Chapter 14
Pumyra, Ben-Gali, and Tygra landed the ThunderStrike outside Cat's Lair and quickly disembarked. The moment they set foot on New Thundera strange feelings came over them.
"What is going on?" Pumyra asked. Her answer was Ben-Gali's massive hands around her throat. The puma's instinct to survive kicked in and she fought back. Her foot found his stomach but that didn't seem to deter him. The white tiger's grip tightened and she clawed at his hands and arms. Ben-Gali howled in pain as blood came from the gouges in his arms. He let go of Pumyra and she fell to the ground. The puma tried desperately for air to come back into her lungs, however she didn't see Tygra coming up next to her. The orange tiger punched her in the face and her world went black.
Next, he turned around and faced his brother tiger. Ben-Gali now saw that it was just to two of them and he quickly forgot his pain. Tygra pull his whip from his side and became invisible. Suddenly Ben-Gali found himself knocked back on his backside. A kick had been squarely placed on his chest. Only down momentarily, the white tiger bounced back up. Trying to fight an enemy he could not see, he threw punches and kicks wildly in the air. Tygra laughed and revealed where he stood by removing his whip. In an instant he flicked his wrist and the lash came down on Ben-Gali, sending a jolt of electricity through him. With the white tiger unconscious, Tygra made his way inside Cat's Lair.
Inside the scene wasn't much different. In fact, the first ThunderCat Tygra come upon was WilyKat. The young man lay on the ground, bleeding from a wound in his stomach. He wasn't a threat anymore and the orange tiger moved on. Next he came upon Snarfer. It was obvious that two of his legs were broken. Moving on, Tygra saw Lynx-O's body on the floor just outside the control room. From all appearances there weren't any injuries on the lynx but he bent down to feel for a pulse, just to be sure. There was none and he stood up. Throwing his whip around him, he went invisible and entered the control room.
Looking around, he could see the room was in complete shambles. Computer screens were bashed in. Control panels had large gouges in them and pieces of metal, plastic, and wires lay strewn everywhere. After making a thorough search of the control room and finding it empty, Tygra removed his whip and moved back into the hallway. A loud crashing noise alerted him to something going on down the hall. Quickly, he ran there knowing his next opponent would be waiting for him.
A roar echoed in the hallway and he knew that Panthro was close by. He would be a challenge and luckily after defeating him, the cubs would be easy to take care of. The familiar sound of Snarf in his "attack mode" meant that perhaps the panther would make it easy for him and get rid of Lion-O and Cheetara for him. Cautiously, the orange tiger hid up against the wall next to the sick bay.
Inside, Panthro was desperately fighting with himself. He knew that Mumm-Ra was behind his feeling that he must kill the cubs. Part of his mind told him it would be easy to break their necks and assume power, with the others dead no one would challenge him. Then he remembered that the ThunderStrike should have already landed and his rage grew three more people he would have to kill. No! He desperately tried to rid his mind of those thoughts, he'd already hurt too many. Snarf flung some medical instruments at him and one of those a scalpel stuck into his leg. A roar came from deep inside him and he snapped. He reached out and grabbed the furball by the throat.
"It's your turn to die." The panther growled at Snarf. He could feel his hand tightening on the ex-nursemaids' throat but his brain screamed to stop. Jaga's words found their way back into his foremost thoughts and he let go of Snarf. Panthro reached for the Sword of Omens and pulled it from the Claw Shield. He lifted the Sword above his head and began to call out the famous words.
To Be Continued…