Chapter 7:
The Battle
6-days-later, the ThunderCats continued traveling back to Dog City, believing that someone might have a way to travel up. Elijah meditated but he wasn't meditating in his room. In fact, he was meditating on the hood of the Thundertank. This could've been the most insane thing the human has ever done but that wasn't all. Elijah was meditating while the Thundertank was mobile.
"Is he insane!?" Lion-O exclaimed, observing an image of Elijah on one of the monitors.
"Depends on your definition, Lion-O," Tygra countered, not showing a sign of concern for their human companion. "Besides, it looks like he's enjoying it." That comment caused everyone, even Cheetara, to give Tygra a scornful look.
Lion-O ordered Kat and Cheetara to follow him, saying, "Come on, and let's get Elijah down before something bad happens to him." In which; Cheetara comments while she and the others climbed up the hatch, "For a tough guy, Elijah seems to be troubled; yet he never tells us why."
As they walked out of the hatch and onto the roof of the tank, Wilykat adds while walking towards the divina, "Yeah, and when we do ask him, he either says it's classified or go bonkers." While walking, Lion-O, Cheetara, and Wilykat pressed the claws on their feet into the roof of the tank to prevent them from falling off while it was moving.
"I heard that!" the three were surprised and turned their attention to the human. Elijah could hear them talk about him and continued, "And for your information, I am not 'bonkers' or do I ever go bonkers. The things I do are, merely, on instinct and hard to control." It was surprising how he could talk to the three Thundercats without turning his head to face them.
"Ooookay, but don't you think it's dangerous to meditate while the tank's moving?" inquired Lion-O.
"Yes, but, as a divina, I have face danger and have survived everything fate could throw at me. If I fall off from this militarized vehicle and get crushed by its rails, then that is a sign that it's my time to die."
The words Elijah just said were touching and very philosophical, reminding Lion-O of the words a very dear friend once said. The tank, suddenly, halted, causing Elijah to fly off the hood of the tank but instead of landing on his face, the human somersaulted and landed on his feet, making the young king, the cleric, and the young thief's jaws to drop. It was a good thing their claws kept them from falling off, or else, they would've felt pain from sand in their face, unless it's true that cats can land on their feet.
"Okay, why did we stop," the young king questioned. He noticed that Wilykat and Cheetara didn't answer his question, seeing the shocked expressions on their faces.
It was a ship among ships, a titan among titans. It was soaring above the ground and into the air. Its appearance was frightening and domineering, like if it was designed by thousands of dominatrices. This was the Leviathan, the Brighton warship and conqueror of worlds.
With one look, memories of the past swarm through Elijah's cerebral cortex; horrifying memories he had locked away in the back of his subconscious mind.
Lion-O hopped off the tank and said to Elijah with a scared expression on his face, "Elijah, what the hell is that thing!" Elijah didn't reply. The only response was that Elijah's right eye began to twitch. Soon, he started to calm down and replied in the same stoic, monotonous voice.
"That, my friend, is a Leviathan. A Brighton warship built to devastate worlds and destroy suns. Just one Leviathan could take out an entire armada with just one blast."
"So how do we destroy it?" Cheetara heard the two's conversation and stepped down from the hood of the tank with Kat by her side.
"That, I do not know," Elijah shook his head. "It took 3 battalions of Terran starjets to battle a Leviathan and they barely made a dent."
That didn't sound good. Lion-O looked closer at the sky titan and saw a fleet of lizards flying on both sides of the Leviathan. Things didn't look so well for the Thundercats. Out of the ship's mouth, a fleet of hornets flew out and landed on the ground. Coming out of the hornets were multiple units of brigades, armed to the teeth with guns.
Then, next thing you know it, the other Thundercats jumped out of the Thundertank through the hatch and stood beside their comrades. They watched as Brighton legionaries marched and waited as lizards flew down in their carriers and joined in their ally's' formation. Lion-O watched and exclaimed "Whiskers..." as the two factions worked as allies.
Flying down from the Leviathan was a small ship. When it's bay doors opened, four figures walked out and seemed eager for the battle to begin. One of the figures was Governor Abdul-Muhib, standing and staring at the largeness of his legion. "Look at that, Aelius. I have enough men to take this planet by force and as soon as we deal with these felines, we'll make this planet into another addition to the Imperium."
"But, sir, what about our allies and the creatures of this planet?" standing beside the governor, Aelius asked his superior. "Surely, you're not going to kill all of them?"
"Of course not, we'll keep some of their women to 'entertain' our men, if they are anything like that one, over there," he replied, turning his attention to Cheetara, lecherously, licking his lips under his bandana. The legate didn't seem too happy with the governor's idea but as a loyal legionary, he did not questioned; only obeyed.
Like the Brightons and the lizards, the Thundercats were ready for battle. Lion-O unsheathed the Sword of Omens from his Clawshield and roared "Ho!" as he points his sword to the large army. The other Thundercats, including Elijah, unsheathed their weapons and charged.
With lightning speed, Cheetara ran and took down 50 soldiers while firing their weapons. She halted and swung her bo staff at the soldiers around her. Tygra used his bolo whip and struck a few legionaries and lizards but he was, easily, taken down by, what appeared to be, a Praetorian Guard. The thing was gigantic, even surpassing Panthro's height.
"Use your pistol, Tygra! I tampered with it and increased its power to 20%. That's enough to take them down!"
Taking Elijah's advice, Tygra pulled out his pistol and fired it straight into the Praetorian Guard's chest before he could strike his pole-arm right into his head. The titan fell to the ground with a gaping hole in his chest.
"Thanks!" the one thing Tygra has never said and it was directly to Elijah. Even Tygra was shocked by saying that.
Swinging his nunchucks, Panthro and fought with Pumyra by his side, firing her pellets straight into the legionary's eyes, blinding them as the general took them down. Wilykit and her brother, Kat, took out a handful of pellets and threw it at the soldiers. The pellets acted like smoke bombs, releasing some sort of gas that blinded both the Brightons and the lizards. With all the smoke, the Thunderkittens took advantage and start bringing the soldiers down to the ground.
Elijah ran, slashing his energy blade at the soldiers in his way. He didn't want to fight them, he wanted to fight bigger fish and that would be the governor. Slashing their sword, the lion king and the human captain made their way to the governor's ship.
"So you are the one leading this invasion. Who are you?" Elijah questioned. He looked into the governor's good eye and saw that he has the same eye color as Elijah's. "It...it can't be!" Elijah took a step back.
Lion-O sense the fear and confusion in Elijah, asking, "Elijah, what's wrong?"
"His...His eyes...they're just like mine, which means that you are a divina—a rogue divina! Just, who are you!?"
Behind his bandana, the governor smiled and walked from his ship to Elijah. He retorted, maniacally, "Don't you remember, Elijah. After all, we've been friends since the Academy and before the Xenocide of Voxboros." From hearing that, Elijah's mouth opened wide and couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Vincent!?"
Mentioning that name, the governor removed his bandana, revealing his face to the human. "Hello, brother. It's so good to see you, again." This was a reunion Elijah didn't want to face.
"Wait! That's Vincent!" Lion-O exclaimed but Elijah didn't pay attention and still kept his sight on the governor. Lion-O thought to himself, 'Okay, this is getting weirder.'
"Vincent, how did you escape Guilty Breath?" Elijah asked, knowing that no one could escape that hellhole of a planet.
"Oh, that, well, It's a long story but long story short, the Brightons took it over, killed a few of the guards, and made me the governor of the planet and the star system that it orbits," Vincent explained, nonchalantly, waving his hands flamboyantly. "But, enough about me. How have you been doing?"
"Why are you here, Vincent?"
A sinister grin appeared on his face, Vincent was amused by Elijah's semi-clueless response. "Oh, come on, Elijah, you know why I'm here," Vincent countered. "You have the Orb and I want it!"
"What...what do you want with the orb, Vincent?" inquired Elijah.
"You know why!?" Then, again, Vincent looked at Elijah's facial expression and laughed, maniacally. "Oh...my...god, you don't even know what it does!?"
Feeling embarrassed, Elijah rubbed the back of his head and avoid eye contact, saying, "Well...maybe not" for being a warrior, Elijah feels belittled by his former brother-in-arms.
Vincent began to explain: "You see, Elijah. The Orb is not just any ordinary device. It is a way of restoring Earth. Many have said that when the Orb was built, the inventor downloaded blueprints of a terraforming device with the ability to revive a dead planet. If I give the Orb to the Emperor, then my stature in the Imperium will rise up from governor to second-in-command, then I will rule as emperor!" saying that made Aelius angry, 'How could he formulate such a plan. Is he not loyal to our Emperor?' he thought.
"Now, let's settle this, once and for all," out of Vincent's wrists, sharps, claw-like blades appeared on both sides and with just one click of his neck, a metal mask began to cover Vincent's face, entirely. The mask resembled that of a wolf's face. Now, this was one opponent Lion-O and Elijah will have a difficulty defeating. Besides his armor, Vincent's' style of fighting was similar to a wolf, slashing at Elijah and Lion-O with one claw to the other.
Vincent charged at Lion-O, first; striking him with his left claw. Lion-O blocks the attack with the Sword of Omens and with one strike, Lion-O shatters Vincent's left claw, sending the fragments to pierce into the dirt. Lion-O backed away with Elijah running from behind him, jumping into the air, and slashes Vincent with his energy blade but Vincent blocks Elijah's attack with an energy shield, originating from the two gems attached to his upper arms.
"Such power coming from such an insignificant-looking sword," Vincent backed away, staring at the Sword of Omens while he was amazed its power. "Aelius! Bring me that sword so that I may harness its power!" Aelius obeyed, exclaiming "Affirmative!" and running after the lion king with his wrist blade unsheathed.
Now, it was just Elijah and Vincent, brother against brother. Vincent fought with his right claw, taunting Elijah with such arrogance, "You think you've improved, Elijah!? I have beaten you at everything in the Academy and I will always be superior to you in every way!" His arrogant notions soon shift into insanity as he continued, "For I am the reincarnation of Romulus, son of Mars and first king of Rome!"
"You're deranged!" Elijah roared, deflecting many of Vincent's attacks. Saying that enraged Vincent, increasing his strength to strike, uncontrollably. "And to think a psychopath like you ever became a first lieutenant, or a governor!"
Meanwhile, Lion-O had his hands full fighting the legatus, Aelius. Their blades clash as sparks began to fall to the ground but Aelius was much stronger than Lion-O. pushing him to the ground, Aelius walks up to Lion-O with his wristblade held up in the air, saying, "I am sorry that I must do this, feline humanoid but it is my sworn duty as a legionary that…"
Before he could finish, Cheetara slams her bo staff right into the legate's face, sending him flying to the ground. Cheetara lends Lion-O her hand, helping him get back on his feet. Smiling, Lion-O was happy that Cheetara came to his rescue. Cheetara, also, smiled. Lion-O soon realized and exclaimed, "We have to help Elijah!"
Lifting with every fathom of his strength, Vincent held Elijah over his head with one knee sticking, preparing to snap Elijah's spine in half. "Say hello to the Creator for me! He'll have a nice place for you with the other assholes I've slaughtered!" but before he could slam Elijah's back right into his knee, Lion-O punches him right in the face with the Clawshield, shattering his mask and sending him spinning and as Elijah falls to the ground, he, suddenly, disappears. Only to be caught by the beautiful, Cheetara.
Putting him down, Elijah shakes Cheetara's left hand in gratitude, "You're not much of a lady's man, are you?" Elijah was confused by the comment, questioning with "What do you mean?"
"It's over, Vincent, your invasion has failed and your plan is in shambles," Lion-O retorts, pressing his foot on Vincent's chest and pointing the Sword of Omens to his neck. "If you have the sense of leaving this planet, then I suggest you use it."
Vincent looks around, seeing how his legionaries and the lizard army were, easily, defeated. He couldn't believe that a small band of cats and one human could defeat an entire army. With one growl, he gave the order, "All legionnaires, return to the Leviathan and lets get the hell out of here!"
The Brighton Legionaries ceased what they were doing and retreated to the hornet ships, even carrying their injured but leaving their deceased behind. Slithe, Addicus, and Kaynar retreated with the rest of their army to the Black Pyramid with Slithe muttering, "We better report this to Mumm-Ra. The battle was over and the Thundercats had won, or that's what they believed.
Soon, Lion-O noticed something was off, saying to the others, "Hey, has anyone seen Elijah?"
"I don't know, wasn't he standing next to you?" replied Cheetara, looking around the area.
oooooo
The Leviathan was leaving Third-Earth's orbit. Vincent stood in front of the control panel, tapping his fingers, nonchalantly. He was preparing to press a red button as a crooked grin formed on his face but before he could do it, a static blur appeared behind him, forming together to form a man. Vincent did not turned; only responded.
"Hmm, cloaking technology...and stowing on one of my ships. That's new, even for you, Elijah."
"Well, a soldier has to be prepared for anything when he's on the battlefield. I see you're preparing to repeat history; wiping out the population of Third-Earth with a neutron bomb."
Vincent, still, did not turn. "Tell me, Elijah, why should I let them live even though they humiliated me in combat?"
No emotion formed on his face. Just the same stoic exterior like always, retorting, "Because it is the honorable thing to do."
"Ah, yes, honor. One of the virtues that a warrior, like yourself, follows but for me, honor is for the weak," Vincent countered, smiling as his finger hovered over the button. Elijah then adds, "Then I have no choice but to do this."
Elijah starts pressing a few buttons on his gauntlet, removes it from his wrist and throws it into an opening on the floor, falling straight into the engine room. Vincent turns with the grin on his disappearing, exclaiming, "What did you do!" Then he pounced with his hands around Elijah's neck.
"I activated my gauntlets self-destruct sequence," Elijah replied, trying to pry Vincent's hands from his neck. "In about 25 minutes, this ship will explode and take you and everyone on this ship with it, including me."
Hearing that, Vincent through Elijah 5-feet-away and ran to the control panel, ordering everyone to evacuate the Leviathan. Next thing you know it, every legionary ran to the escape pods and, one by one, every escape pod started flying out. Vincent ran to his seat and by pressing a few buttons on his armrest, his seat sinks into the floor, transforming into an escape pod of his own and flies out of the Leviathan as he started to explode.
oooooo
The Thundercats saw the destruction of the ship, realizing who was responsible for it. "By the gods...no," Lion-O murmured. The others mourned and grieved as they have lost an ally today but, out for the debris was a ball of fire and as the fire diminished, it reveals a silhouette riding on a fragment of the ship like a surfboard.
"Look!" exclaimed Pumyra, pointing at the falling fragment. It was Elijah, covered in shrapnel and was about to make impact. When he fell, he fell hard but he was okay. The Thundercats ran to cheer for their friend with Lion-O patting Elijah on the shoulder, shouting, "That was awesome, Elijah! I can't believe you took out an entire ship!"
"Yeah but I could've done it better," retorted Tygra, showing off his arrogant side. The others looked at him with cold stares. "What, I could!"
5-hours-later, the Thundercats relocated to a jungle, 20-miles-away from Dog City. Standing in front of the Thundertank, the Thundercats said goodbye to Elijah who was preparing to leave the group with the orb in his arms. They supplied him with rations of food, knowing his unfamiliarity of the native flora and fauna.
"Will we ever see you again, Elijah," asked Lion-O. Elijah continued, placing an arm on his right shoulder, "One day, we will cross paths and on that day, I will aid you on your journey while I find a way to return home."
They waved goodbye as Elijah disappears into the jungle and as he disappears, the Thundercats returned to the Thundertank and head to Dog City.
THE END
Note: I know it's not my best but at least it ended, nicely.