Chapter 13

Lion-O slowly opened his eyes. Everything seemed foggy and blurry until he blinked a few more times. The Lord of the ThunderCats went to speak but no words came out at first. Licking his lips, he tried again.

"Where am I?"

"Lion-O! You're awake!" Pumyra said excitedly. "You had us worried."

"Pumyra?" He said confused.

"Yes. I came with some of the others when we heard what had happened." The puma said.

"When was that?" Lion-O asked.

"Three days ago. How do you feel?" She inquired.

"Stiff." Slowly the Lord of the ThunderCats began to sit up only to realize he had no shirt on.

"Where are my clothes?" He asked.

"They were wet and covered in mud. The medicine woman had to get them off you so you wouldn't catch pneumonia." Pumyra explained.

"Where is Cheetara?" Lion-O asked another question.

"Just relax. I'll be right back." The puma avoided his inquiry and left the room. A few minutes later, Panthro walked in.

"Lion-O, it's good to see you're awake."

"It's good to see you, old friend. So what have I missed?" The Lord of the ThunderCats asked.

"Well let's worry about that later. I'm having Pumyra bring you a clean uniform and we're going to try to get you up and moving around." The panther danced around his question.

"Here we go; a nice clean uniform. I'll leave you to put it on." Pumyra smiled and walked back out of the room.

"No more beating around the bush, Panthro. Tell me what's going on." Lion-O commanded.

"Bob is dead, the Thunderstrike is still being worked on to get it off Braille Board control, and Cheetara..."

"Cheetara what?" Lion-O was getting impatient.

"She's under house arrest pending a decision on what to do." Panthro told him.

"WHAT!" Lion-O had reached his breaking point.

"She killed another ThunderCat!" Panthro shouted back.

"Who was trying to kill me!" Lion-O growled at him. It was obvious that Cheetara hadn't had time to talk him into making up a story.

At that moment, Pumyra came running into the room. She had had the shouts and had come to investigate.

"What the hell is going on here?" She asked.

"Nothing. Nothing. Problem solved." Panthro said. He then left the room. He had to believe Lion-O. The panther headed down to Cheetara's room and relieved Ben-Gali from his position. Opening the door, Panthro walked into the room.

"Lion-O is awake and he told me that you were defending him. You can go see him if you wish. I'm revoking your house arrest." Panthro said. The cheetah said nothing as she raced paced the panther and the tiger. She had to see Lion-O.

Pumyra was checking Lion-O's vitals and making sure that his red blood cell count was in good shape, when Cheetara burst into the room. The puma wasn't surprised by her reaction since seeing her the other day.

"Looks like you'll be back on your feet in no time. I suggest using this cane for a few days so you aren't putting too much pressure on your leg." The puma told the Lord of the ThunderCats.

"Thank you Pumyra." Lion-O said.

"I'll leave you two alone now." She smiled. Turning to Cheetara, she said, "I will need to look at your hand again later." Cheetara only nodded and the puma left the room.

Once she was gone Cheetara wrapped her arms around Lion-O. She couldn't take it anymore and tears began to stream down her face.

"I'm so sorry." Lion-O said.

"You're sorry? Why are you sorry?" She said as she pulled away from him. The Lord of the ThunderCats wiped away the tears that ran down her face.

"Panthro told me that they put you under house arrest while I was out. Did they really think that you tried to kill me?" He asked.

"Well it certainly looked that way. I explained what happened and even told them about my dreams but they didn't seem to believe me don't know if they could picture Bob as crazy as he was." She told him."That or the fact that someone in the group wants to follow the Code of Thundera like they used to." Lion-O said. Cheetara only nodded. Pulling her close, the Lord of the ThunderCats kissed her forehead.

"Things will get better soon." He promised.

"I'm not so sure. That Warrior Maiden medicine woman was quite upset at the fact that everyone involved turned out worse than I did. I'm sure she told the others what she thought." The cheetah said.

"It doesn't matter what she thinks. We both know if hadn't done what you did, I'd be dead and there would be a good chance you would be too. Thank you." Lion-O told her.

"I must admit I was nervous. You had lost a lot of blood and I was in no shape to carry you back here. We were wet, cold, and covered in mud." Cheetara smiled.

"True, but if you hadn't held onto me, I'd have caught pneumonia and died." He said.

"You know for being so close to meeting Jaga on the astral plane you made quite the comment." She told him.

"What was that?" Lion-O pretended like he didn't know.

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Over at the Tower of Omens, Tygra continued to work on the Thunderstrike. Bob had been smart enough to rewire the vehicle and now he feared that they'd never get it back to normal.

"How's it going?" Panthro asked his friend.

"Ugly. I need your help." Tygra said shaking his head.

"Well why don't you take a break? We need to discuss something." The panther told him. Tygra nodded and the two ThunderCats walked up to the dining room.

"Lion-O is awake and he tells me that Bob tried to kill him. I'm inclined to believe him since he's been in a coma and he wouldn't make something like that up. Cheetara was trying to save Lion-O, that's why Bob is dead. There was no chance for the two for them to corroborate their stories, that, and I don't see either of them lying." Panthro explained.

"I just don't understand. Why would Bob want to kill Lion-O? Why would he rewire the Thunderstrike?" Tygra asked.

"You guys have to look at this." Snarf said running into the room.

"What is it Snarf?" Panthro asked rolling his eyes. The ex-nursemaid handed a book over to Tygra. He flipped through it and one passage caught his eye.

"'I see that the others aren't holding the Code of Thundera up like they should. The Mutants and Lunatacs should have been converted to follow our Code. Fault lies with Lion-O. He is an inadequate leader. This must be remedied.'" Tygra finished reading a passage from the journal. Panthro and Snarf's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Great Jaga. I created a monster." Tygra said.

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A few hours later, the all the ThunderCats met in Cat's Lair. There was a lot to discuss. Once everyone was seated, Lion-O began.

"Saying the past few days have been unbelievable would be an understatement. There have been accusations, realizations, and technological difficulties. I am proud to say that at least two of these things have been dealt with. Now as I understand it, Panthro has an update on the Thunderstrike."

"Yes. Tygra and I are almost done reconnecting everything. It has taken quite a while but we hope to have it done by tomorrow. At which time some of us will fly back to New Thundera in the Feliner." Panthro explained.

"I would like to apologize to Cheetara. I'm sorry that I didn't trust you but it was still a matter of a ThunderCat killing a ThunderCat and I just wanted to be careful. I'm glad you saved Lion-O." The panther continued.

"I accept your apology. I understand you had to do, what you had to do. I'm sure that I would have done the same thing. The best part is Lion-O is still with us." The cheetah smiled.

"You know, Jaga came to me just before the fight with Bob and told me that the Sword wouldn't obey an evil command. Now I knew that; why do you suppose he told me again?" Lion-O asked.

"Well maybe he meant that Bob couldn't use the Sword of Omens against you." Ben-Gali suggested.

"Or maybe he meant that you couldn't kill him. We are supposed to try to keep our opponents alive." Panthro said. No one really seemed to be sure what Lord Jaga had meant.

"Good, now that that is settled, who is to remain here on Third Earth?" Pumyra asked, changing the subject.

"Well I think Cheetara and I deserve a break so you guys decide amongst yourselves." Lion-O said. Panthro shrugged and held out his fist. Tygra bit and stuck his out. Moving their fists up and down three times, the two showed paper and scissors. Tygra frowned as he had lost as Panthro moved over to Ben-Gali. This time it was rock versus scissors. Panthro lost.

"So I guess that settles it." Pumyra smiled.

"What do you mean? It's your turn." Cheetara smiled.

"I believe that Ben-Gali's win counts as my win as well. We are engaged." Pumyra said.

"Hmm. That's not fair." Tygra muttered.

To Be Continued…