The Revenge of the Mutants
By 18lzytwner
Chapter 1
The winter had come and gone and with it spring had sprung with new hopes for the ThunderCats and the good peoples of New Thundra. Now as the sun stayed up longer signifying the end of spring and the beginning of summer the silence from any enemy gave time for pursuits of the off-duty nature. For now, however, Panthro found himself at the Control Room monitors.
"Another quiet evening huh sir?" Punthar asked.
"It would seem so. Makes me nervous," the panther admitted.
"Yeah I know what you mean," the puma nodded.
"Since it's so quiet, let's run a diagnostic on that new backup system," Panthro suggested. The major structural repairs to the Lair had finished up over the winter and the spring had brought the time to add more security measures and backup systems online. The Lair now had a main power room, a generator room, and a secondary power room. The secondary room was located on the opposite side of the Lair from the main power room and the generator and its purpose was to run everything in the Lair should the main power and the generator fail. It would allow the Lair to virtually never go offline which would have been very useful in the war against the Mutants.
"Everything is checking out sir," Punthar smiled.
"Excellent. Now let's try the new advanced warning system," Panthro suggested. The puma to his right nodded and quickly punched up the first new camera. It was part of an inter-atmosphere satellite setup that would alert the Lair to any ships trying to sneak into the planet's air space.
"Camera 1 is looking good. Switching to Camera 2," Punthar informed the ThunderCat. They continued in this manner until all fifty cameras were checked.
"Well it looks like I'll be able to spend the evening reading up on those technical manuals from Third Earth," Panthro heaved a sigh. It was probably the most boring part of the job but necessary to stay in the know and to aide in anything that might be out of place.
"Ten hut!" The guard at the door shouted as Lion-O entered the room, Leanna in tow.
"At ease," Lion-O smiled as he approached Panthro.
"You like giving me a heart attack, don't you?" The panther asked.
"Well you know I can't help myself. Just want everybody to know how it feels," the lion smirked.
"You shouldn't joke like that," Lea shook her head. She'd only discovered her lineage six months ago and had no desire to lose the half-brother she never knew she had.
"You sound like my fiancée. Oh to be married and have a sibling," Lion-O continued to tease. Despite the fact that his half-sister had caused the trouble with his heart, the lion could not help but tease her. Even though they had not known each other long it seemed as if they had actually known each other for their entire lives. No one outside the two of them dared to bring up the incident that led to the lion being off-duty for the last six months.
"Well someone has to look out for you until you have an heir," Lea pointed out.
"This is true. If only the Council would get off my back about making babies, then we'd be all set," the lion rolled his eyes.
"Ugh. I seriously think they only want to know about the baby making because they have nothing better to do with their time. I mean you just got medically cleared for duty, never mind baby-making. Although that isn't the reason you guys came down here though, is it?" Panthro raised an eyebrow.
"Lord no. We came down here as I believe it should be your honor to help Lea through her first shift on desk duty," Lion-O smiled.
"You were cleared for desk duty? That is fantastic," Panthro couldn't help but smile. It had been a rough six months for the lioness but she had managed to not only gain her freedom from the hospital but also the ability to join the ThunderCats. Physically she was prepared to don the uniform and perform her duties but both Pumyra and the hospital's therapist had agreed she was not ready for the mental portion of combat. Still desk duty was a huge step up.
"Yes, I am here to observe and learn all that I can," Lea smiled back.
"Now remember, no pawing each other. Punthar doesn't need to see that," Lion-O teased.
"I can wear a blindfold if my King prefers," Punthar couldn't help but smirk. Lea blushed and Panthro had his jaw open, while Lion-O laughed. The lioness was in no way ready for a physical relationship but that hadn't stopped the two from getting close.
"You better not. I need you keeping an eye on those two," the lion chuckled.
"Yes, sir," he winked.
"All right, I'm off and running. Cheetara said that we have to figure out the reception details this evening," the King explained.
"Have fun," Lea smiled as he left the room.
"So where should we start?" She asked, turning to Panthro.
"Well I guess let's start with a quick run over of the equipment in the room and go from there," the panther said. He stood and walked over to where Punthar was sitting and ripped the seat out from under him. The puma hit the deck hard and let out a yelp.
"That was uncalled for," he said as he rubbed his backside.
"It really was," Lea shook her head and helped him off the floor.
"I didn't do anything. Cassius, you see anything?" Panthro asked the guard at the door.
"See what sir?" The pumiger asked.
To Be Continued...