Episode 6: Revenge of the Rats
Part 6:
"Ave Maria,
Mater Dei,Ora pro nobis peccatoribus,Ora, ora pro nobis;
Ora, ora pro nobis peccatoribus,Nunc et in hora mortis, In hora mortis nostrae.
In hora, mortis, mortis nostrae, In hora mortis nostrae.
Ave Maria…"
An avian woman's soprano voice echoed through the haze of the ether clouding Tygra's skull. The melody was broken apart in short steady intervals by the metallic scrape of a scalpel being sharpened. He awoke, and tried to blink a few times, but metal hooks were holding his eyes open. They watered, unable to see through the ether haze clearly at first.
To his horror he discovered himself stripped completely bare of his clothes and bound on his back. A clamp held his head still. He couldn't lift or move it. His wrists and ankles bound, locked down onto the table. Hovering over his head were holo screens playing strange autopsy videos. Across from him on a shelf was his blaster and whip; placed conveniently in his direct sight to tease him no doubt. Just barely out of his peripheral he could see a feathered figure in black he did not recognize; the source of that skin crawling singing!
He growled, struggling to pull free. He made Dr. Ossifra jump. She lifted her plague mask as she peered over him. "Oh dovey!" She called to Vultaire, wiping clean her scalpel. "The cat is awake."
Vultaire's ugly bald face came into view. He slapped Tygra on the cheek twice. "Good to see you again, old boy." His beak twisted into a smirk somehow. "I was so hoping you would join the fun before we start."
"What have you done to me Vultaire? What is this thing?"
"The ancients called this device the four winds. I perfected it. You see I have tied you to four spring loaded catapults-" Tygra hissed in pain as Vultair adjusted the springs, tightening the tension on the catapults and stretching his limbs even farther out of joint. "But just to prove that I'm not ALL that crude…" The buzzard continued. "I have rigged the four winds to a solar mirror. When the first rays of the sun hit, it will trigger the catapult. They will gradually pull you in four directions until… you may use your feeble imagination from there." Vultaire regurgitated a small chuckle as he observed a scene from one of his wife's past demonstrations. "Then my lovely Ossifra shall put your carcass back together well enough to start this delightful process all over again."
"The Thundercats won't let you get away with this." Tygra warned. "Lion-O will set me loose long before nightfall. Then we'll see what tears whom from limb."
Vultaire's stare went cold. "We certainly will." Without warning, he punched Tygra as hard as he could in the inner thigh. Tygra roared in both pain and fury as he twisted and struggled in his restraints. The springs only pulled tighter. "THAT was for my dear Vulture I."
"ROOAW! You miserable old buzzard! I'm gommm!-" The dust colored hen placed a thick piece of tape over Tygra's mouth, cutting him off. "We should break his limbs." She suggested. "They will tear apart easier."
"Oh good thinking, dovey. We'll have one of the lizards or ball-licking mammals have a go at him with something nice and blunt. Vultaire ignored him as he led his wife into another room blocked by the limitations of Tygra's peripheral.
Tygra took a breath and tried to stay calm. The inability to shut his eyes and stop watching the unsettling autopsy videos made this rather difficult, but Lion-O and Cheetara would come for him soon. He kept telling himself that over and over
And over…
Where episode 6 part 4 left off…
A warbot fell in a fiery explosion. Cheetara curled into a ball to protect her face and torso from the heat as she soared over the dismantled heap and the flames. She spread out as she neared the ground, extending one leg to skid in a circle as she landed gracefully on her feet. She immediately stood and readied her staff.
A small circle of lizards and terriers surrounded her. They growled at her, charging and/or aiming their weapons dead at her head and chest. She realized then she was visible once again. Something must have happened to Tygra… "No-"
The terriers charged at once. Cheetara swatted most of them away easily with one clean swipe of her bo. The alpha and a few of her smarter underlings timed their attack just right and pounced on her. Cheetara hissed as two terrier bit down onto her shoulders. The alpha down on her calf. Cheetara shortened her staff and cracked her hard on the temple with the end with a heavy thunk. The alpha terrier collapsed into the dirt instantly. The other terrier immediately hopped off her back and retreated thereafter.
Cheetara stood. One leg injured, but still armed, she glared defiantly at the circle of lizards and dogs surrounding her and exhaled a deep, threatening hiss. The circle parted, allowing Kaynar to present himself. "Nice shot; I owe you one." He laughed hysterically at the sight of the terrier alpha knocked out at her feet. He flashed her a lewd grin as he aimed his favorite spear. "Are you lost little kitty?"
"Hardly." Cheetara's lips formed the slightest smile as they circled each other. "This is cliché. Cat against dog. A forgone conclusion, wouldn't you say?"
Insulted, Kaynar charged at her, growling and bearing his canines. She charged as well and they clashed in the center holding each other back by crossing the handles of their weapons. Cheetara was impressed by Kaynar's reflexes. Not too many animals could block a head on attack from her, even with a bum leg. Her movements were too fast to predict, but then again, the mutt hardly ever blinks…
Still, Cheetara was the swifter and smarter opponent. She ducked under and off to the side, allowing Kaynar to stumble forward with a yelp. She kicked him a step farther in the small of his back for emphasis. He glared back at her, grip tightening around his spear as he growled. "You're trying too hard, Kaynar. Just follow your-"
The jackalman charged at her once again, but this time she simply slid off to the side, letting him foolishly run right past her nose first into the leg of a warbot.
"-Nose." Cheetara's lips briefly curled upward in amusement as he fell backwards onto the ground, knocked out and nose bloody. Her victory was short lived. She looked upward, realizing she was staring right into the massive barrel of a still functioning warbot's cannon. It glowed blue, charging and ready to obliterate her where she stood any second.
"HOOO!" She heard her pride's battle cry from behind. Before she realized what was happening Lion-O leapt off the shoulder of a lizard soldier and sliced the warbot cannon in half just before it fired. It jammed the gun, causing it to backfire and ignite the entire battle mech into flames. Cheetara joined Lion-O as he fought off the lizard soldiers and dog mercenaries. "You made it to the party!"
"I was looking for you!"
"Likewise! Did that mouse follow you here?" Cheetara inquired about the rodent fighting alongside them as well, a little too eagerly.
"He's not a mouse!" Lion-O explained as he rammed a solid punch across the face of a larger lizard opponent, reinforced with his clawshield. "That's Vyrmin, the next son of Ratilla!"
She eyed him strangely as the young rat mercilessly tore into his opponent. "Wow, he's a beast."
"An angry little prepubescent beast!" Concurred Lion-O.
"We'll take care of him." Cheetara readied her staff.
He held her back. "No, wait! He's on our side!"
"What?"
"He's helping us raid the castle. He can help us find the thundrillium and Tygra."
"No, Lion-O!…" She decided it best not to poke holes at this point. "You'll have to fill me in later!" Cheetara almost lost her footing, but immediately snapped back to attention and tossed the pit bull sneaking up behind her over her shoulder. "I think they have Tygra held hostage inside; the question is where!" She warned. "What should we do?"
Lion-O's blood run cold a second. "Cover us!" He held up his sword to his opponents, blasting them back with a wave of red energy. He leapt over the pile of bodies the blast left in its path in order to reach Vyrmin. Cheetara followed, watching his back.
"Ho, Colonel!" He cried, attempting to gain the young rat's attention as he clamored up the backs of his enemies, sticking them in the throats with the prongs of his sais. "HO, COLONEL!" He repeated louder in his ear.
Blood sprayed out of duel holes on either side of the lizard's neck. Vyrmin tumbled forward into a standing position as his enemy fell dead, bleeding out. "WHAT?!" The rat pup cried, voice cracking.
"Ever heard of overkill?"
"I was going totally Ratilla on these guys! You screwed up my momentum!"
"Go "totally Ratilla" later! We need to get inside that castle! Focus! Where do we go from here?"
Vyrmin looked around. "May I?" He asked as he snatched the blade of the sword of omens before he could answer. The cats cringed as Vyrmin pulled along the razor edge, letting the sword slice a long gash across his palm.
"What are you doing?" Lion-O eyed him funny as he let his blood drip onto the ground.
Thick clouds of red smoke started to form where the blood drops hit the ground, shrouding the entire castle grounds in a fog.
Vyrmin led them through the horde of confused and blinded enemy soldiers. "Wait...wait…wait…wait, no…wait—HERE!" Vyrmin stopped at one point, knelt and held his wounded palm to the ground. He drew Ratilla's eye in the soil with his blood. Moments after he stood and backed away a huge chunk of the earth started to rise. An opening formed giving them access to an underground cave. "This way!" he motioned for the cats to follow.
The trio swiftly entered unnoticed by the enemy. The cave closed behind them and the ground flattened to its original state. The cave was narrow, almost too narrow for Lion-O to walk through comfortably. Large shards of jagged, red thundrainium jettisoned out, forcing the trio to weave around, over and under them. Snarf hitched a ride on Vyrmin's shoulder for the time being because he is the smallest and was having the easiest time weaving through. "What is this place?" Cheetara asked, lighting the way with her staff.
"It's, well, it was a secret family entrance into Mount Plun-Darr. Ratar-O can't squeeze through this one, but we can. At least I can; we'll see. It's partially collapsed, but It will lead us all the way to the castle's thundrillium furnaces."
"So that's how Ratar-O and his guard slipped back underground so quickly." Lion-O recalled. "How many secret tunnels are there?"
Vyrmin shrugged."A butt-ton? I only know the routes through three or four of them. This territory was blessed by the spilled blood of Ratilla and his descendants." He continued. "Ratar-O has taught me a few blood tricks to navigate through his territories. Don't tell him I showed you guys our blood tricks, alright?"
"We won't." Lion-O assured him. "This is Cheetara, by the way. The last Thunderian Cleric."
Vyrmin frowned. "That's a shame." He reached through some shards of thundrainium to shake her hand. "Pleased to meet you, m'lady."
"Likewise." She awkwardly bent forward and twisted sideways to reach him and return the gesture. "You're a polite young rodent." She commended him.
"Thank you."
"I don't trust polite rodents."
Vyrmin's ears drooped. "I'm sorry?"
"Cheetara!" Lion-O scolded her.
"You abandoned your brother and the whole team to terrorize the swamps with the savage prince of rats?" She flashed him an irritated look.
Vyrmin motioned to himself. "I'm right here."
"Oh is THAT the story he told you?"
"It pretty much adds up." She admitted.
"Addicus stormed in on this nasty aerial craft and shot our plan into the dirt! I've been winging this the best I could since then. Tygra can kneel down and kiss it."
"He can't at the moment! He's being held hostage!" She gave him a bitter reminder. "The plan was shot to the dirt because you and Tygra can't be civil and act your age! Would you two grow up already? I am so sick of this."
"You grow up."
"Both of you grow up and shut up while you're at it. We're trying to SNEAK in." Vyrmin reminded them.
"Shut up; stay out of this!."
"YOU shut up!"
"YOU-"
"You're almost twenty; SHUT UP!" Cheetara hissed, tugging Lion-O's ear like a mother would a bold kitten.
"Tygra partially got himself into this."
Cheetara tugged harder. "No he didn't. He-"
The lion broke free. "Listen you weren't there ALL DAY when Tygra was jerk to me and the rest of the animal kingdom all while making every step of the way excruciatingly difficult."
"I believe you; it doesn't matter. You're the king! Learn to be the better cat and ignore him."
"So how long have you two been married?" Vyrmin asked. The question made the cats stumble over each other.
"No!-"
"We're not-"
"She's not my-"
"He's not my-"
"We're just good friends." Lion-O explained.
"Allies." Cheetara added, clarifying. "Fellow Thundercats."
"She and Tygra are actually an item."
"Engaged, loosely."
"You and the tiger? Really…? Hu. Didn't see that one. But Claudis never arranged for you to be married?" He looked to Lion-O.
"No. Father gave me access to his lionesses on my sixteenth birthday," The cat lord recalled. "But that's a different story. I'm sure he planned to, but the lizard invasion-"
"Lame!" Vyrmin kicked a pebble, jealous. "The sons of Leo always get it easy!"
Lion-O raised a confused brow at him. "What—Wait? Why would think we're married?"
Vyrmin shifted uncomfortably, exchanging a sideways glance with Snarf. "I just assumed… the way you two speak to each other and considering your ranks and her assets-"
"You were mistaken." Cheetara ended the subject.
"He meant you're attractive. It was a compliment; give him a break. You called me immature. I only argued with the pup; you're the one picking on him. I hope you feel good about yourself."
Cheetara's expression remained fixed in a cold, irritated glare. She just barely suppressed her urge to strike him over the head and shoulders with her staff. "Maybe we should take this opportunity to be constructive and discuss the plan on how to free Tygra. On THAT note maybe you could throw in some ideas as to how to salvage this night by restocking our thundrillium." She suggested, forcing her tone to stay calm.
"SHH!" Vyrmin motioned for them to stop. He pressed his ear to the mass of boulders blocking their path.
"What?"
"We're here!" Vyrmin snapped up at the cats in a harsh whisper. "The boiler room is on the other side. Do you think your eye of Thundera can get through this?"
Lion-O smirked. "Stand back… Thunder… Thunder…Thundercats-"
Just a few yards ahead, on the other side of the rock and steel foundation the floor to the boiler room shook.
BOOM!
Captives, rodent, hoof folk and brutemen alike scattered as a red ball of energy exploded through the wall on the far side of the room. They took cover from the debris. The dust cleared, but the intense heat of the Thundrillium furnace made everything seem wavy in the distance. Finally, three figures stood out; a young rat and two Thundercats; one wielding the eye of Thundera.
The trio made quick work of breaking their chains and leading the now freed captives to the tunnel. The lion smiled proudly as he approached a still full cart and announced "Rankin Bass!" He proceeded to stuff the forever bag with a much Thundrillium as he could shovel in. "I knew I brought this for a reason." Lion-O mused. There came an irritated snort from above. Lion-O looked up. He spotted Addicus swinging on one arm from the task masters balcony. He let go and landed heavily, with a pained grunt. "What's going on here?" He asked, untangling the whip tied across his chest and shoulder.
"Glad to see you landed safely too, Addicus." Lion-O drew his sword, but did not intend to swing it. Instead, he let Vyrmin kick off the back wall and push Addicus's helmet over his face. The ape let out a primal screech as Cheetara knocked his feet out from under him. Snarf sat on his chest and adjusted his helmet with his paw. Lion-O held the sword to his throat. "We're in a hurry. Where is Tygra?"
Addicus raised a brow. "Tygra?"
"Where are you keeping him?" Lion-O asked again with a growl in his voice.
"No clue. Hoo! He wasn't down here at the end of my whip. Hoo hoo…" He choked out a short laugh. "Check on the old buzzard upstairs."
Cheetara's ears drooped. "Vultaire…?" Her expression hardened as she conked him on the forehead with the end of her staff, knocking him out. Vyrmin raced for the nearest stairway. "He's in the morgue!" He deduced. "He was talking about the morgue!"
The cats followed close behind. The castle interior was empty for the most part. Most of the horde was outside among the chaos. Lion-O, Cheetara and Vyrmin easily subdued or slipped past any enemy guard that came bumbling their way with an ax or club. On certain stairways the steps moved upwards automatically, making it all the easier to tip an attacker off balance.
Cheetara ran ahead, desperate to reach the top floor. "Up here!" Her voice echoed through the halls. To his displeasure, Lion-O threw Vyrmin on his back once again and raced up the stairs. Wasting no time guessing a password, Cheetara repeatedly rammed her shoulder into duel steel doors bolted shut and locked. Lion-O rammed the door as well and the cats broke in. "Dear, Jaga!" Lion-O cried as his eyes took in the horrors around him, the most atrocious of which the sight of Tygra bound and naked on his back.
"Lion-O?!"
Cheetara rushed over to help. She pulled the hooks from his eye lids and tried to free him, but the four winds only pulled tighter. Tygra yowled in torment. Lion-O covered his sight as he approached him. "What is that thing?"
"Vultaire calls it the four winds. Get me out of it! Hurry up!"
"Is there no way for you to slip out?" Lion-O asked, inspecting the torture device.
"Oh silly me! There's the off switch! I'll just reach right over and – WAIT, THERE'S NO OFF SWITCH AND I'M BEING SLOWLY RIPPED APART!"
"Alright, I'm sorry I asked."
Tygra looked to his side. "The solar mirror there; the sun will trigger all four catapults; one of you-"
Cheetara struck the red orb with her staff, shattering it into a million pieces. Tygra sighed with relief. "Thanks. Now get me out!"
"I'm working on it!" Lion-O snarled as he reached under the device and started to rip as many parts loose as he could. Eventually something snapped and Tygra could pull his right arm free.
"Thank Jaga!" Tygra puled until all our limbs were loose. Lion-O reached into the forever bag and pulled out a number of random trinkets until he pulled out an old tapestry. "Here! Cover up." He begged, tossing the dusty piece of material to Tygra along with his weapons. Just as Tygra began to wrap the tapestry around his waist they heard an annoyed hiss echo from the hall.
"I heard sssomething in here!"
The cats and their current rat ally scrambled to the nearest door, knocking over and breaking several pieces of equipment and taxidermy displays. They burst through a second set of doors only to spot a group of armed lizards marching up the stairs. They scrambled in the opposite direction. Dr. Ossifra spotted them coming. She squawked in terror, trying to stay close to the wall and to avoid a collision. Vermin tried to jump over her pram, accidentally kicking it over. Her petrified eggs toppled out onto the floor. Several shattered into a pile of dust.
Her angered cries and squawks were cut short as they piled into a room and slammed the door shut behind them. Lion-O and Tygra instinctively locked it shut behind them moved a heavy metal tool shelf in front for reinforcement. Cheetara raised a questioning brow at them. "What are you doing? You're trapping us!"
"No! Look!" Vyrmin motioned to the massive cannon aimed out a tall, but narrow window. Large tubes draping from the ceiling connected to the butt of the massive cannon, injecting a cocktail based on liquid thundrillium.
"They're in here, general!"
"Well?!" Vultaire cried on the other side of the door. "Get on with it, you stupid reptiles! Melt it down! ON LOW FLAME YOU IDIOTS!" The hum of laser axes filled the air followed soon by the stench of melting metal.
The heroes piled on top of each other to peer out the window.
"We can use the grappling hooks on my claw shield to zipline our way down." Lion-O suggested.
"How do we keep THEM off our tails?" Tygra asked, motioning over his shoulder.
The entire castle shook, knocking them back. "What was THAT?" Tygra cried.
Vyrmin poked his head out the window. On the far end of the castle grounds he could see swarms of rats and mice charging the castle, armed and furious. Ratar-O stood steady amongst the fray, crossing his sais over his face. Vyrmin's ears drooped as the sais glowed, building energy before unleashing it in a massive blast. "Oh-"
The second blast hit the castle, shaking it once again. Vyrmin fell to his knees. "Warlord Ratar-O is here!" He warned. "If he sees me with you guys he'll slaughter all four of us!"
"No one is slaughtering anyone!" Lion-O struggled to think. "The only way is down… but what if we blew this contraption to hell before we jump-"
"Good idea." Cheetara agreed. "But someone would have to stay and light it off.
"Would you idiots just slide down already?!" They heard a familiar rodent's voice. Mordax turned his chair around, revealing he had been manning the side console this whole time. He hopped off the chair and pulled a lighter out of his pocket. "I'll light the fireball ball launcher off, just go; they're almost through."
Vyrmin pulled the elder mouse into a tight hug. "You're alive! Thank Ratilla!" Mordax pushed him away. "You shouldn't be here, colonel-"
"I came all this way for you. You have to come with us."
Mordax shook his head no. "I can't; not under the circumstances."
"What about your family? What about your oath to Ratilla?"
The old white mouse turned him around. "You're thinking too much, son. GO."
"But-" Lion-O pulled him away and threw him on his shoulders. "I'm sorry, pup." He sliced a hole in the fuel syphons and aimed his grappling claws to the ground below. The chords anchored themselves into the wreck of a warbot. Cheetara slid down first with her staff, followed by Tygra using his whip. Lion-O positioned his sword. "Hold on." He warned Vyrmin before kicking off the window ledge.
Mordax as promised flicked the lighter, setting aflame the fuel leak. The fireball launcher ignited, exploding almost instantly. Vyrmin's heart sank into the pit of his stomach as he watched the flames engulf a good portion of the Castle.
The heroes covered themselves from falling and or flaming debris as they reached the ground. Lion-O finally stood and looked back to assess the damage. The fireball launcher was indeed out of commission. It had a big gaping hole in it, but Castle Plun-Darr to his dismay still stood.
"HAND OVER MY SON AND MY CIVILIANS, YOU HEATHENS!" Ratar-O's voice boomed over the battle and bloodshed. "OR WE'LL TEAR THIS CASTLE APART STONE BY STONE! LEAVE NO PRSIONERS!"
Lion-O stood tall, motioning dramatically. "LORD RATAR-O" He called to the rodent. Ratar-O's ears twitched as they picked up the cries of a cat. He looked past the clashing hordes and spotted a familiar, detestable lion carrying his son on his shoulder."Vyrmin!" he dashed through the crowd, annihilating anything that dared to get in his way.
"SIR!" Vyrmin hopped to the ground and raced towards him as well. They met half way. Ratar-O dropped to his knees and embraced his son in a bear hug for a moment before clutching his throat so tightly his knuckles turned white. "I'm going to throttle you when we get home..."
"I'm sorry, sir…" Vyrmin managed to choke out. He started to tear up. Ratar-O sniffed back a tear before it could roll down his cheek. He dropped his choke hold for a hug once again. Lion-O approached the rats cautiously. They looked up at him as he cleared his throat. "Lord, Ratar-O, I'm sorry about all this. I can explain-"
Ratar-O stood quickly, pointing the tip of his red sais blade right to Lion-O's throat. "I'm not surprised to find you at the root of all this, chil- king Lion-O." He hissed bitterly. "I can take things from here! Turn around before I end your short, miserable life!"
"Sir, he helped free the captives; he stood by my side when I engaged the enemy. I owe him a great debt." Vyrmin tried to defend the lion, but Ratar-O simply shot back with a threatening "SILENCE!" The rodent warlord panted heavily with anger as he continued to point his weapon at Lion-O's throat. "Leave my lands, cat."
"I only wanted to help."
"If I ever catch you in my sight again I WILL bloody kill you."
Tygra and Cheetara pulled Lion-O along. "You heard the tyrant; let's go." Cheetara urged, yanking on his arm. "But, we-" Tygra shoved him from behind. "Lets get the hell out of here!"
The three cats slipped away into the night. They made their way into the interior of the swampland once again. They felt a rumbling under their feet and stopped. "What now?" Tygra growled.
The bright headlights of the Thundertank blinded them. "There they are!" They heard Lynx-O's voice. Panthro dimmed the lights. He and the other Thundercats hopped out of the tank to greet their comrades. Lynx-O's brow knitted in annoyance. "None of you made it back to the rendezvous point!" He scolded them. "I thought you had been captured so I left for back up."
"We heard explosions!" Wiley Kit tucked her tail, worried. "And we saw flames coming from the castle!" Wiley Kat added. "What in blazes were you doing out there?!" Panthro crossed his arms over his chest. "You better have Thundrillium to fork over."
Lion-O held up the forever bag. "We won't have to worry about Thundrillium for a looong time." The kittens cheered. Panthro flashed him an approving thumbs up. "So the raid was a success?"
"A complete success." Tygra assured the panther, though he couldn't keep a straight face for long. "A relative success."
"It was just short of a disaster." Lion-O confessed. "We should probably get as far away from Ratilla's lands as we possibly can."
"Fill the tank." Cheetara urged. "Right now…"
Author's note: And THAT's one for Thrird Earth's history books. A ham handed ending, but at least it's an ending. This is the best I can do between wedding planning. In a way this ending a big metaphor for how this whole wedding process has been panning out. One month to go before I'm a Mrs. WOOT!... Somebody shoot me! LOL
I kid, it's exciting. Anywho, the aftermath of all this madness will be discussed further in later chapters. Right now gear up for Lynxana's big chapter; Seven Ways to Skin a Cat. I plan to loosely base it on the 80's episode "Snarf Takes Up the Challenge" (Hope I'm remembering the name right).
If it reads as if the dialog belongs on Always Sunny in Philidelphia it's because I was playing episodes of the show off of Netflix while writing most of this. Don't worry; the Thundercats learn to operate like a real cartoon action team soon LOL This adventure was a wakeup call. After Episode 7 comes Episode 8 naturally; "Pumyra's Atonement." I read on forums the writers for Thundercats 2011 had their own ideas on what Pumyra's fate would have been had the series continued. I will be putting my own take on it; which may or may not be as dark as they originally planned.
After the wedding is over I do intend to continue my various fan projects. Thank you anyone who is sticking around for the duration.
*cough* went back and corrected the many typos. Hope I noticed all of them.
