Chapter 14
"You do realize this is absolute craziness, don't you?" Tygra asked as the two climbed the outside walls of Cat's Lair.
"I realize that going into the exhaust shaft is dangerous but a full on frontal assault would be just as dangerous. Besides, I doubt they are using the Lair at maximum power anyway. If they were the Cat's eyes would be lit up. Why are you so jumpy all of a sudden? You haven't been yourself lately." Lion-O wondered.
"Neither have you. Perhaps it is because we became too comfortable with the relative quiet. I know that on Third Earth, things had been way too quiet. We relaxed and now we're faced with dangers of old. We ourselves have become a little too rusty." The orange tiger told him as he climbed up into the pipe. He motioned for Lion-O to follow him and the two were soon sliding through the ductwork.
Meanwhile, Cheetara watched the room from inside her cell. She had heard movement outside in the hallway and had to be prepared should anyone enter the room. Not long passed before the door slid open and multiple members of the Thunder Guard brought in Rober-Bill and Rober-Belle, followed by Willa of the Warrior Maidens, and the leaders of the Balkans and Wollos. They were thrown into the cells that remained unoccupied and then the Thunder Guard left the room. Cheetara waited until the footsteps had disappeared then she reached through the bars of the cell to her left and whispered to the Berbils,
"Rober-Bill, Rober-Belle, what are you doing here?"
"Cheetara, we were about to ask you the same question." Bill said, trying to keep his mechanical voice as low as possible.
"It's a long story." The cheetah told them. Both bears nodded.
"They said we were going to be made an example of but this was after they led us from our village under false pretenses." Bill informed her. Cheetara's mind began to process what she'd heard. There was a very good chance that "example" meant, "kill for all to see". Not wanting to frighten them, she said nothing more about it.
"There has to be a way out of here." She told them.
"These bars are sturdy. We can't get out." Belle spoke up.
"There's always a way. It is apparent that my message to Lion-O did not get through, so we're on our own." The cheetah said. She had no idea how wrong she was.
Lion-O and Tygra exited the exhaust tube just in time before a blast of flames shot through.
"Great Jaga, that was close." Tygra said.
"You're not kidding. We would have gotten a really nasty sun burn." The lion joked. His friend just shook his head and pulled up the map of the Lair's lower levels off the computer.
"Best way to go unseen is through the utility corridor, until it comes out onto level five. From there its about three hundred feet to the brig." Tygra said.
"That's a long way to go before hitting our destination. Although there might not be any patrols since the Mutants think the others are under the power of the Amulet." Lion-O figured.
"We'll give it a shot. Anyway I can raise the cat's Paw about two feet and have it open for about a minute before someone in the control room notices anything." The tiger told him.
"All right, it's better than nothing. Do it and we'll get over to the cells." The Lord of the ThunderCats said. Tygra punched in a code and then the two took off.
Ben-Gali saw the Paw go up from their hiding positions and he quickly had the three sprint over. Lynx-O and Pumyra went first and then the white tiger began to squeeze through. A creaking alerted them to the giant paw coming down. Pumyra grabbed Ben-Gali and pulled. Between the two of them they just managed to get the tiger's toes through the space before the paw came down.
To Be Continued…