Thundercats
ThunderKids Part Four:
Revealing of Ties

Lion-O and the Thundercats left the Berbil Village and kept heading west towards Hook Mountain. They rode in silence all contemplating what RoBear Berbil had told them. All the Thundercats were sullen and intent on finding the ThunderKittens before the other Thundercats had a chance to. Lion-O ran his hand idly over the sword of Omens. The eye was closed and Lion-O turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
We will find them Lion-O," Tygra said seeing the distress on Lion-O's face.
"Yes Tygra of that I am sure," the Lord of the Thundercats replied to his friend. "It's the others that RoBear told us about that I am worried about. They seem intent on finding me for whatever reason that may be."
"It could just be more survivors from Thundera," Panthro said with more conviction than even he was sure of.
"That could be Panthro," Lion-O said half distracted. "But if that were the case then why wouldn't they have told RoBear their intentions? This doesn't seem right."
"You're not thinking that Mumm-Ra has something to do with this do you Lion-O?" Tygra asked, speaking the fear that they all shared.
"I'm not sure Tygra. It could be any number of creatures of space or third Earth that we have yet to meet. The memory loss of the ThunderKittens is what is still bothering me," he admitted.
"Only person I know that can do that is," Panthro started.
"Alluro!" Tygra said with clear distaste. "Why didn't we see it before?" he asked out loud. "The Lunatics!"
"Impossible," Lion-O interjected. "They are locked away on the prison planet. If they did escape Mandora would have notified us."
"Alluro's mind control is strong Tygra," Panthro added trying to calm his fellow companion down. "But I doubt even he can control the ThunderKittens all the way from the prison planet."
"Not without some kind of help," Lion-O said. "And to my knowledge there is no one on the prison planet that can enhance powers that greatly." They all took a moment to contemplate this. They continued on in silence for a while, no one quite sure what to say.

Hook Mountain loomed overhead as the ThunderTank slowed to a halt. The sun of Third Earth was slowly setting off to the west, where Cheetara had taken off. The Thundercats slowly got out of the ThunderTank and started the hike up Hook Mountain. They climbed farther and farther up the mountain, the whole time in complete silence. The pall of despair had fallen over all of them. So intent on their destination they were that they didn't notice the figure following them from a ridge to their right. The figure slowly followed their progress up Hook Mountain.
"We should be nearing the Snowman's cave," Lion-O said breaking the long silence. They noticed a creature bounding towards them. They all stopped in anticipation of an attack. The creature's pace was steady and headed straight for the awaiting Thundercats. As the creature grew closer its form was definitely feline. It pounced and landed on Lion-O pinning him to the ground.
"SnowMeow," Lion-O said with joy to see the Snowman's companion. SnowMeow was busy greeting the Lord of the Thundercats with excessive licking. The other Thundercats visibly relaxed at the recognition of SnowMeow.
The figure stood watch over the Thundercats as they were greeted by the snow cat. He was concentrating hard on the scene as if he were manipulating it. The Thundercats helped their leader up and followed SnowMeow to what they believed would be the Snowman of Hook Mountain. The figure released whatever control he had on the snow cat and walked into the cave behind him. He sat down and waited for the arrival of the Thundercats. On the right side of him on the floor lay a sword of enormous power. He ran his hand over it as if caressing a loved one. There was a quick flash in the hilt and then nothing. A smile crept across the face of the awaiting figure. He picked the sword up and placed it in its hilt on his hip.

At Cat's Lair, Leona was standing over an injured Bengali. Both Pumyra and Lynx-O lay unconscious. Bengali tried to move away from the female but was halted when she kicked him in his side. He moaned and stopped moving. He looked over at Lynx-O worried about his fellow Thundercat and mentor. He then looked at Pumyra laying no more than ten feet from him, her eyes shut and her breathing very slow.
"Oh don't worry about them," Leona said almost compassionately. "They are alive. A little worse for wear but they are alive."
"Why," Bengali strained to talk. His side was killing him from where Leona's blow had landed.
"Why what?" she asked slowly stooping beside Bengali and checking his injuries. "Why attack you and your fellow Thundercats?" Bengali opened his mouth to talk but was stopped when Leona placed her finger to his lips. "You shouldn't talk. You are too injured for that right now." Bengali nodded in affirmation that he understood and yes to the question his captor? asked.
"Well that is quite simple my dear Bengali," a smile came across her features. The smile made Bengali nervous. "We were sent here to kill you." The way that she so coldly stated that made Bengali even more uneasy in his current position. "Oh don't worry," she continued reassuringly. "You won't die just yet. Your death will not be here but in Aelurus' palace."
Bengali looked at her with a questioning look. She looked back but offered no more information. After ascertaining that he would survive long enough to get to wherever it was that he was to be taken she left him laying there helpless. He thought about the others and wondered why they hadn't returned yet. Surely the Sword of Omens had let Lion-O that they were in danger. Or could Leona somehow stopped the sword from seeing the actions at Cat's Lair, he thought to himself. Where were the other Thundercats? The thought kept coming to his mind. Were they captured as well? Had she had help in getting them all? Were the ThunderKittens alright? These and many more questions plagued Bengali as he lay there not sure of what to think.
Leona roamed the halls of Cat's Lair. She made her way to the command center and sat in front of the console. She opened a com-link and entered in a set of numbers.
"Oclian," she said when she had finished.
"Ahhh," Oclian said as his face appeared on the screen in front of Leona. "Well it's about time you took over the Cat's Lair," he said mockingly.
Leona laughed at his jest. "I had control for quite some time cub," she added teasingly. "I was just catching up with dear old dad."
"Oh a real family moment eh?" he replied back. "Well that's about as amusing as being called your parents," he said back with a smile on his face.
"She mistook you and Pampiana as the ThunderKittens?" Leona asked laughing at the idea. Oclian nodded on the screen. "Well they don't seem to be as bright as we were told."
"Yes, well these are no match to what the others are going to have to face."
"What that toy Sword of Omens? Their leader is no match for Jaguarondi."
"Yes, a direct descendent of the great Lord Jaga," Oclian said with a grin. "Aelurus will be pleased."
"Moreover her father Mumm-Ra will be pleased and we will finally be able to rid New Thundera of those wretched Mutants. To think that our parents would allow the Mutants to have control of New Thundera while they sat in peace on Third Earth," Leona said with clear distaste.
"There will be plenty of time for retribution Leona," Oclian assured her. Just get them to Aelurus' Palace. I'm still waiting for word from the others. So far we have Cheetara, Pumyra, Bengali, Lynx-O and the ThunderKittens."
"Do you think we should help the others?" Leona asked a little worried about their chances against the remaining Thundercats. "I mean Jaguarondi will have no problem with Lion-O," she said the name of the Lord of Thundercats as if it were acid. "But Panthro and Tygra will not be as easy to defeat."
"I doubt that Tygra will hurt his own little sister," Oclian said with a laugh.
"True but there are the Snarfs."
At this Oclian laughed uncontrollably. "You think that the Snarfs will be a problem? You must really be getting soft."
"Not soft," she replied with a hint of anger. "Just cautious. I'm just worried about the success of this venture. It would be a great embarrassment not only to us but the name of the Thundercats to be beaten by the likes of these traitors to the name."
"There will be no failure Leona," Oclian said calmly. "Don't worry. Jaguarondi will not fail. He wouldn't be the Lord of Thundercats if he weren't capable to deal with situations such as this."
"Yes but Lion-O," she started. "You're right. There is no comparison. For New Thundera."
"New Thundera," with that his image vanished from the screen.
Leona stood and went back to the Thundercats and got ready to leave Cat's Lair and go to Aelurus' Palace.

Oclian and Pampiana walked on either side of a hoverboard and guided it towards Aelurus' Palace. They had emerged from the forest and had headed farther south until they had entered the desert surrounding the palace. They neared one of the four obelisks that surround the palace. The palace was a black pyramid in the middle of the desert. It rose well above their heads as they got closer. The power from the Black Pyramid could be felt in the air around them.
Cheetara lay motionless on the hoverboard that the twins had between them. She stirred slightly as they were almost upon the pyramid. She looked in fear as she realized that she was being led right into the very heart of Mumm-Ra's tomb. She looked to either side and was surprised to see the ThunderKittens guiding her.
"WilyKit," she said barely audible. "WilyKat," she said a little louder. "Why?" The two figures on either side of her looked down at her and then back at the Black Pyramid. In the brief moment that she saw their faces she realized that they weren't the ThunderKittens but the two that had jumped her in the forest. "Mumm-Ra," she said before slipping back into unconsciousness.
"She spoke his name," Pampiana said a little worried.
"Don't worry about that sis. We know that she knew who he was. Don't forget they were once allies long ago before betraying him and banishing him with the help of Mandora," Oclian laughed as he said the name of the police officer.
"Yes, and for that they must pay." They continued in silence through the Black Pyramid and awaited the arrival of Leona and the others.

SnowMeow stopped in front of the mouth of a cave and lay by the entrance. The Thundercats looked at each other before walking into the cave of the Snowman of Hook Mountain. As they entered a single figure could be seen in the shadows of the cave. The Thundercats slowly approached.
"Stop right there Lion-O," the figure in the shadows said. As if compelled by the figure's will the Lord of the Thundercats stopped in his tracks. The others dared not move. The figure stood and walked slowly into the light. The Thundercats all gasped in recognition of who stood before them.
"Jaga!" Lion-O said in shock to see his old mentor alive and young?
"Foolish boy," the figure said. "I am not my grandfather. But it is good that you recognize who you are dealing with."
"Grandfather?" Tygra asked in surprise. "But no one survived the destruction of Thundera but us."
"Do you so quickly forget your comrades Pumyra, Lynx-O and Bengali? They too escaped. There were more survivors than you at first believed Lord Lion-O," the figure said the word with hatred apparent in his voice.
"If you are Jaga's grandson then why go through all this to talk to us? We would have welcomed you into Cat's Lair as we did with the other," Lion-O replied.
"But you see boy, I am not here to talk. We are here to destroy you." As he said that two figures emerged from the shadows on either side of the Thundercats. They each dropped a bundle to the floor. As the bundles rolled into the light the Thundercats could see that they were Snarf and Snarfer.

Stay tuned for more.