Wileykat stood slowly and surveyed the ruins of Castle Plundar. Dimly he rembered when this place had been a swamp teaming with life not it was barren sands and solid rock. His left leg ached in remembrance of the battle that had taken place here so long ago. A gust of wind whipped his hair out making the grey standout far more then he liked, he was thirty now but the last 15 years had weighed on him. It had sat on his shoulders slowly wearing down his body and his soul at 30 his body looked and felt 50 and his soul felt far older.

Past and present blurred at times he could still see them all, friends and enemies alike. He'd hear his sister behind him and turn so eager to hold her just once more to find that even his mind betrayed him. He reached into the side of his boot and pulled out what was left of the Sword of Omens.

The dull piece of mettle in his hand looked nothing like the mighty sword of old. The mettle was as dark and dirty as his own weary soul. The eye of Thundera the source of Thundercat power almost completely covered in the metal of its own blade now slept permanently. He looked at it as both a holy relic and a demon, its strength buoyed him while at the same time its destruction mocked him.

As he looked at the dead eye his vision blurred as he once more became the youth who had survived the slaughter.

Mumm-Ra had once more found the golden orb of Settie and had fused it with the mighty sword of Plundar. The fight was more like a slaughter the Thundercat's and their allies had battled hard but against the combined might of The mutants Lunatak's and Mumm-Ra's magic they slowly lost ground.

He could still hear the final transmission from the Tower of Omens, now called Ice Spear.

"Urgent Urgent! Tower to lair this is Lynx-o. The Lunatak's are attacking! We've lost Bengali repeat we've lost Bengali. With out your help we will on survive. Repeat urgen....AHhhh!" The signal had stopped as suddenly as it began. Mumm-Ra had used his new powers to block the swords sight. Their had been no warning no chance to help barley time to mourn.

A cold wind brought him back to reality, he had a job to do. Once able to scale trees with ease, now he limped so badly walking was a chore. It was that limp that had saved him for so many years the Alliance had not been looking for a cripple and the horrors he'd seen had removed the childish looks from him.

The memories were strongest hear but he fought to suppress them, looking at the past was the only thing that caused him pain now ... and he needed no more of that.

He sighed, in that sound was the despair and helplessness that he fought with everyday. Finally he reached the ruins but that was all he could do for the night, he had limped all the way from what used to be the treetop kingdom and his leg demanded rest. He sat inside the old doorframe and propped himself up, soon he was asleep...and dreamed.

His dreams were always the same, a flash of memory that he pushed from his couscous mind. His trek threw Burning Tree, what remained of the treetop Kingdom filled his dreams this night.

Almost immediately after Lynx-O's transmission had ended the warrior Maidens called for help.

"Thundercats this is Willa we need help the Mutants are attacking! We need help!" The signal ended when Willa grabbed her bow ran from the hut.

"We have to help them Lion-O!" He couldn't remember who said that, it may even have been him.

The Thunderian Lord agreed and the Thundercats went to save there friends...and loose.

The scene was horrible the Mutants were using Vultureman's latest invention, it looked like an arcanic flame thrower but threw a mix of acid and flames. The trees normally immune to fire except for the leaves sparked and crackled when the acid ate threw the bark and the flames heated the soft woods beneath. Apparently they had found an old human bunker and modified some ancient gasmask's, the Gas Arrows had no affect and the psychical arrows bounced harmlessly off of the flame proof suits they wore.

They had tried to save them but the mutants used the flames and trees as a barrier, The flames were to intense to go over and the fallen trees to thick to run over. They had watched there friends loose as they sat helplessly, Lion-O had tried the sword but even its powers couldn't be everywhere ... the flames could be.

A sudden shriek stopped the combat. Looking high into one of the remaining trees they Say Monkeian holding Willa by one arm hundreds of feet off the ground. "Drop your weapons or I drop her!"

The warrior maiden immeditly dropped their bows and knives, and he immeditly dropped Willa. Wileykat saw her face as she fell, the look of abject terror as her mind grasped that her death was seconds away...and the look of sadness when at her last moment she saw her people enslaved. Wileykat had wondered what she thought before her body exploded on the now hard baked ground below, over time he had learned that dying was easy...it was surviving that was hard.

The mutants had won while the Thundercats had stood powerless, they watched helplessly while their friends and allies were killed mocked and enslaved...the ones enslaved would wish for death in the coming future.

The rising sun woke him with its horrible glare, as always for just a second he wondered why he wasn't in the Lair and why did his bod feel so tired..then the present would come back and he would sob silently for awhile. He composed himself and rubbed his stiff leg absently. "It's gotta be here." He swore. He levered himself t his feet and limped farther into the ruins. "It has to be here!"

He searched long into the day, as he worked his Muscle loosened giving him back a little of his youth. He waded threw the rubble tossing away chunks of rock and scraps of metal always repeating it had to be here. After awhile the search became mind numbing, lift a rock hurl it away search the ground, lift a rock hurl it away search the ground, over and over. All day he searched just as the sun was going down a stray glint caught his eye. He limped over quickly, as the last light of day faded he picked it up. He cried as he fingered the weapon lovingly, in his hand was the intact weapon of a mighty warrior and a fallen friend...in his hand was Tygra's bolo whip.

With shaking fingers he griped the bottom of the handle and gave a sharp twist. "Thank Jaga." He cried when he heard the sharp click, scarcely breathing as if to blow it away he slid the cylinder out of the hollow handle. He snapped the cylinder back into the handle and for the first time in many years he smiled, clutching his treasure tightly he went to sleep.

The Thundercats raced from the Tree Top Kingdom toward the tower of Omens, even if their comrades were dead now that they couldn't help the Warrior Maidens it was vital that the Lunatak's not have the tower.

The Lunatak's were not the mindless destroyers the Mutants were, the tower was still largely intact and formidable, only now it was formidable to the Thundercats. For a second they merely stood in shock, the Thundercat beacon that had stood so proudly on top of the tower was lying twisted and broken on the ground. On the top was a shining moon made of pure ice.

Cheetara gasp in horror and pointed upwards, dangling from the tip of the upper crescent hung a figure, the Lunatak's had hung Lynx-O from the top of their new fortress.

Before long the battle was joined. The Thundercats fought bravely and may have won if Redeye sitting safely inside the Tower hadn't found the commands for the auto-guns. When the guns fired up the tide of battle quickly turned they had been reprogrammed not to fire when a Lunatak was in sight. The Thundercats having no such protection had to retreat behind the swords force field to the Thundertank. Wileykat who had been farther way from Lion-O's shield ran headlong for the tank, a laser beam lanced down from the tower toward him. He did a back spring over Amok and Luna who were chasing him causing the already firing gun to track him...burning the small leader of the Lunatak's in a screaming pile of ash, the laser did however score his left thigh.

He was largely unconscious threw the trip back to the Lair, his fevered dreams kept whispering, "Where were Pumyra and Bengali?"

His dream shifted.

They had lost Panthro defending the lair, Cheetara was maimed and his own wound was infected so he didn't remember the fight clearly. His next clear memories were of Lion-O deciding that if they couldn't win they'd go down fighting.

So it was the remaining Thundercats Cheetara Tygra Kit lion-O and himself had gathered around castle Plundar determined no at least strike at the evil they couldn't stop.

The battle was lost before it began we knew that logically but we hadn't accepted it emotionally.

Tygra went invisible and swam threw the moat..or at least he had tried, Vulture-man had filled the moat with fish the ancients called Paraná...mean little bastards who didn't have to see to find you. He surfaced once they were eating his face while he screamed, he snapped the whip into its compressed form and threw it protecting it from the greedy teeth, with his last breath he looked at Cheetara. "Remember me.." Then the water exploded in red foam and the tiger was no more.

He'd never seen Lion-O look like that. His eyes were half lidded and his hands were slack, he'd thought that the lion had gone into shock. Suddenly life returned to his lord..but it was a different person who looked threw the tired face.

Lion-O plunged his hand into the water so swiftly even the Paraná couldn't catch him. Looking at the bloody water flowing down his hand Lion-O's rage and will solidified into diamond clarity. Moving like lightning he drew the blade of the sword across the hand dripping with Tygra's blood mingling it with his own.

A sword even the sword of Omens was forged as a thirsty weapon they hunger for blood restrained only by the owners will, as the blood ran down the blade the eye opened wide and the metal went from shimmering steel to a deadly black.

"Sword of Omens," Lion-O's voice was barely a whisper but drowned out everything else. "I Lion-O awaken your true calling. I demand your power I demand vengeance!!" Blue flames ignighted and raced down the blackened blade and unto the lion lord. The fierce heat forced the others away from him. "Ho!!"

When the air cleared Lion-O the sword...and castle Plundar along with the mutants were gone, the only thing that remained was a smoking hunk of twisted metal.

He awoke with the dawn and prepared to leave. As he eyed the ruined landscape once more he caught sight of a small sign.

Someone unknown person had erected a SMALL monument, when he brushed the dust off it read. "Here fought and died Lion-O Lord of The Thundercats, he destroyed himself to save us. May Jaga guide him to peace. --KEL"

He slipped the whip into his belt and headed for Ice Spear, along the way he had another vision this one more recent.

He was sitting in a bar, he spent a lot more time their than he liked to admit. The other patrons had learned early that the silent cat wanted desired and gave nothing..and would force the issue if need be. He'd been nursing a beer when a unsiol thing happened, he heard something that interested him.

"-...I'm telling you I saw her." A young Bolkien exclaimed

"Yea right." His companions laughed.

"I mean it I saw the one they called Pumyra." He protested.

Wileykat snapped to attention and listened intently.

"You've had one to many beers friend." A reptile mutant said walking over, despite the word friend he didn't seem that friendly. "We killed the Thundercats, there ALL dead!"

Wileykat was in motion before he could stop himself. "Leave him alone." He said softly stepping behind the mutant.

The reptile turned around, his look of shock changed to a look of disgust. "Get away from me you lousy drunk." The reptile fired off a right that would have shattered Wileykat's nose of it hit. It didn't.

Kat side stepped grabbed the arm at the wrist with his right, his left sprang forward striking the elbow, in that position the elbow broke like a twig. "I said leave him alone!" He roared, he grabbed the shocked mutants and hurled him out the door.

"Thanks!" The Bolkien exclaimed.

Wileykat pulled a chair to the table and sat down. "Tell me about Pumyra."

Seeing what his story had done the Bolkien hesitated.

Wileykat looked at the young man a second then reached in his pouch, he placed his old insignia on the table. "Tell me." He repeated softly.

The room fell silent as the murky light shone on the tarnished old disk. Wileykat had kept it when the others were gone, he knew it was stupid and if he was ver caught with it they'd kill him but he couldn't throw it away. This bar was a special one, its code said anyth8ing that happened in here was fair game that meant no one would run to the Alliance about him, at least not right away.

The Bolkien looked at the insignia and back at Wileykat several times before starting.

"I was walking by the Tower of Omens. I was looking for salvage when I happened to look up, I even remember what window, it was the third window on the left side. I saw Pumyra standing there." He hesitated.

Wileykat was please to hear him call it the Tower rather then Spear, he didn't know if the little guy was doing it to be nice or he really thought of it as the Tower still. "Standing there?" He pressed.

The Bolkien shuffled his feet. "Well um Alluro was in the room and he had his club controlling her and well..." He stopped again

Wileykat laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know the rest, thanks." He dropped a few bills into the Bolkien's surprised hand and ran out the door.

Coming back to reality Kat was now crouched out side Ice Spear. To his surprise he wasn't scared, he'd spent 15 years hiding from the Alliance but now that he was going after them he wasn't scared. Sneaking around to the backside he reach into his pouch and pulled out the whip and his old insignia. He pressed it lightly to the chest of his shirt where it fastened and shined as of old. He unscrewed the bottom of the whip again and stared at the small circuit card that popped out. Holding his breath he slipped the card into the slot hidden in the rock wall, if it worked it would turn off the alarms and open the passage..if it didn't..well if it didn't he wouldn't have long to worry.

There was a small buzz then a click s the circuit bored slip home. A wash of stagnant air washed over him when the hidden door swung open, it made his eyes water and his heart soar, it'd been years since he'd been inside the Tower he'd had no reason to return till now.

The tunnel was to dark to see but Tygra had left plenty of torches, lifting one from its iron hanger he lit it quickly. He walked slowly down the hall, he could tell the Alliance didn't know about it the dust and cob webs looked older than he was, their were no fresh ones even the vermin had evacuated when the Alliance had taken over. "Professional courteously." He murmured to himself. The tunnel was safe because the circuit card had disabled the alarms in the area but he knew the defenses in the other parts of the lair would still be active, and he was expecting a few additions, after all the Alliance had been here for over 10 years.

How could he sneak threw the Lair, he knew where the alarm beams were, or least where they'd been but the camera's would show him to anyone who looked at the monitors. Looking at the whip in his hand he decided to give it a try. He couldn't snap it around himself like Tygra used to but he could wrap it by hand. He gave a sigh of relief as his hands faded more with each loop of the whip. "Bless you Tygra." He whispered before slowly opening the door at the end of the tunnel.

The interior of the tower was covered in a light frost. Wileykat shivered slightly in the unexpected chill. "Looks like Chilla got the AC working." He was kind of impressed, even Panthro hadn't pulled that off. He snuck quietly down the hall he walked close to the wall as possible, he may have been invisible but he still left prints in the frosty floor. Before long he came to a computer panel, with a silent prayer that they hadn't changed to much he brought the sensors on line. He saw five living heat signatures. "Alright, one of those is me, one Pumyra. That means there are three Lunatak's in here." He talked quietly to himself as he worked it out, it was a habit he'd gotten into to convince people he was crazy so they didn't ask to many questions from the tired Thunderian in the corner.

Three Lunatak's, at one point he'd have been more than confident in his abilities to take them but he was a far cry from the youth would fought them all those years ago. Time he realized is a relative thing, for him those fifteen year had might as well have been 50. He noticed two of the heat signatures were walking towards him, shutting down the console he pressed himself against the wall and held his breath.

"I don't see why she'd yours Alluro." TugMug wined wheeling behind the taller Lunatak.

Alluro chuckled at the smaller Lunatak. "She's mine because I saved her when we sacked this place, Luna wanted them all dead but I decided she was to...ah useful to kill."

As much as TugMug hated to admit Alluro had any good qualities he did like the guys taste in women. "Come on Alluro, im tired of Warrior maidens and you've had the ThunderSlut to your self for years."

Wileykat's blood roared in his years, one of his last surviving friends a sex slave to these rats, a small growl escaped his throat.

TugMug looked around. "You hear something?"

Alluro shook his head, feeling rather benign for some reason. "Ok TugMug I'll give you credit for trying, come on I'll give you one hour with her, BUT I get to watch." He paused "After all, I don't want her damaged."

TugMug grumbled a little, he like it rough and violent but as much as he wanted to hear them scream in pain while he roared in pleasure he wanted to screw her more, so he agreed.

Wileykat followed them silently down the hall, he was seething with rage he wanted to reach out his hands and smash their skulls together. With a shock he realized he was just as tall as the Lunatak's, taller in fact than TugMug. He smiled looking at his own huge hands, he might not be as quick as he used o be but he was a lot stronger. Silent as the shadows he followed them, they'd lead him to Pumyra and to vengeance.

Alluro opened the door and stepped in with a smile, Wileykat and TugMug close behind. "Kiss me." He snapped to the air.

Wileykat gasped, Pumyra had risen from the bed silently, she was naked except for a leather color around her neck. "I hate you." She whispered to the tall Lunatak.

"I know." He smiled, he touched the eye icon on his belt. "Kiss me." He said again.

The collar started pulsing the green lights he used to control people on her head and the res of her body. Wileykat could see her disgust as her arms folded softly around the Lunatak, see the resistance as her nude body melded against his clothed one. See her anger as her lips pressed against his, and finally the tears as her tongue played with his.

"Good news." Alluro said after breaking the kiss, his hand idly pinching her left nipple. "I've decided to let TugMug play with you." He pinched her nipple hard and smiled at the facial expressions she was trying to make. "You may speak." The light from the top of the collar died.

"I hate you." She whispered again, the collar was an advanced version of Alluro's old club, it affected what it shined on while the top was off she could control her head. Rage burned threw Kat's veins in a golden fire. The years of fear and despair fell from him as he watched his comrade be mistreated, his ancestors thousands of generations of Thunderian warriors awoke inside him and roared challenge their call echoing inside his roaring blood.

He chuckled. " I know, now why don't you." He didn't have a chance to finish the sentence. Kat was on him in a second years of frustration poured into every blow. Again and again he laced into the Lunatak his anger pouring forth like a terrible flood, so great was his rage he forgot about TugMug.

The round Lunatak anticipating an hour of passion had not brought his carbine but he was incredibly strong. "I've got you now who ever you are!" He gloated wrapping his arms around Wileykat.

Wileykat laughed out loud, it was the maniacal laugh of those with nothing to lose and everything to gain and it chilled the room. "You don't even know who I am do you?"

"No and I don't care." TugMug grunted.

"My name is Wileykat." He flexed his legs lifting TugMug clear off the ground, he flung himself backwards slamming TugMug to the ground. "remember it?"

"Wileykat?" Pumyra gasped.

The shock had broken TugMug's hold and Wileykat leapt back to his feet. "Yea Pumyra its me." He turned around, right into the face of Alluro and his psyche-club.

"You cant defeat me Wileykat. We beet you years ago you have no chance." Alluro said soothingly. "Give in."

For a second Wileykat's will wavered, then his eyes cleared and grew hard. "I know you beet us, this is round two." He grabbed the floating orb and crushed it, the blood trickled down his hand unnoticed.

"How!?" Alluro demanded. "How can you resist my power?"

"I've spent 15 years hiding, my anger and pain is enough to burn threw your lies like a flash fire." This time he didn't forget TugMug, when the Lunatak leapt he reach over his shoulder and flung him to the ground.

"Pumyra." Alluro snapped. "Destroy him!"

"No!" She shrieked as her body moved toward Wileykat.

"Lets see how willing you are to fight her." Alluro gloated as Wileykat dodged the punches and kicks Pumyra's helpless body threw at him.

"I'll kill you Alluro." Wileykat swore.

Pumyra cried in frustration as her feet and hands lashed out towards Wileykat, it was horrible for years shed been Alluro's puppet, forced to sit by as her body did all sorts of things that made her stomach turn, but this was the worse, her body was literally trying to kill one of her last friends, one she thought had died years ago. "I'm sorry Kat." She sobbed as he ducked a crescent kick."

"It's ok." He responded leaping back.

Alluro smiled as he watched. "So Wileykat what will you do?"

"I'll kick your ass." Wileykat said offhand as he backed away from the striking puma. "I have it!" He thought excited. With a quick leap he was right infront of Alluro.

"I have you now Thundercat!" Alluro exclaimed reaching for him.

Just as Alluro's fingers brushed against him Kat let his legs collapse, the snap kick from Pumyra caught Alluro square on the jaw and sent him flying.

When Alluro passed out his control over Pumyra was gone, she dropped to the ground sobbing.

"It's ok your free now." He said patting her on the shoulder awkwardly

She pointed to the collar on her neck. "Not as long as I'm wearing this thing." She said between sobs.

"Well then we'll take it off." He said he took c a careful grip on each side."

"No!" She cried, to late.

As Kat pulled the color electrified. He grunted in pain but the current locked the muscles of his hands to the color; however, the larger muscles of his arms worked, he groaned as he strained, the collar broke with a sudden snap.

"Free." She whispered flexing each muscle as if to prove it listened to only her now.

"Free." He echoed helping her up. Together they looked out the window and smiled, the Thundercats weren't licked yet.

THE END

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