Instant Darwinism

By Lucifer Daimaou

 

Part 1

            “Slythe, awwwk!  It has been one hundred thousand years now since the last one, we have to go!”  Vultureman insisted. 

            “But how do you propossse that we do that, Vultureman, yesss?”  Slythe asked bitterly, “You know asssss well assss I do that our ship was destroyed by Mumm-Ra, yesss!”

            “Awwwk!  Perhaps, there is a way,” Vultureman said suddenly.

            “Hoo, Go on, we’re listening.”  Monkian said.

            “Well, you know what the mutation cycle does to our kind,”  Vultureman said, “And Mumm-Ra hasn’t been any more successful in defeating the Thundercats than we have.  I’m sure he would want some more, awwwwk, powerful allies.”  Slythe grinned menacingly.

            “Perhapss you’re right for once, Vultureman, yesss?”  He agreed, “Alright, everyone, to your vehicles!  We’re on our way to the Black Pyramid, and after that, to Plundarr!!”  They all cheered.

 

 

            “Lynx-O to Cat’s Lair!”  Lynx-o called.  Pantro’s face appeared on the screen.

            “What is it, Lynx-O?”  He asked.

            “SkyTomb has mobilized!  It should be on its way to the Berbil village.”  Lynx-O explained.

            “We’ll check it out.  Thanks, Lynx-o.  Panthro out.”  The screen went blank.

 

            “Blasted Lunatacs!”  Panthro growled, rushing to the thundertank.  “Thundercats, Sky Tome is heading for the Berbil village!  Prepare for battle!”  He shouted to his comrades-at-arms.  Tygra took of in the thunderclaw, Cheetara and Bengali leapt into the Thundertank with Panthro.

            “You will do as we say!”  Luna’s shrill voice ordered, “And build us an outpost of even greater power than the Tower of Omens!”

            “But we did not design the Tower of Omens,” Roberbil explained, “Tygra did that, we just helped build it.”  On command, Amok swatted the helpless Berbil into a tree.

            “Anyone else feel like arguing?”  Luna asked icily, “We already have the design for the outpost, we merely need you to build it.”

            “You won’t be building anything today, Lunatac.”  Shouted Tygra, firing at the group of villains.

            “On the contrary, Thundercat,”  TugMug said, “I think we’ll be building you a grave!”  With that, he lunged up at Tygra, who narrowly avoided getting pulled down.  As he plummeted down, TugMug was suddenly hit by a blast from behind.  His fellow Lunatacs looked to see the Thundertank. 

            “Lunatacs, back to SkyTomb!  Retaliate!  Chilla, Alluro, you stay here with me.  Amok!”  Without even giving a verbalized order, Luna’s faithful servant knew what to do.  Plowing into the Thundertank, the Thundercats had very little time to react.

            “What in blazes!?!”  Panthro asked.  The Thundertank was being backed up.

            “I’ll take care of him.”  Cheetara said, aiming the cannon at Amok.  She fired, but Amok ignored the blasts, merely lifting the tank up to stay out of range.  Cheetara fell backwards.

            “I’ve got an idea,”  Bengali said, “Prey it works.”  He leapt out, did a flip, and snatched Luna off of Amok’s back.  Amok immidiately dropped the tank, turned and rushed at Bengali. 

            “Chill out, Thundercat, hsssss!”  Chilla said, blasting a gust of freeze-breath at him.

            “Here, keep her!”  Bengali shouted, tossing Luna to Amok and moving out of the way.

            “Amok, look out!”  Luna shouted, as the freeze breath drew close.  Amok put Luna back on mount, and swiped the blast to the side.  Mistaking the assault as a threat to his master, Amok charged at Chilla.  “Amok! NO! STOP!!!”  Luna shouted desperately.  Chilla barely had time to blink before she was hit by a force stronger than the thundertank.  The thundercats watched the spectacle and laughed.

            “Give up, Thundercat.”  Alluro said, tossing his crystal ball over Bengali, “Forget about it.  You don’t want to attack us, it is futile.”

            “Futile...”  Bengali said.  Tygra swooped down and blasted the crystal.

            “NOOOO!!!”  Alluro shouted.  Bengali gave Tygra a thumbs up, when SkyTomb started firing. 

            “Only one way to handle this, and it’s from inside.”  Cheetara said, rushing in.  A few moments later, she rushed out, and several internal explosions could be heard.

            “Back to DarkSide!!!”  Luna ordered.  Amok carried the limp forms of Chilla and TugMug, and Alluro rushed in.  The door closed, and SkyTomb took off in a very unstable fashion.  Tygra landed, and helped Roberbil up.

            “Thank you, Thundercats,”  The Berbil thanked in his metallic voice, “Once again we are in your debt.”

            “Well, I’m just glad it was only the Lunatacs,”  Tygra said, “We’ve finally got them down, they may be formidable opponents, but we understand what their limits are and can beat them, even with only a few of us.”

            “For that we are glad,”  Roberbil said.

 

            “You ssssee, Mumm-Ra?”  Slythe said, pointing at the bubbling water, “Even the Lunatacs no longer stand a chance against them!  We musssst go to the ceremony to ssstand a chance, yesssss!”  The mummy looked into the cauldron thoughtfully.

            “Perhaps you are right, Slythe.”  He said, eyes glowing red, “But do not betray me.  You must come back, or I will hunt you down and destroy all of you!”

            “You have our word, Mumm-Ra, Yessss,”  Slythe said, “As soon as it is over, we will come back and desssstroy them once and for all!”

            “Then go to the place where your ship crashed,”  Mumm-Ra ordered, “It will be there, and fully repaired.”  Slythe grinned.

            “Thank you, Mumm-Ra, you won’t be disssapointed, yessss!” He insisted, rushing off immidiately.

            “I’m sure I won’t, Slythe,”  Mumm-Ra said, grinning evily, “I’m sure I won’t.”

 

 

            “Aaaah...this is delicous, Snarf...”  Lion-o commented, “You’ve really outdone yourself this time.”

            “A fight with the Lunatacs always leaves me hungry,”  Panthro agreed, “No matter how brief.”  All of a sudden, Pumyra rushed in.

            “Lion-o, Panthro, Tygra, come quike!”  She said, “Another message from Lynx-o”  Lion-o and Tygra rushed over, while Panthro walked over grumbling.  Lynx-O’s worried face appeared on the screen.

            “What is it, Lynx-o?”  Lion-o asked.

            “I don’t see how this is possible, but...it seems the mutants are taking off in a gigantic space ship,”  Lynx-o explained, “I’ll check their course.”

            “Always wondered what had happened to their ship,”  Panthro said, “I figured that it had been destroyed.” 

            “I just wonder why they hadn’t left sooner.”  Tygra said.  All of a sudden, Lynx-o received a powerful electric shock.

            “Lynx-o!”  Lion-o cried, “Are you alright.”  Lynx-o clutched his head.

            “I’ll be fine, but it seems that the situation is much graver than we suspected.”  The blind thundercat replied.

 

            “Faster, Faster!” Slythe ordered.

            “But Slythe, if we continue at this rate, we’ll burn up most of the fuel!”  Vultureman pointed out.

            “We can refuel at Plundarr, yesss,”  Slythe pointed out, “We need to get there before the ceremony begins.”

            “Nya, Nya, I hope we’re not too late,”  Jackalman said, “If we don’t make it, we won’t even be accepted as mutants any more.”  Slythe knew perfectly well that that was the case, it was a thought that brought him further worry.  Not only was his group looked down upon by the thundercats, lunatacs, and even Mumm-Ra, but if they did not speed up, the group of mutants that he had fought so hard to keep united would be cast out by their countrymen.  However, Slythe’s main motivation to make it back to Plundarr was hardly more than power.

 

            The Feliner glowed with the reflection of the stars around it.  “Snarf, Snarf, I didn’t quite catch Lynx-o’s explanation of what’s going on,”  Snarf said, “Why are we chasing the Mutants back to Plundarr?”

            “It’s like this, Snarf,”  Tygra explained, “The Mutants come from the planet Plundarr, which does not circle a sun like most planets that support life.  No, it circles a black hole, but from a great distance.  Every hundred thousand years or so, a strange energy engulfs Plundarr, comming directly from that black hole in the form of a shockwave.  It is from this energy that the mutants grew to their present state, for the energy induces rapid mutation, though how and why is as of yet unknown.”

            “I don’t quite understand it myself,” Cheetara admitted, “But from what I’m told, the mutant races of Plundarr change every time this occurs, and not only do they get bigger, but more intelligent as well, it is sort of like a rapid evolution into a more advanced species.  However, only the mutants understand the true capabilities of this energy.”

            “Snarf, Snarf, you mean to tell me that this is going to make the mutants even more of a threat?!”  Snarf asked, shocked.

            “That’s why we must stop them,”  Lion-o said, “In order to maintain peace on Third Earth, as well as the rest of the universe.”  The Feliner’s speed continued to increase.

 

            “Caaaw!  Look, Slythe, look on the screen!!”  Vultureman exclaimed, excitement in his voice.  A gigantic, red planet lay before them.

            “Plundarr...”  Slythe said, awe in his voice.  The rest of them were silent, but in obvious excitement.  Rataro’s face appeared on the screen.

            “Slythe, Vultureman, Monkian, Jackalman,”  He greeted, “Glad to see we didn’t have to leave you as primatives.”
            “Don’t lose any sssssleep over it, Rataro,”  Slythe said, too light in mood to be angry, “We’re comming in for a landing.”  The ship slowly climbed its way down to the surface.  The mutant crew walked out.  To any others, the view might have seemed dismal, but, to a mutant, this sunless red desert was what they called home.

            “It’s even more beautiful than I remember.”  Monkian said.  They had landed in a structure not dissimilar to Castle Plundar, though much larger and better equiped.  Rataro walked out to meet them.

            “You made it down to the last half hour boys,” He told them, “How did you manage to repair the ship?  I thought it had been destroyed.”

            “Mumm-Ra decided to help his allies grow stronger, yessss.”  Slythe explained.

            “Ah, say not more.  Come right this way, we are preparing for the change.”  Rataro led them to where a large group of mutants stood and waited, so many of them in so many different races that it was hardly more than a blur of colors across the horizon.  Rataro walked up to the altar.

            “Brothers, we stand here today for the most important historical event since our creation.”  He started, “Soon we will gain power greater than the miserable Thundercats ever could achieve, even Mumm-Ra of Third Earth will be no match for us!”  The crowd cheered.  Everyone turned to stare at the now-glowing black hole.  “And now...we become invinsible!!”  Rataro concluded.  A shockwave erupted from the black hole.

 

            “NO!  We’re too late!!”  Tygra shouted in dismay.  After the shockwave passed through, they landed.  They were met with a terrifying sight.  The Mutants had taken in the energy, and were changing into creatures that would make even Mumm-Ra tremble.  The Jackal-race mutants’ fur turned dark brown, and they grew to a height of over 10 feet each, with bulging muscles that would make Amok think twice before attacking.  The Simian-Race mutants’ grew about a head shorter, but with claws that could tear down a plate of metal, and teeth to match.  Their fur turned a light green, much like the color of the trees.  The Vulture-Race lunatacs grew as well, and new, feathered wings burst from their backs, stretching out longer than their arm’s length.  Their feet resembled talons now more than anything else, and in their beaks were small, but sharp, teeth.  The Rat-Race, rare as they may be, did not dissapoint in their terrifying transformation either.  Growing at least a foot taller than the other three thus far, the Rat-Race also gained an extra set of muscular, clawed arms.  Out of their backs emerged curved, deadly blades.  However, the most impressive change came from the reptilian-race.  The tallest of the changes, their skin changed into such a dark red that it was almost black.  Their arms stretched out and formed wings, a lighter red where the finger bones stretched the skin in the wings.  New, stronger arms burst out, with gigantic clawed hands.  A long tail grew out, with a sharp tip at the end.  Their eyes turned yellow where it was once white, and all that was visible was their reptilian-pupils.

            “Dear...Jaga...”  Lion-o said, barely able to speak.  Cheetara took Lion-o by the arm.

            “We have to go back,”  Cheetara said, “there’s nothing we can do here.  We need to go back and prepare Third Earth for the oncomming danger.”  Lion-o nodded and they all got back into the Feliner.  On their way out of the atmosphere, they were met by a newly-transformed Slythe.

            “Going ssssomewhere, thundercatsss?”  The dragon-like creature asked, “I don’t think ssso, yessss!”  Raising its fist, it readied to swat them out of the sky.

            “That thing is big enough to take us down!”  Tygra said, “We have to get out of here!”  He pulled a lever, and blasted off as fast as the Feliner could manage.  Slythe cackled.

            “You think that thisss is over, thundercatssss?  Thiss is just the beginning!”  He laughed.

 

            Arriving back on Third Earth, the crew of the Feliner was more than a little stunned about their encounter.  Pumyra rushed up to greet them.  “Lion-o!  Tygra!  Cheetara! Snarf!  Did you succeed in defeating them?”  She asked.  They didn’t have to respond, the worried looks on their faces told her everything she needed to know.  “I’ll start tightening up the security systems.”  She said. 

            “I pray that that is enough.”  Lion-o replied.

 

            Alluro sighed, concentrating on his now-crystaless pschye club.  “Now, Moon Club...regenerate!!”  He ordered.  With a flash, the special psyche club created a new crystal for itself.

            “Handy little trick.”  Chilla said.  She had recovered, she had been through worse.

            “Those blasted Thundercats!”  He growled, “They’re getting more and more out of hand!”  All of a sudden, gigantic creatures started bursting through the walls. 

            “What the hell?!”  Chilla shouted.  She tried to freeze-blast them, but they swatted her out of the way.

            “Chilla!”  Alluro cried.  Angered, he turned to the largest one there, who seemed to be the leader, and flashed his psyche club in its face.  “You cannot defeat us.  Go back to wherever you came from.”  All the other creatures had stopped to watch.  The dark-red, winged creature stared at Alluro with its yellow eyes.  It grabbed the crystal and crushed it in its palm.

            “We’ll be giving the ordersss from now on, yessss!”  Slythe said.

            “SLYTHE?!”  Alluro and Chilla shouted in disbelief.

            “May that be the last name you hear.”  Cackled the reptilian.  He opened his mouth and let out a blast of flame, large enough in diameter and powerful enough in force to knock both of them into the wall, and set them on fire.  Though worse on Chilla, Alluro wasn’t enjoying himself much either.

            “Caaaw!  Slythe, I thought we needed them alive!”  Vultureman asked, flapping his wings in impatience.

            “They’ll survive.  Now move onward, yessss!”  Slythe ordered his troops.  Hundreds of the gigantic creatures poured through SkyTomb.

 

            Luna had been reading to herself when the invasion reached her.  Tossing the book aside, she ordered Amok to take out the creatures.  Amok rushed at the nearest one and lunged at it, but the brown-furred creature merely caught Amok’s fists in its own.    Luna, amazed by the sheer power of the creature, asked “What are you?”

            “Nya-ha-ha, we are mutants!!”  Shouted Jackalman triumphantly, “And soon, SkyTomb as well as the rest of Third Earth will be ours!”

 

            Mumm-Ra looked into the couldren and smiled.  They had grown powerful indeed.  He knew that once the Thundercats were out of the way, that they would come for them.  He rubbed the talisman in his hands and laughed.  “I’ll be waiting, my mutated friends.”  He laughed, “I’ll be waiting.”

 

            “This is most odd,”  Lynx-o said, “I don’t quite understand it, but SkyTomb is heading towords Castle-Plundarr.”

            “The Lunatacs must have been defeated.”  Tygra said, “That just goes to show how powerful they’ve become.”

            “There must be a way to defeat them,”  Panthros said, “They can’t be invinsible.”

            “Whatever we do, we must do it quikely,”  Lion-o said, “With the power  they hold right now, they could attack at any moment and win, if just by the sheer size and numbers of them.  I will consult Jaga and if it comes to it, the Book of Omens.”

            “One thing is for sure,”  Cheetara said, “This will be far more a threat than anything we’ve ever dealt with in the past, and without the proper protection, the Thundercats as well as the memory of Thunderia itself could be wiped out with us.”

 

 

Part 2

            “Keep worrrrrking, you wretched Lunatacsss!”  Slythe ordered, letting out a blast of fire as a warning, “I want SkyTomb completely fixsssed by tommorrow!”

            “Hssss, relax, Slythe,”  Chilla grumbled, “We’re working as hard as we can.”  The remark offered her nothing more than a bruise on her face.

            “I don’t want to hear your mouth working, lunatac,”  The mutant leader hissed, “I want to hear you working!  Now, get to work!!”  They had been working on repairs for over twenty-four hours and, though the mutants had brought in brutement to assist them, it did them very little good.

            The Mutants did not want to take any chances.  They were upgrading Castle Plundarr to accomodate their newly upgraded intellect, and used their aquirred powers to force the lunatacs into repairing SkyTomb.  They then planned to add a whole new weapons system to SkyTomb, and eventualy use it to destroy the Thundercats.  Jackalman, however, continued to complain.  “Nya, Slythe, why do we have to do this when we could take the Thundercats now?”  He asked in his now much deeper voice.  Though they were all much stronger, Slythe remained the most powerful, as he was a good foot higher than any of his kind, and his kind had turned out to be the largest of the new race of mutants.

            “Do not underestimate the sword of Omens, Jackalman, yessss,”  Slythe snapped, “The more power we attain, the less of a chance they will have.  We don’t need to take any riskssss, we may be powerful, but then, there is no harm in growing even more powerful.”

            “Agreed, Slythe.”  The Jackal said.

 

            Lion-o called a meeting of war at Cat’s lair.  Snarfer and Lynx-o stayed at the Tower of Omens, but a viewing screen was established so that they could participate as well.  “Fellow Thundercats,”  Lion-o began, “We face a challenge more difficult than any of the past.  While the mutants have always had the advantage of numbers, we have had the technological as well as physical advantage; until now.  Their intellect and power has increased drasticly, and unless we do something, we will be destroyed.”

            “I move to create a second Cat’s Lair,”  Tygra motioned, “This time, even better equiped for battle.  We could place it closer to castle Plundarr, and, with Bengali’s knowledge of metals, create it out of stronger alloys.”

            “Rowr, I second the movement.”  Bengali put in, “And I’m willing to help.”

            “I think that’s an excellent idea,”  Lion-o said, “Prepare the blueprints while Snarf and I go ask for the help of the Berbils.”

 

            Captain Bragg readied to enter Third Earth atmosphere.  He had heard of the resurfacing of the Mutants and Lunatacs, and wanted to make up for his past errors by recapturing him.  Suddenly, a swarm of gigantic vultures and dragon-like creatures assaulted his vehicle.  “Whooaa!  What’s going on?!  What are those things?!”  He asked his feathered companion, a raven.  He did not get a reply, as his friend was pulled out and crushed by a vulture-creature.  “Nooo!!  B-buddy?!”  Captain Bragg couldn’t believe it.  That had been his only companion in years, and now, just like that, he was gone.

            “Caaaaw!!  I wouldn’t worry about your little friend, Captain Bragg,”  Vultureman sneered, “Things are about to get a lot worse for you.”

            “You-You know me?  Who are you?”  Captain Bragg asked.

            “The last thing you’re ever going to see.”  Vultureman cackled, as he reared back his talons and swooped at the Captain.

 

            The Berbils, still greatful for their rescue from the Lunatacs, agreed almost immidiately.  It was decided that the Cats Lair would be placed on the mountains a few miles from Castle Plundarr, but far enough away that neither lairs would be able to spot each other or open fire on each other.  This would be a dangerous task, building the much larger Cats Lair without attracting the attention of the Mutants.  Most of the Thundercats got to work helping, And soon, the Cats Lair was near completion.  They had nearly finished without attracting the attention of the Mutants.  However, their good luck was short lived, but it was not the Mutants who discovered them.

 

            “So, Slythe, I suppose that being in charge of the Mutant army of Third Earth, it is my responsability to-”  Rattaro started.

            “You’re not in charge, Rattaro.  Not any more.”  Hissed the reptilian. 

            “What?!  You dare defy me, Slythe?”  Pulling out his sais, Rattaro opened fire on Slythe.  The blasts broke apart as soon as they hit Slythe, not doing any damage.  Slythe Grabbed the sais, and crushed them.  Rattaro was not going to give up so easily, though.  He spun and jumped, attempting to attack Slythe with the blades on his back.  Slythe jumped and flew higher than Rattaro could jump, and retaliated by blasting Rattaro with his flames.  After a few hits, Rattaro collapsed.

            “You usssed to rule ussss because of your technological superiority, Rattaro,”  Slythe hissed, “But you no longer have that.  Throw him in the dungeon!”  Several Mutants obliged.  “Now, we have the Rat Star in our control asss well.”  Slythe laughed.

            “Yet you still require the asistance of Mumm-Ra!”  Said an all too familiar voice.  Slythe turned and smiled at the tiny mummy.

            “Ah, Mumm-Ra, I was wondering when you would show, yessss.”  Slythe said.

            “I have information for you, eSlythe,”  Mumm-Ra said.

            “Go on then, Mumm-Ra, I’m lisssening.”  Slythe replied.

            “The Thundercats are building a new Cats Lair, not far from here, with hope of keeping your armies under control.”  The demon priest explained.  Slythe’s face contorted with rage.

            “Those fools!!  How dare they try and deface our powers!!”  He hissed, “Mutants!!  Prepare for an air raid!!  Jackalman, you take over here.  Come on, move it!”  The two flying mutant races lifted their wings and began to push off the ground.  Mumm-Ra merely stood, laughing to himself.

 

            “Good work, Thundercats and Berbils alike.”  Lion-o commended, “Let’s go in and start operating it.  The new Cats Lair was brown in color, so that it would blend in better with its surroundings.  Inside, the controls were hardly different from the ones at the original.

            “Quite an accomplishment, eh Lion-o?”  Bengali asked.

            “We’ve got much more weapons here than at the other Cats Lair, but we have no vehicles yet.”  Panthro said.

            “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind making more, Panthro,”  Tygra said, grinning, “In fact, we’d probably have to tie you down to stop you.”  Lynx-o came up on the screen.

            “A horde of mutants are...flying...right at you.”  The old Thundercat said, looking a bit startled.

            “Flying, Lynx-o?”  Panthro asked.

            “I’ll put it on the screen for you.”  Lynx-o dissapeared and in his place, was an army of flying mutants, the likes of which only Tygra, Lion-o and Snarf had seen before of the people in that room.

            “Good...Jaga...”  Bengali stammered, “Hearing the discriptions is one thing, actualy seeing these creatures...”

            “Battle stations, everyone!!”  Lion-o ordered, “We’ve got to show them that we won’t be pushed around!”

 

            Outside, Slythe had dived in, intending to tear through the wall, when he struck right into an energy force-field.  “It sssseems that they’ve taken the proper precautionssss, eh, Vultureman?”  The mutant laughed.  “All vultures, prepare to attack!  Fellow Reptilians, open fire!!!”  The Vultures, living up to their names, bega circling around the Cats Lair.  The Reptilians opened wide and let loose their flames.  Soon, the force-field began to crackled with electricity.

            “We can’t take too much more of this, Lion-o,”  Panthro said, reading the controls, “Unless they stop, the shield will come down.”

            “Direct all fire to the reptilians!”  Lion-o ordered, “We need to stop their fire!”

            “As you command, Lion-o”  Bengali responded.

            The eyes of Cats Lair opened laser fire, hitting Slythe directly.

            “Hahahahaha!!!! Issss that the best you’ve got, Thundercats?!”  Slythe laughed, increasing his fire discharge.  Suddenly, several gigantic lasers pulled out from the arms and shoulder of the cat, aimed, and gave blasts so powerful, the sheer force of them started knocking the mutants back.  However, no blood was shed, and all the lasers succeeded in doing, was bringing the battle to a momentary stalemate.

            “This is no good,”  Lion-o said, pulling out the Sword of Omens, “I’ll go out there and try to tip things in our favor!”

            “Rowr, good luck, Lion-o, and be careful out there.”  Bengali said.  Lion-o nodded, then rushed out.

            “Well if it isn’t the Lord of the Thundercats.”  Vultureman taunted, “Why don’t you come out here and fight us?”

            “Why don’t you shut your beak?”  Lion-o snapped.  He positioned the sword, “Thunder!”  He shouted, as the blade grew in size, “Thunder! Thundercats!  HO!!!”  The eyes of Thundera flew out, knocking many mutants out of the way.

 

            At the original Cats Lair, Cheetara and the thunderkitten’s eyes glowed.  “Come on, it looks like Lion-o needs backup.”  Cheetara said.  She took off in the thundertank, while the kittens got on their hoverboards.

 

            At the Tower of Omens, Lynx-o heard while Snarfer and Pumyra saw the signal.  “What can we do, Lynx-o?”  Pumyra asked, “They’re in trouble!”  The blind Thundercat was silent.

            “The thunderclaw is below, Pumyra,”  Lynx-o explained, “Go and help our friends.

 

            While the lasers helped push back the mutants, Lion-o pushed them farther and managed to do some damage.  However, the sheer numbers were too much for him.  A vulture mutant, bored and unable to help disable the force field, was gaining on Lion-o fast when a blast from the ground startled it, giving Lion-o the opportunity to blast it.  Seeing Cheetara in the thundertank, Lion-o lept in next to her.  Things were going better, however, the shield was nearly destroyed. 

            “I don’t think we can stop them,”  Lion-o gasped, “let us pray that the Lair can defend itself without a shield.” 

            “(BEEP)Nya, Slythe, Jackalman here.”  Slythe’s communicator announced.  Slythe pulled it from his pocket.

            “What isss it, Jackalman?”  He snapped.

            “Repairs on SkyTomb are complete.  We’re ready to begin upgrading it, but we need the supervision of Vultureman.”  Explained the jackal.

            “We’ll be on our way.  Everyone PULL BACK!!  We will come back with more forcesss later!!!”  Ordered the leader of the mutants.  Everyone obeyed, following Slythe back without so much as a protest.  This suprised the Thundercats.

            “Why are they retreating?”  Lion-o wondered out loud.

            “They’re probably afraid we’ll show them up, even with their new powers.”  Wilykit called from her Hoverboard.

            “I doubt it.”  Cheetara said, “I think they just went to regroup and plan their next assault.”  Lion-o nodded.

            “Come on, let’s go back into the Lair.”

 

            “Lion-o!  I’m glad you’re here!”  Tygra said, “Look at the recording we just got from SkyTomb!”  On the screen, a very battered, very bloody, yet still very tough looking Chilla stared down on them.

            “Thundercats, if you get this message,”  She said, “Come to Castle Plundarr, and don’t get spotted.  I’m going to send all the Lunatacs out of SkyTomb, and then blow it up, with Slythe still inside.  End Transmission.”  With that, the screen went blank.

            “Well, what do you think?”  Tygra asked.

            “It’s probably a trap,”  Panthro said immidiately, “Why would the Lunatacs ask for our help?”

            “That much is obvious.”  Lion-o said quietly, “Come on, Tygra and Cheetara, the rest of you stay here in case of another attack.”

            “But Lion-o...”  Bengali protested.  The Lord of the Thundercats put his hand up to silence him.

            “We need to stay disciplined,”  Lion-o said, “Or we will be crushed.  We have a potential ally at Castle Plundarr if we can help them.  Now, let’s go on foot to avoid detection.”

 

            “How soon until you’re done with the programing, Chilla?” Slythe demanded.

            “Hssss only another hour, Slythe, and then SkyTomb’s upgrade will be complete.”  Answered the ice-lunatac.

            “Good.  You better not try anything, yessss.”  Slythe snapped, “And just to make sure, we’re holding your friendsss in chains right outside.”

            “Fine, Slythe, I wasn’t planning to do anything anyway.”  Chilla said, trying to keep her tone calm.  The fool has just made it easier for me, she thought, it’s up to the Thundercats to do the rest.

 

            Outside, The once proud lunatacs of Plundarr stood chained togethar, and guarded by two Simian mutants.  “I never thought it would end this way, at the hands of a mutant.”  Alluro mutterred.  TugMug attempted to jump for the hundreth time, but he was chained to the ground, and the alloys were stronger than he was.

            “I’m...sorry...” Luna muttered.  They all looked at her.

            “What did you say, Luna?”  RedEye asked in shock.

            “I’m sorry I got you into this mess.  Had I been half the leader I should have been, I would have gotten us out of SkyTomb before they overwhelmed us.”  Luna said, calmly saying the last few words they had ever expected from her.

            “Don’t give up yet, boss,”  TugMug said, “We’re not dead yet.”  All of a sudden, RedEye’s eyes started to glow.  He smiled.

            “It would seem our rescue has just arrived.”  He told them.

 

            Behind a cluster of boulders, Lion-o, Tygra, and Cheetara plotted their next move.  “I’ll go invisible and break their chains.”  Tygra suggested, “When SkyTomb blows, that should give us the distraction we need to get away, or we’ll be finished anyway.”

            “Do it.”  Lion-o ordered.  Tygra took his whip.

            “Now you see me...”

 

            All of a sudden, the chains on the Lunatacs started to break off.  RedEye was the only one who could see what was happening, but the rest of them got the idea pretty quike.  “It must be That tiger-Thundercat!”  cried one of the simian-mutants, “let’s grab him!”

            “Not so fast, mutants!”  Said a grinning Luna, “We don’t make the same mistakes twice!  Amok, go for the legs!”  Grabbing the nearest set of gigantic legs, Amok sent a simian mutant crashing to the ground, while Tygra followed suite with his whip.  He brought himself into visibility again.

            “Come on!”  He said, “This way!”

 

            “Are you done yet, wretched lunatac?!”  Slythe demanded.  Chilla didn’t move.  “ANSWER ME, you filth!!!”  He snarled.  Chilla’s shoulders started shaking.  Slythe suddenly realized she was laughing.  “What’s so funny, lunatac?”  he demanded.

            “You see this button, Slythe?”  Chilla asked, “I’ve wired all the explosives you wanted to use as weapons to this one button.  Once I press it, you and I go up in an amazing display of fire.”  Slythe paled a bit.

            “You wouldn’t dare!!”  He hissed, “You’re too much of a coward!”

            “I am a warrior, Slythe,”  Chilla said coldly, “I will not be treated like a slave!!  Good bye, Slythe.”  She reached for the button, and Slythe dived at her-

 

            BOOM!!!!!!!!!  SkyTomb exploded in a gigantic fireball, knocking everyone nearby into the nearest solid object. 

            “CHILLA!!!!!!”  Alluro shouted.  He started to run towords the explosion, but Tygra jumped and pushed him to the ground.

            “Don’t be foolish,”  He shouted, “This is going to bring everything around us down on our heads!!!”  Lion-o and Cheetara jumped out, sword of Omens in hand a created a protective field around them.  The rubble from SkyTomb fell right on top of them.

 

            Amok’s fists burst through the rubble.  “Amok, find Chilla!”  Luna ordered.  Amok sniffed the air, then rushed in one direction.  Everyone followed.  Some distance from the explosion, Chilla lay.  Alluro pushed them all aside.  He checked her pulse.

            “She’s alive, but barely.  We need to get her medical attention, and fast!!”  He said, almost hysterical. 

            “Fast is my middle name, Lunatac.”  Cheetara said, lifting up Chilla’s limp form, and dissapearing.

            “No sign of Slythe,” Lion-o said, breathing a sigh of relief, “He must have been destroyed by the explosion.  This at least gives us an edge, they are less organized without a leader.”  He looked at the beaten and tired Lunatacs.  “I know this is going to be akward, but, will you join us at New Cats Lair?”  He asked.

            “I don’t think we have much of a choice,”  Luna sighed, “Mumm-Ra has obviously sided with the Mutants and SkyTomb was our only home.  Come, Lunatacs, let us start what will be an even more painful alliance than our last one.”  With no complaints, not even from TugMug, they followed Lion-o and Tygra back to New Cat’s Lair.

 

            “It’s true, though, Monkian,”  Vultureman said, “We need a leader, and without Slythe’s strength, we will have trouble keeping Rattaro in check, so why don’t we-”  All of a sudden, a pair of dark red wings burst from the rubble.  Next, an arm, followed by the rest of a body.  Slythe Stood before them, barely even bruised.  Soon, others who had been burried burst from their metalic graves, in a scene that would have made the ancient spirits of evil themselves shiver is fear.

            “Don’t count me out jussst yet, Vultureman,”  Slythe said, rage seering in his eyes, “We will destroy those Thundercats and the Lunatacs, under my rule.  Tommorrow, we will begin our seige of all three Thundercat bases, and after that, Third Earth will be ours!”

 

Part 3

            Alluro sat where he had been sitting for the past eight hours; next to Chilla’s bed, where the ice-race lunatac remained in a coma.  Pumyra and RedEye walked in, and Alluro stood up.  “What’s the word?”  He asked. 

            “Not good.”  RedEye told his fellow Lunatac.

            “We can keep her alive, but-” Pumyra started.

            “You can’t wake her up.”  Alluro said bitterly.  Despite their differences in the past, Pumyra felt sorry for the obviously suffering lunatac.

            “Lion-o and Luna have called a meeting of war, perhaps it would be best if you...”  She started.

            “No, I’ll go,”  Alluro said, a little heatedly, “I want to get those filthy mutants back for what they did to us.”

 

            “-And so, united, we stand a chance.”  Lion-o concluded.  The setting was a mind boggling one, Lion-o at one end of the table, Luna at the other.  On one side, Lunatacs, on the other, Thundercats.

            “No need for speeches, Thundercat,”  Luna said, “We have already agreed to an alliance, we have very little choice as it is.”

            “Did the mutants disarm you?”  Tygra asked.  Luna smiled icily.

            “My weapon sits in front of you, strong as ever.”  She said, a little arrogantly.

            “They didn’t take this from me,”  Alluro said, taking out the wooden staff of his psyche club, “because they figured it harmless, but-”suddenly, energy began to be sucked into the top of the psyche club, and, in a flash, a crystal appeared, “-it is still quite useful.  At least when it’s not against the reptilians.”  he added, “The yellow coating on their eyes seems to act as a psychic-block.”

            “My weapon is attached to me.” RedEye pointed out.

            “Mine was not,”  TugMug said bitterly, “And they have it.”

            “So, two out of three isn’t so bad, and TugMug’s gravity ability already gives him the speed advantage.”  Tygra said, “I think that with your help, and with the delay caused by Slythe’s...acident, we should be able to get a few of your weapons from the wrekage.”

            “Like the Lunatacker!”  TugMug said, “And we could get back my gravity carbine!”

            “Well, if we’re gonna do it...”  Panthro started.

            “Let’s do it!”  Put in the other Thundercats.

 

            Flapping his wings in impatience, Slythe hissed, “Hurry up!  We need to get to that Lunatacker, yessss!” 

            “Caaaw!  Calm down, Slythe, as you yourself have said, we have plenty of time!”  Vultureman pointed out.

            “Not anymore, Vultureman,”  The scaly leader sneered, “With the lunatacs on their side now, they will start building up their defenses even more.  The more time we give them, the stronger they will become.”

            “Hoo hoo!  They are no match for our armies, no matter how strong they become!”  Monkian laughed, “They are puny, not even Amok and Lion-o stand a chance against us, togethar!”  Slythe lunged at Monkian, grabbed him by the collar, then flew up into the air with him.

            “Do not underesssstimate the Sword of Omens, Monkian,”  Slythe hissed, “If we let our guards down, Lion-o might find a way to change us back, yessss!”

            “Hoo Hoo! Forgive me, Slythe, just, put me down!”  Monkian whined.  A bad choice of words, as the Simian found himself plummating to the ground.  Slythe heard a dull “Ow!” that notified him that the general was fine.

 

            Lion-o, Tygra, TugMug, Luna and Amok crept silently towords the wreckage.  They could hear the mutants nearby, and did not want to attract their attention.  “Now, where would it be?”  Tygra asked.

            “Right by the engines.”  Luna whispered, pointing to the very end of the wreckage.  Tygra twirled his whip around himself and dissapeared.  They heard the carefuly calculated sound of his footsteps as he sneaked to the end of the rubble.  He noticed a large mound, and, quietly as possible, he pushed aside the rubble.  Sure enough, directly underneath was the Lunatacker.

            “Phase one complete,”  Lion-o whipered, “Now, phase two.”  TugMug and Luna prepared themselves.  Tygra crawled into the Lunatacker, now visible, and sealed the top from inside.  Then the mighty machine burst from the rubble and started blasting flame all over the place.  As anticipated, the swarm of nearby mutants rushed at it, but completely to their surprise, Slythe was still in the lead.  But how could he have survived?!  Lion-o thought in dismay, can nothing defeat this creature?  Tygra, however, proceeded without any sign of dismay, turning the machine and leading the mutants on a chase.  TugMug and Luna rushed towords Castle Plundarr, TugMug leaping up to where he believed the weapons lay.

 

            “Now where is that...”  The pony-tail haired lunatac wondered out loud.  When he saw it, he loud out a gasp.  “Damn...”  He muttered.

 

            Lion-o saw TugMug leap down, but the cannon he held was far larger than the gravity carbine he had come to recognize, and black, a completely different color.  As TugMug and Luna rushed by, Lion-o decided it was time to get out of there.  “Thunder,”  He said, pulling out his sword, “Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! HO!!!”  And the eye of Thundera was sent out, lifting up the Lunatacker and moving it to Cat’s Lair.  Sword of Omens sure does have a lot of uses  Lion-o thought to himself.  He then decided to get out of there himself, running to catch up with Luna and TugMug.  However, Slythe was too fast for, him, leaping in front of the Thundercat.  Lion-o aimed the sword at Slythe, but the gigantic mutant swatted it out of his hands. 

            “Take thisss, meddeling Thundercat!!”  Slythe shouted, raising his fist threateningly.  Suddenly, a huge explosion erupted behind Slythe, and the Mutant fell to the ground.  Oddly, Slythe seemed concious, but unable to move.  “Filthy lunatac....”  He growled.  Lion-o looked to see TugMug’s newly enlarged gravity carbine smoking, along with a grinning lunatac.

            “Come on, Thundercat,”  TugMug said, grinning, “I don’t want to have to save your ass the whole way, let’s get going.”  Lion-o, a bit suprised, grinned and ran off with his unlikely partner.

 

            Once they arrived at New Cat’s Lair, the others were shocked to see Lion-o and TugMug, walking side by side, laughing and talking as if they had been friends for years.

            “They must have been infected with something.”  Cheetara suggested.

            “Or forced-fed poison.”  Luna added.  Tygra, however, watched them and smiled to himself.  Amazing what a mutual enemy can do to people, he thought, I just hope that if and when we defeat the mutants, this alliance continues, then all we’d have to worry about was Mumm-Ra and quite frankly, I don’t think he’s nearly as much as a problem.

            “You should have seen the look on the Thundercat’s face, Luna,”  TugMug laughed, “He looked like he was sure Slythe was going to crush him right there.”

            “But TugMug is getting soft it would seem,” Lion-o said, grinning, “He saved my fur.  Come on, everyone inside for a meeting.  We got the weapons back, so we can start to prepare for battle.”

 

            “And so, this is our stategy, Lion-o,”  Tygra began, “In the air, Bengali, Lynx-o, and Cheetara will pilot the Feliner, while Pumyra and I take the other two flying vehicles.  On the ground, Panthro and you will be in the Thundertank, while Alluro and RedEye will pilot the Lunatacker.  In our base, the thunderkittens, Snarf, and Snarfer will control the weapons.  Our infantry will consist of Luna, who will use Amok to try and trip the Mutants down, and TugMug, who’s upgraded Gravity Carbine can hold down the mutants.  Panthro and Bengali designed special nets I think you should hear about from them.”  Panthro put a diagram on the table.

            “This is our secret weapon, everyone,”  Panthro declared.

            “It’s made from the same alloys we used to construct this building.”  Bengali explained.

            “It has powerful weights on the ends, and, when activated, it will attach itself to the ground with long, powerful drills.” Panthro continued, “Now, we have exactly two of these nets, stored in the jaw of the Cat’s head here.  It is several miles in diameter, so the idea is to get the mutants in one place, then trap them.”  Panthro touched a button, and a four-sided screen lowered for all parties to see.  “This is the cat’s head,”  He continued, pointing it out on the screen.  On the screen, a net shot out from the cat’s head, and was attached still be a long cable, “That cable is used to electricute the mutants into unconciousness,”  Panthro explained, “If the first try fails, you can cut off the first cable and fire the second net.”  The scenario was displayed on the screen.  Panthro touched the button again, and the screen went back into the ceiling.

            “So then, we are to wait for them to attack?”  Luna asked, still not quite enjoying having to follow a plan made by the Thundercats.  Tygra nodded.  “We...accept your plan,”  She said grudgedly, “But those nets had better be strong enough, or we’ll all be done for.”

 

            “WilyKit, wait up!”  WilyKat called after his sibling.

            “WilyKat, I know I saw something crash here, and I want to found out...Aaaah!!!!  WilyKatcome quike!!!”  WilyKit shouted, after dissapearing into a patch of bushes.  WilyKat rushed in after her.

            “WilyKit, what is...it...”  WilyKat stammered.  In front of them, a crashed circus train lay.  A few feet in front of it layed the charred but unmistakable form of Captain Bragg.  Tears welled up in WilyKat’s eyes.  “Those-those barbarians!!”  He shouted, “I can’t believe they would do this to someone as kind as Captain Bragg!”

            “They must have wanted revenge,”  WilyKit said softly, “For being locked up.”

            “They didn’t used to be so...brutal...”  WilyKat said, rage replaced quikely with fear, “Will we ever be able to defeat them now?”

            “Well, if we do, we’ll only do it if we make it to New Cat’s Lair.”  WilyKit said, “Let’s go.”  Fighting off tears, the twins doubled their speed and headed towords their destination.

 

            “Sssso, the Thundercats want a fight, do they?”  Slythe snarled, after being blasted with a reversal to the gravity carbine that Vultureman had cooked up, “Well, we’ll give them a fight!!!  Everyone, pay attention!  This will be the attack plan, yesss!”

 

            The alarm systems at New Cat’s Lair went off.  “It is time.”  Lynx-o announced, climbing into the Feliner.  Cheetara and Bengali took the sides, and the battle plane lifted into the air, joined by the other two air fighters, Pumyra and Tygra.  The Lunatacker and Thundertank took off with TugMug, Luna and Amok following close behind.  On the screens of the control center, a horde of mutants could be seen marching and flying at great speeds.

            “Panthro, plow into as many of them as you can as fast as possible!”  Lion-o ordered, “If we can avoid being lifted up, we should be able to get them down.”

            “On, it, Lion-o.”  Panthro said, pushing down the acceleration.

            “Fire, Alluro!”  RedEye shouted.

            “Hah!  Got one of them!”  Alluro said triumphantly, as a Simian mutant caught on fire.

            “Look out!”  RedEye shouted, as the horde of ground mutants turned on them.  RedEye Started spinning the Lunatacker around, trying to knock down the mutants, while Alluro warded them off with fire.

 

            In the sky, the feliner split, sending Cheetara and Bengali out to attack with the weaker laser fire, while Lynx-o fired missiles from the jaw.  Pumyra and Tygra joined their effort, trying to push the reptilians away from New Cat’s Lair so that they could not disrupt the force field.  The Lair itself was being handled nicely, all of the gigantic lasers were hitting many targets, pushing back the advance.  However, this situation was at best, a stalemate.  Though the warriors fought bravely, very little damage was done to the collosal mutants.  And then, just when it seemed things could not get any worse, Monkian rode in on a newly-upgraded fist pounder.  With this technological advantage, the retaliating forces started to lose valuable ground.

            “Blasted mutants!”  Panthro cursed, “I’ll take out that pile of scrap metal!”  Manuvaring the Thundertank to the side of the fist-pounder, Panthro attempted to ram the gigantic machine once more.

            “Hoo Hoo, we won’t have any of that, Thundercat!”  Monkian laughed.  He pressed a button and missiles launched from the side of the fist pounder at the Thundertank.  Barely managing to avoid it, Panthro began to lose hope.

            “What are we going to do?  They only have one vehicle yet we can’t beat them!”  Panthro growled.  In response, Lion-o opened the top of the tank.

            “I’ll take care of it.”  He told his friend, leaping out.  Climbing to the top of the Thundertank, Lion-o pulled out his sword.  “Thunder.”  He shouted, “Thunder, Thunder!  Thundercats!  HO!!!”  The Eye of Thundera was projected into the sky, building up the hopes of the Thundercats, angering the mutants.  The entire mutant group turned to attack Lion-o.  Pointing his sword at the fist-pounder, Lion-o shouted “HO!!”  and blasted Monkian off.  He then lept off of the Thundertank, and ran closer to New Cat’s Lair before turning, lifting his sword up, and creating a force field.  All of the mutants began to pound and blast at the field, except for the four generals, who watched in amusement.

            “What doesss he think he’sss doing,”  Slythe uttered, “He can’t ssstand the force of all of them, yesssss.”

            “CAAAAWW!!!”  Vultureman shouted, as he suddenly fell to the ground.  The other three looked to see Amok, holding Vultureman’s legs togethar, and TugMug, gravity carbine aimed and ready to fire.

            “This is not a spectator’s sport, Mutants.”  Luna hissed.  TugMug fired at Slythe, who lept into the air.  Vultureman kicked Amok off, and flapped his wings as well.  Monkian and Jackalman charged at Luna and Amok, who responded by ducking down and tripping the two generals.  Slythe and Vultureman lunged down at TugMug, who jumped up and dodged them.

            “Mutants have never stood a chance against Lunatacs.”  TugMug growled.

 

            “Snarfer, Snarfer!  Would you look at that!”  Snarfer announced, “They’re all in one place!  Except for four of them, but Luna and TugMug seem to be handling them fine, yep, they sure are, yep, so I’ll just fire the net...”

 

            Tygra’s eyes went wide.  “THEY’RE FIRING THE NET!!!”  He shouted.

            “But, Lion-o’s in there!!!”  Pumyra exclaimed, “They must not be able to see him in that crowd of mutants.” 

            Lion-o, however, was warned of the oncomming net by the Sword of Omens, which managed to pull him free...just as the net started to come down.  However, he was not quite out, and one of his feet would have been crushed by the weights...if Lynx-o hadn’t dived down and driven him out.  The net dropped, with all the mutants inside.  The shield to New Cat’s Lair dropped, and an electrical current poured into the net, stunning all the mutants contained within.

            “NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”  Slythe howled, “YOU’VE RUINED USSSS!!! YOU CANNOT DO THISSS, WE ARE INVINSSSIBLE!!!!”  Amok’s fist suddenly came down on his skull, making him stumble forward.  Turning, with hatred in his eyes, he kicked the unfortunate beast, sending Luna flying.  TugMug tried to attack, but the angered reptilian swatted him with his tail.  He then grabbed Monkian and Jackalman, and flew off.  “COME ON, YOU FOOL!!!”  He shouted to Vultureman, “I THINK THAT IT’S TIME FOR MUMM-RA TO PAY HIS DUES!!!”  Following suite, Vultureman rushed after him.

            Lion-o stood up, feeling greatly weakened, and sheathed his sword.  All of a sudden, Luna landed in his arms.  Surprised, Lion-o almost dropped her, but instead waited for Amok to come to set her down.  “We’ve got to stop meeting like this, Luna,”  Lion-o chuckled, “People will talk.”  Luna growled, but said nothing.

            “Man, that smarts,”  TugMug said, rubbing the back of his head, he grinned, “But we won!  We got those Dirty Mutants and sent their masters running to their mummy...hehehe...” 

            “I only hope that Mumm-Ra doesn’t decide to help them.”  Bengali said, “Or we’ll be in real trouble.”

            “I think the question right now is; what do we do with all these mutants?”  Lion-o pointed out. 

            “We’ll have to design some sort of prison ship and send them in exile.”  Panthro said thoughtfully.  The Lord of the Thundercats then looked at the Lunatacs, as Alluro and RedEye got out of their vehicle.

            “Uggh...I’ve got to vomit...”  Alluro said, clutching his stumach.

            “So, what will you do now?”  Lion-o asked.  The Lunatacs thought for a moment.

            “We’ll decide when this is over,”  Luna said craftily, “Which it won’t be until the last of the mutants have been captured.”  The other lunatacs quikely agreed.

 

            Crashing through the pyramid wall, Slythe looked quite furious.  The others followed behind him nervously.  “Mumm-Ra!! Show yourself you worthless undead mummy!!!”  He growled.  Mumm-Ra got out of his sarcophagus, smiling.

            “Yes, Slythe?”  He asked politely.  Slythe’s face was contorted with rage.

            “You will come with us to destroy the Thundercats, NOW!”  Ordered the reptilian, “Or we will destroy you!”  Mumm-Ra burst out laughing.

            “Oh, a bit cocky, eh, mutant?”  The Demon Priest asked, “Think that you can defeat me now that you’re stronger?  Well, perhaps you should look...at this...”  Mumm-Ra pulled out a wooden talisman with a double-headed black horse-head.  The talisman contained heiroglyphics on it.  Slythe, annoyed, charged at Mumm-Ra, but the Talisman began to glow a black energy, and Slythe was blasted backwards and paralyzed.

            “What trickery is this?!”  Demanded Slythe.  Mumm-Ra chuckled.

            “No matter how strong you are, Slythe, so long as you are on the side of evil, you will be the servant of Mumm-Ra.”  The demon priest laughed, “And don’t you ever forget it.”

 

 

Final Part

            Mumm-Ra raised his arms into the air.  “So hard to find good help these days,”  He muttered, “Ancient Spirits of Evil, Transform this decayed form...to Mumm-Ra, The Ever Living!!!”  Lightning clapped and sparks flew as Mumm-Ra changed from a weak, hooded mummy into a gigantic creature, ready for battle.  Cowering beneath him, the four super-charged mutant generals waited in anticipation.  Slythe glared at Mumm-Ra with rage and hatred unsurpassed by anything the mummy felt.

            “Sssso, Mumm-Ra,”  Hissed Slythe, “What is your plan now?”  Mumm-Ra grinned, baring his broken and sharpened teeth.

            “Well, Slythe, I am planning on destroying the Thundercats!”  Mumm-Ra said bluntly, “Since you obviously are unable to do so.  Come, follow me, and do everything I tell you to, or you will be destroyed!”  With that, he flew through the room of the pyramid.  The mutants followed suite, Slythe grabbed Monkian and Jackalman and flew after Mumm-Ra, with Vultureman close behind.

 

            Lion-o watched as the Mutant prisoners boarded the newly-forged ship.  Herding them in was Panthro, Bengali, and TugMug, who looked ready to fire his gravity carbine at any second.  “Move it, you stupid mutant wretch!!”  Growled the gravity-race lunatac. 

            “Easy there, TugMug,”  Lion-o said, “No need to be rough with them.”  TugMug glared at him.

            “I beg to deeefer, Lion-o,”  TugMug snapped, “These wretches are reeesponsible for the destruction of the only place we ever called home.”  Indeed, they had seen what remained of Sky Tomb, and it was certainly beyond repair.  Little more than a pile of ashes and charred metal lay where the once powerful battleship lay.  Lion-o put his hand on the Lunatac’s shoulder, a gesture that only a few days ago would have seemed strange.

            “The Thundercats promise to help you build a new home, TugMug,”  He said, “But for now, we’ve got to get these guys moving and try not to make them mad at the same time, or we could still be in real trouble.”

            “Rowr, oh ye of little faith,”  Bengali said, “Those manacles I have them in are indestructable, Rowr, Mumm-Ra himself couldn’t break through, so it doesn’t matter how angry they are.”

            As if on cue, one of the Reptilians snapped his chains off and lunged at Lion-o, but was met with a blast from the Sword of Omens, and then pinned to the ground by TugMug’s gravity carbine.

            “I’d laugh if this weren’t so grave,”  Lion-o grinned, “Indestructable, huh?”  Bengali, a bit sheepish, examined the broken chains.

            “They’ve been melted,”  He announced, “We’ll need to make Muzzles it would seem.”

 

            Once all of the Mutants finnaly boarded the gigantic ship, the doors closed behind them.  “So explain to me how this is going to work, Panthro.”  Lion-o said.

            “Well, The Exiler is going to fly up just high enough to penetrate the atmosphere, then it will go out fan enough that it won’t be pulled in by the gravity of this planet,”  Panthro explained, “In the Exiler is a synthesizing food machine.”

            “Why don’t we have one of those?”  Bengali asked.  Panthro grinned.

            “Because the food, though nutritous, tastes like crap.”  He said bluntly.

 

            On the roof of Cat’s Lair, Mumm-Ra and the Mutants watched quietly.  “I will deal with the Sword of Omens,”  Mumm-Ra said, “You four destroy this base and all inside of it.”  They nodded, and climbed in four seperate directions.  Pulling out the Sword of Plundarr, Mumm-Ra grinned, and lept down at the unsuspecting Thundercats. 

            “Mumm-Ra!”  Lion-o shouted in surprise, as he was alerted of danger by the Sword of Omens seconds before the actual attack.  Barely managing to pull the sword out before the jagged Sword of Plundarr came down on him, Lion-o  tried desperately to push the giant mummy off. 

            “Take this, you boneless wimp!”  TugMug snarled, firing the gravity carbine at Mumm-Ra.  Mumm-Ra turned, blasted TugMug off the cliff on which New Cat’s Lair was perched, and then turned back to resume the battle with Lion-o.  However, the Thundercat quikely flipped around, kicked Mumm-Ra in the face, and rushed to the cliff where TugMug had fallen.  The form of TugMug seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, and Lion-o realized that the gravity-race lunatac’s springs had saved him.  Mumm-Ra flew at Lion-o, who jumped out of the way as TugMug was hurled up- right into the mummy’s gut.  Joining the other Thundercats, Lion-o, Panthro, Bengali and TugMug prepared to attack-when Mumm-Ra vanished.  Suddenly, a scream from New Cat’s Lair drew the four warriors within.

 

            WilyKit and WilyKat had been reprogramming the Exiler for it’s takeoff when Slythe burst through the roof.  “What the heck?!”  WilyKat shouted.  Slythe swatted him to the side, and unleashed a blast of flames at WilyKit.

            “Oh no you don’t!”  sohuted the cub, who dodged the fire, and then tossed some pellets at Slythe.  The pellets hit, exploded, and...Slythe remained untainted.  WilyKat, who had gotten up, attempted the itch-pellets, but Slythe did not so much as scratch his arm.

            “Umm....I think we might have a problem, Kit...”  WilyKat said, his grasp of the obvious as good as ever.

 

            Alluro sat next to Chilla’s bed, where she lay, hooked up to several IVs and unconcious.  Her hand was in his, though he knew that were she to wake up, she’d be plenty angry about it.  “Well, Chilla, who’d a thought that you’d end up being the martyr of this group?”  Alluro said, more to himself than to the unconcious form before him, “And here I thought you could only care for yourself...like the rest of us, of course.  But no, you’ve gone out and decided to be different.  Can’t say I’m any better, I mean, look at where we are, for crying out loud.”  Alluro stopped as Chilla’s eyes opened slowly.  She gave him a drowsy look.

            “Alluro?”  She asked in a weak voice, “Where are we?”

            “Chilla!  You’re...awake!!!”  Was all the psychic could manage.  Chilla gave him a look of impatience.

            “Of course I’m awake, bone head,”  She snapped, “Now tell me what is going on, I remember the explosion...what happened after that?”

            “We found your body near the site,”  Alluro explained happily, “And the Thundercats offered to bring us to New Cat’s Lair, and well, here we are.”

            “What about the mutants, hsss?”  She asked, letting out a gust of condensed air.

            “Defeated and in exile, except for the four generals, who managed to escape.”  Alluro answered, “The mutants did not stand a chance against the likes of us, oh, the Thundercats helped some, I suppose.”

            “Your ego hasn’t lessened any,”  Chilla said, almost smiling.

            “Hoo Hoo, it certainly hasn’t!”  Growled someone from outside the door.  Alluro snapped to attention as Monkian burst through the door.  “And now, it’s time for you to die!”  growled the simian mutant.  Alluro laughed.

            “You shouldn’t have come,”  Alluro laughed, “You should have sent the reptilian, at least he would stand a chance,” Alluro hurled his crystal above Monkian, “But you certainly don’t stand a chance.”

            “You can’t...hurt...me...”  Monkian gasped, struggling to attack the psychic.

            “Hah, You don’t stand a chance!  Give it up, I’m stronger than you, faster than you...”  Alluro insisted.

            “Don’t stand...a chance...”  Monkian gulped, trying to break free of the psychic’s hold.

            “Without Slythe, you are nothing, and you will always be nothing to me...”  Alluro continued.  Monkian sank to his knees.

            “You’ve still got the touch, Alluro,” Chilla muttered, pulling herself out of the bed and slipping her cape back on, “But it would seem that we’re under attack.”  Alluro glared at her.

            “You’re in no condition to fight, lie down.”  He told her.

            “No..condition to fight...” Monkian repeated, lieing down.  Chilla burst out laughing.

            “Don’t worry about me, Alluro,”  She said, “Now, where are the others?”

            “Nya-ha-ha, well, here’s one of us!”  Jackalman shouted suddenly, breaking through the roof and smashing Alluro’s crystal, “Now, it’s time for you to die, Lunatacs!”

            “Chill out, Jackalman, HSSSSS!!!!”  Chilla shouted, creating a wall of ice between them and the mutants.  “Come on,” she ordered Alluro, “We’ve got to get some better weaponry.”  Alluro smiled, glad to see that she was still to proud to admit that they’d need a lot more than better weaponry.  Breaking down a wall, the two climbed out just before the two mutants broke free.

 

            “Snarfer, Snarfer, that’s odd...”  Snarfer said.

            “What is it?”  Snarf asked.

            “Well, it seems that the bottom level is being torn apart...all over the place.”  Snarfer said.

            “I’ll check it out.”  Snarf said, rushing down to the bottom level.

 

            Vultureman smiled.  Flying was something he had come to enjoy, especialy when used to harm to Thundercats.  The vulture was flying through every machine and wall he could find on the bottom floor, attempting to cause the entire structure to collapse.  His new thick skin made it so that it didn’t hurt to bash his head through walls, and his talons made it easier to tear things apart.

            Seeing the trouble, Snarf, being the brave creature he was, ran off to tell the others.

 

            “I don’t see Mumm-Ra anywhere, Lion-o.”  Bengali said, as the four of them searched, “Nor do I hear any more screaming.  Do you think it was a trick?”

            “What’s that?”  TugMug asked, pointing to the small tiger-race girl in front of them.  Lion-o kneeled down to her.

            “Little girl, what’s your name?”  He asked, “Where did you come from.”  the girl looked away shyly.

            “You won’t like my name, it’s a bad name.”  She said.

            “I’m sure it’s a beautiful name, but we have to know it if you want us to help you.”  Lion-o explained.

            “But’s that just it,”  The girl said, now making eye contact with the Lord of the Thundercats, “I don’t want you to help me...I want you to DIE!”  The little girl suddenly exploded into the form of Mumm-Ra, who began to brutally beat the startled Lion-o.  Panthro gave Mumm-Ra a whack on the jaw with his weapon.  The mummy blasted Panthro with a painful red energy bolt, giving Lion-o the time he needed to kick Mumm-Ra off.  Drawing his sword, Lion-o blasted at Mumm-Ra, a move which Mumm-Ra countered by spinning the Sword of Plundarr in his defense.  Mumm-Ra then burst out laughing.  “Even if you defeat me, Thundercat,”  he laughed, “You are too late to save your friends!  Perhaps you should go and see what your failure has led to!”  With that, he dissapeared again.

            “Blast it!  I hate it when he does that!”  Panthro growled.

            “You deeedn’t have to put up with an alliance to heeem,”  TugMug grumbled, “He wasn’t much better then eeeeiiither.”

            “He must have brought the mutants,”  Bengali pointed out, “The others will need our help, come on!”

 

            Jumping and flipping, the twins made a desperate attempt to save their own lives.  “This is ridiculous,”  WilyKat shouted, “We’re not doing any damage!”

            “We can’t stop moving!”  His twin shouted back, “Or we’ll be fried!”  WilyKit then narrowly avoided a stream of fire that came her way.

            “Yessss!  You are all doomed, Thundercatssss!”  Slythe laughed.  His smile then turned to a bewildered look, as his legs squeezed togethar and he fell down face first.  Behind him, a grinning Luna and Amok stood.

            “I never get tired of doing that.”  Luna told the twins, who had rushed to the door, “Come on, Thunderkittens, let’s give this repulsive creature a run for his money!”

 

            Climbing down the side of New Cat’s Lair, Alluro started to complain.  “You know how frustrating it is when they break my crystal?”  He asked rhetoricly, “It’s a headache to regenerate it!  Why must they go for the crystal, can’t they attack me instead?”

            “Maybe they should go for your big mouth instead!”  Chilla hissed, “We’ve got company!”  Looking up, Alluro saw what she meant.  Monkian and Jackalman were climbing down after them, and gaining at a disturbingly fast rate.

            “Chilla, dearest?”  Alluro asked, “I don’t think they’re comming down fast enough, what do you think?”

            “Maybe I should help them down, HSSSSS!”  The Lunatac fired her breath and froze the wall that the unfortunate mutants were clinging onto, making them slip and fall into the canyon below.

            “What a pity, they left without saying good bye,” Alluro said, pretending to be insulted, “Some people can be so rude.”

 

            Snarf sniffed the air, and found Lion-o’s scent.  Rushing over to him, Snarf started shouting long and fast explanations.

            “Whoa! Whoa! Slow down!”  Lion-o laughed, “What’s going on?”  Snarf took a breath.

            “Vultureman is on the bottom level, destroying everything and trying to make the whole place collapse!”  Snarf repeated.  Dropping his friend, Lion-o rushed down, the others following closely behind.

            Vultureman’s keen eyesight spotted them before then spotted him, and he slashed Panthro’s chest with his talons, then flipped and turned the other way.

            “Let’s get heeeeem!”  TugMug shouted, lunging at the mutant.  Vultureman dodged the Lunatac, but was unable to dodge to blue fireball from Bengali’s hammer, which put him enough offcourse to send him reeling into a wall, back-first.  The wall crumbled, and Vultureman got back up, angered.  He was met, however, by a blast from the Sword of Omens, which lifted him into the air.  TugMug then blasted him with the gravity carbine, pinning him to the ground.  Taking his sword, Lion-o commanded.

            “Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!”  Lion-o suddenly grinned.

            “What?  What is it?”  Panthro asked, wrapping some clothe on his wound.  Putting down his sword, Lion-o