It Begins...
Disclaimer - I don't own Thundercats...nuff said
It Begins...
Part 2: Healing
AJAngelique
"Mutants!" Aurora shouted as she pointed out the window to see one flying around outside.
"Stay here Angela," Lion-O said as he and the other Thundercats quickly left the room. Angela didn't hear him or notice the Thundercats leave as she stared out the window with a venom laced glare at the pests flying around outside.
"Angela. Angela," Aurora said, worry edging further into her voice each time she said her friend's name.
"What's wrong with her?" Snarf said and Aurora let out a small shriek.
"Don't scare me like that!" Aurora shrieked at Snarf.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Snarf said as he stepped back a bit as his fur began to bristle from the change in energy in the room.
"Angela," Aurora gasped as she whirled around to see that Angela was standing up now and apparently shrinking.
"Eeep! She's phasing through the floor," Aurora shrieked.
"She's what?" Snarf asked.
"Just stop her," Aurora shouted angrily as she pointed at the blonde. Snarf rushed forward to grab Angela but was surprised when he ran right through her.
"What the…" Snarf said as he skidded to a stop and turned back to see Angela vanish into the floor, "Where'd she go?"
"Downstairs, where are the stairs?" Aurora demanded.
Meanwhile, the Thundercats were up in the Cat's Head defending the Lair from all of the Mutant's attacks.
"I don't get it, why don't they just leave already?" Panthro mused angrily as the Mutants just kept attacking the Lair.
"They're here for Angela," Lion -O said with a scowl and the others glanced at him, "They tried to kidnap her in the woods and now they're trying again." If someone was going to make a comment, it was quickly cut off by an new alarm that went off. Everyone looked up to see Angela walking right through the front door as Snarf and the little light that is Aurora busted through the doors a couple steps behind her.
"Angela!" Lion-O gasped.
"What is she doing out there?" Panthro asked as Cheetara ran out of the room, soon followed by Tygra.
"Angela! Angela!" Aurora shouted as Angela stopped three feet away from the sheer cliff drop that formed the moat and looked up at the sky at the mutants as they buzzed around like annoying flies.
"Angela, Angela!" Aurora shouted as she and Snarf finally caught up.
"It's not safe out here, we…" Snarf started.
"Silence," Angela snapped angrily and the two jumped back as Cheetara raced out the front door.
"Guys," she cried out as the mutants focused their attacks on them now. Angela noted this with a hint of annoyance as she lifted her right hand and waved it as she were merely swatting away some bugs and the motion of her hand brushed the laser blasts away from her friends and back towards the Mutants.
"What just happened?" Tygra asked as he watched the Mutants dodge their own attacks.
"Angela. She…" Cheetara started.
"Guys!" Aurora shouted and everyone looked to see Angela was beginning to glow with a pale golden yellow light as her hair was being waved by an unseen wind and a strange energy began to rise in the air that made everyone's hair stand on end.
"Back, get back," Aurora shouted as she grabbed a tuff of Snarf's fur and did her best to tug him back towards the Lair.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Snarf said as he rushed back towards the Lair before Aurora had a chance to let go, so the Faerie just held on for dear life and squealed as she waved in the wind like a living flag.
"What's going on?" Cheetara asked as Snarf raced over towards her and Tygra and only stopped once he was behind them.
"Angela's going to case a spell. A big spell!" Aurora shouted a she popped out of Snarf's fur and it looked as if she was waist deep in a red and yellow snow drift. The air started to come alive with electricity as the light around Angela's skin turned to a bright gold color, her hair began to wave wildly and she bowed her head as she chanted something in a long dead language and performed a peculiar sign with both her hands over heart.
As she did this, the Mutants kept trying to attack the Lair but all their shot kept getting blocked by small pools of light that absorbed the lasers and rippled before they seemingly vanished but only moved to absorb the next attack. Aurora watched this curiously as she had heard about this but never seen it before. The pools of light were an extension of Angela's powers and acted as a shield that actually moved around very quickly…so quickly in fact, it appeared as if they were vanishing and being replaced.
Finally, Angela stopped her chanting snapped her eyes open to glare up at the mutants as all the light on her skin gathered in the loop that her hands made over her heart. The light first formed into a ball akin to a beautiful snow globe filled with starlight that was in constant motion. It stayed like that for only a few seconds before it shifted into two gold rings that began to spin around each other gracefully like a twin gyroscopes.
"Golden Shield!" Angela shouted and parted her hands as she held her arms out at both her sides. The rings began to spin faster as they grew larger and larger to the point that they were able to circle around the entire lair comfortably. Angela gritted her teeth as she fisted her hands, crossed her arms and touched the sides of her fists to her shoulder. There was a slight burst of energy as the rings left behind a glow that quickly became a giant orb of gold that encompassed the entire Lair from many feet above the head to well under the basement.
"What just happened?" Monkian asked.
"I don't know, some sort of magic," Jackelman said.
"It's just a little light, attack them while they're out in the open!" Slythe shouted as he charge forward in the nose diver.
"Slythe, wait!" Monkian shouted but the reptile wouldn't listen. He kept charging at the light as he aimed for Angela who glared back at him through the scoop. Slythe shot at her a couple time but was shocked to find that his lasers were deflected by the strange light. Slythe veered the Nose Diver to prevent colliding with the light but only succeeded in getting belly up before the Nose Diver grazed the light, which cause some sort of electrical interference as all his controls started to short out. Slythe forced his vehicle away from the light and as he got further away from it, the less the shorts were.
"Retreat," Slythe said grudgingly as he turned his nose diver away from the Lair while Jackelman and Monkian were all to happy to follow him. Angela didn't let her guard down until she knew for sure that the Mutants were gone as the others rushed up to her and called her name.
"Angela," Cheetara said and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. Angela sighed quietly and her eyes dropped half way as she began to say off to one side as if being blown by a strong wind. Aurora gasped as her hands flew over her mouth as Angela began to fall but was quickly caught by both Thundercats and sat her down gently on the ground. Angela took a couple breaths as she eased the weight off her injured leg as she started to feel the sharp pain that she ignored during the spell.
"It hurts," Angela said with a slight frown as she stared at her injured leg.
"Of course it hurts you ninny! You stood on it! How could you do something so reckless! You moron! You'll be lucky if you'll ever walk again!" Aurora shouted angrily at the blonde girl who just sat there and looked back at her with this tired look on her face as Tygra, Snarf and Cheetara looked at the Faerie in surprise. After a long and heated ranted, Aurora finally ran out of things to say and spat out a couple "you…you…" before let out a loud huff, turned away and flew back into the Lair.
"Is she going to be alright?" Snarf asked as he pointed in the direction Aurora had flew off in.
"Yeah," Angela said with a tired sigh, "she's just mad at me for this," Angela waved a limp hand around at the golden orb around the Lair.
"What is that?" Tygra asked, looking at the light curiously.
"It's a shielding spell, keeps evil and prying eyes out," Angela said with.
"Prying eyes?" Cheetara asked and Angela nodded silently.
"You wouldn't believe how many people would kill just to access half the knowledge I brought you today," Angela said, hint of sadness to her voice and the group was quiet for a moment before Angela raised her arms and stretched slightly.
"I think I used a little bit too much energy in casting that spell," Angela said with a slight frown before looking back at the two Thundercats, "Is it possible that I can lean on one of you as we head back in?" she asked curiously with a slight pout.
Meanwhile back at the Black Pyramid, the sky erupted with thunder and lighting to match the furious anger of the pyramid's decaying resident.
"She what?!" MummRa snapped angrily at the mutants and another bolt of lighting sliced through the air and was soon followed by a loud clap of thunder that made the three mutants cringe before him.
"The girl made some sort of shield appear out of thin air. Neither our weapons or our vehicles could break through it," Slythe said, trying to pull of the pity me act (very badly might I add).
"Then your useless, get out of my sight before I make you disappear forever!" MummRa shouted and pointed a gnarled finger towards the exit. Without another word, the Mutants were all to glad to do what they were told…for once…and left the pyramid post haste. MummRa groaned to himself as he rubbed his fingers over his temples for a moment before turning to his cauldron of bubbling purple goop. With a wave of his hand, he attempted to peer into the Lair only to find his "mystical vision" blocked by a silent gold static. MummRa grumbled and erased the static from the cauldron with a single wave of his arm.
"She has obviously casted a spell to keep me from spying on her or breaking into the Lair," MummRa said, musing over the situation carefully, "A spell of this magnitude can't last forever. I will just have to be patient and wait for the right moment to attack," MummRa said with a light laugh as he turned away from the cauldron and went back to his sarcophagus to bid his time.
A couple of days pass since the attack and Angela has quickly shifted into a new routine of life at the Lair. Even with her injured leg, Angela was able to help around here and there in the Lair as she now had to use a pair of crutches since she lost the ability to levitate since casting the Gold Shield spell. But the majority of her day is spent transferring the data from the discs she brought to discs that the Lair's computer, thanks to a external device Panthro made to transfer the data directly to the Lair's computer.
On this particular afternoon, the transfer was more than way completed and Angela was whizzing around the room in her desk chair, excitedly telling everyone what each piece of information was that they were seeing. The only thing that stopped her chaotic trip around the room was a well placed Panthro who stopped Angela in her tracks simply by placing his hands on the back of her chair. When Angela came to a slightly shaky stop, she looked up at the Thundercat with a surprised look on her face.
"Would you please stop doing that before you run someone over?" he asked.
"Ok," Angela said, after blinking a couple times out of surprise.
"Good," Panthro said and wheeled her over to a spot where she could watch over everything like a well educated scholar.
"Wow," Aurora said as she sat Indian style on top of Snarf's head as the dup merely sat back and watched the whole scene.
"What's that Aurora?" Snarf asked, looking up at the faerie.
"I've never seen Angela so…happy before," Aurora said as she shifted from sitting to laying down her stomach and resting her head on her crossed arms.
"Really?" Snarf asked curiously.
"Yeah. You wouldn't believe it, but Angela is older than she looks."
"She is?" Snarf asked, quite surprised as Aurora simply nodded.
"Angela was taken from the last moment of her mortal life and was sent back to the very beginning of this planet. She was granted immortality and given the task of recording this planet's history from the very moment it began its existence. Angela has seen civilizations rise and fall, wars fought and won. She knows all the secrets of the past…but…"
"But?" Snarf asked.
"…Angela has lost countless friends over the years, she's been persecuted, hunted and her home invaded on more than one occasion just so that the forbidden treasures could be plundered," Aurora said, ending her explanation with a sad sigh.
'Wow,' Snarf thought and looked at the blonde in a new light of admiration and pity. Aurora then sat there in silence as her mind delved further into the past. Aurora had known Angela since the Middle Ages, prior to the arrival of the Dark Lord and his ushering in of the Dark Ages. Over these years, Angela has tired to end her life on numerous occasions, but someone would always come in and save her. But, it was the arrival of the One of All that brought Angela fully back into the light and she ceased all her suicide attempts. Aurora sighed sadly as she dipped her head into the folds of her arms till her mouth was concealed. It sadden Aurora that she wasn't the one to save the only human she became friends with.
Later that day, Angela was getting her daily check up and bandage changes on her leg down in the Medical Ward.
"Amazing, you're leg is healing twice as fast as normal," Tygra said as he looked over the pictures on the screen.
"Eh," Angela said with a light shrug, "I've always healed fast." Tygra raised his eyebrow and looked at her over his shoulder at how lighthearted she was taking this.
"You're not using your powers are you?" Tygra asked as he turned off the screen.
"No, it's just something that comes with the immortality gig," Angela said as she eased herself off the examination table and picked up the single crutch she got used to using.
"But I'm actually surprised by how fast we're getting all this information into your computers. Before long, we'll have a thousand years of information at your disposal," Angela said with a bright smile.
"You can thank Panthro for that," Tygra said.
"Yes, his device is working beautifully," Angela said. Tygra was about to say something when the ring on Angela's right hand began to glow and ring softly.
"What…?" Tygra asked as Angel held up her hand to show off the simple ring.
"One's calling, I better take this," Angela said as she turned and left the room, leaving behind a confused Thundercat. Angela walked down the hall for a bit and went upstairs to find the closest window to sit down in its sill. Once seated, Angela let out a small sigh and touched her hand to her head.
'Hello One,' Angela thought as she looked out the window and through the faint golden glow of the shield towards the forest.
'Hello Angela,' came a cherry female voice through the ring and directly into her mind, 'how's everything going?'
'Quite well! We're 75 done with the download, my leg is healing just as fast and it looks as if we'll be done by the end of the week,' Angela thought with a grin.
'I see you casted a Gold Shield,' One replied.
'Yeah,' Angela thought with a heavy sigh, 'I used a lot of energy but I casted it perfectly, only those with good in their hearts can pass through it both ways while it keeps the Mutants out quite nicely.'
'I see…doesn't it seem to be getting weaker though?'
'Yeah, I don't know why though.'
'Have you been meditating?'
'Yeah, even got walked in on one time…' Angela thought as her mind flashed back to the a couple nights ago when Angela was doing a special meditation in a dome of blue energy that made the air inside heavy with due. The Wileys came into the room without knocking and surprised her. The moment that she lost her connection with the energy, the dome collapsed and a bathtub's amount of water dropped down on her and splashed all over the floor.
'I see…' One said as she looked over the memory in Angela's mind.
'We should be done by the end of the week. This should give us plenty of time before the shield totally loses all it energy,' Angela thought but could still feel One's worry over the situation.
'This should be the perfect time to invite our new friends to the Mansion and give then the five cent tour,' Angela thought with a smile.
'You're right. The moment that they have all those discs downloaded, I want you back here…even if you're leg isn't completely healed,' One said.
'One?' Angela asked, confused.
'I'm just worried, that's all,' One said with a heavy sigh.
'Don't worry,' Angela said with a grin, 'everything's going to be alright.'
'Ok…' One said after a moment's of silence, 'I'll have everything ready for when you bring our new friends home.'
'Oh! Can you make your…?'
"Yes, I'm making your favorite cakes,' One said with a smile. Angela squealed happily and the two conversed for about five more minutes before the two finally severed their mental link and went off to bed.
Meanwhile, MummRa was trying to peer into the Lair once again. Over time, MummRa watched as the gold static slowly shifted to gold fog. Tonight, the vague figures had become a bit more distinct and conversations were coming through in mild whispers. The decaying creature was even to listen in lightly to Angela's and One's conversation. As the girls were heading off to bed, a plan was formulating in the putrid depths of what one could call a mind…
TBC
Next
Part 3) The Trap