22
"How about we fire up the Book of Omens, Panthro?" Lion-O asked, "Find out where the next stone is." Panthro nodded and went over to the book, waving his hand over the front of it. There was a soft beeping as it recognized who was trying to activate it, and then the book showed them a holographic red compass. It took a moment to calculate the directions and location, and the needle pointed upwards, a small beam of bright red light pointing towards the ceiling of the Thunder Tank.
"Up?" Panthro questioned when he saw it, "How can it be up?"
"I don't know." Lion-O said, "But if the Book says the stone is up, then that's where we're going." He moved over to the console of the tank, activating it so they would be able to see where to go. There were cameras all around the tank that acted as something of a windshield, the pictures they saw were put onto a group of screens to give them a large range of view. The first thing that showed up before them was a high canyon 'tower' of sorts just ahead of them.
"Why does 'up' always have to be so high?" Tygra asked with a frown.
"The Book can be cryptic at times." Cheetara said, "Maybe you're misinterpreting the message."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Lion-O muttered, looking between Leanne and Tygra, "But I've learned my lesson." He turned and began to walk towards the tank's exit.
"Have you?" Tygra asked, "Because heading up there feels like another wild goose chase."
Lion-O turned around to face his brother, "When you're king, you can do things your way. Now, let's go." He continued onwards. Tygra glared at Lion-O's back as he left.
Everyone else quietly voiced their complaints against Lion-O's decision. Up? He wanted them to go up? Who knew how high, or how far 'up' would be! The kittens were already dreading the long walk up, as was everyone else, as well as expressing their concerns about Lion-O's leadership skills, but they followed him nonetheless.
The trek up the nature-made tower was long and hard, especially with the air growing thinner as they walked up higher. Everyone was starting to run out of breath as they neared the top. The kittens were lagging behind, but Snarf was helping them to keep up with the others by jumping up and hitting his head against the backs of their legs to push them forward. Leanne was starting to work up a sweat with all the work that her body was doing. She looked back at the others and saw that none of them were sweating as much as she was, but looked equally exhausted.
I wonder if cats have sweat glands… Leanne thought as she continued to follow Lion-O.
"Do you even know where you're leading us, Lion-O?" Tygra asked snappishly as he continued on. Lion-O didn't respond to his question.
"Right into Mumm-Ra's hands, if you ask me." Panthro muttered, everyone heard him as he spoke, "We're totally exposed to attack on this route." Lion-O pretended he hadn't heard him.
"I know that the Book is supposed to lead us to the stones," Leanne said, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, "But I think Cheetara was right about the cryptic thing. All this stuff is getting a bit ridiculous." Cheetara looked back and raised an eyebrow at her appearance.
"Why are you wet?" Cheetara asked her.
Leanne gave her a dry look, not in the mood to explain her bodily functions to the cats, "I'm not wet. It's sweat. I'm sweating. It's what humans do when the temperature in their bodies gets too high. Which means they're getting a little too worked up!" She looked pointedly at Lion-O when she said this. He still didn't respond.
WilyKat paused for a moment, resting his hands on his knees, "How much higher can we go?" He asked.
"I'm more worried about the way down." WilyKit said, looking over the edge of the canyon at the river below. She could see they were very high up, a good two hundred feet at the least. She and her brother shared a fearful glance at the thought of falling down.
"Maybe we should consider turning around." Cheetara said, she looked over at Lion-O, "What do you think?"
Lion-O let out a small, aggravated growl and looked back at the others. He could see that they were all worried about him. Since he had lost the battle against Mumm-Ra's new generals, he had been much more serious about finding the next stone, and he could see that they were worried he was taking his position as king a little too seriously, not stopping to really think about his friends. He scowled at the thought of it and looked back to the front of him, why were they worried about him? If they didn't get the next stone, Mumm-Ra would win, and they would be done! He sighed, realizing that he wouldn't be able to have a chance against Mumm-Ra without them by his side. He looked up, eyes widening when he saw some candy fruit trees growing just a little ways ahead.
"I think…" He sighed, they were going to lose so much time for this! "We should stop here for a quick rest."
The twins took a couple steps forward, and their faces broke out into huge grins when they saw the candy fruit trees. They took off, running and cheering, towards the trees to get some of the delicious, sweet fruit. As they ran by Lion-O, he caught a whiff of their scent and grimaced a little bit. When was the last time they had taken a bath?
As Tygra walked by Lion-O, he said, "First good idea you've had all day." Lion-O scowled at him as he walked on.
Everyone made themselves comfortable as they headed towards the trees, climbing up to go and get something to eat. Lion-O climbed up, grabbing one for him to eat and spying another just a couple feet away, he smiled at the sight of it.
"Lunch will be easy compared to finding the stone." He said. He reached for the second one, picking it and was about to take a bite out of it when it was suddenly snatched out of his hands. He looked to see that WilyKat had swiped it from him with a mischievous grin.
"Too slow, your highness." Kat said, tossing the fruit up once before taking a bite out of it.
Lion-O was about to say something, but then his other candy fruit was taken from him, and he saw that it was Kit, who wore the same grin as her brother.
"You really need to keep your eyes open." She said, moving beside her brother and chowing down on the candy fruit. They smiled and giggled happily as they ate.
"Thanks, I'll try to remember that." Lion-O said dryly as he went to grab another one. Panthro began munching away on a small bundle of candy fruit, picking about three at a time and chowing down. Leanne was in the trees, happily munching on one of the candy fruits she had grabbed, sharing a couple of bites with Snarf, who was giving her a big-eyed puppy-dog look to try and get some more.
Cheetara was down below, grabbing one of the fallen candy fruits that were just as fresh as the others. She looked up at where Lion-O was trying to grab another one for himself, "You always do things the hard way, Lion-O."
He ignored her as he reached for the fruit. Just when he had it in his grasp, a familiar blue whip snapped out and pulled it away from him, "Hey!" He looked back to see Tygra's smug grin, holding the fruit he had been trying to get.
"A king should never eat before his people." Tygra said before he bit into the fruit. Lion-O growled lowly, getting more and more aggravated. He went over to the branch Tygra was sitting on and began shaking it back and forth, causing him to lose his balance, and eventually fall off onto the ground with a loud grunt. "Or lose his temper!"
Lion-O jumped down to be eye-to-eye with him. "Oh, is that it? You're all against me?"
"It's not us, kid." Panthro said as he climbed down, "You're your own worst enemy."
"He's right, Lion-O." Leanne said as she carefully flew down from the tree to land beside Tygra, "Just because you're king doesn't mean you can't learn something from your subjects. Nobody knows everything."
Lion-O looked at the four of them, and opened his mouth to say something more, but stopped when he heard something and looked to see a rocket hurdling towards them. It shot into the side of the canyon where they stood and exploded.
"Ambush!" He cried, everyone ran for cover, trying to get somewhere safe so they could get an angle on their enemy, but more rockets were soon fired, making the whole canyon shake. Tygra pulled out his whip and was about to use it, when a hand shot out and grabbed it. Tygra looked back to see that it was Atticus, and he was looking at him with a malicious smile.
"Not gonna hide this time!" He said with a small bit of laughter, before punching him with such force, he flew back onto the ground.
"Tygra!" Cheetara cried, she ran to help him, but was suddenly grabbed from behind and looked to see Kanar was the one that had captured her.
"You run like a girl!" He said with a maniacal laugh.
The twins and Snarf ran to try and get somewhere safe, but were stopped by lizard soldiers. Leanne ran to try and help them, the wind kicking up around her as she prepared to blow them away, but suddenly felt a strong tugging on her ankles and neck. She stopped, her hands reaching up to try and pull away the thing that was causing this, but felt herself being moved into the air and backwards, where someone grabbed her arms and held them together in an iron grip, and an arm going around her neck.
"Hello, Leanne." An all-too-familiar English voice said in her ear. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lucas grinning at her.
Lion-O pulled out his sword, ready to fight them all off, but before he had a chance to, he was shot in the back by one of the lizard's guns. He looked back to see that it was Slithe who had shot at him. The large lizard grinned, and Lion-O stood to fight him, but paused when he realized he didn't have his sword. He saw it lying on the ground just a foot away from him. Before he could have a chance to reach for it, Atticus and Kanar grabbed him from either side and restrained him as Slithe walked forward, picking up the sword, and taking Lion-O's gauntlet from where it rested on his side.
"We have the sword and gauntlet," He said in his raspy voice, "Now give us the book!"
"I'd rather die." Lion-O said through clenched teeth, trying to keep some composure in this situation. Slithe lifted up his tail and knocked Lion-O on the ground with a slap. He scowled at him, keeping hold of the two objects in either claw.
"You're willing to risk your life for it," Slithe said, a sick grin growing on his face as he continued, "But what about hers?" He looked over at where Leanne was being bound by Lucas. He jumped back with a slightly fearful look on his face as Kanar approached them, his axe in hand and a twisted grin on his face. Leanne looked at the Jackal man with wide, fearful eyes. And although no one noticed it, Lucas looked like he might be a little sick.
"You better not hurt her, Slithe!" Lion-O snarled.
"I would never harm such an innocent creature," Slithe said, "Kanar, on the other hand…" He let the sentence drop off. Lion-O didn't need to know the rest of it. He didn't want to know. The sick look and psychotic gleam in Kanar's eyes was answer enough, not that it made him feel any better. Kanar raised his axe, and Lion-O quickly grabbed his gauntlet. Slithe looked at his now-empty claw with wide eyes and shouted, "Grab him!" As Lion-O ran to help Leanne, Atticus jumped in front of him and smashed his bludgeoner in front of Lion-O's feet. He barely dodged it, and moved out of the way, unfortunately, because of his quick motions, he ended up teetering on the edge of the canyon that, should his balance fail him, he would plummet down to his death in the waters below.
"Lion-O!" Leanne cried, seeing how his arms were reeling back. Kanar came up behind him just as he was starting to get his footing back and pushed him over the edge of the cliff.
"Oopsie." He said with a pleased grin as he watched the cat plummet down, a few rocks from the cliff following him into the river. Atticus came up beside him and they both watched Lion-O's quickly shrinking form, "Think he'll land on his feet?" Atticus shared a short chuckle with him as Lion-O's body splashed into the river, the huge rocks following him.
Slithe pushed through the two psychopaths, "Fools! He had the gauntlet!" He shouted at them.
Leanne fell to her knees, looking at the place where Lion-O had been standing with wide eyes. The others had been forced onto their knees earlier, but they were in just as much shock as she was.
"…You killed him…" Tygra said, looking at where his brother had been standing.
"Lion-O…" Leanne murmured, her voice cracking and her eyes filling up with tears.
"He had the gauntlet with the Spirit Stone!" Slithe snapped at the two generals. He turned to face some of the soldiers with them, "Get down there and find it!" They quickly ran down the pathway, hoping to get to wherever Lion-O's body had fallen.
Underneath the water, Lion-O struggled against the weight of the rocks that had fallen on top of him in the water. He was trapped on his back at the bottom of the deep river, with no way to get air. And if that wasn't enough, the sheer pressure from being at such a deep water level was crushing his ears as well as his lungs. He tried to get up, tried to escape and move back to the surface, but the combination of great weight and water pressure was too much, and he could no longer take it. He released the air he had been holding onto, and his body began to take in the water, desperate for the oxygen. He very quickly drowned. What Lion-O didn't notice was that the Spirit Stone in his gauntlet began to glow brightly, and with a bright flash, Lion-O's soul was no longer in his body, but somewhere else.
Once Lion-O was transported to this place, he felt a great pain in his chest as he breathed in what he thought was real air, and moved so he would be on his hands and knees. He looked around, seeing that he was in some kind of room, he wasn't sure where, or why, but it was extravagant, with many symbols similar to ones he had seen in Thundera. He looked down at his hands, unable to believe what was happening to him.
"I'm… alive?" He asked into the silence of the room.
"No, Lion-O." A very familiar voice said, he looked up to see the soul of Jaga standing before him, "I'm afraid you are quite dead."
"Jaga…" Lion-O murmured at the sight of him. "Dead…?" He let the word sink in. Dead. Lion-O felt his stomach sink. He was… dead? After all the work and after everything that had happened, his life was taken as easily as that? "Then I failed." It was all over. With his life over, there was no way he could stop Mumm-Ra and his army from taking over Third Earth.
"Not yet, Lion-O." Jaga said, "The Spirit Stone has deemed you worthy of another chance to walk amongst the living."
Lion-O immediately jumped up, "I'll take it!" He said quickly.
"It's not that simple, Lion-O." Jaga said, "While your first life was given to you, your second life must be earned."
"What do you mean?" Lion-O asked, how was he supposed to earn a life?
"You must complete a series of trials." Jaga said. Lion-O scowled.
"Slithe has the sword and he's gonna kill the others!" Lion-O said, "I don't have time for this right now!"
"Your only other choice is death." Jaga said grimly. Lion-O grimaced. Guess I have no choice, then. He thought. Jaga could see this in his face and lifted up his staff, creating a red beam of light that tore open like a rip in a seam. "Pass through this door, and you'll begin a series of trials designed to test whether you can overcome your greatest weaknesses. To see if yours is a life worth saving… Good luck."
Lion-O nodded and ran through the portal, eager to get these trials over with and back to the others.
Leanne stood with the others, prisoners to Mumm-Ra's army. The Jewel of Omens had already been taken from her, and if she paid attention, she could hear Lucas fiddling with it, examining any magical properties it had. But she wasn't paying attention, she was more focused on the fact that their group was missing a member.
Lion-O
The first man… or cat rather, that she had ever been with. She loved him, and he loved her, for however short a period of time that was. And just like that, he was…gone. Never to be seen by any of them ever again. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream up at the heavens, cursing them in every way she knew how, she wanted to dive into the water on the off-chance he might still be alive and she could save him. She wanted to do so many things, but she couldn't. She wasn't even sure what she was feeling at the moment. Maybe she was getting numb? Well, if that was the case, she welcomed the numbness. She didn't want to feel the pain of losing a loved one. It wasn't like being separated from her mother. She knew her mother was still alive somewhere. Lion-O… He was dead.
She was pulled from her thoughts when someone shoved her and she looked up to see Lucas looking down at her, "Come on, you lot. We're leaving." Leanne pushed herself up and joined the others, "You! Doodle McSketchy!" WilyKit looked up from where she had been drawing on a rock over at Lucas, "Get back here!" She got up and ran to join the others. They all boarded the hovercraft and stood together as prisoners as they took off, planning on taking them back to Mumm-Ra's lair.
As they flew, WilyKit rubbed at her eyes, wiping away tears, "Lion-O can't be gone…" She said, "I…I won't believe it!" She sniffled sadly and her brother looked over at her.
"It's okay, Sis. We're gonna get through this." WilyKat said in an assuring voice.
Cheetara bent down to speak at their level, "There will be time for mourning," She promised, "As soon as we take care of them." She nodded back at Slithe and the others. Lucas was still playing around with the Jewel of Omens, seeing to examine its magical properties.
"But how?" Tygra asked.
"You always wanted to be king," Leanne said, her voice and stare surprisingly cold, "And now you are."
"Just hope you got a good plan." Panthro said. Tygra's eyebrows furrowed together and he scowled, not wanting to be reminded of Lion-O's death.
Behind them, Slithe was sending a dark glare to Lucas as he took a closer look at the Jewel of Omens, "You better not drop that." Slithe hissed at him.
Lucas looked back at him, twirling the golden chain around on his finger, "Relax, Frog-face. I won't drop it, and even if I do, I'll catch it."
Slithe sneered at him, but said no more as he turned back around to keep an eye on the ThunderCats. What a useless child he can be, Slithe thought. Just sitting there, fiddling with the Jewel of Omens. What kind of— His thoughts stopped short and he suddenly turned back with wide eyes to Lucas. He was touching the Jewel of Omens, and he wasn't being zapped! The Jewel was under the protection of a strong spell that made sure that no one besides the bearer could touch it. Yet, there before him, was Lucas, touching it and not hurting himself like it was nothing.
The English boy noticed his wide eyed stare and lifted a brow, "What?"
"…Nothing." Slithe said, then turned his attention back to the Cats.
Mumm-Ra would be sure to hear about this.
Lion-O stepped through the portal, and on the other side rested a very familiar setting, one he had snuck off to many times when he was a little younger. The stone buildings stacked up high, the area smelling of the familiar scent of muck and food cooking off in the distance.
"…The slums of Thundera." He murmured.
"Surprised a big, fancy king even knows what slums are." A voice said. Lion-O whirled around to see WilyKat and WilyKit sitting on the roof of one of the buildings.
"What are you two doing here?" Lion-O asked, his eyes widened when a terrible thought came to mind. Was he already too late? "You're not…"
"Dead?" WilyKat finished, "Hardly. We've just taken a form you'd be familiar with." They both jumped down from the roof in front of him.
"We're your first test." WilyKit (Or maybe not) said, "But don't worry. This one's easy."
The Not-WilyKat reached for his belt where he kept his fling and held up a key that was attached to it, "All you have to do is steal this key."
WilyKit reached for the key and held it out to Lion-O so he could get better look at it, "And it'll open the door to your next trial." She continued, "But be careful." Lion-O swiped for the key, and they jumped back. He swiped at them again, and they disappeared. He looked around to see he was alone. "Not everything is as it seems." WilyKit's voice seemed to come from all around him. Suddenly, he was surrounded, by a huge amount of pairs of kittens.
All of the WilyKats said at once, "You really need to keep your eyes open!" Then they all ran off from him.
"Because only one pair of us is real." Another WilyKat said from where he and Kit were sitting on some steps. Lion-O jumped to grab them, but they disappeared. He heard laughter and looked above him to see another pair of twins, waving around the key, taunting him with it, before running off. Lion-O quickly jumped from one roof to another to get up to the same level as them. When he managed to catch up, he saw three WilyKats, all taunting him with the key. Lion-O wasn't sure which one was real, so he took a wild guess and ran forward, trying to grab the one in the middle, but he phased through him and fell to the ground.
"You never look before you leap." One of them said as the other two disappeared. He ran off the roof and jumped all the way down to the ground, running off with a cackle. Lion-O jumped down and ran after him, getting more and more aggravated with this seemingly endless chase. Something caught his ankle and he tumbled to the ground, crashing into some barrels. He looked up to see WilyKit bearing the rope that had tripped him.
"You don't look before you run, either." She said, she scowled at him, "That's how you led us into that trap."
"I was only following the book!" Lion-O said as he got up. He looked around, seeing another pair of WilyKats near him.
"Come on, Lion-O!" One said.
"You can't just follow it blindly." The other said, "You have to trust your instincts." Lion-O growled, his aggravation growing as he went to grab him. He was stopped when one of the WilyKits jumped up behind him and knocked him down into the dirt. Lion-O spat out some of the ground that had gotten into his mouth and looked up at where all the twins were, and watched as they all ran away from him.
"Instincts…" He murmured, thinking carefully over the Not-WilyKat's words. He pushed himself up, "I have to learn to look…" How could he look? Each one looked the same. Then he remembered that the Not-WilyKit mentioned the trap they had fallen into. If she was like the WilyKit from this morning… He sniffed the air, remembering how bad the twins had stunk because they hadn't bathed, "But that doesn't mean I have to use my eyes." Lion-O got up and started running around, sniffing the air, going near each pair of twins without actually trying to catch them. He couldn't smell their special stink, so he moved past them, and they disappeared.
He went up to another one, and this WilyKat held up the key, "Isn't this what you're looking for?" He asked Lion-O.
The young king took a good sniff, then he smirked and stepped back, "Yeah, but you don't have it." The Not-WilyKat looked surprised before he disappeared. He moved past the huge groups of kitten-lookalikes before he got to where the real ones were. They were rank, but he knew they were the real ones. So, being as quiet as possible, he snuck up behind them, and ever-so-carefully took the key from where it hung at the Not-WilyKat's belt.
Once he stepped back, Not-WilyKit looked at her brother, "This is taking longer than I thought it would." She said.
"Do you think he'll ever get the key?" Not-WilyKat asked her.
Lion-O smirked, "I already did." The twins jumped and turned around to see Lion-O holding the key.
"Ah!" WilyKat reached for the belt and looked to see that the key was gone, "Huh?"
"Gotta keep your eyes open, Kat." Lion-O said, "And if those deceive you, you can always trust your nose." The twins smiled widely and jumped up, voicing their praises to him as a portal appeared, this one bearing a small keyhole where light was shining in. He placed the key inside and turned it, stepping back as it grew slightly larger. He quickly jumped through it, moving on to the next trial.
Everyone rode on the hovercraft through the canyon. Soon enough, a second one carrying the lizards that Slithe had sent to look for Lion-O and the gauntlet. They flew up alongside theirs and Slithe looked to them, waiting to hear of their progress. He saw the one in charge of the excursion shaking his head. He hissed angrily.
"Nothing?!" He hissed out.
"No trace, General Slithe." The lizard said, "Probably washed out to the Great Sea."
WilyKit gasped at the sound of his words. Leanne reached out and placed her hand on her head, trying to be comforting. WilyKit turned and leaned into her and Leanne hugged her as best she could in her handcuffs.
Lucas let out a long breath, "Mumm-Ra's not gonna be happy 'bout this…" He muttered, running a hand through his bleached locks. He didn't want to see that demon angry. Just seeing him in general was enough to send chills down his spine in the most unpleasant way. He really didn't want to see what he looked like angry.
Kanar walked over to the cats, looking at the two smallest ones with a wicked grin and psychotic gleam in his eye.
"But surely these cute kittens will cheer him up." He said, letting out his signature maniacal laugh. The two kittens looked at him with wide, fearful eyes.
"If there's anything left of them." Atticus said, picking up his bludgeoner with a wild grin, clearly ready to start mangling them.
"I can assure you, Atticusss…" Slithe hissed as he picked up his gun, "There won't be!"
"Leave the Redoric girl for me." Lucas said, stuffing the Jewel of Omens in his pocket, "I need her alive." He turned his eyes away so he wouldn't have to witness what the others were planning to do. He didn't want to risk vomiting again.
The three generals stepped closer to their captives, Kanar getting a little closer to the kittens. He smiled, showing all his sharp teeth as they looked up at him in fear. The smile disappeared, however, when Leanne stepped out in front of the kittens, glaring at him defiantly and without the fear he loved so much.
"Get out of the way." He commanded.
"No." Leanne said, her voice low. Kanar growled angrily, glaring at her in a frightening way, but she did not back down.
"I said move!" He snarled at her, a small bark mixed in with his words.
"And I said no!" Leanne snapped back.
"Leanne," Tygra's voice reached her and she looked back at him, "Step back." Leanne's eyes widened, looking at him incredulously.
"You're not seriously gonna let him—!"
"That's an order, Leanne." Tygra said firmly. The way he said it certainly made it seem like he was using his authority. Leanne looked at him carefully, analyzing his expression. His gaze was firm, but there was something lying underneath it that made her understand why he wanted her to, and she stepped back, but she didn't look very happy about it.
"Orders?" Lucas said, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Tygra. "Oh, that's right. With the lion gone, that puts you in charge, don't it?"
Slithe pointed his gun at Tygra, "Yours will be the shortest and last reign of any Cat king!"
Tygra looked away, mumbling, "…I'd rather die a king than live forever as a mindless lackey…"
Slithe had heard him, and he hissed angrily, "What's that, Cat?!"
Tygra turned to the lizard, his hatred for him showing on his face as he almost shouted, "I said I'd rather die a king than live forever as a mindless lackey!" Slithe growled and hit him with the end of his gun. Tygra grimaced and reached up, rubbing the spot where he had hit, "Well you got one thing going for you. You hit harder than the monkey."
Atticus took great offence to that statement, "You wanna see how hard I hit?!" He grabbed Tygra and held him in the air before throwing him down on the rocky terrain below the hovercraft. Lucas turned his attention to the sight before him, thinking that Atticus wouldn't do any huge damage to the tiger, although it didn't make him feel any less uneasy. He watched as Atticus jumped off the hovercraft and went over to Tygra, pinning him to the ground with his hand-like feet and using his much bigger, much stronger hands to punch Tygra across the face again and again.
Kanar let out a high-pitched laugh, "Can I play, too?" He jumped down and moved Atticus aside and began punching him like Atticus had, letting out a gleeful laugh, "Seems he likes getting hit as much as we like hitting him!"
He punched him a few more times before Tygra spoke, "…No. Just had to buy some time for Kit and Kat to pick the locks." The two generals whirled their heads around to see Kit and Kat holding up their handcuffs, as well as the others with smug grins.
"Hi," Kit called to them.
"Hey there," Kat called.
Immediately, Lucas jumped up, looking around for where the captives had gone, his eyes searching specifically for a dark haired human girl. He didn't pay attention to, or care about the sight of Panthro jumping up and taking down Kanar and Atticus as Cheetara went and destroyed Tygra's cuffs.
"Lizards! Attack!" Slithe said, frantic to keep his prisoners with him. Cheetara quickly and easily disarmed any soldiers with her incredible speed.
Finally, Lucas spotted Leanne moving the kittens away from the fight, trying to get them somewhere safe, Snarf resting on her shoulders. Lucas's eyes narrowed, "You're not getting away that easily." He jumped off the hovercraft, running after her.
Slithe saw this, and was about to yell at him for leaving, but he was suddenly punched by something. He looked to see Tygra appear out of thin air, apparently having used his whip to make himself invisible beforehand, "That's for me," He punched him again, hard, "And that's for Lion-O!" Slithe fell to the ground. Atticus came up behind Tygra and grabbed him, trying to grapple him into submission. In retaliation, Tygra used his head to bash Atticus's and the monkey released him. Tygra turned and tried to kick the monkey, but he grabbed Tygra's foot before he had the chance. Using that to his advantage, Tygra jumped up and punched Atticus in the face. The monkey released him to hold his nose in pain, and Tygra kicked him back. Atticus quickly flipped to avoid falling over and landed back on his feet, glaring angrily at the tiger and charging at him, punching him hard enough to throw him onto the ground.
Leanne looked back from where she and the kittens were running away, and saw Lucas wasn't too far behind them. She pushed the kids and Snarf forward and turned around to face him.
"I'm not letting you get away!" Lucas growled, his eyes and talisman glowing a bright green.
"Do I look like I'm running?!" Leanne snapped, she lifted up her hands, intending to have some of the earth around her shoot at Lucas, but nothing happened. She tried again, beginning to panic when it didn't work. She stopped when she realized why, seeing the golden chain of the Jewel of Omens in Lucas's pocket. She let out a colorful curse when she realized that Lucas knew that, too, "F***!"
"Well, don't you have a dirty mouth?" Lucas said, he lifted up his hand, and Leanne was lifted up by an invisible force. She tried to get back down, but knew she couldn't do anything without the Jewel of Omens. She was brought closer to Lucas, and let out a scream when green beams seemed to shoot out from his sleeve and cover her, entrapping her in their light. She squirmed, trying to get out of it, but to no avail, so she did the next thing she could think of, cussing him out.
"You Mother F***er! When I get out of here, I'm going to— Gmmfh!" The green beams quickly gagged her.
Lucas let out a few mocking 'tsk' noises, "Naughty girl. You need to watch your mouth." Leanne glared at him with as much hatred as she could muster, and he only smirked at her in return. He grabbed her collar, pulling her closer to him, "I need that power, Redoric, and I'll take it any way I can."
Kanar, who was battling it out with Panthro, punched him back against a rock and held him down, showing him his crazy grin, asking in his own sickly sweet way, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Panthro gave him a good punch to the face, "Not as much as I plan to hurt you!" Kanar was knocked back by the force of the hit.
Slithe came up towards them on the hovercraft, holding the Sword of Omens, "Forget the Cats! The sword and jewel are all that matters!" The two generals looked reluctant to leave their battles, but Lucas didn't hesitate at all to jump up on the hovercraft, a bound and gagged Leanne being carried over his shoulder like a sack of flour. The two generals came up soon afterwards.
Tygra looked at Leanne with wide eyes, and she looked back at him, showing how afraid she was, "Leanne!" He quickly jumped up and ran towards the hovercraft.
"You have your lives, but they're of little good as long as I have this!" He pointed to the sword in his clawed hand. Tygra pulled out his gun and started firing at him and the others, Leanne squirming ceaselessly as she tried to escape Lucas's grasp. The hovercraft turned around and quickly flew away in the direction of Mumm-Ra's lair.
Leanne let out a muffled cry through her light-gag as they flew away. Tygra kept firing at the craft until it was out of range and soon, out of sight. Once they were gone, Tygra stopped running, and he gritted his teeth angrily, glaring at where the hovercraft had been.
Cheetara ran up by his side, putting her hand on his shoulder, "Your brother would be proud if he could see you now." She said.
"This isn't over yet." Tygra said to her, "We're getting them back, Leanne and the sword." He ran off in the direction of the hovercraft, and the others quickly followed him, and after she had drawn a quick doodle on a rock, WilyKit was right behind them.
The portal opened up mid-air, and Lion-O fell through it. He didn't recognize the heavily forested area, and it didn't make much difference as he fell through, the thorny briar branches breaking his fall as he hit the grassy ground. He let out a small groan as he tried to push himself up, hearing the calls of some birds as they flew above him.
"Ouch." A feminine voice said, Lion-O looked up to see Cheetara sitting on one of the briar branches. "You sure took the hard way down, Lion-O."
Lion-O pushed himself up with a frustrated growl, "Well I didn't see an easier one!" He snapped.
"There's always an easier way," The Not-Cheetara said, "You just never look for it. That's how you got us caught in the first place."
"I took that mountain pass because we had to!" Lion-O said as she jumped down in front of him, "I don't choose where the book points, Cheetara!"
"But you're the king, and it's up to you to choose how to get there." Not-Cheetara replied, "And if you wanna win this trial, you better choose carefully." Not-Cheetara walked a few steps away from him and Lion-O noticed for the first time a huge, vine-covered maze that stood before him. "There's only one way out, and you've gotta find it and get to the key before I do." Lion-O looked to the Not-Cheetara with wide eyes.
"A race?" Lion-O asked in shock, "That's impossible! This place is a labyrinth, and I couldn't outrun you if I had the Thunder Tank!"
"If you believe that, then you've already lost." Cheetara said, "But don't worry. Just to make it fair, I'll give you a head start." She waved her hand towards the maze and Lion-O grimaced. Even if he did have a head start, it would take him much longer to get to the end than it would for the Not-Cheetara. He wasn't very sure if he could win this challenge. "Well? What are you waiting for?" Lion-O stepped forward slowly, waiting to see if this maze had any traps, and then he burst forward running, knowing that if Cheetara was giving him a head start, he needed to take advantage of it. He ran down hall after hall, doing his best to try and find his way through the maze to the end. When he came to the first fork in his way, he went on his instinct, as the previous trial had taught him, and ran down the path he felt was the right way. He thought he was going the right way, seeing that he hadn't run into any problems, until he reached his first dead end.
"Time's up, Lion-O!" Not-Cheetara's voice called to him from the maze entrance. "Here I come!" Lion-O turned and ran from the dead end, running down the opposite way he had come and taking a different turn than he had before, and headed onwards, still trusting his instincts as he ran. He soon heard the sound of Cheetara's quick footsteps nearby and started running faster. He skidded to a halt when Cheetara suddenly ran up in front of him, "So much for that head start."
Lion-O scowled, "Now you're just toying with me. You have since the beginning."
"And you're still acting like the same, stubborn prince you were the day I met you." Cheetara said, "Can't see a dead end even when you're running straight into it."
"Believe me, I've run into plenty." Lion-O said. Cheetara gave him a small smile.
"Then maybe it's time to take a different path." She said gently, she turned around, "See you at the finish line." She started running down the way Lion-O had been headed, quickly going out of his sight. He continued on another path, thinking it might have been a shortcut, but he soon that wasn't the case as he turned and reached another dead end. He let out a groan and fell onto his back.
"Some shortcut that was…" He muttered. He looked up towards the sky, watching as one of the birds he had heard before fly above him, circling around him, but not in the way a vulture would circle their prey. It circled over him, as if to tell him not to give up, to keep going towards the end, "Easy for you to say, you've got wings!" His eyes widened as he reached a sudden epiphany and pushed himself up, "…Which is just what I need." The bird flew a little closer, and with a little luring, Lion-O got the bird over to him and he jumped on its back, making it take off into the air above the maze. He smirked to himself, "She said I had to win, but she didn't say I had to do it alone." Now he had a bird's eye view of trial before him, and he could see where the key was resting on one tall, particularly thick briar vine. He flew the bird in the direction of it and he grinned widely, believing that he had won. He heard the familiar sound of Cheetara's footsteps and he looked back to see she was quickly catching up to him. He pushed on the bird, "Come on… Faster. Faster!" The bird flapped its wings in accordance with his orders and flew quicker. He and Cheetara reached the small clearing where the huge briar branch waited. The bird flew closer to the branch as Cheetara began to climb up it. Lion-O let out a cry as he jumped off the bird and dove for the key, grabbing it in his gauntleted hand as he fell to the ground. He rolled on the grassy floor before coming to a stop.
Not-Cheetara ran from the branch and skidded to a halt in front of Lion-O just as he got up, "You win." She said simply, smiling.
"Or to put it another way," Lion-O said with a grin, "You lose."
"Well, my goal was to teach you a lesson," Cheetara said, "So, actually… I still win." Lion-O frowned and the Not-Cheetara grinned at him.
A portal opened up beside him and Lion-O placed the key inside, turning it. The portal grew again, and he jumped through it, getting onto the next trial.
Leanne grunted as Atticus pulled the ropes around her body to tighten them, squeezing her.
"What's the matter?" He asked mockingly, "Too tight?" Leanne looked up and glared at him, setting her jaw. "Good."
"I don't want you squeezing the life out of her." Lucas scolded him, "I need her alive. Suffocating her won't help any." Atticus let out a snort, but said nothing as he moved away. Lucas walked over to Leanne, a smug grin on his features as he looked her over, his hands stuffed into his hoodie pockets where the Jewel of Omens rested. "Now, Leanne," He squatted down to be at her eye level, "You're going to be a good girl whether you like it or not." He reached out his hand, and Leanne jumped back, from him. Lucas scowled and grabbed her neck. Leanne let out a choking sound, and he slightly loosened his grip. Leanne knew what was coming next. It was whatever he did to her before that caused her such great pain.
To try and buy some time, she blurted out, "Who's Elizabeth?!"
Lucas froze and looked up at her with wide eyes, unable to believe what she had just said. His grip on her neck tightened, and she choked again, "How the hell do you know that name?" He growled through his teeth.
"I… I saw her…" Leanne said, struggling to speak with his hand around her throat, "In a vision…You were… visiting her… She was…" She gasped for air, "Sick…" Lucas's grip tightened around her throat and her eyes went wide as her air supply was cut off entirely.
"You accessed my memories?!" Lucas snarled. Leanne could only let out a pathetic squeak in response, "You little bitch! You had no right!" Leanne's eyes began to water from her lack of air and her mouth gaped open, trying to get in some oxygen. "How dare you try to search my mind!" Lucas released her neck only to hit her across the face. Leanne fell to the floor of the hovercraft, coughing and gasping for air, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to take in as much air as she could.
"I… didn't mean to…" She coughed out, "It just happened…" Lucas glared at her and stood up.
"I can only assume that's the way your power tries to show itself." He said, he pulled the Jewel of Omens out of his pocket, "But without this, you can't do a thing." He stuffed it back into his pocket and turned around, facing the front of the hovercraft beside Slithe as Leanne took her time to breathe. The lizard general looked at Lucas with a raised eyebrow.
"You're not going to continue what you started?" He asked curiously. Lucas glanced at Leanne, then looked back to the path the hovercraft was taking.
"There'll be plenty of time to extract her power later on." Lucas said, "I don't need to do it now. Besides," He eyed Kanar and Atticus, whose attentions were elsewhere, "I don't want either of those lunatics to end up breaking my concentration."
Slithe only let out a grunt in response to him. He turned to the driver and told him to speed up. They needed to get to Mumm-Ra's lair quickly to give him the two halves of the War stone that he needed.
Lucas looked back at where Leanne lay, watching her catch her breath. He swallowed down the guilt he felt for putting her in such a state and turned his attention back to the desert as they flew over the yellow dunes.
Lion-O went through the portal to a familiar, yet unfamiliar setting. He looked around, somewhat recognizing the styles of the homes that sat along the paved road he stood on. They all had lawns and driveways, and the style was something that didn't exist on Third Earth, or at least, any style that he had seen.
"This is…" He looked around with wide eyes.
"My world." Another voice finished. He looked to see Leanne leaning comfortably against the wooden fence of one the homes. "I thought it was appropriate, seeing as how you had seen the area before." She pushed herself up from the fence and walked over to him. "I'm surprised you were able to recognize it so quickly."
"You don't forget a place like this." Lion-O said, turning to her. The Not-Leanne smiled.
"No, I guess you don't." She said, looking around at the homes for a moment before looking back at Lion-O. She noticed how he looked ready to do anything and she grinned, "You don't have to worry about overexerting yourself. This trial is all about your knowledge." She pointed to her head, "The knowledge you have as a king, as a friend, and as Lion-O in general. I'm just going to ask you three different true or false questions, and you answer them with the knowledge you have. Simple, right? But," She pulled out the key he needed, "In order to get this, you need to get all three of them right. No second chances, your first answer is your only answer. Got it?"
Lion-O nodded. "Ask away." Leanne smiled.
"Then let's begin." She said, tucking the key away. She giggled, "I feel like there should be some kind of dramatic music." Lion-O lifted an eyebrow at her and she dismissed it with a wave, "Never mind. Don't worry about it." Her smile fell and she became more serious, "The best thing to do when confronted with a single enemy soldier is to fight him, beat him, and make him your prisoner, true or false?"
"A question like that right off the bat?" Lion-O asked, "Isn't that one more opinionated than fact?"
"This question is for you as a king." Leanne said, "You need to answer it if you want to move forward." Lion-O paused to think for a moment, then looked at her.
"The answer is false. The best thing to do is to show him that the enemy he's fighting isn't what he thinks. It's better to convince him to desert the army and return home to his loved ones than battle it out." He said.
Leanne smiled, "Very good. Now, this next one has more to do with your memory of your friends than your leadership as a king."
"Why is that important?" Lion-O asked.
"Because it's just as important for a leader to look out for his subjects as it is to look out for his friends." Leanne said, "Now, The kittens' favorite thing to do is chow down on candy fruit, true or false?"
"That's easy. False." Lion-O answered right away. "Their favorite thing to do is talk about El Dara and how when they find it, they're going to be the richest cats on Third Earth."
Leanne smiled, "Good. You got it right. Now, this question is for my personal reasons. Would you help them find El Dara?"
"Help them find it?" Lion-O said, "It's just an old legend. No one knows if it's true or not."
"Technology was the same way not too long ago, wasn't it?" Leanne asked. Lion-O paused at her words and she grinned, "Well, I guess you can worry about that after your mission. Now, this is the last question, and your last chance." Lion-O nodded, waiting for Leanne's final question, "You need to tell me whether this is true or false, and this one's kinda difficult, so you need to give me an honest answer."
"Fine, I'm ready." Lion-O said.
"Did you still have feelings for me when you said that 'we were a bad idea'?" Lion-O froze at her words, looking at her with wide eyes, "Remember, you only get one shot to answer."
Lion-O was still, thinking about when he had said that to Leanne, what had been going through his mind at the time. He looked the Not-Leanne straight into her eyes and said, "…When I saw you with Tygra, it hurt. I felt like I couldn't trust you anymore, so I stopped the relationship."
"You still haven't answered my question." Leanne said. "Did you, or did you not have feelings for me?"
"…I did." Lion-O answered.
Leanne smiled, "And you're being completely honest with me?"
"Yes." Lion-O said.
Leanne tossed the key to him. "You know, I would have accepted 'I don't know' for an answer for that one."
"You said you wanted an honest answer." Lion-O said.
"Which is the best kind of answer." Leanne said.
Lion-O looked over the key then back at her, "So, is this the end of trials?"
"Not quite." Not-Leanne said, "You're only about halfway through. Good luck, Lion-O." She went over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You're gonna need it."
A portal appeared beside Lion-O, and he placed the key inside it. The portal grew again, and he jumped through, heading onward to the next trial.