Fall Of The Empire
Rating: T (for now.)
Disclaimer: I don't own this. If I did, the second season would have been out already, and I would be all over that like white on rice.
Author's Notes:
1.) Another chapter, another section closer to the finish. You guys are in luck, because it really won't take me too terribly long to whip out Soul Sever. Or What Lies Above. But as for what happens in Sn. 2, well - I'll leave that up in the air. I just hope you guys are happy that we're getting closer to the end here! I know I'm happy.
2.) Also woah. I get about 1K views a month on this bad boy, I wasn't expecting that. Story Legacy stats have it set at 13.3K, and I watched it rise about ~1k last month alone. That's pretty crazy guys! Hello to all the readers out there! How ya doin'?
Don't be afraid to leave me a review or PM me, I love to have conversations.
3.) Moon, get to updating your stories already, girl! C'mon now, don't make me wait. And to the Darkest Mind, I hop you enjoy this little plot twist.
I hadn't been planning this, you know, since the beginning or anything. . . Trust me, wayyyy many more plot twists are planned. Try to figure them out!
Also, welcome to the LONGEST CHAPTER IN ALL OF FOTE'S HISTORY. That's right, you read that right. We are at a whopping 15K word count this chapter.
And to all the Lion-O x Echo shippers. . . *whispers* how d'ya like them apples?
I actually liked the entire chapter until about the end. Expect a future rewrite of the ending scene. I just. . . I felt like I didn't do it quite right.
Warnings: Nothing, except for stylistic things FF loves to om nom. Mild cursing. If you see anything with the first-person in it, it should be italicized. That is all. Present tense is how I transcribe eps, if you see any confusing verb tenses, tell me and I'll fix them!
. . . this text is here for a mysterious reason.
"I'm not sorry."
Echo looked at Pumyra, peering into her eyes, searching the harsh, glinting brown. The puma looked back at her evenly, expression betraying nothing save for calm. Echo was quiet as she regarded the cat, momentarily keeping her mouth shut. Pumyra wasn't done talking yet she knew, and under her skin, her emotions were. . . under control. She had no urge to lash out and kill Pumyra - or even hurt her. And that honestly surprised Echo, but she was rolling with it. She just wanted this talk over and done with.
. . . She still hadn't said a word to Lion-O these past two days,and truthfully, Echo didn't know how she'd react when her friend finally met her eyes.
"I'm not sorry about what I said," Pumyra continued, "But I had no right to expose you like that. I didn't meant to hurt anyone that way. With that said, however. . . I'm not going to stop."
"Stop?" Echo parroted, "You mean. . . going after Lion-O?" Echo asked, and strangely enough, her tone was even.
Insider, the monster of jealousy woke with a vengeance, green eyes flaring to life with acidic intent, sharp teeth flashing as it growled at Pumyra. In her head, Echo could count at least a hundred different reasons why Pumyra should be no where near Lion-O romantically. But she wasn't there to pick a fight. She was there to patch up a bridge and just sweep it all under the rug. For the past two days, Echo had been walking on eggshells around everyone, and avoiding Lion-O like he had Ebola. Pumyra. . . Pumyra was where she'd start.
She was ready to get over it all. Echo didn't think she could take the way everyone was pitying her.
The sun was beginning to set in the fores they'd set up camp in, and Echo could feel its gentle warmth seeping into her skin. Flexing her hands, her bandages strained against her skin, but the white gauze did a good enough job of letting heat filter through it. Underneath, her skin still looked like a mess, but it had improved drastically over the course of two days. The heavy, ugly bands of bruises were now an off-shade of brown. Bits of purple and black streaked through them every now and then, but repeated healing by Cheetara had ensured the scars didn't look as bad. . .
But unless she wanted a lot of attention in public, she'd have to keep her arms wrapped.
Which was also a good thing, considering that she was low on skin tint, and the creamy kind she'd normally pilfered didn't come in shades of brown or black. . . meaning her tattoo was visible again. I really need to talk to Sunny about this, Echo thought, shooting a glance at the tank. Sunny always knew what to do, whether it be medical advice or saying just the thing she needed to hear.
It had been hard to eke out any quiet, given that they'd been on the run for two days. Just because they'd. . . "defeated" Mumm-Ra in the mines had not meant that his army had decided to turn tail and run. So, instead of booking it straight to Dog City (and bringing the army onto the cat slaves), they'd elected to lead the army in a huge, roundabout circle, picking off those that dared venture too close. It had taken two days, btu teh army had eventually dispatched, and left them alone.
Unfortunately, that meant that Kit and Kat had been left in Dog City for two days, another point of worry.
They'd come close, about a day and a half ago, and Echo had stared at it, worried sick that Kit and Kat had gotten into trouble. . . It had been right there, right beyond their reach.
Pumyra shifted, suddenly looking uncomfortable, and Echo focused on her again.
"It's. . . okay, actually," Echo replied, staring at the sun, "I mean, it's not. But I forgive you. I think I should thank you. I've been struggling to find the words for a while now, and there you go and shout them. . . like ripping off a Band-Aid."
Pumyra's lips twitched in a ghost of a smile. "I don't know what a Band-Aid is, but I suppose. . . in a strange light, what occurred was somewhat funny. But you should know that this doesn't change what I said. I'm still pursuing him."
"I know. I heard you the first time."
"And?"
"And what?"
"Are you?"
Echo looked at Pumyra, whose gaze had suddenly turned critical and quite interested, as if her answer meant everything to Pumyra. The human was silent for a moment as she looked at the cat, trying to discern why it meant so much to her. True, she hadn't even approached Lion-O over the past two days, but. . . they both knew who he would pick. If he would even pick. Lion-O hadn't even known about her infatuation, and forcing him to choose between Pumyra - beautiful, graceful Pumyra, and Echo, temperamental human, would be like asking him to pick between a cat and a lizard.
There were a trillion and one reasons why she and Lion-O couldn't work, and they both knew it.
"I am." Echo said, finding her voice, "In my own way. I'm not one for catfights, and I know you aren't either. But I've been by his side for almost a year now. We've been through so much together. . . that earns me at least the right to try."
Pumyra nodded, and just like that, their conversation was over. It wasn't quite the patch-up Echo had fantasized about, but it was an apology, and it had come from Pumyra's mouth, and that was probably the best that she was going to get. Sighing, the human slouched toward the tank, walking over brush. Around her, the forest shifted with a gentle breeze, carrying the beginnings of the night. The other cats had wisely given the girls their space, and had chosen to start setting up camp.
Which was silly, given that the tank was practically their tent now. . . and it came with plush beds.
Echo, feeling exhausted, picked her way over to the tank.
"Getting some shut eye, Short Stack?" Tygra asked, a sleeping roll in his arms.
Echo nodded. "Haven't been sleeping well." She replied.
Tygra's gaze grew conflicted, and he rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. "Well, yeah, I wouldn't either after all. . . that." Realizing what he'd said, Tygra took a step back, as though expecting her to unleash every ounce of her unholy fury and give him the best lashing of his life. Instead, Echo only smiled tiredly and gave him a shrug.
"It's not about that. Just nightmares - you know how it goes. Sunny said it was probably emotional stress triggering it. But I'm tired, and I have last watch tonight, so I'm gonna hit the hay, okay?"
With that, Tygra nodded and walked away, leaving Echo free to go to her bunk, strip herself of her gauntlets and shin guards, her boots, and her swords, and crawl into bed. She sighed as she wrapped herself up in a blanket, and wished that everyone would stop looking at her like that. To show how bad it was, a day and a half ago, Tygra had actually come up to her and patted her on the back. Echo had been torn between being completely dumbfounded and disconcerted as all hell. Tygra had openly shown her sympathy.
Talk about hell freezing over.
Luckily, that was the extent of Tygra's concern, as he pursued the issue no further. Echo stretched as the cool forest air permeated the tank, and the bed under her provided enough warmth not to need a blanket. She'd be content to just lay there forever-
(please please stop oh my god please)
-and just relax. Echo breathed slowly and evenly, helping her transition to sleep, and tried to forget the worries of the past two days-
(I thought you loved me. I thought every one of you loved me. If that's true, then. . . then why are you doing this?)
The warmth under her began to escalate, becoming slightly more uncomfortable as the heat increased. Echo shifted, trying to find a patch of cold on her bed, but she was unsuccessful. The heat just kept growing and god, where the hell was the air conditioning? Couldn't a girl-
"Please don't!"
Echo's eyes snapped open, and in a whirlwind of motion, she was on her knees, broken, bloody and bruised fingers gripping at a rough, metal interior. Fear, despair, and utter agony wracked her every breath. Tears dripped from her eyes, falling onto her numb face as she stared on in horror, the revolting taste of blood strong in her mouth. All around her, fires raged, dancing and touching her skin, burning and searing her.
(Feel it now. . . that desolation. Let it course through you like a poison, crawling through your veins, killing all the innocence inside you.)
From the flames, the yellow-eyed demons formed, laughing as they raced in and gripped her, branding her with their volcanic touch. Flashes of red peeked through the flames, and just beyond the fire, Echo could see the shadowy shape of the red-eyed demons, just waiting for their yellow-eyed comrades to finish with her.
(Don't you remember it? You know this scene so well, child. You engraved this story into your very bones. How could you have forgotten it? Look. Look closer.)
The strange voice, powerful and refusing to be ignored, guided her, a gentle touch moving her head, craning her neck back.
There, in front of her, a lethal piece of steel lingered not but three feet in the air, the tip wavering slightly as the owner prepared to bring it down. A choked laugh escaped her as she stared up at the sword, and her fingernails cracked as they dug into the metal.
This is how it ends, she thought, torn between wanting to scream and sob. Instead, the laughter turned into a dark chuckle, and she knew a strange smile must have been panted onto her face. I die. Right here. But how did this happen? I thought. . . I thought you loved me, most of all.
(No, child. Your story doesn't end there. Look - closer. Deeper. Stare into the eyes of the demon that brought about your corruption.)
The voice. . . it was familiar, she knew it. But. . . what did it want her to look for? There was a sword right in front of her, and it was going to kill her - she knew this. But her eyes traveled up anyway, along the blade, tracing it back to the hilt, and Echo saw a shadowy hand grabbing it. She continued looking up, and as she did, the shadows covering the demon began to dissipate, revealing. . . blue.
(You're ready for the truth now, child. Go. Look into the eyes of your demons.)
Her demons?
Echo finally traveled the expanse of the body upward, and she saw not red eyes, but blue. Glowing, luminescent eyes, glaring down at her with all of the hatred and fury this world and the next could offer. The shadows around the demon finally melted away, and Echo hiccuped as she found. . .
Lion-O.
Lion-O stood over her, sword in hand, and snarled as he brought it down, silver flashing. Echo screamed, begging and pleading with him to stop, to grant her mercy-
With a snap, Echo's eyes opened, and she bolted upright, breathing choppy. She was still safely in the ThunderTank, and it was closer to nighttime, the air colder. It brushed against her skin, cooling her off and drying the sweat that had been trickling down her face. Forcing herself to relax, Echo stood up, and slipped her shoes on. There, at the front of the tank, a few of their group was gathered.
The dreams. . . Her nightmares. . .
Two days ago, they'd began with a vengeance. Always, the same thing, again and again.
Her, at the mercy of the demons, and then. . . Lion-O.
Lion-O, murdering her over and over again, and she could never figure out what it meant. But every time she closed her eyes, she was exposed to the same dream, the same blood, the same laughter. . . it had to be her broken heart. Her insecurity and fear. There was nothing else she could think of.
But the voice. . . it had been new.
Shaking her head, and determined to forget it, Echo pressed on and strode to the tank's main hangar door. Besides, she thought sourly, I lost my journal, apparently. Man, almost a year's worth of my life, cataloged, and I lost it. . . Bummer. I'll have to make a new one. When they got close enough to Dog City, of course. It wouldn't do to have her scribbling in her fair tale book.
"Has anyone seen Pumyra and Lion-O?" Cheetara asked, popping up by a door crowded with Tygra and Panthro, "I was going to bring him his sword kit to clean it with, but I haven't been able to find him. Oh. Good evening, Echo."
Echo gave the cleric a nod as she moved past her and to the small campfire they had going - a small consolation prize. Apparently, two days of guerrilla warfare and running away from Mumm-Ra's army had deprived them of campfires. . . Something she was glad to have back. Sitting down, Echo set about to cleaning up her swords, glad to have a calming, distracting activity. Pumyra had probably made good on her word by now, and if they were missing. . .
"He invited her into the woods to uh, collect firewood."
Surprisingly, Echo noticed, it wasn't too much of a knife to her emotional stability. She didn't fall into a deep depression or feel a gut-wrenching pain like she thought she might. Instead, it was just. . . sad. Not the end of the world, just sad.
"Poor kid's only setting himself up to get show down. . . again." Tygra murmured gently.
No, he isn't. She's a bipolar schizo who's clearly lost it. I honestly don't know what Lion-O finds so fascinating in her besides her body and her anger. . . Is he a masochist? That might make sense. Despite herself, Echo snickered, smiling as she oiled a cloth and began to rub it across her swords.
"Pumyra isn't exactly the friendliest of cats. . ." Cheetara said, her voice partly agreeing, mostly doubting.
As if on cue, two cats emerged from the forest, both carrying a bundle of firewood. Echo suppressed a momentary flash of panic as she spotted Lion-O. . . but it was quickly put to res as she saw Pumyra - and her face. The poor cat's mouth, lips, nose. . . and just about all the rest of her were so swollen, her head looked like a beach ball. In anger, Pumyra stomped over to the fire, threw down the bundle of sticks she had, and whirled on them, fire in her (very) slitted eyes.
"He stuth a flowar in may fafth!"
Echo looked twice, and she lost it. The human laughed, dropping her half-cleaned swords and tried to stifle her giggles. Pumyra's face was so swollen, it looked round and red as a tomato. Tygra guffawed into his hand, and Panthro coughed, trying (and succeeding) to keep his laughter in check. Cheetara approached the cat, offering to heal her face, but the peanut gallery had done well enough to piss her off. She stomped away, angry and fuming.
Regaining herself, Echo picked up her swords, planning on apologizing to the poor cat. . . maybe. It was the first good laugh she'd had in two days, and Echo felt like she was kind of owed it. So, she'd take what she could get. She heard some minute grumbles from the others as they moved away, wondering if Pumyra would seek retribution, but it quieted down soon enough. The crackle of the fire was her only company, and Echo relaxed as she took meticulous care of her swords, ensuring not a scratch or fleck of dirt remained on the metal.
"Echo?"
For a brief moment, her hands stilled. Echo breathed in deeply, steeling her nerves, but eventually, she looked up. Lion-O was standing by her, nervously looking down at her.
"Yeah?" She replied, her voice cracking. She cleared it, resisting the urge to blush. Way to appear totally confident. "Yeah?" She tried again. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she remembered Lion-O clearing his throat for Cheetara like a cub. . .
"I wanted to. . . talk."
Oh boy. The day and the hour that she had been dreading was finally upon her. But, she had to get it done and over with some time or another, didn't she? So. . . Echo nodded, and swallowed back all the doubt and fear that was clogging up her throat, and breathed a small, resolving gust of air. Her feet jittered with the urge to run away, but she forced herself to still. They would have to talk about this sometime or another, and now was as good a time as any. . .
Lion-O invited himself to sit down on the log closest to her, and for a little while, they were quiet. Echo shifted, feeling like a hundred ants were crawling over her skin, and she bit the inside of her cheek, seeking some kind of reprieve from the awkwardness developing between them.
"I noticed you haven't been sleeping well."
Echo jerked to him, startled.
That was how he was going to start the conversation?
She smiled, quite unable to help herself, and looked down at her swords. "Yeah. It's nothing to worry about."
"Oh. Okay."
Another bout of awkwardness descended upon them, and Echo shifted, casting a wary eye to the camp around them. Magically, every cat in the vicinity was absent - much to Echo's delight. She really didn't want anybody overhearing their conversation. Eventually, Echo resigned herself to just sitting there, staring at her swords and resigning herself to a very, very awkward silence. But what else could she do/ She didn't have the willpower to open up her mouth and ask what he really wanted to talk about-
"Is it true?"
"What?" Echo asked, looking up again.
Lion-O met her gaze, his eyes blue and clouded with. . . indecision, it almost looked like. Or something close to it. It only made Echo remember that day all over again, when Pumyra had shouted out Echo's feelings. . . A wry smile tweaked at the corners of her lips, and she nodded.
"Yeah. It's true."
Lion-O was quiet for a moment, lacing his fingers together and he stared at the campfire, as if he wasn't quite sure how to take it. Echo ran her fingers over her blades, admiring the beautifully unmarred metal, and the firelight gleaming off it.
"You know," Echo continued after a moment, eyes locked onto the fire, "I thought that you'd be angry."
"What?"
Echo nodded again. "I mean, it's kind of obvious that you're liking Pumyra. And here you find out that the human - not a cat, but a human - has kind of. . . " She trailed off, unable to form the words. Yeah, talking about her emotions to Tygra had been easy - sure, he'd poke and barb and say something - but it was safe. Tygra wasn't going to talk about it with anybody else, and he'd even offer advice. Strange as it was, the derisive tiger was actually an excellent advice-giver.
Lion-O. . . Passion and emotion ruled him.
"I don't. . . I don't know what to think yet. It's not a bad thing, I promise," Lion-O said, wringing his hands together, "But it's just. . . All so new to me. But I wouldn't be angry about it. How long have you. . . uhm. . ." Lion-O trailed off, too, voice dying in his throat.
Echo's smile grew, if only a little. They both had trouble coming to terms with Echo's emotions, apparently.
"For a time. So. . . does this mean that you're completely intending on going after Pumyra?"
Lion-O paused, gaze growing conflicted as he fiddled with his hands. "I need time to sort through it all. I don't know."
Their conversation was hitting a lot of dead ends, but Echo was sensing that it was drawing to a close. And honestly, she actually already felt better. Yeah, it wasn't the closure that she was craving, but it was close enough. . . for now. It would be cruel to expect Lion-O to make a decision - and that was even if he made one. As far as Echo was concerned, she knew Pumyra would probably come out on top. But so long as she got a chance. . .
Placing her swords on the ground, Echo craned her neck back and looked up at the sky.
"I don't remember when it started," She said, "I just know it happened. And I'm not ashamed of it - I'm still your friend, and I will be. I made a promise to stay with you into the very end, and I'm going to keep it. Even if you don't choose. . . no, that's not quite right. Even if you don't have the same feelings for me, mine will go away eventually."
Silence stretched between them, interrupted only by the sound of a crackling fire.
The next day brought about a lot of relaxation, surprisingly. Lion-O and Echo were talking again, not avoiding one another, and that was just enough to make Echo feel a lot better. Echo had decided to take a nap down on her bunk in the tank, absolutely, positively just fine with relaxing. Mumm-Ra's forces had finally withdrawn, and for the first time in three days, they'd actually gone through a night watch without having to send up an alert or run guerrilla ops. So that made Echo's life a hell of a lot more relaxing.
But she had had the same exact nightmare not but an hour or two ago, the same, strange voice narrating it. Echo was beginning to have very strong suspicions that the voice belonged to Mumm-Ra. Nobody else called her child or asked her to see who took her power from her.
But that brought about a whole new slew of questions.
But whatever the answers were to those questions could stay hidden. Lion-O wasn't murdering her, and Markata was not helping her find some hideous truth that had yet to be uncovered. She was perfectly content with where she was at and that was that.
Echo sat up as she felt the tank braking gently, before stopping entirely. She heard rustling and movement from up on the bridge, but she wasn't entirely sure what was the cause. It couldn't have been Mumm-Ra's forces - somebody would have called down to her, and she would have felt it. So. That left only one option: figure out what the hell was going on. Getting to her feet (and making sure all of her arm and shin guards were in place, just in case), Echo walked up to the upper level of the tank and reached up, popping a hatch.
She popped out, blinking in the bright sunshine, and peered around the tank, trying to find out what was happening, and she spotted a funny looking. . . dog-man? Recognition tickled the back of her mind, and Echo peered at him harder, taking in his fur, his paw-hands, the droopy ears and. . . A Wallow! She remembered it now. It was the first time she'd seen one out of a book, though. Lion-O was speaking to him, and Echo hoisted herself up out of the hatch and dropped off the side of the tank.
Everyone else was scattered around the Wallow, who had broken his strange-looking little wagon. She joined them right as the Wallow surveyed their group, and when his eyes landed on Pumyra, he jumped in shock and stared openly, mouth open. Echo struggled not to laugh, and hid her smile behind her hand.
"What?" Pumyra snapped.
"Never uh, seen a head that big." He answered honestly.
Echo couldn't help but snicker again as Pumyra rounded on Lion-O and growled, "Lion-O!"
The Wallow gestured for them to calm down, and Echo stood there and sighed happily. Normally she would have felt pity for Pumyra, but damn, it was just too funny to have situations like that crop up. Especially since the swelling hadn't really gone down, and it was still very much disfiguring her head.
"Worry not!" The Wallow continued, pulling a bottle filled with blue liquid from his coat, "It's nothing a bottle of Ponzi's Miracle Elixir won't take care of! Guaranteed to make all your problems disappear, courtesy of yours truly, Ponzi!"
Lion-O gratefully took the bottle and wistfully said, "I definitely have a few problems I could use disappearing."
He looked at Pumyra, who huffed and crossed her arms.
"I'll take it." He said. He gave Ponzi a few gold coins, and the Wallow beamed up at Lion-O happily.
Panthro took notice of the wagon, and without asking, stepped forward, and began to examine it. Echo, interested in the Wallow but curious about him, looked around - and spotted what was hooked up to the front of his vehicle. It was a huge caterpillar-looking thing, and Echo stopped and stared, looking at it. She had no idea what it was, but holy crap was it adorable. Leaving their group, Echo wandered over to it, watching as the creature preened itself, chirruping and cooing as it did.
Echo reached out, not really thinking, and laid a hand on it. It was soft, warm, and covered in tiny hairs. Instead of jumping back in shock, like she expected it to, the caterpillar made a happy chirping noise and looked at her with soulful green eyes.
I think I love you.
Echo rushed forward and pressed herself against it bodily, spreading her arms. The caterpillar chirruped again.
"Oh my, Lucy seems to have taken a fancy to you. She normally doesn't like being coddled!"
Echo heard Ponzi faintly say behind her. But coddling wasn't quite the word to describe what she was doing to Lucy. Full-bodied hug might have described it better. Echo wriggled slightly, feeling Lucy, and pulled her head back slightly.
"No," she said, "This is not Lucy. . . This is squishy. She is mine. She is my squishy."
Lucy was squishy. Squishy in all the right places.
"Uhm. . ."
Echo giggled - actually giggled - as she pressed herself against Lucy again, who let loose a high-pitched squeal of joy and wiggled in response.
A bit strange, Echo knew, but she'd never seen anything so cute before. But she could just imagine herself laying on Lucy, playing with the caterpillar, riding it. . . She wanted her. Echo spent time with Lucy, completely content to press herself up against the caterpillar, or pet her, or nuzzle her forehead. Lucy was more than happy to return the affection, which did wonders on Echo's mood. Eventually, however, she saw Panthro straightening up, wiping at his forehead.
"There," He said, "That should hold."
Aw, Lucy. . .
"I think you have to go now." She whispered to the creature.
Lucy's little fuzzy feelers drooped. Echo ruffled the fur on her head and stepped back, heart tearing as Lucy cooed sadly at her.
"Thank you so much, my friends!" Ponzi said gratefully, taking his hat off and bowing, "And now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way! Somewhere out there is a town filled with poor tired souls in dire need of rejuvenation! Onward, Lucy!"
Echo waved, even as Ponzi hopped into his wagon's drive seat and took off. Their departure was a little abrupt, and already, Echo was missing the super-snuggly and squishy little bug. But the human smiled all the same was Lucy ran off, chirruping and cooing. She'd miss her, but what could be done? Maybe one day, she'd be able to see Lucy again.
"Getting cuddly with bugs now, are we, Short Stack?" Tygra ribbed, elbowing her in the side.
"Her name was Lucy, nickname was Squishy. You just need to look into her eyes to understand."
"She was rather cute." Cheetara agreed, watching the wagon made a speedy retreat.
"Either way, both of them were. . . strange. . . life forms. Never seen anything like them."
Echo paused, recalling reading bestiaries and animal guides. "A Wallow is like a cross between a dog and a Wood Forger." She said, "But, considering we're all aliens in the first place. . ."
"You got a point there, Echo." Tygra agreed.
"Aliens?" Pumyra asked, wandering over.
In reply, Lion-O uncorked the bottle and handed it out to Pumyra, who looked down and damn near hissed at the concoction.
"Don't even think about using that on me!"
"Might work." He offered sheepishly.
She turned away from him forcibly, eyes narrowed into glaring slits. . . thought it was kind of hard to tell with her swollen face. She always looked like she was glaring, anyway. . .
Lion-O sniffed the bottle and recoiled from the smell."Or not." He said, shaking and looking down at it.
Beneath her feet, the ground shivered, but Echo dismissed it as she walked over and took the bottle, turning it over in his hands. "What's even in this? Oh, there's an ingredient label."
"There is?" Lion-O said, taking the bottle again. He turned it over in the light, peering at the label, and Echo felt the ground shiver again.
Within seconds, the shivers grew into shakes, rocks clattering by their feet. A feeling of dread settled in her stomach, and Echo turned, trying to figure out where the vibrations were coming from. She heard something, distinctly loud thump thumps coming from the canyon they'd left behind, and whatever was making the noise was approaching fast.
"That can't be good." Tygra muttered, palming his whip.
"What is that thing?" Cheetara asked.
Echo looked, and flinched as some thing bashed against the side of the canyon wall, sending up a violent plume of dust and rock. It moved through the dirt, shadowed form drawing closer, piercing red eyes glowing through the dirt. Finally, it broke through, and Echo tensed, crouching, one hand going to a sword hilt. Whatever it was, it wasn't friendly - malevolent intent radiated off of it in strong, powerful blasts. She stared at. . . a dinosaur. It was a giant beast, with ragged, rough bone covering the outside of its scalp, wicked sharp claws on its feet and hands, and a serrated tail that twisted behind it. It stared down at them, fangs dripping with saliva, red eyes burning as they narrowed on them.
"I am the last thing you'll see before you're torn to pieces!" The monster shouted.
Echo reeled. It had. . . It had Mumm-Ra's voice.
"Mumm-Ra." Lion-O hissed, rage in his eyes.
Despite how. . . familiar it looked, Echo drew her sword, and then the other one. They'd have no choice but to fight it. It would be on them before they would reach the tank - and it was sitting right next to them.
The dinosaur growled, snarl rippling its lips.
Mumm-Ra turned around, whipping his tail, where it crashed against a nearby rock face. It send the earth into a deformed mess of rocks that came hurtling at them, and Echo breathed out a deep, calming breath, and ran for it, taking the rocks head on, dancing around one that wanted to strike her and solidly cleaving through another that would've smeared her into a pancake. Mumm-Ra roared, his voice shaking the very air, and Echo swore she could feel the irritation and anger bleeding from it.
Echo kept dodging the rocks, intent on making it to Mumm-Ra and filleting his new form to pieces, but the dinosaur had other ideas in mind. Mumm-Ra charged, feet hitting the ground so hard that Echo staggered and nearly fell to her knees. She watched helplessly as he charged for the ThunderTank, and Echo felt her body tense up. The ThunderTank was their one means of transportation. Without it, they'd be back to camping outside again. Mumm-Ra whipped his tail at them, but thankfully, everyone ducked out of the way in time.
The tail's serrated fin-like appearance hit the tank, leaving deep rends in the metal, but it was otherwise intact. In response, ports slid back, and missiles flew into the air, striking Mumm-Ra. . . but they had no effect.
"In this form, I will not tire," Mumm-Ra gloated, his lips somehow twisting up into a sinister grin, "I will not break! And I will not stop until you are destroyed!"
Echo gasped.
Bingo!
"Sycorax! God, I'm so stupid!"
"You know what that is?" Lion-O demanded, hand flexing on Omens's hilt.
Mumm-Ra roared again, nearly deafening all of them.
"How can we beat it?" Tygra demanded, curling his whip up to prep it for another strike.
"We can't!" Echo said, "The legend of Sycorax said that it walked the earth until the great cataclysm - everything and anything was its prey."
Mumm-Ra turned his beady eyes on them and began to advance, completely ignoring Panthro and the tank.
"What was the great cataclysm?" Lion-O demanded.
"A purge of all life on Third Earth upon the arrival of Mumm-Ra. . . His first arrival." Cheetara supplied, drawing her staff.
"It can't be beat!" Echo yelled, struggling to be heard over the noise, "He has no weaknesses. It's like asking the Grim Reaper to stand still so you can kill him!"
Panthro gunned the engine to the tank, making his baby scream as she rushed forward, but Sycorax wound up his tail and smashed their mobile fortress again, sending it flying. Taking that as their cue, Echo ran forward, trying to attack, but Sycorax hit the dirt, sending them airborne. Despite the debris hitting them, Echo caught sight of Lion-O somehow jumping, deftly weaving through every attack Mumm-Ra aimed his way. Echo saved herself from getting smacked against a rock face, and dropped to the ground again, taking off at a sprint.
There was no way she was going to let Lion-O deal with an unstoppable, legendary monster alone. Lion-O wielded Omens, bringing the sword round and shouting, "HO!" A beam of red energy smacked into Sycorax's forehead. . . but nothing happened. He didn't topple over and die. He stayed standing, taking the shot like it had been a fly divebombing his face. Echo swore she saw Mumm-Ra's lips twist into a sinister smile.
Mumm-Ra snatched Lion-O out of the air, taloned hands squeezing him. "You have taken your last breath, Lord of the ThunderCats!'
"No!" Echo shouted, her voice drowned out by Mumm-Ra's roar.
Echo ran, intent on killing him, on hurting him in some way, shape, or form, but as she drew close, he lifted up his tail and slapped it against the ground, deflecting the blow she'd been prepping and sending her crashing to the ground. A huge foot loomed somewhere overhead, and Echo tensed as she saw its shadow fall over her. I die here. I get crushed, I'm going to die. . . Or not. He didn't step on her. Almost deliberately, Mumm-Ra moved his foot a little forward, completely missing her, and just. . . ignored her.
She stared up at him, completely dumbfounded. What the hell?
Echo got up, hands clenching her swords, and sprinted, slashing out - nothing. Sycorax's thick skin was hardly even scratched. But Echo kept going anyway, trying to hurt him, to make Mumm-Ra let Lion-O go - but he wasn't. He just squeezed Lion-O harder. Lion-O struggled in his grip, and through them, a tiny, blue vial fell to the ground. As it shattered, the noise almost unheard among the din, a pale blue smoke began to waft up into the air, clouding the air rapidly. Echo coughed, the mist stinging as it touched her eyes and crawled into her lungs, and wisely, she ran the other way.
As it rose, Mumm-Ra/Sycorax screamed in frustration and pain, threatening to burst her ear drums, but then. . . then he went limp, falling to the ground. The earth quivered as he smacked into it, and Echo expected him to rise again, to stat snapping a them. . . but nothing. He just remained where he was, breathing calmly and slowly, his pupils so constricted they weren't even visible. Echo stood and stared, slowly sheathing her blades again, and stared.
Lion-O was safe, and Mumm-Ra looked. . . tired.
"How'd you do that?" Cheetara asked, mystified as she drew flush with Echo.
"It wasn't me," Lion-O said, equally as dumbfounded, "It was Ponzi's Miracle Elixir."
Panthro approached the unconscious Sycorax, unafraid. "You mean if it wasn't for that crackpot's potions we'd all be dead?" He rapped his knuckle against the bone-helm, and in response, Mumm-Ra growled, but it sounded faint, as though he couldn't quite muster up the energy for a proper one.
"Something tells me the effects are only temporary." Cheetara warned, her hands discreetly reaching for her staff.
"Then we need to get our paws on more of that elixir before that thing wakes up. Let's go."
Panthro nodded, and Tygra led the group back to the ThunderTank. Echo was immensely relieved to discover that it was still in wholly functional order, although a few parts had been dented in. Poor Sunny and the Berbils. . . they're going to have a nightmare fixing that. At least a few hours. Inviting themselves up onto the bridge, Echo stood by a GPS console, eyes flicking over the coordinates. Ponzi had been gone for maybe thirty minutes, tops? He couldn't have been very far.
But it was Sycorax they were fighting against. Who knew if Ponzi's elixir would be enough to stop the legendary beast another time?
"He didn't kill you." A hoarse voice observed.
Echo glanced up to find Pumyra looking at her as best as she was able, swollen eyes trying to keep track of her face. The human turned back down to the console, fingers tracing over the environment.
"Yeah. I know." Echo replied.
"Why? He could have."
Echo shook her head. "I don't know. He could have crushed me, but he didn't."
Silence fell over the bridge, and Echo chewed on her bottom lip. Why had Mumm-Ra not crushed her? Was it like the mines, when he had claimed it wouldn't have been an honorable death? But. . . Wouldn't it make more sense to just crush her and kill one of his enemies? Pumyra wandered away from her, and quiet filtered over the bridge. Echo pulled herself away from the GPS console and joined Panthro as he drove, worrying her bottom lip a little more aggressively.
Messed-up nightmares with Lion-O murdering her, Mumm-Ra's voice narrating it. . . and now Mumm-Ra's hesitance in killing her when the opportunity arose.
"Found it! Let's catch up to him!" Panthro shouted.
Echo jerked to attention, peering out through the windshield. There, just a little bit ahead of them, Ponzi's little wagon was speeding along the desert countryside. A few beats later, Ponzi's wagon sped up, leaving a plume of dust behind in his wake.
"He's riding faster." Echo said, confused. Why is he doing that?
"Why's he running?" Tygra asked incredulously.
"I don't know, but we have to get that elixir!"
"Panthro, catch up to him! I'm gonna try to signal him."
Panthro sped up, hitching the throttle, chasing him. Ponzi only went faster, and Echo felt a momentary pang of worry as she thought of poor, cute little Lucy, who was probably running too quickly for her little feet. Ponzi led them to a little winding trail, one that looked far too small for the wagon to take the corners at such speeds-
And she was proven right a moment later as Ponzi's vehicle and the adorable little caterpillar fell over the side.
"Lucy!" Echo said, fearing the worst.
"That's what you're worried about?" Tygra asked dryly.
"Lucy was my Squishy. . . oh. Oh no."
A huge cloud of colored mist was rising from the ground, dissipating into the air.
The tank skidded to a halt, and Echo clambered outside, popping a hatch and leaving it open. Ahead of her, Lion-O ran to the edge of the cliff, staring down into the ditch worryingly.
"Ponzi!" Lion-O shouted down.
Echo halted beside him, peering down into the canyon, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Both Ponzi and Lucy were alright, though Lucy seemed to be making little pained noises. Tens of colorful little bottles lay smashed in the dirt, the sand quickly drying in the desert heat. The little Wallow jumped up, fettering his hands in front of him nervously.
"Stay back!" He said, "It's right there on the warning label. Unwanted body hair, facial tics, and explosive gas!"
"We're not after you." Lion-O clarified, looking puzzled.
"You. . . You mean you don't want to string me up?" Ponzi asked, with a scared shrug of his shoulders.
"No." Tygra said calmly, setting on the ground from the tank, "We need your help."
"We're being hunted by a giant monster and that elixir seems to be the only thing to stop him."
. . . Very succinct way to wrap it up, actually.
Echo chose to part from the group, and chose instead to slide down the slope. Ponzi jumped a little, as if he were expecting her to kill him, but she veered off and went for Lucy, who whimpered at her, cradling one of her many feet.
"Oh, you poor thing. I knew you shouldn't have been running so fast. Let me see it."
"My elixir?" Ponzi continued, watching her carefully, "Of. . . of course! My elixir! Didn't I tell you it would solve all your problems? Rickets, warts, giant monsters. . . unfortunately, I seem to have suffered a serious shortfall in my supply."
He waddled over to the elixirs, gesturing to the broken bottles.
"That was everything?" Pumyra asked.
It was odd, how emotionally stable Pumyra had been the past couple of days. But, given that she was trying to win Lion-O's favor, Echo guessed she really couldn't blame her. It was hard to curl up next to something as prickly as a porcupine.
"Never fear, my dear!" Ponzi said, spreading his arms wide, "Ponzi's Miracle Elixir is distilled from the leaf of the rare and beautiful Cara-Cara tree. We shall travel to the hidden spring, where the only Cara-Cara tree in existence flourishes. There, I shall. . . for a very reasonable price. . . brew up a fresh batch in no time!"
"Good." Lion-O said gratefully, "Because no time is about all the time we have."
"Especially after this setback." Echo mumbled.
Tending to little Lucy's foot, the human turned it over in her hands. First aid was most definitely not her strong suit, but after picking out a few stray rocks out of some small scratches, she released Lucy. It wasn't broken, she didn't think, but it would probably be tender for a little while. She had more than enough feet to make up for it until she was better. Done, Echo wrapped her arms around Lucy's head, glad to hear the caterpillar utter a happy coo.
"Don't worry, Lucy," Echo said into her soft, short hairs, "We'll make sure Mumm-Ra doesn't get anywhere near you."
Magically, despite the fact that they'd had no time, they made time. Ponzi, after loading his wagon up into the ThunderTank's hangar bay, had informed them that the hidden spring was a decent day's journey away. They'd run, but after Mumm-Ra/Sycorax had failed to follow them, Panthro and Lion-O had declared it safe enough to stop for the night. Panthro tinkered with Ponzi's broken vehicle in the back of the tank, and Echo sat next to Pumyra by their campfire.
And, with the greatest shock of the evening, Echo had found that, when calm, Pumyra actually made a pretty decent conversation partner. She still felt a little uneasy around the cat, but there wasn't anything she could do to help that. Besides, she and Pumyra were going to be stuck together for a while. . . Might as well make the most of it. The devil you know.
". . . No way. I mean, I can understand long-range encounters, but being a mid-range is the best," Echo protested, gesturing to her swords, "Sure, you might not have as much skill as a long-range soldier, but you have the capacity to do both."
"And if you injure yourself?" Pumyra protested, stringing back her wrist-bow. "You're left to crawl in the dirt until your enemy comes and finishes you."
Echo scoffed. "Yeah, that's why you don't get hurt. And what if the enemy has long-range capabilities? You'd be so worried about them sniping you that you wouldn't have much chance to cover your team."
Pumyra shook her head. "Let's agree that both should be essential to a fighting force."
"No, I agree. . . I just think that mid-range forces are better." She offered with a smile.
Pumyra chuckled.
From their left, Tygra emerged from the forest, dumping off a new pile of firewood.
"Boy, am I thirsty!" He announced, before marching over and snatching up Pumyra's water tin.
The puma looked up at him blankly. "That was mine."
"Tygra, that was rude." Echo chastised, but the tiger merely offered them both a cheeky grin.
"Stop, that's Pumyra's!" Lion-O shouted, suddenly bursting into existence from behind Pumyra's log, not but five feet from them.
. . . Echo stared at him. What the hell is he doing, laying on the ground behind a log? In the dark?
"Oops," Tygra offered impudently, "Now it's all gone."
"I'm not even thirsty." Pumyra said, disinterested. She turned back to her wrist bow instead.
Tygra shook the water tin, and Lion-O angrily snatched it away. Echo stared at him, utterly and completely lost. What was his deal? Why was he throwing such a fuss about a water tin? Sure, it had been Pumyra's, but it wouldn't kill her to wash it out if she wanted to use it again. Plus, it was hardly the first time that any of them had shared dishes. Hell, even Pumyra had eaten from the same plate Cheetara and Echo had nibbled from.
"It's just a cup, Lion-O. . ." Tygra scolded, but he suddenly stiffened, entire body going rigid.
Echo looked at him with worry until he relaxed, and stared into space, body seeming to melt into Jell-O.
"Uh. . . you feelin' okay, Tygra?" Lion-O asked.
"I don't tell you enough, but. . ." Tygra said, turning to Lion-O, completely serious, "You're the bestest little brother a big brother ever had!"
And he hugged Lion-O.
He hugged him.
Echo looked around, scanning the desert landscape. Then her gaze landed on Pumyra, who just looked confused. Reaching over, she tapped her on the shoulder.
"Pumyra, are we dead?"
"No, why?"
"Tygra's hugging someone, that's why."
"Ohmygosh!" Tygra shouted in worry. He ran off, stopping long enough to stoop over and pick up a tiny caterpillar. "He's so cute!" He squeed. He turned around and showed them proudly, gushing over it. "Isn't he adorable?!"
Everyone stopped and stared, jaws dropping as they regarded the prickly tiger. Even Pumyra looked confused as hell.
"What is wrong with you?" Panthro grumbled.
Cheetara looked on, worried.
"Why nothing, you silly goose!" Tygra chirped, cooing down at the little caterpillar.
"Did you just. . . did you just call Panthro a silly goose?" Cheetara asked, her worry turning into outright concern.
In response, Tygra hugged Lion-O one-handed and kissed the squirming caterpillar, before moving away in pursuit of a beautiful "floopsy-daisy" flower.
Echo shook her head.
"You know what? This could have Mumm-Ra all over it. . . somehow. I'm going to go scout the perimeter."
"Sounds like a good idea," Panthro said, "I'll keep working on the wagon, keep the tank prepped - just in case."
"I'll tend to Tygra." Cheetara said, following after the tiger.
Echo didn't wait around to see if Lion-O said he would do whatever Pumyra was doing. . . which would probably be collecting more firewood. Tightening her swords, Echo made her way away from the campsite, and began to pick a trail over the desert floor, keeping a sharp eye for Mumm-Ra. Maybe Sycorax had somehow recovered from Ponzi's elixir, and he'd somehow brainwashed Tygra, or maybe Mumm-Ra had freed himself and was following them again - Echo didn't know, but she did figure she was going to get to the bottom of it.
She wandered farther away from camp, scanning the landscape, but nothing stuck out to her. It was just a desert landscape. There wasn't even a tremor on the ground from Sycorax's massive bulk. . . leaving her very much in the dark. What the hell had happened to Tygra? Echo stopped, satisfied that there was nothing out there.
Her mind wandered, and she recalled Lion-O, jumping up out of the darkness. He'd been crawling on the ground next to Pumyra. . . by her water cup. . . Something sure as hell didn't add up. And she was just going to have to go back to camp and find out what. Why would Lion-O be slinking around in the ground like that, and suddenly act defensive over a water cup? Had this influence been Mumm-Ra, Tygra would have been dead.
Echo picked up her pace, content that their problem laid in the camp, and not outside of it.
And that was when she saw the shadows flicker.
Echo stopped on a dime, one hand immediately going to a throwing knife tucked into her arm guards. She forced her breathing to become slow and even as she waited, watching as the shadows pooled and began to form-
"You," Echo hissed, releasing her knife and glaring with as much acid as she could muster, "You get the hell away from this place."
Her own personal shadow seemed to have found its way out of the Astral Plains. The same glitchy covering plagued it, but Echo wasn't fascinated by it as she once was. She glared as the blacked-out head looked at her, as if failing to understand what she meant. Echo shook her head in disgust and began to move away from it, not caring in the slightest that she was being greeted by some figment of her imagination.
"You should have stayed in the Astral Plains, where you belonged." Echo gritted as she began to walk away.
". . . You don't seem happy to see me."
Echo stopped in her tracks and turned around, spinning on her heel. Unadulterated shock poured through her. Her shadow was speaking normally. Not a single missed word or faded out syllable. She, he, it - whatever - was clear enough for her to understand. For a moment, Echo looked at her shadow, but then shook her head.
"No. I don't care what you have to say. Listening to you just makes me go crazy. I'll just tell you for healing my leg, and I'm going back to camp. And that's the end of that."
"You aren't the least bit curious anymore, are you?"
"Haha, no," Echo bit out, "I'm not getting dragged into this again-"
In a flash, her shadow was standing in front of her. Echo jumped back, drawing a small knife, and slashed out at her, but her blade just passed through it, as though it were made up of nothing but air. Echo longed for her shadow to be tangible, just so she could wrap her hands in whatever it was wearing and shake it about. She wasn't going to be played like this anymore.
"You've always been in it," The shadow continued, "And you'll always be in it. You know it's true. The nightmares are your mind's way of telling you that you're finally ready."
Echo growled and pushed past the shadow, irritated when her body passed through empty air. She wished that she could hit it - just once. It would make her the happiest person alive.
Leave me alone, Echo thought, wishing desperately that her little ghost would disappear. She had bigger things to worry about, and she most definitely did not need it bugging her, telling her she was ready for the truth, that she was ready for whatever. She was done and through with Mumm-Ra and her shadow, and that was that.
Behind her, she heard a quiet, almost bitter chuckle. "I can see our similarities. Once. . . Once, I was like you. And I think soon, you'll be burned, just like me."
Echo snarled, whirling around, fully intent on telling the shadow to shut up and leave her alone, but it had disappeared. Nothing remained but the quiet desert evening settling into place over the sands. Holding the hilt to her knife more tightly, Echo breathed out deeply, trying to calm herself. The shadow was just trying to rile her up, or something. Maybe it had found a way to escape from the Astral Plains - or maybe it was just a figment of her mind.
She didn't know, and she didn't care.
Echo turned around - and jumped again, startled.
Pumyra was standing there, Lion-O beside her.
"Who were you talking to?" Pumyra asked, her voice thick as it emerged from her swollen lips.
"Nobody." Echo said, shoving her knife back into her holster, "I was talking to myself."
"Why do you have your knife out-"
"Lion-O, I thought I heard something," Echo snapped. She immediately regretted it (she really didn't feel like being pestered with questions about the truth of what she'd been doing), "But it was nothing. I'm going back to camp now. Perimeter's secure."
Brusquely, she brushed by Lion-O and Pumyra, fuming as she stalked over to the tank.
Nightmares or not, she was going to get some sleep tonight.
Even if she died in them.
"It's uh. . . a work of art." Echo said, not quite sure what to make of it.
A short day's travel had brought them to the Cara-Cara tree, and Echo wasn't sure if she liked it. Aesthetically, it looked like a hot mess. It was a bulby, large thing, with half of the leaves stripped off of the bottom of it, giving it the appearance of a half-dead mushroom-looking thing. But if it had what it took to defeat Mumm-Ra/Sycorax, then she was all for it, she guessed. . . it still looks ugly, though, she added.
"Indeed! A beautiful, rare work of art! The incredibly hard-to-find Cara-Cara tree! Behold it's splendor." Ponzi announced, smiling at the tree.
Tygra clasped his hands together, absolutely melting at the sight of it. "It's so beautiful!" He crowed.
Echo shook her head and sighed. It had been a good twelve hours, and he still wasn't back to normal. Echo was beginning to strongly suspect that Lion-O had put something in Pumyra's tin, and it was Tygra's misfortune to have drank it. He was acting all lovey-dovey to anything he ran across. . . And she entertained notions of a love potion. But surely those couldn't exist, could they? And besides, what kind of a coward would drug somebody's drink with a love potion?
Love's meant to be a natural thing.
"How many leaves do you need, Ponzi?" Lion-O asked the Wallow.
"If that creature is as big as you say," Ponzi said, assessing the tree, "All of them."
"Alright everyone, you heard him. Let's get busy."
Panthro pulled the tank to a stop, and within a few short moments, everyone had unloaded and gathered up on the ground. Tygra, taking the initiative, wandered off and stooped onto the ground, sniffing flowers from a cactus.
"What about him?" Pumyra asked.
The puma had fared quite well overnight, and her swelling had gone down entirely. She was back to normal, but Echo had to be honest, she kind of missed the swollen face. It had given her something to giggle about whenever she looked at the too-pretty Cat.
". . . just leave him." Lion-O said, lips set into a thin line.
Without waiting for any other official orders, they began to harvest the leaves. Echo hopped up her mental staircase to get to the top, while the other cats used their talons (damn them and their useful talons) to scale the tree like nimble squirrels. Echo, cursing herself for lack of a satchel, just took to shaking leaves off and letting them hit the ground. She'd clean them up later, and unlike the cats, it would be a hell of a lot harder for her to continually scale up and down the tree with leaf deliveries.
At least an hour passed in silence, and in that time, Echo got green stains all over her hands. She wiped them on her pants leg, but it did little to help with the markings. Resigning herself to her fate of strangely-colored skin at all times, she committed herself back to her task. With all of them working on the tree, it didn't take very long for them to clear up the Cara-Cara tree, and sooner than Echo had suspected, it was completely stripped and bare.
Joining everyone on the ground, Echo dusted off her hands as Panthro helped Ponzi unload his wagon.
"There." Lion-O said, "That's all of them."
Ponzi started up his wagon, and its little doors opened, revealing the innards to be a mobile distillery factory. Water began boiling, and ramshackle bit and bobs clanged and clanked together. Out of the corner of her eye, Echo could see Panthro twitching as he visibly suppressed the need to go and clean rust off of the machine.
"Perfect!" The Wallow chirped, "In a short time you will have gallons of Ponzi's Miracle Elixir at your disposal."
Ponzi shooed them away, claiming that he couldn't concentrate on making his elixir with so many eyes watching him, and with nothing else to do, it gave Echo a little bit of free time. She wandered over to the tank, where Pumyra had chosen to drink from a flask of water.
"Human," Pumyra called, "These past few days, you've been acting. . . strange."
"Hm? Oh, don't worry about it. Sunny said humans get weird mood swings. It happens. It's weird. I'm normally not so moody."
"Humans are such strange creatures. Get your emotions in check. It's irritating. It's almost like you're nervous. . . "
No joke. Way to completely act like a total bi-
"NO!"
Lion-O's shout had Echo jogging, wondering what threat posed itself. It wasn't too life-threatening, or else he would have screamed, but as Echo rounded around the Cara-Cara tree, she could see Lucy waddling away, chirruping sadly.
"Lucy, you bad girl! You selfish, thoughtless bug! We needed those leaves!"
"Lucy! Come down!" Echo called.
Lucy ignored them all, and continued climbing up the tree, whining. Ponzi hopped up onto its roots, expression morphing into guilt. "Aw, Lucy, wait! Come back, I'm sorry! Oh, I didn't mean it!"
"Don't worry, Ponzi," Cheetara said, "She'll be okay-"
The ground shivered.
Echo closed her eyes to collect herself and ready her for the battle to come.
Round two.
Fight.
"Can't say the same about us." Pumyra gritted.
Tygra pranced around in front of them, an incredibly odd contrast to the serious situation they were about to face, and decided to chase after a butterfly. He hopped about, his arms swinging in the air, a big, dopey grin on his face. Mumm-Ra came into view, his bulk increasing as he broke the horizon, running right for them.
Sycorax is unstoppable. . . How are we going to beat him?
"I have something that might help. . ." Ponzi said, trailing off. The little Wallow waddled over to his cart and fished out a rod. . . with only a single Cara-Cara leaf.
"One leaf?" Lion-O demanded. "One leaf isn't gonna help us!"
"It may not produce gallons, but it might just make enough to help you subdue that beast!"
Echo groaned. The situation was looking bleak as all hell, and she didn't like it. Sure, she liked weird, suicidal odds, but Sycorax? He was Third Earth's greatest predator for a very, very long time. It wasn't even a fair fight with the five of them. She at least like some aspects of fairness in her fights. She looked to Lion-O, whose eyes went calculating as he struggled to choose the option that would defeat Mumm-Ra. Best to let him make that call.
Eventually, he turned back to Mumm-Ra, drawing Omens.
"We'll keep him occupied as long as can!" Lion-O shouted.
It's the only option we have. A deathmatch with a giant T-Rex pumped up on 'roids.
But. . . She was never one to turn down a fight. Echo rushed off to meet Mumm-Ra as everyone else did, drawing her swords in the process. Sure, they wouldn't do much, but it never hurt to try, did it? Mumm-Ra skidded to a halt, sending rocks and dirt flying up into the air, and he glared at them all. Had he the capacity, Echo was fairly certain he would have breathed fire on the lot of them.
"Your long overdue end has arrived!" He roared, the sound of it nearly making Echo's ears bleed.
"Thunder. Thunder. Thunder! ThunderCats, HO!" Lion-O shouted in retaliation, holding Omens up into the air. A bright, powerful beam of light zipped up into the air, where it exploded, displaying the ThunderCats emblem with pride.
Instead of awe-inspiring strength, however, Omens seemed to brush against her mind with a certain kind of reluctance. Echo paused, trying to figure out a good path of attack, and tried to figure out why. She glanced down at her bandaged arms, and the answer came to her: Omens, like a spoiled child, was throwing a temper tantrum that she had wielded Plun-Darr. Echo glared at it.
Now is so not the time, Omens. In case you haven't noticed, there's a giant dinosaur infused with one of the most evil spirits in all on Third Earth standing right in front of me!
Shaking her head, Echo ignored the grumpy pulse she got back in reply, and ran. The human watched as Cheetara escaped a swipe of a taloned hand and tried to lock his jaw shut with her staff, but the dino broke free and fired a beam of hot, concentrated fire at her. Echo couldn't help but smile bitterly. Of course it could breathe actual fire. Silly her for thinking that earlier. Echo made a running swipe at Mumm-Ra's ankles, but again, her blades did nothing to pierce the skin.
In response, Mumm-Ra tried to stop on Lion-O, but the lion rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding another stream of fire. Lion-O conjured up what power he could from the Spirit Stone, but the rock, against such an ancient enemy, began to wither. Lion-O cried out in pain as heat began to lick at him through his shield. Panthro, on a suicide mission himself, tried to run up Mumm-Ra's tail, but the dino merely flung him away.
Echo tried to attack him again, throwing everything she had into her swing, but it was of no use. Mumm-Ra shifted, attacking something else, completely avoiding her. Just like the day before, despite how many attacks she launched at his ankles, Mumm-Ra found it fitting enough to just ignore her and go after someone else. And it really irritated her - Echo hated being treated like a useless opponent. It wounded her ego, and truthfully, there was nothing more insulting than being treated like a civilian on the battlefield.
Though, it didn't really matter how many times Echo wailed on Sycorax's thick skin. Her swords were useless anyhow - it was like his entire being was covered in some magical spell that made him completely impervious to damage.
"Do something else, you worthless human!" Pumyra snapped.
Echo glared at her, opening her mouth to spit fire at the puma, but Tygra beat her to it.
"Instead of fighting, let's talk about our feelings!" Tygra shouted, hopping up and down, "Echo, you're the bestest human I know! Don't cry-"
Mumm-Ra roared, making Echo winced, and brought down a heavy claw onto Tygra. The tiger went down in a heap, and Echo saw the colorful shade of red as it leaked onto the desert floor, gleaming brightly in the sun. Mumm-Ra lifted his claw again, bloody red talons glimmering as he prepared to bring it down and end Tygra's life-
"No! Markata, don't!"
A red eye looked at her, and in the black of his pupil, she could literally see Markata's eye peering back at her, ancient black staring through her. But she got what she'd wanted - Mumm-Ra had stopped, those talons twitching in the air. A bola impacted with his head, tearing his attention away from Tygra, and instead, Mumm-Ra turned, chasing Pumyra, red eyes narrowing. Echo sheathed her swords and sprinted over to Tygra, who groaned in pain.
"In addition to invulnerability," Sycorax purred, looming over the cornered puma, "This form gives me something much more powerful - an appetite!"
"Tygra. Tygra, you alright? Answer me." Echo demanded, hands working over the injury.
Through sheer, monumental luck, Tygra had somehow avoided a killing blow. He was left with two incredibly deep gashes on his arm - nothing Cheetara couldn't take care of, though. Echo sighed in relief, and tried her best to shake the fear from her muscles. Tygra was still alive, thank every holy deity. As she worked to stop the bleeding, Tygra stirred, unfocused eyes looking up at her.
"E-Echo?" He asked, groggy.
"Yeah, it's me. Just stay still, Cheetara'll be here in a second-"
A hand came up and cupped her face tenderly.
"Don't worry, dearest human! There's no need for you to look at me with such fear! We'll talk about our feelings-"
Echo reached down, and though it was gross, covered Tygra's mouth with a bloody hand.
"Just. . . Just shhh." She said, trying (and failing) to stifle a giggle. "Just lay there and be still."
From on the battlefield, Echo could hear Lion-O calling out Pumyra's name, and a saw the edge of a bright flash of red light as he fired another powerful beam from Omens and succeeded in knocking Sycorax back. Holding Tygra still, Echo watched as Panthro came around with the tank again, its engine screaming as he sped over to Sycorax, intent on taking him down. He rammed the dino, and Echo stared in shock as Mumm-Ra actually fell over, hitting the Cara-Cara tree on his way down.
A strange brown thing shook as Mumm-Ra crashed against the tree, and Echo frowned as she stared at it. What the hell is that? It looked like a brown pupa, but she was absolutely positive that she hadn't seen it when she'd been collected leaves with the others. Could. . . Could it be Lucy? She wondered.
She glanced back down at the battle, and spotted Pumyra dashing over and pressing herself against Lion-O's back, as though she were some defenseless kitten. She pressed a quick kiss to Lion-O's cheek. . . Echo ignored the pang in her chest when she saw her friend smile.
"Lion-O, catch!" Ponzi shouted, chucking bottle of Miracle Elixir their way.
Mumm-Ra stirred, getting back up to his feet, but Lion-O caught the bottle and threw it. The fragile glass concoction smashed against Sycorax, a pale blue cloud of Miracle Elixir rose up. Echo winced, preparing herself for the pained roar, the crash back down to the earth. . .
But nothing.
Echo's heart stopped. Oh no. It didn't work! Did he build an immunity to it or something?
"It didn't work!" Cheetara accused, yelling at Ponzi.
Ponzi looked sheepish. "Eh. . . bad batch? It happens!"
Mumm-Ra screamed at them, jaws shining in the sun. "There is no escape!"
Echo swallowed. That was it, that was the end, there was no escape.
Except, you know. . . Unless a giant moth came out of no where and decided to fight Sycorax. A huge moth hurtled out of the sky, crashing into the dino, chirruping in a very familiar way. Like. . . Like Lucy. The coloring, Echo noticed, was the same as the caterpillar, the same beautiful green eyes. New fear washed through Echo as she watched the fight, and she feared the powerful form of Sycorax would lock his jaws onto Lucy, and tear her to shreds.
Lucy flew against Mumm-Ra's mouth and locked onto him, wings folding down and wrapping around him. Sycorax whipped around wildly, attempting to dislodge her.
"What's she doing?"
"She's supercharged with Miracle Elixir! Go, Lucy, go!"
Lucy glowed, chirruping, and then Sycorax was just. . . crystal. He was petrified in it completely. The gloriously beautiful form of Lucy separated from the crystal, pushing off of it, and the crystal shattered, falling to the ground in a messy heap. Sycorax's body dissipated, becoming a wispy cloud, and Echo knelt there, shell-shocked.
They must have been enemies, or. . . or something. Something to do with the food chain, Echo thought dumbly.
A plume of black smoke rose from the crystal, and from it, a strange-looking bird parted from the cloud, flying away.
"I shall return, ThunderCats!" Mumm-Ra vowed, cackling as he became a speck in the sky.
Their goodbyes, surprisingly, didn't take very long.
Ponzi had gotten his wagon up and running, but without the Cara-Cara tree to make more of his Miracle Elixir, the Wallow told them he'd be forced to seek other forms of profit. Lucy was sad to see Echo go, but Echo had promised to see the butterfly sometime in the future, and as she'd stroked her fur, she'd mused that she just might have to come up with a different nickname other than Squishy. The adorable caterpillar she knew, squishy and cute in all the right places, had turned into a gorgeous butterfly.
Lucy picked up Ponzi's wagon and took off, buffeting them with a gust of strong wind.
And that. . . That was the end of that.
Within the span of a few minutes, everyone had loaded up and they were speeding off, leaving the Cara-Cara tree behind and heading to Dog City. Miraculously, it wasn't more than about twenty minutes away (how that happened, Echo would never know), and they'd be there within fifteen minutes, at the very most. Panthro was languishing over the damage done to the ThunderTank, quietly grumbling and groaning as he assessed the damage.
The tank drove on autopilot, leaving the cats to their own devices. Pumyra had secreted herself away with Lion-O, and Cheetara had set to work on healing Tygra, leaving Echo to do whatever. She didn't really mind too much, to be honest. Choosing to spend the short drive by herself, Echo decided it would be a good opportunity to wash Tygra's blood from her clothes and hands. Unwinding the bandages on her hands, she began the short task of cleaning them, and briefly wondered if she could find some time to call Sunny.
She still hadn't been able to find any colored skin tint, and with her bruises lessening, it was making it nerve-wracking. It wasn't like she could just wear bandages for much longer, as people would start asking questions, wondering if she was hiding injuries or something. . .
Shaking her head, Echo finished cleaning up her hands, and was beginning on her tunic when she felt the tank pull to a stop. Immediately, Lion-O and Pumyra disembarked, looking stern.
"Lion-O? Pumyra? Where are you guys going?"
"Be back soon." Lion-O said shortly, "We have to check on something. . ."
He looked pained as he said it, although Echo couldn't quite put her finger on why. More than that, Lion-O actually looked concerned. Pumyra's eyes were hard and flinty, betraying nothing as she walked beside Lion-O.
Shaking her head, she turned herself to cleaning her tunic. In all probability, they were probably going to Dog City and collecting the twins - or at the very least, checking up on them. Echo smiled at the thought. God, she missed those little kittens. It had been far too quiet without them, and she couldn't imagine how worried they must have been. She told them they'd be back by morning, and they were three, maybe four days off by now?
Panthro passed by her in the hangar bay, carrying a box of tools, and grumbling under his breath. He stepped outside, and immediately, Echo could hear the sounds of hammering and pounding. She smiled again, amused by his vexation. Poor Panthro. His baby has been taking more and more damage lately. If the Berbils were here it could be fixed in a matter of hours.
But they weren't. Satisfied with her cleaning, Echo got up and stepped outside of the tank.
"Hey. I'm going to get some firewood and start making camp. Pumyra and Lion-O should be back by the time I'm done."
Panthro waved at her airily, completely absorbed in pounding out a nasty dent with a sledgehammer.
Without waiting for a proper verbal alright, Echo set off, bending over to pick up bits and pieces of twigs to use as kindling. She hummed idly as she worked, glad for the setting sun. She didn't want to look at her bare hands any longer than necessary if she could help it. Satisfied with the kindling, Echo moved onto actual wood, which proved to be a bit more of a challenge than she'd have liked. The desert was notorious for only having brush, but if one looked hard enough, they'd find. . .
Shadows.
Echo sighed as they pooled around her, and the form of her phantom appeared again, building up from the ground. Echo stood, glaring crossly at it, and was remotely intrigued as she watched the shadows melt off of them, just like they had in the Astral Plains. Echo looked at the shadow - no, that wasn't quite right. It wasn't a shadow anymore.
It was a human. Another human, but not Markata. A human she'd never seen before.
They wore something like the military uniform she'd seen Markata and herself sport, but the rest of her (and it was a girl, judging by their small and slightly curvy stature) was swallowed up by a heavy black cloak. Still, Echo sighed gustily and and looked at her, nonplussed.
"And pray tell, why do you grace me with your presence?"
For a moment, the other human was quiet, hairless hands flexing at her sides.
"Why are you ignoring all of my warnings?" She finally asked.
"Warnings? What warnings?" Echo demanded.
"The truth. My memories."
"What the hell-" Echo stopped as she remembered the nightmares, with a voice suspiciously like Mumm-Ra's, asking her to see the truth. Recurring nightmares, night after night, ones that had felt like she'd been shoved into the skin of somebody else. . .
Shaking her head, she glowered at the girl. "You know what? No. We're not playing these games. This is some grand trick Mumm-Ra is playing with me, I just know it. So leave. I'm not falling for it."
She brushed past the person, who immediately began laughing. It stopped Echo in her tracks - she'd never heard anything so bitter and cold before in her life.
". . . History repeats itself. You'll understand soon enough, I promise."
And then she was gone. Just like that, she'd disappeared. Echo stared at the spot that she had previously occupied, and found it empty. Okay. This is just. . . insane. I'm going to go back to camp, take a nap, and forget that most of this happened because, quite frankly, it's getting very boring. And tedious. And just crazy.
With that being resolved, Echo turned and strode back to camp, muttering under her breath. Creepy shadows-turned-humans and their creepy foreboding words. Not to mention the fact that most of what she'd been suggesting was just crazy. Why would some unknown shadow want to make contact with her and show her her memories? None of it made sense at all, and that was that. Depositing the wood onto the ground, Echo strode back to the tank, where she found everyone gathered, grim looks on their faces.
"Hey. What's going on? Something happening?"
Echo froze when two pairs of eyes zeroed onto her, glaring at her with such venom that Echo felt sickened. Tygra looked like he wanted to rip her throat out, and Panthro looked like he'd help him by holding her down. Cheetara, Pumyra, and Lion-O looked. . . conflicted.
"Echo. . . What were you doing?"
"Uh. . . collecting firewood? That's no reason to get mad at me."
"Collecting firewood?" Pumyra demanded, stalking down the ramp and standing in front of her, looming over her. "Or were you contacting Mumm-Ra?"
Echo stared, completely at a loss. Did I hear that right? Was I just accused of contacting Mumm-Ra?
"What?" She stuttered. "Why the hell are you asking me that?" She could barely force the words out. Was she in a dream or something? There was no way she was in the real world. Because she was cornered by the ThunderCats, and they were asking her if she was contacting Mumm-Ra. They were saying she was in league with him.
"Just stop!" Tygra snarled. "Stop acting so innocent. We know everything!" The animosity she heard in his voice was completely unparalleled to anything she'd ever heard before.
"This." Cheetara said, holding up a book.
Echo reeled. My journal! Instinctively, she patted her tunic, but it wasn't there. She hadn't seen it since she'd been in Dog City. "How did you get that?" She said, her voice shaking, "I haven't seen it since Dog City-"
"That's not important. Is it true?" Cheetara demanded.
Even. . . Even Cheetara was looking at her with aggression in her golden eyes.
Echo shook her head. "Is what true? What the hell are you accusing me of? Being Mumm-Ra's spy?! It's not possible. How could you even say such a thing? I've been here since the beginning! Where is this all coming from, anyway?"
"Stop lying!" Tygra snarled, "You wrote about the fall of Thundera three weeks before it would happen. And the Astral Plains. . ."
She missed the rest of Tygra's words. How could. . . Why? Why would they have taken her that way? Her journal entries just cataloged everything that had happened to her. The answer, so simple, yet devastating, came to her in a matter of seconds. It's because I lied to them. I didn't tell them what really happened, the links between Mumm-Ra and I. . . I wrote down the truth in my journal. I told them lies about what happened because I was so ashamed of what I'd learned. . .
"It's not," She stuttered, "It's n-not what you t-think, I swear."
"Then what is it?" Lion-O asked, his tone stern, hurting, "Tell us. Tell me why you never told me that you and Mumm-Ra are humans. That you have a past. That you saw the ways my father might die weeks before they happened! Tell me why you lied!"
Echo felt like she was losing control. She couldn't understand what was happening and why, how her journal had gotten into their hands, how. . . Her gaze traveled, looking at them all, before locking onto Pumyra. Hate and relief. . . relief? Potent, violent emotions swirled in the cat's eyes, but relief was among them.
She'd taken Lion-O into Dog City, where she'd lost her journal, and now she was being accused of being a spy.
It felt like she was in a long, terrible nightmare, and she couldn't wake up. She felt sick, like her stomach was cramping, but she wanted to throw up at the same time. Everyone, even Panthro, was looking at her with open hostility. She'd been back five minutes, and that was all it had taken for the Cats to turn against her.
"It isn't what you think," Echo rushed, trying to force the words out, "I didn't know. They were dreams. I didn't think they meant anything-"
"You knew everything about Grune and me." Panthro said, his voice cold, "You drew it all in here. You knew things nobody but Grune, I. . . and Mumm-Ra knew."
Oh.
Oh, shit.
There went that approach, true as it was.
"You didn't call him Mumm-Ra in the fight. You called him Markata - by his human name. And he didn't kill Tygra. In fact, in the mines, he left you alone. And even today, he refused to kill you. Why would he? Why risk killing his precious spy?" Pumyra snarled.
Echo swallowed, shaking, as Pumyra approached her. Quicker than she could react, the puma had latched onto her arm, talons digging into her skin, and Echo struggled against her, trying to free herself, and eventually managed it.
But not before the fabric of her right arm tore off with a magnificent rip, and her skin was exposed to the chilly evening air. Immediately, Echo slapped a hand over her tattoo, but it was too late, and she knew it. All the Cats had seen it.
"Traitor!" Pumyra hissed, throwing her sleeve to the ground, as though the fabric had burned her.
Echo shook her head, trying to speak, but couldn't manage to say anything. Her voice was caught in her throat. She shivered as the looks of hostility morphed into outright rage, like it took everything they had inside of them not to reach out and kill her on the spot.
"I knew it," Lion-O said bitterly, "I should have seen the signs. It was you, this whole time. You worked for Mumm-Ra. He always knew where to find us, "
"N-No, that's not it-"
"Leave." Lion-O ordered, tone cold as the grave.
"Please, L-Lion-O, I-I-"
"Leave! Be lucky I spared you this much mercy, human. Was your love a ploy, too? Did he tell you to love me?"
Echo shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. This whole thing was impossible. Just an hour earlier, she and the Cats had been chatting, smiling happily at one another. . . And now they were all looking at her like she was the scum of the earth. There was no way that this was happening. Absolutely no way. She wasn't a spy. She knew it. She couldn't be a spy, because she'd been by Lion-O's side this whole time, she'd loved him-
"I said leave!" Lion-O yelled, baring his fangs at her. He drew Omens, and the blade rasped threateningly, Omens hissing at her-
For just a brief, brief moment, Echo saw a flash of her nightmare, of Lion-O lifting up his sword and stabbing it down. The shadow had been warning her of events to come. If she didn't go, Lion-O was going to kill her.
"P-Please," She whispered, voice hoarse, "It isn't-"
Lion-O swiped at her with Omens, and the blade growled at her.
Echo took a faltering step back, nearly falling onto her ass as she tried to avoid the blow. Searing heat scorched her cheek, and numbly, she brought a hand up to her skin. There, blood welled in the cut. Lion-O stood in front of her, eyes narrowed into slits as his grip on Omens tightened.
"Leave. This will be the only mercy I grant you. I spare your life, traitor."
Her dream kept flashing in front of her eyes. If she didn't leave, Lion-O would kill her. And if failed, there was Pumyra and Panthro and Tygra and Cheetara-
". . . you'll be burned, just like me." The shadow's voice floated into her mind.
If she didn't go, they'd kill her.
But she had to try, first. Echo looked at the Cats, hands shaking.
"C-Cheet-"
"Go!" The cleric hissed.
Before Echo had fully comprehended what she was doing, she spun around and started running, stumbling over the landscape. Fear and adrenaline coursed through her, and she could practically hear the Cats chasing after her, readying to murder her for a lie, for something she wasn't even guilty of. . . Or was she? All those times she'd been present for dark secrets of Mumm-Ra, had he chosen to let her see those?
Had she been a spy? A spy so thoroughly washed clean she hadn't even known it?
She kept going, running as quickly as she could, and she kept running until her legs were burning, and her raspy breaths shredded her throat, and even then she kept running.
This had to be a nightmare. Something she'd wake up from soon enough. There was no other way to describe what had happened-
Her foot twisted, catching in an unseen hole, sending her sprawling onto the dirt gracelessly, her body writhing.
She laid there for a moment, until she numbly picked herself up and got onto her hands and knees.
Had that. . . Had that really happened?
Had she just been accused of being a spy, and turned out of the group that had been with her since the beginning? Did Tygra look at her with nothing but hatred and contempt? Cheetara had looked like she'd been a second away from hissing at her, and Panthro looked like he'd wanted to strangle her.
And Lion-O. . .
He'd raised Omens to her.
And Omens had bit her. Her cheek still stung, a reminder that Lion-O had struck her. He'd hit her. He'd had the intent to kill.
As her fingers dug into the dirt, clenching into tight fists, a bitter smile crept onto her face.
Yes. It did. It just happened. I'm not dreaming.
Echo curled in on herself, sobbing hard and loud, body and mind wracked with pain and anguish. The tears fell from her face unchecked,
What did. . . What did the Petalars call me? A princess of roses. . .
That isn't quite right, though, is it?
I'm the Queen of Thorns.
Echo cried, uncaring as to who heard her misery.
Her entire life had just unraveled at the seams and now. . . now she had nothing.