LUNATAC MAYHEM: Chapter Five

Alluro looked around the medical centre of Cat's Lair. "I guess we're stuck here," he said to Psikaris. Nearby, Wily Kit was still sleeping. "It's strange. I feel I should be taking notes on the place for future invasions."

"Old habits," chuckled Psikaris. Then, "You're exhausted, Alluro. You should try to sleep."

"Is that wise?" he asked. "It's groups of three so two can watch while one sleeps. I don't like to doubt you, but..."

"I understand."

Wily Kit woke up then. "Panthro!"

"He left some time ago," Alluro informed her, walking over. "We could send for him if you like."

"No!" said Kit, struggling to sit up. "He's the one. Nightshade has him!"

"How do you know?" asked Psikaris, helping her up.

Mildly hysterical, Kit blurted out, "Wily Kat told me."

The two Lunatacs exchanged glances, but didn't question her sources. "It might be a trick, to throw us off," Alluro started.

"But why take Wily Kit over with her injuries? That's a long way to go to throw suspicion off."

"And in any case, it is a lead we should check out," Alluro said, walking over to the intercom. A few minutes work produced nothing. "I thought the communications system was repaired," he said, looking over to Wily Kit.

The Thunderkitten looked nervous. "It was."

"By who?"

* * *

Lion‑O jumped as the Sword of Omens flared to life. "Let's hope this works. Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight!" The scene shifted from the control room, where Luna, Amok and Hachiman were and showed him Alluro, Psikaris, and Wily Kit looking at the door to the medical facilities. On the other side was Panthro. "Why would Panthro be setting off the Sword of Omens?" Lion‑O mused aloud.

"Could he be Nightshade?" Hachiman asked.

"Of course! We have to hurry!" Lion‑O shouted.

* * *

"You will surrender, Panthro. Drop your weapons at once," Alluro intoned, his psyche crystal flying over the cat's head.

A nunchakus strike shattered it. "Panthro has already surrendered, to me," chuckled Nightshade, picking up the bed that Wily Kit lay on. The bed was then thrown at the pair.

"Look out!" shouted Alluro, rolling to the side. Despite his quick reflexes the bed still clipped his shoulder. Psikaris was less fortunate. The metal bedpost crashed into her chest, pinning her to the ground. Nightshade covered the three with sleeping gas, lifted Psikaris over her shoulder and grabbed Wily Kit by the belt.

"Stop right there, Nightshade!" Lion‑O said from the door.

"I don't think so!" Nightshade scoffed, jumping through the open window. As the three peered out the window they saw that Panthro had been activated little rocket jets from his boots and was now flying away.

* * *

"Eat gravity carbine, Tug-Mug!" Bengali shouted, firing once, missing.

"Ha, ha! You meesed me! Now see what happens when I jump on you!" Tug-Mug replied.

"Wait, look! What's Panthro doing with Wily Kit and Psikaris? We'd better follow him," Pumyra said, leading the way to the nearby Ice Hypno Flyer and Ice Runner.

* * *

Things were working out perfectly for Nightshade. The third person on her hit list was following closely. Bengali was alone on the Ice Runner with Pumyra and Tug-Mug on the Flyer. She turned and fired, with some effort, at the Ice Hypno Flyer, smiling as it spiralled away.

* * *

"Don't worry. I'll keep following him. You guys get back to the Lair and repair," Bengali said over the com link.

"All right, Bengali, but be careful," Pumyra said.

* * *

Far away, in Castle Plundarr, Jackalman looked out the window in confusion. "Is that Panthro?" he asked aloud.

"Hoo, hoo. It looks like it. But why is he carrying Wily Kit and Psikaris?" Monkian replied.

"Maybe we should take the Skycutters and investigate, nyah ha ha," Jackalman suggested.

"Hoo, maybe not," grunted the monkey, recalling the severe thrashing he'd received the day before from the panther. The Mutants had been Berbil-spooking when Lion-O and Panthro roared up in that Thundertank monstrosity. "Though maybe the Lunatacs will thank us for rescuing Psikaris."

"Nyah ha, probably not. Come on, anyway. I'm curious as to what's going on."

* * *

"Panthro was never anywhere near the Skycruiser, so it shouldn't have any booby-traps or anything." Now that the uncertainty of Nightshade's identity was gone, Luna had calmed down somewhat. "Who knows how to fly this thing? Where's Mystan?"

"Drunk," said Tycho.

"Aiiigh! Right then. Alluro?"

"Sleeping. The gas should wear off soon."

"Not soon enough! The rest of Mystan's crew is either dead or captured. At least, that's what I assume happened to Chilla and Red-Eye. Which cats are here?"

"Lion-O, Cheetara, Black Claw, Lynx-O, Ghost, and Aker," Tycho reported, "as well as the samurai. Tygra is missing and presumed captured. We can pick up Pumyra and Tug-Mug from where they crashed."

"If they survived," Luna added grimly. "Go collect Alluro. The snarfs can baby-sit Mystan. Maybe our silly Lunar Droids can fly the ship." Tycho ran out. Luna prodded Amok over to the communications relay. "Attention, Thundercats. This is Luna. The Skycruiser is going to chase Nightshade in about two minutes, so anyone who wants to come along for the ride can."

Lion-O's voice filtered back over the connection. "Cheetara, Hachiman, and Aker will go with you. Lynx-O, Ghost, and I will take the Thunderstrike and stop by the wreckage of the Flyer, then catch up. Black Claw will monitor from the Lair."

"Got it. Luna out."

* * *

While the Skycruiser had no real way of tracking Panthro/Nightshade, it could easily trace Psikaris' communicator. The little Lunar Droids flew the ship, overjoyed to be of service. Cheetara, Aker, and Hachiman looked around the bridge with some interest. Alluro was sleeping in a chair, Tycho standing nearby. Luna wanted to pace, so she forced Amok to do it. "We still don't know how to destroy the Nightshade entity. Stupid Red-Eye never said how to do it. Isn't that idiot awake yet?" she demanded, the last question directed at Tycho.

"I've tried everything, Luna," replied Tycho, exasperated. "Alluro will wake up when the gas wears off."

"May I try something?" Cheetara asked. Luna shrugged, and the cheetah left the bridge. A minute later she returned with a glass of water, which she proceeded to splash on the hypnotist.

That produced the desired effect. Spluttering, Alluro surged to his feet. "What? Where?.." A quick look around answered those questions.

"So good of you to join us," said Luna.

* * *

Alluro's eyes narrowed to slits as he was informed of the recent happenings. A slow anger was burning within him. "When we catch up to Nightshade, she will pay for hurting Psikaris," he snarled.

"Don't worry. We all feel the same way. Nightshade's evil has gone on for far too long," Cheetara said.

* * *

Nightshade could sense her host tiring. This stood to reason, it was only a mortal shell. There was only one thing to do. She landed and hid Wily Kit and Psikaris in a small underground cave. As she emerged, however, she heard the scraping of foot steps on the ground. "Perfect timing, Bengali," she snickered.

"Nyah, ha, ha! I'm not Bengali!" Jackalman said, more confused than normal.

"Hoo, hoo, neither am I. Maybe we roughed him up a little more than we'd expected," Monkian replied.

"Ah, the Mutants. I should have known. Come then let's get this over with," Nightshade said. Monkian reacted first, charging in on his opponent. He connected, felling Panthro in one shot. A cloud of dust erupted from the earth as his body fell. "Hoo, hoo. He's dead! I just killed Panthro!" Monkian hollered.

"Nyah ha ha, won't Slythe be impressed?" Jackalman said, lifting the body over his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going, Mutants?" came a voice.

"Bengali!" Jackalman moaned.

"Hoo, hoo, stay back, Thundercat. I've already killed one of your comrades, and I can do it again!" Monkian said.

Bengali raised the Hammer of Thundera and fired. Monkian dropped Panthro and ran for his Skycutter.

"Wait. Stay here. We need to talk with you," Bengali said, realizing the seriousness of what had just happened.

"Why should we?" Jackalman asked, nervously.

"Our petty rivalry is nothing compared to the evil that's going on here on Third Earth," Bengali replied. "Come, the Skycruiser is coming. Luna and Lion‑O can fill you in better than I."

"The Thundercats and Lunatacs are working together? Hoo, hoo, this must be serious," Monkian said.

* * *

Tygra rubbed his head. He Red-Eye and Chilla had been passed out on the floor for several hours. "Where's Panthro?" Tygra asked aloud.

"I have no idea. Maybe he went to get help," Red-Eye suggested.

"Let's go work on this invention of yours, Tygra, the sooner it's ready the better," Chilla said. The architect nodded and the three went up to the workroom, unaware of what had transpired.

* * *

If anyone had been watching the small glade where Panthro had died, they'd have been intrigued to see a large grizzly bear carrying two bodies towards the Thundrainium fields.

* * *

"What!? She's jumped bodies again? You idiots, now we're no better off than we were before!" Anger had roughed Alluro's normally smooth voice as he railed out the Mutants.

"Lay off. They didn't know any better," Luna snapped at him. Alluro stalked over to a chair and sat down sullenly, glaring at the assembly. "Look, our next problem is where is Nightshade now, and where are our people."

"As I see it, there's three things she could have done," said Aker, ticking it off on his fingers. "One, she jumped to Bengali or a Mutant for spying purposes. Two, she's in the Skycruiser crew. Three, she's in either Psikaris or Wily Kit."

"Both of Wily Kit's legs are in casts," Alluro said flatly.

"Red-Eye said that she could also take over an animal," Cheetara reminded them.

"Why do that when you can have opposable thumbs just as easily?" asked Ghost. "Though I can't see Nightshade possessing one she wants to take revenge on. She seems more the physical rather than mental torturer type."

"But unless she very recently let our friends have it with the knock-out gas from Panthro's nunchakus or had some other way to keep them put, she wouldn't leave her prisoners," said Tycho.

"And in any case, she's got no mode of transportation except her feet," said Luna. "Search this area. She can't be far."

* * *

"Aagh! Legs! Where are my legs!?"

"You don't have legs, Tug-Mug."

"Oh. Yeah." The rotund Lunatac shoved a broken panel off of himself, then rolled to his metaphorical feet. "Where are you, Pumeera?"

"Over here. Help me out." Following the puma's voice, it was the work of a few minutes to extract her from the wreckage. "You're hurt," Pumyra said, noticing the purple slime smeared liberally over the Lunatac.

"Eet looks worse than eet feels. You don't look so hot yourself."

Pumyra looked down at herself. "I'll live." Her ears flicked back at a sound, and she scanned the sky. "It's the Thunderstrike!" she called, waving to the vehicle. It saw her and landed. Pumyra and Tug-Mug got into the main craft behind Lynx-O, and the ship took off again.

* * *

Chilla and Red-Eye had extreme doubts, but Tygra assured them that Snarfer actually would be useful in putting the device together. Apparently, though, everyone else had left. "They assumed you were captured, yup, yes sir," explained Snarfer.

"Didn't anyone stay behind?" asked Tygra.

"Just me, Snarf and Black Claw, yup. Oh, and Mystan, but he's kinda out of it, snyarfer, snyarfer."

"'Out of it'?"

"Drunk. Uncle Snarf's keeping an eye on him."

The Lunatacs valiantly suppressed a laughing fit, and got back to work.

* * *

Alluro led the way down to the hangar where the Lunar Droids were busy building Crescent Fighters. "Now, the controls are basically the same as most of the other vehicles. You'll have to be careful on turns. It also doesn't land very well, I haven't had the chance to work all the bugs out," he said. Tycho, Aker and Bengali climbed into three of the available vehicles with Alluro taking the other. "We'll fan out and search the area," Aker said.

* * *

Nightshade approached her next target. He wouldn't even see it coming.

* * *

Slythe paced Castle Plundarr. "What are thossse thingsss?" he asked aloud.

"Caw! How should I know? They aren't responding to communications!" Vultureman replied.

"Damn it all. Whatever they are, they don't appear to be hossstile, yet. Keep an eye on them. I'm going to go find those imbecilesss Jackalman and Monkian, yesss?" Slythe said.

* * *

"You know. It was Panthro that suggested this invention, right?" Chilla said to Tygra.

"Yeah," Tygra replied.

"And Panthro was also the one possessed by Nightshade, right?" Chilla asked.

"Galloping Goblins! You're right. Why would Nightshade suggest an invention that would destroy her?" Tygra exclaimed.

"Could it be that Panthro was exerting some control, trying to help us?" Chilla asked.

"No. If I know Panthro, he would have tried to let us know directly," Tygra said.

"That makes sense. Only one person at a time can be in charge of a body. Panthro would likely have told you straight out. Which means that Nightshade had some other reason for it," Red-Eye said.

"Let's build it anyway. We might be able to use it to lure her into a trap," Tygra said.

* * *

Psikaris rubbed her eyes and looked about. Wily Kit lay on the ground, Thundrainium laced chains around her wrists. The chains around her own wrists hurt like anything. They seemed to hamper her concentration. "Two down and two to go. As soon as I have the four of you I will relish eliminating you all, one by one," a voice said. Psikaris couldn't make out the face but knew the voice. "Nightshade. Let me go!" she said.

"I don't think so. Not yet. And when I do let you go, it will be to kill you. The most wonderful part of all this is that no one knows you're here. Absolutely no one. The Mutants that helped me carry you here now lie dead in a disused corridor. I must leave you now, though. Bengali and Alluro are near and we simply must invite them to our little party," Nightshade replied. The door slammed shut and Nightshade, inside whomever her host was, walked down the hall.

Psikaris pulled herself to a sitting position and tried to think. Judging by Nightshade's comments about Mutants and disused corridors, she was in Castle Plundarr. If she got a couple Mutants to help her, she was in the body of someone who could boss them around, like one of the Mutant commanders or any given Lunatac. However, under Nightshade's characteristic guttural speech, she didn't recognize the voice. So it was probably a Mutant. She didn't deal with them often.

The pain in her wrists was making it hard to think. Knave said that ice Lunatacs could breathe so that metal becomes brittle, but her powers weren't strong enough. Besides, that would only affect the chain, not the manacles. She could soften the metal and pull free, but altering metal took more effort than she could muster in this much pain. Flesh was easy by comparison.

Breathing on her wrists to numb them helped the pain somewhat. Psikaris then focused on her hands, thinning them, drawing the excess mass into herself. When they were small enough, she gratefully slipped the manacles off. First she would rest, then she would help the Thunderkitten, then she would work on a way out of the cell. The thought of her personal communicator occurred to her, and she checked her pockets, but apparently Nightshade had thought of it already.

* * *

Aker waved the other three searchers down. "Well?" asked Tycho. A bit of an undignified landing had bruised his pride.

"I found a cave, and this." The lion held up a small crescent, which he tossed to Alluro.

"Psikaris' personal communicator," he said, "Undamaged. Nightshade must have taken it from her and left it behind to mislead us."

"Rrowl, what makes you think Psikaris didn't leave it behind herself to tell us where she was?" asked Bengali.

"Fool. She would have kept it with her for later use," Alluro snapped, pocketing the device. "Where is this cave?"

"Don't bother. There's nothing there," Aker said, shaking his head. "The tracks outside were kind of confused; Panthro's going in and out once, Monkian and Jackalman's tracks to the cave mouth and away, Bengali's nearby..."

Tycho interrupted, "But if our people are gone, that means that neither Bengali, Monkian, nor Jackalman are Nightshade."

"That's good to know," said Bengali.

"Then who?.." asked Alluro, going pale.

"The last set of tracks belonged to a grizzly bear," Aker finished, "In a body like that, Nightshade could have easily carried Wily Kit and Psikaris. I'll follow the trail on foot. The rest of you keep to the air."

* * *

"Peregrine! There you are. Have you ssseen Monkian or Jackalman?" Slythe asked, running into the Avian in the halls.

"Why should I care where those two incompetents are?" Peregrine snorted.

"There'sss ssstrange vehiclesss nearby," Slythe replied.

"Are they flying together?" Peregrine asked.

"No. They're flying sssome dissstance apart," came the reply.

"Excellent. Since you seem to be an utter moron, I will deal with one of these fighters personally," Peregrine said.

* * *

"What on Third Earth was that?" said Bengali, as his ship was rocked. He looked about. The cockpit afforded him very little in the way of a view so he grabbed his radio and repeated the question.

"Hang on a minute," Alluro sighed.

Bengali watched as Alluro's ship flew closer. The hypnotist's eyes widened and he picked up the radio again. "It's that Peregrine from the Mutants. He's torn one of the side panels off. You want me to shoot at him?" Alluro asked.

"Are you crazy? You might hit me!" Bengali said.

"If he's at the panel I think he's at, it won't make a difference. If I don't shoot him, you're going to lose all power in a minute," Alluro retorted.

"What? Do it. Get him off!" Bengali shouted.

Alluro's hands played across his controls, sending three calculated bursts of energy into the stunned Mutant. Instead of falling off like he should have, he winced and jumped onto Alluro's windshield. Massive hands broke through the glass and pulled him from his chair.

"Hang in there, Alluro!" Tycho shouted, his own guns blazing. Peregrine leapt from the fighter, putting Bengali's fighter between himself and Tycho. "Stop firing. We don't want him to drop Alluro or myself," Bengali cried.

No sooner were the words spoken than he too was pulled from his cockpit. Peregrine then tossed the feline out into the open air, using him to distract Tycho and allowing himself to get back to Castle Plundarr.

* * *

"Done! Nightshade had some reason for wanting this built, probably to have us running in the wrong direction, but probably to use it on us. Is there any likely reason?" Tygra asked.

"Possibly. It's a well‑known fact that wraiths don't breathe like you and I. It could be that she intended to use such a fan for the more sinister purpose of draining away our air," Red-Eye said.

"That's all well and good, but what about the weapon that would make it seem like we were dead?" Chilla asked.

"The concept would be that for us to seem to be dead the weapon would have to cause basic bodily functions to cease, for example rapid eye movement and muscle spasms, as well as causing other functions to slow to a pace where they seemingly have stopped. I assume this would make it easier to collect prisoners," Tygra replied.

* * *

Somehow Tycho managed to get his ship under Bengali and land half-decently. Aker saw them and ran over. "What happened?"

"Peregrine grabbed Alluro and took off," said Tycho. "Mutant fool."

"Or worse. I finished tracking the bear," said Aker, "It was dead. Reptile Mutant tracks went to it and away."

"So Nightshade went to Castle Plundarr and took over Peregrine," said Bengali, "And now she has Alluro."

Tycho got back into his ship. "Chances are that Psikaris and Wily Kit are at Castle Plundarr. That was the direction Peregrine was headed anyway. I'll call the Skycruiser and Thunderstrike."

* * *

Psikaris had run out of plans. Both she and Wily Kit were free of their chains, but they were still stuck in the cell. Even at full strength she couldn't alter her way out of the room; the walls, floor, and ceiling were solid stone and the door was iron. The Lunatac had tried to reach out the tiny window and open the door from the outside, but at the size her hand and arm had to be to fit, she couldn't lift the iron bar that held the door shut. She would have to wait for Nightshade to return, and rely on surprise to freeze her.

In the meantime, she had been trying to talk to the Thunderkitten. It wasn't really working. It occurred to Psikaris that it might not be fair to give Wily Kit any false hopes, but she was doing it mostly for herself. One of them, at least, had to keep trying. Eventually, evidently tired of the Lunatac woman's chatter she asked, "So why does she have it in for you?"

Surprised at being asked a question, Psikaris replied truthfully, "I killed her first host, Shade. I don't know if Nightshade took over because she was that fond of Knave, or if Shade's weakened emotional condition made her vulnerable. The first person Nightshade killed was my brother. Then she tried for... someone else I care about, but she was stopped. She kidnapped you, then I tracked her down and killed her. Great moon gods, I had no idea it would lead to this..."

Wily Kit looked away, as if listening to something else, then said, "She's coming. You'd better get ready."

Footsteps outside told that Wily Kit was right, so Psikaris stepped to the side of the door and waited. Nightshade would have only two reasons for coming: Dropping off another prisoner or that she'd tired of waiting and decided to kill them now.

It turned out to be merely a prisoner drop off, and as such, Nightshade didn't come in. Psikaris' icy breath managed no more than to freeze one of the Mutant's arms. The door clanged shut, and Psikaris had half a mind to give up in despair when she realized who their new cell mate was.

"Alluro!" Psikaris helped him to a sitting position before hugging him tightly. "Are you all right? I mean, aside from..."

"Aside from being the captive of a sadist," he sighed, returning the embrace, "I'm fine. You?"

"She hasn't hurt us yet. Which Mutant is she in? I never got a good look."

"Peregrine. Help me up." Reluctantly letting him go, Psikaris helped pull him to his feet. "We're in Castle Plundarr," said Alluro. "She didn't bother knocking me out to bring me here."

Psikaris nodded. "That's what we figured by a few things she said. But no one seems to use this hall, so there's no way to get a message out."

With a slight smile, Alluro took a small crescent from his pocket. "Will this do?"

"My communicator!" she exclaimed. "Where did you?.. Oh, who cares."

* * *

"Slythe, we are going to search Castle Plundarr one way or another. We can do this with your permission or without," Luna said. All signs Aker and the others had collected pointed to Castle Plundarr, and the suspicion was verified by Alluro, though he couldn't say exactly where he was in the fortress.

"What'sss going on?" Slythe asked.

"There's an evil greater than anything you can imagine. The Lunatacs and Thundercats have put our differences aside in order to defeat it," Lion‑O said.

"Very well. I don't think could ssstop you anyway, yesss?" Slythe said.

"Yes, you're right," Luna snickered.

* * *

"Listen to me carefully, Nightshade, they know that you're here. It's obvious. The way I see it you have two choices. Trust me, or we both die," Peregrine said within his own mind.

"You're already dead," Nightshade laughed.

"But you're not. I have a way of getting out, but you'll have to let me control my own body to do it," Peregrine assured her.

"Your time is limited. Explain," Nightshade said.

"Fine. When I was granted my powers by the Lunar Gods I wasn't just given super strength as everyone believes. I was also granted the ability to fly at ultra high speeds. That's why I was able to 'fly to the sun' and return to Plundarr in such a short period of time. I can take you and your prisoners into outer space in the wink of an eye. I understand that Exile Isle is relatively near. Granted you'll have to deal with Captain Cracker but that's an acceptable price," Peregrine said.

* * *

"Nightshade!" Wily Kit gasped as the door swung open.

"Wrong. Peregrine. Same difference though. It's time to get out of here," the Avian replied, "I can knock you out first, but I'd prefer not to." The three prisoners looked at each other and allowed themselves to be picked up by their belts and carried through the hole Peregrine made with his feet.

* * *

"Incoming!" warned Lion‑O as a hole formed in the side of Castle Plundarr. The tiny figure emerging flew straight and hard toward the small search party composing of himself, Luna, Amok, Aker, Hachiman, and Tycho. The three prisoners were dropped at their feet.

"She's in me! Hurry! I can't control her much longer!" Peregrine warned, his left hand jerked out drawing blood from Amok's face.

"Ho!" Lion‑O shouted, aiming the Sword of Omens at the bird. He let out an inhuman scream and fell unconscious.

"Excellent. Now we have Nightshade trapped in this body," Hachiman said.

"Yes, but for how long. We know that Nightshade can slip out of the body, killing it instantly. What's to stop her from doing that when she regains consciousness?" Tycho mused.

"Then we don't have much time left to us. Let's keep Peregrine unconscious as long as we can," Luna said, comforting Amok. "Let's get back to Cat's Lair. Apparently Red-Eye, Chilla, and Tygra have some device that may destroy Nightshade."

---

Continued

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