19

Mumm-Ra

In a desert much farther than the ThunderCats had yet explored, there sat a mighty pyramid. The creature within had had many, many names in his long life (and afterlife), all of which struck fear to those that heard it. He was called Mumm-Ra now, a loose translation of his true name, from the ancient desert lands of Earth. He had rested for many days now, but a deep feeling of disquiet had urged him from the safety of his sarcophagus, and he now peered into the fetid scrying pool in front of him. It showed a milky image of the ThunderCats preparing the land around the Forest of Mists, and Mumm-Ra scowled. He had not expected the forest to react the way it had when he had sent his magical plagues throughout the world, but had been delighted by the results. How dare these insolent intruders undo his work?

"This will be stopped," he murmured, and raised his hands above his head. "Ancient Spirits of Evil..." he began.

***

Lion stood at one end of the marked border, the Sword of Omens in his hands. He looked nervous as he stood in the wind, his mane blowing in his face. He was afraid both of messing something up, and of harming himself badly enough to be in danger of dying. But the Sword of Omens wouldn't let that happen, would it?

The other ThunderCats and Lynx-O's group stood behind him, watching as the young lord stood in the twilight. Cheetara had recovered enough to come out and watch, as she did not want to miss seeing the final stage of all their work.

"All right," Lion-O finally said, willing his voice to remain steady. "Here we go." He held the weapon tightly in front of him and closed his eyes. His young but powerful voice began the battle cry that would cause the weapon to lengthen into a usable length, and that would awaken the Stone in the hilt that was the Eye of Thundera. It was pulsating with the very essence of what the ThunderCats were. The power of all that held the Sword before him could be felt in his blood as he held the beautiful weapon, and uttered the cry:

"Thunder...thunder...thunder..." With each utterance, the blade grew in length.

Bengali and Pumyra watched, fascinated, and even Lynx-O could feel the raw power pulsing from the weapon.

"ThunderCats, HOOOO!" his voice rose almost of its own accord, and he felt the energy being channeled through his body. He felt the still-unfamiliar exhilaration as the symbol of the ThunderCats was cast to the sky, and the Eye of Thundera growled mightily as it wakened.

"My gods," Pumyra said, rapt by the sheer wonder of the weapon's powers.

"That's nothin'," Wilykit said with a grin. "Wait 'till he actually uses it. He just woke it up."

Lion-O's mane was tingling with the power, an effect that always amused him, and did no less now. Not being able to help it, he grinned, suddenly not nearly so nervous, and turned around to face his friends. "Let's get this thing don - " he began, but frowned when Cheetara suddenly pointed.

"Look out, Lion-O!"

The young man spun around to see, out of the twilight, a dark shape soaring through the air towards him. "What in the-" he began, leaping backwards as the figure landed in the spot he'd been standing in the moment before.

"Mumm-Ra!" the twins exclaimed in unison, their stances suddenly defensive, little capsules in their hands.

Cheetara, Tygra, and Panthro also assumed fighting positions, as Lion-O scowled and narrowed his eyes, his own weapon at the ready.

Mumm-Ra merely looked amused, his unnatural red eyes glowing eerily in the dusk. "So," he rumbled. "You've come to undo my work, have you?"

"You work is evil, Mumm-Ra, and endangering my people and the people of this planet," Lion-O said, sounding braver than he actually felt at the moment.

Mumm-Ra laughed, a terrible chuckle of cruel, mocking amusement. "Such ideas of valor, young Lion-O," he said. "Don't you know that there is only power, and control?" He shook his head and splayed his fingers out in front of himself.

"Duck!" called Wilykat, already having gotten a taste of Mumm-Ra's power. He and Wilykit jumped, as the others also dove from the way.

Lynx-O, Pumyra, and Bengali had been staring in horror until this point. When Mumm-Ra's fingers blasted their raw electrical power at the young lord, they all scattered. After all, this was the demon from their records that had destroyed the forest in the first place.

Lion-O grunted as he held the Sword of Omens in front of him, blocking the energy of the attack. But still, it wanted to drive him back, and it took a great deal of his strength to stand firm.

Finally, Mumm-Ra stopped the barrage long enough for Lion-O to duck down and send a bolt of energy searing towards the demon.

Mumm-Ra cackled and rose into the air, the bolt of energy passing harmlessly beneath him.

But now, Lion-O's friends were helping out. Cheetara's staff fired burst of laser energy at the ancient being, while Panthro's nunchucks did the same.

As Mumm-Ra powered up for another killing blow at his adversary, Tygra's bolo whip lashed out, striking Mumm-Ra in the chest with an explosion of fire. He howled in pain, giving Lion-O an opening to attack again, this time hitting his target.

Bengali and Pumyra watched, their eyes wide, as the twins darted into the fray, snapping their lariats at the demon's feet when he tried to rise, hurling light capsules at him, trying to distract them enough that the others could take him down or drive him off.

Lynx-O's normally calm face even showed fear as he listened to what was happening. After twenty years living on a quiet island, this was a great deal of action. Snarf watched anxiously, worried only that Lion-O might be killed.

And so the battle went.

Had it just been Lion-O, or even three or four of them, Mumm-Ra might very well have killed them, or at least stopped their project. But with all six of them working together, their attacks perfectly coordinated, Mumm-Ra began to steadily recoil from the furious assault. Lightning flashed, and fireballs exploded. blinding flashes of light from the twins' capsules, and the energy blasts from the magical weapons the ThunderCats had been given lit the darkening night that one might have though it was high noon.

But soon, Mumm-Ra's power failed him, and he nearly collapsed onto the ground. Staggering backwards, only enough energy in his body to rise into the air for retreat, he howled in fury and soared away like a malignant bat.

Panting, the twins both sat down where they stood, leaning on each other in an exaggerated display of exhaustion. Cheetara collapsed, sweat pouring down her face, her staff falling to the ground. Frowning, Lynx-O heard her fall, and ran to her side.

Panthro and Tygra stood watching Mumm-Ra's retreat, their fists still clenched, weapons still out, adrenaline still coursing through their veins, but when Tygra saw Cheetara had fallen, he also went to her side and helped Lynx-O tend to her. She'd fought when she shouldn't have, when she wasn't strong enough.

And Lion-O, Lion-O had nearly collapsed himself, from the output of power he'd been using to defeat the attacker. So sudden it had been, out of nowhere. Why hadn't they thought that Mumm-Ra would try and stop them? After all, it was his doing they were working so hard to fix!

"Is she all right?" Pumyra asked, as she and Bengali shakily approached the group gathered around Cheetara.

"She will be all right," Lynx-O told her, standing up and shooing her and Bengali back. "Give her some air."

The others also backed off a bit, giving Tygra room to take care of the cheetah. She opened her eyes groggily as Tygra wiped her brow with a cloth from his uniform pockets, wiping the sweat from her face. "Guess I overdid it," she mumbled.

"Yes," Tygra said, looking concerned. "You shouldn't have taxed yourself after today..."

"And let Mumm-Ra knock us around?" She managed a weak grin. "No way, Tygra. Someone needed to save your hide."

Tygra laughed. If she was joking, she was all right. "Come on, let's get you back into the infirmary.

But Cheetara shook her head, sitting up slowly. She closed her eyes and took a big breath of the cooling air. "No, I want to see Lion-O finish this if he can...and then I'll go."

Tygra nodded reluctantly. "All right then..." He turned towards Lion-O. "Are you doing to be able to, now, Lion-O?" He didn't look so great himself.

Lion-O stood towards the edge of the group, the Sword of Omens held rather tiredly in his hand. "I think so," he said, his voice steady. "It drained me, but I think I'm all right."

"Okay. Then let's get this blasted project over and done with."

The young lord nodded and stepped back, raising the blade above his head, then thrusting it down to aim its power at the marked ground. "Hooo!" he cried, his voice carrying on the wind.

Again, the energy coursed through him, but this time it wasn't exhilarating. It was exhausting. but still, he kept on with it, before Mumm-Ra could power up again and return to finish the job. "Hoooo!" he cried once more, moving on several yards to blast again.

And again.

And again.

For the next half hour, Lion-O channeled the magical power of the weapon into the soil, fusing it to rock, sterilizing it with a magic that Mumm-Ra would have difficulty undoing. When he was finished, he did collapse, and the twins decided that Cheetara and Lion-O could use their spaceboards and lot more than they could, and helped the others lift the two cats onto them.

The Sword of Omens, its task finished, retracted onto itself, and Tygra slipped it into the sheath on Lion-O's leg as they pushed the hovering boards towards the Lair.

Cheetara and Lion-O looked at each other as they were borne towards their home, and burst out laughing at how pathetic they each looked. But they felt good, because they'd succeeded.

Part 20: Increasing the Ranks

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