The Men Who Saved The Future
Based of the notorious yet ludicrous Turkish 'Star Wars', 'The Man Who Saves The World'
Thundercats belongs to Warner/RankinBass.
Chapter 4: A Black Pyramid Scheme
Roger and Zapad, both captured by Pumyra, were finally brought to the black Pyramid after several days of inglorious arrest by Pumyra. Throughout their journey, their only entertainment was talking with Pumyra. At first Pumyra disliked talking with the duo, but their journey proved to have formed a bond between Pumyra and the duo, as Roger and Zapad explained about conditions in Nova Terra, the humans' perilous attempt at colonizing the new worlds, and their new civilization while calmly endure the grueling journey.
Despite Pumyra's slowly changing heart for the duo, she still continued her mission, to bring the astronaut and the cosmonaut to Mumm-Ra. As long as she got to avenge her abandonment, she'll do whatever Mumm-Ra ordered her to. Even then, she wavered over her decision.
Pumyra returned to the Black Pyramid, and brought the duo to Mumm-Ra's chambers, reporting on her success.
'My lord, I have captured the two spacemen. They're quite tough and sly for a naive First Earther'
Mumm-Ra was pleased to see Roger and Zapad on his hands. With the right method, he can extract their raw power of the trinity force, and defeat the Thundercats once and for all.
'Excellent, Pumyra. Now, change to your armor and prepare to seek out the Soul Stone with Slithe, Addicus and Kaynar. Vultaire will tell you where it is'
'I oblige, my lord', replied Pumyra, and left the chambers, leaving Roger and Zapad in front of Mumm-Ra, starring at the old, wretched mummy.
'Now, humans. Just because the Thundercats are trying to defeat me, doesn't mean your kind will be ignored. I've been trying to destroy your kind ever since I met those three spacemen centuries ago. They showed the same tough will as you two. But I now know better, you two possess the trinity force, the ultimate power that rivals or even outmatch the Sword of Plun-Darr'
Mumm-Ra can tell that the two humans haven't revealed their full power. Their confusion over his words and their powerlessness confirmed Mumm-Ra's hunch.
'Vultaire, take those humans away, and have their trinity force extracted, by hook or by crook', ordered Mumm-Ra to Vultaire.
'Yes, my lordship', replied Vultaire, walking towards the humans. 'You two did serious harm to Slithe, Addicus and Kaynar, they're forced into recovery due to your combat abilities. They got better though.'
Zapad laughed over Vultaire's explanation.
'Ha, ha. You heard that, Roger? We kicked their sorry asses hard'
'It's clear that your powers have manifested since your return to Earth. With my extractor, I'll take every joule of your power, and concentrate it into a stone rivalling the stones of power'
Vultaire hauled the duo into his lab, mounted them into a restraint in a part bizarre, complex machine. He set up the machine, to calibrate the system, and activate the extraction process.
'Now, humans. This may hurt a bit... For a masochist', said Vultaire, mockingly.
Roger and Zapad were worried over Vultaire's plans.
'This can never be good', commented Roger.
The machine lets out a loud, deep hum. The duo were undergoing a painful electric shock, bringing them great pain.
'Argh! This sting more than a taser!' screamed Roger.
'It sears my groin like steam!' exclaimed Zapad.
The machine began extracting their trinity force, but despite the ever-increasing intensity, the machine failed to extract their power. When the process ends, the duo were left shaken and stirred.
'Ugh, I'm feeling like I'll vomit', commented Zapad.
'Just as I expected, your powers aren't activated yet', commented Vultaire.
'I seem like I'll be better off asking Addicus for those Thundercats
Vultaire turns on the display screen, and turned to Addicus.
'Addicus, have you located the Thundercats?'
'Not yet, Vultaire. I'm right on the mountain pass, where there will be a cave', Addicus replied.
'Capture the Thundercats if you can, at least those two young kits. They're all I need to activate the two humans' powers'
'Got that, Vultaire'
Vultare then turned to the two humans, and decided to put them in prison.
'Looks like there's nothing I can do to you two. I'll just have to store you two in the dungeons'
'Get me a sick bag while you're at it, I don't think I can hold my stomach', said Zapad, feeling queasy after the ordeal.
The duo were brought to the dungeons, and threw them inside.
'Now listen up, fur-less freaks, stay put. You're not done yet', reminded Vultaire
Vultaire left the dungeons, leaving the duo behind bars.
'Some brilliant plan you have, Roger!', shouted Zapad angrily.
'It's not like we have some choice! Plus, it sounded like a clever idea at the time', replied Roger.
'Yeah, yeah, Mr. Yankee Doodle. We're gonna sit here until we get messed up by Vultaire's experiment again', said Zapad, mocking Roger's planning.
'Don't call me that, Zapad. We're still a bunch of dumb-heads in a world full of animal folk. How exactly can we get out of this dungeon? I hope Vultaire didn't take our things away.', asked Roger.
Zapad took out the nano-robotic screwdriver from his leg pockets.
'Remember this? We cracked open a vending machine back at the crew quarters at the Rigel Kent Space Station and stole snacks and drinks using this tool', explained Zapad.
'Brilliant, Zapad. Crack open the locks now', said Roger.
Zapad quickly use the nano-robotic screwdriver, and attempt to break open the lock. It didn't take long before Zapad unlocked the lock.
The duo left their prison, and sneaked out in their attempt to escape.
As Roger and Zapad navigate through the narrow dungeon complex, Roger turned around, and saw a large figure in another prison. Roger approached the figure's prison
'Excuse me, who exactly are you? How long have you been here?', asked Roger.
The figure didn't respond to Roger.
'Are you one of the exploration team sent from Rigel Kent?', asked Roger again.
The figure suddenly responded loudly.
'Be quiet! I had enough of you two guards! You two showed no respect for elders.'
Roger and Zapad were suddenly shocked to hear the voice of the old figure.
The figure moved towards them, and appearing from the shadows, a bald, blind old cat-man is revealed.
'Sorry, you two don't seem to smell like those vile lizards. Quite contrary, you two smelled different. The name's Lynx-O, General of the Thunderian Army. I may be blind, but I can hear and smell you two better', explained Lynx-O.
'No time to talk, we're going to save you. Come on, join us, and we'll escape this place', said Roger, fearing detection. Zapad quickly unlock Lynx-O's prison and rescue him.
'I know where's the escape route. Those Lizards may be smart enough to perceive my blindness as a disability, but they can't remember the fact that what one may lack in sight, it will be compensated by my sense of hearing and smell. Follow me and I'll show the way', said Lynx-O.
As Lynx-O led the way as they sneaked out the dungeons, looking for an exit. As they walk through the dark corridors looking for a backdoor exit, Roger and Zapad began their chat with Lynx-O.
'So, Lynx-O, you said that you're the General of the Army of Thundera. Where exactly is Thundera?', asked Zapad
'Far away from this place, and I was captured for months. I know not where we are.', replied Lynx-O
'We have a multi-tool computer, that can cross reference our location with the map of this planet.', explained Roger.
'Good plan, Roger. After we reclaim our rover, we can get out of this place and hopefully figure out how to defeat Mumm-Ra.', replied Zapad.
'You mean you have something to get us far away from here?', questioned Lynx-O.
'Certainly, but we'll need you to explain us about everything', affirmed Roger.
They soon arrived at the armory complex, where weapons, armor and war-machines were held. Roger and Zapad were impressed by the arsenal of equipment in stock.
'The guards are coming, keep your cover', warned Lynx-O, smelling the presence of lizard guards approaching. They quickly hid under the stockade of firearms, and waited for the lizard guards to pass. After confirming their lack of detection, the quickly moved away as they search for the rover.
The search end when Zapad saw their rover, but was amazed by the fact that it was converted into some form of light tank, making it nearly unrecognizable.
'They really know a good gear when they see one. Here's hoping that some off our old equipment remains', said Zapad in amazement.
Roger and Zapad quickly entered their hyper-modified rover, hoping to find some of the equipment salvaged from the spacecraft. The things salvaged from the spacecraft were many, survival tools, cleaning materials, reference manuals, but of their most importance is the food dispenser, the source of those few enjoyable moments while awake just before landing.
'Well, what did you know, the food dispensed that we pulled out of our spacecraft is now a part of this ride', exclaimed Roger.
'And this thing runs on fusion power now, and now comes in an arsenal fit for one of those military spacecraft back home', remarked Zapad, with memories of their past as young cadets before they joined the mission.
Lynx-O entered the rover, and sits in the back as Roger and Zapad readied themselves to escape from the black Pyramid. Roger hits the booster pedal, and the rover kickstarts into power.
As Roger steered the rover straight towards the exit, Zapad leaned outwards to grab some weapons on the way out. However, the movement of the rover raised the attention of jackal guards as they charged towards the rover and fired rounds from their laser rifles. Roger ran them over as Zapad tried his best to grab some weapons. After securing a weapons crate as Roger stops the rover briefly, the rover soon buzzed off and escaped from the armory. The remaining guards stood still as they watched the rover drove off.
Roger and Zapad fist bumped as the celebrate their daring escape. Lynx-O questions the identity of the two human.
'Never knew your names. Who are you two?', asked Lynx-O.
'Buckley Rogers and Kaina Zapad, Cadets of the Terran Military Expeditionary Corps. We're sent here to investigate and eliminate a great evil in this planet. Turns out it's never that easy. Mumm-Ra, whatever that mummified corpse is, said we got some kind of trinity force. And that vultureman Vultaire has sent that monkeyman Addicus to capture the Thundercats.', explained Roger.
'Thundercats? The Thunderian nobility's in trouble. We got to find them. The city of Thundera may be fallen, but the royal family must be protected or all hope is lost.'. Lynx-O was shocked over the information given by the two humans, as it's been a long time since his capture when the city of Thundera has fallen, and no news for Lion-O and Tygra were known.
Zapad stood up from his seat and went to the food dispenser to prepare a drink and a snack for Lynx-O.
'Look, we just know you for a few minutes for no reason other than we're in prison together. I'll just prepare something for you to eat and chill for a while. Roger's putting as much distance away from the place.' Zapad explained as he set the dispenser to prepare a Vodka and Berry and a Nut and Cacao Cracker.
Zapad hands over the plastic packet with a red carbonated drink and a hard, light brown hardtack to Lynx-O. Lynx-O tasted the hardtack, as was satisfied by the taste of decent food after a long time in a cell. While the hardtack was dry, it's certainly better than slop prepared by the lizards. The drink only serves to make a decent meal a much enjoyable one.
Now in the middle of nowhere, the two humans were stuck with a lynx man, while pondering their next move.
