Monkian's Prime-Mate
ACT II
It was a pretty pleasant day at Cat's Lair. The ThunderCats were keeping an eye out for trouble, but they were relatively relaxed as well, not expecting a repeat of the actions Monkian made when he last made a bargain with Mumm-Ra. Of course, Monkian intended to change all that this time, and now, he had a little help from a friend.
"Hoo, hoo! So that's Cat's Lair," Salena remarked today her mate. "It doesn't look all that daunting."
"Hoo, hoo! It's stronger than it looks, Salena," said Monkian, "But I've used these powers before. They'll make us defeat the ThunderCats in a short time, especially since the arrogant Cats assume that since I couldn't cut my last bargain, I'll never have these powers again."
"I agree," said Salena, "Although they're probably alert for almost anything, from what I know about Thunderians."
"Well, let's stop chatting for now," said Monkian, "We have a plan to follow through on."
"Did I just hear Monkian say that he's going to attack Cat's Lair single-handedly, again?" said a voice from nearby. They turned and saw a ThunderCat standing there. It was Panthro.
"Not quite single-handedly, ThunderCat scum," said Salena, getting up from her crouched position and standing up straight. "Addicus here has a little help this time, and not from his typical allies."
Panthro blinked. "Another Monkian?" he said, "And a female one! What could the two of you prosimians possibly do that you haven't done before?"
Salena smiled. "How about this? Show him, Addicus!"
"Hoo, hoo, hoo! Right, Salena!" said Monkian, and he revealed one of his Power Spheres in his hand. He concentrated his will on it, and he felt great strength surging through him, more than he normally had.
Panthro decided to make a move. He growled like the panther he was and revealed his nun-chucks, spinning them through the air and getting ready to use them on the two Monkians. But Monkian dodged every laser and substance that shot out of them. Then he leaped forward and wrestled Panthro one-on-one. Panthro was the second strongest ThunderCat, next to Lion-O, but Monkian's enhanced strength was quite powerful, and it soon began to overpower Panthro. Then Monkian revealed another Sphere, and tossed it at Panthro, trapping him in a magic bubble, like the last time.
Panthro couldn't get out of it, and Monkian felt quite proud of himself. But before he or Salena could cheer (or jeer), another ThunderCat appeared on the scene. This time, it was Cheetara.
"Up to your old tricks again, Monkian?" she asked. "And who's your ugly friend?"
Salena and Monkian were both angered by that remark. "She's not ugly, ThunderCat!" he shouted. He got ready to charge, but Salena held him back.
"Relax, Addicus," she said, "This one's mine."
Cheetara prepared her staff for combat. Salena produced her own Sphere and felt power going through her veins, too. As Cheetara prepared herself for almost any Mutant attack, she was confronted by an attack she didn't expect.
Salena suddenly took on super speed, just like Cheetara, and ran circles around the surprised She-Cat. Cheetara didn't know what to do about this, which gave Salena time to prepare her next move. She reached out and snatched Cheetara's staff, and thrust it between Cheetara's lower legs, making her trip and fall over. Knocking the staff away from the ThunderCat, Salena soon encased Cheetara in a Sphere bubble, too.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Woo! Stunning moves, Salena!" remarked Monkian on her talents.
"You didn't do so bad yourself, Addicus," she replied. "Woo, woo, woo!"
"Now what?" asked Monkian. "Shall we go on to the Lair?"
"Why not?" said Salena, "There's nothing I'd rather do."
Thry ran to the bridge and began crossing it, but another ThunderCat, Tygra, blocked their way.
"Going somewhere, Mutants?" he wanted to know.
"Hoo, hoo! Yes!" Monkian informed him, "And you're not stopping us!"
"We'll see about that," Tygra replied, wielding his bolo whip and turning himself invisible.
Monkian and Salena both used the power of their Spheres to become invisible in their turn, and produced laser crossbows from out of nowhere. A fight ensued between the ThunderCat and the Mutants, where Tygra tried to take them down with various attacks from his whip, while the Simians fired their crossbows in his general direction. Because their weapons couldn't turn invisible, they all had a vague idea of where each other was.
At last, when Monkian fired a guided laser at Tygra's bolo whip, the impact caused Tygra to lose his invisibility. Salena tossed another Sphere at the tiger Cat after Monkian knocked him off the bridge and into the most below. Monkian looked down on him with glee and said, "Any feelings of déjà vu, ThunderCat? Remember, cats don't always land on their feet!"
He turned to Salena and said, "All right, what's next?"
"Strategy, big boy," said Salena, "You use a Sphere to increase your size until you're as big as Cat's Lair, and trap the remaining ThunderCats from the outside. I'll go inside and trap them by the door. Then, we'll take 'em out together, and grab the Sword of Omens and bring it back to Mumm-Ra."
"Woo, woo, woo! I've always wanted to become a big, strong giant again!" Monkian said excitedly. "Let's do it!"
Inside the Lair, Lion-O, Snarf, and the ThunderKittens had been observing the whole fight, and now, Lion-O called for battle stations. They prepared themselves for an attack, one that Lion-O already knew was going to happen, from past experience.
"It looks like Monkian has his Power Spheres back, Lion-O," said WilyKit.
"Yeah," said WilyKat, "And he's got another Simian Mutant helping him."
"Yes, I know," said Lion-O, "At a time and place like this, I'm fully expecting Monkian to become a colossal giant again and attempt to smash into the Lair and grab us."
"Snarf, snarf! That doesn't bear thinking about!" said Snarf. "The Mutants are spooky enough when they're at their normal size!"
"Well, we'll be ready for them this time, Snarf," said Lion-O, "The Mutants always lose in the end."
"Uh oh, it looks like he's starting to grow right now, Lion-O," said Kit. Lion-O looked outside and saw that Monkian was indeed growing to a giant size like before.
"Get ready!" said Lion-O, drawing the Sword of Omens. The ThunderKittens prepared their lassos and their pellets, while Snarf stood by Lion-O's side.
Sure enough, Monkian's hand soon punched its way through the metal walls of the control room. Lion-O attempted to keep the Mutant's hand away with the Sword. "Ho!" he shouted, and a lightning bolt shot out from the tip of the Sword and hit Monkian's groping hand.
Curiously, the shot from the Sword didn't seem to harm him. At all. The ThunderKittens tried throwing some itch pellets at the hand, but they, too, didn't seem to affect it.
"Snarf! What do we do now, Lion-O?" Snarf asked nervously.
"Now, we evacuate," said Lion-O. "Clear out of the control room and get outside, now!"
Snarf and the Kittens obeyed at once, running away with Lion-O. But they didn't get very far, because they were cut off by Salena, who boxed them in down the hall. Again, the Kittens prepared to defend themselves, this time with their lassos. They intended to get them past an imitation lasso that they fully expected her to create with one of her Spheres. But instead, she produced an Ape Shield much like Monkian's, and aimed it at the ThunderCats. An energy blast from the mouth of the Ape Shield's face hit and burned up the Kittens' lassos.
Shocked, they tried to disorientate her with smoke pellets. But she used another interesting power with her new Shield. The mouth of the Ape face made like a vacuum and sucked in the pellets, and disintegrated them without sparking their potent effects.
"Lion-O, our weapons are useless against those powers," said Kat, "I hope you can do better with the Sword of Omens."
"I'll give it a try, Kat," said Lion-O, "It's got to work. The Eye of Thundera has never been truly defeated before."
"I don't think so, Lord of the ThunderCats," said Salena, "The Eye of Thundera is no match for the Power Spheres of Mumm-Ra."
"Who are you, anyway?" demanded Snarf.
"I'm Salena, a Mutant of Plun-Darr," she replied, "Addicus and I (the Mutant everyone so impersonally calls Monkian) are going to wrest control of Third Earth from your hands and those of Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living. Then we shall bring a new era of peace and order to Third Earth as its new Lord and Lady."
"Trading one evil ruler for another will only create more evil on Third Earth, Salena," said Lion-O, "And evil cannot create true peace, only a negative pseudo-peace that suits the evil ruler and few others."
"Lion-O, Monkian is still groping around for us," said Snarf, "We've gotta get out of here!"
"We will, Snarf," said Lion-O, "We will."
"You think I'm just going to let you run out of here, when Addicus and I are so close to victory?" scoffed Salena.
"I don't see how any Mutant can stop the ThunderCats," said WilyKat.
Salena grunted, and then she suddenly made her Shield light up with blinding light, aiming it directly at the ThunderCats. All four of the ThunderCats were stunned, and then, Salena started to attack them yet again. She fired cannonballs at their feet, causing them to hop backwards. She pushed them farther back. She was driving them back toward Monkian's hand.
Finally, it found Lion-O and Snarf. Monkian, relishing the moment, pulled Lion-O and Snarf out of the Lair and dropped them in the moat. Then he pulled them up again. They were unconscious, and the Sword of Omens was also there.
Monkian grinned in triumph.
And as for the ThunderKittens, Salena just zapped them with a powerful stun bolt that would leave them unconscious for hours.
Salena ran outside and rejoined Monkian, who was still a colossal giant. "Hoo, hoo! Not bad," she said, "Not bad at all, my delicious lover."
Monkian almost blushed when he heard that. "Hoo, hoo, hoo! That's...nice, Salena." It was evident that he wasn't used to being treated with affection and compliments.
"Now what do you say we take our prizes back to Mumm-Ra?" suggested Salena, "It'll soon be time for the next stage in my plan."
"I'm game," said Monkian, "Hoo, hoo. Would you like a free ride, m'lady? I don't have to relinquish this size too soon."
Salena stared at him and said, "Why, you're such a gent! For a barbarian, of course."
"Well," said Monkian, "I'll take that as a compliment."
"I would guess that any Mutant would take that as a compliment," said Salena.
"Except maybe that arrogant scientist, Vultureman, who think he's so much better then the rest of us," said Monkian.
"You're probably right on that one," agreed Salena.
END OF ACT II