Chapter XVI
Everyone froze in shock at the mouse man's words. "Mumm-Rah… created… us, as in you, the Berbils?" Cheetara was the first to ask, in clarification.
"No, 'all' of us," Ro-Bear-Bill corrected quickly. "You, me, the Berbils, the Thundercats, the Reptilians, the Jackals, the Canines, the Tuskas, the Rabbits and the rest; all of us."
Cheetara stared at the mouse unbelieving. "That's not possible."
"But it is," the mouse man told her and turned the book toward them, "It's all written here!" He glanced over the pages and quickly pulled it back his eyes drawn to one of the sketched figures, "Ooh, there are even diagrams for this part!"
He turned the pages and found another spot, "Here it is! This is the part telling about the treasure!"
"Treasure?" Kit asked puzzled; hadn't they been on a different topic entirely.
"Wasn't that what you were asking about earlier?" Ro-Bear-Bill blinked at the group of them confused.
"Answer the other question first," Lion-o prodded, turning the pages back to the ones before when he mentioned Mumm-Rah, "What do you mean exactly when you say Mumm-Rah created all of us?"
Ro-Bear-Bill pointed to one of the sketches, an impossible figure; as a shape it was completely hairless with little muscular definition and features too rounded and blank to be considered part of any of the animal groups. It appeared to be bare of claws and fangs as well. Something so plain, harmless, and thoroughly unequipped for the world could never have survived in the world.
"There were once many creatures like this that populated the planet." Ro-Bear-Bill tapped the figure with his finger, "They weren't like any of us, though we share a very small part in common with them."
"If they used to be everywhere, what happened to them?" Kat asked.
"One took over their world, this planet, and destroyed all others so his power could never be challenged." The mouse man continued, "Then he realized he was ruler of a graveyard."
Ro-Bear-Bill looked down at the page and then smiled pleasantly, "Oh, so that's what happened, yes he decided he needed a people to rule over. So he created us. A bit of his species mixed with the creatures that were left over, so we became what we are. But we didn't like being ruled over. That was when, for Mumm-Rah, the unthinkable happened. One of his subjects, a cat, his creation, rose against him and managed to seal him away. That was Leo I."
" 'Sealed him,' " Lion-o repeated, "How?" That was the important part, how could they stop Mumm-Rah?
The Berbil blinked at him blearily for a moment then turned his pointed nose back to the Book of Omens turning the pages, scanning the words. "Hm. Not sure. It doesn't say."
"What?" Tygra started. Ro-Bear-Bill raised his hand with a smile.
"Wait a moment!" he declared triumphantly before looking back up at them with shining eyes, "There was a tubey thing!"
"A tubey thing?" Tygra repeated, patience wearing thinner.
"A tubey thing." Ro-Bear-Bill confirmed.
Tygra felt a muscle begin to twitch. "I think they're making things up now," he scowled. But the Berbil shook his head.
"No, it's all right here," the mouse man said and showed them the book again. On this page there was another sketched diagram showed a hollow cylinder with many arrows attached to several paragraphs of undecipherable text, parts were smudged out. "According to the writing its purpose was to rejuvenate and heal. Mumm-Rah used this machine on a regular basis to keep his body strong and new."
"So it didn't actually hurt or kill him in any way?" Panthera wondered
"Nope!" the mouse man chirped cheerily.
Panthera frowned, "Why would Leo I lock him somewhere that would potentially make his enemy stronger?"
"Does it say anything else? Was there supposed to be a lock on it, for example?" Lion-o questioned. The Berbil scanned the text briefly.
"There was a timer mechanism that could be set anywhere between 1000 years and a few hours." Ro-Bear-Bill reported. "During its incubation period Mumm-Rah's healing tubey thingie was considered nearly indestructible."
Lion-o's brow creased in thought. Was it possible Leo I would have had a reason to not destroy his enemy? "So it's possible that Leo I locked him in with the timer set to 1000 years?"
"Even if that is what's written there," Tygra broke in, impatient, "It's still impossible! Even if Mumm-Rah was locked in there since the time of Leo I, there's no way he could have survived that long. I don't care what kind of technology that is, there's no way it could keep him alive for that many hundreds of years!"
Ro-Bear-Bill blinked at him mutely and began sifting pages again. Cheetara however was the one to provide an explanation. "It is possible; Mumm-Rah's been using the mana stream."
Everyone looked to her now, "What do you mean?" Panthera asked.
"Can you even use the mana stream like that?" Tygra asked, he knew Cheetara was connected to it, since she had confided in him, but this information was new.
"Jaga, when he-" Cheetara paused and rephrased, "He once told me that Mumm-Rah lives in an unnatural state. Like a soul trapped on earth without a body."
"Mumm-Rah has a body." Kat pointed out quickly.
"Yes," Cheetara agreed, "But I'm saying that his body is likely already dead." No one spoke and Cheetara arranged her thoughts quickly. Jaga, before she had taken his mana and sent him on, had said it was an unnatural state and almost as bad as Mumm-Rah. He had also called Mumm-Rah an abomination.
They had all seen the skeletal hands, the dead leathery skin of his bandaged hands. With everything she knew about the mana stream and Mumm-Rah's power, suddenly everything was clicking into place.
"Mumm-Rah is likely in constant contact with the mana stream, neither dead nor alive, and he is using its power to keep himself bound in his body." Cheetara surmised.
Tygra and Panthera frowned, the kits looked at each other, their tails twitching slightly, anxious and revolted. Ro-Bear-Bill stared at her wide-eyed, and Lion-o felt a shudder along his spine.
He didn't know as much about the theory of mana and it's relation to things dead and living but he did know this without being told. If Mumm-Rah was keeping himself alive, using the power of the mana stream, to bind himself to and animate his own corpse… there was something fundamentally perverse and wrong in that.
"You think he has that kind of power?" Tygra asked, wondering at the implications of that. He'd seen what the mana stream uncontrolled did to Cheetara, but if Mumm-Rah could control and use the stream to the extent they were suspecting him of, his power was perhaps greater than they knew.
"Considering what I know of Mumm-Rah and the mana stream," Cheetara said heavily, the same thoughts weighing on her mind, "I believe that's exactly what he's doing."
"I can believe it." Lion-o agreed, and turned to Ro-Bear-Bill, "Does the Book of Omens say anything about how to kill him?"
The mouse man blinked and looked at Lion-o blankly for a moment. Lion-o had to repeat his question and without a word the Berbil began sifting the pages again, 'hmm'ing to himself.
"Not really." He said decidedly before looking back at Lion-o. "It has a lot of good designs for devastating weapons though."
"The only way for him die, if he's using the mana stream is to disrupt the connection that he has with it." Cheetara said heavily after a moment, considering the issue. "If we can somehow separate Mumm-Rah from the mana stream then he should be able to die."
"Yes," Ro-Bear-Bill nodded sagely
"Then a bullet to the head might work!" chirped another Berbil. It turned out a group of them had wandered away from the Plun-Darr reconstruction and were now semi-intently listening to the conversation.
The kits shifted uneasily as the group hemmed in around the shorter cats. WilyKat started when one of the Berbils started touching his tail and he snatched it away quickly. WilyKit had to slap away tiny prying hands as well as the little mice reached for her shiny necklace.
Tygra frowned at the cheery-looking Berbil but opted to ignore it, and turned back to Cheetara, "Okay, so how do we separate him from the mana stream?"
She sighed and looked down, brow furrowed in thought. Lion-o looked to her confused, "But isn't the mana stream… it's everywhere isn't it?"
"It's the planet." Cheetara affirmed, and her arms drew up to wrap around herself, almost defensively. "I don't know how to do it."
Tygra reached for her and caught her hand pulling it down to her side and squeezed. She looked to him and his golden eyes looked back at her, smiling and reassuring. They were going to figure this out. Leo I had managed to lock Mumm-Rah away for over a thousand years. Maybe they could do one better, or at least the same.
WilyKit screeched as a holographic globe suddenly projected out around them. The cats jumped. Lion-o and Tygra half expected an attack, Panthera already had her gunblade on hand and Cheetara froze as the holograph spun around them mapping a vast area and showed a tracking thread with a small triangular shape orbiting along the path. The Berbils were the only ones who didn't look surprised.
"Oh yes, the map!" Ro-Bear-Bill said happily stepping closer to Kit who had stopped trying to stop the mice from fiddling with her necklace and instead now sat, fallen on the ground, quite frozen, fur on end, hackles raised. Kat recovered fasted and quickly went to prod her in the shoulder asking if she was okay.
Cheetara looked down and saw the source of the holograph was from WilyKit's necklace; so that was what Ro-Bear-Bill had meant when they first met and he said they had 'the map' already.
"Map to what?" Panthera asked, eyes drawn to the orbiting triangle. "What is it supposed to be?"
"The treasure!" the berbils all exclaimed at once in cheerful but semi-awed voices. Ro-Bear-Bill turned to them beaming.
"Oh it shouldn't be a problem to find it with the map!" he said happily eyes looking back at the projection, "What a clever hiding spot! Without this it would be impossible to find! Even for Mumm-Rah!"
"What is it? What treasure are you talking about?" Tygra asked, impatient.
"The treasure!" Ro-Bear-Bill said, now irritated as well. "Mumm-Rah wanted it! We told him we didn't have it, he didn't believe us, so he torched our city and took the Everlasting instead!"
"We were working on that for so long…" one of the Berbils exclaimed mournfully. "It was practically perfect."
"We will miss it." Declared another Berbil solemnly, "It's so sad." They all bowed their head, even Ro-Bear-Bill, and fell into a brief silence as thought mourning a lost friend or relative rather than a piece of machinery.
"Right, the treasure, you said it's a mech, right?" Tygra asked, requiring confirmation, since there was no way to tell with Berbils.
"Not just a mech!" Ro-Bear-Bill declared hotly, all the Berbils immediately fluffing up as though thoroughly insulted. "The Thundera is a most ancient treasure, better than even the Everlasting! It was crafted by the ancient knowledge long lost even to our clan!"
"It's been so long since we could make something so much more than tech." One of the Berbils lamented, actually shedding tears, "We lost so much of our research before we went into hiding after Leo IV…"
"That reminds me!" Ro-Bear-Bill suddenly smiled again and turned to Lion-o with shining eyes, hugging the Book of Omens tightly to his chest, "Can we keep the book?"
"No." Tygra said decisively, sparing Lion-o the awkward explanation that the book required protection and was still their best source of information regarding Mumm-Rah, even if the Berbils had to be the ones to translate it. Once they got out of the city perhaps they could start working with Panthro to transcribe it to their more recent writings.
Ro-Bear-Bill's shoulders sank and the sparkle in his eyes went out. A resounding groan of disappointment and lamentation went up through the group of Berbils. At least they didn't seem inclined to argue immediately.
"So what is the Thundera, exactly," Lion-o asked turning back to the projection, "Can that help us defeat Mumm-Rah?"
"And what did you mean by 'more than tech'?" Panthera questioned as well. "You said something before how it merges technology and magic but… what does that mean?"
"The Thundera can connect to the mana stream!" Ro-Bear-Bill explained simply and hotly, obviously frustrated that he actually had to explain something so obvious.
"It can?" Lion-o asked flabbergasted, and wondering how that would be a useful feature for a mech.
"You have the key to it already. This!" Ro-Bear-Bill said his hand reaching to touch the gauntlet at Lion-o's belt, "Is the Key to Thundera, and it alone will allow you to pilot the treasure! And this!" his hand moved to the other side and the Sword of Omens, "The sword can grow to contribute to Thundera's power!"
The Berbil's eyes sparkled happily, "So you have the key, the upgrade weapon, and the map! To think I get to see the great treasure within my lifetime!" the mouse man looked ready to shed tears of joy, "I must be allowed to see the craftsmanship!"
"It was truly an amazing treasure!" the other Berbils agreed, all sighing wistfully, eyes shining and happily tracking the little triangle on its orbit in the projection. "How our clan has missed the great treasure!"
"How could Leo I have taken it from us!" one bawled unhappily, quickly comforted with many fuzzy hugs from its many companions.
"How do you even read this map?" Tygra asked trying to decipher that the orbiting 'marker's location was supposed to be.
"Well it looks like the Thundera is moving, doesn't it?" Lion-o surmised.
"I can see that," Tygra said, "But 'where' is it moving around? I can't tell what any of these landmarks are supposed to be!"
"Well those are clearly the bluffs off the northeastern cliffs." One of the Berbils put in helpfully, gesturing to one of the vague shifting patterns on the projection.
"And that big shape there is part of the flatlands! See?" another Berbil added, perfectly happy to assist.
"So what does that mean the orbiting thing is?" Kit asked, not familiar with the geography. But both Lion-o and Tygra looked at each other.
"The northeastern bluffs?" Lion-o arched his eyebrow.
"And the flatlands," Tygra sighed scratching his head. It still didn't make much sense. "So are you saying that the map puts the 'treasure' in the annual tornadoes that pass around the flatlands?"
"But it's the perfect time of year!" Ro-Bear-Bill said cheerfully, "The tornadoes are circling toward the bluffs this time of year, it would be the ideal spot to intercept the treasure's location!"
"It's in a tornado?" Kat asked in disbelief, "Isn't that… a stupid place to hide something? The tornadoes go away right, so it has to get picked up by another one every year or something?"
"Not in the flatlands." Panthera shook her head, "The tornadoes cluster in groups that have been running the same cycle for hundreds of years. Because the flatlands are so vast the tornadoes go with the annual winds visiting one side of the planet and then the other, never dropping in speed, so the winds never die out completely."
"That's still a stupid place to hide something." Kit decided firmly, "It's still really dangerous."
"Not to worry! We'll know what tornado it is, thanks to the map!" The Berbils chorused happily.
"You're right, I feel so much safer about hunting down a specific tornado, now." Kit said, sarcastic, and irritated. She didn't even like it when the storm winds blew in. Visiting the bluffs and trying to get into a tornado would be a thousand times worse!
"Well, with Plun-Darr repaired we should be able to reach it," Tygra figured, "Even if it is in a tornado." He looked back toward where the Plun-Darr rested, a few of the Berbils still working on it, though the group that had previously surrounded the kits and been focused on the projection now turned to him and moved quickly, a group between him and the mech.
"Leave it here with us." They demanded in unison.
"What?" Tygra asked; more in rhetoric considering what he just said, than anything else.
"We're fixing it!" One said, "It's still missing its arm."
"Its systems have also been severely damaged." Another put in, "It'll take a while to restore it! Leave it here with us!"
Well that wasn't happening. Tygra glared. "Yes," another said firmly, "We'll take good care of it!"
"You didn't take care of it at all!" Another accused indignantly. Tygra's eyes narrowed, and he felt a growl start at the back of his throat. "He'll probably break it again." A third muttered petulantly.
"I'm afraid part of the damage is my fault," Cheetara put in quickly before Tygra could get too riled up. "But the Plun-Darr is indispensable for us, and we're going to need it to get the treasure."
The Berbils stared at her blankly for a moment. "I'm not letting my mech out of my sight," Tygra told them calmly, his voice an iron vow, "You're not keeping it."
The group of Berbils blinked in unison and then all turned to each other muttering quickly before turning to face the cats again. "You drive a hard bargain," they told him, "We'll come with you!"
"What?" Tygra asked, now genuinely confused.
"Oh wonderful!" Ro-Bear-Bill beamed. "Then we will all leave with you!" The Berbils all immediately scrambled off to get their few belongings, although a few came back with little more than an extra wrench and screwdriver while others were bringing blankets and books. Tygra and the others turned to look at Lion-o and he shrugged.
"This is probably for the best anyway," Lion-o admitted, "We can't leave them here, the city is ruined, and we do need their help for Plun-Darr and to equip our army."
The cats all agreed and observed as the remaining Berbils, a small but sizeable group probably still somewhere around a couple hundred gathered together to leave. Tygra was allowed, after much disagreement on the part of the Berbils, to use his mech to get ready to depart, Cheetara opted to stay on the ground with Kit who was still trying to figure out how to turn the map on and off. Since she refused to hand over the 'map', which was an important present of hers, the Berbils had to show her how to work her necklace instead of just taking it themselves for safe-keeping. Cheetara was singularly gratefull she had no shiny object for the Berbils to steal away. It seemed no one had escaped completely unscathed by the Berbils slightly kleptomaniacal streak.
When Ro-Bear-Bill returned to head the group Lion-o stood with him. "Ro-Bear-Bill," he addressed, wanting to confirm their potential arrangement, or at least request it, even if the Berbils were disinclined to equip their armies.
"Will you lend us your skills and furnish weaponry for our armies to fight Mumm-Rah, as well as assist us in translating the Book of Omens?" Lion-o asked, "We can protect you from Mumm-Rah the best we can, and if you lend us your tools we can work together to defeat him and restore our world to order."
Ro-Bear-Bill gave him an odd look. "Didn't we say we would already?"
"Well I was hoping you would say yes-!"
"Well we did." Ro-Bear-Bill told him crisply. "Now if you would?"
It was Lion-o's turn to give the mouse man an odd look. "Would what?"
"My gift." Ro-Bear-Bill said as though it was obvious, "We need it to leave. So go on." Lion-o remembered and took the sphere out from his bag and handed it to the mouse man, unsure how to work it himself.
OoooooooooooooooO
Ro-Bear-Bill directed everyone to stand close together, and then after turning the sphere's parts in a specific order the group of them was surrounded with a bubble-like shell that gently lifted them into the air. Up it went and then forward over the walls of the ruined city and then back down into the forest. The Berbils ooh-ed and aah-ed when they saw the small group of armed cats below them.
Panthro was there immediately to greet them. As soon as the issue of resources was dealt with their party was underway again heading toward the northeastern bluffs and the approaching annual tornadoes; one of which was the hiding place to the Thundera.
As they journeyed thoughts turned again to Mumm-Rah and possible ways to defeat him. Ro-Bear-Bill and Panthro had begun translating the Book of Omens but it was due to be a long and arduous work since both Panthro and the old mouse man seemed perfectly content with going over the text with a fine-toothed comb. It would be more helpful in the long run, hopefully, than just browsing for mentions of Mumm-Rah and weaponry.
Since the Berbils had refused to delay the necessary work on Plun-Darr, Tygra was not riding in his mech. But the Berbils had helped to construct heavy carrying devices run by gears and tightly wound mechanisms that would make a platform and carry the mech. They made a few additional structures like this one in the time they had to carry some of their equipment and supplies as well. The kits had actually found a corner of one where they sat dangling their feet off the end. Tygra watched the platform further to the side where the Berbils had restarted work on Plun-Darr.
"Hey Cheetara," Kit started with a thought, "We could use an ansiblar to disconnect Mumm-Rah from the mana stream, couldn't we?"
Cheetara smiled but shook her head, "That won't work. The mana stream is how I got around the ansiblar's mana dampening power last time we saw one." She explained, "From what I can tell the ansiblars block the personal mana alone, the mana of the planet remains accessible."
Kit's brow creased and her tail swished as she rested her chin in her hands again. "What if we kicked him out of the mana stream then?" she wondered, tail curling around her folded legs, "I mean, Cheetara, when you did that thing before, you were really powerful! Wouldn't you be able to push Mumm-Rah out of the mana stream?"
"In theory something like that would definitely be possible," Cheetara agreed, "However my control over the mana stream now is still limited, and Mumm-Rah is likely much more capable since he's been connected and using it for a much longer time. It's more probably that if it came down to that, he's the one who could prevent me from using the mana stream."
Kit groaned and slumped back against one of the supply crates behind her. "Then what? If the mana stream is the planet how do we stop him from using it?"
WilyKat shrugged. "We could separate him from the planet."
AoooooooooooooooN
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