Spider-Man is owned by Marvel
Thundercats is a Rankin/Bass product
Chapter 1:
A new world
"There must be a way to put an end to those Thundercats and to receive the power of that child's Sword of Omens, but how?" The body that belonged to this voice was an undead creature with a red cloak and old bandages. The specter was staring at a bubbling caldron that seemed to have covered most of the room. "Perhaps a creature on another world can do what those mutants can not." He said with a distasteful growl, not liking to be associated with those creatures. With a wave of the hand the caldron showed several humans: each wearing a strange outfit. The images didn't stop until it came to a red and blue creature swinging through a modern city. "Ah, this one will do." The mummy stated with a devilish smirk; his guess of using this man was getting stronger as he was given images of what he was capable of. "Yes, he will retrieve the Sword of Omens from the Thundercats and give it to me: Mumm-ra the ever living!" The man in question was lazily swinging through his home until he felt something.
'That's weird…I could have sworn that something was watching me a moment ago, but my Spidey sense didn't go off.' The human thought as he glanced around at all of the stone buildings. He then went back to the matter at hand as he said aloud: "Well, messed up Spidey sense or not I told Mr. Fantastic that I would help him with his latest invention, but that might be a bigger problem since he probably has thirty inventions incomplete." There was a smile hidden underneath his full length mask of imaging his elastic friend under a whole lot of new toys, but he quickly shook that off and kept swinging. He stopped when he landed in front of a building with a spinning orange four at the top. "I wonder if Reed remembered to turn off the security field." He questioned aloud and fired a web-line from his left wrist hoping to swing on it but as soon as it made contact with the white stone it basically burnt to a crisp. "Yeah…I would say no." He said as he watched his line fall roughly twenty stories. 'Looks like I'll have to do this the hard way.' He thought with dread.
"Good afternoon, Spider-Man. How are you doing?" A form of sphere security camera with a red eye asked the creature in the elevator. The man who was questioned walked out before looking at the cam and said to it with a growl.
"I'm doing great; I just wish that someone would have been nice enough to turn off the electric wall so I didn't have to take the elevator and scare everyone." The computer that helped run the place felt bad for forgetting that and said back to him.
"I am sorry Spider-Man; Doctor Richard's needed my help." The machine hoped that it was a good enough excuse for their visitor. The red and blue man shrugged and walked down a hallway. He eventually met up with a big orange boulder man with blue eyes and a teen with spiky blonde hair.
"Hey bug-brain, bout time you got here." The boulder known as Ben Grimm said in his usually happy tone of voice of seeing the New York scapegoat. "Stretch's been waiten for two hours." He added, but knew that it was more his old friend's fault rather than the web-head's.
"Hey! I had a few car-jackers to deal with on my way over." The visitor said in defense with his palms facing the rock. There really wasn't anything else to say so the three of them went to the lab, but the web-spinner still felt something wrong.
"So, this hero has friends." Mumm-ra said to the hollow halls of his home before adding, "I must find a way to separate him from them and make it seem like an accident." That said he continued to watch this event unfold.
"Oh good, you made it Spider-Man." A brown and white haired man said in an almost relieved tone when he saw the three arrive by their elevator. "Alright Ben: you and Johnny can go help Sue with her shopping." He said, knowing that the female one of their team had decided to take a trip to the mall because of the lack of action that they had seen.
"Aw, come on Reed, not that I'll get bored. I'd rather listen to one of your boring lectures." The blonde male said, not wanting to help his sister shop since he believed her sense of fashion sucked.
"Don't worry kid; you can try your pick up lines on the manikins since they're the only ones that listen." The rock said with a grin, loving to humiliate him. "We're going, Stretch, have fun with the bug egghead." He said as he picked up the teen by the back of his black and gold jacket before going back down the elevator.
"This is what I wanted you're help with Spider-Man." The blue and white outfitted scientist said after pressing a few buttons on something that looked like a PDA a strange circular object appeared in front of them. "This is one of my most recent inventions; it is capable of traveling into other planets, other galaxies." He said in excitement.
"What for, Reed, thinking of visiting Cybertron or maybe Aquatar." The fellow brainiac questioned with his usual sense of humor, but wasn't prepared for the answer.
"I never thought of that, but wouldn't that be something. To see if there really are alien rangers or if Optimus Prime really exists." The scientist often tuned everything else out when he was on a role.
"Johnny's right, you seriously need a sarcastic class." Spider-Man said, but remaining true to his style the only reply that he said wasn't about what the arachnid said.
"Oh, right the machine, I think it works, but even when the power is on: nothing happens." The stretchy one informed him, and deciding not to egg him on of saying anything the two of them analyzed everything.
"Found the problem Mr. Fantastic, you have these gold and red wires crossed." Spider-Man said as he opened a small panel on the right side of the circle. Reed stretched his neck up from his kneeling position and saw what the arachnid was pointing to.
"That explains why the power doesn't work. Those two wires are the main ones that supply power to my invention." After he said that the elastic man was standing up, stroking his chin: trying to figure out something. 'I guess I was in a rush with all of the thought to go to the Micro-verse that I must have crossed them by mistake.' The scientist tried not to remember how ticked Sue was of shrinking into the size of a Barbie doll. He then watched as the web-head was changing the wires around.
"There now try it, Reed." He said, giving the doctor the go ahead to test it out again.
"I hate to interrupt but Hank McCoy is waiting for you in the rec. room, Mr. Richards." Herbie stated before Reed could reach his remote.
"Oh, that's right our chess match was today." Mr. Fantastic said aloud as he was heading to the elevator that led to the rest of his home to meet his fellow scientist. As the elevator was going down Reed saw Spider-Man standing there. "Herbie, hold the elevator." He said and just like that stopping the lift right at the tip of his hair. "Sorry, Spider-Man, but I forgot that Beast was stopping over for our daily fourteen hour chess match." He said to the loner with a stretched out neck.
"It's cool, Mr. Fantastic; I'll stay here for a while before heading out." He answered back to the scientist who smiled at the spider's understanding. With nothing else to say the elevator took him the rest of the way down. Spider-Man began to walk around the place looking at all of the high tech consoles and the solid white paint job.
"Now is the opportune time to send him away." The Mummy creature said as he stared at the curious man. "Ancient Spirits of Evil transform the decayed form to Mumm-ra!" The mummy yelled out after changing from a shriveled up mummy to a buff one with the red cloak he had on to a cape. "Ancient Spirits of Evil transport this agile arachnid to the Dark Pyramid to serve Mumm-ra ever-living source of Evil." He said to the cauldron watching with evil delight at the lightning in the room as the statues in his chamber accepted his request. Back in Reed's lab the web-slinger sensed something coming from the portal, but he ignored it as his logical side tried to calm him down.
'Probably Sue back from shopping and trying to scare me with her invisibility.' That thought was quickly squashed as a red symbol with a pair of snakes intertwined along with a laugh that would make even the Green Goblin wet his pants came from the machine. "So much for that being Sue that set off my Spider Sense. There was also a strong suction coming from the machine: a suction that not even he could handle since he was losing ground despite his super powers.
"Are you playing some sort of game, Spider-Man.?" The machine said as he saw the visitor on his fingertips and tiptoes trying not to get sucked in. Then Herbie tried his main programmed function: helping people. "Would you like me to retrieve Dr. Richards?" The creature controlling the portal did not like that option at all.
"Meddlesome machine." The mummy said before shooting red lighting into his cauldron which came into the lab and shocked Herbie so bad that he had to shut himself down. The arachnid saw that the computer screens were all blank and all of the lights were flickering like crazy.
"There's an instant electrical bill pun but I won't say it." He muttered before thinking, 'I just hope the rest of the lights are going off.' Indeed they were, but the scientists were too busy to notice, but not the others. The other three were bringing in Sue's stuff, which were a few blocks from her home.
"Hey, uh, Stretch hate to take you away from your little board game, but haven't ya noticed that the lights are acting screwy." The blue eyed orange rock said while looking at the two of them engrossed at their game.
"Yes, they have been doing that for a while now." Reed answered while thinking to move his knight or his bishop next. Naturally the other three did not like their leaders zoning out some times especially now.
"Then maybe we should go see what's up." Sue asked her leader, trying not to slap him silly with an invisible hand.
"I'm sure Spider-Man has it covered." The elastic one said after moving his queen into position for a finishing attack. The fireball knew of his friend pretty well but it was the boulder's question that really made him think.
"And where is the bug face now?" Reed had just got his second rook near Beast's King before answering.
"In my lab." That is when reality sunk in completely. "He's in my lab." He said again in surprise before stretching over to the elevator. As the three were in the elevator the hothead spoke up.
"Oh man, this bites." The others looked at him strangely, but he didn't notice. "He's going to beat me this week in our: who can break most of Reed's inventions'." This got there attention away from the panic of the wall-crawler.
"You and Spider-Man make a record of how many of my inventions the two of you break." Reed said to Johnny wanting the truth. The conversation was dead when they got to the top.
"What on earth?" The Invisible Woman exclaimed before surrounding the four of them in a force bubble. They all saw that the fifth person really hated where he was.
"Herbie shut down the portal!" Reed yelled to the artificial member, but with zero response. The web-spinner could not take it and he didn't want the explorers to be sucked in with him so he let it take him. As soon as the bug made contact with the machine he began to disappear and out of either instinct or friendship Ben and Johnny left the safety of the shield and headed for their super powered friend.
"Hang on web-head." The rock yelled out as he tried to grab what was left of him but all he got was air; as soon as he was gone the suction stopped instantly. "Stretch, you better…"Ben started but saw that his egghead friend was already at his main computer and was trying to make sense for what just happened.
"Herbie, I need you to scan the device for any abnormalities." Reed said but he did not really receive an answer it his problem more like what Herbie was feeling.
"So cold, so evil; more evil than Doom." The computer muttered that phrase for a while with Reed still trying to get his attention, but Ben decided to help.
"Let me try something egghead." That said the Thing tapped one of the consoles with his foot and that jarred Herbie out of his trance.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Richards it's just that when that red lightning hit me all of my systems were hit with an intense evil." The four could tell that their computer friend was seriously spooked at what happened not even Johnny had something to say to Herbie.
"Herbie I want to you triangulate where Spider-Man is going and who started the machine." Reed said and the machine went at it scanning in everyway he knew how, but he could only answer was in bad news.
"Location unknown: no data available." Normally an unknown planet would excite Reed, but not this time as images of Spider lying somewhere…dead. The scientist shook his head: trying to get rid of those images.
"Reed I don't really care how many projects that you have to hold back on, focus on bringing Spider-Man back." Sue said with a dead serious expression on her face the stretchy one also saw that her brother also had that look.
"What about Ben?" He questioned and added to them, "I promised that I would find him a cure." He saw the man in question advance to him also with a dead serious expression.
"Due as she says egghead after all the bug is the only one to keep Johnny in line-besides me that is." He said and the others knew that the last part was for humor. Beast, who hacked into their communication and heard it all.
"Perhaps Charles can help." He thought aloud before leaving on his own. Reed began typing as best and as fast as he could. Spider-Man on the other hand was traveling a tunnel that seemed to be made of bandages.
"Gross, even by my standards." He said as he examined the tunnel and added, "Just really wish that I had something to look at besides these white walls." About that time he saw a solid black pyramid at the end of it. 'Preferably something that doesn't set my Spider sense off.' He thought as he felt that familiar feeling in the back of his neck. The bad thing was that he did not know that he was about to be a servant to a very bad evil, but for once the Spider luck will work in his favor.
"Mighty Mumm-ra I was curious if you will help your loyal servant to resurrect our ship." A creature that called himself: Slithe, said to the bandaged one, but his boss did not respond so he tried again, "My master, did you hear my request?" This time he was able to break his concentration on the current spell.
"You reptilian buffoon, I was trying to call forth an alley to deal with the Thundercats, but thanks to your prattle he will appear somewhere else on Third Earth." Mumm-Ra explained in anger to his temporary alley.
"Perhaps the mutants and I can track and trap him, my lord." Slithe offered while secretly wanting to know why this freak wanted to enlist some backup. The mummy transformed into his first form and backpedaled to his sarcophagus.
"Do not engage this creature." He said once he made it to his bed, and while it was shutting he added, "If you cannot handle a bunch of cats then you can't handle him." With the lid shut he did not see the lizard-man's angered expression.
"As you wish, my lord." He said to the stone with a voice that was a combo of venom and sarcasm. The wall-crawler, who was still in the tunnel noticed that the image of the Egyptian piece of real-estate, but the bad side is there was nothing at the end of his tunnel.
'This can't be good.' He thought, and pretty soon he mad it to the end. As soon as he emerged he saw that he was in midair looking down at a big forest, and rock formations in the distance. 'This looks pretty cool.' He thought and added one other thing, 'Just wish I was a little closer to the ground.' He fired a web-line to a tree branch and swung with it, landed and then looked around. "Now what do I do?" He questioned aloud before looking around and saw no one around. Without a clue he started to walk in one direction.
"Never thought that for a second." A red haired man in blue armor commented before adding, "We'll turn back as soon as we see where this trail leads and then we'll…" The man's sentence was cut off because he fell into a hole. That scream was heard from the red and blue stranger.
"So, I'm not alone in this world." He commented and headed over to the location pretty easily. When he got close enough he saw a hole and a small red, yellow, and white creature beside it. 'Got to get a better look see.' He thought before climbing a tree with ease, and as soon as he got to one of the top branches he saw that there was a man in the earth based prison.
"Can't get a foothold. Sides too slippery." The man in the ground said to the creature when it said his name.
"Snarf, Snarf. I'll get you out of there, stay right there." The red scaled one said before trying to find something he could use. The one that the arachnid guessed was Lion-O calmly looked around the narrow area, and said to himself…
"There's nothing else I can do." With a shrug and then waited for his alley to come through.
'I know I could web-line line the guy, and pull him up, but seeing what that guy has planed will be better.' Parker thought and, with his 20/20 vision, kept an eye on the other one. The small one tried to bite into a thick vine, but could not, so he bit into a smaller one. Swung on it, amateur style in his opinion, and then bit the other side. The little one then ran over to the man and threw it down the burrow.
"Grab hold, Lion-O. Pull yourself up." The creature that Spider guessed went by: Snarf, said to the man in the hole. He threw down the vine which was caught on his end.
"That's what I'm doing, but I don't seem to be getting anywhere." He said while holding the vine and walk on the wall, but his blue boots kept slipping.
"Snarf! You must be doing something wrong then. Ol` Snarf is as steady as a…mountain." The red skinned creature said with his feet easily giving way. The arachnid saw this and could not help, but chuckle.
'That is just sad. Guess I little web-line wouldn't hurt.' He thought and stuck his arm out of the safety of the leaves, ready to help until he saw the lizard getting hog-tied. 'Better stay hidden.' He thought and withdrew his hand.
"Hey!" Lion-O yelled when the weight on the other side of the vine was released. "Is this your idea of a joke, Snarf?" He demanded, but a lasso around his stomach was his answer; the bondage forced his arms to his side. "What's this?" He questioned after he looked at it. Spider saw them throw three more lasso's down, all successful. "Snarf! What's going on?" He questioned and was pulled up, with better ease. Peter, from his spot, tried to listen to the new creatures voices, but there was a warbling sound to it. He was only able to understand one sentence.
"Give us a break, he's heavy." He knew that there were more to it than that, but he was positive about that much. Eventually they were able to drag him to the surface.
"Now, there's something you don't see everyday." Peter whispered when he got an eyeful at the creature that he thought was going to be an average Joe, but he sort of looked like: Tigra, but more human.
"Snarf, are you okay?" The red haired youth questioned to his friend. He looked and saw his pal in the same mess he was - bound.
"Sort of." He answered back with a cold shiver running down his spin as he saw the creatures that caught them. The lion looked around at them and decided if his name would have any effect.
"Untie us at once! I am Lion-O!" He shouted to them but the three kept hold of their ropes. The bear creatures on the other hand found no importance in the intruders name.
"Ha, ha, ha, Lion-O!" The robo-bears said in return with what sounded like laughter.
'Doubt they should do that?' Parker thought when he saw the growing look of surprise on the blue armored man's face. The slinger decided to stay hidden since he did not know if he should get involved and if he did: which side should he support?
"You dare to make fun of me - The Lord of the Thundercats!" He yelled after not liking the creatures laughter at him. After that the six bears kept laughing for a bit. The band of machines spoke among themselves.
'I may have to give them a different voice modifier.' Peter thought as he tried to decipher any words that he may have known, but just like last time they were limited.
"Thunder-berbils Rowwer!" They said to one another. After hearing that the red scaled one could understand one thing.
"I don't guess they've heard of us." He said with an angered expression on his face.
"They aren't the only ones, pal." Spider-Man muttered while still looking at what was going on below his hiding spot. One of them, the leader of the recon team, pointed to the sky with one finger followed by palms to the heavens.
"The sky?" Lion-O questioned the motions and then got the creatures question and added, "Oh, yes, we came from the sky." The arachnid could hear the feline's tone seriously went down to a calmer level. The one closest to the slinger began to make an airplane sound, took a few steps and then purposely tripped. "And yes, we crashed." He said, understanding that charade question too.
'Guess I'm not the only out of towner.' He thought with slight relief; grateful that he was not the only creature that didn't know his way around this planet.
"Now where are they taking us?" The taller of the two creatures questioned as the machines led them deeper into the forest.
'I better keep tabs on those two.' Peter thought and followed through the cover of the trees, thankful that no matter what he was able to keep his balance.
"Maybe I should keep my frightened spirit in check until we find out." Snarf said to the lord as the continued to walk. Truth is he was ready to run in the opposite direction if he wasn't tied up.
'Wonder if these are the only ones or are there more.' Spider-Man thought as he watched the small group of creatures tie the two up and then left them. 'Ironic statement considering who thought it.' He added since him and teamwork NEVER went hand and hand. Unknown to Peter was the fact that this man DID NOT come alone; over in a clearing with a down ship were a group of similar cat creatures.
"Shouldn't Lion-O be back by now?" Questioned a black and blonde haired woman with an orange outfit looking at the forest and then to her two comrades. The two in question were working on some blueprints for their base on this strange planet.
"I'm sure he's okay." An orange and black stripped man with a blue outfit said back to her. "If he was in danger the Eye of Thundera would have summoned us." He explained to the others.
"Sure, no sense worrying. He's a man now." A gray furred one with spike blue armor said to them after taking his eyes off of the plans. The bad thing was that the last of the three was wrong as the two were still tied to trees.
"No use, Snarf, I can't reach it." Lion-O said to his friend in a strained voice as he tried to grab the sword on his left leg, but couldn't seem to grab it with his tied up arm.
'What's so hot with that supped up letter opener?' Peter thought as he watched the effort and then added, 'Is that sword making that strange sound?' Once again he was about to give the two a web-hand, but was stopped when he saw the tin-teddies, but with one extra.
"Uh-oh. This looks like the chief…whatever he is, comin` over." The lizard cat said as a dark brown furred creature came over to the two.
"You fell into one of our traps." The leader said to the tall one, having a feeling that the one with red hair is the one he needed to talk to.
"You heard him!" The lion called back to him in anger.
"berbils." The leader of the creatures said while thumbing the closest one to him.
"Uh-huh. Urble, Derbily, bearbul-urbul." The cat creature said in a mocking tone. Within one of its compartment the leader got out a pocket knife. The sight of the small blade scared the leather skinned one.
"It may not be a good idea to make `em sore, Lion-O." Snarf informed the leader after a nervous purr. The leader of the tribe shrugged and then cut both of them free.
"berbils, Robear-berbils - from the planet Robear, been here for berbil years." The leader of the team told them while pointing to the sky and then the ground.
"I think they're called: bearbils, Snarf; robear-bearbils." Lion-O guessed to his chaperone with his left hand near his sword, which stopped its sound. His guess received a nod from the small band of critters.
"That's not what I've been callin `em." The smaller one said back before sitting down on all four paws. After a while the group set off for their village, but as they were doing so Lion-O often got a glimpse of something in the trees. "What's the matter, Lion-O, why'd ya stop." The scaly one question when the adult stopped walking.
"It's nothing, but every once in a while I catch a glimpse of something in the trees." He explained while still looking at the leafy camouflage.
'Ninja stealthy: I am not.' Peter thought as he ceased all movements. After a while of looking at the cover the nursemaid spoke up.
"It's probably your imagination, Lion-O." Snarf convinced him and they were back to walking with one hitchhiker.
"Kind of a cheerful bunch, aren't they Snarf?" The big cat questioned light heatedly, forgetting of the object he may have seen earlier.
"Well, I gotta admit they look better to me then when we was tied up." The lizard/cat said back, also forgetting their conversation from earlier. The two out of towners stopped near the center of the small village.
"Ro-ber berbil Bell, guests." The leader with one clap of the hands. At that moment a different berbil appeared to the crowd.
'That's a strange one.' Peter thought before taking a risk and leapt from the safety of the trees and landed on the roof of one of the huts. Making sure not to be seen he decided to take another look at the latest berbil. This one was yellow instead of silver and brighter pieces of fur, it also had a flower by one of the ears. 'So it's a girl.' He thought with a 'big giant duh' mental image added.
"Eat, very good." The leader said to them; referring to the rolls on a plate. The lord of his people did not know what to do, but he knew that being rude was out of the question.
"Well…uh, thank you." Lion-O said to them, but before he could grab one he was interrupted by his traveling buddy.
"Snarf, Snarf. Hold on, not till I make sure it's safe." The lizard said with a swaying finger and then just as he said that he inhaled the strange bun. After chewing and swallowing, along with what Peter thought of checking his pulse for a moment he spoke, "Snarf, it's delicious!" The lion followed his friend's lead, but only took a small bit.
"It sure is, and what a change from those space rations we Thundercats have been living on." He said after tasting his piece. "Where can this fruit be picked, uh…" Questioned the leader, but couldn't finish since he did not know the elders name.
"Ro-ber Bill, call me: Ro-ber Bill." He answered the name question while pointing to himself. "Come." He added while motioning his hand for the two to follow.
'Alright enough of this stealth stuff.' Parker thought as he was letting his hunger get the better of him. He leapt from the roof of a hut and made himself known. "Mind if I tag-along?" He questioned to them. The two bears, the hairy lizard, and the lion turned back to him.
"Who are you?" Lion-O questioned, changing into a demanding tone. At that moment the red and blue man stuck his hands in the air and answered.
"Easy there, just like you I too came from the sky, but differently." His answered allowed the blue armored fellow to lower his guard for now.
"I take it you were what I saw earlier?" Lion-O questioned him, making sure that he was not seeing anything.
"You got it, and no harming a village isn't my style; just wanting some food." He answered back. His stomach gave off a low growl to show the others that he was not making up any of it.
"We saw you fall." R.B. Bill said as he walked to the strange creature. He motioned the female to come over to him. "Please, take one." Spider did, and lifted his mask up to his nose and began to eat.
'Not bad.' He thought and decided to get back on track. "I think, before I showed up, you were going to show your food supply." He informed them with his piece still in hand. The arachnid, the lion, the berbil, and the…Snarf headed to a wide area filled with plants, and some of the berbils were working.
"Berbil fruit: meat fruit, drink fruit, veggie fruit of all kinds, and candy fruit." The techno-teddy explained to the three. The new comers could see green trees and grass, rows of beautiful colors and trees with a strange bounty.
"Candy fruit?" Questioned Snarf, since he was big on sweets. The kind hearted creature took one of the pieces of candy fruit and gave it to the little one.
"Hmm! Good!" He exclaimed after swallowing it whole with hands clasped together. The new-new comer just stood there staring at the tree.
'Guess the machines they show on Food Network are all smoke and mirrors.' He thought before the sound of a triangle caught his attention. He and the other two saw one of the Ro-bears standing at a high point with a triangle.
"Trolligs, attack, attack: Ro-bears." The centurion said to them, and several berbils came running past them with some sort of blowguns. This sudden change in their friendly manner got all three of their attention.
"Trolligs?" Questioned the short one of the three. Once the heard died down the big cat decided to ask a simple question.
"Ro-bear Bill, who are these: Trolligs?" He questioned the leader of the village, even though there was a part of him that did not want to hear the answer.
"They live in the caves to the North, from time to time they raid our village for the Ro-ber berbil fruit." He explained to the outsiders. The hero in the lord took over his mind after hearing that.
"We'll help you. Come on, Snarf, you to - who ever you are." Lion-O said to the creatures in red, and he started to run, but was interrupted by the chief.
"Oh-no. We couldn't involve you in our troubles. Your our guest." R.B. Bill said to them, not wanting any harm to befall his new friends. The four of them saw pug-like creatures running right at the main entrance with rock hatchets in hand.
'Those loin cloth wearing Goofy impersonators are gonna mangle `em.' Peter thought with dread while trying to suppress one of the most noble pacifist being shot down. He watched as the berbil defense team used the blow guns, shooting out some sort of bullet, and doing little to no use.
"You need help. Those stun darts aren't doing much good." The Leo said to him. He was hoping the elder would take the bait and let them help.
"No. They never do!" Bill confessed to the three. The answer seem to anger the lion, which Spider-Man noticed.
"Then why do you use them?!" He question/yelled back out of frustration.
"Because we would not want to hurt anyone." The bear answered back with somewhat pride in their beliefs.
"Then why don't you just let the Trolligs march into your village and take your Ro-bear berbil fruit?" He questioned back to him with a calmer tone.
"And behave like cowards?" The leader questioned the red haired creature with a hurt tone in his question.
"I don't get it!" He shouted back with balled fists.
"Meow. I don't know. Makes perfect sense to me." Snarf said to the two having the discussion. During this fight Spider-Man could see the fear in the berbils and didn't like it one bit.
"Look, your berbils are being overrun Ro-ber Bill." Lion-O announced at the leader as the teddies were losing ground - fast.
"Yes, they always are." Bill answered back, ashamed that his new friends were seeing this. Seeing that the leader was doing nothing only angered the head feline even more.
"And we're supposed to stand here and let it happen." He shouted back while placing his clawed hands on the shoulders of the elder.
"Nothing else much to do." He said back in defeat.
"I'll give it a shot." Spider-Man said to them and then made a big leap over the berbils. "Okay boys: its fangs versus webbing." He said and tried to fire, but nothing happened. 'Guess doing stunts, and stopping thugs cost me a mess of webbing back home.' He thought and added, 'Looks like I have to go old school.' He then used his strength and agility on them, but some of them got past him to terrorize the bears and that the lord of the Thundercats DID NOT tolerate.
"I can't stand it?!" He shouted, unsheathed his sword, and got into the fray himself. Just like with the spider the creatures were surprised by this new agile obstacle. The lion landed right beside Spider-Man, who had just pushed one of the thugs.
'Did his eyes just glow?' Peter thought when he saw the red haired man with the sword to his face. He watched as he pulled it away from his face and pointed it skyward.
"HO!" He shouted and to the wall-crawlers surprise the sword tripled in size. When it was finished Lion-O spun the sword in a counter clockwise fashion and then stood there with the tip pointed skyward. The troligs did not know what to do, but in an instant they forgot about Spider-Man and they focused on the new comer. The arachnid watched as they were bounced by an unknown force.
"A built in force field projector, nice." He said in a whisper. The dogs then ran away from the creature. After doing a few sword stances the sword shrank down and he sheathed it back into its holder.
"My, my, that certainly was exciting Lion-O. Wasn't it, Ro-bear Bell?" The head berbil exclaimed and the questioned to his female companion.
"Oh, yes." She answered in a high pitched, embarrassed fashion. The praised one, who had calmed down decided to ask a simple question.
"You're not angry with me butting in, Ro-bear Bill? I - I lost control." He questioned and apologized to the elder.
"Yes, but no one got hurt after all." The elder explained.
"Besides, it wasn't out of character - it was hero instinct." Spider said to him and added with hidden sorrow, "Believe me, I know."
"Thank you friend, and no, no one got hurt R-bear Bill." The lion said to the two of them. "Anyway the trolligs shouldn't be bothering you for a while." He said while looking over his shoulder to where the creatures fled.
"No, poor trolligs." The elder said to him. He had a feeling that the heroes would want an explanation, but waited.
"Hold on there, techno- teddy, I may need my ears cleaned, but…" The spider started and the Leo finished.
"You feel sorry for them?" He questioned before placing his left index finger to his chin. "Even if they keep raiding your village for your Ro-bear berbil fruit." He added, still not understanding their concern.
"Oh, they don't do that for themselves." the elder said with his left index finger pointed up. "Trolligs don't eat berbil fruit. They can't eat anything, but the leaves on the com-berry bushes." He added to them. He saw their confusion and decided to go into greater depths. "The mountain tops above their caves are covered with those bushes, but the giantors who live there won't let the trolligs eat them unless they bring them Ro-bear berbil fruit, and now the trolligs must return empty handed." On that mountain were both sets of creatures talking.
"Please, give us some food. I know we don't have the fruit, but please." The leader said in his native tongue to the leader; who had his hand stretched out. After hearing that the leader stood up, grabbed the tree, ripped it from the roots and threw it down the mountain.
"Oh, the giantors will be furious." Bill said, completing his statement. That explanation angered the arachnid even further.
'Sounds sort of like a standard protection racket: protection from being ruled by hunger.' Peter thought in anger. As they all were looking in the same direction that the dogs left from a bright light came from the sword along with a strange noise. Lion-O unsheathed it which freighted the teddies.
"Don't be afraid, not of the sword, anyway. It's a warning." The red mane man said to them before placing it to his face which made the slinger wondered if he was alright for a second. "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight." He commanded which made the hilt curl around his eyes and an eye in the hilt light up. "Whoo! Those things just have to be the giantors." He said after seeing a small group of orange clothed men walking forward. "I could probably handle them myself." He boasted to the lot behind him, one in particular was doing something with a pair of wristbands, but that comment did alarm his old friend.
"Snarf! Snarf! Lion-O, no. Please, call the other Thundercats." The red scaled one said while balancing himself on his tail; before losing his balance and fell over.
"Oh, well, all right, Snarf. Just to please you." The head hero said looking at the path and then to the creature.
"Others?" Spider question the little one.
"You'll see." Snarf said back. Parker looked at Lion-O who had taken a few steps away from them.
"THUNDER, THUNDER, THUNDER, THUNDERCATS HO!" He shouted while waving the sword. When it was at full length again a cat symbol, which replaced the eye, shot a symbol into the sky. The caused great awe in all, including Spider-Man.
"A signal device too. Man, is there anything this thing DOES NOT have." Peter said, but unknown to him was that symbol was a signal for the others to come to them.
"Look, the Thundercat signal." A young voice in the clearing said to the others when he looked up. When the signal was in the sky the same simple on their bodies glowed red and their eyes a bright yellow.
"Lion-O needs us." The blonde one added.
"Let's go, Thundercats." The scrounger said after looking away from the building plans. By now the giantors were within striking distance which made the shortest of the three nervous.
"Snarf. Snarf. Do you suppose the Thundercats didn't see the signal, Lion-O." He questioned as he looked at the swords-cat.
"Can't worry about that now." He answered back and just like that the spider and the cat were flung into the fray: dodging the enemies spiked clubs. The two of them had to use agility, but at some point the two were separated. Parker saw the sword wielder on his back with a club coming at him.
'Good thing I refueled.' He thought and stuck out his arm, ready to fire a line, but he saw a blue and red bolo whip beat him to it. Spider saw the owner was another cat who tugged on the line causing the creature to fall down, and when he looked past the tiger creature he saw others. The tall female, who had a Bo-staff, got it out, dodged the attack, and knocked him down with her weapon.
'Time for the old tag-team trick.' The male of the little ones thought as his sister got on his shoulders. Spider saw the two of them stand like that as one of the giantors tried to attack, but they were able to dodge by the one on top performing a flip to avoid getting hit. The girl then got off his shoulders when another one tried his luck, but he ended up tripping on his own feet after the boy dropped some marbles.
'Not bad.' Peter thought before dodging a club and gave the thug an uppercut causing the giant's butt to meet the ground. After the arachnid landed he saw that the gray one had an opponent too. The warrior had a pair of nunchucks stretched out one side in each hand. He then flipped them around to where one half was under his right armpit and the other one was in his right hand.
'This should be good.' The chuck user thought with a smug look. He took a step forward and stuck out his left palm at the creature; sort of telling him 'bring it on'. The giantor was a bit fearful, but it still went through with his attack. The panther dodged the attack and went for a kick, but stopped right before he hit the creatures face. 'Gothca.' The spiky armored man thought after leaving himself like that. He didn't complete his attack because he saw the tiger in position to give him a hand. The tiger got the arm of the panthers attacker and forced him down.
"Got to admit they are good." He whispered, but saw that there were a few getting up after being humiliated by some felines. 'Least I could do is add to the funny.' He thought and did so by cocooning the ones that were standing up with his webbing. As the others stalled them, Lion-O decided use the same trick as before with the trolligs: create another shield.
'Let's see if they are as much cowards as the trolligs.' He thought and advanced to them. He immediately saw the fear in the eyes and their trembling bodies, but he decided to make an incentive just to make sure. "HO!" He shouted at them which caused them to flee in complete terror, and some to hop thanks to the webbing. When they were gone he deactivated the shield and put his sword away.
"That's it Thundercats." The stripped one said to the group.
"Right, they've had it." The panther added. The group then heard some commotion behind them. The team leader decided to give them a heads up about the creatures.
"Tygra, Cheetara, Panthro, Wilykat and kit, I've made some new friends. The Ro-bear berbils - this is their elder: Ro-bear Bill, and these are my people - the Thundercats." Lion-O said to all of them, but that still didn't explain the one with the blue and red outfit standing there.
"Yes, Lion-O that explains who they are, but who's the one with the suit?" The young male questioned the leader while pointing to the tall one.
"Okay, I'll tell you but you'll only get my name and favorite color, whiskers." The mystery man said to them. "My name's Spider-Man, favorite color red." He said to them and present his hand for the traditional handshake. The swordsman of the team took him up on the offer. The threat to Third Earth was watching this whole thing and didn't like it.
"The Thundercats have survived and now they have befriended the Ro-bear berbils along with that spider creature. It is bad to have the aid of that hero but with the berbils they will have an endless food supply. That cannot be allowed to happen. RAAAAH!" Mumm-Ra who was done resting, shouted before transforming himself into a black and red locust. He took flight, but he also multiplied several times over. While he flew off, the berbils were saying their goodbyes with the T-Cats.
"Thank you, and please thank your friends again, too." Bill said to the lord of the T-Cats. He was honored to aid the group of creatures, and he knew the others were as well.
"Their your friends too, Ro-ber Bill. Friends help each other." He said to the techno-bear. As they spoke one of the cats saw that Spider-Man was looking out in the distance.
'Wonder what he's thinking about?' The watcher thought while still watching him.
'That's weird, why is my spider sense going off, and why does it feel familiar.' Spider thought while detecting something wrong with his surroundings. That's when they all saw a big swarm of locusts coming at them. Several berbils tried to stop them with cloth and torches.
"Locusts, locusts: they'll wipe out our crops." The head bear said and was about to help its people, but was held up by the lion.
"Wait, Ro-ber Bill, I think there's something peculiar about that swarm." He informed before running on ahead. Spider was right beside him, but when the two were within stomping range something strange happened to the insects; they became one, big bug. "Uh, in fact I know there's something peculiar about it." He said after seeing that sight, stressing the word 'know'. The bug attacked the two jumped back before meeting its head, and then Lion-O jumped onto the back of the bug.
"A cat riding a bucking bug, and here I thought I did weird things." Spider-Man said as he watched the hero hold onto the bugs antennas.
"Up, bug." The lion commanded and added, "Up and away from here if you value your neck." Given the options the creature flew off with its passenger. The wall-crawler saw that, but turned to the others.
"Go about what you were doing before the cat signal, I got this." He told the rest of the Thundercats before firing a web-line to the tail of the insect and hung on for the ride. The cats followed his advise and went back to their sight, to continue making plans for their home. The two rode on the bug for a while it was not until they were over a volcano that his trouble radar went off. 'Spider sense, why.' He thought, but didn't want an answer.
"Now, that's bet-." The lion said to the bug but had to stop since the bug broke apart, causing both of them to fall into the explosive mountain. As the web-head found safety by sticking to the inside until he stopped, the lord kept on falling.
'Time to save him before…' Peter thought but stopped when his mind flashed images to the last person that was falling in that position. As he was lost in a memory the red haired man saw that his sword had fallen from its hilt.
"The sword it's…it's…The sword, Yes!" He said when he saw the sword spinning. While he saw the sword he also saw his mentor: Jaga appear.
"Call to it, Lion-O. Call and it will obey." The spirit said to the youth. He knew that his friend understood what he meant.
"Jaga, yes. Sword of Omens, come to my hand - I, Lion-O, command it." The swordsman said to it, and watched as it transformed while it fell. He continued to fall, but at the last second he was able to grab and levitate out of the volcano.
"I couldn't try that, again." Peter mutter in self-pity while sitting at the edge of the mountain. He then saw a shadow, and when he looked up he saw Lion-O with his sword. "What the heck?" He questioned and the used a classic move: slingshot himself to the ground. He got there a few moments after the lion landed. "That's some pretty fancy steel ya got there." Complimented the web-spinner when he got close enough.
"Yes, yes it is." He answered back while sheathing his sword and added, "Come to our campsite, Spider-Man." He did like the idea to talk to someone that didn't sound like an old radio. As the two were heading to camp by tree and by foot the two of them looked around for any sign of the bugs, but nothing. The insects have long since became one again, which was back at the pyramid.
"You must do better against the Thundercats next time, Mumm-ra." He said to himself while ending with an evil laugh while statues eyes went from red to black. "And you will. Time means nothing to Mumm-ra he said and closed the capsule again. The two of them saw the other five looking at some blueprints.
"Lion-O!" Cheetara exclaimed when she caught sight of one of the red clad men heading to them. The others saw them after she announced the leaders name.
"Well, what kept you two?" Tygra questioned the heroes wanting a straight answer. The arachnid and the cat looked at one another and then to the others, and it was the Leo that spoke.
"It's, uh, kind of a long story." He said to them, but that was an opening that Spider-Man could not say no to.
"Basically after leaving the bug we had a bungee-jumping contest into a volcano, but naturally I won." He said, which confused all including his travel companion. Before they could ask him, what he meant they all heard some commotion, but familiar commotion.
"Well, hello Ro-ber Bill." Lion-O said to the group of villagers before them.
"We are to welcome you Thundercats, we are happy to have you as neighbors." Bill said to the group of felines, but they all wondered if the elder was including the one in the spider pajamas.
"Well, I guess that makes it mutual." Panthro said to them with a happy expression on his face.
"Thank you for the feast, friends. You'll join us of coarse." Tygra added, also with a happy expression. The Wilys of the team nodded their heads to his suggestion. The group then got a table from the wreckage, set up the ware, and set up the food. While that was going on the elder saw their hand drawn plans.
"Your home?" R.B. Bill questioned while pointing at the plans. The cats all saw what he was referring to.
"Yes, well, it will be. We'll be building it right up there." The stripped one said and gestured at the mountain they were near. This information was surprising to the head berbil.
"You will build it. Just you few." Bill commented while pointing at the group of eight.
"Oh, it'll take us quite a while of course, but we'll…" The leader said to the elder in a calm tone, knowing that the bear meant no harm.
"Please." The leading berbil said and then gathered with the others. The huddled group of metal was obviously discussing if they should aid the cats or not. Peter knew that he didn't need a base.
'Even though I am running low on webbing.' He thought, after remembering the small amount on his belt. The cats and the spider watched and waited for an end to their talk, and soon they did so.
"We will help you build your home." The head-bear said to the travelers. Out of honor none of them could ask these peace lovers to help them.
"Well, thank you but we couldn't allow you to. It's much too great an undertaking for you." The bolo master said to them, trying to let them down easy, but had a feeling they weren't going to accept that as their answer.
"You said we are friends - friends help each other." Bill said back, using the statement they had used before the surprise locust attack.
"He, uh, has a point Tygra. I mean, doesn't he?" Lion-O said to the other Thundercat.
"He does indeed, Lion-O." Tygra said back while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment and added, "The Thundercats accept your kind offer Ro-ber Bill, with gratitude." The head lion and the head bear shook on their agreement.
'These guys are something else.' Peter said as he watched them all sit around at the table. When the berbils and the Thundercats were around they all saw that the only one NOT with them was Spider-Man who was just standing there.
"Come on, Spider-Man, join us at the table." Wilykit said to the loner, who looked at them for a moment.
"Not sure if I should, I mean I'm not a berbil or a Thundercat, so I guess I shouldn't sit down." He said to them in a solemn tone. They were a good team, and they didn't need the spidey-luck on them.
"You may not be a Thundercat, but you did help up against the gigantors, and after handling them you need food." The panther argued with him, and that is when his stomach growled.
'I hate you.' He thought to his stomach and added aloud, " Since you put it like that…scoot over Wilykit." He squeezed in between the girl and the Snarf, and gathered some food.
"A toast to the cat's lair." The R.B. Bill said after standing up with cup in hand.
"ROWRRR!" One of the other berbils added which made them all, including Peter, laugh about it. The slinger looked at the happy group, and could help but smile under the mask.
'Who ever that pyramid belongs to, they mean business, so maybe it's best that I stay with them and NOT find a way back home.' Peter though as an image of the dark pyramid appear in his mind. Soon though he let the light on the table and the happiness at the table drown that image.
