The Curse

Chapter One: The Plan

Thunder cracks the air overhead as I open my eyes. The lid of my sarcophagus slides open, and I step out into the dark, musty air of my crypt. Ma-mutt looks up and barks gleefully at the sight of me before bounding towards me, flecking a sticky, thick saliva from his powerful jaws. He takes a running jump into my arms and begins to lovingly lick my face, desperately yearning for my attention. I gently pick the undead dog up off of the floor and, as I run my fingers over the matted, patchy fur on his head and back, I slowly pace around the magical cauldron, lamenting at my many failures and setbacks against the Thundercats.

"I am at a loss, my dearest pooch. Everything that I have tried against those wretched Thundercats has failed drastically. Lion-O is but the mind of a mere cub in the body of a fully-grown cat, and yet he has the ability to overcome and defeat every obstacle that I have thrown at him. If it weren't for that damned Sword of Omens, that pathetic cub would have been buried six feet under ages ago!"

Ma-mutt growls as I wave my hand above the scrying pool. The once still waters bubble as a faint but thick purple smoke rises off of it, and once it clears, I am treated to a reminder of the amount of times in which the miserable Lord of the Thundercats has bested me. I scowl at the image of the lion ploughing through warbot after warbot and minion after minion. Is there anything that he can do without that wretched Sword?

"Mumm-ra! Mumm-ra! There is a way in which you will finally be able to rid Third Earth of Lion-O forever!"

As I watch in amazement, a figure manifests itself in the cauldron, towering over me before collapsing back down into the water. "Please, oh Ancient Spirits of Evil. Tell me so that I may be able to rid us of that wretched do-gooder!"

"Observe carefully, Mumm-ra, and we shall show you exactly what to do!"

I look into the cauldron.

"There is an ancient curse initiated through drinking a potion – The Curse of Tlaltecuhtli. In the jungle near the Warrior Maidens' Treetop Kingdom is an ancient temple to this Aztec goddess of the Earth. Lying hidden from sight among the dense foliage, this temple has remained undisturbed for over five thousand years. Not even the Thundercats know of its existence. If you go there, you will find some of the many crucial components to the potion."

The image of a vast stone temple appears in the cauldron, covered with vines. "And what will I need to do once I have found this temple, oh mighty ancient ones?" I ask, which earns me the answer of "This is not a task which you will be able to complete alone, Mumm-ra. You shall require the help from the Mutants and the Lunataks, for this potion requires some of the hair and blood of the Lord of the Thundercats. Get to work, Mumm-ra. You MUST have the potion ready by sundown today!"

I ponder for a minute. I would much rather work alone, but having to trap Lion-O in order to get his blood and hair is a risk which I will not take myself. It would be better to get one of the Mutants to do that for me – their lives are...expendable, so it wouldn't matter if that arrogant, cocky lion killed them during the struggle.

I drop Ma-mutt and he hits the floor with a thud and a deep yelp as I raise my hands and shout "Ancient Spirits of Evil! Transform this decayed form into Mumm-ra The Everliving!"

The eyes of the four statues glow a bright blood red as my body is shrouded in a bright blue energy. My bones creak and my bandages tear away as my body transforms into my alternate form, and when it is complete, I launch off into the sky to make my way to Skytomb...

- (BORDER) -

"How far out are we from the Tower of Omens, Panthro?"

The panther looks at me as he says, "We've got about another ten to fifteen minutes left yet, Tygra."

I'm just about to reply to him, but something flying overhead catches my attention. "Panthro, stop!" I shout, and he slams his foot on the brakes as I point at the flying object and I say, "Look! It's Mumm-ra! He's headed towards Darkside! We should follow him!"

Panthro looks at me as he says, "Following Mumm-ra to Darkside is something that we can't do with just the two of us – we can't find our way through the Jungle of Darkness without Lynx-O. We're better off going to the Tower of Omens and telling Lion-O what we just saw."

"But why didn't Mumm-ra attack us? He just passed by overhead as if he didn't even know that we were down here."

"I don't know Tygra, and I don't like it either. But the sooner we get to the Tower, the sooner we can tell Lion-O what we saw."

- (BORDER) -

"Thundertank calling Tower of Omens. Come in Lion-O!"

I pick up the communicator as I say "Lion-O here. How far out are you, Thundertank?"

"We're coming up on your horizon now, so another few minutes and we'll be with you. And great Jaga, have we got news for you!"

I sigh slightly before saying "Now that's something which I hear practically every day. Make sure to get here as soon as possible."

"Roger that, Lion-O. Tygra out."

I slowly breathe in and out as I look at the blank monitor. I've had a bad feeling for quite a few days now, and it isn't passing. Cheetara can sense it too, and neither of us know what to expect because we do not know what it is.

"Reowrr, I wonder what it is that they've got to tell us."

I turn around as I hear Bengali's voice. The young white tiger walks towards me, drinking from a cup of coffee. "Well, whatever it is must be important because they were in a rush to get here." I say, seconds before Panthro and Tygra come running into the control room. "So, what's the news?" I ask.

The pair look at each other before turning to me. "Whilst we were on our way here when we saw Mumm-ra flying overhead. He ignored us as if we weren't there and was headed towards Darkside."

"He's planning something." Bengali growls, and so I reply to his comment with "Yes, and that's exactly what we have to find out." Everyone in the room looks at me as I say, "We'll take the Thunderstrike to Darkside – we'll hopefully catch them unprepared." I look at my friends, seconds before the warning alarm goes off. I run to the balcony, just as a Skycutter rushes past me with Jackalman flying it, followed closely by the Ice Chaser. I growl furiously, seconds before I'm thrown to the floor by an explosion – they're firing at the Tower.

"Change of plan! We've got to deal with them first!" I shout as I motion to our attackers. Me, Tygra and Panthro rush to the Thundertank and are speeding across the desert within seconds. Bullets spatter the ground around us as I shout, "We'll distract them so that Lynx-O and Bengali can attack from behind in the Thunderstrike!" However, something catches my attention – behind an outcrop, Vultureman's Flying Machine is seemingly abandoned. I get out of the 'Tank when it slows down, and I run across the burning sand to investigate.

I round the corner and see the massive contraption standing solitarily in the desert sands. I get closer. It's seemingly completely abandoned, so I place my hand against the metal – it's still warm. "That's strange," I murmur to myself "The engine's still warm. That means that it's not been here long, so the Mutants must still be around!"

Suddenly, the Sword of Omens growls in warning of danger. I reach to take it from the Claw Shield, but I am grabbed around my neck and dragged to the ground before I can do so. Then, a pair of large hands lifts me off the floor, leaving me unable to move. I know that Amok has hold of me, because he's holding me so tight that it hurts to move.

"Surprissse, cub!" I hear Slithe cackle, and my arm is twisted so violently that I'm forced to drop the Sword in pain. A rag is rammed into my mouth and my arms are tied together behind my back, the thick ropes wound around the entire length of my forearms and my legs, immobilising me. I look up anxiously as Slithe cackles again, and I see the miserable reptile drawing a glowing red fluid from a phial with a hypodermic needle, which already is draining my strength. I instantly know that it's Thundranium. The needle is roughly stabbed into my upper right arm and the plunger is pressed down. The fiery pain spreads through my body within seconds, leaving me feel as weak as a cub as I scream into the rag. They pull out a few strands of my mane before Slithe hisses "The knife pleassse, Monkian."

I can do nothing but watch in horror as the Mutant takes the knife out and leans over me. "Hold hisss head ssstill!"

Monkian grabs a handful of my mane, hauls me up onto my feet and tips my head back moments before I feel the cold sting of the blade against my skin as it bites into my flesh. I yelp in pain and instinctively start to cry out for help as blood trickles down my neck, soaking into my fur. Slithe places a little glass bottle under the wound and collects the blood that comes from it. I go weak at the knees and am thrown to the ground to the ground as a voice, which I recognise as Panthro's, shouts "Hey!", and the Mutants panic.

From where I lie on the ground, I can see Tygra and Panthro running towards us. The Lunataks disappear and the Mutants run to the Flying Machine and the Skycutters, making a hasty retreat as my friends rush to join me where I lay on the hot sands. "Are you alright, Lion-O?" Tygra asks as he kneels down by my side, untying the ropes around my arms and legs. I spit the gag out as I weakly croak "Not really. They...They in...injected me with pure Thundrainium. It...It was only...only a small amount though."

"What else did they do to you? Why did they ambush you?"

"They...They took...took some of my...my blood and pulled out a few...a few strands of my mane." I say as Tygra rummages through a pouch on his waist, bringing out a small bottle of jade-coloured fluid. "Drink this," he says as he unscrews the lid "It'll prevent any potential Thundrainium poisoning and will help combat the pain and sickness."

I pour the contents of the phial into my mouth and swallow the liquid, which has a taste similar to that of aniseed. I notice the effects immediately as the nausea and burning pain from the Thundrainium seem to disappear almost instantly. "When did you invent that?" I ask the tiger as he helps me to my feet, to which he replies with "Today, actually. I was told of the medicinal properties of star anise, and I managed to isolate the oil to create an antidote for Thundranium poisoning. All I needed was for someone to test it on, and so I guess that you being injected with pure liquid Thundranium was a good thing in a way...? Anyway, how do you feel?"

"Alright, actually. That stuff definitely works, but I still feel dizzy." I say as I stumble towards the Thundertank. Panthro looks at Tygra with concern, but the tiger helps me into the 'Tank as he says, "We'll get you some anti-vertigo pills when we get back to the Lair, and hopefully Cheetara won't be mad at me for her boyfriend getting injured."

I cannot help but chuckle at Tygra's comment. Cheetara and I have been together for almost six months now, and we are quite protective of each other. "Well, we have to tell the other Thundercats about it – they need to hear about it." I say as Panthro guns the throttle, and we rush back to the Cats' Lair.

- (BORDER) -

"We have what you asked for, oh mighty Lord Mumm-ra."

I stalk towards the trio of Mutants and take the two phials from them, once containing Lion-O's blood, and the other containing a few strands of his bright scarlet mane. "Why exactly do you need this, Mumm-ra?" Jackalman quizzes, his head tilted slightly to the side in the typical canine manner.

"Dark magic, my dear canine friend. Both items that you have so fearlessly collected today are crucial components to a curse that I fully intend to inflict upon the Lord of the Thundercats," I say as I mix the ingredients together to form a pitch-black, tar-like viscous fluid, "Come forth and look into the cauldron, and I will show you what will happen to him once he drinks the infernal liquid."

The three Mutants cautiously approach the bubbling waters of the magic cauldron, and I wave my arm over the purple-hued water to reveal an image. The trio of evil-doers look on in horror, and Jackalman whimpers pitifully. "By all things unholy, what in Plun-darr is that...that beast?"

"That, you snivelling coward, is a lion, and to be precise, it is a male Barbary lion. A massively powerful ancient feline weighing in excess of 600lbs, which was once the largest living cat on Third Earth at 11 feet from the tip of its nose to the tip of the tail. Lion-O is evolved from this beast. All Thunderians evolved from these now-extinct felines."

"So what is the point in showing us this?"

"Well, the curse is renowned for...reversing the evolutionary process of the individual who drinks the potion. Once Lion-O drinks it, it'll only take a few hours before he goes through the painful transformation and becomes one of those ancient beasts forever. And the plus side is that lions have such a high instinctual prey drive that he'll kill anything that moves – he'll slaughter the other Thundercats, and then once they're all out of the way, I'll simply gun the lion down. He'd be a nice little trophy for my wall."

"And how exactly do you plan on duping Lion-O into drinking it?"

"By lacing his food with it. He won't even know what hit him, and nor will the other Thundercats either."

"But how do you know that he won't hunt us down too?"

"We'll be protected by an ancient spell. Trust me, Mutants, for this will be successful. There is no way to reverse the transformation." I say as I pick up the phial of potion, and I begin my journey to the Cats' Lair.

To Be Continued...