Disclaimer: I do not own Thundercats.
Chapter 11: Powerless
Onsa's army of outcasts releashes their full fury upon Thundera. Now, the Thundercats must fight without their most sacred weapon at hand. Can they stand their ground or will the city of Cats fall as it once did many years ago?
Tatiana gulped nervously as she and Pardes kept themselves hidden behind the pillar. They had just come down here after defeating a few lizards, and were currently on the lookout for any other threats while taking their time to recover.
Although the tigress didn't like to admit it, the lizards were very, VERY good, and had put up quite the struggle. She winced as her hand rested on a cut that was delivered to her. She looked at Pardes, worried. His right arm-the one that was holding his axe-was still wrapped in a cast, and it shown in his fighting that the leanther was not as effective as he usually was.
She suddenly squeaked as she felt his left hand grasp hers. She blushed lightly, although his expression was set in stone, not noticing his gesture.
"Wait for it," he muttered as he squeezed her hand, Tatiana's face growing a darker shade of scarlet. "Aaaand...NOW!"
Tatiana snapped out of her thoughts as Pardes sprang to his feet, pulling her up with him. They dashed out of their hiding place, and the leanther pounced upon the lizard, swinging his axe forward. The lizard raised their weapon up above their head, the two weapons clanged against each other. Pardes tried to hide the grimace that came upon the painful shudder that rang through his right arm.
Tatiana spun her bolos when she saw another animal come to the lizard's aid. She swung them forward, the colorful bobs managing to wrap around the animal's feet and trip them. Pardes, seeing the action, hit the lizard in the head and came to the tiger's aid.
Tatiana cartwheeled out of the way as the animal tried to swing a massive poleaxe upon where she was previously standing. The dust cleared to reveal one of the two jackals that was there the same night of the previous ambush.
The jackal, looking up at the two cats, began to (surprisingly) laugh, a cruel vicious noise from deep within her throat. "Fools!" she yelled in a voice like acid, "You think a few petty balls will hold me back?" That said, she pulled her legs apart until the rope on Tatiana's bolos broke apart.
The jackal, yanking her poleaxe from the dirt, raised it above her head. "So which one of you wants to die first?" she asked menacingly.
"Try me, bitch," Pardes growled as he stormed forward.
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Wilykit snarled viciously as she struggled to decrease the numbers of the lizard army. She spun around to kick one in the face before hitting another with her sword. They were not going to be backing down anytime soon, and the wild cat was beginning to tire. As of now, it was the lizards versus her, Kat, and Unciana.
All of them were trying to protect the palace. Cats were still being evacuated from the infirmary, and they couldn't risk even one being hurt in the crossfire.
As she stepped back, she was slightly relieved to find Bob-cat behind her, catching one reptile straight in the mouth. "Lion-o and Tygra are struggling to keep the lizards back. They need assistance immediately."
"But we can't leave the citizens here unguarded," Kat replied, "You and Kit go, I'll protect Unciana."
"I need no protection," Unciana remarked as she looked over her shoulder, "Wilykit, Wilykat, go! Bob-cat and I will hold them off." Unciana knew how coordinated the twins were in fighting, and that would be a big advantage to the Thundercats.
Kit hesistated. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving her mate here, but a reassuring look from Bob-cat said otherwise. She nodded at her brother. Kat readied his flink and shot it up to the roof. Grasping his arm, the twins took off.
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Bobbi gasped for breath as she hid behind a wall to avoid the outcasts. Just before, she was caught in a fight between the two jackals and gorilla from the ambush, before being forced to retreat when one of them managed to get a deep slice into her ankle.
Her blood boiled at the memory of them returning. It was bad enough they had been part of the ambush that ended up with the disappearance of Chiro, but the thought of them returning with a whole army made her want to rip their throats out.
"Bobbi?" A voice asked from ther right, and the bobcat instinctively rushed to the side to cock an arrow on her bow. But it was not an enemy, but rather Claudea.
Bobbi questioned, "What are you doing here, Claud? You're not in the condition to fight!"
"I can't just sit back when the city's under attack, Bobbi! As princess, it's my duty to protect the people and fight!"
They stared at each other before Bobbi let out a defeated gasp and gripped the princess's hand. "I'm trying to get to the shelter. The guards aren't holding up too well, and I don't think Tiro and Tigress can hold them off by themselves."
Claudea nodded in understanding, before the two of them stood up and they went incognito, dashing across the rooftops and in shadows before managing to meet up with the tiger siblings. Tigress panted as she bent down. "Damn, I don't remember Dad telling me the lizards were this hard."
Tiro eyed Claudea up and down. "Are you sure you'll be able to fight?" he asked, his eyes showing concern. "I'll be fine," Claudea insisted, "I think that if we get to our parents, we might just be able to drive them out with the sword and-"
"The sword's gone, Claud," Tigress replied.
The litah's heart dropped when she remembered that.
"It doesn't matter, what matters is we need to find Pardes and Tatiana," Tiro spoke up, "Bobbi, Claudea, you find our parents. Tigress and I will try to find the lovebirds and bring them back. Got it?"
Replying that they did, the four split up. As the two fought off lizard after lizard, Claudea realized a nagging sensation at the back of her head was starting to make her vision blurry. Oh, please, not now, she pleaded. She shook her head in a vain attempt to get rid of it. She was going to get to her destination, and she was NOT going to die in the street like a rat all because of a stupid migraine.
But it wouldn't go away. In fact, if anything, the sensation became stronger as she and Bobbi got nearer to the capital. Now, Claudea was beginning to stumble, starting to lose sight of the things around her.
"LOOK OUT!" Bobbi screamed out of the blue.
Claudea turned, too late as a large piece of shrapnel hit her squarely in the head. She stumbled back, her foot catching on a raised edge of the street before she fell, hitting her tailbone.
Bobbi was now beginning to run towards her, trying to assist the girl. However, a large cord caught her in wrapped around her feet, pulling the bobcat toward the cord's owner. Instantly, another cord also got Claudea, and the litah found herself being pulled towards a figure in an alleyway.
When she slowed down, Claudea found no time to react for someone's foot slammed down on her chest, trapping her. The princess looked up to see whoever it was that had the gull to attack her. What she found was a black jaguaress, one that had hate glowing in her fierce orange eyes.
"Hello, princess."
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Lion-o wiped the sweat from his brow as he once again went at the lizards.
For an hour, he, Cheetara, Tygra, and Panthro were fighting off the horrible reptiles, although it was not doing any improvement. A flash of yellow light came before his eyes as Cheetara ripped through another crowd with her staff.
Tygra turned himself invisible and knocked several lizards out with his bolo whip. Panthro, with his nun-chucks in hand, was able to knock his opponents down like ragdolls as he slapped one lizard with his extended hands.
Damn, he thought, of all times to lose the sword-
A green flash of light came from out behind the lizards and hit a nearby wall, nearly knocking the lion to his feet. He growled as he scanned the crowd for whoever was responsible. He looked over at Tygra, who was pointing, "Lion-o! Look!"
He looked in his brother's direction, to see a large figure standing at the top of a roof, a mace-like object in hand. It appeared to be another cat, one around Panthro's age.
Lion-o squinted. Oh no, it was...
"My, my, Lion-o. How you've grown." Leaping from the roof, the cat came to the front of the lizard army, which was now halted. Lion-o heard Cheetara's soft gasp from next to him, and he could imagine her ruby eyes widened in horror.
Panthro yelled, "Grune!"
"In the flesh."
Tygra's eyes shook with shock before he managed to find his voice. "How did you...? Be we-we saw you get-"
"Sucked in during the loss of the Astral Plane?" Grune asked as he walked up to the Thundercats, who were readied in hostility. "Well, funny story, now. But we don't seem to have time for that, now do we?
"As I remember, you lost both your arms that day, didn't you, Panthro?" Grune asked in mock as he took note of the cybernetics the panther had, who growled and gnashed his teeth together.
"I also see you don't have the sword with you."
Lion-o's blood ran cold. He really wished nobody would take notice. His fears only increased as Grune was now joined by Atticus and Kaynar, the two most vile animals on Third Earth. Atticus sneered as he drank in Cheetara's figure. "It seems that even the most lovely creatures have a bit of fight in them. I'm going to have fun with you." Cheetara whispered, "Perverted bastard."
Panthro stepped up to Lion-o. "When I'm through with you, Grune, you're going to wish you stayed in the Astral Plane, traitor."
Lion-o stood at the ready, getting ready to charge the one-toothed cat when-
"I wouldn't do that."
They all froze, Grune smirking as a look of shock came across the lion's face. The king realized that voice from anywhere, even if it had been twenty years...
The sounds of someone pushing through the crowd came from behind, until a female cat came to stand to Grune's side. Lion-o's stare was of shock, before it was quickly drowned out by unbridled fury.
"Onsa," he hissed through clenched teeth.
"Lion-o," the slender jaguar replied as she looked at his wife.
"Cheetara."
"Onsa," Cheetara replied with just as much loathing.
"What are you doing back here, traitor?" Lion-o demanded, wanting just as much as to wring her neck. Onsa grinned coldly, before replying, "I'm just here to get back what I deserve." Her grin then disappeared, replaced by vengeance. "There's nothing here that you deserve, Onsa. Not anymore," Cheetara hissed.
Onsa shot her a dagger of hatred, before turning back to Lion-o. "You know what I want, lion. And if you give it to me, I'll go easy on you."
If it hadn't been a serious situation, Lion-o would scoffed with sarcasm. "You should really watch that tongue of yours, Onsa."
"Or what? You'll kill me? Please, Lion-o, we both know that won't happen. You've never exactly had the spine to take a life. And even if you did, why aren't you using that sword of yous? From what I see, you don't have a lot of options here. Now, you could surrender slowly without any hard feelings or-"
"Or what?" Lion-o asked. He couldn't believe this chick.
"Or I'll kill your daughter."
It was if his tongue had got caught in his throat. No, it couldn't be.
"Bring her out!" Onsa yelled off to the side. Lion-o was horrified to see a male jaguar drag Claudea and her friend Bobbi out. Claudea was tied and gagged, a dagger pressed to her throat. The jaguar, who looked similar to Onsa, looked at Lion-o with severe hatred. Claudea looked at her father with frightened eyes.
"So what'll it be, Lion-o?" Grune asked, "Will this be an easy surrender or will your dear daughter have to suffer?"
Lion-o looked at his daughter, who was absolutely helpless. He heard Cheetara's staff clatter to the ground and felt her gripping his arm in fear. He glared at Onsa with a great resentment for the jaguar, remembering the atrocities she had committed.
Defeated, the king declared, "Drop your weapons."
Onsa stared at him, a cold smile coming across her features.
Finally, the Thundercats have finally crumbled.
Note: I'll will be honest, this isn't my greatest chapter. As it turns out, fight scenes are REALLY hard for me to write out. Luckily, I was able to get a teensy bit creative thanks to the Young Justice episode "Downtime."