Chapter 17: The Most Powerful Weapon

There were very few times in Lion-O's life where he openly admitted to himself how afraid he was. The first was when he had fallen into a forgotten pit-trap in the forbidden ruins outside Thundera as a cub, Tygra had run off to get help leaving him alone, and as night crept over the ruins he'd sat there hugging his knees and trembling.

The second was during his coming of age ceremony, when the Sword of Omens had first shown him the decrepit visage of Mumm-Ra. The vision ate at him even after he'd ignored it, until it came to full horrific fruition all because he'd chosen not to tell Jaga.

The third time he'd been so scared he could hardly move stared him right in the face in the form of Mumm-Ra, towering over him as he lorded the three other Power Stones.

But this time, he couldn't curl up and wait for someone else to save him, he had to face this monster for the freedom of every animal within the Black Pyramid.

Leo wasn't alone like he had been, and Lion-O had to be the one to fight for him.

"Certainly you didn't forget about the three stones we already collected?" he growled, his arm vibrating as it strained to still with the sheer amount of energy coursing through it.

Lion-O cleared his throat. "Believe it or not, that somehow slipped my mind."

"Now, having brought a planet to its knees for this stone, I expect taking it from you will be a far easier task!"

Almost identical to the Sword of Omens, Mumm-Ra pulled a blade from his own gauntlet. This one however was double-bladed, the metal black and crooked like it had been left in the coals too long, but it was every bit as sharp and deadly as the bloodlust in Mumm-Ra's eyes.

The black sword spun between his fingers like a mere toy before he brought it hard onto the ground, electricity surging from it towards Lion-O and pushing him back, the Gauntlet of Omens absorbing the energy and glowing hot on his arm.

He was afraid, but he was ready. Ready in a way he had not been when he faced the monster that had killed his father. Rage pulsed beneath the surface, but he couldn't think about Claudus, he couldn't think about the past. He had to think about the future.

The future that wouldn't exist unless he banished Mumm-Ra here and now.

They both moved at the same time, lunging for each other fangs and swords bared and meeting in a thundering roar of steel on steel. Mumm-Ra was larger and physically stronger, but Leo held his ground as power surged up his arms from his gauntlet.

When he stepped back to regain his footing Mumm-Ra struck quickly, but he was quicker to block and parry, clashing metal and spidering energy flinging itself around the two opponents in a furious storm of blows.

Lion-O roared and unleashed the War Stone's energy blast onto Mumm-Ra, the monster copying his earlier move and letting his gauntlet take the hit. The lion counted on this however, smirking as he focused his blast on the stones.

The green stone at the base of his knuckles popped free, Mumm-Ra screaming as he instantly felt his power weaken. Leo quickly caught the stone, backing into his fighting stance again as he fixed the demon with a glare.

"Stripped of your stones, you're nothing more than a withered sack of bones!"

Mumm-Ra roared as his wings stretched out wider lifting him high above the small cat, a devil in every aspect. "The two I have are more than enough to defeat you!"

A horrific and agonized shriek tore itself from his throat, body burning as the other two stones in his grasp began to overtake the coding of the black gauntlet. Metal began to cover him, solid yet moving like a frozen form of viscous oil, stretching over every inch of Mumm-Ra and hardening into armor. His hideous face was covered by an even uglier metal mask, empty eye sockets resting in a mouth of iron teeth like the skull of a rotting corpse. Even his wings stretched out farther as they were enveloped by a new technologically supported pair.

"Perhaps I underestimated you, Leo… but not as drastically as you have underestimated me! I can harness the power of these stones in ways you can only dream of!"

Lion-O bit his tongue, clenching his fist tighter around his sword. "Just when I thought I was winning…"

Truly the image of death itself, Mumm-Ra stretched out his arm, sword in hand, and unleashed a blinding barrage of electricity that Lion-O was helpless to dodge in time. All he could do was use the Sword of Omens to deflect, but the energy was so strong that it literally knocked him out of the arena off the edge of the platform.

He used his golden caws to latch onto the edge, saving himself from falling towards a terrible end. Arm straining, the steel wall bent under his strength as he pulled himself up, hanging on by sheer unyielding will alone.

"Your rebellion is over, Leo!"

A growl rumbled behind his teeth, not willing to let this corpse best him again. "I'm not done yet…"

He rose to his feet, feeling Leo's instincts tingling throughout his body. Lion-O knew he had to trust in Leo, for the first king knew Mumm-Ra best, but he also had to trust in himself, what he knew of the creature. Mumm-Ra was completely sure of his own victory, believing he knew exactly how the battle would play out, because he also knew Leo best, but Lion-O wasn't Leo. He couldn't be Leo in this fight, he had to be himself, the king who knew Mumm-Ra's weakness:

His arrogance in his hunger for power.

Lion-O held his sword high, charging once more for the colossal devil. Their swords met in a kiss of death, scraping and roaring against each other blow after blow. The young lion king roared and stepped forward, using his full body weight to push Mumm-Ra off balance. As he scrambled, the Eye of Thundera awoke to his call, shooting Mumm-Ra right in the chest with a blast of crimson energy.

The monster cried out as he fell over the side of the platform just as Leo had done, plummeting into the abyss.

Lion-O knew that wouldn't hold him down for very long, what with those huge wings, so he quickly sheathed his sword and ran to the control pad.

"If I don't get these animals loose, this will all be for nothing!" His claws flew across the keys, releasing the locks of every cell of every block of the prison. He watched as the electric fields parted like curtains, a few animals tentatively stepping out of their cells but hesitating out of fear.

He wondered why they weren't fighting, why they weren't rising up against their oppressors, but then he thought back to what the leader of the jackals had said, that the cats weren't trustworthy because they were the only species that stood as Mumm-Ra's right hand. Lion-O suddenly realized how foolish he was to think the other species would automatically be on his side against Mumm-Ra. It was true they feared him, but they feared the cats just as much.

Leo's instincts stopped here, he had nothing to call upon to guide his choices, this moment was left completely up to Lion-O.

If the other animals couldn't be brave enough, then he would take the first step.

Turning on the communicator, Lion-O projected his image throughout the entire Black Pyramid.

"I realize the cats haven't earned it, but I'm asking for your trust! Trust in me, and a future where we are not enemies, but brothers. Today, let's put aside our differences because together we can be free!" he said, raising his sword not as a tool of oppression but as a symbol of liberation. "Unite, or fall!"

The animals erupted in a sea of battle cries, shattering their chains and scattering out to all corners of the ship to usurp the tyrant that had collared them. Lion-O watched with a smile full of pride as the leaders who had doubted him now lead their people towards freedom, not following him but fighting by his side as equals.

He saw Panthera among the chaos directing them in every direction.

"So, how'd I do?" he asked her, feeling his cheeks burn when she smiled and blew him a kiss before vanishing among the uprising.

"You think… you've freed them?"

Lion-O growled, whipping around to see Mumm-Ra's black claws clinging to the edge of the platform.

"You've only doomed them to die for your rebellion!"

Flapping his massive wings, he rose above the platform and breathed an energy blast from his mouth towards Leo, but Lion-O expertly dodged and rolled out of the way. The Black Pyramid rumbled with strain as all corners of it were being overrun by free animals, but they weren't fighting each other, they were fighting together against one enemy.

"They're not fighting for me!" he cried, "They're fighting for themselves!"

It took him until this moment to figure out that all the stories about the Thundercats bringing peace to the warring animals were entirely wrong. The cats didn't bring peace, all the animals did.

Another bolt of electricity struck him in the chest, throwing him back onto the floor with a thud. He barely had a moment to regain his breath before Mumm-Ra grabbed him in a vice-like grip and tossed him across the room like a cub, his back crashing against the wall with a pained cry.

Lion-O tumbled down in a heap, his bones heavy as he felt his right shoulder had dislocated.

"Even if you had my power, you wouldn't know what to do with it!"

Sweat pooled on the back of his neck, his teeth ground together as the heaviness of the pain in his body tried to hold him down. His clawed hand clenched harder, a small weight enclosed in his gauntlet. Lion-O blinked, opening his fingers and finding the green stone he had stolen from Mumm-Ra.

He had hung onto it this whole time.

It was veined with markings that looked like the circuit boards in the Thundertank that Leppria and Panthro were constantly pulling apart and putting back together. He looked between it and the other stones in Mumm-Ra's arm, they connected to each other to give him power, just like the Eye of Thundera did for him…

Maybe the exchange of stone to power was a two-way street.

Lion-O pulled himself to his feet, ignoring every ounce of pain as he held up the green stone. "Maybe not, but I just figured out this gauntlet holds more than my sword!"

As soon as he touched the stone to the Gauntlet of Omens, the metal seemed to engulf the stone completely in a flash of light. The circuit veins spread from the stone into the gauntlet and then further up his arm, the gauntlet glowing and humming as additional gold plates sprung from it.

Plates and pieces of shining golden armor covered Leo's body, the face of a lion on his chest and a golden metal mane covering his head and face.

If Mumm-Ra's armor showed him for the devil he was, then Lion-O's revealed the king of beasts that would strike him down.

"A light to end the darkness…"

Power surged through his veins, giving him indescribable strength. With a roar that echoed through the ship, Lion-O charged again, more determined than ever to defeat this monster.

The sun clashed against the night sky, or so it seemed as Leo and Mumm-Ra traded strikes and blows, both of them seemingly invincible as a sort of primal vitality overwhelmed them. The dark creature gave him an inch, and Lion-O took a mile as his sword struck his opponent's chest, throwing him back hard enough to shatter the wall of the ship and launch him into the vacuum of space.

The environment was different without the pull of gravity to keep him tethered to the ground, but Lion-O didn't falter, throwing himself at Mumm-Ra as the devil skidded across the surface of the ship.

The tyrant was on the defensive now, blocking the cat's strikes and not given time to throw any of his own.

When he did gain an opening, the swing of his double-edged sword was easily parried by the gilded cat and matched with a hit that cracked like lightning against him. Mumm-Ra could not support himself in the weightless air, crying out as he was thrown back inside the Black Pyramid, landing in a pile of rubble as Leo stood over him.

His mountainous form trembled, and Lion-O raised the Sword of Omens for the killing blow, but Mumm-Ra threw out his arm to defend himself.

The sword struck the Gauntlet of Plun-Darr, its two remaining Stones of Power screaming in protest as they fell from the black gauntlet's hold.

"The stones!"

Stripped of their power, Mumm-Ra began to disintegrate, desperately reaching for his source of strength but failing as his devilish visage evaporated in a boiling puff of black smoke. Lion-O watched him in disgust; this was Mumm-Ra's true form, a decomposing pile of flesh pretending to be strong to instill fear in others.

The Armor of Omens purred as it retreated back into the gauntlet, Lion-O's sword retracting into its dormant form.

"Now there's the Mumm-Ra I know and love," he hissed.

Knowing it was safe to turn his back on the pitiful creature, he picked up the remaining stones. One was an icy blue with a burning hot center, the surface warm like flesh filled with life-giving blood. The other was a vibrant purple, ethereal lights dancing just beneath the surface.

Shuffling them between his fingers, he placed them inside his gauntlet alongside the Tech Stone, the Gauntlet of Omens beginning to glow a beautiful bright gold.

A sun to light the way towards peace, instead of a tool of darkness to control others.

The newly freed animals flooded into the room, seeing the king of their rebellion standing victorious over their fallen oppressor. They saw Mumm-Ra, defeated and weak, as they had been previously, and erupted into triumphant cheers. The dogs howled, the birds raised their wings and cried to the sky, the elephants unleashed their booming song.

These animals were all Leo's people, and they were free.

Panthera pushed through the crowd, running to him and throwing her arms around him, her chest rumbling with loud purrs that made the lion go completely scarlet.

"You just accomplished the impossible." She whispered, voice shaking as she unintentionally revealed how scared she was of losing him.

Lion-O smiled as he embraced her, thankful that she had survived as well. I mean, he knew she would since that's how the story went, but he was grateful nonetheless.

Their moment was suddenly broken as the Black Pyramid shook violently. The holes Leo had made in the hull had split and were tearing even wider as the growing vacuum tore them apart. Panthera ran to the control panel, pressing buttons wildly and punching the keyboard when the ship didn't obey her.

"The ship's autopilot has been destroyed and we're caught in the gravity of this planet!" the screen showed a very familiar planet with three moons. "We're on a crash course for…"

"Third Earth..." Lion-O whispered to himself.

The animals scrambled in different directions, some trying to activate escape pods and others trying to evacuate to the aircraft bay. The distraction of their plummeting vessel was enough for Mumm-Ra to drag himself to his feet.

"Yours is a fleeting victory…" he chuckled, grinning madly as he hobbled towards a healing sarcophagus where he could lick his wounds. "I will live to collect what's mine!"

Lion-O growled, chasing after the slimy creature and cursing loudly as he was too late to stop the doors from sealing shut. He had only turned his back for a moment and Mumm-Ra had escaped from him, escaped the harsh justice he deserved.

As he punched and scratched at the sarcophagus, Panthera ran to its programming pad. "If we can't pry it open, let's make sure he can't either!"

She slammed the full force of her arms down onto the circuit board, shattering it completely and smirking as it sparked and spewed smoke, effectively trapping Mumm-Ra inside.

Lion-O listened to the remaining animals cheer again, yet couldn't bring himself to join them. He knew Mumm-Ra wasn't gone, and while it was true he'd left them all to build Third Earth and live in peace for centuries, he was still alive inside that coffin, plotting and whispering lies and temptations into the ears of anyone who strayed too close.

A warm hand on his shoulder pulled him away, Panthera looking out towards Third Earth as the Black Pyramid fell closer and closer.

"What should we do?" she asked, squeezing his hand. Her amber eyes were hard, but the edges of them crinkled with fear she would only ever show Leo.

He squeezed back, "Brace for impact."

The warning lights reflected in her eyes, wide with awe and something Lion-O had never experienced but felt Leo had a deep knowledge of, Panthera leaned forward and kissed him.

Lion-O had only known her for a matter of hours, but through the softness of her lips and the feelings of her fingers on the side of his face teasing locks of his crimson mane, he felt every ounce of Leo's love for her. Their years of fighting together under Mumm-Ra, wanting freedom for themselves but also every imprisoned soul, their softer moments known only to each other, their sadness, their hope, it all shone through in a simple press of lips.

The atmosphere of Third Earth engulfed the Black Pyramid, swallowing it in a burning white light that overtook all of Lion-O's senses.

An icy awareness took over him as he realized Panthera was gone, as well as the ship itself and the teeming feeling of Leo's instincts buzzing in the back of his head.

He was Lion-O again in every sense, as he floated within the metaphysical sea of the Book of Omens. The only cat before him was Jaga, not quite as friendly as Panthera but still a welcomed sight.

"The impact of the crash disrupted the book's record, but left enough of the crew alive to begin civilization anew here, on Third Earth." He explained, Lion-O listening intently as he shook his head, adjusting to not being in the body of someone else again.

He contemplated all he had seen; how Mumm-Ra had conquered planets for four Stones of Power, Leo claiming the War Stone for the Thundercats and using it to take the other stones from him and overthrow him.

The image of the old corpse swearing retribution flashed in his mind.

"Then Mumm-Ra's not just after the Eye of Thundera, he's after all the stones." Jaga nodded, confirming his findings. "But, where are they?"

"Scattered by the winds across Third Earth," he said, Lion-O's ears falling in disappointment. Nothing for him was every easy, was it? "The book will be your guide to them, but remember, it will take more than their power alone to defeat this monster."

The lion king nodded, standing taller than he had before without realizing. "I have to bring all the animals together against him." He said, holding out his hand as Panthera had done, extending the hand of friendship, of peace. "We unite, or fall."

Jaga nodded once more, face stoic yet proud of the young lion. Whether he knew it or not, his time as Leo had instilled in him a sense of leadership he had not possessed before. He was finally starting to believe in himself.

"Go now, Lion-O."

His vision was starting to fade, black spots spreading across the living data as he was beginning to be pulled back into his physical body outside the Book of Omens.

"Wait!" he cried, "I have more questions!"

Jaga faded away without another word, darkness falling over Lion-O like he had fallen asleep.

When his eyes opened again he was extremely aware of the sun on his fur, the slight breeze that was always present at the top of the Tower of Omens, and the eight sets of eyes staring down at him from his place on the floor.

Leppria knelt at his side, Cheetara opposite her with her hand on his forehead, he passed them both as he climbed to his feet, his muscles stiff and sore as if he had spent a lifetime fighting.

"I know what we have to do."

I wanted to include a little piece about Leppria needing to start working on combining the book of omens with the Thundertank, but this chapter was already very long lol. Tune in next time for the shipping fuel I've been DYING to write! Duelist and the Drifter! Ciao!