THE PROPHESY PART 1
The history of the universe can best be described as a long book. Check
that, it's more like several volumes of books, with many chapters and stories
to tell. I have lived through it all. At the dawn of time there was me,
watching the events unfold before me. I could interfere if I chose, I just
tired of it and watched. The universe can be boiled down to one basic thing.
The struggle of good against evil. I have witnessed the rise and fall of
empires, hopes dashed and dreams achieved. Each chapter has its own champions,
heroes and villains if you will. This time around is no different. But, alas,
this chapter could be nearing its end. The champion of evil, Mumm-Ra, has a plan
that might destroy the forces of good, the Thundercats. Will he succeed? There
is only one way to find out, and that is to watch.
* * *
Mumm-Ra paced restlessly in front of the cauldron of bubbling purple water.
His masters, the Ancient Spirits of Evil, had summoned him forth. For the past
five months or so he had been plagued by the words Jonathan the all-seeing had
told him. "You wish to know if there is a way to destroy the
Thundercats. A sure fire way, no less. The answer is yes. You need three things.
Two on Third Earth, one not. I cannot tell you more lest it upset the
balance." It seemed like he would never be able to figure out the
riddle, not on his own. That's where the Ancients came into play.
"Mumm-Ra... Look deep into the cauldron. There you will find the answer
to your problems," the four Ancient voices said.
The ever living source of evil leaned closer and witnessed the events
following Jonathan's message. Tycho, Lion-O, Aqualor, Aker and himself were
doing battle with an evil sorcerer carrying an axe that could cleave planets in
two. Lion-O got hit by this weapon and was killed. Aqualor took the Sword of
Omens and the combined might of the three sword wielders and Aker vanquished
the foe. Then Aker took all three swords and merged them into one powerful
weapon that...
"That's it! I must have this sword, this so called 'Sword of Good and Evil.' It must be what I am meant to get. The three items are the Sword of Plundarr, the Sword of Omens and the Lunar Blade. Indeed, the Lunar Blade now resides with Tycho on the Moons of Plundarr," Mumm-Ra said. The Ancient Spirits seemed to smile smugly down upon their servant.
"That is correct, Mumm-Ra. Now, you must get these swords and eliminate the Thundercats once and for all," they boomed.
"I hear and obey," he replied.
* * *
Cat's Lair was all lit up. Tygra had returned after a four-month pilgrimage in the north, and he had brought along with him Hachiman and Timothy Nightcloak, the new wielder of the Sword of Omens. There had been great feasting and dancing the past three nights. But today, it was back to business. The Lair was virtually empty, in fact. But not empty enough for Aker. His only warning to duck was the raucous laughter that preceded the Thunderkittens. The pair pulled up just behind him and glanced back. "Sorry, Aker. We didn't think anyone would be in the halls," Wily Kit said.
"Yeah, we thought it'd be empty," added Wily Kat.
"Listen, you two. Cheetara doesn't allow you to fly those things in here anyway, I'm of half a mind to..." Aker began.
"Easy there. Let me handle things. Kids need discipline, sure, but they
also need a chance to be kids," Timothy said, exiting from a room.
"Tell you what, you two. Since the others won't let you play inside, or go
outside without someone, I'll be your chaperone for the evening. You two can do
whatever you like, as long as I'm within earshot."
The Thundercubs looked at each other, eyes wide and jaws hanging open. An
adult willing to play with them? Usually the best they got was someone
grumbling about making themselves useful, or telling them to grow up.
"Sure thing, Timothy. We can play hide and go seek," Wily Kat
said.
Timothy smiled. It had been ages since he had played that old game. Mostly
because his father had felt that a prince should not be playing games, he
should be learning about etiquette or how to ride a horse. Practical things,
not games. But what point was there in childhood if you didn't have fun on
occasion. He tossed the Sword of Omens to Aker and said, "Here. Hold this.
We won't be too long," and then was out the door with the cubs.
* * *
Wily Kat and Kit produced several strange wands and began setting them up
along the perimeter of the playing field. If anyone crossed through them they
would know and the person would lose. An orange beam erupted between the last
two wands as the Thundercubs activated them. "All right then. I'll count
to fifty and then start looking for you," Timothy said, placing his head
against a tall maple tree. Dimly he heard two sets of footsteps scurrying off.
"Fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight..."
* * *
"...three, two, one. Ready or not, here I come!" Timothy shouted.
Where to look first? The ground was covered with thick grass and tall trees.
The human decided that he might as well make for the trees. Cats liked trees,
after all.
* * *
Wily Kat felt a large hand clamp around his mouth. "Drat," he
thought, "Timothy's caught me already. And he only just started. What's
worse is that I didn't even hear him coming." The hand didn't let go, and
a second curled around his belt, lifting him off the ground. This wasn't funny
anymore to the young cub. This wasn't how you were supposed to play hide and
seek. Purple smoke seeped from the hand around his mouth. It made his head swim
and feel light. In a moment, Wily Kat was out like a light bulb.
* * *
Wily Kit was puzzled. The specially designed bracelet she wore was informing
her, as it was no doubt informing Timothy, that Wily Kat had left the playing
area. That did mean that she had won, but still. Why would he do such a thing?
She shrugged and began heading toward the exit point.
* * *
Timothy saw Wily Kit approaching and waved her over. "I don't see any footprints, and this area is covered in mud," Timothy said.
"That's odd. Maybe he was swinging through the trees. I'll try to get
him on his communicator," Wily Kit suggested. "Wily Kit to Wily Kat.
Come in Wily Kat." Wily Kit jumped, and turned to Timothy. "Here. Try
talking into this. I want to test a theory."
Timothy began speaking into the communicator, reciting old nursery rhymes
his mother had told him. Wily Kit began looking around and slowly walked into
the thicket a short distance. With a mixture of triumph and concern she held
aloft Wily Kat's communicator and walked back to Timothy. "It's all
scuffed up," she said. "That means he didn't just drop it, he was
forced to drop it."
* * *
Back in Cat's Lair, Aker was staring at the scanners when he heard the Sword of Omens danger signal. Panthro, having just arrived back at the Lair, came running over. "What's happening?" he asked.
"I don't know. But I'll soon find out. Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight," Aker replied, holding aloft the magic sword. He lowered it to his hip. "Mumm-Ra's happening. He's captured Wily Kat. We'll just have to go after him," Aker said.
"I'll grab the Thundertank, we can pick up Kit and Timothy on the
way," Panthro said.
* * *
Mumm-Ra dropped Wily Kat on the cold stone floor of his pyramid and turned
to look into the cauldron. He was expecting the Thundercats to arrive any
minute. He wanted them to arrive. They would, predictably, come in
with their weapons blaring, trying to rescue Wily Kat quickly and defeat their
enemy. But they would not find Wily Kat, not that easily. The demon priest
frowned at the bubbling waters. The Thundercats were making better time than he
had expected. Still, there were only four of them. Three and a half really,
since Wily Kit was one of them. That just meant things would have to be speeded
up a little. "Ancient Spirits of Evil. Transport this impetuous youth to
your dread dark dimension that he might know fear and despair as never
before!" Mumm-Ra chanted in a booming voice. The four statues responded
immediately, stepping off their platforms and surrounding the terrified
Thundercub. He tried backpedalling, but couldn't get very far. Red light,
intermingled with blue and gold, surrounded him. And then he was gone.
"Excellent work, Ancient ones," Mumm-Ra said as the statues returned to
their original positions. "The Thundercats will never be able to rescue
him there, not without sacrificing their precious sword."
* * *
The Thundertank rumbled to a stop outside of the black pyramid and the four Thundercats hopped out. "So, how do we get in?" Timothy asked.
"We could climb in through the roof," suggested Wily Kit.
"Are you crazy? And risk breaking our necks when we fall?" Aker snapped.
"Don't worry, Wily Kit. It was a good suggestion, just not something we could have done," Timothy said, patting the youngster on the shoulder.
"Well then, what do we do?" Panthro asked.
"Do? You should enter," Mumm-Ra's voice snickered as he opened a door on the wall.
"It's probably a trap so that we can fight him face to face sooner.
Let's go in," Panthro said.
* * *
The passages were long and narrow, forcing the Thundercats to walk in single
file, and the walls were covered with slime. When the quartet wasn't pushing
cobwebs aside, they were looking at the floor, trying to spot a trap. But there
was nothing. Not even a single mummy wrapping seeking out their warm bodies. It
was as though Mumm-Ra wanted them in one piece when they got to the heart of
his home.
This made Aker uneasy. This wasn't anything like what he had expected from
Mumm-Ra. Usually the sorcerer would whittle away at their strength. This could
only mean that he had the upper hand, and didn't want to tip it until he had
to. Was this a trap? Yes. Could they do anything about it? No. And that's what
bothered Aker.
* * *
The winding passages ended in the high vaulted room that served as the
"throne room" of Mumm-Ra. The four statues surrounding the pool
seemed to watch them. The sarcophagus lay closed against the back of the wall
inside the gaping maw of a giant skull.
"Wily Kit!" a dim voice called, "Timothy! Panthro! Aker!
Anybody, help me!" It was Wily Kat's voice, and it was coming from the
cauldron. Leaving Aker to stand watch over the sarcophagus, hoping that Mumm-Ra
was inside asleep, the other three Thundercats rushed over to the source of the
crying.
There knelt Kat, his body riddled with bruises and pain evident in his eyes.
He was kneeling on a dark purple cloud, clothes in tatters and tears streaming
from his face. In the background they could see four strange looking men, men
who resembled the four statues, laughing at the youngster. Wily Kat seemed to
look up at them and tried to reach out to them, but one of the Ancient Spirits
wracked his body with lightning bolts.
Wily Kit lunged forward into the pool, splashing around trying to rescue her
brother from this fate seemingly worse than death. "Wily Kat, no!"
she cried loudly. Panthro reached out to pull her free, but Timothy had other
ideas. "Wait. Maybe the Sword of Omens can show us a way to rescue your
brother. Sword of Omens, cross the mystic void to send us to wherever Wily Kat
is!" he said.
The Sword of Omens flashed brilliantly, its all seeing Eye searching for the
location of Wily Kat. When it found him, it opened wide and emitted a beam of
pure golden light. The light covered the three Thundercats and sent them
through to the dread dimension of the Ancient Spirits of Evil.
* * *
Aker gasped in surprise as his friends vanished into thin air, and gasped
again when the Sword of Omens clattered to the ground. Being a creation of
goodness, it was unable to itself go into a dimension of pure evil. He was just
about to go collect the ancient weapon when Mumm-Ra flung open the lid of his
sarcophagus. Aker dove and rolled behind a pillar. He couldn't let Mumm-Ra know
he was here, lest a fight break out. The Lion had always considered himself to
be a formidable foe, but against Mumm-Ra he didn't stand a chance.
Mumm-Ra cackled with glee. Four of his greatest enemies, the Thundercats,
were now entirely at the mercy of his masters. The evil lord of darkness
scooped up the Sword of Omens. "Now, I have two of the three great swords
I need to destroy the Thundercats once and for all, and without their precious
Sword of Omens to save them, nothing can stop me!" Mumm-Ra roared, flying
through the roof.
* * *
Timothy, Panthro and Wily Kit landed firmly on the purple clouds. They were much more solid than they had appeared. The male Thundercub lay unmoving amongst them. "So, you have finally journeyed to our realm. It will do you no good, for this shall be your final resting place!" the Ancient Spirits of Evil snarled, standing in a half circle.
"That's what you think!" snapped Panthro, charging forward.
"Panthro! No!" Timothy shouted, even as Panthro was knocked off
his feet by an intense bolt of lightning.
Slowly the human warrior stepped forward. He was without a weapon or
significant power. Actually, there wasn't much he had going for him at present,
except his own two fists. He was quick, but lightning could move quicker. Even
if he had the Sword of Omens, he doubted he could do anything to stop them.
"Forget it. I won't fight you. Kill me now and get it over with," he
said, closing his eyes.
The Ancient ones regarded the man for a moment and then turned to look at
each other. Their response was simple and quick. They returned the four to
Cat's Lair with a few simple words. "Your time for dying is close at hand,
but we shall play only a small part in it. Mumm-Ra will deal you the final
blow, and all goodness on this planet shall cease to exist."
* * *
Timothy looked at his companions. Two of them lying unconscious on the
floor. Wily Kit was sobbing over her brother. There had been no fatalities but,
if the Ancients spoke truly, then who knew what the morrow would bring?
* * *
Slowly, tentatively, Aker took a step out from behind his pillar. What had
Mumm-Ra meant? The three swords? One of them being the Sword of Omens?
Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. The Sword of Good and Evil! Aker
groaned loudly. If Mumm-Ra got his hands on all three swords, then no force
could stop him. But wait. What was that? Over inside the sarcophagus? A smile
spread across Aker's face as he recognized the object. It was the Sword of Plundarr
in its handle form.
* * *
And so, Mumm-Ra has succeeded only in part. He has gained the Sword of
Omens but lost the Sword of Plundarr. Can this truly be called a victory? He
surely cannot use the Sword of Omens himself, as it cannot be used for evil
deeds. We shall just have to wait and see.
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