"Psikaris, I require your assistance."

The hybrid woman looked up at her brother. "For what?"

"I wish Chilla to be mine," Psychro said by way of preamble, "but her brother is fiercely protective of her. I need you to keep him distracted for a time."

"I think Alluro is the greater threat to your plans. He has feelings for Chilla, and will challenge you," said Psikaris.

"Alluro I can handle easily, provided I can spit faster than he can speak. It is Knave who is the threat."

"I still think that..."

Psychro looked over at his sister and smiled slowly. "Ah-h-h, I think I see. Perhaps Alluro is not the greater threat, but you would rather distract him than Knave?" When Psikaris tinged a slight purple, Psychro said, "But once I have Chilla, Alluro will have no choice but to turn to you. It works out for us both."

* * *

As it turned out, Psychro and Psikaris had varying ideas as to what constituted a distraction. Psychro expected his sister to lead Knave on for a while, long enough for his own plans to work. Psikaris instead started working on what went wrong with her FTL drive ( which she swore would one day get a better name ), and since Knave had a part in the original, she could dragoon him into helping her.

Psychro wasn't too concerned, so long as the plan worked and Psikaris wasn't hurt. If Psikaris had decided to do more to Knave then bat her eyelashes and maybe sigh a breathless "Oh, really?" every few seconds, he would have stopped her. Despite outward appearances, Psychro knew what Psychro was, and that could be summed up as 'the kind of man mother warned you about'. He had no intention of Psikaris falling prey to someone like him.

Knave seemed okay, though. He was never really more than an acquaintance of Psychro's, but the family seemed to like him. Even with his half-cheetah heritage. The Myntaello Clan couldn't be picky though, not after Psychro and Psikaris' psi-race father married an ice woman. Psychro always felt a type of halfbreed loyalty towards Knave, but he knew that Knave would as soon kill him as look at him.

This was because Psychro was - and he referred to himself this way - a complete and total jerk. He accepted this fact long ago. He could blame it on a permissive upbringing, but never saw the point. And instead of recognizing what he was and trying to change, he recognized what he was and lived it. Somebody's got to be the bad example he decided, at it might as well be him.

What Knave couldn't stand about him is that he loved women. Nothing wrong with that, except he loved a lot of them. And left them. And almost did the same thing to Chilla. Well, this time he wouldn't leave her.

Where else was there to go?

* * *

"The nerve of him! Did you see that?" Chilla raged. And because Knave wasn't around to vent at, her captive audience was Alluro.

"No. I just got here." Which was true. Luna said the freezer unit was acting up, and sent him to fix it. Chilla was stuck on lunch duty, and he just missed Psychro by about fifteen seconds.

"That delusional troll has convinced himself that I'm harbouring secret desires for him and that if I'd just let myself go he'd... errgh!" Chilla fumed, refusing to put words to the thought.

"Chilla... dear..."

"What?"

"Please put the knife down, at least until you are calmer."

"Oh."

"Thank you, Chilla." Deeming it safe to enter the kitchen, Alluro set his tools on the counter and turned his attention on the freezer. "Though I suppose he has a point," said Alluro, trying not to sound resentful, "He is the best-looking male Lunatac around here."

"Missing that distinction, Alluro?"

"Hnh! Some distinction. Only because the competition are Red-Eye and Tug-Mug."

The bitterness in his voice caught Chilla by surprise. Alluro - arrogant, egotistical Alluro - thought himself ugly. "You're not... unattractive," said Chilla carefully, rather annoyed at herself for feeling sorry for him.

"Ha." The conversation might have continued, but apparently Alluro caught himself. "I found the problem. Something must have scraped against this wire, exposing it. It will have to be replaced."

Mood broken, and doubting that it ever existed, Chilla got back to making lunch.

* * *

Despite his best efforts and the fact that Knave didn't know what was going on, Chilla still refused Psychro's advances. After a couple weeks of this, the ice hybrid had enough. If he could not win her by legitimate means, he was going to have to cheat. So at the first chance he got, he took off in the Lunattacker and out of the Darkside.

Psychro was looking for someone. Or something, depending on how you looked at it. Luna had mentioned an undead sorcerer that she and the Lunatacs sometimes worked for. Sorcery was something that sounded potentially useful to Psychro.

He parked the Lunattacker outside the Black Pyramid and walked inside. Seeing no one, he looked around a bit. He then stood on the walkway to the cauldron and called, "Mumm-ra!"

The small hairs on the back of his neck stood on end when he heard the slow creak of something opening behind him. Psychro whirled as a dry voice asked, "Who dares disturb the rest of Mumm-ra?"

The Lunatac stood his ground and declared, "I, Psychro Myntaello of the Second Moon, do. I have come to ask a favour, sorcerer."

The undead sorcerer stepped out of his sarcophagus and smiled. "For every favour, there is a price, Lunatac."

"I will pay it. I require a potion so that Chilla will fall in love with me."

Psychro wasn't sure, but he thought the undead creature snickered at that. "A love potion, you say? Easily done. But my task for you isn't so easy. Look into the cauldron and behold!" While the Lunatac didn't want to let Mumm-ra out of his sight, he did as he was told. Mumm-ra continued, "These are the Thundercats. Bring me their lord and you will have your love potion." The word 'love' had a distinct sneer to it.

Psycho turned to leave, only to be stopped by the sorcerer's voice. "Wait," it said, "Your request gives me an idea." From his sleeve, Mumm-ra pulled what looked like a water pistol. It vanished in a red flash, and Psychro barely caught it as it materialized in front of him. "This, too, is a love potion, but it will work only on Thundercats. As the one I will give you later, the person splashed with the liquid will fall for whoever they next see. Use it to cause any confusion you require."

The Lunatac nodded, and retreated to his craft.

* * *

Luna had briefed Psychro about the Thundercats, and he had a plan. The Lunattacker crashed out of the forest - directly in the path of something moving very, very fast.

Cheetara stopped short when she saw Psychro nonchalantly leaning against the vehicle. "Just what we need. More Lunatacs." When said Lunatac pulled a water pistol on her, Cheetara almost laughed. "Sure I may look like a cat," she started, "But I'm not going to run away at a little bit of water..."

Psychro shot her. She didn't think he'd be dumb enough to do it and let out a screech of annoyance as the liquid hit her. She extended her bo staff. "Okay, jokes aside, you're going to regret tha..."

Cheetara stopped in mid-swing. Maybe it was the angle, but this Lunatac was strangely attractive. She didn't want to wallop him. Cheetara put her bo staff away and slunk over to the Lunatac. She slipped her arm through his, and ran a finger down his blue chest. "I'm Cheetara," she purred, "And you are?.."

The Lunatac smiled. "Psychro. Tell me, Cheetara, where I might find a young lady by the name of Pumyra..."

Pumyra was walking by the edge of a forest when Cheetara caught up to her. The cheetah stopped, all out of breath. "Pumyra," she said, gasping for air, "There's a new Lunatac! He's chasing me... oh!" Both cats jumped aside as the Lunattacker bore down on them.

The puma slipped a few exploding marbles into her lariat. "Don't worry, Cheetara," she said, "This'll fix him."

The marbles exploded against the side of the attacking vessel. The Lunattacker rocked, but righted itself before crashing unceremoniously into a tree. It would be easily fixed, but the driver should be pretty shook up.

Pumyra popped the hatch and looked inside. "You're right, Cheetara," she said, "I don't recognise him either. We need to tell the others... What?" The Lunatac opened his eyes and shot her with a water pistol. Startled, Pumyra jumped back, lost her balance, and fell on her backside.

The tall Lunatac stood over her, and strangely, offered her a hand up. Pumyra took it, if only for an excuse to touch that smooth, blue skin. The puma suddenly noticed that Cheetara was also hanging off this newcomer, but she wasn't jealous. Pumyra could hardly blame the cheetah for wanting to be near him.

Psychro now had a woman on each arm. He smiled. "I could get used to this," he said to no one in particular. Then addressing the Thundercats said, "Now there is a little favour I would like to ask of you..."

When Cheetara and Pumyra arrived at Cat's Lair, they were let in with no fuss. Panthro was in the control room. "Our sensors picked up the Lunattacker roaring around. Did either of you see anything out there?" he asked.

Cheetara nodded. "Yes. I was out for my run when it attacked me. Pumyra helped me get away from him."

"And it isn't any of the Lunatacs we know," Pumyra added.

Panthro threw up his hands and grumbled, "Like we need more Lunies. I'll call a meeting."

The Thundercats hastily convened to discuss this new threat. "If it's a new Lunatac, it probably means that Luna and her gang have been sending signals back to the Plundarr system," said Tygra.

"Which means that either Luna's crowd will leave..." started Panthro.

"Snarf, snarf, or that we'll have to deal with more Lunies," whined Snarf.

Lion-O asked, "What happened to the Lunattacker?"

"It crashed. The driver got away," said Pumyra.

"Could you take us to it?" asked Tygra.

Cheetara smiled. "That won't be necessary."

"Why not?" demanded Lion-O.

Cheetara laughed. "Because we've already taken him here. Now!"

At Cheetara's signal, Pumyra threw a handful of marbles on the conference table. While the others jumped back or covered their eyes, Cheetara snatched WilyKat's pouch. She grabbed several sleep-gas pellets and threw them into the centre of the room. When the smoke cleared, only Cheetara and Pumyra remained standing, holding handkerchiefs over the lower halves of their faces. Pumyra went to the control console and extended the drawbridge.

A few minutes later, Psychro strutted into the control room. He eyed the mess appreciatively. "Very well done, my lovelies. Very nice work. Now, which one is your leader?" Cheetara pointed to Lion-O. Psychro knelt beside the cat. "A lion. I should have guessed. What's this?.." Psychro pulled the Sword of Omens out of its sheath, appraised it, then affixed the sheath to his own belt. Gesturing to Lion-O he said, "Bring him."

And because they would do anything for Psychro, the Thundercat women did.

* * *

Cheetara and Pumyra balked slightly when they reached the Black Pyramid, but followed Psychro in, Lion-O struggling between them. Mumm-ra was waiting, standing over his cauldron. He nodded to Psychro. "I am impressed, Lunatac." The female cats let Lion-O go, but the sorcerer set up a magical shield around him. Mumm-ra stepped down from the walkway to inspect the Lunatac's offering.

"I have kept my part of the bargain, Mumm-ra. Give me my prize."

Out of Mumm-ra's sleeve came a small glass bottle, which he gave to Psychro. As the Lunatac slipped it into a pocket, Mumm-ra and Lion-O noticed something. "The sword!" they shouted at the same time.

"Where is it?" demanded the undead sorcerer.

Psychro looked defiant and said, "You asked for a Thundercat, not a sword."

Mumm-ra raised his hands above his head and intoned, "Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decaying form to Mumm-ra: The Ever Living! Now," commanded the sorcerer, "The sword."

Psychro stepped back at the transformation. He wasn't used to magic. Deciding that if Mumm-ra wanted the sword that badly, he could have it, Psychro started to hand him the weapon and its sheath.

From inside the magic shield, Lion-O called, "Sword of Omens, come to my hand!" Before the surprised Lunatac could respond, the sword leapt from his grasp. The lion caught the sword and shouted, "Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! HOOOOOO!" The signal flared in Cheetara and Pumyra's eyes, breaking the spell of Psychro's love potion.

Lion-O brought the energy-charged weapon down in a wide stroke. The magical shield around him tore. He readied to loose a bolt at Mumm-ra.

Nobody noticed that Psychro was gone.

* * *

Psikaris was in the hangar when Psychro returned. "Luna's going to have your head when she sees what condition the Lunattacker's in," she said. Then noticing his slightly unsteady gait asked, "And where were you? What happened?"

"I had a run-in with those Thundercats that Luna warned us about. They seem to be normal Thunderans, but with much more technology and such than I remember."

"Psychro, the last time we saw Thunderans was about fifteen hundred years ago."

"That explains it, then."

The hybrid woman shook her head and climbed aboard the Lunattacker to inspect the damage. "Psychro, go find Alluro. He knows this thing better than I do." Relieved that he didn't have to explain anything to his sister, Psychro took off. She was almost his opposite, he thought, so sheltered. And he was going to keep her that way.

"Psychro, wait. You... oh, never mind," Psikaris finished. Tucking the water pistol into a pocket she said, "I'll just drop this off with you later. Ugh, now what was he doing to this vehicle? Running it through a miniature minefield?.."

* * *

"Hey, Al, 'Karis needs your help in the hangar."

Alluro's eyes narrowed at the short form of his name. "With what?"

"Lunattacker got damaged. She doesn't know how to fix it."

"Men drivers!" screeched Luna. Red-Eye and Mystan looked over at that. Mystan had been on morning watch, and Red-Eye had merely shown up early for his shift. "What were you doing? Trying to fill your card at 'Roadkill Bingo'?"

"I got attacked by the Thundercats," said Psychro. True enough.

"Idiot!" Luna raged, "Now they know it's not just us any more!"

"They only know about me, Luna," said Psychro, trying to calm the woman.

Luna hissed in annoyance. "Well, you heard him, Alluro. Go fix the Lunattacker. And Mystan, your shift's done. Red-Eye, take over. Psychro, for being stupid, you're on lunch clean-up duty." The Lunatacs set about their tasks.

In the hall, Mystan said, "Perhaps he was set upon by Thundercats, but he also went twice to Mumm-ra's pyramid."

Alluro frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean only that he didn't give a full report. Beware, hypnotist." Before Alluro could question him further, Mystan swept off down another passage.

* * *

Psychro had to wait a few days to use the love potion. Given how Mumm-ra said it worked - the person splashed with the liquid will fall for whoever they next see - Psychro wanted to make dead sure that he had Chilla alone. It wouldn't do at all to have someone like Mystan or Alluro to walk in at the wrong moment. Or worse, Tug-Mug.

Horrid as that last thought was, Psychro had to snicker at it before getting on with his plans. Chilla would never consent to see him in either of their rooms, especially not alone, and any place they worked was too public. Darkside patrol was never in teams, and she'd never fall for the 'there's something way out in the middle of nowhere that you've just got to see' line.

And he had other things to worry about, namely Psikaris. He already knew she had a crush on Alluro ( who knows why? ), but it seemed to be getting worse. Nothing silly like eyelash batting, but she'd subtly watch him whenever he was in the room, and seemed disappointed if he left or wasn't around. Alluro didn't seem to notice, thank Yerith. Psychro didn't trust the hypnotist.

Of course Psychro - being Psychro - tended to compare others to himself. His sister was beautiful, and Alluro ( if Chilla was still the woman he remembered ) wouldn't have had any sort of physical attention in at least two years. Psychro would have jumped at the chance, and thus figured Alluro would too. While he had nothing against Psikaris dating Alluro, he'd just better keep his hands to himself.

* * *

Chilla had the afternoon shift in the control room. Red-Eye was rewiring the main viewer, and Psychro was playing cards against himself. If Red-Eye left, Psychro thought, it would probably be the best time to test Mumm-ra's potion.

As luck would have it, Red-Eye was missing a tool and had to go find it. As the doors closed behind him, Psychro got up and crossed the room to Chilla. "No."

"Did I say anything?"

"You were about to." Chilla disliked having to put up with Psychro's propositions. Alluro was annoying, but at least he had some subtlety to him. And if he got too bad, she could freeze him. Psychro she couldn't.

"I'm not asking again, snow cone..." Psychro started, resting his hands on her shoulders. He never finished the thought, though, because Chilla swivelled her chair around, lashed out, and knocked him halfway across the room. With a glare, she turned back to her work.

I'm not asking again because in a few seconds you'll be begging me, thought Psychro, taking the stopper out of the bottle.

Concentrating on his plans, Psychro didn't hear the control room doors open. As he threw the tiny bottle he heard, "Chilla, Red-Eye asked me to..."

Alluro! If Chilla was looking at him while the spell took effect... Thinking quickly, Psychro called, "Chilla!"

She started to turn as the potion hit her, and she snarled as it soaked through her cape. For the life of him, Psychro couldn't tell which of them she was looking at that exact moment. Alluro had seen Psychro throw the bottle. "What was that?" he demanded.

He was fairly certain Chilla was looking at him. At least, he hoped so. "Love potion. Chilla's mine. Don't be a sore loser."

Chilla did appear to be in some sort of mental conflict. "I'm not the one that's going to be sore," snarled Alluro, casting the psyche crystal above Psychro. "Now, how about you go throw yourself down a flight of stairs?.."

Psychro spat ice, but in his confused state, mostly missed the hypnotist, hitting only the arm that held the psyche club. Of course, with his concentration broken, the psyche crystal fell and shattered. "Can't you make that stupid thing out of something that doesn't break? Plastic, maybe?" taunted Psychro, advancing on the psychic.

A blast of heat knocked both combatants back, and incidentally melted the ice on Alluro. "Stop it, both of you! I will not be fought over! I will not..." shouted Chilla, her voice starting to waver. Though she was fighting the spell with everything she had, Psychro knew it wouldn't be long.

"What's going on in here!?" Luna's voice cut through the room. "Dammit, why can't I turn my back without someone starting a fight?"

"What are you going to do?" sneered Alluro. Anger had made him particularly insolent. "Ground us?"

"I think I will. All of you are confined to quarters until tomorrow morning."

* * *

Confined to his room, Alluro had lost himself in a stack of Vultureman's outdated techie magazines, and thus was awake when he heard the knock on his door. Setting the one he was reading on the end table, Alluro got up, stretched, and opened the door. "Chilla. What, ah, brings you here at this hour of night?.."

The hypnotist's confusion was enhanced by the fact that Chilla really wasn't wearing much, just a short white bathrobe. Laying cold hands on his chest, she pushed him back into his room. "I know you've wanted me a long time," she purred, "And I've always found you attractive. Discussion?"

Mouth suddenly gone dry, Alluro couldn't have complained if he wanted to.

* * *

Alluro was happy. A bit cold, but happy. He was surprised to find Chilla at his door last night, and even more so when she threw herself at him. And to wake up and realize it wasn't a dream!.. The ice woman was still asleep, her arms folded across the hypnotist's chest, pillowing her head on them. Once in a while she'd sigh and move in her sleep... let's just say that it wasn't just cold that caused Alluro to shiver.

Eventually, he looked over at the clock, and swore under his breath. Giving the ice woman a gentle shake he said, "Chilla darling, much as I hate to do this, but if we don't get up soon, we risk Luna's wrath."

Chilla muttered something that sounded like, "Luna can take a flying leap."

"Don't make this any more difficult than it is. There will always be another night," he said, partly to persuade himself that getting out of bed really was in his best interest. Currently he wasn't convinced.

The ice woman snuggled closer. "Oh, Alluro," she sighed, voice slightly muffled by her arms, "I love you so much. I do, but I was too scared to tell you before... before last night..."

"Shh, Chilla," Alluro whispered, tilting her face up to look at him. The whisper turned to a shout. "Psikaris!?"

The hybrid gasped with her discovery, then cringed back under the psychic's glare. "I..." she started.

"I think I've got it now," hissed Alluro. "'Specialized telekinesis', telekinesis at the cellular level, allowing you some amount of shapeshifting abilities. Chilla would be easy, wouldn't she? You're close to the same height and colour..."

"You don't understand..."

"I understand. I understand you tricked me!"

Psikaris sat up and turned away, burying her face in her hands. Alluro used the opportunity to get dressed. He tossed Psikaris' robe to her. It made sense that she wore it. Though her powers could probably change her clothing, she wouldn't be able to keep both herself and her clothes altered if the two were separated, so she wore something neutral.

She pulled on her robe, paused at the door, looked over her shoulder at the scowling hypnotist, choked back a sob, and fled. Alluro sat down heavily on the edge of his bed. I probably shouldn't have snapped at her, but I was angry. How dare she trick me like that?, he thought. And if anyone sees her like that, they're going to blame me for this. With a sigh, he settled back and waited to see who would show up.

Much to his surprise, it was Mystan who knocked the door in and hauled Alluro to eye-level by his suspenders. "You slime," snarled the normally emotionless psychic, cold fury in his eyes, "You total, absolute jerk. How dare you do that to Psikaris?"

Alluro decided to try the truth. "It was her idea. She has the ability to shapeshift, and I snapped at her when I found out she wasn't who I thought she was. If it makes you feel better, I feel quite awful about this."

Apparently it didn't make Mystan feel better. A gray fist caught Alluro in the jaw, causing him to stagger back. He didn't even bother resisting as a wave of pure force hit him, knocking the hypnotist to the floor.

Mystan stood over him. "Get up, Alluro," he hissed. "Why don't you fight back?"

"Because if I am guilty of what you accuse me of, I deserve this."

The telekinetic blinked in surprise. "You... what?"

"I deserve this punishment. Do what you will."

Shaking his gray hair, Mystan left the room.

Alluro pulled himself to his feet and checked his injuries. I cannot believe that worked, he thought, Of course, Mystan probably thinks me a masochist or something now, but if it will keep him from blasting me, who cares?

* * *

For his part, Psychro took his being grounded fairly well. It would give the spell a chance to work. By the time they got out, Chilla would throw herself at him. And he'd say no.

Knave would have his head if he and Chilla became lovers, so Psychro would make it look legitimate. Sure, Alluro knew that Chilla was hit with a love potion, but the others would never believe him. His love for Chilla was well known throughout Skytomb, and the others would merely think him a sore loser. The little glass bottle that held the potion shattered on the floor, but it would have been swept up with the shards of the psyche crystal by now. There was no proof except... but he got rid of that, didn't he?

His thoughts were interrupted when Psikaris burst into the room, wearing nothing but a bathrobe and sobbing convulsively. Pulling his sister close to comfort her he asked, "Shh. 'Karis, what's wrong?" She didn't answer, but within a few minutes, Mystan walked into the room, radiating cold malevolence.

He wasn't a warrior, but pity wasn't in Mystan's dictionary. Not for an offence as great as this. It wasn't out of sympathy that Mystan left Alluro. It was because it wasn't his place to dole out the punishment. That was a family matter and that is why the telekinetic went to Psychro. "I saw her run out of Alluro's room. I think he hypnotised her into sleeping with him."

"He did not!"

"'Karis..."

Psikaris pulled herself away from Psychro and glared down at Mystan. "Don't you dare accuse Alluro of that! It was my idea, I tricked him into it."

"'Karis, I can't believe that. You wouldn't do that," said Psychro, stunned.

"What choice did I have?" demanded Psikaris, directing her fury at her brother. "He's in love with Chilla..."

"True." Alluro stood in the doorway. "I came so I might have a chance to explain before this gets blown all over Skytomb. If I had known it was Psikaris, I would have refused."

Mystan put together what he already knew of Psikaris and what he'd heard. "Great Yerith, why didn't you tell us you were a shapechanger?"

Psikaris didn't answer, so Psychro did. "Because the second Luna finds out, 'Karis is going to be stuck on spy missions the rest of her life. I'm not letting her get into that kind of danger."

By now, the hybrid woman had stepped around Mystan to stand in front of a very uncomfortable Alluro. "I'm sorry," Psikaris explained earnestly, "You'd never give me a second glance, so I had to use deception. It was the only way I could think of to get close to you. I love you, Alluro..."

Mystan looked paler than usual and Psychro couldn't believe he was hearing this. He knew she liked the hypnotist, but he had no idea it was this serious. Something occurred to him and with utter certainty he asked, "'Karis, when you were fixing the Lunattacker, did you find something in there that looked like a water pistol?"

Tearing her gaze away from Alluro, she looked over her shoulder and replied, "Yes. Drat, I completely forgot about that thing."

"Could you go get it and bring it down to Alluro's lab? And while you're at it, get dressed." Psikaris took off down the hall. To the others Psychro said, "Look, Al, I'll meet you down in your lab. Mysty, go with him if you think this is any of your business."

The telekinetic huffed a bit. "I am on Darkside patrol this morning, but I expect a full report."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." After shooing the other two out, Psychro got dressed then headed down to Chilla's room. Outside her door it occurred to him that it might be a bad idea for him to be there, but he needed something. Besides, he was curious to see if the potion worked.

Apparently it did. Chilla opened the door, realized who it was, and immediately pulled him in. "Psychro," she purred. "I've been doing some thinking and decided that maybe I would like to show you my secret desires..."

Much as he would have liked to see what those were, Alluro was waiting and he didn't want the hypnotist angry at him right now. Psychro didn't know the hypnotist well enough to know if he would use others to get to his real victim, and since Psikaris was currently so much putty in Alluro's hands, he wasn't going to risk it. Pushing the ice woman away he said, "No one is more sorry than I am to disappoint you, but I need you to come down to Alluro's lab with me."

Puzzled, but in no mood to argue, Chilla followed.

* * *

After analyzing the potion in the water pistol and the stains on Chilla's cape, Alluro said, "It's the same stuff."

"Mumm-ra said the stuff in the gun would work only on Thunderans!" raged Psychro.

"It's a general love potion," repeated Alluro. "You never actually had to risk yourself to catch a Thundercat."

Pacing the lab, Psychro asked, "But can you make an antidote to it?"

"And why would I want to do that?"

The ice hybrid stopped in his tracks, a rather nasty feeling at the pit of his stomach. "You've got to be kidding, Al."

"Don't call me that," he said archly. "If I don't make the antidote, you've got Chilla, which is what you wanted. With her gone, Psikaris is the only other attractive female around here, and I would eventually have turned my attentions towards her. This just speeds things up a bit."

"You twisted, blackmailing son of a..."

"Or I could cure them both and bring things back to normal."

So Alluro was capable of using hostages. "Fine. Do it," he said, heading for the door. "Sick bastard."

As the door closed behind Psychro, Alluro thought, I was always going to cure both of them, but now I have the advantage. The psychic chuckled. Never try to outbluff a hypnotist.