EXILES

Alluro Katalaepsy and Psychro Myntaello were constantly battling for Chilla Iespyk’s attention, and each time she turned them down. Her brother, Knave, had taken it upon himself to ensure that the two kept their hormones in check and got the point. Regretfully their escapades had grown to the point where Luna had had to intervene and declared that a contest should be set up among the three. The losers would be forced to live on their own, away from Skytomb, for one month. Alluro and Knave had lost and decided to stick together.

Earlier in the day Knave had been wandering through the stolen pirate vessel, renamed the Skycruiser, and discovered a device labeled the Dream Manipulator. He’d packed it in his bag in the hopes that he and Alluro might defeat the Thundercats with it, just to prove a point.

"It’s obvious. The Tower of Omens must be our first target," Knave said.

"And give me one good reason," Alluro said.

"Well, for one thing, taking over the Tower will be relatively easier than going after the Lair. Besides which, from there we’d have a base of operations," Knave said.

"You’re just out for revenge, after Bengali repeatedly beat your hide," Alluro said.

"And I suppose you have a better idea?" Knave asked.

"Of course I do. My ideas are always better than yours. We attack the Lair. With Lion-O out of the way, we’ll have an easy time of taking the Tower. Once we’ve done that I’ll be gracious enough to let you kill Bengali," Alluro said.

"Brilliant. I can see why you’re the master strategist," Knave said.

"Thank you," Alluro said, smugly.

"You idiot. You couldn’t out think a Snarf. The Dream Manipulator is psychic in nature, so of course we’ll try it on the people who can stop us. Tygra, Cheetara, Lion-O and Black Claw would all detect what we’re doing and stop us. At least if we attack the Tower we’ll be able to hit Lion-O and company with something else as well," Knave said.

"Look, as soon as we use the device on the Tower, Lion-O’s little sword will go off and warn him that the Thundercats are in danger. Then we’re back at square one," Alluro said.

"It’s my device, and I say what we do with it," Knave said, snatching it off the ground and sulking off into the woods.

Mystan Benekasbeel, bodyguard to Luna’s cousin Tycho, sat in the captain’s chair aboard the Skycruiser. This would make the perfect vessel for him to commandeer when he took over the Lunataks. Of course, not all the Lunataks would be willing to fall under his command, Luna and Amok for one thing. He instructed the droids that operated the ship to show him how to reprogram them if needed. The droids, or Lunardroids, began chirping out the necessary procedure. Mystan smiled to himself. Perfect, now all he needed was a first recruit.

Time passed and Alluro’s campfire was beginning to sputter. He glanced around looking for some wood, but saw Knave coming instead. The Ice Lunatak/Cheetah hybrid dropped a small bundle of logs next to the hypnotist and forced himself to look him in the eyes. "Alluro. I’ve come to the decision that I need you. I don’t like you, and I won’t pretend I do, but we stand a better chance of surviving if we work together," he said, a slight growl building in his throat.

"Are you suggesting a truce, until this is over with?" Alluro asked.

"Yes and no. I’m suggesting we form a truce yes, but it could last longer than this. As much as I hate to admit it, you’re more honorable to Chilla than Psychro is. It boils my blood just thinking that she’s with him, unprotected," Knave said.

"She doesn’t need your protection. She’s a grown woman," Alluro said.

"I know that, I really do. But you don’t understand how much she did for me. I owe her big time," Knave said.

"All right then. We work together until this exile is over and you trust me more than Psychro. I assume there’s something connecting these thoughts?" Alluro inquired.

"Yes. I propose that you and I set our differences aside until Psychro is out of the way. After that, you’re fair game," Knave said.

"Once Psychro gives up on Chilla you and I can continue hating each other? I can live with that," Alluro said.

"Good, then let’s head to the Tower of Omens and get this over with," Knave said.

Alluro shook his head sadly. He thought about protesting but decided not to. Vow or not Knave might be willing to end his problems with one simple icepick thrust. The man possessed incredible speed and Alluro doubted he could put up any sort of defense against an icepick through the chest.

Shade heard a knock on her door. Who would be disturbing her at this late hour, she wondered, especially since Knave had been taken from her side? Maybe it was Tug Mug trying to get her to cook a late night snack. "Come in," she called out. The door slid aside and revealed Mystan’s lean 5'9 frame. "Yes?" she asked.

"Shade, you and I have worked together for a long time, haven’t we?" Mystan asked.

"I suppose so. At least five years, why?" Shade replied.

"I like to think that over that time I’ve gotten to know you fairly well. I can tell when you’re happy and when you’re upset. You’re not pleased with Luna’s decision, are you?" Mystan said.

"That’s obvious," Shade said, her evil personality beginning to take hold.

"I’ve got an idea to do something about it. Rescind the exile and bring Knave back immediately. Then we dispose of Luna and any who might side with her," Mystan said.

"Intriguing, tell me more," Shade said.

"Well, the way I see it, there’s you, me, Knave, and Alluro for sure. Chilla will fall in, because Knave is there, and Red Eye will because you’re his daughter. Luna, Amok and Tycho would get in the way and try to seize control, that’s obvious, and we definitely don’t want Psychro hanging around, although that means Psikaris won’t join. That leaves Tug Mug as the wild card. The one man who might swing the balance of power," Mystan explained.

"Very well. When you raise the flag of rebellion, you will find Shade Twilight at your side, so long as you can convince Knave," Shade said. Mystan smiled broadly and strode out of the room, confident in his plans.

"Now, how do we work this Dream Manipulator?" Alluro asked.

"You wait for your victim to fall asleep and turn it on. From there we can enter the world of unreality and meddle with the very fabric of their dreams," Knave replied, hooking one of the wires to his arm.

"I’ll let you take the first one on your own. Just to make sure it’s safe," Alluro said.

"Good. I’ve been looking forward to invading Bengali’s dreams," Knave chuckled, switching the machine on.

Bengali was in the main control of the Tower of Omens when the alarms went off. "A Lunatak, heading toward us?" he said aloud, before realizing he was alone. He dashed down the steps and emerged out doors where Knave waited for him. "It’s just you and me, at last," the Lunatak said.

"Aren’t you tired of me beating you?" Bengali asked.

"That was the last time we fought. This time, you die," Knave growled, moving closer. Bengali reached for his hammer but found it stuck in its pouch. He looked at it in confusion before his brain registered an icepick going through his chest.

Bengali awoke with a start. It had all seemed so real. He walked down the hall to the bathroom to wash his face and maybe get himself a drink.

"Amazing. I didn’t think it would work. What do we do next?" Alluro asked.

"Now, you go into someone’s dreams and wake them up. One of the keys is that the Thundercats can’t get any sleep. We’ll alternate who interferes and who rests, but the theme must always be the same. The Thundercats are helpless against us," Knave said.

Pumyra was wandering outside of the Tower of Omens when she heard the snap of a twig being stepped on. She wheeled around and glared into the face of Alluro. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Getting rid of you. I want you to take one of your pellets, stick it in your mouth and bite. You have no choice in the matter. You will cooperate," Alluro said. Pumyra did as he ordered, and the pellet exploded.

Pumyra jerked awake and rubbed her eyes fiercely, the after images of her death clear in her mind. She walked slowly to the bathroom and saw Bengali emerging. "You look as bad as I do," she said.

"Nightmare," he explained.

"Same here," she replied.

Snarfer merrily skipped through the halls, carefree. A wall of ice formed in front of him and a sinister voice said "Your time has come, fur ball." Snarfer turned and gasped as Knave came closer to him, the tip of his icepick twinkling in the light. Soon the cat was paralyzed with fear, allowing Knave to place his weapon against the Snarf’s chest and push.

Lynx-O could hear Alluro and Knave walking around him. Could smell them on the air, could feel the heat from the hypnotist’s body and the cold from the Ice Lunatak/Cheetah hybrid. "What shall we do now?" Alluro said.

"Which one of us will kill you?" Knave said.

"Should I convince you to slit your wrists, something you’d be powerless to stop me from doing?" Alluro mused.

"Or should I make things nice and quick. Freeze your body so that it becomes brittle, and then shatter you. Allowing you to become so much dust upon the floor?" Knave said.

"Let’s do both. You will slit your wrists," Alluro said.

"I will slit my wrists," Lynx-O heard himself say, drawing a knife across. A breath of cold air hit him and he woke.

"You should never have left Plundarr," Alluro said, holding Aker motionless with his gaze. The Thundercat, along with Ghost, had been living happily on Plundarr until a dimensional traveling device had brought them here. "You might have lived longer there," Alluro continued, "but as it is, you can’t win. I will destroy you." Then Alluro’s hands were around the Lion’s throat, squeezing tightly. It was all he could do to put his own hands around Alluro’s wrists, trying to break the death grip.

"So, you’re the one they call Ghost, eh?" Knave asked. "I understand that you and Tygra were pupils together. What a pity that you didn’t learn any of his fighting skills. They might have kept you alive for a few seconds longer." The hybrid picked up a chair and broke it across the woman’s head, knocking her to the ground. Knave then effortlessly picked up the bed and repeatedly brought it down on the hapless Thundercat.

Mystan knocked lightly on Red Eye’s door. When the Lunatak opened it he could sense that something was up. "Red Eye. How would you characterize Luna as a leader?" he asked.

"She’s pretty good. Sure she messes up on occasion, well, frequently, but she’s all we’ve got," Red Eye replied.

"What if I could propose an alternative?" Mystan asked.

"What? Are you suggesting I join some kind of mutiny?" Red Eye asked, preparing to fire a missile.

"Your daughter has, readily," Mystan said, his voice almost a whisper.

"Shade?" Red Eye asked, stunned. Mystan nodded.

"Don’t think of it as mutiny. I call it freeing ourselves from Luna’s oppressive tyranny. We can change things around here. We don’t have to put up with Amok bullying us around. We can force him to bow down at our feet and kiss our toes," Mystan said.

"And you say that Shade is with you?" Red Eye asked again. Mystan nodded.

Red Eye didn’t know what to do. He was loyal to Luna, and thought that she would make a better leader than anyone else he knew, but siding with her would mean that he and his own flesh and blood would be at odds. He couldn’t chance having to hurt her. "Fine. You’ve got yourself an ally," he said at last.

The process went on for almost a week, with none of the Thundercats living in the Tower of Omens able to get even a minute of sleep. The two Lunataks, camped out nearby, were rested and enjoyed every minute of their torture. Soon they determined that it must be time to visit the Thundercats in person, to see how well their plan had worked.

"Oh no! The Lunataks. Knave and Alluro!" Pumyra said.

"You’re kidding me. I don’t want to die," Aker said.

"We’re not going to die. We outnumber them. We can do it!" Bengali said, though his voice broke as he said it. The five Thundercats, trailed by Snarfer, plunged outside to deal with the threat.

"Surrender to our will, Thundercats. You will cooperate with us," Alluro intoned, not bothering to cast his psyche club. He smiled as the Thundercats pulled up and saw Lynx-O, Snarfer and Pumyra fall to their knees. "That’s right. Knave and I are vastly superior to you, face the music and allow yourselves to be slain," Alluro said.

Knave saw Bengali inch forward and drew his icepick. He advanced toward the Tiger and said to him "Draw your weapon, let’s see if you’ve improved any since our last encounter." Bengali looked down at his hammer. He’d been unable to remove it for a few days, not trusting whether it would serve him well or fail to come out as it had in his dreams. "I don’t need my hammer to defeat you," he said unsteadily.

Ghost growled, in her time on Plundarr she had seen far too many deaths. Friends, family, men, women and children, slaughtered in the streets. Why? Because they were Feline. Most of the cats on Plundarr had moved underground, those who were found, were killed. She couldn’t let that scene relive itself on Third Earth. Although she was highly fatigued, she lunged forward and tackled Alluro to the ground.

Lynx-O felt Alluro fall and it came to him that if she could beat Alluro, then so could he. Beside him Aker and Pumyra were realizing the same thing. The three split up to join their comrades in the fight.

"Idiot. They’re tired but they still overwhelm us," Knave shouted, "we have to get out of here!" Alluro nodded and threw the feline from his body. He scooped up the Manipulator and joined Knave in full fledged flight.

The Ice-Hypno Flyer landed nearby to where the pair were resting. Mystan stepped out. "I have a proposal for you. One that would see Psychro and Luna dead," he said slowly, "are you interested?"

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