20
The kittens cheered as they flew down the canyon, riding on their new hover boards the Berbils had given to them as a gift. They figured it would give them something to do besides chow down on candy fruit and be all hyper. Leanne was with them, acting as something of a baby sitter for them as they all flew down, Leanne the only one able to fly without a hover board.
"Woo-hoo!" WilyKit cheered, her voice echoing across the canyon.
"Someone tell me how we ever lived without hover boards." WilyKat said.
"Now you know how I feel." Leanne said as she flew in between the two kittens. She watched as they performed a little loop over where she flew, and she let out a laugh, following them down the canyon. Leanne flew up higher, to an altitude the hover boards weren't able to reach, and she saw something in the distance. Her eyes widened when she saw it was a large, green hovercraft, surrounded by lizard soldiers. She quickly flew back to the kittens, "Guys! There's…" She stopped when they came closer to the soldiers, and the twins stopped their hover boards.
The lizards let out small hisses when they saw them.
"ThunderCats?" One of them said in surprise, seeing them.
"Um… Hi?" WilyKat said, greeting them with a small wave.
"We were just leaving." WilyKit said, and they quickly turned around, and the three of them quickly flew away.
They soon heard the humming of an engine and saw that the lizards were following them down the canyon on their own hovercraft, which had been specially designed for war, equipped with special guns. Leanne used her powers to bring up a few small pieces of the canyon to fire at them, but the rocks didn't do much good to the steel exterior of the hovercraft. They went all the way down to the end of the canyon, where they knew Lion-O, Cheetara, and Tygra were waiting for them.
"Looks like you're trapped." The lizard acting as the captain said to them, showing them his rows of sharp teeth as he grinned.
"Are we really?" Leanne asked, she pointed up to where Lion-O stood at the top of the canyon.
He pulled out his sword, lengthening it as he shouted, "ThunderCats! Ho!" Lightning flew from the sword, showing the lizards its power and getting ready for battle against them. Immediately, the lizards fired their weapons at him. Lion-O held up his gauntlet, the Spirit Stone shining brightly as he used its power to create something of a powerful barrier to keep the shots from hitting him. Leanne saw this, and she lifted up her hands, and she used her power to make the rocks at the top of the canyon, just above where the lizards hovercraft was, come tumbling down on them. They stopped firing to protect themselves from the rocks, and this gave Lion-O the opportunity he needed to come down the canyon towards them, sword at the ready. The lizards turned the hovercraft towards him and fired a special electric cannon which sent out a powerful beam of lightning towards Lion-O. He held out his sword, making the lightning come to it and not to him and he stood in front of the lizards as the continuous stream of lightning kept going. He carefully angled his sword so the lightning would hit the War Stone, and the red jewel began to glow, shooting out a huge, red blast that hit the hovercraft and knocked it on its side, rendering it useless. Lion-O still stood at the ready, knowing that wasn't the end of it. The lizards came out from the hovercraft, powering up their guns and aiming them at Lion-O. Leanne stepped forward, and raised her hands, conjuring up some wind, and it blew back a few of the guns, but some lizards who had a stronger grip held onto their weapons. Cheetara soon came zooming down from atop the canyon and knocked any remaining weapons out of the soldiers hands. She didn't see the one that had somehow gotten on the ledge above the fight, and he aimed his weapon at her, preparing to fire. He jumped back when another hit suddenly came towards him, knocking him down the canyon. Cheetara looked at where the lizard had been, then looked back at Tygra, smiling at him. He returned it, giving her a single, flirtatious wink as he held up the rifle he had used.
Leanne helped to gather up the lizards they had beaten, and put a small, stone barrier around them, making sure they didn't go anywhere, or try to grab their guns while they weren't looking.
"What are we gonna do with them?" Cheetara asked as she looked over their group of prisoners.
"It's not like we have a dungeon to throw them in or anything." Leanne said, looking over the lizards. A few of the lizards hissed uneasily, knowing what might come next if they didn't throw them in a dungeon.
"We're gonna let them go." Lion-O said, everyone looked at him in surprise.
"Excuse me?" Tygra asked.
"They've fought under Mumm-Ra long enough to know they don't want to live under him." Lion-O said, stepping closer to where the lizards were, "This mission is not just a threat to Cats. If we don't unite against him, we'll fall together before him."
One of the soldiers let out a laugh, "Cats and Lizards united together? If that's your plan for victory, you are a fool." Leanne scowled.
"Maybe he is." She said, stepping forward, "But can any of you honestly say that you don't fear Mumm-Ra and his power?" None of the lizards answered, most of them looking away from her as she stepped forward, "You should be glad for this. He's giving you the choice to live on as Lizards for a long time to come, or you can go back to the battlefield, and die the nameless death of a soldier. Your decision."
The lizards began speaking to each other in hushed tones, asking the others what they think they should do. Eventually, the lizard who had spoken up before stood up and looked to his fellow soldiers. "Let's go home." When he said this, Leanne removed the small stone barrier she had made to keep them still, and they walked away. She didn't miss the sight of the small smiles on the reptilian faces, a few of them pleased at the idea of returning home to their loved ones.
Once they were out of earshot, Tygra went up to Lion-O, "You still haven't given up the idea that you can turn the Lizards good just by cutting them a break."
"You saw what happened after we won the Spirit Stone." Lion-O said, "Mass desertions in the Lizard Army! This isn't their war! They don't even know what they're fighting for."
"All I know is what I'm fighting for." Tygra said, turning to Cheetara with a smile.
"That reminds me, thanks for watching my back." Cheetara said, smiling before she gave her 'hero' a kiss on the cheek.
"Well, your… back's real easy to watch." Tygra said.
"Ick." Leanne stuck out her tongue at their cheesiness.
"I think I'm gonna hack up a hairball." WilyKat said, looking at the two with a grimace.
Tygra cleared his throat, "Sorry." Leanne rolled her eyes and came over to the two kids.
"Don't be. While you two are a bit… well, cheesy," She said, "We're all happy for you." Tygra smiled at her.
"Thanks." He said, "Glad you feel that way."
"Uh-huh." Leanne pushed the two kittens forward, "I'm gonna go check on Panthro. You guys wanna come with?" The two of them jumped on their hover boards and smiled at her.
"Yeah! If those furry little bears can make these hover boards, I can't wait to see what they do with Panthro's new arms!" WilyKit said excitedly. The two of them flew up higher and flew off. Leanne smiled as she watched them fly away, and then used her powers to fly up with them, heading back to the village.
"Hold still Ro-Cat-Panthro." Ro-Bear-Bill said as he continued to work on Panthro's arms, "Almost finished."
"You think you can actually put me back together?" Panthro asked him. The bear didn't answer, focusing on his work, letting Panthro say what he needed to say, "Sometimes, I can still feel them. The worst part is when they itch. Nothing there to scratch. Nothing there to scratch with."
A few more sparks flew from where Ro-Bear-Bill was working, and looked up when he was done, "Berbils done." Panthro lifted his new arms out from under the tarp, where they had been the entire time the Berbils had been working, and his eyes went wide when he saw that they were little, stubby, furry arms. That were pink, of all colors. He lifted them up, moving them around with a horrified expression.
"You call these arms?!" He asked them, gritting his teeth.
"Berbil arms." Ro-Bear-Bill said, Panthro glared at the fuzzy things as Leanne walked into the room.
"Hey Panthro, how's it going?" She asked.
Panthro raised up his arms with an angry scowl, "How does it look like it's goin'?!" Leanne giggled and hid her smile behind her hand so Panthro wouldn't be too insulted.
"Oh, they're not so bad." She said, her voice quivering and shoulders shaking as she tried to hold in her laughter, "In fact they're actually pretty…" She snorted in laughter, "Cute."
"Are you trying to make me mad?!" Panthro growled at her. She let out one more giggle, and stopped.
"Sorry. Good news though. We had another successful ambush. At this rate, Mumm-Ra won't have an army to stop us from finding the next stone." She said.
"Just don't win the war before I have a chance to get a few more licks in." Panthro said.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Leanne said, "Good luck with the new arms." She let out another giggle, and Panthro glared at the pink arms again.
"Can someone please get these…things off of me?!" He snarled out. The Berbils were unaffected by his tone and got to work again.
Leanne kept giggling as she walked out of the Berbil operation room and headed outside.
Lucas leaned against the archway as Slithe walked into Mumm-Ra's 'throne room'. It didn't have a throne in it, but it was certainly the demon's equivalent of it. Slithe had been called to see Mumm-Ra, and since he didn't have anything better to do, the British boy thought it might be interesting to see him get chewed out by his leader.
"A general is only as strong as his army, Slithe." Mumm-Ra said, his voice raspy and hissing, "And yours is an embarrassment. Entire battalions fleeing at the mere sight of the Cats."
"What do they have to be loyal to, Lord Mumm-Ra?" Slithe asked, speaking up for his soldiers, "You've made it clear they are nothing more than minions to you."
"I'm not asking for loyalty!" Mumm-Ra said, "I want warriors who fight not for treasure, but for blood." Lucas looked into the room when he heard this, "Warriors like these." Mumm-Ra raised his hand, and Slithe looked to see a large, white Gorilla and a tall, hairy Jackal, both of them carrying large, heavy-looking weapons appear in the large mirror on the floor of the room.
"Who are they?" Slithe asked.
"Wretched souls, motivated only by base emotions and currently incarcerated for crimes vile, even to me." Mumm-Ra said.
"They must be something, then." Lucas said, Slithe quickly hissed at him, telling him to be quiet.
"Lucas," Mumm-Ra turned his attention to the young man, "Come in. You could be of great use here." Lucas felt a little uneasy at the idea of entering, but did as Mumm-Ra asked and came further in until he stood next to Slithe. He looked at the demon warily. He never liked Mumm-Ra, and the way he used his powers made him incredibly uncomfortable, but he still listened to him, if only to get what he needed. "These two are to be my new generals." Lucas looked back at the two animals. Slithe's eyes widened and he looked up at Mumm-ra.
"New generals?" He repeated, "The Lizard army will never listen to a Monkey and a Jackal man!"
"They will at least see to it that there are consequences for deserting." Mumm-Ra said, glaring at Slithe. "And more importantly, give us the means to recruit the armies of their people."
"Sounds like you're out of the job, Slithe." Lucas said with a smirk. The lizard sent him another hiss to get him to be quiet, sorely tempted to hit the human boy. Lucas looked up at Mumm-Ra, "How are we supposed to get them on your side if they're incarcerated?"
"Free them." Mumm-Ra ordered, "And bring them to me. We will show the ThunderCats this war is only beginning!" Lucas looked back at the two animals in the mirror, then back at Mumm-Ra, "Slithe, you shall go to the Bird Nation, and retrieve Atticus. And Lucas, I shall give you some troops for protection as you go to retrieve Kanar from a prison in the darkest, most dangerous part of the dog territory."
"Sounds like fun." Lucas muttered.
"Now, go!" Mumm-Ra ordered, pointing them out of the room, and after they both bowed to the demon, they left the room.
"I will give you a small battalion for your trip to the prisons." Slithe said.
"Thanks, but I think I'll only need about five or six soldiers." Lucas said, Slithe looked at him in surprise, "I can take care of myself. In case you forgot," He reached up and took hold of his talisman, "I have enough magical strength to power what's left of your army." Slithe gave an irritated hiss.
"Watch your mouth!" Slithe snapped, "Power or no, I am still general of this army!"
"Not for long." Lucas said, he quickened his pace and went to go and gather up the soldiers he would need to help him get Kanar. Slithe glared at his back as he walked away.
Leanne looked up when the door opened, and Lion-O came inside the small hut she had been given by the Berbils. They had been so happy to see the ThunderCats again that, right away, they started building individual cabins for each of them to use while they worked on Panthro's arms. They had everything they needed, with warm, soft beds, a bathroom, and they had given them all a basket of candy fruit for them to nibble on while they stayed.
"Hey, Lion-O." Leanne greeted him.
"Hey," He returned, "How's Panthro?"
"The bears had to redesign the arms that they originally had in mind." Leanne said with a grin, "The first ones were too pink and fuzzy."
"You're kidding." Lion-O said, a grin coming on his own face, Leanne shook her head, giggling a little at the memory of Panthro's Berbil arms.
"Nope! It was the funniest looking thing! I wish you could have seen it." She and Lion-O shared a small laugh, that quickly turned into an awkward silence. She didn't meet his eyes, "So… How are the ambushes coming along?"
"So far, so good." Lion-O said.
"That's good…" Leanne said, she looked away, wondering what else there was to talk about.
"You like your cabin?" Lion-O asked, the question sounding a little forced.
"Yeah, I like it." Leanne said, "It's very… cozy. Reminds me of home."
Once more the awkward silence settled between them. Neither could really meet the other's eyes, and they weren't sure what to say to the other. Leanne's fingers couldn't stop fiddling with themselves, and Lion-O felt the great urge to start tapping his foot.
"Is there… something you needed me for?" Leanne asked him.
"No, not really…" Lion-O said, "Just… wanted to check on you. And the, uh, kittens… they wanted you to come back so we could keep an eye out for anymore lizards."
"Okay, then I'll come right over." Leanne said, walking over to Lion-O and leaving the doorway. He followed her, going back with her to the canyon. He noticed she had a book tucked underneath her arm.
"What's that?" He asked, pointing to it. Leanne looked down at the book, then back at him.
"It's my Nana's diary." She said, "Hopefully, I'll be able to figure out what her 'reason' was that she came here, and maybe use that same reason to go home."
"Oh… So, you're working on that, huh?" Lion-O said, a trace of sadness laced in his voice.
"Been working on it." Leanne said, not noticing it, "I've been reading up on it for the past few days. It's really interesting to see all that my Nana thought about after she left Third Earth. About zoos and pets and junk. She likes talking about my mom though, but," She let out a small laugh, "Then again, what mother doesn't like talking about her child?"
Lion-O didn't reply.
"By the way, Lion-O," Leanne said, "It just occurred to me that, in the entire time I've known you, you've never once talked about your mom." Lion-O stiffened at the mention, "What's she like?"
"I… don't know." Lion-O said, Leanne looked at him oddly.
"You don't know?" She asked him.
"My mother died during my childbirth." Lion-O said quickly, "I never had the chance to get to know her." Leanne stopped.
"I'm… I'm sorry, I didn't know…" She said quietly, suddenly wishing she had kept her mouth shut.
"It's okay." Lion-O said.
The rest of their trip was silent, both of them unable to speak to the other.
High up in the mountain tops of Third Earth, where there was enough moisture in the clouds for trees to grow at the top of the peaks, and from those trees, homes had been made for the only people that wanted to live in a place so high from the world. The Birds of Third Earth.
A large group of the birds had gathered around one particular area where a large, white gorilla had been tied upside down on a long branch.
"For your crimes against the Bird Nation," The leader of the birds said, "You are hereby sentenced to death."
"Don't I at least get a last meal?" The gorilla asked as he dangled in the air.
The leader thought for a moment, then said, "It is the custom…"
Atticus smiled, "Good, because you are looking quite tasty!" He let out a small roar, and the leader shook his head.
"I'm afraid Atticus that today, you are at the bottom of the food chain." He said, looking at him in disgust.
"Then you'd better make sure this drop is high enough to kill me!" The gorilla growled.
"The only way you'll survive is if you suddenly grow wings." The leader said, he gestured to another one of the birds, who had a hood over his head, and he flew up towards the rope where Atticus dangled. After a moment, he swung a clawed foot across the rope and cut it. Atticus yelled as he quickly began to fall beneath the clouds the earth below. The birds watched the cliff, waiting to hear the resounding 'thud' that would come when he hit the earth, but it never came. Instead, they heard a low humming and saw Atticus coming back up through the clouds on a lizard hovercraft, with two others flanking it. He smiled at the birds.
"It seems I've been given a last minute reprieve." He said smugly. The birds looked at him and the lizards in fear as they charged up their weapons. Slithe took a sharpened axe and cut through the ropes that bound Atticus.
"You owe your life to Lord Mumm-Ra, barbarian!" Slithe hissed at him in disgust, having just learned of what he was being put to death for, "Join us! Or I will push you off this platform myself."
"Fine." Atticus said, he turned back to the birds, "But first," He grinned maliciously, "I'm owed a meal." The leader began to shake and tremble in fear at the horrifying look of hunger on his face. Atticus banged his large fists against the metal of the platform before jumping up and going after the birds, who all squawked and began to fly away. Slithe watched with a passive expression as Atticus managed to catch one, and began to take what he was owed.
Ro-Bear-Bill began tightening up one of the bolts on Panthro's arms, with designs that he had approved of.
"Ro-Bear-Bill make adjustments to new arms." He said as he worked on it.
"The only adjustment I care about is making sure they don't look completely ridiculous!" Panthro snapped, still a little peeved that they had given pink Berbil arms.
Ro-Bear-Bill twisted the bolt a few more times, then looked up at Panthro, apparently finished and waiting for his approval. Panthro stood up, and lifted up his arms, looking at the newly clawed hand, smiling at how intimidating it looked. He moved the fingers around a bit before turning it into a fist.
"Hmm, not too bad." He said, punching the air a couple of times. Suddenly, the wrist began to rotate rapidly, and Panthro soon found that he was punching himself. The Berbils jumped back as his arms began to move out of his control, swinging around the room at high speeds, "By the Great Sky Cat's Claws, make it stop!" He punched himself again before his hands reached up high and moved around towards the sides of the room, "Turn them off!" He punched his chin, and his body had to move to keep up his balance as they kept swerving through the room.
"Further adjustments required." Ro-Bear-Bill said, shaking his head as he watched the two new arms.
In the deepest, darkest corner of the dog territory a storm raged as it moved over the highest security prison they had. Travelling down an elevator with two, huge dog guards flanking his sides, and trapped and wrapped up completely against a tall board made for the transport of dangerous prisoners, was Kanar, being taken down to the lowest level of the prison, which was used for only one thing.
"Solitary confinement…" He muttered, knowing that if he had the ability to shake his head, he would, "But I said I was sorry!" The two dog guards didn't reply, "I mean, when you think about it, you should really be thanking me." He smiled maniacally, "You got eleven less prisoners to worry about." He let out a maniacal laugh as the two guards continued to wheel him forward. He still kept that insane grin on his face as he sighed and said, "At least I'll have the voices in my head to talk to." He saw one of the guards looking at him in horror, afraid of just what went on in that head.
The two guards approached the cell, and they both went over to it to help it open up. The door slid open with a soft hiss, and they turned back to Kanar to push him inside, when they were suddenly knocked down by a large barrage of plasma shots that came from guns hidden inside the darkness of solitary confinement. Kanar looked at the darkness with wide eyes and a wicked smile.
"House guests?" He called quietly into the dark. He watched as the form of young Lucas emerged from the dark, giving the Jackal a smile.
"Hello, Kanar." He greeted, "Mumm-Ra tells me that you're a vicious, reckless, blood thirsty—"
"Did he say 'handsome'?" Kanar cut him off.
"I don't really think your good looks were on his mind at the moment." Lucas said, "But he said that we of the Lizard army could really use someone like you." Kanar raised a brow, intrigued by the option.
"What can you give me?" He asked Lucas.
"Well, we can get you out of this prison for one thing." Lucas said, "And you can have the freedom to—"
"Actually, I'm quite comfortable right here." Kanar snapped, apparently no longer interested in his offer.
"Alright then," Lucas stepped forward, pulling out an old, slightly broken crest of the ThunderCats from his hoodie pocket, "What about Cats?" He saw how the Jackal's eyes lit up at the sight of it.
"Ooh… Now, I like Cats…" He said, "Okay, I'll join. Now get me out of here." Lucas smiled and raised up his hand, his eyes flashing a bright green, and waving his hand sideways. The chains and metal bars that kept Kanar confined suddenly came off, and he stepped free from the carrier. He stood up, grinning insanely as he turned to Lucas and asked, "Do you mind if I say goodbye… to some pals?"
"Um… sure?" Lucas asked, unsure of what to make of the jackal's maniacal grin. The jackal looked back to the guards, and began laughing in insane glee as he came towards them. Lucas, seeing what he was about to do, closed his eyes and looked away, his stomach churning as he heard the whimpers, and cries of the dog guards as Kanar began to attack them. When he heard the sick ripping of flesh being torn from flesh, his stomach couldn't take it, and he bent over, vomiting. By the time he was finished with his sickness, Kanar had finished his 'goodbyes'. Lucas didn't dare look at the remains as they walked away from the area, heading back to base where Slithe and Mumm-Ra waited for their return.
It was dark that night, the Cats still keeping an eye out for any lizard soldiers. Lion-O had borrowed Panthro's mechanical scope to get a better look into the darkness. He saw a large group of something, and saw familiar faced lizards leading the way in front of another hovercraft, all of their expressions solemn and shoulders slumped.
"Those are the same lizards we convinced to desert earlier." Lion-O said, putting the scope down.
"Must have been captured by their own army." Tygra said, he shrugged his shoulders, "Tough break." Lion-O shot him a dirty look.
"You don't want to help them?" He asked.
"Whether they're deserters or prisoners," Tygra began, "They're not our problem anymore."
"You don't understand." Lion-O said, "If we don't stand by them, they'll stand by Mumm-Ra!"
"Tygra has a point." Leanne said, "Getting them to desert and everything was a nice thought, but who knows if it'll help us in the long run? It's too risky to save soldiers who could turn on us tomorrow. I say we leave them be."
"Whatever gets you home the quickest, huh?" Lion-O muttered. Leanne looked at him with wide eyes, shocked that he would say that.
"Lion-O, you know that's not what this is about!" She snapped.
"You're right, it's about their army being on the verge of collapse and not letting up the pressure!" Lion-O stood up and looked to the kittens, pointing them in the direction of the village, "You two should go back to the Berbil village. They're right about this being dangerous." The two kittens let out groans of disapproval but did as he asked, heading out to the village. Once they had turned the corner, Lion-O began heading down the cliff side. The other three all stood up and went to the edge.
"Lion-O, wait!" Cheetara called to him, "We have to stick together!"
Lion-O stopped and looked back at them, his eyes resting on Leanne the longest. His eyes narrowed slightly and he said, "I'll do this alone!" and he continued on.
Leanne stomped her foot in frustration, "Ooh! That idiot!"
Lion-O continued onwards, stopping in front of the soldier procession, pulling out his sword. On the hovercraft rested Slithe, and at the front of the hovercraft with his back to Lion-O was Lucas, resting casually against the hovercraft's weapon. When Lion-O appeared before them, Slithe stopped the hovercraft and Lucas's head popped up.
"Why've we stopped?" He asked, he stood up and turned around, he smirked when he saw Lion-O, "Well, if it isn't the king of the kitty cats."
"I always knew you weren't so bright, Slithe," Lion-O said with a smirk, "But you seem to have forgotten who you're fighting against."
"I haven't forgotten." Slithe said, not noticing how Lucas looked around the area with displeased green eyes when he saw Leanne wasn't there, "It's just that I find that these cowards are even worse than Cats. What kind of soldier abandons his post?!" The soldiers flinched at the tone of his voice.
"Lucky for us, Mumm-Ra's new generals are here to take care of the deserters." Lucas said, he looked up and watched as Kanar and Atticus came down and landed in front of him, bearing their fangs as well as their weapons, "Meet Kanar and Atticus. Boys, meet the Lord of the ThunderCats." The two animals bore terrifying grins on their faces.
Lion-O glanced at the two of them, gaging their appearances before speaking, "New generals, Slithe? Does that mean Mumm-Ra finally figured out you can't handle the job?"
Lucas let a small laugh escape his lips, and Slithe shot him a glare to get him to shut up before he glared at Lion-O, "They're only here to make an example of these deserters!"
"It'll be an example of what happens when an axe meets a neck!" Kanar said with his signature maniacal grin.
"The lizard army will understand there are consequences for betraying Mumm-Ra!" Atticus said.
"I can't let that happen." Lion-O said, gripping the hilt of the Sword of Omens a little tighter.
"That's quite noble, considering you're the reason they're in this position!" Slithe said, jumping out of the hovercraft, Lucas jumping down beside him. The three animals all held a weapon in their hands, and Lucas went without, but Lion-O could spy the small talisman on his neck glowing slightly, as well as the iris of his eyes.
"I hardly think four against one is fair." Lucas said, grasping the talisman in his hands.
They jumped back when four leaf-shaped shuriken pierced the ground in front of their feet. They looked up for the source and saw Cheetara expertly spinning her staff, branches extending from it. She put her staff down, the branches sinking back into the staff.
"Do we even the odds?" She shouted down at them.
Tygra and Leanne appeared on separate cliffs.
"Did you really think we'd let you do this alone?" Tygra shouted down at him. Lucas's eyes lit up when he saw Leanne. They all jumped down from the cliffs to fight their own enemy. Tygra went for Kanar, and Cheetara went for Atticus. Leanne flew down in front of Lucas.
"Hello, Leanne." He greeted, his talisman glowing brighter.
"Lucas." Leanne returned, engulfing her hands in flames.
"You gonna be a good girl for me this time?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah right." Leanne scoffed. She ran at him, and Lucas grinned at the sight of it. Leanne let out a huge pillar of flames from her fingers, and Lucas raised his hand up, as one might do to signal 'stop' and the flames seemed to hit something in front of him, and travel harmlessly around him. Leanne stopped and ran straight towards him, figuring a good punch to the face would be enough to subdue him. Lucas held up his arms in a fighting stance in preparation, and he blocked her first punch, and pushed her back with his powers when she was about hit him again with a flaming fist. Her feet skid against the ground, which quickly came back with the rising of her hands, and small boulders began firing off at Lucas. He held up his hands and used his abilities to block each one, turning it to dust. When he had gotten rid of the last one, he was surprised when he saw Leanne was coming straight for him, hand outstretched for the talisman around his neck. He quickly jumped back from her, looking at her with wide eyes.
"I figure if my necklace is a catalyst for my power," Leanne began, "Yours must do something for your power." Lucas looked surprised at her conclusion, but soon smirked.
"Smart girl." He praised, "I like my opponents on the intelligent side." He got in a more fight-ready stance and ran at her, and she brought up a few more rocks, preparing for another attack. Again, he blocked them with his powers, and when he thought she was going to charge at him, she jumped up and went over him. She reached for the string that the talisman hung on around his neck, but missed, and her fingers ended up grazing his skin. Suddenly, her sight became filled with a vision.
Lucas went through a door to a bedroom where a little girl with long wavy blonde hair was laying down in a bed, wearing a long-sleeved lacy nightgown with a little pink bow on the collar. She turned to him, her emerald green eyes lighting up and she gave him a precious smile.
"Lucas!" She greeted happily, she had an English accent like Lucas.
"Hello, Elizabeth." Lucas returned, he held up a small bouquet of daisies, "I got you something." The little girl, named Elizabeth, gasped happily.
"They're so pretty!" She said happily, taking the bouquet in her small hands. She leaned in to sniff them, and she smiled again, "They smell wonderful. I'll make sure they're put in some water." Around her neck was a talisman similar to Lucas's, only it was a deep lavender, not green, and it was significantly smaller. "Did Uncle Edward let you visit again?"
"Yes he did." Lucas said, he pulled up a chair next to her bed, "How've you been feeling?"
"Better." Elizabeth said with a smile, "Mummy says that I might be able to go outside again soon."
"That's very good." Lucas said, smiling at the girl.
And just like that, the vision was gone, and Leanne was in the air, her fingers no longer grazing Lucas's neck. She had no time to regain her senses and fell on her stomach. She let out a groan of pain, and tried to get back on her feet, but soon found that her arms were being held behind her back, and an arm went around her neck. She felt herself being pulled up and saw that Lucas had made her his captive.
"Now that's a good girl." Lucas said in her ear. She grunted as she tried to move away, but he held her tight. She looked to see she wasn't the only captive. Tygra had been tied up with his own whip and was Kanar's hostage. She saw that Cheetara and Lion-O were still fighting their own enemies, but Lion-O was quickly becoming exhausted, as was Cheetara.
"Look around, Lion-O!" Slithe said, Lion-O looked up to see Leanne and Tygra. Kanar held his axe at the back of Tygra's neck.
"Surrender, or we'll kill 'em!" He threatened.
"I believe it's your turn to surrender now." Slithe hissed out.
Lion-O's eyes lingered on Leanne for a moment, before turning back to Slithe, holding on tightly to his sword, "Never! There's still two of us!" The sound of wood against stone caught Lion-O's attention and he looked back to see Cheetara had tossed her staff down, "Cheetara, what are you doing? I thought we had to stick together!"
"I have to stick with him." Cheetara said, gesturing to where Tygra was. He looked up and gave her a small smile of gratitude.
Slithe brought his gun down on Lion-O's head, putting him on the ground. Atticus grabbed Cheetara, keeping her hostage in his huge arms. Slithe held up his gun and looked at the two new generals.
"Kill them in whatever manner amuses you!" He said to them.
"Oooooh! The possibilities…!" Kanar said with insane glee.
Lucas grinned and grabbed at the Jewel of Omens around Leanne's neck, "Now this is an opportunity I've been waiting for." A strange light came from Lucas's fingers, a strange, wispy tentacle travelling around the chain and around her neck. Leanne's mouth opened in a silent scream as she felt it make contact with her skin. It felt as though it had gone underneath her skin and was crawling around in her insides. She could feel it wrapping around… something. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, but she was pretty sure it was very important to her wellbeing. It felt as though it had grabbed onto a piece of it and was pulling it out bit by bit in a very slow process that hurt like hell. Now she really did let out a scream and her body begged her to move, to get away from this pain, but she couldn't.
The others looked over at her when they heard her cry and Kanar gave Lucas a grin, "I like that way!"
"Don't break my concentration." Lucas snapped as he kept his hand on Leanne, who was trying to move away from him, but it was becoming slowly harder and harder for her to do. His eyes were glowing green, and Leanne's were glowing white. Lion-O looked at her form in horror.
Suddenly, the large explosion of a rocket went off. The resounding shockwave was enough to get Cheetara out of Atticus's grasp, get Kanar's attention away from Tygra, and broke Lucas's concentration. Leanne fell to the ground once he released her, the green, wispy light disappearing. He was about to let out an angry curse when another rocket shot down near them.
"Take cover!" Slithe shouted, carrying his weapon over his head to try and protect himself. The others followed suit, Lucas with an angry glare at Leanne, that she managed to return from her exhausted state on the ground as he ran off. After freeing Tygra from his bindings, the pair went over to where their two friends were, Cheetara heading towards Leanne, helping her up as Tygra went to Lion-O, who knelt on the ground, his head hung in shame. They all looked up as they watched a newly improved and upgraded Thunder Tank come plowing through the rocky cliff side. It rolled to a stop in front of them as well as the four villains. Panthro opened up the top of the tank and stepped out, holding up his two new mechanical arms. There was a hiss, and air was expelled from them as the arms suddenly turned into long, flying fists that gave a good, hard punch to all four of their opponents. His arms retracted back into their original state and he looked back at the others.
"We'll get plenty more chances to tangle with these beasts, now get in!" He shouted at them. They all did so as quickly as they could. The tank quickly closed and roared off away from Slithe and the others, leaving a huge wave of dust to blind them as they escaped.
Once they were safe inside the tank, they saw that some of the Berbils were driving the tank, which explained how it had been functioning without Panthro inside it. Lion-O slumped his shoulders, hanging his head.
"They defeated us…" He said bleakly. Panthro came over to him and clapped his new arm on Lion-O's shoulders.
"Don't get so down, kid." He said, "You only lost a battle, not the war."
"But these new generals… their army will be stronger than ever." Lion-O said.
"We'll get through this." Panthro assured him, "We just have to stick together."
Lion-O didn't reply. He looked up, fire and determination shining in his eyes. He looked back to see how badly hurt the others were, which didn't seem to be any more than a few minor bruises and cuts. He looked back at Leanne, and saw how she kept rubbing at her neck at the place where Lucas's hand had been.
"You okay?" He asked her, she looked up at him, her hand still on her neck.
"Yeah… I'm fine." She said, "Why do you ask?" Lion-O mirrored what she was doing with her hand, and she stopped, "It's nothing."
"What did he do?" Lion-O asked, coming over to her.
"I'm… not entirely sure myself, actually." Leanne said, "But I'm sure it's nothing." She didn't want to tell Lion-O about the strange vision she had seen when she touched him. Though it sent her mind reeling with questions as they drove onwards. Who was that girl? What had happened to her? And just why did Lucas care about her?
Wow, chapter 20. I never thought I'd get this far. To mark this momentous occasion, I've set up a poll on my profile about a future chapter, please go and vote!