ThunderCats

Bio-Booster Armor Guyver

Eye of the Storm

Episode Twelve

Cheetara stood in wait for him in the foyer of Cat's Lair, hiding her anxiety as best she was able. Given that, due to the gifts of her lineage, emotional control had been drilled into her since cubhood, she still found it difficult at times. A passionate woman at heart, she allowed herself to express feelings primarily in battle or during the rare moments when she found herself forced to bow to the absurd. Only a handful of people ever saw her at her most vulnerable, her core exposed to those select few, and of them only two had ever seen the aspect of her which was governed by fierce desire.

The other ThunderCats were still in Council and still near panic-mode over the arrival of Claudis the former, or current depending on how one approached the issue, king of New Thundera Colony. On learning of Lion-O's imminent return from his inspection of the farming habitats, she had excused herself from deliberation to await him. The news of his father's survival was sure to be a severe shock, issues of kingship notwithstanding, and she would brook no one else breaking the news to him. Cheetara owed the man she loved that much.

"Are you insane?!" Panthro exclaimed when Tygra finished. "An inquest? Over what, all of us thinking that Claudis wouldn't survive Thundera's destruction?!"

"Lord Claudis," Tygra began patiently, "remained behind to help navigate our ship off-world after the Mutants had sabotaged the guidance protocols in our orbital traffic systems..."

"Willingly, I might add."

"True, but he never officially ceeded the throne to his son. Or to Jaga."

"Maybe because he thought he wouldn't get off-world in time?" WilyKit asked.

"That doesn't change the fact that he did, and now leadership of the colony is in question. We cannot abandon our laws on succession of the throne. They've proven vital to keeping Thundera united since the Great Unification." In which, according to history, nearly all the clans of Thundera chose to unite under a single banner for the prosperity of Thunderiankind as a whole. "Though we've parted ways with some of our ancient traditions in the name of survival in a hostile alien environment, no exceptions can be made here."

"Look," Bengali said, "I wasn't born into the Nobility. In fact, the only person I know who would've been brought in on the homeworld is Pumyra once her professional star rose high enough. So, I'm none too familiar with the ins and outs of succession. What if Lord Claudis ceedes the throne?"

"What if he decides to keep it?" Tygra asked in return.

"Well, we won't know one way or the other until he wakes up," Panthro replied. "Until then, we're just chasing out tails."

Kyranna checked the med-scanner's results for what felt like the thousandth time as Claudis slept peacefully beneath the sheet, his chest rising and falling in a comforting rhythm. For having spent so long in a suspension capsule, the man was bouncing back exceptionally well.

Having been born from a family of farmers, matters of the Nobility such as succession to the throne had always held little meaning for her. Even now, wearing the proud symbol of a ThunderCat, she still found little interest in the debate likely still raging in council. Having taken her leave to keep the watch on this Most Valuable Patient (a little joke she kept to herself) had been a relief from matters which she found no concern in. As her father had always said, things had a way of working themselves out.

The door to the Medical Wing slid open to reveal Lion-O, crown and cape in evidence, striding in and freezing at the sight of his father. Kyranna looked away from his stunned countenance and, out of respect, suddenly found other things to interest her that were nowhere near the Medical Wing. Cheetara, on the way out, shot her a grateful look.

Lion-O's mouth felt as if the Desert of Sinking Sands had decided to open a branch office inside it, complete with sand. Words failed him at the sight of the one man whose shoes he had been tasked to fill lying in the Medical Wing after so many years of being mainly a figment of memory and imagination. Having seen little enough of him during his brief formative years on Thundera, and having mainly stories during his hurried maturation on Third Earth, Claudis had always been something of a myth to him, a man more legend than reality. Cheetara's hand appeared on his shoulder, and he turned to stare into her soulful eyes to find only love and encouragement within them.

"When..." he asked lamely.

"Just a few hours ago. Both Pumyra and Siberias expect him to make a full recovery."

"Where are the others? Why aren't they here?"

"Later for that. I wanted you to see him, and have time to adjust to his being here before he awakens."

"Father..." Lion-O's eyes suddenly found a hidden source of moisture as they stung with tears. Suddenly weak in the knees, he leaned against Cheetara as he kept staring at the sleeping form of Claudis as though looking away would grant him a chance to disappear. Thoughts raced in his mind, memories of nights lying awake and wondering if this man would be proud of the son he rarely saw.

"Take your time," Cheetara said gently. "There's no rush."

"I... I can hardly believe it..."

"That's true for everyone."

"When will he wake up?" It was a somewhat childish question, but all he could think to ask with his thoughts in such sudden disarray.

"Sometime tomorrow, so I'm told," she replied. "I didn't want to shock you like this, but I felt it far better for you to see for yourself." The issues concerning succession to the throne, for her, were not as important as Lion-O adjusting to his father being alive and back in his life.

Back? she thought. More like in his life for the first time. Not that it was either's fault.

"Come," she said, taking his arm and steering him away, "there's much to talk about."

"I honestly don't know how," he said lamely, "I just don't have words for what I'm feeling right now."

The walk to their quarters was quiet. Cheetara knew all too well the brooding look on his face, yet said nothing to dispel it. Words were often woefully inadequate when it came to expressing emotion and, for anyone with a hint of psionic talent, that was doubly true. The maelstrom of emotions washed against her subconscious, a presence she fought to ignore as she projected serenity and calm as best she was able.

Tygra sat alone in his chambers, the neat orderliness of his personal space a mocking irony to the sudden disarray of today's events. Council's debate had ended, predicatbly, with a wait and see vote. Lion-O, by now, had to know about the return of Claudis if not the implications to his reign it represented and his quarters were currently sealed. Cheetara was with him, and he knew she would do all in her power to help him adjust and break the news of this challenge to his kingship.

I'd almost prefer Mutants to this... he thought as he poured a small tumbler of amber bourbon. It was a rare day, indeed, when Tygra took a drink. This bottle, given as a gift from a local village of Wollos, had yet to be opened since construction began. The liquor burned pleasantly on its way down his throat and the sharp edges dulled somewhat. Having decided against a second, Tygra resealed the bottle and settled into a stuffed armchair in hopes of relaxing a little.

Even if only to himself, he had to admit that suggesting an inquest had been slightly foolish given the circumstances. Of course they had all known Claudis' decision to stay and guide them starward would have likely ended in his being killed. Of course they all took that as a de-facto step down from the throne, presumably to Jaga. Then Jaga spending the remainder of his life steering them to Third Earth had meant the throne had been passed to the proper heir, Lion-O. No assassination attempts, no plotting, just a series of events which led to the son of Claudis taking his seemingly rightful place. Even the most perfectly logical assumption could be the wrong one, for that was the nature OF an assumption.

May you live in interesting times, Tygra thought, no wonder that's considered a curse. A second drink was sounding more and more like a good idea.

Awakening to darkness was something he had grown accustomed to since the loss of his sight. Claudis kept his breathing controlled as he used his ears and nostrils to determine the contents of the space about him. The disorientation of emerging from suspension righted itself in short order, his mind commanding itself to clear and focus. The body, however, had its own protocols and he had little choice but to let it reboot on its own.

Beeping, he thought. Machinery of some sort. A hospital? The scent of antiseptics and stringent cleaning agents reinforced the notion. Other scents lay beneath, men and women. Thunderians.

My people. I finally found them... No scent corresponded to Nello, the engineer who had accompanied him aboard the royal yacht. Was he elsewhere? Had he survived?

Claudis had blessed his sightlessnes as Nello had relayed the sensor readings to him. The wreckage of their ships which had actually made it into space only to be ambushed by Mutants who had actually been working together sending creeping horrors up his spine. Then, an ion trail from the flagship... The knowledge that his son was still alive had tempered the loss of so many of his people somewhat. Then, Nello had informed them that the yacht on which they had made their escape could not possibly reach their destination planet, and the flagship had embarked on a course not plotted by their plans for evacuating their people. For Claudis, it was a choice of the lesser of two evils. Continue after those of his kind who had escaped Mutant ambush and have no chance of seeing them, or follow the flagship to the only habitable planet that was within its range damaged as it was. It had been Nello's idea to rig the suspension capsules into the main power grid, engage the engines at full burn until maximum speed had been reached, then power all systems into the capsules, navigation shields, and guidance. Even then, their odds of success had been far short of optimum.

No sounds of breathing, no movement, everything suggested he was alone in whatever space this was. Then, a most familiar presence made itself known.

"It would appear my desperate gambit paid off," he said, his voice rough and cracked.

"Indeed it did, old friend," Jaga said from his right. Claudis turned to face him, knowing it would do no good but doing so out of ingrained habit. Still no breathing to be heard.

"I take it you visit me from the Astral Plane?"

"I do."

"So..." Damn... It happened THAT way... "My son?"

"Lion-O currently reigns as king. Things have taken a definite twist from our original aims."

"In short, you tampered with his suspension capsule."

"As you ordered."

"Damnation... It was only supposed to be a contingency plan..."

"Nevertheless, it became necessary. Even if I had survived the journey, I would have been an invalid. The ThunderCats could not have had a doddering old man or a kitten in command."

"Does he reign well?"

"Very well, of late. I have had to advise him less and less over the three years of our residence on this Third Earth."

"Does he know?"

"No."

"How can I face him," Claudis began, "when I was never there?"

"Fate is what stripped him of a father and abbreviated his childhood. While you cannot turn back time, you can at least be a positive force in his life. As for telling him the truth behind his aging in stasis, some doors are best left unopened. In time, he will be able to handle the truth but not now."

"Thank you, old friend, for guiding him so far."

"Much of it he did on his own. Lion-O is a remarkable young man. As for how things stand in New Thundera Colony, perhaps it would be best to let the ThunderCats bring you up to speed."

"Jaga, it wasn't your fault, if that's what keeps you bound to the mortal coil."

"There is no way to ascertain that, now."

"Jaga," Claudis began, becoming annoyed at the weight Jaga seemed to keep chained about his neck, "I don't know the ins and outs of sorcery, but I highly doubt you were the one responsible for Thundera's destruction."

"I was the one who tossed the Sword of Plun-Darr into the deepest volcanic chasm on our world."

"Whereupon it made its way into Thundera's core and proceeded to drain the heat energy from it until our planet was crushed by its own gravity? Forgive me for finding that a little hard to take as truth."

"Be that as it may," Jaga said, "I shall remain until Lion-O no longer needs me. Then, and only then, will my work be done."

"Jaga, you're a good man. I don't care what Panthro says about you." Claudis smirked and let out a small chuckle which Jaga responded to in kind. "A shame we can't toast each other with a mug of good firewine."

"Indeed it is. Rest well, Claudis. It is good to see you again."

Jaga, however, did not return to the Astral Plane. Rather, he soon found himself in the comfortably-lit sanctum of Mumm-Rana, the White Pyramid. Tasked as Mumm-Ra's antithesis, she represented goodness and light, things that were anathema to the demonic mage. Torchlight filled the dust-free space as Mumm-Rana herself stood before her sarcophagus, lovingly caressing the head of a stone lynx which rested beside it.

"Thank you," she began, for fetching her from the other world." From behind one of the massive statues of her masters, a woman with creamy white skin and a mane of white-on-violet hair emerged. The egyptian skirt stopped well shy of her knees and golden sandals here affixed to her feet with straps wound up to her shins. Jagara herself, one of the most powerful sorceresses in Thundera's history, stood alive once more. "I could do the same for you as I have for her."

"Thank you, but no," Jaga replied. "I still must question the wisdom of what you intend to do. Meddling with time can have disastrous consequences."

"Nevertheless," Jagara replied, "it is necessary. To stand against the coming darkness, Sho Fukamachi must unlock his full power. The only way to do so is to force his hand."

"The only way to do that," Mumm-Rana added, "is for him to face an opponent which cannot be defeated by the Guyver alone. Within the protective walls of my pyramid, we shall be safe from the effect on the timestream."

"If you feel this to be best, then I shall not interfere." Jaga knew what she was referring to, having beheld the unsealed prohpecy regarding Sho's appearance on Third Earth, and what it meant to the ThunderCats and people of New Thundera Colony. It had even spurred him to agree to her request to retrieve the soul of Jagara, so she could provide her a body once more. And, on having viewed the power Mumm-Rana mentioned in jagged scenes from Second Earth, he knew one thing above all. They would need that power. Soon.

What is Mumm-Rana's plan to unlock Sho's power? What force could she mean that could not be defeated by the Guyver alone? And what of Claudis? How will his return affect New Thundera Colony? Stay tuned for the next episode of Eye of the Storm.