Embracing dark desires

by Dr Facer

Set after Wildstorm's miniseries The Return. Mumm-Ra was defeated and now all seems to be well for the Thundercats, except for WilyKit and WilyKat who seem to be very disappointed with the current turn of events...

8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Thundercats and all related character don't belong to me

Disclaimer: Thundercats and all related character don't belong to me.

Note:

This story takes place in an Alternate Universe set immediately after the end of 'The Return' miniseries published by Wildstorm comics.

Embracing dark desires.

By

Dr Facer

Chapter 8

&

A new day was beginning, and the sun's rays struggled to pass through the thick, black clouds which covered the region around the Onyx Pyramid. Inside this dark structure the ancient wizard Mumm-Ra stared deeply in thought at the waters of his cauldron. The mage was concerned, not about the Thundercats or Lion-O, or WilyKit, the female twin he'd seduced into the darkness and who was still sleeping in her chambers. No, he was worried about WilyKat; and the reasons behind this were quite simple: unlike his sister, who took the chance to kill those she now considered inferior without hesitation, the male twin had hesitated when given the same opportunity.

Mumm-Ra could not have that! If his plans to defeat the Thundercats forever and to overcome the upcoming betrayal of the Ancient Spirits of Evil were to succeed, he needed an apprentice who was completely focused and free of doubt. And WilyKat was not yet there, at least not entirely. He had to change that and the sooner he did it, the better.

But how should he go about it? The wizard was uncertain of what to do; he had already shown his apprentice the benefits of power, he had shared some knowledge with him and the boy was certainly filled with enough anger and hate for the Thundercats. So why did Kat hesitate, why? The ancient mage could not understand. What was inside that boy's mind that kept him from being as cold and merciless as his sister could be?

Well, perhaps it was time to find out. With a wave of his hand, the wizard ordered the waters to show him the dreams of his sleeping apprentice. They were dreams of innocent days spend in Third Earth, dreams Mumm-Ra felt his student was not comfortable with, but dreams he would not shy away from. The mummy frowned. So this was it; WilyKat still had some deeply hidden, lingering feelings of appreciation to his past. It wasn't the boy's fault, of course, but those feelings still had to be removed before they caused him trouble.

And now that Mumm-Ra knew what the problem was, he also knew quite well how to solve it. Chanting a spell, the old wizard prepared to manipulate his apprentice's dreams in order to help rid him of those useless remains of his past life…

…WilyKat looked at his surroundings with weary eyes. The forest around him was strangely familiar, and as he slowly walked under the tall trees he realized where he was: The Unicorn Forest in Third Earth. He had no idea how he had come to be there. He looked at the silver scythe he held in his hands, wondering what had happened. All he was supposed to do was to kill Mongor and take his weapon; he should be back at the Black Pyramid already! Concern for his sister growing with each step, the young Thunderian hastened his pace, if only to exit the forest and find a way to go back to New Thundera as quickly as possible, even if it meant stealing the Feliner from the semi-abandoned Cat's Lair in this world.

But once he reached the forest's entrance, he saw something that stopped him cold in his tracks. He saw himself, more than ten years younger, talking amiably with a young girl from the Amazon village. Shocked by this scene, WilyKat hid behind a tree and watched as his younger version finished his business with the girl and saw her off. As his kid self approached, Kat remembered that day. He had actually been on a date with that girl, and he was now in route to meet with Lion-O and the Unicorn caretakers. The mere idea of him being so eager to meet with Lion-O made the adult Kat feel sick.

"Stop right there!" WilyKat demanded when his younger version passed by his side.

The kid WilyKat froze at the sight in front of him: a young Thunderian, dressed in white and gold, who was looking at him with an annoyed expression in his face. The man also held a silver scythe. "W-w-who are you?"

"That is not important," the adult WilyKat said. "I'm only here to give you some advice, and I do suggest you follow it."

"What kind of advice?" The child asked, backing up two steps, feeling very uneasy about the stranger in front of him and starting to fear he was actually seeing Mumm-Ra in disguise.

"Leave the Thundercats now, you must not trust any of them!" the young adult said, unaware his eyes flared red with hate as he said so. "The only people you can trust are your sister and the person who will be your master and teacher, only them!"

That reddish glow in the eyes of the man was all it took for the child to be sure he was staring at Mumm-Ra; he didn't pay any attention to his so called advice. Swallowing his fear, the boy retreated a few more steps and reached slowly for one of his trick capsules, which he planned to use to cover his escape.

"Don't even think of using one of those pellets!" the adult Kat growled, angrily raising his voice. "Just listen to me and obey; you have to leave the Thundercats now, you have to…!"

"I just want to run away from you, freak!" the boy shouted, closed his eyes and with a swift flick of his wrist, he threw the pellet he'd chosen to cover his escape at the feet of the angry man in front of him. When the pellet burst into a potent flash of light, kid WilyKat smirked at the angry curse the man let out and ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could.

But the kid did not get far. An impossibly strong kick to the back struck him and he was sent bouncing all the way to the forest's entrance. Struggling to remain conscious, the boy felt himself about to panic as the white clad stranger with fire red eyes approached him.

"Why don't you listen to what I say?" the adult WilyKat shouted. "I'm just trying to keep you from suffering, it would be so much better if you and WilyKit go and join the master right now!"

"And I…" The boy spat blood and fought the pain in his back. "I assume t-the master you talk a-about is Mumm-Ra?"

"Yes, he is."

"I-I would rather die than join that corpse!" Kid WilyKat said and struggled to get back to his feet.

"You say that just because you're ignorant," the adult Kat explained and tried to help his younger version stand. "You are too young and naive, you…"

"Don't touch me!" The boy shouted, tossing a flare pellet at the man who tried to hold him by the shoulder. Kid WilyKat covered his face with his arms as the fierce explosion engulfed his foe, and he really hoped this would be enough to get rid of him; he wouldn't last long if he had to fight his mysterious attacker.

But the kid never expected what happened next. A silver blade sliced through the fire and cut him deeply, opening him like a fish from his chest to his stomach. With his blood spurting from the wound, the boy fell backwards and stared in horror at the young adult, who in turn looked at him with panicked eyes.

"Look at what you made me do!" the adult WilyKat yelled in rage, not believing how stubborn and blind his child version was. "Stupid kid! You've made me kill us both!"

"Just like you… killed Snarf?" The boy accused with his last breath.

"Snarf deserved it! ...But how do you know that? Answer me!"

The boy, however, did not answer; he couldn't, because he was already dead.

"No, no! This cannot be!" WilyKat shouted as he noticed a stain of blood spread from his chest to his arms; terrified, he looked down at his hands and saw them slowly disappear into thin air. "I can't die here, not before I punish the Thundercats for what they did, I have to…"

"…LIVE!" Panting, WilyKat looked at his hands and then around him; he was still in his chambers inside the Black Pyramid and he was sitting, sweat covered, in his bed. It had all been a nightmare? But it seemed so… real. He still felt the pain in his chest where his scythe had hit his younger version. Wiping the sweat from his face, the young man stood up and considered how he felt about the dream. Kat found he was not troubled at all by the fact that he had just killed off a child image of himself; in fact, he could not help but think that his child version had deserved it for being so stubborn and stupid. For believing all those lies about the Code and practically worshiping the floor Lion-O walked on, doing all he could to be a worthy member of the team, always trying to prove his worth to the other Thundercats, and all for nothing. Still, that was in the past, and he now knew better than to believe in Lion-O and the others.

"But why that mention of Snarf?" he thought, "Am I regretting killing that rat?"

No. WilyKat examined his emotions yet again and he felt certain he didn't have any remorse for Snarf's death in him. And if he had felt it before, it was now completely gone; gone with the rest of the guilt and remorse that had lurked in the back of his mind and which he had kept at bay, as little as it was, with a conscious effort. Now he felt free of any doubt or hesitation. He was not ashamed of the things he had to done to survive or to save his sister; he felt completely at peace with what he had become, with what he had done and with what he would do to make everything right.

…Back in the cauldron room, Mumm-Ra couldn't stop himself from laughing in pleasure at what he had just seen; finally, WilyKat had crushed the last remnants of his old life which were holding him back. The mummy was very satisfied with what the boy had done in his dreams and regretted a little not forcing the boy to face his inner doubts earlier; but the results had been perfect, so it didn't matter. And now, with a fully willing apprentice gifted with great potential in WilyKat and a fierce warrior with exceptional talent in WilyKit working for him, Mumm-Ra knew he could fight the Thundercats and win.

The only things left to do to achieve victory were to enrol the mutants, whatever was left of them, and to perform one powerful, but incredibly elaborate, spell. The spell, luckily, wouldn't be a problem if WilyKat did what he had to do as well as the mummy expected. The collaboration of the mutants wouldn't be as easy to secure, but that didn't worry him either, he had, after all, means to get what he wanted. Grinning with evil anticipation, the dark wizard called WilyKit to the cauldron room. He had a gift and a mission for the girl, and he was sure she would greatly enjoy both of them.

Meanwhile, in Cat's Lair…

Cheetara sat alone in what used to be the twins' room. She held in her hands the shredded leotard she had bought for WilyKit and just couldn't stop staring at it. Especially at the Thundercat insignia still attached to it. With a sad sigh, the woman closed her eyes and pressed the torn clothes against her chest. She knew this shouldn't be troubling her so deeply, hurting her so much; but she just couldn't stop it, the regret and shame she felt were just too great for her to handle alone. And she couldn't talk about it with anyone because of all her friends, only one could probably understand what she felt, and she feared he too was going through the same and couldn't bear the idea of passing her pain to him if she could help it.

"Tygra… are you feeling as bad as I do?" Cheetara whispered to the empty room, her tears threatening to flow and trying as best as she could not to let despair take her. She was so focused on her thoughts she didn't hear the door opening behind her.

"I was looking for you, Cheetara. Lion-O wants to go get some medical supplies to the city and he wants us to go with…"

The cheetah stiffened as she recognized the voice. It was him, Tygra, and she didn't want him to see her cry. Not now and not about the twins. She didn't stand up and she did not face him, hoping he would at least let her dry her tears.

"You are still thinking about her, aren't you?" Tygra asked in a low voice, looking with sad eyes at the tattered clothes she kept in her lap. "…About what she did."

"I can't help it," she answered, her resolve to compose herself fading as the deep regret she felt overwhelmed her and new tears glittered in her eyes. "I love her, Tygra; she is the closest thing I ever had to a daughter of my own… do you expect me not to think about her, not to blame myself for what happened to her? I-I promised her parents I would look after her and WilyKat, but now…"

Seeing Cheetara emotionally broken was not something Tygra enjoyed in the slightest; he had seen her like this almost every day during the last months of their imprisonment, when she finally started to lose hope. This was, however, only the second time he'd seen her cry because of the twins, and it pained him terribly. It pained him because he understood and shared her pain in a way the others couldn't; after all, he had made the same promise to the twins' parents and knew how defeated she felt.

Unable to see her like that Tygra did what he always did for her during their days of captivity in Castle Plundarr: he sat at her side and slowly took her in his arms, stroking her hair gently, and just like all those times in the dirty cell they shared she did not push him back.

"I made that promise too, Cheetara, and I hurt as much as you do," he whispered. "But I can't let that stop me. If I do, I won't be able to do anything to help WilyKit."

Cheetara took in a deep breath and leaned her head into Tygra's shoulder, welcoming his support and counsel, "I wish I was as strong as you. This is eating me up inside; the guilt is… where did we go wrong? I thought we had helped instil in Kit and Kat a strong sense of justice and loyalty to the code, I thought that we were doing a good job."

The tiger sighed and held Cheetara closer. "I've asked myself that question too many times already and the only answer I have is that we… we just didn't spend enough time with them. We could have, no, I should have paid more attention to them; I was so busy helping Lion-O become the King he is now that I took the twins for granted… this is my fault."

Cheetara closed her eyes and held back a sob, "And what about me? I was always exploring Third Earth, and of course, helping Lion-O grow into a King was my top priority… because of that I didn't listen to WilyKit and WilyKat as much as I should have. It isn't just your fault Tygra; both of us are to blame for what happened!"

"We can't blame ourselves forever," he said. "Instead we should try to find a way to help WilyKit. She did give you good information about Pummyra, maybe there's still a chance to rehabilitate her, maybe we can still save her from exile."

"Perhaps," Cheetara conceded, trying to forget the fear WilyKit had made her feel during their talk and instead cling to the hope that Kit still had some good and decency deeply buried in her; it was the only way they could still help her. "I pray you are right, Tygra, I really do."

Tygra and Cheetara didn't say anything else. They just sat there, finding comfort in each other's presence. After a few minutes of silence, she felt calm enough to separate from him just a little, only enough to raise his eyes and look at him. As she expected, he wasn't looking at her, his gaze was on the wall; Tygra always looked at something else while holding her, but as long as she could feel safe and serene in his arms that didn't matter. The cheetah breathed deeply and allowed herself to relax a little in his embrace. She couldn't remember when she started to feel so safe while being close to him, but she did know it happened in the cell they were thrown in at nights. Every night after Monkian did… that to her, when she curled ashamed in a corner and felt her desire to live fade and her sanity abandon her, Tygra had come to her side and held her close to him. He never said anything; he just held her and shared his warmth and his strength with her until she had recovered some semblance of inner peace.

Cheetara realized that, during her captivity, Tygra had been the rock she clung to when she felt everything was lost; he had been the one who convinced her Panthro would someday come and rescue her, that they would make everything right again, that Mumm-Ra would be defeated, he had been… he had been there for her, keeping her sane and looking after her as best as he could. Unnoticed to her, Cheetara tensed at the memory of the horrors of her captivity and almost immediately, she felt his hand softly caressing her hair, apparently hoping to transmit her some comfort. It worked. It did make her feel better.

"Why are you doing it, Tygra?" She asked with a murmur, bringing her face up and staring at him with sad, tired eyes. "Why are you doing this for me, why did you do it when we were trapped in the mutant's castle?"

"Because I promised Panthro that I would look after you, and it is the right thing to do," he answered, still not looking at her.

"So you were doing it only as your duty and as a favor to my… mate." Cheetara found that calling Panthro her 'mate' while in Tygra's arms was not easy; that reminded her that she shouldn't be in the arms of another man but… she felt very safe in Tygra's embrace, even safer than when Panthro held her.

"There's another reason," Tygra admitted in a very soft voice, this time looking directly at her eyes. "The most important reason of all," the tiger breathed deeply and made a short pause. "I also did it because I care for you too much, Cheetara. I care for you as a friend but I also care for you as a…"

"Yes?" She asked, noticing how close she was to him now, so dangerously and so temptingly close; close enough to breathe his air, so close it would take only the smallest movement on her part to touch his lips with hers and she suddenly knew that she wouldn't mind that. In fact, she found that a part of her actually craved it.

That culmination, however, did not occur.

It didn't because Tygra broke his embrace and walked away from his beautiful companion with slow but steady steps. "I can't do this," he said in a trembling whisper. "We can't do this to Panthro; this is something we can never do. I'm sorry, Cheetara, I'm so sorry."

Saying no more, the tiger left the room with his head hung low and his emotions swirling like a hurricane. He didn't need this. Things were already too complicated for him to be doing this to his best friend.

And in the room, Cheetara stood alone again. She wasn't worrying about the twins now, but only because she felt torn in half and her emotions seemed to be pulling the pieces in opposing directions. Confused by these conflicting feelings, all she could do was stare silently out the window, asking herself if her feelings for Panthro were still there or if his place in her heart had died in Castle Plundarr to be replaced by… a deep love for the kind Thunderian architect, Tygra? Afraid of the answer, Cheetara decided she couldn't stay still another moment and, leaving the torn remains of Kit's uniform behind her, she left the room.

But unknown to Tygra and Cheetara someone else, another Thundercat who quickly hid behind a near corner, had accidentally heard their encounter and had decided, to avoid an uncomfortable situation, to remain silent about it until the proper time presented itself.

Hours later, somewhere in the desert around the Onyx Pyramid…

WilyKat and Mumm-Ra, who was in his warrior form, stood in the middle of a large square area paved with black, symmetrical stone tablets. There was a gigantic arch made of greenish stone on the edge of the square, facing them. The young apprentice already knew this place; he had been here when Mumm-Ra forced the Thunderian slaves to build it roughly two years ago.

Since Mumm-Ra was silent, preferring to stare contemplatively at the massive arch, the young man focused instead on trying to understand why they were there. He knew it had to do with his master's plan to recover control of the planet, but nothing else.

"Why didn't my sister come with us?" WilyKat asked suddenly, "I haven't seen her today."

"She's doing something important for me, don't worry about her; she should be here very soon," the wizard answered, still looking at the massive arch.

WilyKat was about to ask what his sister was doing when the faint sound of an engine interrupted him. Annoyed, he looked back and saw that two figures approached, blowing a wall of sand behind them. Squinting, the young wizard managed to identify one of the forms as that of his sister who rode on her space board with her usual expertise. The vehicle behind her was the one which made the noise, but he could not make out what it was or who piloted it.

"Ah… your sister arrived sooner than expected; I had hoped to have our new army here before her arrival, but this is better, this way she too will see what we'll use against Lion-O and the other obnoxious cats!" Saying this, the ever living wizard smiled evilly and once again focused on the arch, silently waiting for the other twin to get there.

And indeed, WilyKit arrived in a matter of minutes. She jumped with ease off her board, and landed in front of her master, respectfully dropping to one knee the moment she touched the ground.

"WilyKit, only one of those useless mutants is approaching!" The mummy stated his gaze firmly set on the second approaching transport. "What happened to the other one?"

"VultureMan refused our invitation, my lord. He said he had better things to do than being our lackey; I was about to kill that useless bird for his insolence, but he begged for his life and allowed JackalMan to come with me. Considering time is short and essential to the success of your plan I decided that bringing at least one of the mutants was the best option. I know it is not what you expected, my master, and I'm willing to take full responsibility for this."

Mumm-Ra stared at the young girl in front of him with newfound respect; this was the first time something like this had happened to him; normally, his subordinates tried to hide their mistakes with stupid excuses, but WilyKit was actually admitting she couldn't completely do what she was ordered to. This simple action of responsibility from this child impressed the wizard to the core, and he couldn't find it in himself to berate her for the mutant's stubbornness; besides, she did manage to bring one of those stupid creatures with her and that would be more than enough.

"There's no need to apologize, you've done well, my dear," the wizard complimented. "Now rise and come join your brother at my side."

"Thank you, my lord," the young woman smiled at the praise, and diligently did as she was told.

WilyKat looked attentively at his sister as she walked to the master's left. She was wearing slightly different clothing, it was very similar to her regular dresses, yes, but she had changed the upper part for a crop shirt and added a white cape shorter than his own to her new attire which was, as usual for WilyKit, made from the finest silk. That, however, was not what caught his eye. What really drew WilyKat's attention were the knee high boots protected by golden greaves (1) and the armed with two sharp edges golden vambraces (2) on her forearms. The male twin had to admit that this small changes made his sister look much more intimidating and worthy of respect, and he wondered if she had asked for them herself.

Seconds later a banged up Nosediver landed just outside the stone platform and JackalMan crawled nervously out of it. The canine mutant had plenty of reasons to be nervous; he and VultureMan had not expected to hear from Mumm-Ra so soon, and did not believe a word of what WilyKit said to them, until they mocked her and she almost killed them. Terrified, VultureMan had agreed to partially cooperate, and that cooperation consisted on sending him to see what Mumm-Ra wanted.

"As if things weren't bad enough…" JackalMan whispered as he struggled to keep his fear in check, "why am I the one who is always risking his neck?"

"You seem afraid, JackalMan," Mumm-Ra said once the mutant was in front of him. "Is it because you think I'm going to destroy that piece of trash VultureMan has been fixing?"

The canine backed a step, his face twisted in panic, "You knew?"

"About the space ship you are preparing to leave this planet?" Mumm-Ra laughed, "Stupid mutant, after all this years you should know that there is no secret I can't uncover!"

"You can't blame him for being an idiot, my lord," WilyKit said with an arrogant smirk. "He is a mutant after all."

"Indeed," the mage agreed, placing his hand over the girl's shoulder in a strange, almost protective gesture. "Now listen well, JackalMan; I'm willing to allow you and the other mutants to return to Plundarr if you agree to work for me one last time."

JackalMan, who had been too afraid to care about the insults the girl and Mumm-Ra had thrown at him, felt a wave of despair wash over him. Sure, Mumm-Ra would let them go if he helped him. He'd heard that one before, and it had been a lie. He was sure this time the wizard was lying as well. But still… he could hope that maybe this time…

"Fine, I'll help," the mutant grunted. "What do I have to do?"

"For the moment just stay out of our way; my apprentice and I have work to do," with this said, the wizard looked up to the sky and grinned. "It's time at last! WilyKat, come with me."

The apprentice, trailed by his sister, followed his master and listened attentively.

"I need you to summon the red lightning spell I taught you using all the magic energy you can, and then direct it at the arch," Mumm-Ra said while walking to a point directly in front of the massive construction. "In short, you must energize it; I will take care of the rest."

The young Thunderian took a very deep breath and stared at the gigantic structure he was supposed to throw a highly destructive spell at. A spell which he had never cast before and one he was supposed to cast with all the power he could. Casting red lightning shouldn't be a problem, he was sure of that; controlling it afterwards was a very different matter.

"Can you do it?"

WilyKat blinked and turned to regard his sister; she was worried about him, he could tell just by looking at the expression on her face. He appreciated it, but he didn't want to worry her more than necessary. Besides, he was sure he could cast the spell, what worried him was how difficult it would be for him to actually hit the arch and not fry everything around him.

"Yes, I can," he answered as he raised his right hand and his silver scythe materialized in front of him. He reached for it and smiled, "But I'll need this to cast it full strength."

"You can summon that thing?" The girl observed, pointing at her twin's weapon.

"It's magically bonded to me; it'll go anywhere if I call it," he explained. "Now, I suggest you stay back sister, I don't want you getting hit by accident."

Nodding, WilyKit did as her brother asked her to. Once she backed up a few steps, she watched in silence how her twin started to chant an incantation in a language she did not comprehend. The words at first appeared to have no effect but slowly, the sky darkened with large clouds blacker than a moonless night, and with the clouds came a howling wind that circled the desert around them with horrible force. Just then, when WilyKit thought the casting was over, a loud crash of thunder was heard, and then another and another, each louder than the one before. Feeling an unnatural fear she had never experienced before, the young woman looked at the clouds and gasped, they had turned blood red, and the fierce winds were making them circle right above them like a whirlwind upside down; inside that spinning pit from hell, crimson light could be seen from time to time, bursting brighter every time.

"Hear me now, ancient spirits of the night sky! I command you to unleash your crimson light of destruction, give to me the red lightning!"

WilyKit gasped as she heard her brother's plea; she didn't know his magic was now strong enough to command ancient entities just like Mumm-Ra could; her twin had claimed that his scythe amplified his power greatly, but she never thought it would enhance it this much. Amazed at her twin's progress, she began to wonder how powerful he could really become.

WilyKit heard a deafening rumble coming from deep within the clouds circling above them, and she saw how her brother raised his scythe to the sky and immediately after, a hammer of blinding red light fell on the weapon, charging it with crimson electricity that snaked out of it, cackling around and crawling over the stone tablets under WilyKat's feet. Much to WilyKit's growing concern he appeared to struggle with all his might to control the immense energy his weapon obviously could barely, if at all, contain.

"Brother…" the young female warrior whispered, her voice damped with barely suppressed fear. She had not escaped the Thundercats to see her twin fry. Unable to take it anymore, she darted her gaze towards Mumm-Ra, ready to ask him for help but when she saw her master she realized it would be futile. Mumm-Ra was not even looking at WilyKat, instead the wizard was facing the arch, his hands raised with white orbs of energy as he too prepared to do his part. "It's a two part spell…" WilyKit started as realization hit her, "That is why Mumm-Ra never tried to do anything with this arch before…"

"I'm going to release it… WilyKit, make sure you stay back!"

Noticing she had walked so close to her brother she could almost touch him, the female twin quickly retreated, swallowing her fear and hoping her brother would be able to control the power that was surrounding him with an ever growing aura of electricity.

"Please… please be careful, WilyKat, you can't die now!" she cried, hoping her voice would break through the thunderous howls of the wind. If her brother heard her or not, she couldn't know, and all she could do was to watch as still as she could how WilyKat pointed his weapon at the arch and, with a scream of pure determination, shot the full power retained in his scythe at the massive construct. For an instant, it seemed as if the red light would not hit its target and WilyKit's heart skipped a beat; if that power hit the ground and dispersed… it would fry them all! But at the last moment, her brother yelled in rage and managed to correct the trajectory of the crimson light, forcing it to hit the arch, lighting it, charging it with the unholy power of the evil spirits of the night.

WilyKit, however, paid no attention to that. She was too busy rushing for her twin, who had fallen, completely drained, to his knees. She was there in time to support her brother and keep him from completely collapsing. And then, while she held him in her arms, she heard her master's laughter pierce the howling wind around them. Knowing that her twin had done his part, WilyKit kept him close and dared to spy at what Mumm-Ra was doing.

What the wizard did was to release the orbs of energy he kept on his hands right at the middle of the area under the arch. The air there started to crack and little by little, a vortex spread until a massive tear in reality had opened, effectively turning the arch into a door to somewhere.

"YES, it is done!" Mumm-Ra yelled in triumph, "The entrance to the plains of the underworld has been opened! Now an unstoppable army of death will finally walk this planet ready to kill everything I command!"

Just as the evil wizard finished a large creature which seemed to be born in a nightmare jumped out of the vortex, immediately followed by another, and another… and another until at least fifty of the things snarled, crawled or jumped around Mumm-Ra and the twins, apparently awaiting commands. WilyKit and WilyKat didn't need to be told what these hideous monsters were; they both had seen them before. These indescribable horrors were, plain and simply, the deadly Demon Beasts Mumm-Ra had used to kill Thunderian rebels in the deep bowels of the Onyx Pyramid. The twins, however, had never seen them in such large quantities. Their master had never brought more than six from the underworld at once. Never that is, until now.

WilyKat, still on his sister, stared in awe at the huge number of beasts and was startled when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. When he turned he saw his master was offering him a pleased smile.

"You did well, son," the mage commended. "I'm very proud of you."

The praise seemed to give Kat some of his energy back, as with the help of his WilyKit, he managed to rise to his feet and give a nod to his master. The ancient mage nodded back in acknowledgment and then turned to regard the largest of all the Demon Beasts. The wizard gave some orders to the creature and after that, he went to see where the useless JackalMan had gone; still, Mumm-Ra's thoughts wandered back to the twins.

"What an interesting pair those two are…" Mumm-Ra thought as he looked around for the canine mutant. It had not escaped him how WilyKit seemed so worried for her brother and at the same time, filled with pride for him. "They are now so full of anger and hate for the Thundercats, yet they are still able to love and support each other as siblings… I've never found something like that before…I wonder if…"

Mumm-Ra put those feelings aside for the time being, he would continue musing about the twins' uniqueness later; right then, what truly mattered to the immortal was to put his demon beasts into action. He wanted fear and despair to rise in order to make sure the Thundercats would not have the help of the population when he released his final strike against them. That was why he was only sending fifty demon beasts this time, and that was why he was sending a mutant leading them instead of one of his children.

Or he would, if he could just find that useless dog. Pacing angrily through the horde of creatures he had just brought into this world, the ever living wizard darted his gaze right and left, trying to find JackalMan with no success until he reached the edge of the platform. There he found the canine mutant, hiding behind a rock, trembling like a terrified dog. But then again, that was what JackalMan was.

"Get back on your feet, dog!" Mumm-Ra ordered not bothering to hide his disgust at the mutant's cowardice. "You had the honour to witness one of the most impressive displays of magic in centuries and you hide from it? Stand up, you maggot I'll show you appreciate what we've done here!"

JackalMan didn't even try to answer; instead he tried to crawl away from the wizard. He had no idea what Mumm-Ra was planning to do, but he did know he wanted to get as far away as possible from those things he had brought from who knew where. But he couldn't get anywhere; Mumm-Ra fiercely grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted him up, forcing him to watch the abominations that had come from the underworld.

"Look at them, JackalMan, look at them well," the wizard hissed into the frightened mutant's ear. "They are my Demon Beasts and you're going to take them to my former capital. That is all you'll have to do, guide them to their destination; once they're there, you can stay and watch the carnage or go back to VultureMan; your choice."

"You want me to lead those beasts, a-are you out of your mind, Mumm-Ra?" The jackal cried, "They'll kill me the moment we're out of your sight!"

"They won't," the wizard assured him. "They only attack those I command them, and I ordered them to attack the Thunderians in the city."

"I-is that really all you want?" Now that immediate danger was out of the way, JacklaMan was starting to be more cooperative.

"Yes, that is all I want."

"Alright I'll do it!" JacklaMan agreed, "Just don't make me look at those things anymore!"

Mumm-Ra laughed at the quivering mutant. "That's a good dog, now get on your vehicle and lead my forces to that city!"

Shortly after, Mumm-Ra, with the twins at his side, watched in silence as JackalMan and the demon beasts vanished into the distance. The portal in the giant arch was still open, and the immortal one intended to summon more creatures from the underworld very soon, but not until after this first attack was over.

"Sending that imbecile was a mistake."

The wizard heard what WilyKit said and turned to look at her; she was staring at the horizon with a frown adorning her face. She obviously was displeased about what he had just done. Concerned, Mumm-Ra gazed at his apprentice to see if he felt the same way, but WilyKat was studying the vortex behind them and didn't seem to be concerned about the result of the attack one way or the other.

"Would you care to explain?" Mumm-Ra inquired. "Why is sending JackalMan a mistake?"

"He fears the Demon Beasts; he won't stay around to make sure the attack succeeded. He is also very likely to talk about what we're doing here if he is caught," WilyKit explained. "It is not too late, master; I can still go and replace him, I can…"

"You can stay here," the immortal wizard interrupted. "I have my reasons to want a mutant leading this attack."

"But…"

"Patience will bring victory," a surprisingly calm Mumm-Ra advised. "Don't forget that lesson, my dear girl; it is one that has served me well throughout eternity."

"That might be so," Kit answered, "But unlike you, my lord, my brother and I don't have an eternity."

Mumm-Ra frowned at that comment. Yes, the girl had a point. Closing his eyes, thinking about what the girl said, the twisted mind of the wizard soon came up with an idea that would not only provide him the means to further protect his own existence, it would also very likely please the twins greatly and increase their building power much more.

"It is true that you don't," the wizard agreed, looking at both his children. "But I think I can change that. Would you like to know how?"

The city, almost one hour later…

The streets were extremely crowded, both with people busy with the rebuilding and those occupied with commerce; but every Thunderian made time to greet and offer their respect and unlimited admiration to the young, tall man who was currently walking through the main avenue. This young man was none other than Lion-O, their king and liberator, the one who brought the tyrannical rule of Mumm-Ra to an end in a single day. The gorgeous woman at his side was also the target for plenty of praise herself; the female was Cheetara, also one of the heroes who helped bring the dark wizard down. But the Thundercat nobles, while answering politely the words of encouragement they received, were not in the brightest of moods: Lion-O, wearing now a black jumpsuit, was still mourning the lost of his best friend and Cheetara was still deeply hurt by WilyKit's recent actions and very confused about her feelings for the two men in her life. Still, the presence of the Thundercats was needed in the city to keep the morale high, and even if they were not as emotionally stable as they would like, they could still fulfil this purpose and besides, they did need to buy some medicine.

"I see you finally demolished Mumm-Ra's temple," Cheetara appreciated, trying to start a conversation with which she could take her mind off what troubled her.

"Tygra took care of it," Lion-O answered, his voice still tainted by sadness. "He and the engineers managed to do it faster that we expected."

Cheetara tried to ignore the mention of the tiger. Tygra had not talked to her more than what was absolutely necessary since their exchange that morning, and had excused himself as soon as they arrived to the Thunderian Capital, claiming he had something to discuss with the Earl of the city.

"It's a shame Panthro didn't come," Lion-O said suddenly, interpreting his friend's silence as her missing her mate. "But one of us had to stay behind, in case Pummyra wakes up."

"I understand that," Cheetara said. "By the way, is that man still in the Lair?"

"O-Celot? Yes, he was guarding Pummyra's room last time I checked."

"It seems he is incredibly loyal to her, then."

Lion-O nodded. "Yes, he is. I don't think he's slept at all since Pummyra was rescued."

"I'm sure she would like to know someone is that devoted to her," she sighed wistfully, her mind still torn because of the events from just a few hours ago. "I know I would."

Whatever Lion-O's answer to that comment would be, he never got to say it; for the Sword of Omens roared, a warning for its master of something dangerous in the vicinity.

"I didn't need this today," the young king worriedly muttered as he reached for his sword and brought the hilt to his eye's level. "Sword of Omens, grant me sight beyond sight!"

The sword obeyed the command, and what Lion-O saw, he couldn't put into words; in fact, the images the eye presented him with shocked him so much that he felt his knees weaken for a fraction of a second before his iron will and endless courage steeled his resolve again.

"What did you see?" A concerned Cheetara asked; she had noticed how Lion-O had seemed to pale and waver for a moment before he regained control.

"Something awful, I can't describe it, it was…" he tried to explain, his face stern and serious. Lion-O gave Cheetara a grim look and shook his head. "This will be truly terrible, and we'll have to contain it before it invades the more populated areas of the city!"

As Cheetara was about to ask for more information, a loud explosion was heard on the distance, followed by a thick pillar of black smoke and by the screaming of the frightened population.

"How did they get here so fast? Cheetara, we…" The young king called his friend, but the female Thundercat was already gone in a beam of orange and yellow that darted through the streets at impossible speeds. Lion-O was about to follow her, but he found his path blocked by a crowd of terrified men, women and children.

"What is going on?" A Thunderian man demanded his voice filled with fear.

"Is Mumm-Ra attacking us again?" A second one asked.

"I don't want to go back to the mines!" A third shouted.

"I can't be a slave for those mutants again!" A young female cried.

Still screaming their fears as loud as they could, the multitude begged their king to save them, reminding him that he was the only one who could and all the while blocking his path. Doing his best to calm down and to pass through the wall of scared Thunderians, Lion-O wished that somehow, Tygra was on his way to help because he was certain Cheetara would not be able to face the threat the sword had shown him.

Several streets away, Cheetara ran faster, if the desperate and panicked people she crossed in her path were an indication, she was almost already to the place of the explosion. She did feel a slight hint of remorse about leaving Lion-O so suddenly to come and investigate on her own, but she had reacted on instinct. Besides, this gave her the opportunity to focus on something other than what had happened earlier with Tygra; a fight was something she could lose herself in, forgetting, if only for a little while, about all the conflicting emotions she felt.

But her craving for a fight died as soon as she arrived at the origin of the smoke pillar: the newly restored Thundrillium Power Plant in the slowly, but steadily waking industrial zone near the outskirts of the city. The smoke came from the ruins of an adjacent building to the plant, but that was not what had frozen Cheetara in her tracks.

What froze her and shook her to the core was the image of incredible carnage before her. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. Not when se had been on her first real combat, not in Third Earth, not even when Mumm-Ra led an army of mutants against them; this was beyond anything she could imagine. At least a hundred dead Thunderians were in front of her, all of them disembowelled or decapitated. But worse than that horrific picture were the creatures responsible for it; beasts that threw themselves with monstrous ferocity at the Power Plant's gates, scratching at walls, or that hunted down the few Thunderians that were unfortunate enough to still be in the area.

"Great Jaga… what in the name of the ancient kings are those things?" Cheetara gasped as horror crawled down her spine at the sight of the demon beasts; horrible, massive crimson creatures with solid, muscular arms ending in long tentacle-like fingers filled with thorns, broad chests covered by obsidian black, shiny scales, their backs protected by sharp spikes that protruded out of their spines, all of this carried by powerful, thick legs which ended in scaly claws. The worst, though, was the horrible mess of flesh that passed as a face, it was little more than a long mouth which segmented in four mandibles full of yellow teeth; two green, round eyes and four horns that shot back from what appeared to be the beast's forehead, but what made this caricature of a face so horrible was the way the flesh seemed to move and crawl over it, as if it was nothing more than a bunch of blood covered worms trying to consume the last of a piece of rotting meat.

Forcing herself to overcome the initial shock Cheetara quickly assessed the situation. There was still people trying to escape, and the workers in the plant were holding it as best as they could; some of them were even shooting with laser guns at the creatures, not that it helped much, as the beasts seemed impervious to those attacks. But the people in the plant were at least safe for the moment. Deciding that the best course of action would be to try to lure as many of the creatures away from the city as possible, Cheetara reached for her staff, extended it to full length and charged as fast as she could at a small group of the monsters in hopes she could grab their attention.

Cheetara managed to hit one of the beasts in its misshaped face, dropping the creature on its back thanks to the added strength her impulse gave her; gaining some confidence from this, the Cheetah jumped to her left, twirled her staff and turned to face the other creatures, taking on a very defensive stance to decrease the chance of being surprised.

"All of you try to get away from here!" she shouted at the Thunderians who had seen her fell the beast. "I'll distract these things for as long as I can, go now and make sure the king gets here!"

The female Thundercat held her stance for two more seconds, succeeding in getting the complete attention of the creatures around her, even the five that were at the Power Plan gates, passing as a defiant and easy to tackle target. All of this to give the people a chance to get away; luckily the other Thunderians obeyed her and fled the scene. Now all she hoped was that the dozen of creatures which surrounded her were all the beasts that had attacked the city. When she saw out of the corner of her eye the last Thunderian race around a corner, she moved again, using her speed to keep the monsters out of balance, escaping narrowly the finger-like tentacles trying to grab her, hitting them as often as she could, all the while steadily leading the creatures away from the Power Plant, right into the path that would take them out of the city. It was the only plan Cheetara had and luckily, it seemed to be working. Now if Lion-O or Tygra could only arrive to help her…

…Lion-O couldn't get through. The minute he managed to convince the people around him to let him pass, another group came and begged for protection. It had been minutes already since the explosion happened, and he feared the worst for Cheetara; all he could hope was that Tygra was with her and that Panthro was on his way as well. He could not simply push past his people when they were so afraid. The young king was so off balance from this situation that he had not even considered using the sword to flash the Thundercat emblem into the sky to both inspire and encourage his people.

"You can't leave us, you must protect us!" an old man pled, tugging at Lion-O's arm.

"What if the ones who attacked come and you're not here?" A little girl asked with tear-filled eyes.

"That is why you must let me through! I must go and stop this!" Lion-O argued, keeping his voice as calm as he could and at the same time trying to give it a commanding tone and failing miserably.

"You can fight them when they're here!" The old man insisted. "You can't leave us alone, you can't be so heartless!"

"I'm not I just…"

"That's enough!" A voice said harshly. "The only heartless here are all of you. Don't you see every second you hold back the king the situation gets worse? There could be people dying that would have been saved if you just let the king do what he must!"

The little outburst seemed to surprise the mass of people around the king so much they actually made way for him to pass. Lion-O, as surprised as everyone else, looked at his right to see who had helped him. It turned out to be a middle aged female who had a little girl at her side. He knew this woman; he'd been at her farm not too long ago. She was the widow of the farmer that had been mysteriously killed. He even remembered her name: Cougara.

"I hope you didn't mind my interruption, my lord," the woman said and bowed. "But it seemed you needed assistance."

"Yes… thank you, I really appreciate your assistance," Lion-O said as he returned the bow. "I assure you that everything will be alright."

"My lord… I don't mean to impose, but my eldest child went to see if she could help; I don't want her to be a burden so if you see her, could you please send her back?" Cougara asked.

"I'll do what I can," Lion-O promised and ran in the same direction Cheetara had; trying to understand why was his people so afraid. They had fought the mutants and gained their freedom not too long ago, and the reason for their current panic escaped him. Finding no answer to this question, the young king focused on running.

"I hope we're not under attack and this was all an accident," the woman muttered while looking at the young king run.

"Is my sister going to be alright?" the little girl asked her mother.

"Yes, of course; the king is going to make it right, you'll see," Cougara whispered to her daughter. "Still, your sister should have stayed with us, rushing to see the place of the explosion was not smart."

Oblivious to all but his growing concern that he would not make it in time to help his friend, Lion-O ran as fast as he could…

…Cheetara kept circling the beasts for almost a minute, confident now that she could keep this up long enough for her team-mates to arrive and help her and she felt somewhat relieved that her idea seemed to be working so well. But as she thought of that a piercing pain shot through her arm and stomach and her body was lifted high into the air and crushed by what seemed to be steel wires. Holding back a scream, Cheetara looked down to see the tentacles of one of the beasts around her abdomen and left arm, the thorns in it shredding her skin like sharp razors. Frantic, the Thundercat tried to break free, but she found the creature's grip to strong; realizing she would die if she didn't escape the woman tried hitting the beast, but it was useless, she didn't have leverage to put enough strength on her attacks. As a last, desperate measure she stabbed at the monster's open jaw, sinking her staff into its throat and with a final flick of her wrist, she made her weapon extend, the other end of the pole shooting out of the demon's back, effectively impaling it.

For one instant, Cheetara felt as if the creature was going to crush her, but suddenly its tentacles grew limp and she fell to the ground. A fraction of a second after, the demon too fell heavily; its eyes blank and purple blood gushing out of its jaws. Panting and bleeding from several scratches, Cheetara pulled her weapon out of the corpse and rose to her feet, determined to keep on fighting. The fierce female had expected that the shock of seeing one of their own die would either scare the demons away or at least made them wary enough of her that she could get a few seconds to gather herself again or… the last option would be them attacking her again immediately with much more ferocity than before. Unfortunately for her, that last option was precisely what happened.

She tried to move out of the way as soon as the beasts charged her but the wounds hindered her speed and as a result, Cheetara could not avoid the first hit, a long swipe, by one of the creatures. She took it squarely on the side, and was sent flying against a wall, which cracked with the force of the impact. She fell to her hands and knees and struggled against the pain to remain conscious, but she was finding that incredibly difficult to do.

When the creatures where five steps away from her, Cheetara realized that unless a miracle happened, she was going to die. She was sure of it. At least she had helped save some people and she took one of those demons down and that made her feel a little bit better. But still, for her to die here, with so many things still left to do, with so many feelings to sort out… it would be a complete waste.

When one of the demons was about to pounce on her, a miracle did happen…

…He was closer now; only two turns and four more streets before he got to the Power Plant. Lion-O knew the attack took place there, the Eye had shown him that the beasts were heading for that building. He reasoned that their goal was to leave the city in the dark, to keep the people scared and unable to organize. But he would not allow that. He would stop this somehow; he was not there the first time something similar happened, and he would not let it happen again. Not matter what the cost, he would keep this world safe for his people.

He heard a loud crash as he approached a corner, which was followed by a female Thunderian landing unceremoniously a few steps ahead from him. The female was not getting up and just sat where she fell, with a hand covering her left shoulder. Lion-O knew who she was; she wore a black and white leotard and she had auburn hair.

A roar from behind the corner was heard then, and a huge, hideous, crimson creature came into view, with its thorn filled, tentacle-like fingers and mandibles ready to kill. There was something else, though; the creature had a very big boomerang stuck on the middle of its chest. It was a wound that would have stopped other creatures of similar size on the spot, but this monster didn't seem to feel any pain or to notice the purple blood gushing out of the wound; the beast grabbed the weapon, pulled it out of his body and tossed it aside, all the time simply marching forward, ready to kill its prey.

Lion-O, however, had other plans. He had been doubting the Sword of Omens would be sharp enough to hurt the monsters, as he had encountered creatures that could withstand hits of his weapon before, but the fact Aliona's boomerang had managed to pierce the beast's skin was all he needed to know his blade would be completely effective. With a quickness that would have impressed even Cheetara, the young king jumped at the beast, drew his sword midair, commanded it to grow to its full size and just as he landed, formed a descending arc with the blade that cleanly cut off the creature's head.

The king kept the sword up in front of him until the body of the monster fell twitching on its side. Lion-O knew he only got an easy kill because he had surprised the monster, and was aware he would probably not have that chance again. Grunting at the decapitated head, he kicked it away and picked up the girl's weapon. The leather wrapping in the middle of the boomerang was gone, revealing a Thundercat emblem adorning it. A very interesting finding for sure, but he didn't have the time to ask about it. Putting aside what he had discovered for the moment, Lion-O turned to the girl, who was still sitting immobile on the ground, just staring at the corpse of the creature that had chased her while holding tight her wounded shoulder. She didn't move when Lion-O stood just in front of her.

"Hey," he called, holding her weapon to her. When the young woman didn't respond, he offered a hand to help her up and allowed his voice to rise slightly louder. "Aliona, look at me. I don't have time for this so please look at me!"

The woman blinked once. Then she did it again and after the third time, she managed to move her eyes from the twitching corpse to the man in front of her, "Those things are stronger than Ice Trogs, far tougher too."

"I know," Lion-O said, glad the girl had snapped out of her shock. She took his hand, and he carefully helped her to her feet. "How is your shoulder, will you be alright?"

Aliona reached for her boomerang and strapped it on her back; she didn't seem to notice the wrapping she kept on it was gone. She then looked at her shoulder, it was still bleeding, but it wasn't a deep wound and it luckily didn't hurt much. "Yes… I'll have to go see a doctor, but I'll be fine."

"So, why did you come? This is too dangerous," Lion-O scolded her.

The girl sighed and held her wounded shoulder again. "Everyone was so scared, and I…"

"Weren't you afraid?"

"I was terrified, I still am," She said. "But someone had to do something until my lord or his friends came to help and well… I do have a weapon…"

"I appreciate your courage, but doing this with no proper training was foolish," Lion-O reprimanded. "You shouldn't risk your life like this; your mother was worried sick about you!"

"I know. It's just that…"

"Look, I really have to go. Just make sure you see a doctor, I'll visit you later. I promise you that," Lion-O said, ending the conversation and with that oath, he jumped over the dead beast and ran, this time faster than before hoping he could make up for the time he had spent helping the young woman whom he had, again, met at the most unexpected place…

…A burst of flame flashed in front of her, burning the creature's chest and forcing it to retreat back to the other monsters that followed it. Cheetara weakly looked upon her savoir: Tygra. He was finally here.

"I'm sorry I'm late. How are you doing?" he asked, cracking his whip again to keep the beasts away.

"Not too good, but I'll live," she answered with a weak voice, struggling to get up by leaning on her staff. "Where is Lion-O?"

"I don't know," Tygra said. "I thought he was with you."

"I left him behind. I raced here on my own after the explosion."

"I did the same, but the people wouldn't let me through until I assured them I would fix this mess; they're all too scared, Cheetara, I'm guessing that is what is keeping Lion-O," the tiger explained. He didn't mention it, but it was taking all he had to remain calm, the situation was not looking very good; he had jumped to protect Cheetara but instead of just carrying her back to the roof, he had allowed the monsters to back him up against a wall. Now all he could do was to hold on for as long as he could, which considering how little room he had to manoeuvre, would not be long.

"Cheetara, can you run?" Tygra asked. If she could, then perhaps she could still escape.

"I don't know," Cheetara admitted. She still felt pain and was still weak; it took most of what she had just to stay on her feet behind Tygra. "I… I can try, but I wouldn't get very far."

Tygra didn't answer; he instead whipped a beast in the eyes, glad that by some miracle none of the creatures had got a hold on his whip. Fine, Cheetara couldn't run, that didn't leave him too many options on how to escape. In fact, it left him only one. He would have to try something that he had not used since the days in Third earth. Now all he could hope for was that it worked.

"We're going to get out of here, get ready," Tygra swore and taking in a deep breath, he launched the three tips of his whip high in the air, where they split from the main line and fell hard into the ground, bouncing one, two, three times, drawing impossible curves to follow until they stopped. When it was all done, the Bolo whip had formed a protective web around Tygra and Cheetara, one that would allow them to safely jump to a nearby roof from where they could escape.

"Hold on," the tiger ordered, his eyes never leaving the confused beasts that were tugging at the web, even biting it while snarling in a furious animal rage. "The whip wont hold for more than a few seconds, this is our only chance, so please don't let go."

"I won't."

Tygra nodded and pulling Cheetara close, jumped and bounced off the web lines his whip had created; with just four leaps, he landed on the roof and deposited Cheetara safely on it. He heard the loud angry growling and roaring below and risked a smile. Their escape had been successful. Now he just needed to untangle his whip and they could figure out what to do next.

The creatures below, however, did not share that line of thought; as Tygra flipped his wrist to untangle his whip, he was pulled hard from the other end. It was so sudden he lost his balance and fell from the edge, knowing quite well that death waited below. But his fall was interrupted, someone reached for his hand and held him; looking up he saw who.

"Let go of the whip, Tygra!" Cheetara muttered through clenched teeth. "I can't pull you up!"

Tygra looked down at the monster pulling at his whip, waiting for him to fall and then he looked at Cheetara. "No," he said. "I'll distract them so you can hide or escape."

"Are you INSANE?" she yelled, her grip was weakening too fast, and Tygra was not doing anything to help. "You can't die like this!"

"You trust me so little?" He asked. "I know what I'm doing, let go."

"How can you say that?" She yelled, darting her other hand forward to secure her failing grip on Tygra's arm. "What will I do if you die?"

Whatever Tygra was going to answer was cut off by a loud explosion that shook the building; the Power Plant was still standing but it was on fire. The force of the detonation, however, had consequences for the two Thundercats, mainly Cheetara loosing her hold and Tygra falling to his death in the waiting jaws of the demons.

At the last moment Tygra did a quick roll and planted his feet on a demon's head, bouncing from it and clearing the semicircle they formed around the building. This move surprised the creatures, and Tygra was able to yank his whip free.

Tygra risked a glance at the Power Plant; the fact the edifice and half the city were still in one piece meant that the power generators didn't blow up, so the explosion and the fire surely came from either the storage or the energy converter rooms. The latter option was the worst, since it would take weeks to repair and more to build a new energy converter.

"Damn these things!" he muttered; his attention back on the creatures that had finally decided to attack him, all twelve of them at the same time.

The tiger took in a deep breath and prepared for the onslaught that was coming. He could probably face and perhaps defeat one or two of the creatures, but a dozen… a dozen was too much. Still, if he had to die this day, at least he would die on his own terms.

A loud 'Ho!' was heard, followed by a young man jumping into the fray, bringing down a sword and cleanly cutting a beast in two. It was, of course, Lion-O; the young king had finally arrived to fight along his friends and the determined look in his face made it clear he would not have mercy on those who had attacked his people.

"I'm glad I'm not too late," Lion-O said, never taking his eyes off the demons. "Are you alright, Tygra?"

"Yes. Cheetara is slightly hurt, but she will be fine."

"Good," the young king nodded and saying no more, he leapt into battle.

Lion-O fought fiercely, more fiercely than never before. He was swinging his sword like a furious barbarian, cleaving a path of purple blood as he advanced towards the Power Plant. In other circumstances Lion-O wouldn't have fought like this, but he had been subjected to blow after blow the last few days, blows he had taken and buried deep down: the needs of protection and expectations of his people, the betrayal of WilyKit, the death of Snarf… all of those things had been building inside him and now this brutal attack… it was the last straw; all those emotions he kept buried, he consciously let them out in the battle.

And so, Lion-O let himself go completely, turning every emotion he felt into something that would boost his skill for the fight at hand. This was something the elders inside the Book of Omens had taught him, negative emotions are a part of everything, but they still can be channelled into something positive and, as long as they didn't take over the mind of the warrior, they could be utilized as a source of strength. And this technique worked. It worked quite well; in less than three minutes, Lion-O had killed ten of the twelve creatures and wounded gravely the other two, who were now limping as fast as they could towards the road out of the city.

Lion-O was now much calmer, and watched as the creatures squirmed away with no intention in following them; they would probably go back to their master, and the point that he was not playing games anymore would be made.

He was about to turn at Tygra, to ask him for help putting out the fire in the Power Plant when he heard an engine start somewhere near. Looking at his left, Lion-O saw a Nosediver blast out from behind a small lodge. The vehicle was piloted by a mutant. A canine mutant the Thundercat lord knew all too well.

"JackalMan!" Lion-O shouted. He was convinced that it had been the mutant who led the beasts into the city. Gritting his teeth, Lion-O shot a blast of energy from the sword at the escaping vehicle, burning out its engine and forcing it to crash. The mutant climbed out of the wreckage and wasted a couple of seconds staring at the Thunderian king before he finally decided to run away.

"Tygra, stop him," the young king ordered.

"Consider it done," the tiger said, using his whip's miraculous range to tightly tie JackalMan up and drag him to him before the mutant gave more than five steps.

Luckily for Lion-O, many Thunderians that had taken refuge inside the cabins and buildings around the Power Plant had come out, and they were busy fighting the fire consuming it, this gave the young king the chance he needed to focus on the mutant and interrogate him.

"What were those hideous things?" Lion-O literally snarled as he grabbed JackalMan by his shoulders.

"T-t-they a-are called D-d-demon Beasts…" JackalMan stammered and coughed a little, he was still shocked both by what the beasts had done to the Thunderians here, butchering them far worse than anything the mutants from Plundarr had done before, and by the way Lion-O had fought them.

"I imagine then," Tygra said, "that Mumm-Ra sent you with them?"

JackalMan nodded. "Yes, he told me to lead them here… that's all I had to do!"

"Where did they come from?" Lion-O asked his voice still rough but not as angry as seconds before. "Do you know?"

"I don't… Mumm-Ra and his disciple… they opened this energy gate or something and…"

"Disciple, you said?" Tygra interrupted. "Mumm-Ra has an apprentice?"

"Yes, he has one," JackalMan's eyes glittered a little; it seemed he now had something to bargain with and avoid being tossed into a cell. "And I bet you would love to know who he is. I'll tell you if you let me go."

"What about you tell us and we make sure you have decent imprisonment instead of a dark room in a prison basement?" Lion-O threatened.

The canine mutant opened his mouth to answer, but was cut short by a scratching noise that came from beneath the ground. The noise got louder and louder until it seemed to be all around the Thundercats and the people fighting the fire in the Power Plant.

And suddenly, several Demon Beasts dug themselves out of the ground while others jumped out of the windows from the Power Plant, quickly surrounding Lion-O, Tygra and JackalMan. The creatures were growling and gurgling in a way that was obviously mocking their victims and hearing that sound was enough to make even Tygra sweat cold.

"I didn't tell you before, but there were many more Demon Beasts than the ones you fought," the jackal said as he eyed the beasts carefully, he still didn't like them and still feared they would jump on him any moment.

"There must be over thirty of them!" Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens and prepared to defend himself. He didn't even think of calling Panthro with the Thundercat summon; it would be too late by the time he got to the city and besides, performing the motions to execute the call would be a waste of time he certainly did not have. "Damn it! I don't think I can fight so many!"

Tygra didn't answer; he didn't have any reassuring comments or helpful advice to offer. All he could manage to do was to spare a glance at the roof he'd left Cheetara on and sigh relieved when he saw she still was there, safe at least for a few more minutes. And he was determined to give her those few minutes. With a flick of his wrist, Tygra unbounded JackalMan and held his whip in front of him, ready to fight to the death.

Jackalman, being the practical coward he was, decided that this was the perfect opportunity to leave unnoticed, and he did not hesitate at all in taking the chance. Sliding slowly behind the Thundercats, he made his way so he could pass between the Demon Beasts, not that he intended to even touch one of them, and ran as fast as he could once he had passed them.

And then, as if they were one, the creatures attacked.

"Curse you, Mumm-Ra…" Lion-O whispered, bracing himself for the attack.

But it never came. Just as the leading beast's exceedingly large tentacle-like fingers were about to deliver a powerful swipe to Lion-O's side, it and the rest of creatures evaporated, disappearing into a grey cloud of gas that the wind blew away.

"What in the name of Jaga just happened?" The young king asked out loud, confused as he looked around, noticing JackalMan was gone but not caring enough to act on that fact. "I don't understand… what is Mumm-Ra planning?"

&

To be continued…

Notes: As usual, extra thanks to Adam for beta reading this chapter.

(1) Greaves are pieces of armour that protect the legs.

(2) Vambraces are tubular or gutter protections for the forearms.