As always: I. Do. Not. Own. ThunderCats.

ThunderCats: Sword of Kings

Chapter XV: Inferno

"You can't be serious!" Lynx-O's shocked voice echoed through the palace's halls. "This has to be some sort of joke!"

"Believe me, General," Claudus said, "I would never joke over something like this. Lion-O, my son, has been cooperating with the traitor Panthro ever since we found him in that arena. He and his Cleric guardian have been collaborating with the traitor in helping him steal the Sword of Omens."

Tygra stood amongst his father, Lynx-O, Grune, and several of Grune's soldiers. He could not believe what he was hearing, did not want to believe it. Claudus was basically accusing his brother and her of treachery, of attempting to overthrow the King of Thundera, the Lord of the ThunderCats.

"Father," the tiger prince said, "we need to be absolutely sure about all of this."

"What is there to be sure about, Tygra?" Claudus boomed. "I saw your brother and that cheetah girl of his meet with Panthro before they murdered Jaga. For their crimes, they shall be tried and executed."

Tygra wished that he hadn't heard that. They were going to execute Cheetara! They can't; she would never murder Jaga. But Lion-O…Yes, he must have manipulated her into all this. Maybe there was a chance.

"Father," Tygra said, "the Cleric, Cheetara, she may be innocent in all this."

Claudus grumbled. "Don't be so absurd, son," he said dismissively. "What makes you think she is innocent?"

"You've heard the rumors about her and Lion-O," Tygra said. "He may've seduced her into doing what he wants."

Grune snickered a bit, seeing Tygra's plea as some sort of joke. "Like that would actually happen," he muttered.

"I'm sorry, Tygra," Claudus said. "I cannot allow a traitor like her to be exempt from justice. She, Lion-O, and Panthro will be made examples of. Traitors like them and this Order of the Hand will not be tolerated."

"Your Majesty!" The four turned to see Captain Cabrae and several of his guardsmen approaching the king and his group.

"Captain," Claudus greeted whole-heartedly, "I suppose congratulations are in order. You and your City Guard did a fine job in exterminating this order of seditionists."

Cabrae seemed grim. "I'm afraid not, Your Majesty," the captain of the City Guard said. "There have been some…complications."

Claudus's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What do you mean? What 'complications' do you speak of?"

Captain Cabrae was hesitant. "The information you were given was most likely wrong," he said. "We used the necklace you gave us and followed the directions as well. But then when we got there, we could find no one."

"What are you talking about?" Grune asked. This was not right.

"It seemed that everyone had cleared out of that lair of theirs," the Captain said. "They took all their weapons and Technology; even that machine that attacked the palace was gone."

As one of Grune's soldiers took his helmet off to wipe his forehead, the others grimaced. The Order of the Hand wouldn't disappear like this…unless they knew what was going to happen. They must have known that the City Guard was heading their way.

"Panthro," Tygra said in realization, "he knew that we would go after them."

With that, the helmetless soldier cried out as a clear liquid soaked his head. Everyone looked up to see a strange black disc stuck to the ceiling. The clear liquid was falling from the disk and pooling on the floor and began to spread. Then, as quickly as it began, the strange fluid stopped flowing from the disk.

It was then that a bright orange drop fell from the disk and into the clear liquid.

Intense flames surged from the liquid and spread through the halls. The soldier's head caught fire as well, screaming in agony as the fire burned his flesh. His fellow soldiers pulled drapes from the windows and tried to put the fire out, others tried to do the same thing all over the hall.

"By the gods!" Claudus exclaimed. How could this have happened?

"King Claudus!" a palace guard called out. "There are fires starting all over the palace."

"This is Panthro's doing," Grune snarled. "This is the work of his Technology."

"We need to evacuate, Your Majesty," the guardsmen said. "These fires are too dangerous."

"No!" Claudus boomed. "We cannot afford to evacuate." He turned to Cabrae. "Captain, take your men into the city and do crowd control. At this time of night, the peasants can see the fires all the way to the city wall." The king then turned to the Destroyer. "Send some of your men to the armory; they may try and take back the Sword of Omens."

Tygra did not wait for his father to give him any orders. He raced down the hallway, his whip in hand.

Pumyra led the group of five cats out of the dungeons. Two guards tried to stop them, but the puma made short work of them with her arrows. Panthro grabbed the head of one guard that tried to attack him and simply slammed him against the wall.

"We need to get to the armory," the general said. "They'll most likely move the sword before we get to it."

"I still don't understand," Lion-O said as they all raced down the halls. "If you and the Order knew that Cheetara would tell Claudus, why bring the Sword of Omens.?"

"The sword only works with you, Lion-O," Panthro said. "You need to have it, even if there was a risk that Claudus could reclaim it."

As they neared the armory, they began to encounter some of General Grune's soldiers. When Pumyra's arrows weren't enough, the other cats had to take the others on their own. Panthro had his nunchaku and Cheetara had her Bo staff, but Lion-O had to use his own fists and various fighting skills to defend himself. The Wilys helped when they could, throwing colorful balls that produced either sparks or smoke.

They soon reached the armory, the doors still having the same hole they did when the Palace was attacked. And just like Pumyra said, on the pedestal in the center of the royal armory was the Sword of Omens, still resting in the sheath of the Claw Shield.

"There it is," Lion-O whispered.

He could hear the humming again. It was the same hum that made him use the sword when it showed him that vision, when he first used Sight Beyond Sight. Lion-O slowly walked to the pedestal. For some reason, he can't help but imagine the black slit in the Eye of Thundera following his movements, as if the Eye itself was watching him.

The humming echoed louder as he reached the pedestal. Lion-O removed the Sword of Omens from the shield, the blade and guard extending in his grip. Beyond the humming, he heard his friends shouting. More of Grune's soldiers were on the way.

Lion-O placed his left arm into the Claw Shield, the golden metal glowing as it did. The lion felt it forming a firm fit around his arm, the claws of the very shield moved as he flexed his fingers. The Eye of Thundera glowed red as Lion-O came to an understanding. With his crimes, Claudus was unfit to be king. It was his time now. This sword and shield marked Lion-O as the true Lord of the ThunderCats.

Lion-O exited the armory, passing his friends as he did. In front of him were Grune's soldiers. They seemed surprised that he had done something their king had not done in almost two decades: successfully wield the Sword of Omens.

One soldier saw this as an insult to Leo's memory, as an insult to Thundera itself. He gripped his sword with both hands as he ran forward; an arrogant roar echoed from his throat that made him think he could strike down this "traitorous prince" with one hit.

The soldier hammered the sword downward, but his eyes widened in shock as the blade shattered against the strong metal of the Claw Shield. The Sword of Omens cut through the armor, hitting flesh and blood as Lion-O performed his slash. The soldier's body slackened as he fell dead onto the floor.

Another soldier saw his friend's death and was enraged. Thinking he could avenge him, he charged towards Lion-O with his own sword. Lion-O quickly blocked the attack with the Sword of Omens. What the soldier did not expect was his head being grabbed with the Claw Shield and thrown hard to the wall, his head cracking the tough surface as he hit it.

Two soldiers attacked as one. The Sword of Omens sparked lightning from it blade as Lion-O cut through their weapons and armor in two strikes. A third soldier attacked with his spear, thrusting its blade to impale the prince. Lion-O evaded the spear and gave a mighty slash and the soldier fell dead with his allies.

The last soldier stood still before the prince, a war hammer gripped in both of his hands. He lunged forward, prepared to strike with his weapon. Lion-O easily caught the war hammer in the grasp of his Claw Shield. The soldier felt fear for the last time as the lion stabbed the blade through his armor, and he fell afterwards.

The other cats stood in awe at what they had seen as the prince sheathed the sword. "Damn," Pumyra cursed, "I'm sure glad to be on your side."

"We need to get out of here now," Panthro said, "before more soldiers come for us."

"The escape tunnel in the throne room," Cheetara said quickly. "I meant what I said, not many know about it. All I told Claudus and Jaga was that I knew of a way to get out unseen."

"How do we know you're not just leading us into another trap?" Pumyra asked accusingly.

"She isn't," Lion-O said, defending her. "Cheetara has her own reasons to see my father brought to justice. Besides, all other possible exits will be under heavy guard."

"Alright," Panthro nodded, "secret escape tunnel it is."

The six cats raced down the hallways until they eventually reached the throne room, part of the room (as was most of the palace) seemed to be on fire. They all rushed to the tunnel entrance.

"LION-O!" The prince turned to see Grune the Destroyer calmly walking into the throne room. The saber tooth carried his mace with both hands as a sinister smirk formed on his face, the fire showing the general's cruelty. "Where're you going, boy? Have you finally figured out that you're afraid?"

The lion snarled. "I've nothing to fear from Mumm-Ra's pawn," Lion-O said bravely.

Grune chuckled darkly. "So, you know about Mumm-Ra," he said. "It doesn't matter. Even if you did tell Claudus, he wouldn't believe you."

"What did Mumm-Ra promise you, Grune?" Lion-O asked. "Was it wealth? Was it power?"

"I grew tired of serving," Grune said, "and Mumm-Ra promised me Thundera's throne after all of this."

Lion-O merely shook his head. "He'll just betray you," he said.

The Destroyer's smirk grew. "Not unless I betray him first," Grune said madly. Disgusted with the general, Lion-O turned to leave. "Don't tell me you're leaving already. Would you really walk away from your mother's killer?"

Lion-O suddenly turned to the General, whose cruel smile was plain on his face. "We couldn't just leave her alive after what she saw," he said, "and Claudus didn't even have the guts to kill her himself."

Grune caressed the head of his weapon. "This very mace, Lion-O," he said, deranged, "is a part of me, and I am a part of it. Everyone I have ever killed has become a part of it, just like your mother did when I crushed her skull with it."

Lion-O balled his fist as his rage began to boil. Standing a few feet away from him was his mother's killer. He would not, could not, let him live after this.

Cheetara tugged on his arm. "Lion-O," she said, "we have to leave."

"No," he seethed. He shrugged her off and strode forward as he drew the Sword of Omens.

"You can't do this, Lion-O!" the cheetah tried to persuade him. "This is what he wants!"

"I don't care," the lion snarled. "Just take the others and go. I'll be fine."

Cheetara seemed unsure for a bit, but nodded as she guided the others through the entrance. She prayed to the gods that Lion-O would come back to her in the end.

Grune watched Lion-O walking to him, Sword of Omens in hand. "You are either very brave," he began, "or very stupid. Either way, I will finally kill you."

Lion-O growled in response. "Not unless I kill you first," he snarled, lunging forward with his sword.

The blade collided with the mace's head, a clang echoing through the room. Both sword and mace were swung and met one another. Grune hammered downward, with Lion-O grabbing the head with the Claw Shield. Lion-O took advantage of his distraction and kicked the general in the gut.

Grune staggered backward, only to barely block an attack from the Sword of Omens. "You can't get me that easily, boy," the Destroyer seethed.

"We'll see," Lion-O snarled, resuming his attacks.

Cheetara stopped in her tracks as they were running down the tunnel. Pumyra took notice of this and turned to her, the Wilys by her side.

"Hey, Cleric," she called, "quit stalling. We need to get going!"

Cheetara looked back the way she came, to where Lion-O was fighting Grune. He may have told her to go, but she could not just leave him alone with the Destroyer.

She turned to the puma with a determined look. "Watch after them," she said, gesturing to the Wilys. She then raced the other way, disappearing in a gold blur.

"Cheetara!" both kittens hollered.

"No you don't," Pumyra said, grabbing them both and guiding them the other way. "Trust me, she had the look of a woman who's about to kick someone's ass."

Lion-O grunted as he blocked another attack with the Claw Shield, staggering a bit from the force of the blow. Grune swung his mace again. But as Lion-O blocked the attack, the very force of it threw him backwards with the prince landing in front of the thrones.

"You're mine, boy!" the Destroyer roared in triumph as he moved in for the kill.

A gold blur suddenly appeared from behind the Thunderian banner and landed a kick square in his chest. Cheetara then brought out her fully extended staff and began a rapid series of strikes, both ends of her weapon striking the weak parts of Grune's armor. One last hit struck him in the face, causing the saber tooth to collapse on his back.

Cheetara ran to her prince. "Lion-O," she said urgently, "we need to go now."

"I can't," the lion growled. "Not until he dies for what he did."

Cheetara tried to say something, but was cut off as a blast of energy shot her from behind and sent her flying into the Throne of Thundera. The cheetah groaned as she slumped over the seat of power.

"CHEETARA!" Lion-O screamed in dread.

The prince turned to see where the blast came from and only saw the Destroyer. The spikes of Grune's mace arced and surged with green energy as it converged on the top of the weapon's head.

"A little gift from Mumm-Ra," the saber tooth gloated. "Did you really think that Panthro and his puny order were the only ones with Technology?"

Grune shot another blast towards Lion-O, who was barely able to avoid the attack. The Destroyer fired a salvo of energy blasts toward the prince, who was able to avoid them. Lion-O finally reached Grune and swung the Sword of Omens, the blade surging with lightning as it collided with the mace.

Each struggled to overcome their opponent. "Give it up, boy," Grune hissed. "You can't win. I've killed skilled warriors before you were even born."

Lion-O snarled. "You want to know what I learned in the Ring, Grune?" Lion-O asked while balling the Claw Shield into a fist. "I learned how to improvise!"

The shield collided with Grune's jaw, knocking the helmet off the saber tooth's head as he stumbled back. The Destroyer snarled as he prepared to fire another blast of energy, charging the mace for his most powerful attack.

Lion-O once again heard the humming in his head, the thoughts echoing in his mind. The Eye of Thundera glowed brightly as he brought the guard up to his head. Time seemed to almost slow down as Grune fired his blast.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lion-O roared as a red beam was fired from the sword's sacred jewel. Both attacks collided against each other, the streams of power fighting against one another. It was no surprise that the raw power of the Eye of Thundera would overcome Grune's mace. The red current of energy soon collided with the Destroyer's mace.

The mace exploded and sent Grune onto his back, his armor broken and ruined. But Lion-O wasn't done with the general yet. He raced forward, the Claw Shield balled into a fist again. The lion lunged on top of the Destroyer and punched him with the golden shield. After two more punches, Lion-O hammered his fist onto the saber tooth's face. Grune's eyes were no longer open after that, nothing but silence came from him.

Lion-O lifted himself up from the ground, spitting on the general as he did. "That was for Cheetara," he seethed. The lion returned his sword to its sheath as he raced to the Cleric, cradling her carefully in his arms. "Wake up, Cheetara! Please, Cheetara, you need to get up."

Lion-O was so engrossed with the cheetah girl, that he did not notice Grune rising from the ground. The Destroyer picked up a piece of his mace with a spike on it and began to carefully and painfully approach the lion. The saber tooth's swollen mouth curled in a cruel smile as he came closer to the prince. A surge of triumph went through him as he hammered the spike downward.

Grune's triumph then turned to dread as Lion-O blocked the oncoming threat with his shield. That dread then became fear as Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens. All that Grune felt then was the agonizing pain of the blade going through his chest, piercing his heart along the way.

As his life slipped away, the last thing the Destroyer heard was the prince hissing in his ear. "And that was for my mother, you bastard!" Grune's lifeless eyes rolled to the back of his head as he slipped off the blade and fell dead onto the floor. The general's bulky body gave a loud thud as he landed flat on his back.

Lion-O gave a large sigh of relief and sheathed his sword, having finally ended the life of the pawn that had corrupted his father and killed his mother. The lion turned toward Cheetara, but something tied itself around his leg and tripped him. Lion-O fell to the floor on his chest as a bolo whip wrapped around his neck, his air cut off as he was choked.

"You bastard!" his brother's voice seethed as he pressed his foot on the lion's back. "How could you do all this?"

"Tygra," Lion-O rasped, "you don't understand."

"Oh, I understand," Tygra roared. "You're a traitor, Lion-O. You stole the sword; you killed Grune…and manipulated her into doing your bidding. You ruined Cheetara's life for your own selfish actions.

Lion-O gasped desperately for air. "You don't know what you're doing."

"That's just it, Lion-O," Tygra said, not seeing the cheetah regaining consciousness, "I know exactly what I'm doing. I am going to end you here before you destroy everything this kingdom stands for."

"NO!" Tygra saw Cheetara with her staff racing towards him. He dropped his whip as the Cleric's staff struck him in the face, dazing him with the throbbing pain. Cheetara was not done, however, and kept attacking him.

"Don't—"

Tygra felt another hit to his head.

"—you—"

A third hit struck him in the gut, knocking the wind out of the tiger.

"—ever—"

A strike to his legs had him falling on his back.

"—HURT HIM AGAIN!"

Yesterday in the garden, Cheetara imagined herself beating the tiger prince with her staff. Now that fantasy became a reality as she violently struck him again and again. Even though Tygra has been knocked unconscious, she still attacked him with her staff.

Lion-O finally got the whip off his neck. "Cheetara!" he yelled grabbing her hands, his touch calming her. "You need to stop! We need to go now!"

The lion had somehow managed to get her through the tunnel entrance and down the passage. It was not long before Palace Guards came and discovered Tygra on the throne room's floor.

"How long until they get here?" Panthro asked the three other cats, pacing around the arena floor of the Ring. "We never should have left them alone with Grune." Lion-O and Cheetara then chose that moment to barge through the Ring's entrance. "It's about time you two got here, let's go."

"Not yet," Lion-O said.

"What?" Panthro gasped. "Lion-O, we need to get out now before the guards come here to look for us."

"Not until I get my stash," Lion-O said, heading to his old room with the others following him.

The lion entered his room and went to his bed. Lion-O lifted up the mattress, revealing four burlap bags.

"What's all this?" Panthro asked.

Lion-O undid the tie to one of the bags. "Just my share of the take."

Everyone gasped at all the gold coins that the bag contained. Everyone knew that Lion-O took a third of all the money that WilyKat and WilyKit stole, but they did not expect him to save all of it.

"Wow," Kit said. "There's enough in there to buy half the City Guard."

"I thought I could make a little donation to the Order of the Hand," Lion-O said. "If I'm going to work with them, I might as well help out a bit."

Panthro looked to the bag, then the other three he had hidden. All that gold would do more than just help. "All right then," Panthro smirked. "Let's load up."