Knave entered slowly into Skytomb, oblivious to everything going on around him. "Hello Knave, aren’t you on guard duty?" Tug Mug asked. Knave grabbed him by the throat with his gloved hand and hurled him down the hall behind him. He passed several doors and several corridors, but there was only one destination in mind. Alluro’s room. He kicked the door down and saw Chilla’s clothes haphazardly placed on the floor with the hypnotist’s. The happy couple lay in bed, looking shocked at his intrusion on this most private moment. "Now you die," he hissed, a stream of cold air numbing Alluro’s body. Knave smiled. A single touch now would cause Alluro to crumbled to dust.

"How soon before he wakes?" Mumm-Ra asked, looking down on Knave’s form. His right eye twitched from the vision before him. "Not long. It should be a one hundred percent recovery," Vampi-Ra said, prodding Knave’s hand. The Ice Lunatak/Cheetah hybrid had been caught in a fire burst, causing serious damage to his face and upper torso. Pumyra of the Thundercats had made a wild lunge while holding a marble containing fire. It had shattered against his face. To a common person this wouldn’t have been a major problem. But to Ice Lunataks, who were especially susceptible to fire, this damage could have become permanent, that is, if Mumm-Ra and Vampi-Ra hadn’t stepped in.

"Alluro was foolish to attempt my magic without my permission," Mumm-Ra said.

"Your magic? The magic granted you by the Ancient Spirits of Evil," Vampi-Ra remarked.

"If you wish. It doesn’t really matter one way or another. Alluro used a spell from the book I loaned him. He clearly forgot that he was not to cast a thing without informing me. Since he has, I have no choice but to reverse the damage he has caused," Mumm-Ra said.

"But I thought that when you lent him that tome in return for an ounce of his blood that he was free to do as he wished," Vampi-Ra said.

"No. He was allowed to peruse the book, study from it. Casting spells is an entirely different matter. It shows that he is willing to put his will against mine. This is why we must do what we are doing. When Knave recovers he will carry the evidence of Alluro’s transgression. Further, if Chilla does not believe, we will show her in the cauldron what has happened. Together they shall carry out our revenge for us," Mumm-Ra said.

"Remind me never to cross you. There is one thing I don’t understand. Why are we healing Knave? Wouldn’t his wounds serve to motivate him into fighting Alluro?" Vampi-Ra asked.

"No. He would complain about it, and then we will be forced to listen to him whine. Eventually even your heart of stone would crumble and you would fix it," Mumm-Ra said. Vampi-Ra snorted loudly.

"He’d just as soon bear my children than beg for my aid. Remember that the last time he and I met I had very nearly killed his sister and tried to take over his mind?" Vampi-Ra said.

"True. Maybe you should remain out of sight when he wakes," Mumm-Ra said.

His Cheetah heritage kicked in, sending him flying across the field. Cheetara couldn’t keep running for long, she’d been running for some time before she’d passed him. Sooner or later she would tire, and he believed that he had just enough endurance to wait that long. The moment he’d waited for came. Cheetara stumbled and turned in time to see Knave, icepick ready, charging at her. The pick pierced her heart as she slumped back, dead. Knave licked the weapon clean and sheathed it.

Knave woke with a start. There was something cold and hard beneath him. It didn’t feel like he was in the cave in which he’d battled Pumyra. Nor did it remind him of any of the places in his dreams. This disturbed him. Where was he? His eyes jerked open and he took in his surroundings. Several sarcophaguses, a pool, four statues. Mumm-Ra’s pyramid then. He was an ally of the vampire that had been the cause of many problems recently. "Where the hell are you?" he asked aloud.

"Not in hell, no, but rather I saved you from it," Mumm-Ra said.

"Mumm-Ra! Why have you brought me here?" Knave demanded.

"Harsh words. Your quarrel is not with me. The one you seek is resting at the moment," Mumm-Ra said.

"She lives? How?" Knave asked.

"She lives as much as a vampire can," Mumm-Ra chuckled, "as to how she survived, let’s just say that there are things that sorcery can do that are beyond your wildest comprehensions. In fact you have already had a taste of some of this power."

"What are you rambling about, mummy?" Knave demanded.

"What do you think I mean? How do you think you contracted that so called illness?" Mumm-Ra asked.

"If you had anything to do with this, I will have your head for my mantle wall. I’ve already lost my first choice for a wedding gift. You would make a fine second choice," Knave spat.

"Allow me to show you what I mean," Mumm-Ra said, gesturing to his pool.

At first Knave saw nothing, but then the waters revealed Alluro seated at his table with a large book open before him. Knave watched the events transpire. Alluro made a replica of Knave and proceeded to torture it. As soon as damage was done to the figurine, Knave himself had felt pain in those places. The scene shifted to Chilla’s conversation with Alluro and his subsequent decision to use his ‘cure’ of Knave to draw the Ice Lunatak closer to his heart, and his bed.

Knave seethed with rage. "How dare he! Of all the nerve! He used me to get at Chilla. I demand that you let me leave here at once to take care of this. After I’m through with him, I’ll face you and whoever else you want to throw at me, just give me this one chance," he fumed.

"And so I shall, but you needn’t come back unless you so desire. I have no quarrels with you, but I do dislike your friend. Deal Alluro a mighty blow and return my tome to me and I will consider everything squared," Mumm-Ra said. Knave nodded slowly. "There is one more thing. It has been discovered that your Cheetah heritage is more ingrained within you than you believe. With a little training your mind could become a lethal weapon."

Knave paused, curious, "how so?" he asked.

"You possess the ability to block mental attacks. Thus far it is very weak. With some training under my guidance it become powerful enough to block all attacks. Even ones from Alluro," Mumm-Ra said. "I could teach you now before you meet him. It would only take a few days to complete."

Knave’s eyes narrowed to slits, "What is the price of such training?" he asked.

"Price? The same price I asked of Alluro. One pint of your blood," Mumm-Ra said.

"What for?" Knave asked.

"A question Alluro neglected to ask. I believe there may be a way to open a doorway to your home world. A sample of your blood would make it easier to track down others of your kind," Mumm-Ra replied.

"And all you need is a pint? Very well, take it swiftly," Knave said, rolling up his sleeve.

"From the arm? No. Come forth Vampi-Ra," Mumm-Ra said.

Knave steeled himself. He didn’t know vampire lore very well, but was quite sure that not all victims of bites became vampires themselves. Vampi-Ra chuckled softly, gliding over to where he stood. "I know what you’re thinking. But it really isn’t a choice of yours. I could bite, take what’s needed and leave you perfectly normal, or I could drain you what’s needed and make you my permanent servant," she said in a voice like silk. "Of course, I could also drain you entirely. Mumm-Ra wouldn’t be able to stop me in time. Or maybe, just maybe, I’ll do this!" she rammed a syringe into Knave’s thigh and extracted the blood. She let out a strong laugh and backed away when she had all she needed.

Knave’s icepick flew to his hand and he pointed the tip at Vampi-Ra’s heart. "After this is all over, I am coming back for you," he growled.

"I’ll be waiting," she purred, gliding away.

"What a cute couple you two will make," Mumm-Ra snickered, "Now, your training begins."

Chilla glanced lazily over at Alluro, sitting on the window ledge. "Is anything wrong dear?" she asked.

"Nothing at all, Chilla my love. I was merely thinking about how far we’ve come since we first met in the reaches of outer space. I was head over heels for you then but considered you somewhat uptight. You thought me lazy and full of myself," Alluro replied.

"I still do. What’s your point?" Chilla replied, smiling to take the sting out of her words.

"There is none, really. But I remember you barely being willing enough to talk to me, let alone sleep with me," Alluro said.

"Oh come on. Who was I going to fall for? Amok? Maybe one of the Thundercats?" Chilla asked, "I can just imagine my father hearing that I was engaged to a Thundercat. He’d die of a heart attack, if he weren’t already dead. He went trying to find me, Knave says, and ended up on a Thunderian colony. They executed him for his crimes, those of being a Lunatak."

"It could be worse. You could have fallen in love with a Mutant. I don’t know your father, but I can imagine my reaction if you came in here draped on Monkian’s arm," Alluro said.

"Would you be jealous?" Chilla asked.

"No. I’d get your head examined. That’s like me falling in love with Luna!" Alluro said.

"That is a scary thought. Let’s dispel these negative thoughts and rejoice that we fell for each other," Chilla said.

Tug Mug looked up at Red Eye a few days later. "You want to help me take this for a test drive?" he asked, indicating the new Ice-Hypno Flyer.

"Who’s monitoring the sensors?" Red Eye asked.

"That would be Luna and Amok. She’s still annoyed that Knave isn’t back yet. Maybe we can go find him," Tug Mug said.

"That would make an even better gift for Chilla. She’s been moping about worrying over him," Red Eye replied.

"Good. Then let’s get going," Tug Mug said.

The Ice-Hypno Flyer had two positions. One was the pilot position with a single laser blaster in case all else failed. The second position, located behind the pilot and higher up, was a rotating turret that fired a wide variety of ammunition including: gas, lasers, ice and fire. Tug Mug took the pilot position, allowing Red Eye to man the weapons. Soon the pair was off and flying into the wide blue yonder.

Days past and Knave was getting impatient. Mumm-Ra was working him hard, tossing in a little magic here and there to help bring his natural instincts to the surface. By the end of his week of training he was able to prevent even Mumm-Ra from penetrating his brain. "I am impressed. Cheetara was able to cause mass destruction with her brain waves. Yours seem bent more on protection. You will do quite well against Alluro," Mumm-Ra said, applauding. Knave growled low. "Is there any way out of this godforsaken place, or do I have to walk?" he asked.

A rider with a flaming head on a flaming motorcycle drove up. The flames did not hurt the Ice Lunatak crossbreed as he mounted. "My ghostly rider will take you to Skytomb. From there you are on your own. Remember to bring me my tome and injure Alluro," Mumm-Ra called out as the vehicle drove out of sight.

"Chilla. There’s a fast-moving vehicle heading toward Skytomb," Red Eye said.

"Curses. I’ll go deal with it, you summon the others," Chilla said. Red Eye nodded and plucked up his radio.

"Knave?" Chilla asked, as the motorcycle disappeared at the doorstep to Skytomb, "What happened to you? Where have you been?" Knave, his anger at a high point, would have probably given Chilla a perfectly reasonable explanation. He might have told her what had happened, what he’d discovered, if Alluro hadn’t chosen that moment to exit Skytomb with the others. "You," he said, low. "You did this to me," he said, indicating the large scar he had from left eyebrow to the chin.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about Knave," Alluro said.

"Maybe I can remind you," Knave hissed, obliterating Alluro’s psyche club with his lethal breath.

"Knave, calm down. I haven’t done anything to you since Tygra tricked me," Alluro said.

"You lie. Not well either. Confess or the next time won’t be at your club. Mumm-Ra told me all about the tome he lent you, and a particular spell that is inside. He recognized the traces of magic on me and knew that there was only one who could do it," Knave said.

"Alluro, what is he talking about?" Luna asked, seeing that the hypnotist’s face had gone a ghostly white.

"This is going to take some explaining and I request that we move inside," Alluro replied.

Now that the Lunataks were assembled in Alluro’s lab the hypnotist found that still words did not come easily. "What Knave is referring to is a spell that I got from one of Mumm-Ra’s tomes. It’s known as Voodoo. In its most basic form it allows the sorcerer, myself in this case, to create a miniature double of the intended victim using a strand of hair, a lump of clay and a few words. In this case the victim was Knave. Whatever you do to the figurine will also occur to the target," he said.

"In other words, when I took ill, it was because Alluro was causing injury to the figurine," Knave said.

"You what? You intentionally harmed my brother? Then you used that to get on my good side. Ugh! And to think I even slept with you," Chilla said.

"You don’t understand. None of you do. I love Chilla and despise Knave. When I preformed this act of magic, I was desperate to get rid of the bastard. The fact that Chilla fell for me was merely an added bonus. I’d hoped none of you would find out," Alluro said, sitting gently in his chair.

"Mumm-Ra sent me to reclaim the book and take my revenge on you. I believe I know how. With your permission Luna I would like to repay Alluro in kind by casting this spell on him for twenty-four hours," Knave said. The Lunatak leader nodded, guiding Amok out of the room. Tug Mug and Red Eye soon followed.

Knave took a strand of hair from Alluro and the left over clay from Alluro’s desk and performed the rite. Chilla gave Knave a look and he immediately understood that she wanted a moment alone with her husband to be. He nodded, leaving the figurine on the table, and waited in the hall way.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Chilla asked.

"Because I didn’t want you to be angry with me, to have your eyes filled with hate when you look at me," Alluro replied.

"I should kill you here and now," she said, twisting the arm of the statue, causing Alluro’s arm to wrench to the side.

"But you won’t, I hope," Alluro said.

"No. After all we’ve been through, I won’t. Besides, Knave’s got his revenge coming. I’ll ask him to go easy on you, but I wouldn’t bet on it," Chilla said.

"I understand," Alluro replied. Chilla picked up the statue and the book and left the room.

"It’s almost funny. At first I thought this would be wonderful. Having you here at my mercy, but I see that the greatest wound I could have caused was to split up you and Chilla," Knave said, pulling on the ears of the statue so that they curled in front of his eyes. "I’m going to let you go. I don’t have the heart for this. I’ll return now to Mumm-Ra, my task more or less done," Knave said.

He found Chilla waiting for him in the hall. "Remind me to give you the wrong date for my wedding," Chilla said, managing a faint smile.

"Why’s that?" Knave asked.

"The first time I was to be married you told me exactly one week before the wedding that Psychro was scum. Now, one week to the day before Alluro and I were to be wed you come with this news," Chilla replied.

"You could always give up on your hypnotists," Knave said.

"Or you could keep your nose out of my boyfriend’s affairs," Chilla replied.

"Chilla, there’s something I need to tell you about Kineto. He loved you, he dreamed of marrying you," Knave said, releasing an ancient secret.

"I know. I always knew. You’ve never been a good liar," Chilla said.

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