Strangers In The Knight

By Cheezey

Part Two

The Night-Cat

“Attack!” came the shrill and loud battle cry from the bushes where Luna and Amok lay in waiting as the Thundercats—including two from the Tower of Omens, Nick, and a handful of warrior maiden scouts—approached the spot. The startled group stopped short and gasped as suddenly Lunatacs, Mutants, and the once-human female vampire surrounded and descended upon the now cornered group from various points in the bushes and high trees.

Immediately the Thundercats and warrior women drew their weapons and assumed a defensive stance, but as soon as Lion-O reached for the Sword of Omens, Janette, who had been warned in detail about stopping him from using it by Luna earlier, pounced on him as she had Jackalman earlier and pinned the Thundercat Lord to the forest floor.

Lion-O did not expect an attack that fast, and struggled in the immortal grip of the vampire. The lion was strong, but Janette had the advantage of her unnatural strength as well as leverage from the top position, and the Sword of Omens fell from Lion-O’s hand. Up close Janette could smell the warm and inviting scent of the lion’s blood pulsing with adrenaline beneath his skin, and her appetite urged her to sate it with his vital fluid. “Let’s see how strong your blood can make me, warrior cat,” Janette murmured in a low and silken hiss, leaning toward Lion-O’s neck with her fangs bared.

Fortunately for Lion-O, Nick’s reaction time was as swift as Janette’s, and not expecting another immortal, she was caught by surprise as she was forcibly torn from her prey. The two rolled onto the ground in a fighting lock, but when the moonlight struck the face of Lion-O’s assailant, Nick recognized her instantly. “Janette?” he mumbled breathlessly. “Is that really you?” You survived… Nick’s emotional thought echoed in Janette’s mind as clearly as if he’d spoken it.

Janette also blinked in surprise and ceased struggling beneath Nick, the Lunatacs, Mutants, and Thundercats momentarily forgotten. “Nicola?”

Luna turned toward the pair of vampires as Amok swatted away an exploding marble from Pumyra. “You know each other?” Luna demanded.

Both Janette and Nick got to their feet, their own fight halted for the moment. “I have known Nicola for many years—eight hundred years before First Earth’s demise.”

“How very touching, yess,” Slythe hissed irritably as he swung at Lion-O, who was scrambling to recover his sword. “So we won’t slaughter him with the Thundercats!”

“You won’t slaughter anyone,” Nick said angrily, lunging at the reptilian and barely avoiding a collision with a stumbling Panthro, who was reeling with a body-slam from Monkian. Not particularly wanting to fight, but also not wanting to leave his new friends to fend for themselves after promising to help them, Nick turned toward Janette. He was distressed to see her flash past TugMug and behind the swift Cheetara, stopping her in her tracks long enough for TugMug to hit the cheetah with a beam from the gravity carbine, knocking her to the ground and leaving Janette standing behind her.

“Why are you helping these people, Janette?” Nick called out, distressed. “They attacked my friends—they are evil. Don’t you see that?”

TugMug lifted his carbine and swung it around, debating whether to fire upon the male vampire, friend of Janette or not. “Great, another self-righteous smarm-spouter,” the graviton muttered. “Just what Third Earth doesn’t need!”

Janette sighed audibly at Nick’s statement as well, although the reasons for her disgust were not as simple as TugMug’s. All that time and Nicola is still spouting the same old nonsense? “Nicola, you always did like the goody-goodies of the world, didn’t you?” Janette replied with disdain. “As for why I’m helping Luna, she and her companions offered me shelter and hospitality in exchange for some assistance in disposing of some troublesome mortals. It sounded like a fair enough bargain to me.”

Janette then spied Tygra about to strike at Alluro—in the midst of trying to thrall Bengali and a few of the warrior maidens—from behind with his whip. With a snarl the vampiress lunged at him and knocked him over. She bared her fangs, hoping to sample the blood of the struggling tiger. So hot—so rich—so new…

“No!” Nick growled, and tackled the female vampire again. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I won’t let you hurt them either,” he snarled, frustrated. Enraged herself, Janette drew back and struck the younger vampire across the jaw, knocking him off of her.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Nick said accusingly as he got his bearings. “You’re the one who killed that warrior maiden.”

“I only wish I had,” Janette spat furiously. “You and your disgusting love of mortals, mortals you love more than your own kind. You are pathetic, Nicola.”

Both Nick and Janette were caught by surprise at the sound of a smug chuckle behind them followed by an all too familiar voice. “Why Nicholas, I’m hurt. All these years and you still can’t recognize my handiwork?”

Their own argument momentarily forgotten, both Janette and Nick turned to the source of the voice, stunned. “LaCroix!” they exclaimed in unison.

Bengali twirled the Hammer of Thundera in his hands after it had served its purpose in knocking back an attacking Jackalman. “Another vampire?” His voice was both surprised and annoyed.

Vultureman let out a caw of similar aggravation. “How many of you are there, anyway?”

“Too many, Mutant, just like there are of you,” Queen Willa of the warrior maidens retorted, firing an arrow at the vulture.

“Too many for you and the Thundercats to handle perhaps, Willa, but not too many for Mumm-Ra to be concerned with,” the booming and ominous voice of the Ever-Living Source of Evil himself cut in, momentarily drowning out the noise of the battle as he descended from the skies into the center of what was now a battlefield rather than the woods on the edge of the Tree Top Kingdom.

Luna, squinting after inadvertently discharging a light pellet flung at her by Thunderkittens when she swatted at it with her riding crop, let out an incredibly irritated shriek. “What are you doing here, Mumm-Ra?” The undead mage was a soul she despised only slightly less than the Thundercats themselves.

Mumm-Ra cackled smugly. “What I am doing here, Luna, is ensuring my future as ruler of Third Earth, starting with getting rid of the Thundercats and followed by having you and your miscreant crew of Lunatacs as well as you Mutants bow before me as my servants!”

“We work for you, we don’t serve you,” RedEye challenged, gripping his sidewinder and debating whether he should risk making his next throw of it aimed at the arrogant mummy.

“Nyah, rarely am I inclined to agree with a Lunatac, but for once I do,” Jackalman added. His bravery was much more evident when there were plenty of numbers to back him up.

Pumyra lashed with her lariat at the jackal. “That won’t be anything either of you will have to worry about so long as the Thundercats are here to keep Third Earth free and protect it from the likes of all of you.”

LaCroix, eager to jump into the fray and try the new taste of Thunderian blood before catching up with his children, pounced on the petite puma in a flash. “But who will protect you from me then, my dear?” he whispered roughly as he pinned her against a nearby tree. Pumyra yelped in surprise, her reflexes were usually as sharp as her natural agility and speed and she had not even had time to see LaCroix coming, much less react. She struggled in his grasp but the old vampire was very strong and he held her fast against the trunk largely immobile. Her brown eyes filled with fear as she saw the predatory gleam in LaCroix’s own glowing eyes and panic rose within her as she felt him press her chin upward, exposing her neck. The vampire’s fingers clutched at the thick gold choker she wore—something that suddenly felt very flimsy—as she kicked and struggled in vain.

Mumm-Ra grinned with pleasure. Already one Thundercat was about to meet her end, and the others would soon follow, he thought confidently. “Thundercats, I would like you to meet my new friend LaCroix. He’s been looking forward to meeting you all,” he stated with a smug chuckle.

Bengali roared in outrage when he saw Pumyra—not only a fellow Thundercat but also his lover—in the grasp of the hungry vampire. “Let her go!” The white tiger charged at LaCroix, his hammer ready to strike.

“That can be arranged.” LaCroix’s voice was incongruously smooth and calm as he let go of Pumyra and tackled Bengali in a dark flash. The stunned Pumyra fell to the ground and when she stood she saw Bengali flailing and growling in LaCroix’s grasp much like she had been only moments ago. Even Bengali, far stronger than she and one of the stronger Thundercats, was unable to do much against the strength of the immortal.

“LaCroix, no!” Nick’s voice was both distressed and angry. Reasoning with Janette against killing his mortal friends was a hard task but he had learned the hard way that with LaCroix it was nearly impossible.

Before Nick could act or interfere, Mumm-Ra fired a bolt of supernatural energy at the younger vampire. “Fool vampire, you would be wise to learn not to interfere with my plans!”

“Bengali!” Pumyra’s cry pierced the air as she saw the horrific sight of LaCroix sinking his fangs deep into the white tiger’s jugular. Bengali let out a pained growl and thrashed beneath LaCroix, but it was a futile struggle as his strength drained from him as quickly as his blood.

Pumyra scrambled to her feet and Lion-O, in the midst of grappling with Slythe, shoved the reptilian back and pointed the Sword of Omens at the feeding LaCroix.

“Stop him!” shrieked Luna. “That damned sword!”

“Hoo—” Lion-O’s cry was cut off as both RedEye’s sidewinder and Janette slammed into him from opposite sides. Lion-O grimaced from the stinging sensation of the electrical burn but had little time to concern himself with it as Janette tried to pry the Sword of Omens from his hand. Slythe used the opportunity to kick the lion’s arm and knock it free, but the tables were turned when Janette felt a sharp stab of fire in the back of her thigh. The vampire woman howled in pain and rolled over, clutching at a warrior maiden’s arrow set ablaze with fire and tore it from where it was lodged—painfully—in her flesh.

“Feel the burn of that justice, vampire,” Willa’s voice threatened coldly.

“What was that?” WilyKat asked, and the Thunderkitten got his answer when he saw that Willa and the other warrior maidens that had come with the Thundercats were now all armed with flaming arrows in their bows.

“Do you pathetic humans think that a couple of blazing matchsticks will stop us?” Janette snarled angrily, scrambling to a standing position. While her leg was damaged, it was healing quickly, and she was hardly immobilized from it.

Nick meanwhile used the distraction to pull LaCroix off Bengali, with the help of the Thundercats. Cheetara engaged Mumm-Ra to keep him from interfering while Nick and Panthro struggled to keep a hold on the furious LaCroix and Nayda, another of the warrior maidens, shot a burning arrow into his midsection. She was only able to fire one, however, before Monkian grabbed her from behind.

“Let go of me, Nicholas,” LaCroix stated in a warning tone. “I will not ask again.”

Nick’s eyes, also reverted vampiric like those of the other two vampires, flashed angrily as he used all his strength to help hold the older vampire back. “No. Not this time. I won’t let you kill him.”

Pumyra knelt at the fallen Bengali’s side and felt for a pulse, hoping against hope that the vampire’s attack had been an unsuccessful one. “Bengali, please be all right…”

There was a sound of whistling and several more warrior maidens, called in by signals of the few scouts that had met with the Thundercats, appeared in the trees around them, all armed, most of them with fire arrows. “You would be wise to leave now, evil creatures,” Willa warned the assembled group of her enemies. “Even now the sky lightens with impending dawn and we now have you well outnumbered. You vampires may not burn completely with our arrows but the sunlight will do it for us.”

Luna shrieked in frustration, irritated that once again, her plans had been thwarted. Even though one Thundercat had fallen and that was a bonus, it was not enough to please her and certainly not enough to make up for the humiliation of being bested by the felines once again because their primitive friends outnumbered and swarmed them. “This is not over!”

“Can Janette make it back to Skytomb before sunrise?” Alluro questioned, glancing dubiously at the lightening sky. The warrior maiden Queen was right, the dawn was coming quickly.

“Castle Plundarr is not far,” Vultureman cawed, mapping out the best tactical retreat in his head. “We can regroup there.”

“Very well. Lunatacs, let’s go!” Luna ordered with an emphatic wave of her crop. Amok then carried her off after the Mutants, who were already heading into the forest. Janette gave one final parting glance to Nick and then turned to follow the Lunatacs without a word.

Mumm-Ra, too, was aware of the rising sun and scowled angrily. That was one weakness of the vampires he had not thought out fully, although he supposed it could be worked around with proper planning. Any strikes likely to become lengthy would have to be initiated nearer to sunset than in such late hours of the night, but so long as they learned from this mistake he supposed he would not call it a complete failure. “There will be a next time, Thundercats,” Mumm-Ra said, a chilling note in his tone that made it seem as if death himself were speaking. “LaCroix,” he continued, flying upward, “return with me to the Black Pyramid, where you will be shielded from the sun.”

“The dawn is the only shield you will get,” LaCroix said hatefully to the warrior maidens, already anticipating the pleasure he would have dining on the warrior women and the felines in the night to come. He regretted that he had the chance to bite only one of the cats and even then not really had the opportunity to savor the hot and flavorful richness of his blood. He wrenched out of the grip Nick had on him, which had relaxed now that it seemed that they would be retreating, and glared at him coldly. “I will not forget this either, Nicholas.” The ancient vampire then ascended into the sky, following Mumm-Ra off into the waning darkness of the sky above.

Willa eyed Nick evenly, although her demeanor was somewhat standoffish and apprehensive. “You too will perish in the sunlight even if you do fight the ones that would seek to harm us or our friends.”

Lion-O sheathed the Sword of Omens in his claw shield and strode over to the fallen Bengali. “Yes, we have to get back to the Lair, and do what we can for Bengali.”

“I—I don’t think he’ll make it,” Pumyra told Lion-O, her eyes red and brimming with tears. “I can’t do anything for him and I—”

“Shhh,” Tygra cut her off, putting a comforting arm around her and helping her to her feet. “We’ll do what we can for him. We might be able to save him.” The red tiger glanced at Lion-O. “He’s still alive, but just barely. We will need to hurry.”

“Then we will,” Cheetara said. “Panthro, could you lift Bengali and bring him to the Thundertank? WilyKit, WilyKat, come with me. I’ll go start the Thundertank and drive it back here, but I need you two to make sure the seat in the back is clear so that Bengali will be comfortable.”

“Sure can,” Panthro agreed, and scooped the unconscious white tiger off the ground. The two Thunderkittens hurried off after Cheetara, who had already run ahead to save them time, and Panthro followed after them as soon as he had a firm grip on the ailing tiger.

“LaCroix did this to him,” Nick said darkly, feeling a surge of both sadness and anger.

Nick was shaken out of his thoughts when Lion-O laid a hand on his shoulder. “We can talk about that later. Willa is right; you need to get away from the sun.” Lion-O then turned to Willa. “I’m sorry we had to solve the question of who killed your scout in this way. We’ll do what we can to help protect you from them—whatever it is we can do.”

“I understand, Lion-O,” Willa replied. “Safe travels to you, and may the spirits watch over your fallen friend.”

The Thundertank pulled up a moment or so later and the Thundercats piled in. Bengali was laid gently across the seat in the back, and Pumyra and the Thunderkittens knelt on the floor beside him. Nick too climbed in the cramped area beneath the hatch, which Panthro closed quickly, and they made haste back to Cat’s Lair as the sun began to shine over the horizon.

The Thundertank was breaking speed records but it seemed that even the high-powered engine could not beat the speed of impending death. Pumyra clutched Bengali’s limp hand tightly, vainly feeling for his thready pulse—a pulse that was fading quickly.

“How’s Bengali doing?” Tygra asked from the outer portion of the Thundertank.

“He’s still unconscious,” WilyKit called back.

“And still breathing,” WilyKat added.

“But not doing well at all,” Pumyra whispered, her voice hoarse. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it.” She looked to Nick. “You’re a vampire, Nick—are your bites fatal?” she asked.

Nick closed his eyes and sighed. “Usually. Most of the time, yes, although it depends on how much blood is taken. It’s the blood loss that kills the victim.”

WilyKit’s eyes brightened hopefully. “Then if it’s replaced, like a transfusion…”

“We don’t have blood to do that, do we?” Cheetara asked quietly.

Tygra shook his head sadly. “No. Blood transfusions are tricky, and there aren’t any white tigers from his clan here with us to try it with. My blood would be the closest to be a possible match, but it would be a long shot at that. Twenty five percent at best.”

“Depending on how much Bengali lost it might not be enough anyway,” Pumyra said, biting back a fresh wave of tears. Bengali’s pulse was nearly gone and it was still a good several minutes before they would make it to the Lair. She knew that even if on the off chance that Tygra was a match and by some miracle he could spare enough blood to save Bengali and still be all right himself, the time it would take to set that up in the Lair on top of the remaining drive would likely claim Bengali’s life before they could do it.

“Then there’s nothing we can do?” WilyKat asked, clearly upset. “He’s just going to die?”

Pumyra tightened her grip on Bengali’s hand, now cold to the touch, and began to sob.

The boy’s words and the puma’s tears struck a painful chord in Nick. He knew of one way—perhaps the only way—that the tiger could survive. “There is one way he might live,” Nick said quietly. “But it comes with a terrible price.”

“What price?” Pumyra asked. “If you know a way we can save him, Nick, please tell us! We have so little time. We could lose him any moment!”

The vampire sighed. “LaCroix took too much of his blood for him to survive the bite, but if he has a small transfusion of the right kind of blood—immortal blood—he will live. He could still be brought across.”

“Brought across?” Cheetara repeated. “You mean turn him into vampire like you?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not a life you even want,” Panthro said, expertly weaving the Thundertank around the rocky ground a mile or so from the Lair. “Could Bengali handle it?”

“It’s better than nothing,” Pumyra argued. “Please Nick, I don’t think he’ll make it to the Lair. Do it now! Save his life!”

Nick glanced at the ailing white tiger anxiously. His breathing had become more rapid and shallow, and he knew from experience that the tiger would soon experience his death throes if something were not done quickly. “I’m not sure you understand what you’re asking me for,” Nick said, closing his eyes.

Pumyra grabbed his wrist with her free hand in a pleading fashion. “I understand that you can’t let Bengali die!”

“Sometimes it is better that they do,” Nick murmured, recalling other vampires he knew in the past that had been brought across when they probably should not have.

“Pumyra is right,” Lion-O asserted. “If you can save him, please Nick, you must do it. He is a Thundercat, our friend, and we will accept him no matter what he is. His condition can be dealt with, but his death will be permanent.”

Cheetara nodded in agreement with the Thundercat Lord. “We don’t want to lose him.”

“Besides, it may be a condition we can cure eventually,” Tygra added.

Nick looked at Bengali again. He had to act now if he was going to do it. “Understand that he will be like me, then, a vampire. Unable to go out in sunlight even for a short time, burned by even a stray sunbeam from a window. He will have to feed on blood, and feel a compulsion to kill anything or anyone mortal in his path if he gets hungry enough. He will never age or die. He won’t ever be able to live a normal mortal life. Is that something he would want and could live with?”

“I’m sure he doesn’t want to die!” Pumyra said urgently.

“All right then,” Nick agreed. He leaned over the tiger’s neck, his fangs descending and his eyes glowing yellow once again as the vampire nature within him came forth. Nick could almost smell the sense of impending death surrounding the fallen white tiger, and hoped that he was not already too late. He grazed Bengali’s neck with one of his fangs to get a taste of his blood, and although none oozed out he could taste its essence in the torn tissue. Although weak and cooled it tasted of the tiger’s characteristic fire and strength. The thought struck the dark and lusty side of his vampire nature that he kept in check that he must have tasted quite incredible to LaCroix, and almost immediately Nick felt a small rush of shame for even indulging such a thought.

Nick then straightened and roughly tore into his own wrist with his fangs, drawing a thick stream of blood. The vampire winced slightly at the pain but knew it would be short-lived and that the transfusion of his tainted vampire blood into the dying tiger’s system would do the trick of bringing him across. Nick was somewhat anxious about the process, both because he was not sure of how Bengali would react to being a vampire and because bringing mortals across required some skill and practice. The hardest part was already done—taking the blood—and that was the step that had always given him trouble. When he did indulge in taking humans in the past, he often took too much and the poor soul would die before he had the chance to bring him or her across. But LaCroix had done that step for him. The feeding of blood was much easier, but still the process was not an easy one for Nick, at least emotionally, as the faces of his failed attempts in the past flashed though his memories as well as the ones of the vampires he had deemed “mistakes”—careless, destructive, or otherwise unstable souls that could not handle the burden of immortality.

As he pressed the bleeding wound to Bengali’s lips he leaned down once again to graze the wound he had made earlier. Although his blood had been taken already, it occurred to Nick that it might help it work faster if he were to stimulate the tiger’s system and emulate another bite. A small part of him also longed to taste the rich bouquet of his blood—just a sample, just a tease—and as his teeth sank against Bengali’s warm flesh a little more roughly than he might have wanted, he felt a rush of ecstasy unlike any he had felt in what was now thousands of years.

Although it was only a matter of seconds, that closeness and oneness with the tiger’s blood and along with it the tiger himself seemed to Nick a deliciously long moment. Nick’s vampiric rapture ended when he felt a stirring within the tiger beneath him and his mouth closed hungrily around the wound on Nick’s wrist, drinking the vampire’s blood hungrily. A strange aura seemed to surround the two of them, and the Thundercats that were within view watched in a strange mixture of astonishment, hope, and a shade of revulsion at the sight. A change in the atmosphere of the Thundertank was evident to each Thundercat watching it although with Cheetara’s sixth sense it was the strongest and she could feel the exact moment that Bengali crossed over from mortal to vampire.

The abrupt stop of the Thundertank as it pulled into the Lair’s hangar signaled the end of Bengali’s feeding as well, and the tiger subsequently relaxed and fell into a deep sleep—not a fitful near-death coma as it had been when they brought him into the Thundertank, but instead the rejuvenating and restful one of a healthy body.

Pumyra smiled gratefully at Nick when she felt Bengali’s now unnatural heart beating strongly again. She let go of his hand long enough to put her arms around Nick in a thankful hug. “You saved him, Nick! I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful we are, or how much this means to all of us.”

“LaCroix tried to take his life, so I gave it back,” Nick replied with a smile, and then glanced down at the sleeping tiger-turned-vampire once again. “I just hope it turns out well for all of you.”

Inside the safety of the hangar the crew of Thundercats as well as Nick climbed out. Panthro and Lion-O lifted the sleeping Bengali from the seat and transferred him to a rolling table they kept in the hangar that would more easily transport him to their medical bay. “Is there anything we should know to do for him when he wakes up?” Tygra asked Nick.

“When will he wake up, anyway?” WilyKat added, looking curiously at Bengali.

“Tonight most likely,” Nick told them thoughtfully. “You will need to have a large supply of blood—one or two large-sized bottles full at least—on hand when he wakes. Have it warm but not overheated, and err on the side of excess rather than not enough. His hunger will be uncontrollable when he awakens and he may attack one of you if not fed blood quickly enough or in enough quantity. If the hunger is strong enough, he might not even recognize you until it is too late.”

WilyKit’s eyes went wide with surprise and just a shade of worry. “It’s that strong?”

Nick met the young Thundercat’s gaze and nodded honestly and firmly. “Yes. The hunger can compel one to do almost anything. Older vampires like me can control it to an extent, we learn to by necessity, but a young one will need to learn to deal with it through experience. I will help him understand what is happening the best I can, though.”

Panthro closed the hatch to the Thundertank while Pumyra, Tygra, and Cheetara wheeled Bengali off to the medical bay. “Will any blood do or does it have to be a certain kind?”

“Any blood will sustain us, but vampire will almost always find blood of their own kind most satisfying,” Nick explained. “For me, LaCroix, or Janette that would be human. For Bengali, I would assume Thunderian would appeal most, although if he never tastes it, he may not feel as much of a compulsion to try it.” He paused thoughtfully. “In general, the higher the life form, the more complex and flavorful a blood is to us. A larger, more evolved game or livestock animal might be your best option, assuming you have that around.”

“They could be hunted during the day easily enough,” Panthro assured him.

“Nick, there is something else I would like to ask you if I may,” Lion-O spoke up, walking over to join him and Panthro. Nick nodded, and Lion-O continued. “The other vampires there tonight, you knew them. The woman said she had known you for eight hundred years, and the other one, that LaCroix character—”

“He is the one that brought me across,” Nick confirmed. “The one who despises my search to regain mortality, and the one who stands in my way every chance I get.”

“He’s very evil, isn’t he?” WilyKit asked.

“Yeah,” echoed WilyKat. “He and that other lady vampire sure seemed pretty ruthless and mean. Not like you at all.”

Nick nodded. “Like I told you before, mortals mean very little to them as anything other than playthings to feed upon for the most part.”

Panthro let out a dark laugh. “Maybe that lady vampire, that Janette friend of yours, will suck her way through whole lot of those troublesome Lunatacs and Mutants.”

“I’m more concerned about the one with Mumm-Ra myself,” Lion-O said with a concerned frown. “The Lunatacs and Mutants are destructive but they can be kept in check. Mumm-Ra’s power backing someone with your abilities scares me more. Why would LaCroix work with someone like Mumm-Ra, Nick, do you know?”

Nick leaned against the side of the Thundertank and laughed despite himself. “I’ve tried to understand LaCroix for centuries and never had much luck at it. It could be something selfish that he stands to gain from it, or simply that he’s bored and it’s something amusing to do. As for Janette, I might be able to talk with her if I can find her alone. Maybe I can make her see that if nothing else, she’s not doing herself any favors by associating with those Lunatacs or Mutants. LaCroix on the other hand I highly doubt I’ll be able to get through to at all.” As he finished talking Nick rubbed his eyes. Although as a vampire he did not exactly get tired unless he was wounded and needed rest to rejuvenate, he realized he could really use some time alone to sort through everything on his mind.

“Tired?” Panthro asked.

“I could use some rest,” Nick admitted. “I don’t suppose Snarf has that room set up you said I could stay in?”

“He probably does, knowing him,” WilyKat said. “We can go find out if you want.”

“Yeah, I’ll come too,” WilyKit chimed in, joining her brother who had walked over to Nick’s side.

Lion-O nodded to Nick and the kittens. “Go on then. We’ll talk to you around nightfall. It’s been a very long night and I think we all could use some sleep.”

“Thank you. Good night,” Nick replied.

“I think I’m going to call it a night too, so wait up and I’ll head upstairs with you,” Panthro said. “Have a good night, Lion-O.”

“You too,” Lion-O called out, and then once they left and he was alone in the hanger, the lion slumped against the Thundertank lost in thought. “A vampire-Thundercat. Can Bengali still even be a Thundercat after such a change to what he is?” he wondered out loud.

He pondered that question for several moments before he saw a shining blue light out of the corner of his eye. Sensing the comforting presence of his mentor Jaga in the room, Lion-O glanced up and saw the ghostly form of the Jaga the Wise floating before him, as he did so many times when he was in need of guidance. “Jaga,” he greeted him.

“You worry about Bengali’s fate, and you are right to worry, Lion-O,” Jaga told him, although even if he were not alone, it would be only Lion-O himself that could see or hear the deceased Thundercat.

“Does that mean he can’t be a Thundercat, Jaga? We saved his life. We had no other choice.”

“That’s true, there was no other choice. Had you not allowed your vampire friend to heal Bengali’s body by changing him into what he has become, Bengali would be here with me in the Astral now,” Jaga stated honestly. “But in saving his life his soul has been tainted with dark powers and drives. It is up to Bengali himself if he chooses to succumb to them or to harness them and use them—be it for good or evil.”

Lion-O frowned. “So are you saying he could still be a Thundercat at heart even if he is a vampire?”

“What I am saying is that if the Code of Thundera lives on in his heart, be it tiger or vampire, then he will be a Thundercat. If his new state of being shrouds him in darkness and turns his back on the Code, then the Thundercat within him will have died whether he lives or not.”

“That makes sense, Jaga, but how do we know?”

“You will know when he awakens and makes the decision for himself. Only then,” Jaga said, and drew his cape around his spectral form, causing it to diminish and fade.

“Jaga, wait—” Lion-O began, but stopped when he realized his mentor had vanished because he had said all he had to say. “So only time will tell,” Lion-O said aloud even though there was no truly no one there to hear him. “I just hope it tells us we made the right choice.”

* * *

That day on Third Earth passed quietly and before long the hazy summer afternoon began to give way to sunset. The Lunatacs had just returned to Castle Plundarr. They had left Janette there once the sun rose and proceeded to spend the remainder of the daylight hours taking Skytomb back to DarkSide and then catching up on their rest. The Lunatacs then made the trip back to the Mutants’ base in the Lunattacker and Ice Runner to arrive around nightfall so they could pick the vampiress up. It was not so much a hospitable or friendly gesture however as it was one made in their own interests. They knew from experience that the Mutants were wearing in large doses and they wanted to keep the vampire woman as an ally for the time being. Stranding Janette with a bunch of Mutant fools for any length of time would likely result in them winding up dead and bloodless on the castle floor—which, while not much of a loss to the Lunatacs on a personal level, would still be inconvenient when they required the Mutants’ services—or Janette would simply get fed up and leave altogether, and they would lose the services of an immortal warrior.

When Janette emerged from the guest quarters she had been given—she refused to call that slovenly hole in which she had spent the day within the Mutants’ castle a room—she found both the Mutants and the Lunatacs assembled in the main corridor.

“Ah, so she does awaken at sunset, like the vampire lore goes,” Luna remarked as the vampiress joined them.

“Yes, although unlike most of the legends I do not have to sleep during the day, only avoid the sunlight. Sleeping does pass the time though, especially in such,” she looked around and wrinkled her nose in distaste, “unappealing surroundings.”

Jackalman’s ears flattened somewhat indignantly at her insult of his home. “It’s more appealing than the great outdoors, isn’t it? You should be thankful you received some Mutant hospitality. We don’t share our guest rooms with just anyone.”

“It almost makes you want to take your chances in the sun, doesn’t it?” Chilla muttered, giving the Mutants a superior look.

Monkian was about to respond to Chilla’s remark when he noticed how easily Janette was walking and that the wound on the back of her leg was completely gone. “Hoo, your leg,” he pointed out, genuinely amazed. “It’s like that arrow never touched you!”

Janette glanced down and twisted her leg to examine where she had been struck on the back of her thigh the night before. She smoothed her hands over the area where the arrow had torn through and scorched her dress and the flesh beneath it. The skin was completely healed, although the dress was even worse for the wear than it had been already, leaving a large hole surrounded by a burn mark. “One nice benefit of immortality is that your wounds vanish quickly,” Janette said with a smile. “It’s too bad that my clothes don’t have the same durability.”

TugMug opened his mouth to make a crude remark but Luna cut him off before he could say anything. “Chilla has clothing you could wear I would imagine. Certainly she can spare one for you if you require it.”

Chilla glared at Luna, irritated more at the fact that her trollish leader was giving away her things without permission than she was at the thought of parting with any of them to the vampire woman. “If necessary, I suppose, although it would be easier to strip a dead warrior maiden. They’re closer to her size.”

“Well if it’s all the same to you, Chilla, you dress much better than those wild women. Fur and skins have their place, but silk and velvet are much more my style,” Janette said to the icewalker. “Of course I would be more than happy to reimburse your generosity with a favor or something else of value to you if you do have something.” She sighed. “As is evident by this large hole in a nearly inappropriate spot, it has seen better days.”

That time Luna was not quick enough with a change of subject to stop TugMug. “I don’t think it’s inappropriate, I think it’s sexy,” he remarked, licking his lips in a leer.

“All the more reason for her to get a new one, I’d say,” Luna said with a huff of disgust at the graviton’s overt and piggish display. She half expected Janette to turn around and bite him to put him in his place, and then had the nasty thought that her fangs probably were not thick enough to sink into his fat neck anyhow. However Janette did not attack TugMug or even dignify him with more than a somewhat disturbed if not disgusted look before she shifted into a position where he was not in direct line to stare at the tear in her dress.

Slythe too followed the vampire woman’s movements although not for the reason TugMug did. Instead he eyed Janette’s wound site curiously. “That is a useful power, to heal so quickly,” he noted. “What other powers do you vampires have, yesss?”

“Your speed and reflexes are impressive, especially coupled with the ability to fly,” RedEye added. “Your senses appear to be sharp too.”

“It is hunting instinct,” Janette told them. “Our senses are heightened to an extent, and it allows us to find our prey. To see it, hear it, and smell it mostly.”

“Vampire abilities are impressive indeed,” Luna agreed. “It’s a shame that the two others showed up and interfered, especially that one with the Thundercats.”

At that Janette let out a subtle but annoyed grumble. “Nicola you mean.”

Alluro folded his arms and eyed Janette curiously. “Who is he, anyway? And the other vampire?”

“LaCroix, Mumm-Ra called him?” Vultureman added with a heavy caw at the end of his inquiry.

“Nicola and LaCroix are both vampires I’ve known for hundreds of years,” Janette explained to the Lunatacs and Mutants. “Nicola, the fool who allied himself with those Thundercats, is a man that LaCroix and I brought across a little over eight hundred years before the end of First Earth. He was a knight, a human warrior in that time.” She smiled slightly as she recalled the memory. “Rather handsome as well. I fed him wine and seduced him.”

A leer spread across TugMug’s stout features. “Lucky him.”

“Indeed,” Alluro said with a smirk, agreeing for once with the graviton.

“So you fed upon him? Is that how you turned him into a vampire?” RedEye asked.

“Let her talk,” Luna sighed irritably at the other Lunatacs.

“Anyway,” Janette continued, “LaCroix was the one who wanted to feed upon him. LaCroix and I had been together for some time at that point, and LaCroix had been watching him. Although I tasted Nicola’s blood, he was actually the one who brought him across.”

She frowned as she went on with her story. “At first Nicola was much like us. The three of us spent many years together—hunting, killing, living as we vampires do—and then he developed his guilt. Stupid, foolish, mortal guilt.”

“Nyah, guilt for what?” Jackalman asked. “Just killing?”

Chilla exhaled in frosty disdain. “How weak. No wonder he’s so fond of the Thundercats.”

“He thinks he can save his soul and rise above his darkness, that he can cure himself of being a vampire. Believe it or not, the fool actually wishes to become mortal again. He turned his back on our kind and how we live, denying that part of himself like some martyr, and also turned his back on both of us. LaCroix and I both think it is ridiculous but regardless I am still fond of the fool—though at the moment I’m not too pleased with him, I will admit.” Janette shook her head. “LaCroix detests his mortal yearnings even more than I do. LaCroix will never let go of that which he considers his—and all of his vampire children fall under that classification.”

“Even you?” Luna asked pointedly. That revelation had come as somewhat of a surprise as the vampire woman had struck her as rather independent.

Janette smiled slightly. “LaCroix watches me, or at least he will now that he knows I’m still alive I’m sure, but he rarely interferes with me or my business unless it interferes with his own. See, I do not disappoint him. I don’t seek to become or pretend to be something I am not. I embrace being a vampire and I always have. That was LaCroix’s gift to me all those centuries ago when he freed me from a life that was little better than slavery. In all my years I have rarely had a reason to cross LaCroix, and I would not be generally inclined to do so even if I did. Nicola is not as wise as I am however.”

“And what about this LaCroix, working with Mumm-Ra?” Slythe rasped. “If you know him so well maybe you can tell us why are they fighting together, yesss?”

“It’s hard to say. LaCroix could be with him to get back at Nicola, knowing that Mumm-Ra despises those Thundercats as much as all of you apparently do and Nicola has shown a fondness for them. Or perhaps LaCroix has just developed a fondness for cat blood. It may be as simple as that.” The vampiress shrugged.

Vultureman, who had been listening to Janette’s account of vampire powers and the identities of the others, stood up straight and addressed her. “We’ve seen and heard about what abilities and advantages vampires have, but what about ways to stop them? At least one of them, that one with the Thundercats, is an enemy we are likely to run into again. Friend of yours or not, caw, we need to know how to stop a vampire other than waiting for daybreak.”

Janette raised an eyebrow. “And tell you my own weaknesses to you so that you might exploit them someday?” She laughed. “You must think I’m quite the fool, Mutant.”

“Seems you’re apparently smarter than most of the human types you came from, at any rate,” Jackalman countered.

The vampire narrowed her eyes at the backhanded complement. “I’d boast about outsmarting you, but I’m not entirely sure that’s a challenge.”

“It’s not,” TugMug confirmed with a rude laugh.

“Caw, speak for yourself, you simple-minded fat oaf of a graviton,” Vultureman squawked indignantly.

Monkian let out a growl and advanced toward TugMug in a challenging manner. “You’re no genius yourself, Lunatac.”

At that, Chilla could not help but interrupt with a peal of derisive laughter that was echoed by an equally amused Alluro and RedEye. “If that isn’t the Mutant calling the graviton smelly.”

Reaching his limit of verbal abuse from the arrogant Lunatacs and their vampire friend, Slythe narrowed his eyes dangerously at the icewalker. “No one asked you, Frosty, yesss?”

The humor in her tone was lost immediately at the insult and Chilla met Slythe’s glare with a defiant scowl of her own. “Go on and give me a reason to make your blood run ice-cold, reptilian.”

Luna, too, was fed up with the nonsense from both the Mutants and her own crew. “Enough!” the Lunatac leader bellowed, her shrill voice overpowering all else in the room. “How many times do I have to point out how counterproductive it is to fight amongst ourselves? If we put half as much energy into constructively finding a way to be rid of those Thundercats as we do into this incessant squabbling, we would have defeated them a hundred times over by now.”

“Spare us the lecture, Luna, and we’ll get back to business,” RedEye said flatly, before turning toward Janette. “So you’re telling us you vampires have few real weaknesses at the very least? In that case, perhaps leaving you to deal with the other vampires, should they get in the way, would be the most prudent course of action.”

“If he gets out of line, I can deal with Nicola, yes,” Janette agreed.

Alluro flashed a charming smile at the female vampire, quite impressed. “Essentially invincible, that is a nice deal you have with your immortality.”

Janette smiled back at the psi. “Despite the occasional inconvenience it brings, I would say so, yes,” she agreed. “I would venture a guess that if the Thundercats had not had Nicola there in the way and interfering, we might well have gotten the best of them earlier, assuming Mumm-Ra and LaCroix would have remained a help rather than a hindrance to us.”

Monkian frowned thoughtfully. “Hoo hoo, but being that they also have a vampire fighting on their side, that would make us more evenly matched rather than us having the advantage, it seems to me.”

“Actually there is a possibility that the Thundercats might now have two vampires with them,” Janette said quietly. It was one of the things she had thought about while she rested during the day in the hours she did not sleep, and she had planned to broach the subject that evening with the Lunatacs at the very least anyway. She supposed now was as good a time as any to warn them all about it.

“Two?” TugMug repeated.

“You think LaCroix would work with them even though he was with Mumm-Ra last night?” Jackalman asked dubiously. “Nyah, talk about a change in plans.”

Janette waved her hand dismissively. “Of course not.”

Luna’s eyes went wide as she tried to figure out what the vampiress was getting at. “If not LaCroix, then who, and how?”

“LaCroix bit the white tiger last night,” Janette reminded them. “There is a chance that if he did not die—and Nicola may not have wanted to let him do so—then the possibility exists that he might have been brought across.”

Slythe narrowed his reptilian eyes at Janette incredulously. “You’re saying that you think Bengali might be a vampire?”

“That sounds crazy!” Vultureman exclaimed with a squawk.

“It is possible, I assure you,” Janette told them seriously. “And given the fighting skills the Thundercats possess as mortals, if one of them were to be brought across, an immortal vampire cat would make quite an formidable opponent, even as a young immortal. Perhaps not to me, or LaCroix, but certainly to those of you that are mortal.”

“Is it that easy to do that it could be done in one night?” Alluro asked Janette, his expression thoughtful and serious. “To change a Thundercat—or anyone else—into a vampire?”

Janette nodded affirmatively to the psi. “Any of my kind could do it in much less time than one night, all it really takes to complete is a few hours at most, depending upon how quickly the body recovers from the shock of the change,” she explained. “Nicola never mastered the art of bringing mortals across, mind you, but he has done it and if he did not feel guilty about it or chose it as a means to save the tiger’s life, then it’s very likely he might have done it.”

Luna frowned as she digested that bit of information. Having two vampires against their one, or two if the dicey alliance between themselves and Mumm-Ra and by extension LaCroix could be counted, was most certainly not the favorable odds she had felt was such an advantage the evening before. “If that’s the case, then you must help us destroy him now before he gains full awareness of his powers and potential. You must kill him tonight,” she demanded.

“I must do nothing, Luna,” Janette snapped, indignant that once again Luna presumed to order her around with such disrespect. “I said I would help you but I never agreed to take your orders like some hired help.”

“We sheltered you and took you in,” Luna argued, her tone growing shrill. Being told “no” was never something Luna took well. “You owe us!”

“And I am grateful for that,” Janette replied, her tone controlled and a calm contrast to Luna’s tantrum-like whine. “I will help you fight the Thundercats as we agreed and I will work with you, but I will not work for you and do not expect to be taken for granted. Do so, and I will be gone faster than you can even imagine,” the vampiress finished with a haughty hiss. “Now if you will excuse me, I am going to get myself a meal.” With that she turned on her heel and stalked out of Castle Plundarr, leaving the Lunatacs and Mutants behind her.

While the others griped and grumbled about the possibility of a vampire Thundercat and Luna about Janette’s refusing to listen to her, Alluro quietly slipped away from the rest of the group and followed the vampiress into the forest. Unbeknownst to him Chilla, engaged in conversation with the others, still noticed his exit.

* * *

As nightfall broke over Cat’s Lair, Pumyra leaned over the still unconscious Bengali. She had chosen not to return to the Tower of Omens in favor of monitoring Bengali’s condition, and Panthro had volunteered to take the position of watch over there so Lynx-O and Snarfer could come over not only to see Bengali but to meet Nick as well. The two had been introduced to the vampire when he emerged from his guest room, and both Lynx-O and Snarfer spent some time with Pumyra at Bengali’s bedside to share their concern about him and what changes his new condition would bring about.

Pumyra placed a gentle and affectionate kiss on the sleeping tiger’s forehead. “I don’t care how you’ve changed, Bengali, I’m just glad that you’ll always be with us,” she whispered softly.

When he and the rest of the Thundercats came into the medical bay to see how Bengali’s first waking moments as an immortal would go, Nick went over to Pumyra and placed his hand on her shoulder. “It would be best if you weren’t right next to him when he awakened, Pumyra. He won’t be himself, and he will smell your blood. I know much he cares for you, but he might attack anyway.”

“I understand,” Pumyra replied, and stepped back, allowing Nick to remain closest to him. Nick would be the safest beside him if the strong white tiger did wake up in a frenzied bloodlust, and of all of them, Nick was the only one that truly understood it.

What Pumyra and the others did not realize was how fully Nick truly did understand Bengali and what he was—and would be—going through. There was a strange connection between vampire and fledgling when bringing a mortal across that lasted beyond the initial act of tasting the blood. Any vampire could taste the essence of their victim’s soul if they chose to savor it in the drinking of his or her blood, and learn their most intimate thoughts and memories. It was an intoxicating feeling and why so many vampires would only drink the blood of a human or equivalent victim. While animals had such sensations to their blood, it was not even close to the same as it was hard for a human or formerly human mind to understand the intricacies of what they were feeling except on the most basic level. As such it affected the taste of the blood to the point where it seemed so lacking that a vampire would only drink it for sustenance—nothing else.

Although it had been LaCroix who had drank most of Bengali’s mortal blood, the act had been quick and severe due to the nature of the battle and it had been Nick who had done the deed to bring him across. Nick had taken the time to taste his essence and know him that way while Bengali had experienced similar sensations in drinking the infusion of Nick’s vampiric blood. The tainted immortal blood had the element within it that changed Bengali into the vampire he had become and as the change was taking place, the tiger had sensed all of the things about the blood he tasted, his first blood, including an intimate knowledge of Nick himself, the one who brought him across. It only made sense, then, that Nick be the one to beside him and explain it to him when he awoke, as well as hold him in check from attacking any of his mortal companions.

It was a short time after sunset when Bengali first stirred in his bed. The Thundercats and Nick all watched him anxiously as he turned restlessly for a moment or two and then finally opened his eyes. Cheetara was the one to gasp in audible shock when she saw the greenish yellow glow they had all seen in the eyes of Nick and the other vampires the night before afire in the white tiger’s. “By Jaga!”

Bengali sat up in a start and stared around the room, feeling a strange and crazed rush of panic. He saw things vividly and sharply, more so than ever before, and he felt like he could hear everything in incredible clarity and detail as if someone had fine-tuned a radio that had been slightly fuzzy his entire life. The familiar scent of the Thundercats, Pumyra, Lynx-O, and then in turn the others and even the distinct smell of the snarfs triggered an intense drive to leap from his bed and sink his fangs into flesh and taste… drink… drink blood. Hot, thick, blood.

His entire body was wracked with incredibly sharp pangs of hunger at the mere thought of the vital fluid, and he whirled around in near desperation for something to sate the nearly unbearable hunger. His eyes fixed on Nick, and he immediately remembered the taste of the vampire’s blood. Bengali’s fangs descended and he growled, lunging not at Nick—instinctively he knew that he could not satisfy the need he had—but toward the closest mortal instead. That happened to be Snarfer, standing on the countertop alongside the bed a few feet away.

“Bengali, no!” Nick shouted, between the two in a flash to restrain the vampiric tiger from harming the young snarf. “Get away!” Nick warned him, “And get the blood over here!” Bengali was thrashing and difficult even for Nick to restrain. Nick had the advantage of age and strength as an old vampire, but the Thundercat had a significant size and natural strength advantage that was enhanced both by his newly attained vampirism and his intense drive of hunger.

Snarfer let out a little “yipe” and dove behind Lion-O while Tygra hurriedly uncorked one of the bottles of animal blood they had acquired that day and passed it to Nick.

Once he had the bottle, Nick thrust it roughly into Bengali’s face so he could not only grab it but smell it and be inclined to take it rather than inadvertently break it and charge after the closest mortal in the room. “It’s blood, take it!” he said, trying to keep it from sloshing as the tiger roughly grabbed at it.

The bloodthirsty Bengali took the bottle of blood and messily guzzled it, small rivulets of the red fluid spilling from the corners of his mouth and staining the white of his fur a bright crimson as he drank so desperately to soothe the intense hunger within him. As he came near finishing the first bottle Nick asked Tygra for the second, and he had it uncorked and ready to hand to Bengali as soon as he was finished with the first. Bengali drank that one almost as quickly, and Nick worried nervously for a moment if two would be enough, but Tygra put his fears to rest shortly by handing him a third. Nick was relieved to see that they had heeded his advice and erred on the side of excess, as it appeared that a Thundercat vampire’s appetite was even more exhausting than a human, perhaps because of their sheer mass.

Bengali had relaxed noticeably by the time he finished the third bottle of blood and he was coherent enough to set it down on the stand beside the medical bay bed and face Nick and the others with a confused if not somewhat shameful expression, his eyes now reverted to their normal catlike state now that his hunger had been sated. “What’s happening to me?” he growled, clenching at the sheets of the bed. “What’s going on?” He looked to Nick for the answers, knowing on some level—through the fledgling bond, although Bengali did not know it as that yet—that he was the one who could give them to him.

“Relax, Bengali, you’ll be all right,” Nick told him reassuringly. “I’ll explain everything.”

Once it was clear that the tiger’s bloodlust was safely calmed, Pumyra rushed to the tiger’s side and hugged him tightly. “Oh Bengali, I’m so glad you’re all right. I—we—were afraid we lost you,” she said, nuzzling against him.

Bengali circled his arms around the emotional puma, savoring the closeness of the embrace of his best friend and lover. “I think I’m all right now,” he told her, his voice softening. As he glanced down at Pumyra, his eyes lingered a moment longer than they should have on her neck, and it startled him to see the vein pulse just above her golden choker, almost teasing him with invitation. Her scent so close was intoxicating, and it made him want to lean down and kiss her… nip her… taste her…

Nick, keeping a careful watch on the fledgling vampire, was able to pick up on Bengali’s thoughts easily enough in the close proximity and realized the sort of temptation Pumyra’s presence was placing on him, and Nick knew from experience how hard that could be to resist, especially for a young immortal that had not yet learned to control the urges to any degree. “Pumyra,” he said quietly, “I think it might be best if you let Bengali lie back and rest for a moment. He’s been through quite a shock.”

Lynx-O also picked up on the subtle tone in Nick’s voice and reached for Pumyra’s hand. “I am glad to see you feeling better, Bengali,” the lynx told his younger friend. “We were all quite worried about you.”

Pumyra disentangled herself from Bengali’s embrace reluctantly and retreated back to where the others were standing with him. Bengali felt a strange mixture of relief as well as disappointment when Pumyra left his side, and as he was trying to sort that out, Lion-O stepped forward to speak. “Yes, you gave us quite a scare. We were almost certain that LaCroix had killed you.”

“LaCroix… that other vampire out at the Tree Top Kingdom,” Bengali mumbled, the memories of the night before coming back to him. He looked up sharply at Nick, realizing he knew a lot more about LaCroix than he should have, almost as if he had seen much about him through Nick’s eyes if such a thing were possible. How did I know that? Bengali wondered silently. “The one who brought you—”

“Across, yes,” Nick finished. “His intentions were not as ‘honorable’ toward you as they were to me millennia ago, I’m afraid. He left you for dead.”

“You might well have been dead if Nick hadn’t intervened,” Cheetara added. “It’s incredible how fast you vampires move. You make me feel like a slowpoke,” she said with a smirk.

“I’m sure one of you would have gotten LaCroix off him had I not been there. I’ve seen you fight,” Nick replied.

“Regardless, thank you,” Bengali told Nick, looking to him for more answers, although to what he wasn’t sure. The blood… why you want the blood… like he does…

Before Nick could say more, WilyKat spoke up. “Nick saved your life, too. In the Thundertank on the way back.”

Lion-O nodded somberly. “Yes, he did. That’s what we need to talk with you about, Bengali.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was only one way to save you,” Tygra told the other tiger gently. “We did not have time to get you back here to try any medical procedure before—before we would have lost you,” he said, searching for the best way to put it. He did not want to traumatize his friend any more than he had already been, and would likely be when everything was explained to him.

Bengali’s gaze shifted from Tygra to Nick once more. “How?”

“You already know, at least on some level, am I right?” Nick asked the tiger softly. “It’s why you needed the blood, and why you…”

Tried to attack Snarfer and wanted to bite Pumyra, Bengali’s thoughts finished before Nick could finish putting them into words. “You brought me across,” Bengali said, more of a statement than an actual guess or question. “Turned me into a vampire like you. Like LaCroix. That’s why I wanted the blood,” he finished with a growl.

“Why you needed it,” Nick corrected him. “Don’t blame yourself for your actions a few minutes ago. It was natural, and no one would have expected you to be able to control it without understanding what it was.”

“There was no other way,” Bengali said, trying to come to grips with what he was being told.

“None,” Tygra assured him. “Other than death.”

“Which none of us would have been able to bear,” Pumyra added. “We love you, Bengali, no matter what you are. Mortal Thunderian or vampire.”

“A vampire,” Bengali repeated, shaking his head. “So what does this mean for me? What can’t I do now?”

Nick gave the tiger vampire a reassuring smile. “Depending upon how you choose to look at it, there are plenty of things you can do now that you couldn’t before as opposed to things you can’t that you used to. For starters, you have what many of my kind have felt is the primary reason for giving up their mortality—immortality. Immunity from age, sickness, disease, and natural death. You will never grow old and lose the physical condition of your prime. You will outlive all the mortals you know just as you are now, and can live as long as you choose and see things that span hundreds if not thousands of years,” he explained.

“There are also the physical advantages to being a vampire. Your strength and all of your reflexes have been sharpened, enhanced, and quickened. With very little practice you will be able to move like I do, and like you saw LaCroix and Janette do when we fought them last night. You can also levitate and fly, which I will admit is convenient at times.”

“But you don’t like being a vampire,” Bengali said quietly. “I know that. I think I even felt it… although I don’t know how.”

“You learned it when you tasted my blood,” Nick told him. “But I don’t think it would be good for you to get into all of that now, not until you’re used to what you are. It’s enough of a change to get used to as it is without adding that to it.” He glanced at the empty bottles of blood on the countertop. “The main things that will limit you now are two things. Firstly, the sun. You will never see it again, unless you look at it through something mechanical, like a monitor or a camera. If it touches your skin or fur, it will burn you. If you’re in it long enough, it will destroy you and burn you into ash. It can and will kill you. You must avoid it completely,” the elder vampire stressed.

“I can only go out at night,” Bengali mused. “A cat of the night. Night-cat.” He smiled slightly. “I always did like the moonlight anyway.”

“The other thing is blood. It’s all your system will be able to tolerate in any quantity, and you will require a fair volume of it to sustain yourself especially in your first years as a vampire. The hunger will compel you to feed nightly, just like a mortal appetite, but it will be much more powerful and consuming if you deny it. I suggest staying as sated as possible, lest it tease you with the desire to feed off of mortals and especially the ones you care about. You will risk their lives if you bite them, and I will warn you that once you bite it is very hard to stop, even if you desperately want to.”

Bengali took in all the information Nick gave him and did his best to sort it out. “I think I can handle all of that. It will take some getting used to, but I think I can manage.” He paused as a distressing thought occurred to him. “That is, as long as I’m still considered a Thundercat. I hope that hasn’t changed… has it?” he asked, his gaze focused on Lion-O.

“That’s up to you, Bengali,” Lion-O replied earnestly. “After the change you’ve been through, do you still plan to uphold the Code of Thundera and believe in all of the things you did before? Are you still willing to stand with us against evil and help our friends on Third Earth?”

“Of course I do,” Bengali said automatically, as if the answer should have been obvious. “Nothing would change that.”

“Even though you might be tempted to kill for the taste and thrill of the blood, as Nick said?” Tygra pressed gently. His tone and intent was not to come across as judgmental, but realistic. “You realize that if you did, you could not in good conscience be a Thundercat any longer.”

Bengali let out an assertive growl. “I understand that, and I would never harm—or hunt—our friends here. I swear to it on the Code of Thundera itself.” He looked to Nick. “I can do what you do. Hunt animals for blood the way the rest of you hunt for meat.”

“Bengali is a Thundercat and he will always be one,” Pumyra said in his defense, smiling proudly at the tiger vampire. “I never had any doubt.”

“I guess this means the artificial blood and the possible cure for vampirism is a higher priority now,” Cheetara said thoughtfully.

“And in the meantime, it looks like we have a permanent slot on night watch duty,” WilyKit added with a lighthearted smile. She and her brother were both very relieved, as were all the Thundercats, that everything had gone well.

The white tiger vampire mirrored the Thunderkitten’s smile and faced his fellow Thundercats gratefully. “Thank you all for understanding.” He glanced at Nick. “And thank you again for saving my life.”

“Don’t thank me quite yet, you may not know what you’re in for after a few nights,” Nick said with a half smile. “But in the meantime, would you like me to take you out hunting in the woods near Cat’s Lair?” he asked. “You’ve got to get a feel for your new vampire powers sometime and I can show you what you need to learn.”

“That would be great,” Bengali agreed. The matter of Bengali’s vampirism and the question of how it would be dealt with now settled to all of the Thundercats’ satisfaction, they disbursed to go about their nighttime activities, a feeling of relief settling over all of them. As it turned out, it would be relatively short-lived.

* * *

Far across the lands of Third Earth, in the confines of the Black Pyramid, LaCroix emerged from the stone sarcophagus—donated to him by Mumm-Ra as its original owner had long since decayed—in which he had rested and joined his ever-living host, in his withered mummy form at the time, at the side of his bubbling cauldron. “Good evening, LaCroix,” Mumm-Ra greeted him as he approached. “I trust your rest here was adequate?”

LaCroix nodded. “I must say that sleeping in a pyramid is something I hadn’t done for centuries, even before the end of First Earth. At the end I had become accustomed to far more luxurious conditions.”

“Your First Earth comforts no longer exist, vampire.”

“So I realize,” LaCroix replied. “But I’m sure I can make do and find something that suits me in time.” He glanced at the pool, wondering if it was displaying or would show another vision. “What happens next? Does your magic divine anything from the waters?”

A small and amused smile crossed the mummy’s decayed features, almost the way one would smile at a child that had made some cute but obvious observation. “Not all of my plans are inspired by visions from the cauldron.”

LaCroix let the condescension of his host pass and nodded. “I see. So do we strike back at those wild human women, those warrior maidens as you call them, again?” He smiled hungrily. “I would certainly enjoy the opportunity to savor their blood again.”

Mumm-Ra shook his head. “No. The warrior maidens may be primitive, but they are sharp as all humans are and are fiercely protective of their tribe and their lands. They will be on guard for a vampire attack for some time after what happened last night, and you can be certain that they have re-learned all of the lessons of their folklore and legends about your kind and how to fight them and ward them off. You can expect to see their sentries armed with fire arrows and wearing garlic at least until the initial scare of your assault has worn off.”

“But they will calm down eventually and become complacent in time. Humans always do,” LaCroix mused. “In the meantime, I’m sure there are plenty others I could taste in this new world. Those Thundercats, for instance. The white tiger’s blood was surprisingly delicious,” he said, a pleased and smug expression on his face.

“A kill that unfortunately backfired for our purposes,” Mumm-Ra stated, his ruby red eyes glowing as he raised his hand to summon forth a vision he had seen earlier in the scrying waters. “Behold the result of your feeding upon the Thundercat Bengali.”

The waters of the cauldron began to glow and bubble as they always did when a vision took shape, and LaCroix watched the events of Bengali’s change from Thundercat to vampire at Nick’s hand. “Your fledgling son Nicholas brought him across in the early hours of the morning rather than let him die at the urging of the other Thundercats. As we speak, he is teaching Bengali, this new night-cat, to hunt for prey in a manner befitting the Code of Thundera,” Mumm-Ra laughed darkly. “A ridiculous proposition in and of itself, but regardless it could still mean trouble for us, especially if your son is successful at teaching the night-cat to repress his bloodthirsty yearnings and killer instinct.”

LaCroix let out a chuckle of amusement. “Nicholas, who shuns his own immortality, brought across another that he seeks to turn into a guilt-ridden fool like himself? Oh, the irony of it.” He turned away thoughtfully as the vision faded. “But the night-cat is young, and he may not have Nicholas’ willpower or years of guilt to compel him to continue in this silly ‘moral’ lifestyle. It might be possible to cultivate the predatory instinct within him yet and shape him into a vampire that would not only embrace immortality, but revel in it.”

“Perhaps,” Mumm-Ra began, “but a Thundercat’s belief in the Code of Thundera is not something to take lightly. They embrace it as wholeheartedly as you do your identity as a vampire. Bengali will not cast it aside easily, especially if he is encouraged to hold onto it retaining ties with those that continue to live it, and as long as your misguided fledgling teaches him to smother and repress the dark side of his nature.”

“Then I will find Nicholas tonight and have a chat with him about his irresponsibility with the night-cat,” LaCroix decided. “I would like to have a few words with him about his rudeness last night anyway.”

Mumm-Ra turned away from the cauldron and LaCroix and began to walk toward his sarcophagus. “You can speak with your insolent son until sunrise and I doubt it will get you anywhere, but if you can at least learn some information about Bengali and his newly gained vampire abilities, then I suppose the time would not be entirely wasted.” He stepped inside of the stone encasement and settled into a resting position. “Go on and feed and speak with your son, and inform me of what happened when you return. I will rest this night.”

“Very well,” LaCroix agreed with a nod. “By the way, Mumm-Ra, do you know where I might find Janette as well?”

“She is with the Lunatacs. You will find her wherever they are,” Mumm-Ra rasped as the stone slid closed into place over his now resting form. The conversation finished, LaCroix left the pyramid and took off into the night.

* * *

Janette roamed the forest to the east of Castle Plundarr on the prowl for something decent to feed upon. She had caught the scent of plenty of wild game but that was hardly what she wanted, especially as she was still somewhat irritated after Luna’s display back at the Mutants’ base. A substandard meal would serve to only make her mood worse.

It was not long before she caught wind of an unusual scent, not quite animal but not human nor any of the Lunatacs or Mutants either. She thought she had caught the scent of a Lunatac every now and again, but she ignored it, assuming it was something clinging to her clothes or hair after being in contact with them. According to Luna, the only Lunatacs on Third Earth anyhow were the ones from Skytomb, and she had agreed to leave them be when it came to feeding. Luna would not make much of a meal anyway, and would probably taste bitter to boot.

Janette followed the scent that had caught her attention and it soon brought her to a traveling Wollo. She had not seen any of that particular Third Earth race before, but she was hungry, and he appeared to be high enough a life form that would make for passable dining. She pounced on the hapless Wollo with ease and fed on him, finding the taste of his blood surprisingly satisfying although not quite as savory as a human would have been. Close, but not quite.

When she had taken her fill of the Wollo’s blood and he breathed his last, she left his body where it had fallen and continued into the woods. Her hunger now sated and her mood somewhat improved as a result, she thought about heading back toward Castle Plundarr when she heard voices nearby. Curious as to whom it might be, she moved toward the origin of the voices. As she got closer she was able to discern that there were two individuals there. A male who spoke in deep, gruff tones accented with growls and the other voice, she realized, was familiar to her—very familiar.

Nicola is out here?

The vampire woman frowned thoughtfully for a moment and debated whether or not to speak to Nick. Ideally she would have liked to have words with him alone in regards to his behavior the previous night. However circumstances would make it difficult for her to find him alone by chance again, especially if he was staying with the Thundercats and she with the Lunatacs. With that in mind Janette decided that Nick had only one companion with him and whoever it was could spare him for a few minutes.

She flew through the trees to the spot that Nick’s voice had been coming from, and saw him standing there with one of the Thundercats—the white tiger from the night before that LaCroix had bitten. The one who would be dead unless he had been brought across, Janette thought. As she approached the pair her suspicions were confirmed, and she could sense immediately that the Thundercat was no longer mortal.

“Hello Nicola,” she greeted him coolly. “I did not expect to run into you out here.”

At the sound of her voice both Nick and Bengali spun to face her, both caught somewhat by surprise. They had been hunting and, like Janette, had not expected any sort of company or chance encounter. Bengali scowled as he recognized the vampiress from the night before and clenched his fist angrily. Nick’s expression was also guarded, but his tone remained calm. “Janette?” He looked around to see if she was by herself or if the Lunatacs or Mutants were with her. “Are you alone?”

“Yes, but I see you brought a companion on your hunt for the evening however.” She took a step closer and eyed Bengali curiously. The tiger growled as she drew near and she rolled her eyes, unimpressed. “Relax, tiger. It is Nicola I wish to have a word with at this time. I have no business with you.”

“My name is Bengali,” he informed her with a low growl in his voice. “And how can you say you have ‘no business’ with me after you tried to kill my friends last night?” he challenged.

“Well, Bengali, it would be rather rude of me to try and kill you tonight on your first night as an immortal, wouldn’t it?” Janette replied.

Bengali was visibly surprised that Janette already realized how he had been changed without being told. “You can tell?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “It is obvious, especially to ones as old as Nicola and I are.” The vampiress turned to Nick. “So you have gone from shunning immortality to bringing others into it now? That’s quite a switch. LaCroix would be pleased.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. “I don’t care what LaCroix thinks, especially after what he and you did last night.”

“What we did?” Janette repeated. “You mean feeding on the humans? Like we always have? Oh Nicola, this was amusing a few centuries ago but it has really gotten old.”

Nick bristled at the condescending tone in the female vampire’s voice and regarded her angrily. “I don’t mean just the humans, I also mean you and your friends’ and LaCroix’s attack on the Thundercats as well.”

Janette sighed and looked pointedly at both Nick and Bengali. “It was nothing personal. Luna requested my assistance in exchange for room and board in her fortress. It’s a useful and reasonable arrangement to me so I accepted. It goes no deeper than that. I hardly singled out your Thundercat friends just to upset you, Nicola.”

“No, that was probably LaCroix’s motivation,” Nick agreed bitterly.

“I have no more idea of what LaCroix is doing than you do,” Janette informed him. “I was just as surprised to see him alive and about last night as I was to see you. I didn’t sense either of you until you were right there.”

It was then Nick’s turn to sigh. “No, nor did I.” He frowned, sorting through his conflicting emotions on the matter. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad you survived—hell, I’m even glad LaCroix survived—but I’m not at all happy with what you two did last night.”

Bengali listened to the exchange between the two older vampires and then interjected his own thoughts. “If shelter was all you wanted, Janette, why stay with the Lunatacs? You have to realize by now that they only want to use you for whatever they can gain from it.”

“They’re destructive and dangerous,” Nick added in agreement. “The Thundercats have told me plenty about them, the Mutants, and LaCroix’s friend Mumm-Ra. You would be better off to sever your ties with them and stay with me. You could make amends with the Thundercats if you needed a place to stay. They’re very generous. They’re also working on a cure for both Bengali and me of this condition and a formula for artificial blood in the meantime.”

Janette stared at Nick as though he had grown another head. “Spare me your moral lecturing, Nicola, please,” she said, her face visibly recoiling in distaste. “I do not want anything to do with your ‘cure’ and I never have, and you know that. I like what I am and how I live. What Luna’s group does with the Thundercats or vice versa is really of little interest to me. I happen to be comfortable among the Lunatacs for the time being but I do not need them or any other group on this Third Earth and I most certainly will never demean myself to the status of groveling to a mortal, Thundercat or otherwise. I make no apology for what I did to them or anyone else. None.”

“Then you are evil, and maybe you have more in common with the Lunatacs than Nick thought,” Bengali said with an accusatory snarl.

The vampiress turned toward Bengali and glared at him disdainfully for a moment before returning her attention to Nick. “This is a new low you have sunk to, Nicola. You take this tiger and turn him into a vampire and then go about instilling your guilt and irrelevant morality into him from the beginning of his new life?”

“It’s what he wants,” the other vampire asserted. “He doesn’t believe in killing either.”

“Maybe not as a Thundercat,” Janette conceded, “but now that he is a vampire you would allow him and encourage him to live his entire immortal life denying his very nature, never to experience the thrill and pleasure of the kill as we were meant to?” she challenged. “Even you had your chance at that before several hundred years into the life you decided that it was wrong. Sounds rather hypocritical to me. He would have been better off dying than living for an eternity like that.”

“Bengali understands, like I do, that the pleasure is not worth the consequences,” Nick argued. “He won’t ever have to know the guilt that I live with nightly for the lives I took over those hundreds of years.”

“And how would he know that the pleasure is not worth the consequences if you never let him try it?” Janette let out a delicate noise of disgust. “It’s rather like telling a young virgin curious about sex that he isn’t missing anything and not to try it. Just because something doesn’t suit you, Nicola, does not mean it wouldn’t suit him.”

“Nick isn’t forcing any choice on me I didn’t want,” Bengali declared in Nick’s defense. “I live by the Code of Thundera—Truth, Justice, Honor, and Loyalty—and there is no place in that Code for the slaughter of innocent people to feed my bloodlust. Animals will sustain me as well now as their meat did when I was still mortal.”

Janette shook her head at both of the other vampires. “Then I feel sorry for you. I pity any vampire that would willingly take Nicola’s path.”

Bengali glared indignantly at the vampiress. “I feel sorry for you that you would choose to be evil when there’s at least a small part of you that is still good. Nick wouldn’t care about you if there wasn’t.”

“Evil, good, these moral judgments are all so boring,” Janette said with yet another sigh. “I am neither. I’m a survivor and vampire, plain and simple. I prey on humans or the like as a cat does on its prey. Surely that is an analogy you understand, Bengali? Since your crossing over haven’t you felt your instincts sharpened and your urge to indulge them—to hunt and feed, stalk and prey—intensified?”

“I won’t allow animal instinct to control me. Rational thought and free will are what makes Thundercats, humans, or any evolved creature higher beings than the predatory creatures of the wild.”

“You are a fool just like Nicola then to deny yourself in that way,” Janette said disgustedly.

“I quite agree,” LaCroix chimed in from behind the vampire trio. All three of them had been so involved in their argument that they had not heard or sensed him approach. The elder vampire had a smug expression on his face, apparently having overheard a good deal of their conversation.

Nick glowered at LaCroix. “Speaking of evil…”

A mock expression of insult crossed LaCroix’s features. “Oh Nicholas, I’m hurt.”

Bengali on the other hand grabbed his hammer from his belt and growled ferociously at the older vampire. “You were the one who did this to me!”

LaCroix looked toward the tiger vampire but ignored the threat in his posture and voice, as if it were beneath his notice. “Yes, but my intention was to kill you. It was Nicholas that brought you across. If you have an issue with that, perhaps you should take it up with him.”

“He wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t killed me,” Bengali snarled heatedly, and lunged at LaCroix with his hammer.

LaCroix effortlessly dodged to the side, leaving Bengali to strike the trunk of a nearby tree instead. “Now now, I didn’t kill you, or you wouldn’t be here. I just did the hard part for Nicholas. He has trouble knowing when to stop when it comes to bringing others across, you know.”

“Shut up,” Nick spat bitterly.

LaCroix glanced at Janette. “Touchy, isn’t he?”

“Indeed,” the vampiress agreed.

Bengali pulled the Hammer of Thundera out of the thick bark of the redwood he had struck and stared angrily at LaCroix, his catlike eyes reverted to vampire state in his anger. “Why did you want to kill me? Why are you allied with Mumm-Ra?”

“Because you asked me to leave your pretty brown kitty girlfriend alone,” LaCroix replied smoothly. “As for Mumm-Ra, well it struck me as a fun idea at the time.”

“He’ll lose, and you’ll go down along with him. The Thundercats will defeat him and anyone that works for him,” Bengali stated with a growl.

LaCroix overlooked what he considered a rather melodramatic warning from the tiger vampire and looked at Nick. “Your friend growls quite a bit. I think he has a touch of an anger management problem.”

Bengali’s growl only grew louder at LaCroix’s dismissal of him as well. “We’ll defeat you too, if we have to.”

At that LaCroix chuckled. “You say ‘we’ as though you still think you’re one of them. You’re not, you know. You can’t be. No vampire could live by that Code you spouted earlier.” The elder vampire cast a sideward glance at Nick and shook his head. “Nicholas here as been trying to take that so-called moral high road for decades and all it’s gotten him is years of unsatisfying meals of cow’s blood and a burden of pointless guilt. Do yourself a favor, Bengali, and heed the wise advice Janette gave you earlier. Live as you were meant to from the start.”

“I will never take pleasure in the murdering of an innocent life. I am a Thundercat!” Bengali insisted, his voice nearing a furious roar.

Nick glared at LaCroix. “Did you have a reason for coming here, or did you just feel like spouting your usual disapproval?”

“No, Nicholas, I had a purpose,” LaCroix replied. He paused long enough to ensure that he had the attention of all three of the other vampires before he continued. “I sought you out to speak with you and make an offer to you and your night-cat fledgling.” He shifted his eyes toward Janette for a moment. “This offer includes you as well, my daughter.”

“What offer?” Janette questioned.

“I want for us to start anew on this world,” LaCroix began. “And I want each of my fellow vampires to join with me.”

---

Continued

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