Chapter 5
Cheetara seemed to be running forever. The beautiful sunny morning had turned into a dark and stormy afternoon. Lightening and thunder shook her surroundings as she continued to run. It was unlike any storm there had ever been on Third Earth or even Thundera for that matter. Rain pelted Cheetara's skin, clothes, and hair as she raced on. Something was calling to her but she didn't know what. There up ahead was a form lying in a clearing.
Quickly, the cheetah was at the person's side. Lightening struck and she could see who it was in the bright flash. Lion-O held the Sword of Omens above his head. However the Eye of Thundera remained silent. That's when Cheetara saw the blood that covered his torn open stomach. The Lord of the ThunderCats was dead and the Eye of Thundera had been silenced forever. That's when an enormous figure stepped from the forest and into the clearing. Upon seeing the creature, Cheetara jumped back and grabbed her bo-staff. That thing had killed Lion-O and it must pay. Without thinking, the cheetah lunged at it. The creature made one swift move and Cheetara dropped to her knees. Blood poured out the slash in her chest. The female ThunderCat fell face down and the rain soaked grass was now soaked in her blood.
A scream interrupted the quiet Third Earth night. Lights all over Cat's Lair came on. Lion-O raced from his room to the source of the horrible noise. Snarf and Tygra weren't far behind the Lord of the ThunderCats as they raced to the sound.
Lion-O was the first one to reach Cheetara's room. Without knocking, the lion entered. Quickly he reached her side and silenced the cheetah's screams. Her skin felt like ice. The look on Cheetara's face scared Lion-O. It was as if she didn't believe that he was holding onto her or that this was even real.
Snarf and Tygra burst in just as Lion-O had only a minute earlier. Upon seeing the Lord of the ThunderCats holding Cheetara, the two weren't sure what was going on. No one seemed to grasp the situation.
A few minutes passed and finally Lion-O took charge. He ordered Tygra to get a sedative and Snarf to get her some more blankets. Both did as they were told without question.
With the others gone for only a moment, Lion-O kissed Cheetara's forehead. She looked at him and whispered,
"It was hideous." He was about to ask her what she meant but Tygra raced back into the room. Giving Cheetara the sedative, the tiger asked Lion-O if she had said anything. The lion lied and said she had not. Snarf came into the room with the extra blankets. The three men put a few on her to make sure she stayed warm. They were unsure if they should leave her alone. Finally, the ThunderCats decided that Snarf would watch the sensors while Lion-O would take the first watch. Then after a few hours Tygra would take watch while Lion-O manned the sensors.
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About six hours later, Cheetara stirred from her slumber. At first, she seemed confused. Looking around like she had never been in her own room before. Tygra saw that the cheetah was up and came over to her.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Groggy." She smiled recognizing Tygra.
"Well you had us pretty worried. I'm going to get Lion-O. Be right back." The tiger promised and he left the room. All this fuss had not let him work on his project. Walking into the control room he said,
"Lion-O, Cheetara has come around. We should find out what made her spazz out like that."
"Ok. I'll get Snarf and then we'll talk to her." The Lord of the ThunderCats said. With that the two parted.
Meeting down in the female ThunderCat's room, Lion-O sat down across from her while Tygra paced the room to think.
"What happened earlier?" Lion-O asked, knowing full well that it was her nightmare. Cheetara hesitated to answer with Tygra there. She still wanted it to be a secret.
"I don't remember." She lied. This answer didn't surprise the Lord of the ThunderCats. In fact, the thing that surprised him was Tygra's reaction.
"I think the best thing for you is to get some more rest. If anything does come to you then we'll talk about." The tiger said. It was odd for him to not be more interested. Cheetara was relieved and promised she'd rest. With that Tygra left the room.
The tiger raced down the hall to his workroom. Cheetara's display was made it clear to him that the project must be hurried up. Quickly, he pulled the DNA infused cells out of the refrigerator. Tygra loaded the Petri dish into a cold pack and then loaded that into a bag full of other items. Coming out the workroom door, the tiger looked around. Neither Lion-O nor Snarf were anywhere to be seen. That's when he made a break for it.
About twenty minutes later, Tygra stood at the entrance to the Cave of Time. He pulled out the cold pack and a folded up metal object. Extending the metal object, it became a long stick with a claw on the end. Then the tiger took the Petri dish out of the cold pack and secured it in the claw.
Slowly Tygra lifted the stick and pushed it into the cave. He didn't know how long it would take the cells to multiply and divide but it shouldn't take too long. Grabbing another folded metal stick out of his bag the tiger extended it. This one had magnifying lenses and a light. Pushing that rod into the cave, Tygra was pleased with the process.
The cells had already become an infant and that infant was soon turning into an adult. Not wanting his creation to get too old, Tygra summoned up his terrific mind powers. Calling to it, the tiger coaxed it to come out of the cave. Not surprisingly the Ultimate ThunderCat answered him.
Before the tiger knew it, a cloud of dust blew up. Looking around, Tygra discovered a tall, oddly handsome creature before him.
"Hello." Tygra said aloud. At first, he wasn't sure what to expect. True his creation had the combined mental strength of Ben-Gali and himself but could it speak?
"Hello." The Ultimate ThunderCat answered. Tygra smiled.
"Welcome to Third Earth." The tiger said as he handed him a suit to put on.
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Back at Cat's Lair, Cheetara told Lion-O everything. The original dream had just shown the cheetah that Lion-O was dead. Two days ago it had changed to show her own death and now it showed her what was responsible for the murders.
The Lord of the ThunderCats was trying to hide how disturbed he was by the sequence of events. Something still bugged him about Jaga telling him that he had to make the right decision about the future. If Cheetara's dream was indeed correct then what decision would change the outcome? The alarms inside Cat's Lair went off and interrupted his thoughts.
Quickly, Lion-O and Cheetara ran down to the control room. Snarf was busy at the panels and brought up the video screen of what he presumed as trouble approaching. All three got the shock of their lives when they saw the figure on the screen.
The Sword of Omens had remained silent and Lion-O had Snarf turn off the alarms inside Cat's Lair. Then he and Cheetara raced out of the fortress and met Tygra and the strange creature.
"I want you to meet the Ultimate ThunderCat." Tygra said introducing his companion. Lion-O and Cheetara looked from the tiger to what he called the Ultimate ThunderCat back to the tiger.
"Uh Tygra? Can I talk to you for a minute alone?" Lion-O asked pulling his old friend aside.
"What exactly is that um thing for lack of a better word?" The Lord of the ThunderCats asked.
"Bob Cat, as I call him, is the answer to all our problems. If there indeed no more Thunderians, Bob can look over Third Earth while the rest of us live on New Thundera." Tygra explained. "There is no easy way to put this but he will give us a chance to extend the Thunderian race." At first, Lion-O didn't get what the tiger was trying to say but then it hit him.
"You mean…" The lion started. Tygra just nodded. The idea seemed plausible. But warning bells were sounding inside Lion-O's mind. They were telling him to remember what Jaga had warned him about.
"How did you create him?" He asked.
"I used skin samples from everyone and infused them with everyone's DNA then I took the cells to the Cave of Time and aged them. Right now I figure Bob is about twenty-one, twenty-two." Tygra clarified.
"So he's part of all of us?" Lion-O asked.
"Yes. He has Panthro's strength, the ThunderKittens cunning, Lynx-O's wisdom, Pumyra's excellent jumping skills, Cheetara's speed, Ben-Gali and mine's mental powers, and of course you're leadership and bravery skills; hence the name Ultimate ThunderCat. Bob should be able to handle any trouble that comes his way here on Third Earth." Tygra said.
Cheetara stood with Bob. This cat was close to seven feet tall. The cheetah noticed that his muscles were huge like Panthro's and a strong chin. Yet the rest of his face seemed to resemble WilyKit and WilyKat's youth. He had the fair complexion of Pumyra and herself with tiger stripes. His ears were like Lynx-O's and his hair was fiery red like Lion-O's.
"Hi. I'm Cheetara and you are?" The cheetah started.
"I'm Bob Cat; nice to meet you." Bob answered and he extended a paw. Cheetara took it and gave a firm handshake. He seemed nice and it didn't occur to her that he would be different. There was still an awkward silence between them; neither seemed to know what to say. Luckily, Lion-O and Tygra returned.
"Bob, this is Lion-O, Lord of the ThunderCats." Tygra said.
"Sir, it is an honor to meet you." Bob said and bowed his head.
"The pleasure is all mine." Lion-O answered cautiously. At this point, everyone seemed to be at a loss for words. Finally, Cheetara spoke up and said that maybe they should get back inside and have Bob meet Snarf. Everyone seemed to agree and the bunch entered the Lair.
To Be Continued…