LUNATAC MAYHEM: Chapter
Three
* * *
The Skycruiser was parked in the shadow of
The next problem was that Red-Eye was pretty much the
only one working on the repairs. Alluro
spent most of his time tending Psikaris, which Mystan didn't mind. If Psikaris could be convinced to join them,
Mystan's crew would gain a useful ally.
Knave was captured, Chilla's knowledge of the Skycruiser was limited,
Mystan was no mechanic, and Shade...
"We can't just leave Knave! He is a valued member of this crew,"
Shade said for what felt like the hundredth time in two days. Then, her voice dropping and becoming guttural,
Nightshade added, "And if we don't rescue him, I'll tear your arm off and
beat you with it."
Mystan didn't really want to deal with another
skirmish so soon after the last battle, but with Knave around, the repairs
might go a bit faster. "All
right," he said at last. "Meet
me in the hangar in fifteen minutes. We
will take the Ice Runner, if it is still functional."
* * *
"You're spending an awful lot of time in
there," Chilla said, indicating the door to Psikaris' room.
Alluro carefully locked it behind him. "She lost a lot of blood, no thanks to
your little brother," he said angrily.
Composing himself, he continued, "And because of the fight, I
couldn't get her to the Skycruiser right away.
One of her wounds became infected.
She's running a fever and hasn't yet regained full consciousness. She should recover in a few days,
but..." Alluro shrugged. "Until then she needs constant attention."
"You really are worried, aren't you?"
Chilla asked, taking a few steps towards him.
"Any other time, if I told you you were spending a lot of time with
someone, you would have smirked and asked if I was jealous."
"Are you?"
"Of course not."
"Good."
That was not the expected answer, but
by the time Chilla could ask, Alluro had disappeared down the hall.
* * *
Luna paced outside the cells currently occupied by
Panthro and Tygra. Well, Amok did the
pacing, and Luna paced in spirit, tapping her riding crop against her open
palm. "Look, I don't like you, you
don't like me, but I'm willing to make a deal with you Thundercats."
"No deals," growled Panthro, and Tygra
nodded assent.
"Hear me out, you wretched creatures," Luna
snapped with her usual charisma.
"Skytomb is barely functional, and of the two Lunatacs with any
hope of repairing it, one defected and the other was captured."
"Defected?" asked Tygra.
Luna sighed.
It was put up or shut up time.
Until now, the Thundercats didn't know about Mystan's little
uprising. "The ship that attacked
Cat's Lair, the Skycruiser, was not there on my command. Mystan and a few of the others decided to
stage a little mutiny and left. Had you
windows in your cell, you would have seen that the Skycruiser was attacking
us. If you help us fix Skytomb, we will
return you two and the samurai to Cat's Lair," Luna finished.
"And if we refuse?" asked Panthro.
"Then you die with the rest of us when the
Skycruiser's repairs are finished and Mystan decides to come back to
Darkside."
* * *
"No! It's not possible!" cried Wily Kit as
she wept against Cheetara's shoulder.
"I'm afraid it is. There were two bodies. One of
them was Wily Kat's," Cheetara said.
"Don't worry, Wily Kit, we'll help you get
through this," Lion‑O added, placing his hand on the youngster's
shoulder.
"Our first priority should be letting the Lunatacs
know what happened. They have the right to know," Bengali said. The
Thunderstrike had arrived moments ago.
"It looks like we won't have to wait long. The
Ice Runner is coming in swiftly," Black Claw said.
"Patch us through. We have to let them know right
away!" Lion‑O said.
* * *
Mystan clung to the side of the Ice Runner, wishing
there was an easier way of transport. Shade glanced back up at him.
"They're trying to communicate with us," she said.
"Let's give them a chance," Mystan sighed.
"This is Lion‑O, Lord of the Thundercats.
I'm afraid I have some bad news. I'd prefer to give it to you in person. If
you'll please land your ship outside, I'll come alone and tell it to you,"
the radio crackled.
"I don't trust him. It smells like a trap,"
Nightshade growled.
"We don't have much of a choice. We're
outnumbered. Especially if that's the Thunderstrike I see over there. Land the
Ice Runner," Mystan ordered.
* * *
"All right, cat, what is your message?"
Mystan asked. Lion‑O ran a hand through his hair. "Your friend,
Knave Iespyk, attempted to escape. He died in the ensuing conflict along with
Wily Kat. We'll give you his body if you wish," Lion‑O said.
"Knave is dead?" Nightshade said, her voice
becoming harsher, "You killed Knave? My Knave?"
Mystan was startled by the woman's strength. Despite
his best efforts to hold her back, she broke from his grasp and was on top of
Lion‑O, pounding on his head with her fists. Mystan, with help from
Bengali, separated the two. Mystan whispered in Shade's ear "Now is not
the time. Our revenge will come, but not yet." She went limp in his arms
and he helped her to the Ice Runner. "We'll be by for his body later. Bet
on it," Mystan said.
* * *
In the infirmary Psikaris' eyes jerked open.
"Knave!" she cried. She found Alluro at her side instead. "What
is it?" he asked.
"Where is Knave? I just had the most horrifying
series of dreams. In each one Knave was dead," Psikaris replied.
"Sounds like my kind of dream," Alluro
chuckled.
"Attention Lunatacs," Mystan's voice said
over the intercom, "Shade and I just returned from Cat's Lair and we have
bad news. Knave Iespyk is dead. A memorial will be set up in his old bedroom.
That is all." Alluro and Psikaris stared blankly at the intercom and then
turned back to each other. "How did you know?" Alluro gasped.
"I don't know.
This has never happened before," Psikaris said, running her hands
through her hair. "I'm no
clairvoyant."
"Knave had psychic abilities," Alluro said
slowly, "Maybe he projected it. Of
the rest of us psychics - the two of us, Psychro, and Mystan - Knave got along
best with you. Perhaps that was
it."
"That makes sense... Wait a minute..." The first bit of excitement over, Psikaris
now had time to take in her surroundings.
"This isn't Skytomb," she said with mild accusation.
Alluro shook his head. "Your ship was shot down - not by me -
and you crashed. You were severely
injured, so your brother let me 'capture' you."
"Psychro?.."
"Is fine, though Skytomb is not."
"And with you here, it may never be flight
worthy again," Mystan said, entering.
"Which brings us to the next order of business, Psikaris: Will you
join my crew willingly, or will you be a prisoner of war?"
Psikaris scowled at him. "I will be a prisoner rather than work
against Skytomb and my brother."
The telekinetic shrugged. "Your loss more than mine. Whenever you stop fussing over her, Alluro,
confine her to quarters. Make sure there's
nothing she could use in here. 'Nothing
she could use' as defined by 'nothing that you could turn into a means of
escape'." With that, Mystan left.
"I am not 'fussing'," Alluro muttered, then
turned back to his patient. "Your
temperature's still a bit above normal, but you're no longer in any danger. Get some rest. I'll be by to check on you later."
With a slight smile, Psikaris watched him leave. Traitorous thought, but there were
some advantages to being held prisoner on the Skycruiser.
* * *
It didn't take any difficult looking to find
Chilla. She turned at the sound of
Knave's door opening. "I'm sure
you're glad about this," she hissed, dropping the room's temperature
several degrees.
"No, not really," replied Alluro. "Just because I didn't like him didn't
mean I wanted him dead."
Which was true enough. While Knave and Alluro had on many occasions
inflicted bodily harm on one another, Knave was the more bloodthirsty of the
two. Even when Alluro had the perfect
chance to kill the hybrid and get away with it in the form of a voodoo doll, he
backed away. Of course, the main reason
he didn't do it was that he couldn't hurt Chilla.
Uncertain what to say to one another, both Lunatacs
merely stood quietly, taking the room in.
Eventually Alluro left, saying, "If you need me, you know where I
am."
Chilla hissed as the door closed, causing a slight
tendril of mist. "Of course I
know," she snarled with unexpected jealousy, "With Psikaris."
* * *
In the privacy of her mind, Shade and Nightshade
argued. "It is not enough that Wily
Kat is dead," growled Nightshade.
"Knave was worth more than that brat."
"But Kat killed himself accidentally along with
Knave," said Shade quietly, "None of the others were involved. He has paid."
"Not enough. And when I'm through with the cats,
all of Knave's enemies will taste the wrath of Nightshade! Knave's
legacy must live on. Chilla must remain absolutely safe from all potential
harm!" With a mental cry, Shade was shoved into an inconsequential corner
of her own mind. Aloud, Nightshade continued, "But we can't have the
others knowing our plans..." She raised her voice a bit, smoothed it,
sounding like Shade. "... Now, can we?"
* * *
Lion‑O raised the Sword of Omens and
acknowledged the Thundercats, Warrior Maidens and Berbils gathered around him.
Wily Kat's casket sat some distance away. "Wily Kat, I give you a
Thundercat's funeral and commend your spirit to the after life!" he
shouted. A beam of light shot from the Sword but narrowly missed the casket.
"What's happening?" gasped Wily Kit. The
Ice Runner soared away, a hook carrying the casket behind the cloaked pilot.
"The Lunatacs have sunk to a new low. Stealing
Wily Kat's body is a crime that must be avenged. Come on, Wily Kit, Bengali;
we'll take the Thunderstrike," Lion‑O said. The three Thundercats
hopped in the nearby vehicle and soared away.
* * *
Shade soared closer and closer to the crippled
Skytomb. Soon the Thundercats would be tearing Skytomb apart looking for their
missing comrade leaving her to carry out her plan. The Thunderstrike was still
outside visual range so she dipped in low and dropped the casket into the
furnace. She quickly landed and slipped into the shadows. Predictably the
Thunderstrike landed nearby. The three Thundercats within climbed out and
charged at Skytomb. "Excellent. While Luna's attention is focussed on the
Thundercats I can continue with my plans," she thought.
* * *
Mystan made a token appearance at the memorial to
Knave. Such small gestures were important to keep the soldiers happy. This was
not to say that he was left unaffected by Knave's death. It had been as
shocking to him as anyone, but a leader couldn't afford to show weakness,
especially in front of his lessers. "If there's anything we can do for
you, Chilla, just name it," he said.
"Maybe you can explain who's been going through
my computer files," Chilla said. "I had some personal things in there
that appear to have been tampered with. I even found a message deleted."
Mystan raised an eyebrow. "A security breach?
I'll get Red-Eye to look in on it. In the meantime I believe you have a shift
in one hour. I'd rest while you can," he said, crisply walking from the
room.
* * *
Psychro felt like an idiot. He doubted that Chilla
would even come. Hells, he doubted she'd even get his message in time to come.
The Thundercats had sent a message to Skytomb, assuming that that's where all
the Lunatacs were. Luna had passed on the news. He paused for a second, his
ears catching a faint sound, like that of an engine dying. He turned, a smile
on his face and his arms outstretched, and saw Shade carrying a jet-pack.
He let his arms fall back to his sides and went back
to leaning against the Lunattacker.
"Raise my hopes, why don't you.
Sorry about Knave, Shade. He was
a good kid."
"I'm part of Mystan's crew," Shade pointed
out. "Aren't you supposed to try to
capture me?"
The ice/psi hybrid shrugged. "Why bother? I figure your day's been bad enough. Besides, if all you're doing is some Darkside
sightseeing, why should I worry?"
"You're waiting for Chilla," accused Shade,
setting her jet-pack on the ground.
"I have condolences to offer," Psychro
replied, unfazed by her tone.
"Though I guess she's not coming.
Figured she wouldn't, but hey, hope springs eternal."
"I deleted the message."
"You what? Why?
Do I muck around in your personal life?"
"Chilla's life is my life," snarled
Shade, her voice and expression giving away exactly who - or what - was in
charge.
Psychro backed up a step. Unlike Mystan, the Nightshade part of Shade's
personality creeped him out.
"Settle down. I wasn't going
to do anything."
"The Hells you weren't. You know how much she loved her brother, you
know what kind of state she'd be in now," said Nightshade, advancing. "Knave may be dead, but his legacy lives
through me. Chilla will not be
harmed."
"No problem.
I'll just get back in the Lunattacker and go back to Skytomb," and
wait out your weirdness, he mentally added.
He reached for the door mechanism on the draconic tank, but was stopped
by a sticky black net just above his hand.
"I can't let you do that. Alive you pose a threat."
Psychro spat ice as Nightshade fired another
net. The two blasts met in midair and
the black net crumbled to powder.
"I told Tycho not to hire a whack-job, but does anyone
listen to Psychro? Noooo,"
muttered the hybrid, ducking another blast, then throwing a fireball of his
own.
Nightshade jumped back to avoid the gout of flames,
throwing her aim off. The net caught Psychro's
left arm, sticking him to side the Lunattacker.
He breathed ice on it and pulled free, only to be hit full with a second
net. This time the hybrid overbalanced
and fell to the ground.
The Darkling smiled the smile of the insane at her
captive. "Consider yourself lucky,
Psychro," Nightshade chuckled, "You'll never have to listen to Luna
again."
* * *
Luna practically bounced with fury on Amok's
back. "Thundercats!" she
howled. "Just what we need -
Thundercats! The damn Skytomb doesn't
work. Psikaris has been captured... and
where the Hells is Psychro? Tug-Mug,
Tycho, go out there and find out what those miserable Thundercats want."
* * *
"I don't understand why you did it, but we want
Wily Kat back," Lion‑O said flatly.
"I think you've got the wrong bunch of
Lunatacs," Tycho said.
"I'm afraid not. We traced the Ice Runner's
signal back to here. It was the Ice Runner that brought Wily Kat's body
here," Lion‑O said.
"The Ice Runner? Mystan has that thing. I'd
suggest you..." began Tycho.
"What do you call that, you monster?" Wily
Kit shrieked pointing off to the side.
"I theenk that's thee Ice Runner, Tycho,"
Tug Mug said.
"I can see that, but we didn't bring it here.
Did you catch a glimpse of the driver?" Tycho said.
"Not really. All we saw was a cloak," Lion‑O
admitted.
* * *
Wily Kit wasn't paying attention to the conversation.
Her eyes were focussed on a ghostly figure in the distance. She quietly slipped
away to investigate. "Wily Kat!" she exclaimed when she got close
enough.
"Follow me, Wily Kit. There's something you and
the others need to see," the spectre said.
* * *
Psikaris felt another wave of pain and anguish come
over her. There was a hand on her shoulder, not calm and reassuring at all.
"What is it this time?" Chilla hissed.
"My brother!" she gasped.
"What about him?" Chilla asked.
"He was in pain," Psikaris said.
"Was?"
"He's dead!"
* * *
Wily Kit looked the lip of the crater and saw Shade
cradling something spherical. She rocked back and forth, her back to the cub,
and raised this object to her lips. She set it down beside her. Wily Kit gasped
as she recognized Psychro's head.
"Run, Wily Kit, tell Lion‑O!" the
ghost of Wily Kat demanded.
* * *
Nightshade turned at the sound of disturbed rocks.
Her keen ears detected fleet footsteps. A quick jet pack ride told her all she
needed to know. A black net was all that was needed to take down the cat.
Nightshade leaned down over Wily Kit and snickered. "I've got something
very special planned for you, but not yet. You'll live a little longer before
joining your good‑for‑nothing brother."
* * *
Of the two women, Chilla was the stronger, and
Psikaris once again found herself trapped in her room. Even if she wasn't, Chilla said that Mystan
wasn't letting the Skycruiser go anywhere, so Psikaris had better get used to
it.
The ice/psi hybrid listened at the door until
Chilla's footsteps faded, then set to work.
While Mystan was a telekinetic, he didn't understand Psikaris' power:
Specialized telekinesis, telekinesis at the cellular level. She softened the metal in the lock until her
Lunatac strength was able to rip it open, then proceeded down to the hangar.
* * *
Mystan was almost thrown off balance as the
Skycruiser rose into the air. "Who
is doing that?" he demanded.
"Chilla, land this ship at once!"
The ice Lunatac tried to comply. "It's no good," she hissed,
"Someone else has taken control from the engine room."
Angry, Mystan patched himself through the
intercom. "This is Mystan. Given that Red-Eye and Chilla are both with
me, you're in severe trouble, Alluro, if you don't land the Skycruiser
now."
A voice that most definitely did not belong to Alluro
answered, "Hello, Mystan. We're going
back to Darkside."
"Psikaris!
When I get this ship back under control, I'll..."
"You'll be in Darkside, when I return this
ship." The connection cut off.
* * *
Tycho and Tug-Mug were still arguing with Lion-O and
Bengali when the Lunattacker drove up.
It popped open and Amok helped Luna out of the driver's seat. The Lunatac princess cut off Tycho in
mid-rant. "Oh, just give the cats
what they want. We're finished
anyhow."
"Luna?.."
"Show him, Amok." The great beast reached into the back of the
tank and took out what was left of Psychro's body. Tycho backed up a few steps.
"Great moon gods..."
"Shade's handiwork," said Luna flatly,
indicating what was left of a sticky, black net. "We're dead. Mystan isn't content with just blowing us off
the face of Third Earth, he's doing it slowly.
Cripple Skytomb, kidnap the only one who can fix it, then pick the rest
of us off." During her speech,
Luna's voice had risen to a scream. Amok
picked her off his back and cradled the tiny Lunatac protectively.
Bengali was the first to notice something else. "Rrowl, where's Wily Kit? Did anyone see her leave?" Lion-O and the Lunatacs shook their heads.
"We've got to find her. The Darkside is a dangerous place." Ignoring Luna's hollow laugh, Lion-O said,
"Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight."
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