Ido not own the characters from the Thundercats all I am doing is paying homage to a cartoon that had a positive influence on my life and on my writing skills, please put as many comments good and bad as you want Iron Lion roars!
DOOMKAT
Before Council
Wiley Kat stood in chains, before him sat the Thundercats and the council of clan leaders, the war was not over for more than a few months but still there were enough of them assembled and ready to pass judgment against him, for having the balls to do what they should have done long ago, end the mutant threat once and for all. The council chambers was a large dome shaped building with the symbol of the Thundercats painted across its massive roof, above their heads on the ceiling were the portraits of all the Thundercats of Thundera's past looking down on them from above. Their still eyes seemed to follow him and he focused on the floor testing his strength against his chains, no luck.
Around New Thundera cities still burnt and the hospitals were full of the wounded, funerals for the dead snaked past in the street outside the council chamber as the bereaved wailed for the dead, their anguished roars of echoing of the stone walls of the cities buildings. Wiley wore only a cheap black tunic with a white collar, his sister had been barred from coming to see him so her seat on the council vacant his wasn't even there no doubt they had burnt it. Wiley was glad that she wasn't there; he didn't want her to see him like this in chains like a common criminal. He wanted her to remember him as he had been when Panthro had given him command of his own troops, in his black and gold armor the Thunder cat symbol on his breast and pride in his heart, pride that he saw now had perhaps led him to the situation he was facing, the death penalty for the charge of genocide.
Liono sat at the center of the long white stone table, his right eye was covered by a golden patch. A vulture man shock trooper had torn it out with his beak feigning surrender; he had lunged at the Lord of the Thundercats and done his work. Chetarra had killed the vulture man with one blow of her staff and had vomited into her hands traumatized by the very act of killing. She soon got over that for there were many more mutants to kill in the months that followed during that bloody war.
The Lions good eye regarded him with what looked like pity, Wiley didn't need that he would rather a swift death than pity. The Lion had started wearing a crown after the war and it shone in the harsh white light of the council chamber. Liono stood with a piece of paper in his hands; he looked at his fellow council members before he spoke his voice seeming to break as he read out Wileykat's sentence. "Wileykat, Commander of the second cohort of the Thunderian army, recipient of the Order of Jagga for bravery in the line of fire, recipient of the Jade heart of Third Earth for valor, it is the order of this council that despite your many stellar achievements in your service to your Lord and Thundera. Your reckless use of the banned substance R478 and the whole sale slaughter of innocent civilians in the Mutant Conflict on planet Plundar have forever tainted your name, and that of the Thundercats!
Your actions resulted in the deaths of three million civilians and the injury of seven million more; if not for the quick thinking of Commander Lynxo to distribute the antidote, the toll would have been much greater. Therefore, due not only to these actions but your unrepentant stance, we the council have no choice but to condemn you to death for your crimes. The first use of capital punishment in Thunderian history! It is to be carried out immediately but you have now one chance to speak and perhaps save yourself from destruction!"
Wileykat could see Liono pleading with his eye, even on the council, he could feel them urging him to throw himself before them and beg for his life. What life, in prison? What kind of life was that when all he had was gone, No death was a kinder fate than the alternative of slow decay.
"All I have to say is this, frack all of you! It was pussy footing with those heathens that left us open to attack, what about the one million Thunderians slaughtered, what about the mass rape of our females! Even my own sister was violated and left for dead and you want me to apologize for what I did? I didn't do enough! I should have blasted the whole fracking planet to slag!"
"Silence!" Panthro roared getting up from his seat which fell over onto the floor with a bang. "You fool do you know noting? Your actions could have led to them doing the same to us in reprisal or even worse! Wileykat, I was the one, who insisted that you be given one more chance to beg for leniency! Now I see that you are past that now ….What has become of you? You were filled with so much promise so much honor!"
"Simple, I grew the frack up blue man now let's end this charade."
"Let us then, Panthro as his commanding officer I leave it to you to perform the act and as Lord of the Thunder cats. I as guided by the will of the council, condemn you Wileykat to hang by the neck till death may the Gods, and Jagga have mercy on your soul." Liono threw down his paper as tears streaked down his good eye, he turned his back on Wileykat as did all the others one by one his friends, his family turned their backs on him which hurt more than he ever thought it would. Chetarra broke down in tears as Tygra consoled her as she also turned her back on him. Panthro nodded to the four guards that had escorted Wileykat into the council chamber who were armed with vibro spears, they were taking no chances with him they knew he could try to escape if he really wanted to. They held him roughly and escorted him out of the council chamber, Panthro walked before them as a side door slid open then closed, they entered a long white corridor and despite his earlier bravado, Wileykat felt terror rising up within him as the end of that corridor got closer and closer.
A black door stood at the end so black it seemed to be mirrored, Wiley saw his own reflection and was aghast, he seemed to be much older than his early twenties, had the war aged him so much he wondered? The door slid open and he was prodded forward into a white room with a large glass wall cutting across it, behind it sat two rows of mutants grim faced and unsmiling one was even drying her eyes on a hand kerchief. Panthro turned around and stood face to face with Wileykat having to look up to do it, Wiley wasn't a kid any more. "Listen to me, this is your last chance I am going to give you a pill it's a Thundranium extract and very powerful, swallow it now or take the pain like an idiot!" Panthro whispered and Wiley shook his head in assent, the panther took a black hood from a satchel on his back and placed it over Wiley cats head, as he did it he slipped a tablet onto Wileykat's tongue. Wileykat's hands were behind him and he felt the noose go round his neck, he swallowed the tablet and felt his bowels giving away as terror gripped his soul, he felt the rope pull tight but it was not constricting.
He started to breathe in gasp wondering what was going to happen next. "Death is not the end." Panthro whispered in his ear as the floor fell out from under him and he crashed into darkness….
The Monkian medical officer passed his device over the prone body searching for signs of life, the War Lords had insisted that he check just in case the Thunderians had tried some under hand trick. Which one would expect from a mutant but not a Thunderian, well once one would have thought so but now who knew what to think. "He is dead, all life functions have ceased, and do you still refuse our request that his body be transported to Plundar for public display and dismemberment Lord Panthro?" "You're darn right we refuse haven't we done enough already? Take your samples of his flesh for verification if you wish but his body is not leaving this planet!" Facalut knew that he could not push the panther further so he took his samples making sure to take a hair sample and he left, those that had come to witness the act seemed more subdued than jubilant, perhaps the fact that they had now learnt that the Thundercats would sacrifice one of their own had shown them that all out war would be a losers game, he knew that some were calling even now for such a thing but the Destroyer as many called the dead youth that had killed so many had been working on his own, what if others were unleashed without restraint and the threat of death hanging over them removed ? Cooler heads prevailed and even a few necks had been slit so the fragile peace could be sealed.
Once his people's had taken the Thunderians lightly, seen them as pushovers hiding behind their law and sham of non aggression. Now he saw the reason for it and it shook him to the core. "To Mumra's flaming pits with you, Destroyer!" Facalut said and spat on the ground he saw some of the others doing the same, he had not been in the city when the canisters had fallen, but he had seen the footage of thousands writhing in agony or trying to flee from the purple mist, the footage that haunted his dreams even now was that of the Destroyer and his troops lined up in a double line blasters out and him giving the order to fire on those fleeing the carnage, he had then slowly methodically walked amongst the wounded and shot them male, female, young and old having to change blasters as he killed more and more, the act wasn't what haunted Facalut's dreams, it was the smile that damn peaceful smile on the Destroyers lips as he had shot yet another child…
Resurrection
"So Wileykat is this how far you have fallen? Liono and the others tried to teach you patience, honesty, compassion and justice, but it would seem that you learnt too well from Mumra instead of the Thundercats!"
"Jagga…..? What do you want from me, aren't I already dead, you cannot dare punish me with your bullshit! I did what I had to, so leave me alone!" The darkness around him was like the dead black of space yet he could see Jagga as clear as day, as a bluish form glowing brightly in the darkness. He didn't know how he spoke or heard Jagga's voice but the fact that he could told him that he was truly no longer amongst the living or was he?
"I cannot because you are not yet dead, Panthro out of love for you has saved your life. But by doing so he has condemned himself as well, for he see's you now as a weapon he can use, a weapon that could destroy the one who wields it as well as the victim of its wrath. As always the choice is yours to make your own path, I hope you choose the right one."
Wileykat awoke with a start and he gasped as he lay naked on a slab of cold steel bright yellow lights glared in his eyes and he closed them, he opened them to see Panthro before him dressed in a black robe, others stood with him their faces hidden by iron mask. He tried to speak but found that he could not so he sat there wondering how he had been saved from death and what was going to happen to him next. "Don't try to talk yet, your vocal chords are swollen a result of the pill you took. It also stilled your heart killing you instantly, we were able to bring you back just barely in time but you're here, and now your mine to do what I please. It had come to my attention and those of my companions behind me that the mutants were planning to bombard Thundera with bombs made of Thundrainium enough to wipe out seventy percent of the population, your attack forestalled this, in fact it allowed Lynxo the distraction he needed to destroy the bomb factories. So you in fact did save Thundera but your actions had to be punished, but I would be damned if I would just let you die…So I came up with this compromise without Liono's permission of course he would never agree to this. You are to be genetically treated to change your genes permanently and you are to receive a crack team of former criminals, the Evil Chasers will provide them from the deepest darkest holes in the galaxy, you will lead these Agents of Doom against all enemies of Thundera that our laws cannot reach or contain and kill them with extreme prejudice. You are to have no contact with anyone from your former life most of all your sister, she is as dead to you as you are to her. Refuse any order given and an explosive device within you shall activate, its range is very large and not much will be left of you if it does go off. Your code name is Doomkat and a back story has already been created for you, now relax and go back to sleep, we have a lot of work to do tomorrow."
Who were those masked figures that were with PanthroWileykat wondered, who would he be sent out to kill first and why had he not been told that the mutants had planned to bombard Thundrea with Thundrainum? Too many questions not enough answers shot through his brain, he lay back and closed his eyes just glad that he was alive thinking about Jagga's words as he driffted once more into the embrace of darkness.