Revival
(Revised Edition, January 2009)
by Cheezey
Part Three: The
Outside New Thundera’s black pyramid, Alluro eyed the dark structure with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. “It’s almost an exact duplicate of what it was on Third Earth, aside from not being in a desert of sinking sands.” He shook his head. “I knew the old bag of bones was obsessive, but relocating to the Thundercats’ planet just to be rid of them is extreme even for him.”
“Caw, I think the Ancient Spirits of Evil actually banished him here, or something along those lines, for failing to the Thundercats too many times.”
Alluro snorted derisively at the Mutant’s statement. “I always thought he was a loser.” It was then that he noticed two vehicles parked nearby, ones he recognized as Thundercat design. “Speaking of Thundercats, isn’t that odd that those would be here and empty?” he said, pointing to them.
Psiarik’s brow furrowed. “If Thundercats are here, then why aren’t they helping the child that I sensed?” He walked faster toward the pyramid, which did not have an entrance apparent. “We have to find a way in.”
Walking toward the western side, Alluro said, “Vultureman and I have both been in this place more times than either of us care to think about. I assume it’s in the same spot it was on Third Earth?”
Vultureman nodded. “Yes. Mumm-Ra didn’t change anything structurally.” He pointed to the entrance, which was indeed where Alluro would have expected it to be relative to the place it had been located on Third Earth’s pyramid. Alluro entered first, with Psiarik close at his heels, while Vultureman lagged behind the two psis. It did not take them long to reach the main chamber, and given the lack of traps or nasty surprises awaiting them, it seemed that for holding someone captive, Mumm-Ra had gotten lax about security in his time on New Thundera. Not that Alluro, Vultureman, or even Psiarik was complaining about that.
When they stepped into the sarcophagus chamber, Psiarik immediately rushed to where he sensed the boy in distress was, while WilyKat called out to whomever it was that had come in, realizing that it did not seem to be Mumm-Ra or Torlei. “Help!” he shouted. “Whoever you are, please, get us out of here!”
Psiarik glanced over, but first picked up Chet and examined the shackle around his waist, looking for a release. Thundrainium? Sick bastard, Psiarik thought. Though he had no particular love for Thunderians, torturing an innocent child of any race was despicable as far as he was concerned.
When WilyKit and WilyKat noticed that the visitor was a Lunatac they grew defensive out of instinct. “Hey! Leave him alone! Don’t hurt him!” yelled WilyKit.
Alluro and Vultureman remained where they stood and watched, their features obscured from the Thundercat twins’ sight by the shadows of the pyramid. Psiarik meanwhile shot them an annoyed look, only then noticing their Thundercat insignias. “I’m helping him, you idiot. He asked for my help.” He found the catch on Chet’s chain and released it, freeing the trembling cub from it. Chet clung to Psiarik both out of exhaustion and desperation, and the Lunatac held him securely against him with his left arm.
“He asked for your help?” WilyKat asked. “How?”
“Telepathically,” Psiarik answered. “I could hear him all the way on my ship, and Thunderian or not, I’m not going to stand by while someone tortures a kid like him. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get going. I have my wife to save, Thundercat.”
“Wait, don’t leave us!” WilyKit yelled. “If you helped him, help us too!”
Psiarik raised a brow. “Save a Thundercat? When it’s your kind that’s started this whole mess by plotting to steal our sword? Why should I?”
WilyKat made an exasperated noise. “Maybe because it’s the right thing to do? I know a Lunatac wouldn’t know that if it bit them on the ass most of the time, but if you want to help Chet you can’t be all bad.”
Laughing, Alluro and stepped out of the shadows with Vultureman. “You Thundercats never change, do you? Even grown up, you two are still annoying.”
“Alluro!” a shocked WilyKit exclaimed.
“And Vultureman?” WilyKat said with equal surprise. “Wow, what rock did you two crawl out from under?”
“Somehow I don’t think this is what Mumm-Ra meant when he said Vultureman would ‘see plenty,’ do you?” WilyKit then said to her brother.
Psiarik turned to Alluro. “Dad? You know these Thundercats?”
“Dad?” both WilyKit and WilyKat said in stunned unison.
Casting a sidelong glance at her brother, WilyKit then added, “Wow, now there’s someone that shouldn’t reproduce.”
“Comments like that aren’t going to help your case for being freed, you know,” Psiarik said sarcastically to the twins before looking back to his father. “Who are they?”
“I knew them back on Third Earth. They were children then. Allegedly, they’ve grown up, but I don’t see evidence of that,” Alluro sneered at them.
Vultureman, meanwhile, let out a caw of outrage. “Hold on, Psiarik! You aren’t seriously considering helping those Thundercats, are you?”
WilyKat eyed the vulture with a grave look in his tired eyes. “You ought to, unless you don’t want help keeping Mumm-Ra and Torlei from destroying our worlds and enslaving anyone who manages to survive after they invoke the Incantation of Destruction.”
“Torlei?” Alluro repeated, a sick feeling in his gut at the mention of his sister’s name. “She survived all these years, and she’s with Mumm-Ra again?”
“Yeah. We didn’t see it coming either,” said WilyKit.
Eyes narrowed distrustfully at them, Vultureman said, “Even so, we don’t need your help to deal with Mumm-Ra. We can stop this ourselves.”
“Are you so sure of that? And if you’re wrong, what then? Do you really think that once they finish here that they won’t go to Plundarr or its Moons? The spell will destroy all the worlds, they’re convinced of it,” WilyKit told them.
Nodding along with his sister, WilyKat added, “They sure gloated about it enough after they captured us. They think nothing can stop them, and they have them all fooled into thinking they’re doing the right thing.”
Chet whimpered in Psiarik’s arms, and he looked down at the cub for a moment before returning his attention to the Thundercats. He could sense that the boy wanted them freed, but he still had doubts. “What do you mean, Thundercat, that they have them fooled?”
“And when did the Mutants get involved? Don’t they have to be here?” Alluro pressed.
“They will be,” WilyKat told them somberly. “Mumm-Ra disguised himself to trick all three sides into fighting one another. He just called the Mutants here after appearing to Ratar-O pretending to be an ancestor of his saying it was his destiny to take the Sword of Plundarr and fight Lion-O to get revenge for losing it to Jaga all those years ago. Then he turned around and went to Lion-O pretending to be Jaga to warn that the Mutants and Lunatacs were coming and that he had to defend himself with the Sword of Omens.”
“And the Lunatacs are coming because he appeared to their prince pretending to be the sorceress that hid the MoonSaber, saying that Lion-O was after it again.”
Psiarik’s blood ran cold at the twins’ words. “That wasn’t Chillandra that Silvian saw… it was Mumm-Ra.” One of the final pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, and he realized how they had all played into the evil ever-livings’ destructive scheme. “So you were right, Vultureman, he was one of the cloaked figures in my dream.”
“And the other must’ve been my sister,” Alluro said darkly, while Vultureman folded his arms, for once not smug in the notion that he had been right.
WilyKit eyed the two Lunatacs and the Mutant with pleading eyes. “Please, just this once, let’s put our differences aside and work with each other. We’re all going to lose if we don’t stop them.”
Alluro gestured indifferently, clearly not pleased at the notion of helping the two Thundercats, but also not willing to stop Psiarik if that was what he decided. “It’s your call if you want to trust them.”
“You not trusting us. There’s irony,” WilyKat muttered.
Psiarik sighed. There was only one decision he could make, and it was cemented when the cub in his arms pointed to the twins. “Kit, Kat.” He let out a weary, resigned sigh.
“Free them.”
Vultureman’s palm connected with his forehead. “I don’t believe this.”
Alluro grabbed the avian’s other wrist and dragged him over to where the twins were suspended in their Thundrainium chains so that they could free them given that Psiarik still had his hands full with Chet. “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” the elder psi remarked as he triggered the release mechanism on WilyKit’s shackles.
The female twin fell to the floor in an ungainly heap, but stood woozily as the effects of the Thundrainium were still strong. “No offense Alluro, but your sister’s a bitch,” she said, rubbing her fur and skin where the telekinetic energy had burned her before being chained up.
“I won’t argue that,” he replied. “Mumm-Ra made her into a monster.” As she took a step forward, the dizziness from the Thundrainium overcame her and she stumbled. She would have fallen, but Alluro roughly caught her arm and then shoved her toward Psiarik and Chet. “Fool feline, don’t stay near the Thundrainium if you’re to be of any help at all.”
“Thanks,” she said, and looked back at him. “And your sister… for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I can’t imagine—”
Alluro’s patience wore through and he scowled back at her. “Spare me your pity, Thundercat. I don’t need or want it.”
“Hey, she was just trying to be nice!” WilyKat said, stumbling toward them after Vultureman released him from his chains.
“Come on,” Psiarik said, beckoning to the newly freed Thundercats. “We saw your vehicles outside, but you don’t look like you’re in any condition to pilot them, and we don’t have time to waste until the Thundrainium wears off. You can come with us on our ship.”
“Playing ‘taxi’ for Thundercats and babysitting their kids?” Vultureman shook his head. “Ridiculous!”
WilyKat gave the vulture a tired and irritable look. “We’re not any more thrilled with the prospect of it than you are, so let’s just get on with it and stop Mumm-Ra, all right?”
“For once, I agree with a Thundercat,” Alluro mused sardonically. “Who would’ve imagined?”
“Agreeing with a Thundercat; maybe this really is the end of the world,” said Vultureman. The unlikely group of allies made their way out of the pyramid and boarded Alluro’s ship, heading towards Cat’s Lair as fast as they could.
* * *
The ship holding Luna, Amok, Selene, and RedEye approached Cat’s Lair where the battle had already begun. “There they are,” RedEye confirmed. “That’s Silvian’s ship and… is that a Mutant craft over there?” He frowned. “What are those miserable creatures doing here?”
Selene leaned closer to the monitor. “Mutants? Psiarik’s dream had a rat Mutant…” A cold shiver ran down her spine. “This can’t be good.”
Amok patted Selene on the head in an attempt to be reassuring while Luna tapped her riding crop against the palm of her hand. “No Mutant is a threat to Luna, or any other worthy Lunatac, and that includes that idiot Ratar-O, sword or no sword.”
Casting her glance out the window, Selene said anxiously, “Can you tell if Silvian’s all right?”
“I’m bringing up a visual now,” RedEye replied, and a moment later a close-up of the ground appeared on the screen. They saw their fellow Lunatacs already engaged in battle, but to Selene’s relief, her brother was alive and holding his own.
“We have to land now,” she urged RedEye. “I hope we can stop this madness in time.”
“Understood,” answered the darkling, and their ship joined the others in front of the Cat’s Lair.
* * *
In the field below, the battle raged on. Those involved were too caught up in combat to notice how ominously the skies darkened, the eerie howl upon the wind, or the unnatural color and frequency of the lightning in the stormy clouds above, but they were delightful to behold to the two dark souls that had brought it all about.
“How long until the spell is complete?” Torlei asked Mumm-Ra, who had stopped chanting.
“The proper moment has not come for the final verse yet. I cannot recite it until all three swords meet in a single physical clash against one another all at once. It has not yet happened.”
Torlei frowned. “And what if it doesn’t?”
“It will,” the other ever-living insisted. “Be patient.”
The sound of another spacecraft, one that was not expected, caught Torlei’s attention. “Look! Another ship; a Lunatac ship!”
Mumm-Ra grinned with dark amusement. “Ah, I knew they would be here sooner or later. Your old friend Luna is on that ship, with more of her friends, including the prince’s sister Queen Selene and your old associates Amok and RedEye.”
The female ever-living’s red eyes blazed with unspent rage. “So Luna is here. I’ll kill her myself.”
As Torlei went to move, Mumm-Ra grabbed her arm with the strength of power older than hers. “Calm yourself, woman,” he growled in a tone that would not be challenged. “We’ll have our vengeance when our spell completes and its dark power destroys them all. If Luna survives that, then you may go and finish her.”
“That’s too impersonal,” Torlei hissed. “She killed me, and I want her to die by my hand, not as a spell consequence. I want to witness it, feel it, slow and painful, and her to know how much I relish it.”
Mumm-Ra’s grip tightened. “Do not tip our hand too early with your petty vendettas! Be satisfied that she will die and let the Incantation of Destruction work its magic.”
Torlei scowled, but conceded. “Fine. I’ll leave her be… for now.”
* * *
Too caught up in the battle to notice the approach of another ship, Ratar-O swung the Sword of Plundarr savagely at Lion-O. “This is for Ratilla and the dishonor done Plundarr by your kind, Thundercat! Our honor is restored with your blood! Now is the time for the Mutants’ hour of glory where Thundera will be ours!”
“Your evil will never dominate our world, Ratar-O, not as long as I live!” Lion-O countered, blocking the jagged blade of Ratar-O’s sword with the Sword of Omens.
“After your treacherous plot against me and my people, Thundercat, you won’t live long!” Silvian yelled. “I’ll see to that!” The Lunatac prince then swung the MoonSaber at Lion-O as well.
The lion was able to duck and leap back out of the way, avoiding Silvian’s attack by inches, and Ratar-O laughed. “A shame you missed, Lunatac. Then I’d only have to dispatch of you and I know you won’t be much of a challenge.”
The derisive mockery only strengthened Silvian’s resolve to put the Mutant in his place. Who was that oversized garbage can dweller to not take him, the prince of the Moons of Plundarr, seriously, he thought furiously. “That insult will be your last, Mutant!” Silvian said. He lunged forward at him with the MoonSaber aimed right at the broad center of his belly, just as Selene and those who had accompanied her emerged from their ship to witness the battle on the ground. As the Lunar queen would realize a moment later, she was too late. Lion-O, reorienting to swing in his enemies’ direction with a stunning blast of energy from the Sword of Omens, had not factored in Silvian’s sudden and agile charge at Ratar-O, and as he swung his sword in an arc to discharge the blast, it did not complete, and instead buried itself deeply into the Lunatac prince’s midsection, sizzling with unspent energy. It was a fatal blow.
Ratar-O leapt aside, while Silvian let out a shout of pain, doubling over as Lion-O withdrew his sword, staring at what he had just done in horror. Silvian clutched at his side in vain and crumpled to his knees, hunched over as his maroon blood stained the dirt. “By Jaga,” Lion-O whispered as he looked at the bloodied Sword of Omens, “what have I done?” Thundercats were not killers and he did not want to see either of his enemies dead, only off of his world and not doing harm. “No, I didn’t want this… only to defend myself.”
“Silvian!” When Selene saw her brother fall, she broke into a run, unmindful of the dangers of running into a mob of armed strangers, far ahead of Luna, Amok, and RedEye and to the spot where Silvian lay on the ground. She scooped him into her arms while Ratar-O and the Mutants sneered from above and Lion-O continued to look on in horror. “No! Oh no, no, no!” she cried, tears spilling from her eyes and freely down her cheeks. “Psiarik warned us, but we were too late!”
Silvian was still aware enough to take comfort in his sister’s presence in his final moments, and he met her eyes with a glazed look already in his own. “Avenge me, Selene. Don’t let them take what’s ours.” His words became difficult and choked, and he went limp in her arms. “Don’t let me die for nothing.”
Selene nodded numbly and absently wiped tears that blurred her vision from her face, smearing a trail of her brother’s blood on her cheek, but she did not notice or care. She only cared that she was losing her only brother, her companion since he had been born, the closest and only blood relative she had for most of her life, and that he had just been taken from her by the leader of the Thundercats. Selene could now understand why Luna hated them so much as a surge of rage and loss bubbled inside her. “Don’t worry, Silvian,” she said with fierce determination, and kissed the top of his head, burying her face for a moment in his white hair. “They’ll pay for this,” she vowed. “I love you and I’ll make them all pay for taking you from us.”
“I—I love you too sis...” Silvian’s voice trailed off as the last breath of life left his body. Luna, Amok, and RedEye joined Selene’s side, and Luna lowered her head to hide the tear or two that formed in her cynical eyes, shaken and angry at the loss of her newly found relation.
Lion-O remained in shock, and he faced Selene with a terribly heavy conscience. The fighting around them had stopped for the moment with Ratar-O and the Mutants surveying the scene with amusement. No longer fighting the other Lunatacs, who were as stunned at the turn of events as they were, the other Thundercats stood with Lion-O on their guard while Frostor, Chilla, and TugMug gathered together.
Cheetara put a hand on Lion-O’s shoulder. “You mustn’t blame yourself, Lion-O. You were defending yourself and New Thundera.”
Tygra nodded alongside her. “What happened to him was of his own doing when he chose to invade.”
“Worthless liars and hypocrites!” spat Chilla.
Luna looked at the Thundercats hatefully, enraged by their justifications. “You murdered him, Thundercat! No matter what spin you want to put on it with your code, that’s the truth!”
“Defending New Thundera?” Frostor said, standing protectively over Selene and her fallen brother. “From what? From someone trying to stop you before you came to steal the MoonSaber from us? Again?” He glared that time, and pointedly, at Snoelle.
“Jaga warned us before you attacked that you were here to defeat us and enslave New Thundera,” Panthro shouted back to them, tugging at his nunchuks. “You’re the ones making justifications rather than facing facts.”
Selene heard the angry words flying back and forth around her, but was unable to speak or take her eyes off of her brother. More tears clouded her eyes until Silvian’s still form was no more than a blur, and she held him, sobbing, until Amok gently parted them and lifted her back to her feet.
* * *
From where they watched, Torlei turned to Mumm-Ra in a rage. “What now? The swords never met, and now the prince is dead! Without him using the MoonSaber against Lion-O and Ratar-O, we cannot finish the incantation! We’ve lost!”
“No,” the ancient sorcerer replied. “There is still one other that can wield the Lunatacs’ mystical sword.” He gestured to Selene.
Torlei sneered at the sight of the frail lunar queen as she knelt heavily on Amok, overcome with grief. “That pitiful woman will fight Lion-O and Ratar-O? You must be kidding. She looks like she could barely lift that sword.”
“Do not underestimate her, Torlei. Anyone with the bloodline to command a weapon with these powers is a force to be reckoned with. And don’t forget, she’s of the same blood as Luna. Appearances can be deceiving. Losing her brother is more than enough to push that Lunatac into a fight with her brother’s killers. She will take his place in the battle, and when she does, we’ll complete the Incantation of Destruction.”
“You’d better be right, Mumm-Ra,” Torlei groused.
Mumm-Ra only responded with a dark cackle and returned his attention to the scene of the battle.
* * *
Standing beside Luna and Amok, Selene blinked the tears from her eyes and stared down at the inert MoonSaber in Silvian’s hand. Avenge me, sister, his parting words echoed through her mind.
“Yes,” she said aloud, quietly but with firm determination. “I will avenge you.” She then bent down and wrapped her fingers around the MoonSaber’s handle. The instant she touched it, and it connected with her spirit and emotion, it surged back to life aglow just as it had been in Silvian’s hand. Straightening, she turned and faced the two responsible for her brother’s death.
Luna knew right away what she intended, and she lauded her for it. “Annihilate them, Selene. They’ve more than earned it.” Luna had become fond of Silvian in the short time she had known him, and the fact that Lion-O had just taken him from her only made her hate the Lord of the Thundercats more.
Frostor, on the other hand, had an ominous feeling as soon as he saw Selene lift the MoonSaber. Selene fighting a red-haired Thundercat and a rat Mutant on New Thundera while her brother lays dead nearby… by the gods, it is Psiarik’s dream. “Selene, wait!” The ice general shouted to get her attention, but if she heard it, she did not acknowledge it and continued forward, an expression of hatred on her normally gentle features. The wind around them picked up and another crack of lightning flashed above them all.
“You murdering bastard!” Selene shouted furiously. “Face me and pay for what you did to my brother!”
As the lightning flashed, Lion-O saw a disconcerting resemblance in Selene’s features to the cruel ones of Luna that he remembered well from years past. “I never meant to kill him,” Lion-O told the lunar queen earnestly. “I swear upon the Code of Thundera that I never intended to see him or Ratar-O dead.”
“More the fool you are for it, for I do intend to kill you,” Ratar-O interjected with a sneer, twirling the blades of the Sword of Plundarr impatiently. Although the diversion of the Lunatac prince’s death had been amusing, he had business to finish.
“I was trying to stun them,” Lion-O went on to Selene, ignoring Ratar-O’s goading words. “It was an accident. I’m deeply sorry for what happened!” Although Lion-O doubted that Silvian’s sister would ever forgive him, and taking a life was something he would have trouble reconciling to himself, he felt that she had to know that he had not meant to kill him.
Selene was not swayed, and her anger burned hotter at what she felt were very patronizing words. “Sorry?” she shrieked. “You slaughter my brother and then have the gall to tell me that you’re sorry? He came to protect what belongs to him and all our people and you murdered him for it! Sorry indeed! I’ll give you something to be sorry for, Thundercat!” She pointed the MoonSaber at him, and as if it read her mind, a silver-blue blast of energy shot from the tip of its blade at the lion.
Caught by surprise, Lion-O growled and deflected the beam with his claw shield.
Ratar-O took that as his cue to finish what he had come to New Thundera for. “Amusing,” he said, eyeing the Thundercat and the Lunatac. “First the boy and now this useless and weak woman? Is this the best the Lunatacs have to offer? Be smart, and go back home to your little palace where females belong, out of the way having the babies of real warriors. If you leave now, perhaps I’ll let you live as a trophy when I do the Moons a favor and take them over for you after I finish with Lion-O.”
“You chauvinistic flea-ridden piece of vermin, I’ll show you the place of a woman—putting so-called men like you in their place. Defend yourself!” She raised the MoonSaber once more and shot a beam in Ratar-O’s direction, but her aim was off and it only hit his arm. It was enough, however, to sear through his sleeve and give him a stinging flesh wound.
“All right then, girl, if you want to play, so be it!” Ratar-O in turn spun the Sword of Plundarr’s blades at Selene, sending waves of energy at her that she held up the MoonSaber to block, but still pushed her back a step with the impact. She ducked and swung the blade low, sending a slash and wave of energy in Lion-O’s direction.
The scuffle amongst their leaders sent the signal to the others to join in, and Slythe charged at Cheetara, who vaulted over him with her staff and sought to dizzy him and tire him out in return. Frostor backed up Selene by firing at Tygra, who cracked his whip in Selene’s direction in an attempt to disarm her. Chilla took the opportunity to hiss a freezing blast of ice at Snoelle, while Panthro fended off an advancing TugMug and RedEye. Pumyra leapt back and forth scattering explosive pellets with her lariat between Luna and Amok, advancing on one side, and Jackalman and Monkian, attempting to corner her on the other. When the opportunity arose, they also took swipes at one another, Lunatac against Mutant.
In the distance both Mumm-Ra and Torlei watched, the latter now satisfied that her partner had been right after all. They eagerly watched the trio of leaders fight and waited for the pivotal moment that all three swords would clash…
* * *
After what felt to them like an excruciatingly long ride, the ship carrying the Thundercat twins, Alluro, Vultureman, Psiarik, and Chet finally arrived at Cat’s Lair. When they got there, they saw the number of ships present and something happening on the field between ships and the Lair, and they exchanged alarmed looks.
Vultureman brought a closer image of the scuffle below onto the screen, where they could see a distant shot of a number of individuals engaged in a fierce fight. “By Jaga!” WilyKit gasped when she saw the angry chaos. “I haven’t seen something like this since—”
“—since we were children,” an equally worried WilyKat finished.
The ship touched down and Alluro powered down the engines. “We’ve landed.”
Psiarik was already to the hatch, impatiently pushing the button to open it. “Let’s get out there and hope we’re not too late.”
“Wait! What about Chet?” WilyKat looked over at the cub, who was securely fastened in the seat Luna used to ride in when it belonged to the six Lunatacs of Plundarr. It was the best fit, and when they had put him there, Alluro had the brief and nasty thought that it must be suited for two-year-olds.
WilyKit shook her head. “We can’t bring him out there. It’s no place for a child, and being Lion-O’s son, he’d be even more of a target.”
Alluro’s features twisted into a look of incredulous disgust. “This is Lion-O’s son we’re babysitting? This just gets more insane as it goes,” he muttered with a shake of his head.
“Whose did you think he was?” WilyKit said, but Psiarik cut off the squabble.
“It’s not important whose kid he is right now,” Psiarik said. “Just leave him in here, it’s the safest place, especially if no one out there knows he’s here. We can return him to his parents when all of this is over, if we’re not already too late.”
“Leave him in a Lunatac ship?” a dubious WilyKat said, his eyes falling on Alluro and Vultureman.
“Fine then, take him onto the battlefield instead if you wish, Thundercat. It’s clear he has more sense than you. Perhaps he’ll be more useful, too,” Alluro said as he lifted his psyche club and joined Psiarik at the door.
WilyKat glared back at him while Psiarik added, “We took a chance and trusted you two, so you ought to get over yourselves and trust us in return.”
“All right.” WilyKit patted Chet on the head. “Sorry, but it’s not easy knowing what these two were like. We don’t really know you, but—”
“Look, I give you my word as the king of Moons of Plundarr that none of us will harm that boy or keep you from taking him home!” Psiarik said in exasperation, while WilyKit and WilyKat exchanged surprised looks as they joined the others at the door.
“You’re the Lunatac king?” WilyKat said. “I had no idea. I mean, I thought the royalty was all Luna’s race. No offense.”
“The bloodline is lunar,” Psiarik clarified as they disembarked. “Queen Selene is my wife, and Prince Silvian is my brother-in-law. That’s why we’re here, Thundercat.”
“You knew he was in trouble? But back at the pyramid you seemed surprised that Mumm-Ra tricked him,” said a puzzled WilyKit.
“Only surprised that the Chillandra Silvian saw was really Mumm-Ra. That someone was invoking the Incantation of Destruction we already figured out, and hopefully we’re not already too late.”
WilyKat sighed. “Gods, I hope not.” He looked over his shoulder and offered Chet a wan smile of reassurance. “Sit tight, Chet. We’ll be back for you as soon as we can.” The two Thundercats and two Lunatacs then broke into a run toward the battlefield while Vultureman closed up the ship and followed behind them. The group of them hollered as they approached, screaming for everyone to stop, but their shouts were largely drowned out by the battle and unnatural thunder in the skies above. Distracted as they were in their fight, neither Lion-O, Selene, nor Ratar-O even noticed their arrival.
As they drew closer, Psiarik was overwhelmed with a sickening sense of déjà vu. The worst part of his nightmare had come to life. He was on New Thundera, surrounded by stormy skies and howling wind. Selene was engaged in a swordfight with the MoonSaber against a red-haired Thundercat and a rat Mutant, and her face was stained with tears—and blood. He could now see Silvian’s still body not far from where Selene faced them in her rage, and he fought back a wave of nauseous guilt. I was too late. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he reopened them he saw another ominous image from his dream, the two cloaked figures in the distance. But Selene’s still alive, so it’s not over yet. Even if the dream said I can’t do anything, I have to try. He took a deep breath and shouted with all of his might, drawing on his full emotion and hoping it would throw whatever persuasive psi abilities he had into it. “Selene!”
For the briefest moment, the lunar queen glanced in their direction, but it was clear that she had not heard him when she did not even pause. Instead she returned a vicious swing of the MoonSaber in Ratar-O’s direction, countering a strike he had just taken at her.
* * *
The one individual that did take notice of the newest arrivals on the scene was the least pleased of all to see them, especially one in particular. So my worthless brother turns up after all! Torlei glared at him and his companions with unbridled hatred. “He will not stand in my way a third time,” she hissed poisonously, and turned to Mumm-Ra. “You don’t need me with you to recite the final verse of the incantation, so I’ll go deal with these interlopers personally and see to it that they don’t interfere.”
Mumm-Ra turned his gaze in their direction, but unlike earlier, he did not stop her. “Very well. I will perform the ritual while you stop them from trying to stop us.”
“And it will be my pleasure, darling!” she replied, already levitating backwards in anticipation of giving them a most unwelcome greeting.
* * *
Although neither Selene, Lion-O, nor Ratar-O seemed to hear Psiarik’s call to his wife, both Snoelle and Chilla did, and the fighting Thundercat and Lunatac each looked over when it happened. Snoelle only noticed the Lunatac that had shouted, however, and not specifically those with him. “More Lunatacs? Reinforcements?” she snarled accusingly. “And you say you weren’t here to take over Thundera.”
“Then I suppose the Thundercats at their side were helping them?” Chilla retorted, firing a heat blast at Snoelle’s feet. She had noticed that Psiarik, Alluro, and Vultureman had Thundercat company immediately.
The snow leopard swung her spear in a defensive move and leapt back to avoid the searing energy. “You’ll have to do better than that to best me, ice witch,” she said, and then realized that Chilla was right. WilyKit and a male she presumed must be her missing brother ran toward them along with the two Lunatacs and a vulture Mutant. “They’ve been found!” Snoelle was both astonished and relieved. “Rescued?”
“I’ll have to have a word with them about that,” Chilla said, wondering what possessed Alluro and Vultureman to bring more Thundercats along with them. She then took Snoelle’s momentary distraction as an opportunity to spit a heavy breath of ice at the snow leopard. She turned a moment too late as a cold crust of ice struck and froze her side, making her yelp.
Her cry caught Tygra’s attention from where he tangled with Frostor nearby. The tiger spun and cracked his whip against the ice pack on Snoelle’s side, shattering it and allowing her to move, while Frostor in turn spat an icy breath at him. Tygra ducked it and then as Frostor reoriented, he leapt up and forward in an unexpected move, and tackled the ice general. From where he lay on the ground, he saw Psiarik and the others approaching. “What the—?” he muttered and then groaned as he realized that the final pieces of the psi’s dream were falling into place. “He came even in spite of the prophecy?” Or because of it and his dream, his thoughts finished for him in realization.
Tygra narrowed his eyes at the Lunatac beneath him. “What are you talking about? What prophecy?”
“The legend of the swords!” Frostor growled impatiently, and exhaled a frozen mist of air in the tiger’s face that made him fall back gasping as the shock of the cold air hit his lungs and stung his eyes. The ice general rose to his feet, but he did not engage Tygra further and instead shot his fire beam gauntlet at the ground between Chilla and Snoelle. “We have to stop this, now, before the prophecy of the swords fulfills itself!”
Snoelle eyed him warily while Tygra recovered and joined her side. “The legend of the swords,” she repeated.
Breathing easier now, Tygra added with a worried look, “The Incantation of Destruction?”
Frostor nodded. “You Thundercats must have a translation of it too: ‘When the past becomes the present—’”
“‘—and the ancient struggle is set in motion—’” Tygra continued, recalling the verse from a passage in the Book of Omens.
“‘—only what seems impossible can stop the inevitable,’” the pair finished in unison.
Chilla frowned as the two of them recited riddles about the end of the world as though they had not been at one another’s throats moments ago. “What are you talking about?”
“The end of our worlds, ice witch.” Snoelle narrowed her eyes at the icewalker. “Some force has set us all up to annihilate one another in this battle so that prophecy will come true.” A grave look filled her feline eyes as she turned toward Tygra. “Some of the past became the present when you all freed me on the ice moon.”
Frostor nodded to Chilla. “And when Psiarik and I were given the MoonSaber on Lixuvekh, just when you and Luna and the others came back from our past, and by virtue of you being Chillandra’s daughter.”
“You don’t know that for sure!” Chilla snarled angrily.
“And you don’t know for sure that you aren’t either,” Frostor countered. “The point is, the past has already become the present. I told you all back on the ship!”
Chilla lapsed into silence, unable to argue, while Tygra met Frostor’s gaze with a comprehending and serious expression. “The ancient struggle… it’s already in motion. It’s all of us, Thundercat against Lunatac against Mutant. Thundera against Plundarr against the Moons.”
“But someone has to recite the Incantation of Destruction for it to happen,” Snoelle pointed out. “We Thundercats aren’t, and if you Lunatacs aren’t, then that leaves the Mutants, and they seem concerned only with their own agenda.” She looked over at Ratar-O, still in direct combat with Lion-O and Selene, and saw that Slythe, Jackalman, and Monkian were also fighting. Vultureman was not, but it was clear that the vulture that had come with the other Lunatacs and Thundercats was not spell casting either. “So if none of us, then who?”
“Who else?” hissed Chilla, pointing to a dark and familiar figure on the ridge beyond the Cat’s Lair.
“Mumm-Ra!” Tygra let out a low growl of recognition, and then eyed their fighting leaders with a sense of urgency. “We have to stop them.”
“As long as the three swords don’t clash at once, the incantation can’t be invoked,” Snoelle said, “but we must stop them now before it happens.”
Unfortunately, the four of them never made it to their leaders in time to warn them. Even as they broke into an urgent run, the angry Selene swung the MoonSaber at Lion-O, while the equally emotional Lion-O blocked the slash with the Sword of Omens’ mighty blade. As his two foes grappled sword upon sword, Ratar-O saw a chance to disarm them both. Crouching low and then leaping high to gain momentum from his full weight, he brought down the jagged blade of the Sword of Plundarr onto the two other swords. Though they did not break, there was a terrible metallic clash and a sinister flash of lightning as the blades collided.
The three ancient swords had met. Grinning malevolently, Mumm-Ra began to recite the final verse of the Incantation of Destruction.