The Fallen II

Lion-O Gritted his teeth, tensing up against another strike from the female fighter, hands gripped on the blade with each opposing blow sending a rattling vibration to his hands, the woman shown some level of fatigue that bore on her over from possibly her entire life down here so far, and yet she pushed her physical strength to where it matched her show of resolve in her eyes with her pace and precision equaling his own. For several frantic seconds Lion-O parried frantically, the light attacks hid a powerful force, something only known when his sword was raised to block hers in the flight of duel covering the terrain as one pursued and the other sought options.

There was one option he had, the parrying to stall time led to it, the awakening of warm spiritual energy resided from said stone on his gauntlet, just as the woman manage to parry him to the point off balance did the stone shine bright, surprising the woman with the energy becoming a physical sphere buffing her back.

Using his agility Lion-O rebounded and kicked into the woman firmly in the stomach sending her back where he had the distance.

His guard wasn't over, a sharp shot of an arrow came shrieking through the air, a test to his reflexes that were up to the challenge, the gauntlet blocking in time. It did not detract the other woman who kept firing from every pull of the string. Relentless and must had been tiring to the physical effort needed, but she was not showing it. That fixation was her undoing with a small rock slung out from seemingly nowhere to knock her out squarely on the head. He smiled knowing without looking.

'Good work Kit. Now let's move!'

The need to hurry came from the blonde swordswoman, she had not picked herself slowly but instead flipped herself back on her feet, she had strength and fight to spare, with a sense of strong duty and need to self-prove, there was no sign an effort to talk to her could be achievable and needed to ensure a escape route or kit could be safe and ran with the swordwoman in quick pursuit.

On higher ground however something darted past him, escaping Lion-o's notice and well on it's way to pick it's moment of ambush.

The 'coalition' though in reality was a diverse rabble varying from old hatred from the mutants for the cats, to the more genocidal Lunataks who to quote their leader wanted nothing more then all of the cats to be dead, had ventured onto the mobile platform that parked beside Mumm-Ra's ship. The large vessel loomed beside, but not over the vast hole of the abyss.

When Lion-O and one of the child-cats fell into that seemingly endless dark chasm, did Mumm-Ra know they survived, even a cat could utilize some of the stone's power to soften the fall. However since their fall they had by accident alerted something that came to stop anymore attempting to come down. That attempt came in the form of powerful winds unlike any seen before, tearing up and casting away any of the other mobile platforms that attempted to sail down to what was below.

Of course Mumm-Ra had suspicions who it was, his old memories never left him, in a sense he should thank the guardian for casting out the failures and allow him to invent a new, a reality now Vultaire came into being. Slithe though remained an exception, for now. Hatred wasn't something that could be copied but so long as he could direct it then his service would still be of relevance.

He had considered following the two groups on their transport, but he had no wish for surprises at this stage, not when he had finally got all his pieces of his goal perfectly noose round his remaining foes. He'll be afar for now, tightening it all tug by tug and then step in to see up close enemies of his eyes up close squeezed of life. It occurred to him that if the creator of cyclones had survived then-

Oh how very fitting. A frustrating and enduring journey this had been, but to know this will end as it had begun will make this struggle into a very satisfying conclusion.

A cat should not handle the stone, let alone a novice be the caretaker one. When this day is done he'll have both of his stones and both of their lives. A conclusion he relished with a chuckle, seeing the his operatives depart on their mobile transport, along with his latest puppet where he had hoped her speed would be enough to get rid of that relic guardian below who already tested his winds at them..

'This is as low as we can go' Said the reptilian pilot 'Any lower and-'

It was Pumyra that knocked the lizard aside. 'Well Slithe how about you take us down?'

'Mind your place' He mumbled, grabbing hold of the controls he steered into the descent and already a bellow of strong wind began to pick up, the strike to the platform was strong, as air brushed over and swarmed round the group themselves.

'Please general don't!' Pleaded the Lizard, but Slithe was a realist he knew he had to go through with this.

'It's getting stronger every time I lower this, I can get close but it will crash into the rocks if I take it any further down!'

'That's fine' Snapped Crocuta ' Just take it down enough for Bruena to jump' Looking as well at Cheetara 'Then we'll see how fast this cat can run downhill.'

Slithe complied and wrestled against the howling wind, this wasn't a natural flow it felt direct, precise. A weapon, With experience mixing with desperate creativity, he grappled to angle the craft where the resistance of the wind was not bearing it's full brunt on the bottom of the craft. It was a temporary fix as more of the passengers felt the power of that wind, but the tilt of the craft meant it was low enough to be more closer to the drop point.

'Any lower and this will break up, go!'

Bruena instructed Cheetara with a gesture to jump, there was no choice for the cat but could feel her body jumping down through the air, the pull of the near force of wind was close and it would come for her but her body was already using it's speed to push the speed of her jump, within a blink, her feet hit the inner wall of the descent and was running, yellow energy crackled round her blurring down the cave with immense speed.

Good

It wasn't her voice, Bruena, her tormented controller was close. She came with the drop, speed similar yet her means of fast pace were different in method, alignment with the energies of the Ancient Spirits allowed her to "cheat" it was not so much she was fast but that her movement was hat of a shadow, and behind Cheetara's pace was a racing shadow that trailed behind her.

Now move. GO!

Her body was obliged to follow the command, she ran with more aggression, now suddenly the powerful winds concentrated and directed their strength on her, it was strong unlike she ever encountered, losing traction before running down even harder along with a sickening sense that she was now co-operating with her forced body, she didn't want to but she was fearful that she would die. And if she did would Mumm-Ra return her, and if so as what?

Faster!

Cheetara pushed harder and stronger, she still had traction but everything was slowing and yet her speed was still there, only bottled up inside of her, the urge to push was there but against her was a force that felt was going to break her apart. The winds pushed powerfully against her face, skin pressed back on some of her bones, the sound of its power was all around her, her hands were pushed back, the winds wrapped around her fingers felt ready to snap them back, she had a choice. Corroborate with the control imposed on her, or die and possibly experience the forced reliving of life.

Cheetara screamed, her remaining senses went wild and surrendered any resistance to abide with Brunbea and Mumm-Ra. That was her last thought before abandoning reason to primal fight to survive.

A sudden break as she became the water that broke free from whatever it was that kept her back. Her pace was maddening, enough to break through the wind and ran fast, and faster, hurtling down and running to evade the attacks and hopefully confront this thing at last, dread filled her realization that she was powerless to dictate her own terms when that came. Despite the ferocity of the attacks coming again her agility was quickly adapting, jumping to and from the walls of the rock chewed up by the powerful concentrated cyclone of energy. There was a tumble initially followed by desperation and finally focus as her body had at last maintained it's run and unbalanced by neither gravity or the ferocity of this power. If she had blinked, entire miles would have gone by; she was in a trance of her own speed, linear, channelled to one path straight down but all the while she felt the life of her being exhausted of breath and energy in what felt seemingly like forever.

Eyes widened, a faint figure, blueish aura of skin mixed with yellow was visible, very quickly she gauged the size of this creature, a male but species she had not seen, and not of any animal she met.

There was fear, desperation in his eyes and he switched his power...he was the cyclone!

Cheetara's body jumped, the remaining fall was high, too high as the strike was near hit and any debris that fell and leapt on was too far and the body lost focus, pain shot as it skidded and tumbled before landing with a large thud. If this was the moment for her to be finished it wasn't this, immediately her body heard a fight and catching in sight was the process of Bruena slipping out of Cheetara's shadow to fight the warrior.

Hehe...well this is an old sight

Cheetara thought she lost it, Mumm-Ra, his voice, it seemed to be within the mind of her body, and suddenly the head moved and Cheetara experienced her eyes getting ever wider, as if the dark wizard was forcing her to look at the fight in detail. The curious observation was over as Mumm-ra's voice commanded her.

Finish him!

The body twitched and any last verbal protest conjured were subdued, the body complied with the tug of the dark energies, and on command Cheetara leapt into the fight just as the figure had beaten off Brunea with a strike of channelled wind from his striking hand. The power was still there as he sensed and lashed out at Cheetara's direction. The body's speed added by her own fear of a second death had her jump high and over the guardian with glimpses of long lasting wounds and a frame once mighty, now crippling but his eyes showed fierce determination. An arm was raised to anticipate the strike of her weapon but didn't forsee the staff extending by itself with no need for her to swing. It smashed straight on the guardian's jaw with Cheetara landing with knees knelt and setting off a launching offensive, every strike was at having the guardian not maintain his balance and strength, lashing blow after another but there was no solution in sight. Her body briefly connected with her feelings of her soul, it expressed a flinching look of worry with the guardian returning fire with short bursts of his cyclone strikes, frantically using space she could find to strafe around each intended strike. Cold intense air burst around her, she needed to get a stronger strike, and if not that then maybe a faster one.

She ran, encircling him, the guardian knowing he can't just keep turning to and back generated a cyclone around him, it grew with every intention of casting away everyone in it's expanding orbit. It was the gamble she had bet on.

Feeling the direction the guardian's cyclone rotated, she immediately ran around it in the opposite, there was no question the guardian's winds were powerful, too powerful even but they were not at full strength, but that would change in the matter of seconds that followed. She had to cancel it, there was no thought of her pace of feel of legs, instinct and single minded thought of "run"

She ran, the guardian's winds, rose in strength within those deciding seconds and in that moment, her speed, all that she ran in her life was compressed into one sudden burst with the yellow aura trailing behind becoming a burning glow of a fiery yellow and became invasive on the guardian's own expanding sphere. There was a sounding panic from the Guardian realizing what Cheetara did and tried to raise his power even more, but the two opposing winds struck, knocking the guardian of his feet, he still stumbled but was in daze. He felt a single force encircle him and breaking out from it was the Thundercat herself giving one violent yell as the staff swung down and snapped upon his exposed upper body and face.

Cheetara felt her body hitting her knees, hands pressed on the floor and the body screaming out in pain and shook with a sense of adrenaline she hadn't felt before.

She took a look and saw the guardian staggering across the stage of their battle and like her collapsed onto his knees, he remained knelt upright, the arms limp and there was a gasp, it sounded pitiful. Then Cheetara's senses returned as her body picked itself up and the dread returned. She fought to survive and the price was a gain for the benefactor of evil.

Slowly staggering towards the guardian she could see him not face to face properly, he cut out a defeated figure, like her he gave everything despite his crippling wounds but there could only be one.

From Cheetara's shadow Bruena crept out. There was no look but behind that veil Cheetara suspected a smirk at her, and noticed she looked up to see the others. The Lunataks and the Mutants had come down, but they would not be the last as surely more of the lizard forces would come.

Yet there was worse to come, a burning presence ached in her head, the dark voice of the Tyrant, amused by the discovery of the beaten guardian.

I did not expect this relic, to have endured.

He laughed within the head, and from her eyes she could see the arms raise the staff again. Cheetara knew the implications and in one desperate struggle tried to fight back, regardless how much Mumm-Ra laughed at her and kept on laughing when her strength was finally spent, summing it up as 'Amusing'.

She could only watch as her body with the raised staff advanced towards the guardian.

The guardian looked back weakly, it was an expression that ached every part of her imprisoned soul.

'This is my end, but it won't be theirs.' The last glimpse of his eyes seem to look deep, past the face of and to the soul of Cheetara herself. 'And it won't be yours, warrior' With that his eyes closed and the weapon was raised.

She was a soul trapped within her own body with eyes that she could not close. Her view was unopposed, linear and could only watch in resigned horror, as the final blow was struck.

A cold silence resonated from Cheetara as the body dropped, taking in the action committed, with the trapped spirit within locked in a seeming less sense of eternal distraught, all the while the other Lunataks and Mutons passed. Save one, a pause from Slithe, in the past he was decisive, focused on a view but here was a conflicting look from him. He had his share of his own justice, seeing the lizards take revenge, Thundera falling but he never really stayed long enough to look down on the beaten. It was an aim to make the cats suffer, and yet there was a growing unease when it finally came.

Always he had walked on before having the chance to reflect on that inflicted want on an enemy, how far it went and would those he once knew think of him differently had they knew what he had become, he never gave himself a chance to express that thought. For a moment however he let his conscience in, invited his moral past to judge his moral present. Privately he felt inflicted with regret as his former honour unsheathed shame upon him. He expressed it momentarily before walking to join the others.

It did not go unnoticed.

AN: I cannot stress how much I hated this chapter, I never thought writing how to end it be so difficult, not helped by the extra work past the internet due to the pandemic, but it's done, I hated it but it's done!