Chapter III:
Family of Strangers, Part 2
Nearly two weeks had passed since the colony ship carrying Bahati and Laini had dropped unceremoniously from the sky. Laini had moved into the Lair with her son and quickly set up shop rebuilding her laboratory. Lion-O was heading down to Laini's lab to see about getting the rest of the ThunderCats fitted out with SmartSuits when he crossed paths with Panthro. The Panther Clan warrior was dressed casually in civilian clothes; a slick gray shirt and gray slacks with a black jacket.
"Panthro! You look . . . different. What's the occasion?" Lion-O asked. Panthro looked down at himself and grinned.
"I'm taking Bahati into town today to show him the sights. You know, kind of a father-son bonding trip."
"That's great. What are you two going to do?"
"Well, I was going to give Bahati one of the traditional earrings worn by warriors of the Imara tribe, but his ears aren't pierced."
"Neither are yours." Lion-O pointed out. Panthro grimaced.
"I know; it's been so long since I've worn my tribal gear, my holes have closed over. So I thought we could go get our ears pierced together."
"It's great that you two are bonding." They arrived at the door to Laini's quarters. Before they even had a chance to knock, the door flew open and Bahati stood grinning up at his father.
"Hi, Panthro!" He cried. "Where are we going?!" Panthro grinned down at the boy but toned down his smile when Laini appeared behind Bahati.
"Ah, it's a surprise," he said simply. Lion-O gave him a Look. He was taking Bahati to get his ears pierced and he hadn't asked Laini? Panthro was asking for trouble.
"A surprise?" Laini echoed, eyeing Panthro suspiciously. "Well, just be careful," she said, ushering Bahati out the door. "And have fun."
"I will, Mom!" The two started down the hall. Laini stared after them, chewing her lip. She wanted Bahati to have a good relationship with his father. Yes. She did. But . . . Bahati was the most precious thing in the world to her. She couldn't help feeling like she could lose him to his own father.
A few hours later, Panthro and Bahati rested on fountain in the middle of Capitol City's biggest merchant complex, each nursing an ice cream. Bahati took a break from chasing dribbles down his hand to admire his reflection in the fountain, turning his head so that the sunlight glinted off a pair of stainless steel stud earrings.
"Mom's going to flip," he announced. "This is so great." Panthro chuckled to himself. A pair of stud earrings shaped like bolt heads pierced both of his earlobes.
"Your mother does seem a little . . . overprotective," Panthro hazarded. Bahati snorted rudely.
"If she could, I think she'd keep me in a bubble forever. She doesn't ever want me to do anything fun." Panthro patted his son on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, I won't let her keep you in a bubble. We'll see about getting you into some martial art training while we're at it." Bahati stopped and stared at Panthro. "What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" The man in question asked.
"You're really going to go through with this, aren't you?" The lad asked.
"Going to go through with what?"
"Being a father." Panthro paused and thought for a minute.
"This situation isn't our fault. I figure we may as well make the best of it. And besides," Panthro reached over to ruffle Bahati's hair affectionately. "Who could not want a great kid like you for a son?" Bahati laughed at this gesture. They both ate their ice cream in silence for a few minutes.
"Panthro?"
"Yeah?" Bahati suddenly took an intense interest in tearing the napkin on his ice cream cone into little pieces.
"Um, do you think it would be all right if – if I called you 'Dad'?" he asked shyly. Panthro looked down at Bahati. The boy hazarded a peek up at him. He obviously thought he was pushing his luck.
"Yeah . . . that would be fine, Bahati," he said quietly. "I'd like that." Bahati grinned.
"You know, if you want Mom to agree to let me enter martial arts training, you'd better butter her up," he announced. Panthro looked down at him. He half expected that sentence to have a 'Dad' tacked onto the end. Apparently he would have to wait for it.
"What makes you think she's going to protest?"
"Are you kidding? The first time she lets me out with you I'm coming home with pierced ears. You'll be lucky if you ever see me again."
"Well, what would you suggest?"
"Mom's favorite flowers are daffodils," Bahati said innocently. Panthro eyed the boy, who became very intent on sucking the last bit of ice cream out of his cone. 'Mom's favorite flowers are daffodils', indeed. Panthro may not have been a lady-killer, but he knew the effect an unexpected bouquet of flowers had on a woman. Of course, his future relationship with Bahati could hinge on how bad Laini reacted to the earrings.
"And what brought that subject up?" Panthro asked. Bahati affected an expression of pure innocence.
"It just came to mind because that man over there is selling them." Bahati pointed. Panthro looked around to see a man of the Serval Clan hawking a wide variety of flowers from his cart. Sure enough, he had bouquets of several different varieties of daffodil. Panthro gave his son the eye.
"You're a pretty sharp kid, you know that?" Bahati's mask of innocence never slipped.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Dad."
Panthro was still muttering to himself when he brought Bahati home, a bouquet of bright yellow daffodils in one hand. The boy let himself in without knocking.
"Mom! I'm ho-ome!" he bellowed just inside the door. There was no answer.
"Maybe she went out for a little while," Panthro suggested. Bahati frowned.
"She said she'd be here all day. MOM?! ARE YOU HOME?!" Panthro rubbed one ear.
"Why don't we try looking for her instead of shouting the Lair down?" He asked.
"Okay." Bahati muttered, wandering towards a door. Panthro chose a door in the opposite direction.
"Mom?" Bahati's voice was faint and distant as Panthro investigated Laini's newly built lab. He had to admit, she had some marvelous machinery in this place. If they were on speaking terms, the chances were a lot better she might let him use some of this hardware. Good thing he had let Bahati talk him into buying the flowers. Panthro was just about ready to head back to the front door when something caught his eye in the very back room. It looked as if something had been written on a wall. Cautiously, he went back to investigate. Scrawled on the back wall were the words: The Imara tribe will die! The boy is next!! The paint looked almost like blood. A chill ran up Panthro's spine. Every nerve suddenly singing, Panthro crept closer. There were signs of a struggle all around. Another step closer and Panthro could see over a table that had blocked his view of the entire room.
"Oh gods," he choked. Laini was crumpled face down in the middle of the floor, a pool of blood spread out around her. Panthro's eyes flickered briefly to the threat painted on the wall. It wasn't paint it was blood; Laini's blood. Panthro kicked the table out of the way and rushed to the fallen panther's side. Dropping the flowers he still clutched in one hand, he gingerly felt through Laini's blood stained hair for a pulse. Her skin was cool to the touch, but he found a faint heartbeat.
"Dad? I can't find Mom anywhere . . . ," Bahati's voice trailed off as he appeared in the doorway. The boy's intense yellow eyes grew round. "Mom?" he said weakly. Panthro rushed towards him, hustling him out into the main part of the laboratory.
"Bahati, you've got to listen to me very carefully; run down to the medical bay and tell whoever's on duty that Laini needs emergency medical care. Can you do that for me?" Panthro asked, years of combat experience keeping his voice level and steady. Bahati's eyes were wide and brimming with tears.
"Mom's still alive?!"
"For the moment, but she needs medical care. Run to the medbay! Now! As fast as you can!" Panthro shoved the boy towards the door. Bahati ran as hard as he'd ever run before.
"You know, I swear it gets longer every time I look at it," Pumyra announced, inspecting Siberia's tail. Siberia giggled.
"That's what I say to Tygra every night," she announced, winking at the man in question.
"Siberia!" Tygra cried, blushing and grinning at the same time. Pumyra rolled her eyes and gave Siberia's tail a sharp tug.
"Oh!"
"I mean your tail, pervert," The puma healer announced. Siberia glared at her briefly, then appeared to think for a moment.
"Well, I have to make a conscious effort to keep my tail at its shortest. I guess since I haven't been actively trying to keep it as short as possible, it's slowly relaxing bit by bit." Siberia flicked her tail out of Pumyra's grip and peered over her shoulder at the appendage. "Pretty soon it could be at its full length all the time."
"Good," Tygra growled, putting his arms around Siberia. "That tail of yours is so sexy. The longer it gets, the better." He leaned down to kiss her when the door burst open and Bahati rushed in on the verge of panic.
"Bahati?" Tygra said.
"What's the matter?!" Pumyra cried. Bahati sucked in a few deep breaths.
"My Mom is hurt and she needs help and Panthro's there already and she's bleeding and she needs help right away!"
Nearly three hours had passed by the time Lion-O returned to Capitol City. By the time he rushed to Laini's quarters, the lab was cordoned off, Laini was in surgery in the medical bay, Bahati was struggling not to cry, and the rest of the ThunderCats were gathered in the front room. Lion-O entered the room and locked eyes with Cheetara.
"What happened here?" he asked.
"We're not sure. Panthro and Bahati came home and found Laini on the floor of her lab. Tygra and Pumyra have her in surgery right now. The attacker left a message on the wall of the room."
"Yes, I was told about it." Lion-O looked over Cheetara's shoulder to where Bahati sat staring straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to everyone around him. He put a hand on the small of the cheetah's back and led her a tactful distance away. At the same time, he gestured for the others to join them. Lynx-O, Bengali, WileyKit and WileyKat joined them quickly. Panthro hesitated, not wanting to leave Bahati alone with Snarf. After a moment he joined his teammates anyway.
"What do we know?" Lion-O asked when they were all together.
"Quite little, I'm afraid," Lynx-O sighed. "The cameras in the hallways all experienced technical difficulty around the time of the attack. The guards saw nothing suspicious and Laini's laboratory is soundproof, so no one heard anything." Lion-O sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Do we have anything on the message?" he asked. There was an awkward silence. "Well, who would have known that Laini and Bahati belong to the Imara tribe?" the young lord asked.
"Laini wasn't a member of the Imara tribe," Panthro growled.
"What do you mean?"
"Laini was a member of the Waridi tribe," the panther warrior specified. "I am a member of the Imara tribe. Since Bahati is my son, he's also a member of the Imara tribe." Lion-O nodded.
"Who would have known this?" he asked. Panthro sighed and glared at the floor.
"Laini and Bahati registered with the Panther Clan with the rest of their colony. The Panther Clan's genealogy records are public domain. Anyone could have walked into the Clan Council's building and looked it up." Lion-O bit back a curse. Another dead end!
"Excuse me?" They all turned. Siberia stood in the doorway. "I just wanted to let you all know that Laini's going to be all right. Her injuries weren't that bad." Bahati breathed a huge sigh of relief and put his head in his hands. Siberia approached the assembled ThunderCats.
"Siberia, can you tell us anything pertinent?" Lynx-O asked.
"Laini was shot four times at close range with an old-fashioned firearm; the kind that shoots metal bullets. Her left arm was torn up pretty badly, but the other three bullets hit her ribcage. It would have been fatal, but she was wearing some sort of super thin body armor. All they had to deal with were the impact wounds."
"Impact wounds?" Bengali echoed, a look of confusion on his face.
"Yes. Say you were to nail someone in the chest with that hammer of yours. It wouldn't actually penetrate their skin, but it would break ribs and could possibly rupture something." Siberia explained. The golden weretigress cast a glance at the cordoned-off door. "Who's processing the scene?" she asked.
"Processing the scene?" Lion-O echoed. "We already read the message."
"Did you bother to read the scene?" She asked. This earned her another round of puzzled looks. "So no one has recorded anything? I'm sorry, did you actually want to catch the person who did this?" She asked sarcastically.
"Siberia!" Cheetara cried in disapproval. Siberia shook her head.
"Somebody get me a camera." She ordered, ripping aside the tape over the door.
"Siberia!" Cheetara repeated as the tigress entered the lab. The ThunderCats exchanged a look. It wasn't as if any of them could physically stop her.
"I believe we should get her a camera," Lynx-O announced.
"Kit, Kat, go get a camera for Siberia," Lion-O ordered as the other ThunderCats began to file into the laboratory. Siberia was crouched by the bloodstain Laini had left on the floor.
"Well, what does your 'reading' tell us?" Cheetara asked her. Siberia sighed and took in the whole room with a long, slow look.
"Laini struggled with her attacker," she announced.
"There's a revelation," Panthro growled. "Do you want to waste our time some more or are you ready to go back to being Tygra's resident piece of ass?" That gave Siberia pause. She appeared to hold her breath for a second, then straightened.
"Tygra and Pumyra found blood and skin under Laini's nails. I've already convinced them to bag the samples for testing. Laini's attacker was someone she knew; someone who hated her. This was a sloppy job. It was a crime of passion, not of some rival tribe," Siberia gave the words on the wall a dismissive wave. "The Imara tribe thing is just a smokescreen. But look at how the word 'boy' is written. It's a bit larger than the other letters. I'd say the attacker really is planning on going after Bahati." The tigress paused and took in the wrecked room. "Whoever attacked Laini roughed her up before they subdued her. They must have really hated her." Siberia looked back down at the bloodstain on the floor. "Judging from the angle of the blood splatters, the person stood over her and fired execution style." She held one hand over the bloodstain, miming pulling a trigger. "But then they didn't bother to check and see if she was actually dead. So, they were enough of a warrior to subdue Laini, but not enough of a killer to make sure the job was finished. This person also knew that firing a laser inside the Lair would set off the alarms; that's why the old firearm was used. We're looking for a warrior who was in close contact with Laini, who knew her, who might have even been her friend, but had enough of a reason to hate her."
"Like those false ThunderCats from her colony," Cheetara said quietly. "Lion-O, you stripped them of their titles, but you let Laini keep hers. They didn't like her to start with; that might have been enough to make them hate her."
"How do you know all this, Siberia?" Lion-O asked, obviously impressed. Siberia gave him a solemn look.
"I may have only recently become a killer myself, but I've been preying on predators my whole life," she said quietly. Then Siberia glared at Panthro. "And I'm much more than a great piece of ass, thank you very much." Panthro looked suitably abashed. The twins came in through the door, Kit carrying a camera. The liger cub tossed the camera to Siberia, who caught it without missing a beat.
"Ah, thanks much." The tigress began to snap photos of the room. The ThunderCats backed out into the hallway, leaving her to her work.
"One of the false ThunderCats, or a member of a rival tribe? Which lead should we follow, Lion-O?" Lynx-O asked.
"Just to be on the safe side, we follow both. Cheetara, you, Bengali and Siberia should check out the false ThunderCats. Lynx-O, you and I will check the records of the Panther Clan and see who has accessed them recently. Panthro, you . . you—," Lion-O trailed off when he saw the look on Panthro's face.
"I have to look after my son," the panther warrior said tersely.
"Right; of course. Kit, Kat you two stay here and help Tygra, Pumyra, or Panthro however you can. All right?" There was a round of solemn nods. "Siberia, did you hear that?"
"I heard," Siberia called from the doorway. Finishing with her pictures, Siberia paused to sniff the air. This lab was a myriad of strange scents. But there was one that could be attributed to a person besides Laini. It was a strange, muddled scent, as if it were trying to meld two scents together. Siberia filed the scent away for future reference and joined Cheetara and Bengali for their task.
"Now don't worry, snyarf, snyarf, Tygra and Pumyra are the best healers on New Thundera; they'll make sure Laini is just fine. Are you sure you wouldn't like to lie down? Or maybe have a good cry?" Bahati rested his head in his hands, trying to ignore Snarf. He had only a passing acquaintance with the Lord's old nursemaid, but he was starting to get very irritated with him. Snarf was worse than his Mom at her most suffocating. His Mom . . . Bahati bit his lip and tried to will back the tears that stung his eyes. Who would want to hurt his Mom? The ex-ThunderCats from their colony, maybe. None of them liked her at all, with the possible exception of Sarken. Sarken was at least civil to Laini. Bahati looked up sharply as someone laid a large but gentle hand on his shoulder. It was Panthro. It was his Dad, Bahati corrected himself. Panthro knelt down beside the boy.
"Bahati, I think it would be best if you stayed with me for a few days, all right?" Panthro said quietly. Bahati nodded miserably. "Did Laini say anything about anyone coming to see her today?" Panthro asked. Bahati thought for a moment.
"Just Lord Lion-O. He wants to get SmartSuits made for all the ThunderCats." Panthro nodded.
"All right. Why don't you pack up a few things and we'll go to my quarters for a while, Okay?" Bahati nodded again and went to his room.
Siberia paused outside the interview room. All five of the pseudo ThunderCats from had been gathered to undergo questioning. So far, Siberia had sat through Lusan, Pyaber, and Cabcoh's interviews. The warriors had all tried to convince the two ThunderCats and the golden tigress that they had really liked Laini. They were all lying through their teeth, of course, but they were totally unaware of the attack on Laini. Siberia knew they weren't guilty; none of them matched the scent. Then Pardus was brought in. The large male leopard threw himself down sullenly in the chair provided for him and glared at the trio.
"Look, I don't know what this is about, but I didn't do it. I've been pulling guard duty all night and I was asleep when the palace guard came to my door," He growled. Siberia stared at him intently. The scent . . . it was almost a match for the one she had detected in Laini's laboratory. Almost, but not quite. Maybe one half of the scent that had been in Laini's laboratory. Siberia slipped out of the room for a moment and beckoned to one of the guards.
"Do you have the authority to search this man's residence?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," the guard answered, looking slightly puzzled. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you think he's guilty?"
"The nose knows," Siberia murmured, half to herself.
"What?"
"Never mind, just let me know if you find anything interesting, all right?"
"Yes, ma'am." The guard left, taking a few others with him. Siberia slipped back into the interrogation room.
"Laini?" Pardus said. "I can't stand her. She drives me straight up a wall. Why? Somebody try to beat some sense into her or something? Who should I thank?" Bengali's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You might want to take this a little more seriously," Cheetara said calmly. "Someone tried to kill Laini this morning." Pardus's sour expression turned to shock.
"They did? Is she going to make it?" The leopard suddenly jumped, as if he now fully understood the situation. "I didn't do it! I mean, sure, I didn't like her, and . . . and said I was going to throttle her--," Pardus trailed off, a mournful look on his face. "I'm screwed, aren't I?"
"Yep!" Bengali said cheerfully. Siberia nudged the white tiger disapprovingly.
"Well, let's just say the evidence is not in your favor," Siberia took a slow, deep breath, trying to analyze Pardus's scent without being conspicuous. "Do you have a mate? A girlfriend, or someone else you're intimate with on a regular basis?" Siberia asked. Lovers sometimes shared scents. The golden tigress was starting to pick up Tygra's scent on her skin regularly. Pardus frowned.
"Why? What kind of question is that?" The two ThunderCats gave her a puzzled look. Yeah, what kind of question was that?
"I'm just asking in case you have someone who can vouch for your whereabouts when Laini was attacked, that's all," Siberia lied.
"Oh," Pardus relaxed slightly. "Yes, in fact. Sarken, the snow leopard, and I live together. She was at work this morning while I was asleep, though." Siberia nodded. That explained the double scent, but there were still some gaping holes in the questioning.
"Bahati, I want you to just relax and consider this your home until Laini is ready to go home, Okay?" Panthro said, trying to sound as optimistic as possible. The boy nodded, taking in Panthro's sparsely decorated quarters silently. Tears hovered on the rim of the young boy's eyelids, but he was determined not to let them fall. Panthro sighed. He didn't know what to say. Words of comfort were not his specialty. Panthro led the boy to his bedroom.
"You can sleep here until I get a cot set up for you. Um, you can put your things in the last two drawers of the dresser." Bahati nodded and obediently put his clothes in the assigned drawers. Panthro frowned. Bahati was a great kid, full of energy and bounce. It was really hurting Panthro to see the boy's fire extinguished. My son, Panthro corrected himself. The boy is my son. Panthro sat on the edge of his bed and gingerly rubbed the back of his neck.
"You know, Bahati, if there's anything you want to say or to talk about, you can tell me." Bahati sat back on his heels, still facing the dresser.
"I – I shouldn't have gone into town with you today," the lad announced in a broken whisper. Panthro stared. He couldn't have heard him right.
"What? Why not?" Bahati was silent for a few minutes longer. His breathing was labored, but studiously even. He was crying, Panthro realized.
"I should have stayed home to protect Mom," Bahati choked. Panthro was struck speechless.
"Bahati, you're just a cub; there wasn't anything you could have done."
"I could have done something!" A broken sob escaped Bahati's careful control. The boy choked, struggling to regain composure. "I-I could've distracted the guy for minute, or I could've gotten a look at him, or--,"
"Bahati, if you had been there, the attacker would have tried to kill you both," Panthro said as gently as he knew how. "You weren't wearing body armor like your mom was. You would have died. And then how would Laini have felt when she got better?" The cub was silent for a minute.
"I didn't think of that," he said quietly. Panthro got up off of the bed and knelt behind his son.
"Laini will be fine. We'll catch her attacker, and things will be better, you'll see." Panthro chuckled low in his throat. "Besides, a cub your age shouldn't be trying to be his mother's protector," he announced, laying a hand on Bahati's shoulder. Bahati suddenly spun and threw Panthro's hand off of his shoulder.
"No one else is going to!" He cried, looking Panthro in the eye for the first time. "Everyone hates my mom! She's never done anything to anyone! I'm all she's got!" Panthro drew back from his offspring's sudden outburst.
"That's not true," Panthro said.
"Yes it is!" Bahati cried, wiping at his streaming eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.
"No, it's not," Panthro corrected, his tone growing stern. "Didn't you see all the ThunderCats coming together to help her? They all like her. And Lord Lion-O allowed Laini to stay a ThunderCat after he dismissed the rest from your colony because he likes her."
"What about you?" Bahati asked sullenly.
"Ah, me?" Panthro hesitated. "Well, I'm sure she's very nice once you get to know her." That was lame, Panthro had to admit, but it was the best he could come up with. Bahati glared at him.
"See? You don't like her either. You, of all people!"
"What do you mean? Why 'me, of all people'?" Panthro asked. Bahati looked down at the floor, tracing the pattern on the carpet with one finger. He mumbled something incoherent. "What?" Bahati took a slow, deep breath.
"M-Mom used to tell me all sorts of stories about you," the boy whispered. "How you were the strongest, bravest warrior in the Panther Clan. About how you were kind to people less fortunate than you, too. Things like . . . how you once fought off a whole squad of Monkey Mutants during a battle." Panthro remembered that. He had been so panicked about being surrounded by Monkians that he had just kept fighting with a desperation born of fear. To his utter surprise, he had taken out a whole squad of Mutants. ". . . And how you once held up a collapsing building until everyone got out. She wanted me to see you as a hero. I think she started believing her own propaganda, though. Mom used to get this look on her face when she talked about you; like you were her hero, too. Now she actually gets to meet you and you hate her!" Bahati drove his claws into the carpet out of frustration. Panthro was torn between telling Bahati to let go of the carpet and complimenting him on the use of the word 'propaganda'. The panther Clan warrior laid a comforting hand on his son's shoulder.
"Bahati, I don't hate Laini. We just got off on the wrong foot. I'm certain we'll grow to be friends. Now, come with me; I have an idea of what we can do to cheer you up."
"Oh hell," Siberia muttered, taking in the sight before her. The lion guard she had dispatched to Pardus's quarters held up a white hooded jacket, the front splattered with blood.
"One of the saberdogs found it jammed into a hole in the brickwork at the back of the house," The guard reported. Siberia groaned and rubbed her face with her hands. The evidence was starting to pile up against Pardus, but he still displayed total ignorance of the attack. He could have been faking, but if he was, he was the best damn actor Siberia had ever seen.
"Well, I think this clinches the case," Bengali said. "We'll arrest Pardus and start a full investigation of him right now." The white tiger rose and began the process. Siberia and Cheetara remained seated.
"Tygra says you have a psychic gift," Siberia said. "What do you think?" Cheetara remained silent for a minute.
"You know more about criminals than I do," Cheetara countered. "What do you think?"
"I asked first," Siberia retorted. The tigress heaved a huge sigh. "This whole situation stinks."
"Something just isn't right," Cheetara agreed. "There's still a very dark secret being hidden. I'd feel a lot better if I knew what it was."
"You can't . . . I don't know, go into a trance or something?"
"I could try," Cheetara said uncertainly. "Sometimes if I have to force it, nothing comes." Siberia laid her face in her hands.
"Damn it," she growled under her breath. Out in the hallway, a sudden ruckus made the two female cats start.
"Pardus, how could you, how could you?!" a sweet feminine voice wailed. Siberia and Cheetara went to the door and peered out. Sarken the snow leopardess was sobbing hysterically, slapping at Pardus as the guards put him in chains.
"But, Sarken, baby, I didn't!" Pardus protested, trying to shield himself from the blows.
"I don't believe you! You killed Laini!!" Sarken wailed.
"She's the real supportive sort," Cheetara muttered sarcastically. Siberia chuckled under her breath. The weretigress sniffed. The two leopards together completed the scent that had been in Laini's laboratory all right.
"Laini's not dead!" Pardus cried. "And I didn't attack her! Baby, don't you believe me?!" Sarken stopped her assault abruptly.
"Laini's not dead?" She sniffled sweetly. "Is she going to be okay?"
"We're not sure yet," Cheetara admitted, coming forward. "But rest assured, we will get to the bottom of things." Sarken wiped at her streaming eyes.
"That's sniff that's good to know," she whispered, smiling bravely.
"Bahati, this will be your first martial arts lesson! We have stretch first, though, Okay?" Panthro announced. Bahati nodded eagerly. He wasn't quite back up to his usual captive tornado self, but it was a great improvement. They had moved down into the Lair gym. Panthro had shed the spiked straps that usually adorned his shoulders; he didn't want to puncture his son on accident. Bahati had stripped off his shirt and stood before his father in just his loose black trousers and black sash.
"I know all about stretching!" Bahati announced eagerly, and then did the splits. Panthro's brows rose. That was straight down, all the way down, both legs perpendicular to the trunk of his body. Damn, Panthro himself couldn't do it that easily. Bahati twisted and then stretched out over his right leg. More accurately, he laid his chest flat against his own thigh and wrapped his hands around his right foot.
"Ah, Bahati? Where did you learn your stretching techniques from?" Panthro asked as the boy twisted and pulled himself through one stretch after another.
"Mom taught me," Bahati said, a bit on the quiet side. "She doesn't want me to learn to fight, but she taught me all about yoga and tumbling."
"Yoga? Tumbling?" Panthro echoed.
"Yeah. I'm really good; watch!" Bahati got onto the mats, backed up a little way, then ran forward and launched himself into a series of cartwheels, a few round offs, then what must have been a dozen back handsprings in a row. He landed neatly on his feet, then held his arms out proudly. "Ta-da!" Applause made both panthers look around. WileyKit and WileyKat were standing in the doorway. Kit was clapping loudly, a wide grin on her face. Kat looked considerably less enthused, but he was applauding as well. Bahati grinned and repeated his performance, ending up at his father's feet. Panthro smiled.
"You're right, you are really good. When you learn to fight, that ability will come in handy."
"Yeah," Bahati said uncertainly. "I don't know . . . Mom really doesn't want me to fight. Maybe I should be a tumbler."
"A tumbler?!" Panthro barely managed not to yell the words. "Bahati, listen to me very carefully. Tumbling is a girl sport. No son of mine is going to be a tumbler."
"That's not right, Panthro!" Kit cried, approaching the pair with her brother in tow. "Boys and girls can be whatever they want, you know!" She chastised him, giggling the whole while.
"Don't listen to her," Panthro told his son, giving him a lopsided grin. Bahati didn't return the expression.
"Tumbling is a girl sport?" He repeated. "I've been tumbling ever since I could walk."
"Don't get me wrong, it takes a lot of work and it's a very good base to start martial arts training, but it shouldn't be all you know," Panthro explained.
"Panthro, that's chauvanist!" Kit cried. Kat nodded his agreement.
"Kit's right. For once," he brother said quietly. Bahati appeared to be digesting all of this. He turned to his father with a calculating look.
"How do you feel about yoga and contortion?" He asked. Panthro gave his son a quizzical look.
"Contortion?" He echoed.
"Yeah! Something like . . . well, something like this," Bahati took a few steps away and did a handstand. He stayed in that position for a second, then slowly began to arch his spine backwards. His back going into a tighter and tighter curve, Bahati finally stopped and curled his feet back towards his head. They were just level with his ears.
"This is as far as I can go on this one," the boy panted. "Mom can touch her toes under her chin." Panthro found himself waiting for the crack of Bahati's spine snapping in two.
"Stop doing that!" he cried in dismay. "You'll break something!" Bahati laughed and flipped easily back upright.
"Wow, that was cool! Can you teach me how to do that?" Kit asked eagerly.
"I guess so. It takes a lot of practice to be this flexible, though."
"Your mother taught you that?" Panthro asked. Then another thought crossed his mind. "She can touch her toes under her chin? What else can she do?"
"Well, she can do lots of stuff. She can put her feet behind her head. Um, she can practically fold herself in half!" Bahati laughed.
"Really?" Panthro had never had a woman quite that flexible; maybe it was worth getting to know Laini better after all. Kat had wandered back towards the doors to the gym and had taken out his communicator.
"Hey guys!" he called. "Laini is out of surgery! Tygra wants us to come up to the medical bay now."
Back in Laini's laboratory, Snarf was just finishing the clean up. The sooner he could get out of here, the better. Snarf didn't like messing around down in Panthro's garage, but compared to this place it was as cozy as a snarf nest. Strange things bubbling in tubes sat side by side with, and in some cases were nestled in, high-tech looking machinery that could probably tear an unwary snarf in half. Snarf could have sworn something was moving around in the shadows, watching him. By the Great Snarf, this place was creepy. Snarf quickly gathered his cleaning supplies and got ready to rush out the door when something lying against the wall caught his eye. A bouquet of bright yellow daffodils had been tossed carelessly aside. What was a bouquet of flowers doing here? By the position, it looked like someone standing in the doorway had thrown them aside. Oh wait, Panthro had found Laini, hadn't he? Had he brought her flowers? Oh, that was so sweet! Snarf knew Panthro had a soft side, deep down. The ex-nursemaid carefully gathered up the daffodils and carried them out. He knew he had a nice vase somewhere; Laini would love a fresh bouquet by her bedside when she awoke.
Tygra walked into the main room of the medical lab where Panthro, Bahati, and the kittens waited. The tiger had stripped off his gloves and mask, but still wore the long white healers' gown. Panthro couldn't help noticing there were bloodstains on the sleeves.
"Pumyra's finishing up with Laini now," Tygra announced. "She'll be unconscious for about another hour at least, but you can go in and see her in a few minutes."
"How is she, Tygra?" Panthro asked.
"She's doing really well," he answered, smiling. "She won't be able to use her left arm for a while, but everything else looks really good. Her back is very badly bruised, but we've stopped the sub-dermal bleeding. She should be just fine." Bahati let out a relieved breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Apparently, she was wearing some sort of super-thin body armor," Tygra continued.
"Yeah, that was the Armorcloth," Bahati said quietly. "Mom was trying to figure out how to integrate it into the SmartSuits and make it keep its structural matrix at the same time. I guess she figured out a way." For a moment, tears hovered on the edge of the young cub's lids, but he quickly blinked them away.
"Bahati, it's all right," Panthro said softly, laying a hand on his son's shoulder. Bahati smiled gratefully up at his father. Kit grinned to herself and stepped a shade closer to Bahati. She looked shyly at the young panther with a blush on her cheeks. WilyKat stared at the three of them then shook his head in disbelief. Unnoticed, the liger cub slipped out of the door.
"I swear on the Eye, I'm not guilty! I never laid a hand on Laini!" Pardus wailed, sitting in a cell. The cellblock door opened and within a few moments, the King of Thundera stood before his cell. The leopard quieted. Cheetara, Lynx-O, Bengali, and Siberia appeared behind their liege lord.
"Are you willing to do that?" Lion-O asked quietly. Pardus looked confused.
"Willing to do what, my lord?" Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens from the Claw Shield and held it out to Pardus, hilt first.
"Swear on the Eye," Lion-O clarified. Pardus hesitated. The tense, angry, and slightly disappointed look on Lion-O's face almost made him doubt his own innocence. The leopard warrior reached out and gripped the hilt of the mystic sword.
"I swear on my honor and on the Eye, I never tried to kill Laini," he stated somberly. The Sword of Omens stayed quiet, with just a barely audible background hum and the faintest benevolent glow emanating from the Eye.
"He speaks the truth," Lion-O announced. "Lynx-O, let him out of there."
"Lion-O, are you sure?" Cheetara asked. "Maybe we should keep him in custody until we catch the real attacker."
"I agree with Cheetara," Siberia announced quietly. Lion-O gave them both a startled look.
"You doubt the Eye of Thundera?"
"Well--," Cheetara began uncertainly.
"It's not that," Siberia interrupted. "Someone went to an awful lot of trouble to make us think Pardus was the one trying to kill Laini. If we let him out, then the real attacker will know that we didn't buy it. As long as the perpetrator thinks we're concentrating on Pardus, they'll feel comfortable enough to act again. We can catch them when they go after Bahati."
"Yeah; what she said," Cheetara quickly agreed. There was a moment of silence as all present digested this information.
"It sounds like a wise idea to me, Lion-O," Lynx-O said.
"Rawr, I think so, too," Bengali announced. Lion-O turned to Pardus.
"Are you willing to stay here for a while longer?" he asked the captive leopard.
"If it will help catch Laini's attacker," Pardus assented quietly, leaning against the bars. Lion-O smiled at Pardus.
"It seems I misjudged you. Thank you for your help," the young king said quietly.
"Just because I don't like Laini doesn't mean I want her dead. If this will help bring the person who attacked her to justice, I can stand it."
"Maybe you're not such a bastard after all," Lion-O conceded, grinning widely. "I take back what I said about you." Pardus started to return the king's grin, then frowned.
"You called me a bastard?" he asked in disbelief.
"Ah, anyway! Siberia, what is our next move?" Lion-O quickly changed the subject. Lynx-O chuckled to himself.
Laini's eyes fluttered open with difficultly. She was somewhere she didn't recognize, and she was lying on her stomach. Everything else was lost in a fuzzy pink haze.
"Laini? Laini, can you hear me?" Laini managed to focus on the large male tiger crouching next to her bed. "Laini, how do you feel?" Tygra asked.
"Uuuhhhnn . . . . pink," she answered after a moment.
"Ah, okay . . . ," Tygra said uncertainly. "I guess we'll have to wait until your pain meds wear off a little before we can get any answers."
"The answer is 42," Laini told him solemnly. Tygra gave her a puzzled frown.
"The answer to what is 42?"
"Everything." The panthress whispered.
"Ok-ay," Tygra conceded. "Bahati wants to see you, if you're feeling up to it."
"Who?" Laini's lids had fallen almost closed again; only thin slits of yellow showed through her thick lashes.
"Bahati? Your son?" Tygra prompted.
"Oh right; sure, send her in." The little panther woman mumbled. Tygra fought back a laugh, but left the room. Panthro and Bahati were standing just outside in the main area of the medbay. Pumyra was relaxing on one of the chairs, unwinding after the surgery with a hot cup of tea. WileyKit was standing near the puma healer.
"We've got Laini's pain medication dialed up a little high," he told Pumyra. Then he turned to Bahati and Panthro. "You two can go in to see her now, but she's feeling a little loopy. She might fall asleep again." Panthro looked down at Bahati, who nodded. He wanted to see his mother, loopy or not. The two panthers stepped into the recovery room. It was small, but comfortably furnished. Laini was lying on her stomach on a bed, a few monitors hooked to her wrist. A small green screen in one of the accompanying machines blipped out a steady rhythm as it monitored her heartbeat. The lights had been dimmed down and the curtains drawn. Laini was lying with her head turned towards the window.
"Mom?" Bahati asked, creeping around the bed. The little panther woman stirred. "Mom? It's me, Bahati." The cub approached his mother, leaning down until he was right next to her face.
"Bahati?" Laini's canary yellow eyes fluttered open. "Is that you? I can't see very well; it's kind of dark. . . . "
"I'll open the curtains a little," Panthro told the pair. Had he been less stressed over the current situation, Panthro might have found it odd that Laini attributed the difficultly to see to darkness rather than the fact that her glasses were missing. Laini squinted as the ThunderCat warrior let in more light.
"Oh, hi sweetie," she cooed when Bahati's features were illuminated. "Why the long face? Who die--," Laini's joke was cut off sharply. The rate of the heart monitor suddenly increased. A look of intense fear wracked Laini's face.
"Mom?! What's wrong? What is it?" Bahati asked with alarm. His mother was staring past him to Panthro. Turning, Bahati looked back at his father. With the open window behind him, all that could be seen was a large male silhouette.
"I'm sorry," Laini whispered in a tiny voice. "I'm sorry!" She buried her face in the pillow and began to tremble.
"Mom?!"
"Laini?! What's the matter?" Panthro asked, coming towards her. Once he was away from the window, his features could be distinguished once again. Laini hazarded peeking out from the pillow and sighed with relief.
"Panthro . . ." she breathed in obvious relief. "I-I thought . . ." Tears welled up in her eyes and began to spill down her cheeks.
"Mom?" Tears formed in Bahati's eyes as well. Panthro felt an overwhelming urge to find whatever was hurting his family and kill it slowly and painfully. He already owed somebody a beating, preferably to death, for wounding Laini. Unfortunately, a pummeling couldn't defuse the current situation. Panthro rubbed Bahati's back comfortingly then sat beside Laini. Leaning in close to her, the Panther Clan's greatest warrior did his best to wipe her tears away.
"Laini, please don't cry. Whoever hurt you; I won't let them do it again. I swear it!" Laini looked up at him hopefully, but shrank back as he fiercely growled the last sentence. Damn it, he had frightened her again. She was such a teeny, tiny little thing and she frightened so easily. Panthro normally had nothing but exasperation for timid people, but Laini's fear was eliciting a new emotion from him: protectiveness.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to frighten you. Please don't be afraid of me, Laini. I promise I'll protect you." Laini stared at him, eyes wavering in and out of focus as the adrenalin rush from her scare left her and the anesthetic kicked in again.
"I . . . don't leave me in the dark," she pleaded. Don't leave her in the dark? Panthro gave Bahati a questioning look, but his son looked just as confused as he felt.
"Uh, don't worry, Laini," Panthro said in what he hoped was a soothing tone. He pulled a stray lock of hair away from her face. "Bahati and I are right here. We won't leave you." Bahati came over to Panthro and, after a moment's hesitation, crawled into his lap. Laini regarded the pair from under heavily lidded eyes and smiled slightly to herself. After a few moments, her eyes drifted close. The rhythm of her breathing grew slow and steady. Panthro hugged his son tightly.
"Come on, Bahati, let's let your Mom get some sleep," he announced.
"Dad, can we come back later? After dinner, maybe?" Bahati asked.
"Sure, Bahati, after dinner."
It was nearly midnight. As promised, Panthro had returned with Bahati after dinner. Laini had slept through the entire visit, but Bahati had coaxed him to stay, pointing out quite correctly that they had promised not to leave Laini alone in the dark. Being nighttime, it certainly counted as dark, so they should stay in case Laini woke up during the night. Tygra and Panthro had dragged in a loveseat from the lounge area and shoved it into a corner. Panthro had his chin resting in one hand, elbow on the armrest as he dozed. Bahati was curled up on the other half of the couch, his head resting in his father's lap. The only illumination in the room was a small lamp by Laini's bed. United by an unknown danger, this family of strangers slept fitfully.
In another part of Cats' Lair, Cheetara wandered into the kitchen. Trying to sleep was pointless; maybe a midnight snack would help relax her.
"I've already got milk and cookies if you want some," a mellow voice offered. Cheetara whirled, staring into the darkness with wide eyes. She could just barely make out Siberia sitting at the table with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk.
"You nearly scared the spots off of me!" The speedster declared.
"Sorry," the golden tigress said. "You couldn't sleep either, huh?"
"No," Cheetara sighed, flipping on the lights and getting a glass out of the cabinet. As the lights came back on, Siberia's irises suddenly retracted from filling her entire eye to the normal size. The cheetah paused for a moment before she sat down. "That is so creepy."
"I just didn't want to bother anybody else by turning on the lights," Siberia announced with a rueful grin. "I keep thinking there's something I'm missing."
"I know what you mean," Cheetara sighed, pouring herself some milk. "Where's Tygra?"
"Snoring like a chainsaw," Siberia declared with a grin. "He and Pumyra spent four hours in surgery today; I imagine both of them are sleeping like logs."
"Well, I'm certainly envious. They're probably the only people in the Lair that are sleeping well tonight."
Panthro jerked as his chin began to slide off of his hand. Yawning, the weary panther looked over at Laini, who was still sleeping like . . . well, sleeping like someone who was heavily medicated. Lucky. Bahati was still snoozing; in fact, he had begun to drool on Panthro's leg. At least someone was getting some rest around here. Panthro put his chin back in his hand, ready for another attempt at something resembling sleep. A minute later, the panther warrior's eyes popped open. There was a scraping sound at the window. After a moment it became apparent the window was being forced open from the outside. A lithe figure clad completely in black seemed to ooze through the opening and made it's way over to Laini's bed. The intruder hadn't noticed the other two panthers. Their dark fur and clothing had allowed them to melt into the shadows. Very carefully, Panthro reached down and put his hand over Bahati's mouth. He gave the boy one quick, firm shake. Bahati woke instantly, his eyes growing wide at the sight before him. Panthro turned his son's face to his and put a finger over his lips. Bahati nodded. Releasing the boy, Panthro sat still while Bahati sat up and got out of his way. The ThunderCat engineer began to creep slowly and silently towards Laini's attacker.
Siberia and Cheetara looked up as Snarf entered the kitchen. He looked a bit surprised to see the both of them.
"Cheetara, Siberia, what are you two doing up, snarf snarf?" He asked.
"We couldn't sleep, Snarf. What are you doing up?" Cheetara asked. The ex-nursemaid pulled up a chair and sat with them.
"Snarfer went back to the Planet of the Snarves to visit some relatives. I decided to call and make sure he got there all right." Snarf yawned widely and helped himself to a cookie.
"So how is the investigation going? Are you guys any closer to finding out who tried to kill Laini?" he asked. In unison, both females heaved a sigh.
"No," Siberia groaned. "I still can't help thinking it was one of those false ThunderCats. Lusan and Cabcoh, the lynx and the puma, seemed to hate her the most, but they had absolutely no clue. Pyaber was just kind of there."
"The most evidence points to Pardus, but he was cleared by the Eye of Thundera. Sarken was the only one of those ThunderCats who was even remotely fond of Laini," Cheetara added. Siberia giggled.
"It was pretty funny to see her smacking Pardus around, though," the tigress admitted. "'I hate you, Pardus, you killed Laini,'" she mimicked the snow leopard in a high, mocking falsetto. Cheetara joined her in a chuckle. Snarf smiled with them, but the expression quickly faded into a puzzled look.
"Brrrr, but Laini wasn't dead. Was this before you interviewed her?" Snarf asked.
"Yes, we interviewed Sarken last," Cheetara answered. The puzzled look on Snarf's face deepened.
"So . . . who told her Laini was dead? I mean, the guards weren't allowed to say anything . . . right?" He asked. Siberia stared at him. Cheetara stared at him. The two females slowly lifted their eyes and met each other's gaze. Suddenly all the tumblers went 'click'. Of course Sarken would know the comings and goings of the Lair; along with the security arrangements. After all, her mate, Pardus, was one of the guards. They hadn't bothered to ask what Sarken's special ThunderCat skills were, but Siberia was suddenly willing to bet it had something to do with ballistics. Laini's lab was trashed not because her attacker had slapped her around but because the petite ThunderCat was struggling with someone not much bigger than herself. The half and half scent in the lab hadn't quite matched someone with a close lover . . . but it did match a woman wearing her mate's coat. A coat that she had later jammed behind the house, where she knew it would be found. She had framed her own mate to take the fall for her crime! After all, who would suspect sweet Sarken? She was the only one who actually liked Laini. Cheetara finally found her voice.
"Oh shit!"
The figure in black, a woman Panthro could now see, regarded Laini for a moment, then pulled the pillow out from underneath the panthress's head and pressed it firmly down over her face.
Lion-O suddenly sat up in bed. The Sword! He suddenly knew he had to get the Sword of Omens! Throwing off his covers, the young lord leapt out of bed and raced towards the Sword Chamber.
Panthro tackled the woman trying to smother Laini.
"Quick, Bahati, get the lights!" He bellowed. The cub scrambled towards the light switch. Panthro wrapped his arms around the woman tightly, pinned her own arms to her sides. Just as the lights came on, the Panther Clan warrior felt a searing pain in his side. Damn it, she was armed! Panthro flung her away from him and quickly inspected the shallow knife wound in his abdomen. It wasn't too bad. Because of his distraction, it was Bahati who made the discovery.
"SARKEN?!" He cried in disbelief. The snow leopard crouched, knife held in an attack position. Her blue eyes darted from Laini to Panthro and back again. She seemed to realize there was no way she could take the ThunderCat engineer with just a knife. She reached behind her and drew out a nasty-looking firearm. It fit in her hand like a laser-pistol, but it had a homemade look to it and a thick tube attached to the end of the barrel. Some sort of silencer, perhaps? Panthro grabbed the discarded pillow and hurled it at Sarken as she started to level the gun at him. The pillow hit her hand, forcing the gun up. There was a muted popping noise and the pillow erupted in a shower of feathers. Panthro grabbed Laini around the waist and dragged her out of bed, running for the door. He grabbed Bahati by the tunic on the way past and dragged him out into the hallway. Alone, he would have taken his chances and fought Sarken, even if she was armed. But he had to think of his family. Laini was struggling for full consciousness even now, and Bahati, if anything happened to Bahati, Panthro would never forgive himself. Panthro started to run for the control room, dragging his son behind him. But Sarken fast on her feet and she didn't have two people to carry. An errant shot pinged off the wall not far behind them.
"Damn!" Panthro cried. Then he spotted his salvation. Well, maybe not his salvation; but certainly Bahati's and Laini's. The gray warrior wrenched the tiny door open.
"Quick, Bahati, get in!" He ordered. Bahati hesitated.
"The laundry chute?"
"Yes, the laundry chute! Quick, get in and get ready to catch your mother!" The panther cub did as he was told, disappearing quickly down the chute. Panthro lifted Laini off of his shoulder.
"Wha? What's going on?" She asked weakly.
"No time to explain! You've got to --," He was cut off as a bullet tore through his right leg. Panthro screamed in pain and collapsed. Laini fell over the top of him. Sarken approached them slowly, a confident smirk on her face.
"Well, Laini, you've proved harder to kill than a cockroach. However, I'm going to make sure I finish the job this time," The snow leopard said coldly, leveling the gun at the panthress. "Oh, and I'm afraid you'll have to die, too, Lord Panthro. It's nothing personal, you understand; you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Sarken?! Why are you doing this?!" Laini demanded, finally starting to catch up on things. Sarken gave her a bland, honest look.
"Because I hate you, Laini. Do I really need any other reason?" The sound of running feet echoed down the hallway. Sarken cocked the hammer back on the gun. "If you want to stop me from painting the walls with the inside of Laini's head, Lady Cheetara, I suggest you slow to a walk!" The snow leopard yelled. The running stopped abruptly and Cheetara appeared around the corner at a normal pace.
"I don't know how you expect to get away with this, but rest assured, it won't work," Cheetara growled.
"Personally, I don't know how you expect to stop me," Sarken countered. "You're fast, but I doubt you're faster than a speeding bullet. Although . . . . let's just see." The leopardess suddenly pointed the gun at Cheetara and fired twice. The speedster became a golden blur as she dodged the bullets in the narrow confine of the hallway. Cheetara lunged for the snow leopard, but Sarken produced another gun from behind her back and trained it on the fallen panthers. The ThunderCat speedster was forced to abort her attack. In the silence after the gunfire, the muted sound of a body hitting the floor seemed to echo through the corridor. Sarken and Cheetara turned to see Siberia sprawling across the floor, two bullet wounds in her chest.
"Well, that was careless," Sarken declared, looking back to Cheetara. "Next time you start dodging bullets, maybe you should check and see who's behind you. Now, who's going to be next to die?"
". . .ouch . . ." Siberia growled. For the first time, uncertainty flickered in the snow leopard's eyes. People who have just taken two to the chest and lived tend to scream or moan, not say 'ouch'. With a groan, the golden tigress levered herself to her feet. The holes in her chest spurted blood down the front of her nightdress, spreading a vivid crimson stain across the pink fabric. Laini gasped at the sight. Siberia glared down at herself, then clenched her fists and snarled at Sarken.
"You bitch! You ruined my nightie!" She roared. Sarken's jaw hung slack. She had come prepared for ThunderCats, but not for someone who treated a bullet to the chest like a broken nail.
"Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of silk?!" Siberia continued. "And look at the holes! Right where they show! This was brand new, too! Tygra bought it for me last week!" Sarken continued to gape, slowly taking a step back and aiming both guns at Siberia. Cheetara eyed the shaken snow leopardess. She was distracted. More importantly, she wasn't training a weapon on Panthro and Laini. Panthro was starting to look more ashen than usual. Blood from his leg wound had pooled around him. Laini, still severely weak from Sarken's first attack, was staring at Siberia with horror and confusion.
"I'll—I'll shoot you . . . again," Sarken said, but the threat fell flat. Siberia put her hands on her hips and gave a little grunt of effort. The bullet wounds stopped bleeding. After a moment, bright pink skin closed over the holes.
"Unless you're packing silver bullets in those things, I wouldn't waste the gunpowder," The tigress announced. Sarken took an uncertain step backwards. Cheetara delivered a powerful sidekick to the snow leopard's temple. She jerked, firing off both pistols, then slumped to the floor, unconscious. One of the bullets whirred past Siberia's ear making a noise like tearing silk. The other nicked the golden tigress's neck, sending a fresh fountain of blood pouring down her neck.
"Damn it!" Siberia cried, spitting up blood. "Right in the thyroid! Now nothing's going to taste right for a week!" Cheetara ignored the weretigress's cry. After quickly removing Sarken's weaponry, she knelt by Laini and Panthro.
"Panthro! Panthro, are you okay?!" The speedster cried.
"Feel sleepy . . ." Panthro whispered. He had lost a lot of blood.
"Siberia! Quick, give me something to bandage his wound with!" Cheetara cried, applying pressure to Panthro's leg wound with her bare hands. There was a tearing noise and Siberia gingerly handed Cheetara Sarken's ripped up shirt then quickly shrank away from the bleeding panther. Cheetara took the cloth and quickly made a makeshift tourniquet. She gave Siberia a disapproving look for her sudden squeamishness.
"Don't tell me you're picky about getting blood on you now?" The speedster asked in disbelief. Siberia scowled.
"Cheetara, I'm covered in my own blood and Panthro has an open wound. Do you know what would happen if some of my blood got into his system?"
"He'd . . . . . catch a disease?" Cheetara asked uncertainly, giving the bandage one last twist.
"If you want to think of lycanthropy as a disease," Siberia said, still standing against the far wall.
"Don't make me a damn . . . were-cat," Panthro panted weakly. Before anyone could comment on his request, the sound of running feet reached their ears. Lion-O came around the corner, Sword in hand, and was confronted with the sight of Siberia, covered head to toe in blood, Panthro and Laini languishing in a pool of blood, Cheetara trying to bandage Panthro's wound, and Sarken lying topless and unconscious on the floor.
"By the Eye, what--," He began.
"Lion-O, you have to help me carry Panthro to the medical bay!" Cheetara cried. "Siberia can't do it, she might change him into a were-cat!"
"A were-cat?" Laini echoed weakly, squinting at Siberia. Lion-O sheathed the Sword and lifted Panthro gently onto his shoulder.
"I can get Laini," Siberia offered, reaching for the small panthress.
"No!" Laini cried, shrinking away from the golden tigress. Siberia froze, looking uncertainly at the small ThunderCat.
"But—," She began.
"I'll get Laini," Cheetara declared, sliding the panthress's good arm over her shoulder. "You run and get Tygra and Pumyra!"
"Uh—okay!" Siberia took off running, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind her.
It had been three days since Sarken's last attack. The snow leopardess had been imprisoned and was awaiting trial on multiple accounts of attempted murder. Siberia had proved none the worse for wear; she had spent a day and a half in bed, sleeping and eating enough for a family of four. Eventually, she had coughed up the two lead slugs that had lodged in her body and declared herself cured. Panthro underwent immediate medical treatment. The bullet wound in his leg hadn't been nearly as serious as the blood loss it caused. A simple blood transfusion and he was on the road to recovery. Laini had been subjected to a few more bruises and a hell of a scare. Bed rest and lots of painkillers soon put her to rights. While the dark-furred pair was still confined to bed in the medical bay, they were alert and comfortable as the rest of the ThunderCats gathered in the room with them.
"What's all this?" Panthro asked, eyeing the lot of them. "Don't tell me you all came in to wish me well?"
"They could have come to wish me well, too, you know," Laini retorted, smiling while she peered over the rims of her spectacles at Panthro. Siberia filed in with Tygra, lurking behind him shyly.
"Well, we have come to wish you both the best," Lion-O announced, smiling broadly. "But we have another purpose here. We need to recognize someone who did so much to help bring Sarken to justice." The young king grinned at Siberia, who looked at the floor.
"I don't know how much help I was; I just caught bullets while Cheetara knocked her out," Siberia mumbled.
"Do not be so modest," Lynx-O said. "Even, ah, 'catching bullets', as you call it, was a great sacrifice. You also headed up the investigation into the false ThunderCats." The other ThunderCats, the kittens, Bahati, and Snarf included, all started to grin widely. Tygra disentangled his fingers from Siberia's and stepped away from her. The weretigress looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"So we have decided to reward your sacrifice, Siberia," Lion-O announced, drawing the Sword of Omens. The Lord of the ThunderCats leveled the mystic blade at her chest. Siberia's blue eyes went wide.
"Wait a minute! You just said I helped!" she cried. The Sword's blade glowed blue then a bolt of energy leapt towards Siberia. The golden tigress gasped and shut her eyes against the perceived attack. Nothing happened. Siberia cautiously opened one eye. The other ThunderCats were grinning widely at her. In fact, they seemed to be grinning at her chest. Siberia looked down and gasped. The ThunderCat emblem was emblazoned across her chest.
"Me? A ThunderCat?" She said, her voice full of wonder. "I don't know what to say." Still beaming, Lion-O stepped forward.
"Swear that you'll uphold the Code of Thundera: Truth, Justice, Honor, and Loyalty. And that will be a fine thing to say."
"I swear that I will," Siberia said, bowing before her king.
"Then rise, ThunderCat Siberia," he told her. She did so, tears of happiness sparkling in her eyes. The others burst out cheering.
"A new ThunderCat means champagne for everybody, snarf, snarf!" Snarf cried, popping the cork off of a bottle. The cheering intensified. "Except you three," he amended, looking at WilyKit, WilyKat, and Bahati.
"Aww," the cubs groaned in one voice. Tygra hugged his mate, lifting her off the ground in his exuberance.
"You were in on this and you didn't tell me!" Siberia said, half joking, half accusing.
"We were all in on it," Panthro declared from his sick bed. "Everybody came in here while you were in bed yesterday and voted on it. Pass a drink over here, Snarf."
"Rawr, it was unanimous; we all thought you'd be a great ThunderCat," Bengali announced, handing champagne glasses to Tygra and Siberia.
"Everybody? Even Laini?" Siberia asked.
"Yeah, even me," Laini said, taking the glass that was offered to her. "I was bit freaked out when I saw you get pumped full of lead and come back for more, but the guys explained the whole thing to me and I figured: We all have our different strengths and weaknesses; yours are just a little more different than average. And you took three bullets for me. I like anybody who takes bullets for me," she chuckled. A round of laughter trickled through the group.
"I guess there's only one thing left to say," Lion-O said, grinning mischievously.
"And what is that?" Lynx-O asked, taking the last glass. Lion-O lifted his glass in a toast.
"To Siberia, the newest ThunderCat!" He proclaimed.
"To Siberia!" The others echoed. Before he lowered his glass, the young lord couldn't resist one last proclamation.
"ThunderCats--!"
"Hoooooooooooo!!!"
