She didn’t like trusting the Lunatacs, but they had more of a chance at getting let out than they did.  And if they were angrier at Mumm-Ra than them, it was possible that they might let them out just to spite the undead mage.

 

“It won’t work,” Luna announced irritably.  “Torlei tried to fry Alluro alive, along with the rest of us, on the day that I killed her.  And that only happened by chance.  I spotted a small flux in her field before she did and had time to slip through it.  I was armed with a laser blaster, having taken it from Amok’s pouch only moments before she imprisoned us so I used it to shoot the traitorous witch.  I didn’t expect to be a good enough shot to kill her, but what’s done is done.”

 

Bengali growled.  “Only you could talk about taking life in such cavalier terms.”

 

Luna glared at the tiger.  “ Killing her to save myself, not to mention the others, might not have been noble in your eyes, but you’d be surprised at what you’d do when your life depends on it, boy,” she snapped.  “But to get back to the point, Torlei doesn’t care about any of us.  For crying out loud, she married herself to Mumm-Ra!  There’s no goodness in her.  You Thundercats are foolish if you think there is.”

 

“That’s not true,” Lion-O argued.  “There’s some goodness in everyone.  Even the most hard-hearted souls have one or two redeeming traits.  Even you do, Luna.  I remember hearing you apologize to Amok that time after you turned on him.”

 

RedEye sighed.  “This is pointless.  In a few minutes we’re going to be sealed up by them anyway.  If we’re going to act, we should do it now.”

 

Bengali raised himself on an elbow and looked at the bubbling lava below.  He shuddered visibly.  “Does it hurt when it happens?  He did this to all of you once already, right?”

 

“It feels like someone’s pouring concentrated acid on every part of your body, burning with a painful sensation like you’ve never felt before, and then you feel nothing, numbness, and you lose your awareness until you’re freed… and you feel it again as it pours off of your skin,” Alluro informed him.

 

“It was bad enough the first time,” TugMug said, pulling fruitlessly at the thick metal bars of the cage.  “We can’t let it happen again.”

 

Cheetara met Alluro’s eyes again.  “Will you do it, Alluro?  Will you try to get through to your sister?  I think it’s our only chance.”

 

Alluro looked downward and remained silent.  “Luna’s right, it won’t do any good.”

 

“You have nothing to lose by trying,” Lion-O said.

 

The hypnotist sighed.  “All right, I’ll try to talk to her again, but I think you’re grasping at straws here, Thundercat.”  He shifted toward the bars of the cage facing Torlei and Mumm-Ra, who were still discussing the mechanics of the spell.  “Torlei!” he shouted.

 

The undead Lunatac turned and faced him.  “What?” she asked coldly.

 

“Please don’t do this, sister,” he said in a sincere and heartfelt tone of voice that the Thundercats could have sworn was genuine and not just an act.

 

“Give me one reason not to,” Torlei challenged him coldly.

 

Alluro steeled his resolve and collected his thoughts.  “Torlei, please hear me out.  I understand how angry you must be at Luna for what she did to you, but she never meant to kill you.”

 

“She meant to wound me then?  Cause me agonizing pain?  That’s supposed to make me want to spare you?” she hissed incredulously. 

 

“No,” Alluro said, “It was an accident.  She just wanted to stop you from killing us.  I know it’s little consolation, and I know it can’t be undone, but I swear to you it’s the truth.  None of us wanted you to die, least of all me.  I loved you.  I still do.”

 

Torlei advanced toward him, her expression hard as ever.  “Your intentions mean nothing.  And regardless of Luna’s intentions, I still wound up dead.  Things might have been different if you had stayed loyal to me, perhaps if you’d at least tried to stop her from killing me, but you didn’t.  No, brother dear, I’m afraid your half-baked words of sentimentality aren’t enough to wipe the slate cle