Ch. 19 of Signal in the Sky
Invisible Man
By Purrsia Kat
On this brilliant early summer morning, Tygra made his way quietly under the canopy of the thriving forest. He was on his way to the Berbil village for some basic food and supplies and was content to let his thoughts drift to the new joy in his life, Velouria, now just a few months old. He marveled as he walked the worn path at how much she'd grown since they brought her home to the Lair after the flood. Velouria seemed to have breathed new life into the Lair, not to mention Snarf had somebody new to dote on. And Cheetara – she'd recovered from the traumatic birth and was as strong and beautiful as ever. But then, Tygra thought with a smile, he was slightly biased.
As he neared the River of Despair, his keen ears detected something that to him was unmistakable even over the rushing waters of the river – the shrill voice of Vultureman. The breeze carried the unpleasant odor of the scavenging buzzard to him an instant later, removing all doubt about who lurked ahead. Instinctively, Tygra hunkered down and crept closer. Thanks to the river's rushing cacophony, it was hard at first for Tygra to distinguish any words. But as he crouched behind a wall of briars, he was close enough to decipher some of what the birdman was saying. Furthermore, he could make out part of the Mutants' figures just beyond, in a clearning on the other side of the briars. He couldn't see their scaly leader, Slithe, but it would appear that Jackalman and Monkian were also there. He considered turning invisible so he could get closer, but was afraid the blue flash that would occur first would call attention to himself. Tygra decided he'd have to sneak around the old fashioned way, so it was there that he remained. He was compelled to find out what they were up to, as surely whatever it was wouldn't bode well for the Thundercats or their allies.
"Remember that space board we got from that Thunderbrat some time ago?" Vultureman asked his disinterested comrades.
"Yes," Jackalman replied. "I wanted to ride it but you wasted no time dismantling it."
Vultureman fixed a beady eye on the jackal. "You? Ride on something like that? CAW! As though you need any help becoming more brain damaged than you already are!"
Jackalman stood up abruptly from the stump he'd been sitting on. "If you're just going to insult me, I'll go back to Castle Plundarr."
Monkian stepped in to stop the jackal. "Wait a minute. There's a reason beaky dragged us out in the jungle and I don't think it's to just tell us boring history lessons. Besides, if we go back, Slithe will put us to work."
"That's the spirit," Vultureman squawked with notable sarcasm. "This device," he continued, his voice dropping so that Tygra had to strain to hear, while holding out a hand held metallic item for his friends to observe, "is made from components of that board. Now, if I have Thunderian technology's weaknesses pinpointed the right way – and I think I do thanks to study of that wretched board – this will give those Thundercats a nasty surprise."
Jackalman swiped the device from Vultureman, inspecting it from every angle skeptically. "We've heard that before, Vultureman. What will this puny thing do that the Sword of Omens can't just block, destroy or zap?"
Monkian lifted his helmit slightly and scratched his scalp. "Yeah…"
Vultureman sighed heavily, taking the device back from Jackalman. "It may be a small device and may not be able to thwart the Sword, but –"
"Useless!" Jackalman declared, clearly uninterested in hearing the bird out. He turned as if to leave, but Vultureman grabbed him by the forearm.
"Wait!" he shouted. "Don't you see?" Vultureman's eyes bulged as he looked from one fellow mutant to the other. "This is where we go wrong – trying to get the Sword, defeat the Sword."
"But it's the power of the Eye we want!" Monkian blurted.
"Yes, yes," Vultureman acknowledged. "But how many defeats does it take for us to figure out its power is too great for us to just take it. No, we need to weaken, cripple and subdue its protectors! Without the hand of a Thundercat, the Eye is harmless and ours for the taking."
Jackalman looked unimpressed. "How are we going to do that? The Thundercats are still a handful without their magical toys. I've got the scars on my hide to prove it."
"This," Vultureman declared, beaming with pride, "will provide the two prong attack we need to get the others out of the way. First, it will interfere with the controls of their precious vehicles. Then, when they have to meet us face to face, I'll deliver a heavy dose of Thundranium. I've been hording the rocks for months, to be sure I can have enough of a dose to take them out. After that, they'll be helpless to stop me – er, us – from taking the Eye for ourselves!"
Tygra's eyes widened. He knew this was a well-traveled path by the Thundercats and likely, so did the Mutants. It dawned on him why they chose that spot to have the conversation. They were waiting; waiting to ambush the Thundercats should they rumble past in the ThunderTank. They hadn't counted on a Thundercat walking the path and eavesdropping, perhaps thinking the forest's cover and river's noisy backdrop would be enough as not to be seen or heard before they made their move. Luckily for the Thundercats, Tygra thought, the Mutants were once again mistaken. He had to get back and warn the others. With Thundranium in the vicinity, he couldn't chance taking on three Mutants alone.
Still keeping low, Tygra turned stealthily on his heel and began to creep away in the direction from which he had come.
However, the wind shifted at that moment, carrying Tygra's distinctive scent with it right to the keen nose of Jackalman. The mutant motioned for his comrades to stop their discussion, his eyes narrowing to slits. "I smell a Thundercat," he whispered. One of his scrawny brown fingers pointed the way.
Before Tygra could react, the three Mutants were on top of him. In the ensuing tussle, he got turned around – everything was nothing but a blur of forest and fur and limbs that reached, punched and pulled. As he fought, Vultureman's device wasn't far from Tygra's mind…if he could just break far enough away to get out his whip, he'd have a chance but they were all around him. As he feared, Vultureman hit him with the Thundrainium. The beam of energy jolted through his body. He could feel the fight and energy drain from his muscles, and he stumbled back. Another good blast or two, and Tygra would be completely at the Mutants' mercy. His only option to get away from his attackers was to run with what strength he had left toward the River. The dose he'd gotten proved more than he'd estimated, and Tygra's run resembled the gait of a lame steed mustering little more than a broken, pathetic gallop. In his weakened state, he couldn't outrun the group. Monkian was the first of the lot to plow into him. The pair tumbled and rolled across the mossy forest floor, through another stand of bushes, right to the edge of the riverbank.
"Time's up, Thundercat!" Monkian gloated. Tygra was pinned under the simian, and struggled helplessly. With a demented grin on his face, Monkian raised his dreaded spiked mace up above his head. "I'm going to pulverize your bones into dust."
Thoughts of Cheetara and their little girl flashed through Tygra's mind and he somehow found the strength needed to buck the mutant off of him. However, Monkian's mace made contact with Tygra's side and leg, tearing both fabric and flesh down the length of his thigh, and sending the tiger reeling back.
Gritting his teeth in pain, Tygra staggered but managed to stay on his feet. Taking out his whip, he was prepared to take his last stand. He wasn't sure how much the Thundrainium may have effected the whip's powers, so he didn't risk trying to go invisible. Instead, he focused in on Vultureman and the device in his hand, knowing he couldn't afford another blast from it. With a skilled flick of the wrist, the whip lashed out and plucked the item from the bird. It flew high into the air, and landed somewhere deep within the thick forest brush.
Enraged, Vultureman screamed, "Get him!"
Monkian and Jackalman rushed the worn out tiger, tackling him with bruising force. He felt himself falling back, and in a last ditch effort, dropped the whip to grip a nearby tree trunk. However, the bark was soft and his claws simply left jagged gouges in it as Tygra was forced over the steep, muddy bank.
He no longer felt the Mutants around him, but he was surrounded instead by something much more terrifying to him – the rushing, cool waters of the river. Tygra's head bobbed up above the water, but in his weakened state and the fact that he knew he was visible, crippled him with fear.
"Help!" was all he could manage to croak before disappearing under the surface again, the current pushing him toward the deadly Whirlpool of Infinity.
Tygra's aversion to water originated on Thundera, years ago when he was in his teens. Back when he loved the water, much like the rest of his tiger clan. It's not that he couldn't swim, but more like he wouldn't – not while visible. To do so took him back to dusk, on a clear warm Thunderian day, a day whose tranquility was shattered by a bizarre and frightening event. An event he could still not explain fully, but one that left a permanent mark on his psyche – a mark powerful enough to turn his love of the waters into abject fear.
It began the summer he had started training as a Thundercat, preparing him both physically and mentally for his destined role as part of the elite and revered band of Thunderian nobles and protectors. True, he'd been prepped by the adults around him his whole life, but this summer marked the beginning of the truly hard work – the intensive part of his internship. Lazy days spent by the lakes that dotted the countryside outside the city were becoming a distant memory. Until one day in the late summer, when Tygra got to take off early for the first time in a long while. It was rare to finish the day's studies and work with daylight still in the sky, so to take advantage of the reprieve, he made a bee-line for his favorite swimming hole.
There were a few stragglers present when he arrived, but they were reluctantly climbing out of the water, the coming night and calls to dinner urging on the end of their fun. Tygra, however, was just getting started. He waded in, his feet sinking ever-so-slightly into the sandy bottom until he was up to his waist in the gently lapping liquid. He dived in, his body dividing the water and creating a gentle wake behind him. After the brief shock of the water's chill wore off Tygra basked in the cooling liquid. Gacefully turning in the water so that he was on his back, he proceeded to backstroke until he was far out, near the center of the lake.
He stopped and just let himself glide, floating and looking up into the purple skies of Thundera as it began to fade into a dark plum harkening the night. The lake around him was calm, save for the ripples the subtle movement of his body made. Its calmness was one of the reasons this lake in particular was one of his favorites. Another reason was its coolness and depth. It was fed by a natural spring so even throughout the hottest and driest Thunderian summers, it supplied the lake with refreshing cold water. The bottom, where one could touch or see it, that is, was sandy. It was just perfect, Tygra thought as he closed his eyes.
As he relaxed, the young man's mind began to roam free. He had no idea how long he'd floated there, letting body and soul relax to the point where his mind, which was an instrument he'd only recently began to learn how to control as far as its special abilities were concerned, sank into an altered state giving him a sense that he was floating outside of himself. Most mental activity drained him, but Tygra found astral projecting easy and relaxing – after all, for those in his clan blessed with the mental ability to project elaborate illusions, such as the potential for it he had shown, this sort of out-of-body projection was more a parlor trick by comparison. He'd found it a simple way to let body and mind float and forget the day's cares. He was becoming quite adept at it.
The concept of time was forgotten, the dark night surrounding him unnoticed. That is, until an unexpected and frightening force from the depths of the lake grabbed him, yanking him under before he could even shout in surprise. It didn't help that his projected self was likewise startled, which put him momentarily into a bizarre limbo where body and mind were powerless to react or reason.
Once he'd come back to himself, his mind raced as he was dragged deeper into the water. His lungs burned, threatening to explode from lack of air. All he knew was something very strong had him by the leg, near the ankle, and meant to drown him. In retrospect, he realized he'd only been under water but a minute or so, but it felt like an eternity to him at the time – an eternity filled with terror like he'd never known before.
Finally – whether it was the shear force of his will or the creature relenting – his limb broke loose. In the black water, however, Tygra could not tell which way was up – he was disoriented and a new panic set in, his lungs burning for air the whole time. What would have been a shout escaped his lips, and bubbles rushed out of his mouth. He would have despaired releasing his last bit of air if it hadn't inspired an idea. Bubbles are made of air and air goes up. And so, Tygra swam with the last of his strength and energy in the direction of the bubbles, though it seemed like forever until he reached the surface - as though a moment more and he would surely have suffocated.
When he finally broke the surface, he gasped. But relief only briefly washed over him, for that thing – whatever it was – was still there somewhere and that terrified him. What was worse, the safety of the shore seemed so far away. But Tygra swam for the shadowy outline of land, all the while feeling so vulnerable as if at any moment he'd be pulled under again, only this time, to his death.
He never did find out what went on that night – what creature stalked him as he relaxed in the lake. He'd heard vague rumors before about a beast that roams the Thunderian lakes, which was dismissed by most as folk lore. He had been one of the skeptics until now. But because of the folklore nature of it, the few people he told afterward – or warned, rather – simply didn't believe him or thought he was being a prankster. Nothing could have been farther from the truth, although he did try to convince himself at one point that perhaps, in his altered mental state, he'd somehow conjured an illusion that even convinced him of its reality. However, the history of the mental powers he had never suggested something like that could be truly possible - the one who manifests the illusion cannot be caught up in it as well as that presented a paradox of sorts - and so he was left with the dread of something real that lurked in Thundera's lakes.
How he wished he could convince other people if only to spare them what he went through – or worse. But it was no use. Though those close to him found his sudden aversion to water curious, he eventually stopped talking of the experience altogether and so they could not fathom the fear so strong it was powerful enough to paralyze the once strong swimmer. Ironically, this posed a risk to Tygra of drowning in and of itself. Tygra never took a swim again until he'd had his Thundercat weapon bestowed on him by Jaga on that fateful journey to Third Earth. With it, he could render himself invisible which afforded him a buffer of safety – a beast could not grab what it could not see. It afforded him a sense of security that enabled him to enjoy the occasional swim. However, without it, he was as helpless and frightened in the water as he was on that summer night on Thundera. And this is what Tygra faced years later on another world in the River of Despair, as the current hurled him toward he deadly whirlpool.
Back at Cats' Lair, the others were taking a long-deserved rest. Clean up from the flood's damage was an ongoing effort. The Lair had been safe to dwell in for some time, but there were still the details of cleaning and tossing out what was ruined by the torrent. An inventory had been taken, and Tygra was sent out some time ago to retrieve some much-needed supplies from their friends, the Berbils, who themselves had bounced back from the springtime storms better than anyone expected. Snarf was also absent from the group that was enjoying the warm sunny day in the Lair's courtyard. He'd gone a short time ago to gather herbs and roots from the Unicorn Forest for some secret recipe he invented especially for the celebratory dinner he wanted to prepare later that evening.
For the first time in a long time everyone seemed content, Lion-O thought as he surveryed his friends' happy faces. Felina sat on the steps, a book resting on her lap – she was doing leisure reading rather than her normal studies for a change. The Thunderkittens were playing a game akin to Frisbee with a small disc, their taunts and laughter echoing about. Panthro was helping Cheetara tend to the little one. His leg was mending nicely, and it was nice to see him up and about. It also struck Lion-O odd to see the gruff panther take to an infant so, but the child seemed to bring the older cat much joy. He cradled the girl close to his broad chest, careful not to injure her with the spikes on the shoulder straps of his outfit. His eyes noticeably sparkled when the babe grinned up at him.
Ducking to miss one of the twins' wild throws of the disc, Lion-O made his way over to the pair.
"Go ahead, Cheetara. I'll keep an eye on her," he overheard Panthro assure her. "Go on your run."
Cheetara reached out and caressed the fuzzy yellow tuft of hair atop Velouria's head. The infant was getting old enough to show ever-clearly how she would take after her parents – at least as far as looks went – and she was proving to be a lovely mix of both Tygra and Cheetara's best features. "I'll be back before you know it," she said with a wink.
"I'd say take your time, but I guess that's not the point," Panthro replied with a laugh.
Lion-O stepped back, and before he could take in the fact that she was gone, a breeze and her lingering scent told him she'd taken off before his eyes confirmed it. "Babysitting, huh?" Lion-O remarked to Panthro. "Snarf will be jealous to have missed the opportunity."
"His loss is my gain. Besides, Snarf spoils her too much."
Lion-O studied the squirming child in Panthro's arms. She was still tiny at only a few months old, but seemed dwarfed all the more within the arms of the burly Panthro. "And you don't?"
"Good point," he conceded, taking his free hand to gently tickle the baby's chin in an effort to coax another grin out of her. "So when are you going to have one of these of your own?" Panthro suddenly asked, a glint of mischief in his eye.
Lion-O arched a brow. "Ha, don't you get started on that, too. Snarf's already dropping hints about as subtle as the roar of a Thunderian wildcat."
Panthro released a hearty laugh. "I don't doubt it. He's back in his element with the baby in the Lair, and adding another would put him over the moon."
Lion-O was about to remark about how Velouria was plenty for him to dote on for now, when the Eye of Thundera sheathed at his side growled to life. Immediately, Lion-O called its powers of Second Sight, his first thought being that Cheetara had met up with trouble. But the Sword showed him a different vision; that of Tygra being ambushed by Mutants in the jungle near the river, and then Vultureman shooting him with some kind of beam – and that's where the Sword's vision ended in a sea of static and sparks - as though some sort of energy blocked it from seeing the rest.
Panthro's face was a mask of concern as Lion-O lowered the Sword. The growl had gotten the attention of the Twins and Felina, who also gathered around. "What is it, Lion-O?" Panthro asked.
"It's Tygra. He's been attacked by Mutants in the jungle."
"Let's go!" Panthro and the twins seemed to shout at once, startling the baby.
As if reading their minds, Felina held out her arms to receive the child. "I'll stay here with Velouria," she offered, to which Panthro did not argue. Felina lifted the cub somewhat awkwardly before settling on a hold that would suffice. She adored the child as much as anyone, but was perhaps the most apprehensive and inexperienced one of the group when it came to handling a cub that young. Even the twins were more confident and adept at little Velouria's care. Even still, someone had to stay behind with the cub and since Snarf, who usually volunteered gladly, was gone it was a relief to the others that Felina offered.
Leaving Felina standing with the now-fussing infant, Panthro lead the others to the Thundertank.
Cheetara flew with breathtaking speed across the plains, feeling the exhilaration she only felt at her top speeds. The liberating moment was shattered when she skidded to a halt when her sixth sense suddenly overwhelmed her with a sense of foreboding and dread. She bent, resting her hands on her thighs while catching her breath and trying to make sense out of what she felt. She slowly stood straight again, and turned to the west toward the jungle and the river. There. That is where she was needed, she decided with confidence.
Once again she took off blazing a trail with purpose, urgency her motivation. Guided by instinct, she found herself on the trail they often used to go visit the Berbils, and her thoughts jumped to Tygra. As she skidded to a halt near the river, she fought a wave of nausea. Something wasn't right, she was sure of it. Peering through a path flattened by something or someone through a wall of bushes, Cheetara spied her comrades who had arrived a short time ago in the Thundertank.
"What's going on?" She demanded as she stepped through the pathway to join the others.
Her eyes scanned their grave faces, then focused in on the grim evidence around them; the scraps of bloody cloth that matched Tygra's uniform, the whip he always kept with him lying on the ground, the claw marks left in desperation on the tree by the bank…
Cheetara's heart sank as her teary eyes pleaded silently for an answer from her friends.
Lion-O was the first to speak. "The Sword showed me Tygra had been attacked by the Mutants here…"
"And?" Cheetara prompted, her voice rising.
"And that's all we know. The Sword showed no more." Lion-O glanced at the Sword clenched in his hand. "It won't work at all here…there had to have been some kind of energy released here – maybe a magnetic field of some sort…" his voice trailed off as he pondered the fate of his friend.
"Best we can tell is he went into the river here," Panthro added, quietly.
She dashed to the river's edge and peered downstream as if she expected to see Tygra bobbing about in the current, waiting to be rescued. She also knew that being visible in the water for him wasn't good – though she only knew something happened on Thundera that kept him out of the water except while invisible; he never had told her the entire story - and his chances of surviving against the current injured made his odds all the slimmer.
Cheetara reached deep within herself to try to get a connection, a sense that he was at least still alive. After a few moments she shook her head with frustration "No," she gasped quietly.
"What is it?" Lion-O urged.
Cheetara's eyes were rimmed with tears. "I…I can't get a sense of him. I'm afraid – "
"Let's not waste anymore time," Panthro interrupted, as if he didn't want to hear the awful truth. "We'll get in the tank and take her down stream. He has to be down there somewhere."
With a heavy heart, Cheetara clung to the hope that somehow they would find him – alive.
Meanwhile, Monkian and Jackalman had long since climbed out of the river after their ruthless attack on Tygra, and with Vultureman, raced down the riverbank to ensure the striped one's demise. None of them were excellent swimmers, so following his progress by land seemed the way to go. If he so much as tried to climb out of the water, they'd be there to finish the job.
If they could get rid of Tygra, then Vultureman could just save his little invention's remaining energy to take the others on later. Besides, perhaps it was better to pick them off one by one. However, the others always seemed to show up when another was in trouble, so Vultureman felt time was getting short. If they were going to get this Thundercat, they'd better do something soon. As for his precious invention, it was too risky back track and search for it now. When the way was clear, however, Vultureman had every intention of finding it.
The roar of the river was becoming intense now, and Vultureman could see why; just ahead of a particularly brutal stretch of unforgiving rapids was the Whirlpool of Infinity. If he survives the rapids, Vultureman thought, he'll surely drown in the vortex.
He planned to stick around to be sure one or the other happened. Sure enough, Tygra's body appeared and disappeared as it was tossed through the rapids like a rag doll and shortly after, he clearly was seen being sucked into the swirling vortex of the whirlpool.
The mutant trio stood there by the river, almost stunned at what they'd just witnessed, until Monkian erupted in a fit of hoots and howls.
"I can't believe it!" he shouted. "We finally got one!"
Jackalman laughed. "You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat."
Vultureman stood with a satisfied smile on his beak. "No way he's getting out of that," the self-proclaimed mutant genius agreed. "Not if what they say about that whirlpool is true. He's finished."
"His friends should be here soon," Monkian predicted. "Let's get them too!"
"No, fool!" Vultureman said sharply. "I've decided picking them off one by one is an even wiser plan. We need to go back to Castle Plundarr to regroup."
Jackalman was all too willing to leave, given the prospect of facing the Thundercats under more fair odds appealed more to his cowardly side. "I agree, let's go. Besides, I can't wait to tell Slithe about how I disposed of Tygra!"
"You!" Monkian shouted. "All you did was get in the way!"
As they turned back into the forest on their way back to the Castle, Vultueman knew he'd be listening to their inane bickering the whole way. But for once, it didn't irritate him so much. No, he was riding on the high of some success. Success he knew was only possible because of him, and he was going to be sure Slithe knew it. He began to daydream of the rewards that Slithe would then bestow on him…and maybe even Mumm-Ra, once that bag of bones found out what he had done.
He's the Invisible Man
Count the bubbles in your hand
The southern skies
And the summer sites
That's all that's left behind
The skies, and a sweet caress
He's the Invisible Man
Catch him if you can
-- Invisible Man, The Breeders
