Episode 6 "Revenge of the Rats"

Part 1:

A week or so later…

Ro-Bear Bill's home; his workshop…

Panthro made it to the Berbil Village with what little Thundrillium they had. With the Thundertank temporally out of commission the cats were left at a huge disadvantage.

Again Lion-O suggested a raid on castle Plun-Darr. Again, the others did not show much enthusiasm.

"What did Claudis used to tell you about warfare, my lord?" Lynx-O asked him.

Lion-O paused for a moment to recall. "Any fight worth fighting is worth winning…?" He quoted, unsure of himself.

Lynx-O sighed. "What have I told you about warfare?"

"Fight smarter not harder." Tygra answered, cutting off Lion-O.

"I'm not suggesting we storm the castle. We preform diligent recon first then you and Tygra silently break in, take whatever thundrillium you come across, damage as much as you can and then sneak out." The young king tried to clarify.

"And if something goes wrong?" Panthro cut in. "How do you expect to pull Lynx-O and Tygra out of a well-guarded, well-armed enemy base with no tank to back up a rescue?"

"I have the sword for back up."

"That's not as reassuring as you may think." Tygra flashed his brother a skeptical look. "And why are only Lynx-O and I sneaking in?"

"To keep the operation discrete." Lion-O reasoned. "Lynx-O, You're an ex spy. You did this sort of thing for father all the time way back when, didn't you?"

The older cat chuckled. "Not the exact same thing. I fear you may be simplifying things too much, my lord."

Tygra half sighed, half growled. "Lion-O, it's a terrible plan. Just drop it."

"No, it's NOT. We can and SHOULD raid the castle." He insisted, tapping the table hard with his pointer finger for emphasis.

"Forgive me for saying so, but I do believe you are overestimating our capabilities." Lynx-O warned.

"I wouldn't ask this of any of you if I didn't believe this would work."

"If no one wants to steal Thundraillium from Castle Plun-Darr why don't we use some funds from the forever bag to buy some?" Wiley Kat asked, playfully teetering over the railing.

"Because…" Lion-O paused to think. "That's actually not a bad idea. Why don't we do that?"

"Because, idiot, Thundera used to import it's Thrundrillium from Cloud Peak Mine which is now stripped clean and completely collapsed." Tygra reminded him irritably. "And the only other known source of thundrillium on the planet is in the core of Hook Mountain."

Lion-O glared daggers at Tygra. "Then we'll go there, idiot."

"Three things, idiot," Tygra glared back at him. "ONE;" He sarcastically listed off with his fingers. "How are we supposed to reach Hook Mountain? We're low on fuel. TWO; How do you expect us to survive the climb? It's the highest mountain on Third Earth. We're not the snow leopards of legend. Three; The Snow Knights enforce a strict policy of isolationism and would not sell any of their Thundrillium to us even if we did somehow by Jaga's grace cross the frozen sea, brave the cold continent and climb Hook Mountain!"

"You made your point!" Cheetarah scolded her love.

"Honestly, how could you be unaware of ALL that?"

"I never paid attention when Jaga and father gave history lectures." Lion-O snapped at him. "Is that what you want to hear?"

"Break it up." Panthro pulled the bickering brothers apart.

Lynx-O shook his head at them. "If we have any hope of winning this war we need to pull ourselves together. As we stand here and bicker our enemies are expanding their forces, gathering intel and organizing against us..."

Meanwhile; miles away on the outskirts of Ratilla's ancestral swamp lands…

Castle Plun-Darr…

From the outside the observatory resembled a red eyed mammalian demon. From the inside the "eyes" also functioned as two high definition computer monitors. Their glow bathed the room in an apocalyptic red.

Data scrolled down the screens continuously as Vultaire paced the room, multitasking on several floating devices. His bony talons type/ swiped away at a holo key board. His personal communicator hovered next to his head, following him.

Slithe walked into the "observatory" deep in thought. He approached Vultaire, unaware the buzzard was already in mid conversation. "Vultaire, you-"

The avian interrupted him by holding up his pointer finger. He cocked his head towards his communication device. He ignored Slithe, waiting patiently for a very bouncy tune to finish playing.

Slithe clenched his teeth, hissing in annoyance. "Vultaire-"

"I'm busy; I don't care." The vulture squawked at him. The tune finally ended followed by a loud beep. "You know who this is you gawky little wanker. I chirped you and you haven't chirped back-"

"Vultaire-!"

He covered the device with his palm then squawked, "I'm on my PCom! I'm busy! Flap off!" He faced his device once again. "Pull your head out of your harpy wife's ass and get ahold of me. Don't pretend you're not in need of the work. Take care, ciao." Vultaire tapped the side of his hovering P-Com, ending the call with a strange boop noise.

Slithe, at this point only slightly more confused and curious than angry, asked. "Who were you speaking to?"

"My oldest son. He's an accomplished computer programmer and "ethical" hacker. Graduated Accipiter. I'm trying to get him to fly over and help me work out a few glitches in the security system. Dashing young lad. Married a whore and just like all my rotten chicks, never around when I need him." He sighed, pinching the space between his eyes to sooth an oncoming headache.

Slithe trembled as he held in the urge to lash out at his cohort. "Are you quite finished?"

Vultaire let out a long, annoyed sigh as he went back to work with his devices. "Yes, Slithe, what in the depths of your ignorance do you want now?"

Slithe swatted a few devices against the wall, shattering them. He and Vultaire locked eyes, scowling. "Mumm-Ra has sssummoned me. I'm leaving for the Black Pyramid. You're in charge while I'm gone."

Vultaire's neck ruff flared up. "You can't be pecking well serous! I'm far too busy to-"

"I will return in three daysss. Every inch of thisss goddamn cassstle better be fully functional before I cross the moat." He ordered sternly, he yanked on Vultair's necklace; choking him. "Have you finished modifying the ape's sky cutter?"

"Well, yes, but I still don't-"

"Good, I'll send Addicusss out on reconnaissance." Slithe released him. "And if you are nearly asss sssmart as you brag to be you will NEVER ignore me when I addresss you again." With that, he turned for the door, swatting Vultaire in the side with his tail.

He slammed the door shut. Vultaire clenched his fist. "Pecking Hell…"

Below a hover tank was charged and waiting for Slithe to board. Slithe worked his way downward through the many winding halls and mechanical stairways. Halfway down he passed a balcony, cursing Vultaire's existence. At first he didn't really notice Kaynar doubled over the railing, vomiting. The skin crawling sound of his guttural upheaval broke Slithe's concentration. He back tracked to the balcony.

Addicus leaned on the stone wall, chuckling at Kaynar's expense. A bitch with very closely shaved fur in some areas and with very curly light brown fur in others knelt beside Kaynar, holding back his ears and fur as his system purged himself. "Ne te force pas, mon amour. Vous sentez-vous mieux?" She said something to him in her pack's tongue as she rubbed his shoulders.

"Je me sens comme une merde. Je veux mourir!" Kaynar replied to her before gagging then upheaving once again.

"What in the hell isss going on here? Isss he drunk?" Slithe motioned to Kaynar.

"No, he's just ate a hunk of fudge as big as my fist. Hoo!" Sniggering, Addicus held up his fist for reference. "How does it taste coming up, dog?" He teased.

Slithe shook his head at Kaynar. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't know; it's been a messed up few weeks for me. I wiped out my home pack, I laid waste to canine civilization, I gave birth to a demon son..." Kaynar struggled to keep his head up.

"What?"

"Don't ask." Addicus begged.

Slithe bore his teeth at his incompetent cohorts. "Aller à la cassserne! Arrêtez le dissstraire!" He hissed at the bitch, motioning towards the hallway. She immediately stood and left.

Addicus and Kaynar eyed him a moment. "Where did you learn to speak her tongue?" Kaynar asked.

"Where did you learn to speak her tongue?"

"I've been kicked out of a lot of packs in my day." Kaynar admitted. "Where did YOU learn to speak her tongue?" He repeated, genuinely curious.

"I worked in an amphibian field kitchen when I wasss young ." Slithe explained. "It'sss not important! How long have you been back? And why did you bother come back with only one female instead of a whole goddamn warrior pack?"

Kaynar growled insulted. "They're around. I just have to howl. I don't waste time with whores anymore. Belle Laide was a pit bitch. Most of dogs old Dobo kept chained up followed me back, so kiss my bony red ass slithe." Kaynar barked before another wave of nausea hit. He started to lean over the railing once again.

Losing his patience Slithe yanked Kaynar to his feet. He shoved him into Addicus, forcing them to stand to attention. "You better get your ssshit together." He hissed venomously, poking the jackal in the chest. He then pointed a threatening finger at Addicus. "And you ssshut up!"

The ape cocked his head. "But I've barely said any-"

"Ssshut up!" Slithe repeated. "I'm sssick of watching you warm –blood crap sacks bumble about with your headsss up your assesss and your dicksss in your handsss! Kaynar, go to the furnace and "motivate" the laborersss. Addicusss, take your sky cutter out on reconnaissance!"

"I still don't know how to fly it."

Slithe clenched his fists. "Then have Vultaire give you a crasssh courssse." He exhaled a long frustrated sigh. "My head is pounding. I can't think for you assholes anymore. I'm leaving for the black pyramid. Don't level the castle while I'm away." Again, Slithe turned and left.

"Wait, why are you going to the pyramid?!" Kaynar shouted after him as he walked away. "When are you coming back?! Tell Ma-Mutt poppa loves him!"

"…No…" Slithe's reply could faintly be heard from the stairway.

"Prick." Kaynar looked to Addicus concerned. "Why did Mumm-Ra summon him alone this time?"

Addicus shrugged. "Who cares?" He scratched under his helmet. "Did Slithe get fatter?"

Meanwhile…

Back at the berbil village…

Lion-O looked out to his fellow Thundercats soberly. He tried to stand tall and to project his voice with a king's authority. "You managed to sneak into the black pyramid to reclaim the sword." He reminded them. "Walking into the belly of the beast doesn't give me a warm, fuzzy feeling either. We need thundrillium; the same thundrillium they stole from US after they plundered Thundera . Mumm-Ra and his minions have made our lives hell for seasons. I say we've earned some payback."

"You know, when you put it that way… Let's do it." Panthro nodded in approval.

"Yeah! Raid Castle Plun-Darr!" The kittens cheered.

Lynx-O's ears twitched in thought. "Provided we strategize carefully it would not be impossible."

"Strategize? You mean we shouldn't sabotage a bunch of their war bots and computer systems before we try to take the thundrilium?" Tygra muttered sarcastically.

"I heard that." Lynx-O informed him.

Tygra grinned facetiously. His expression sobered a bit as he looked to Lion-O. "I'm in provided you come with me on recon."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Lion-O agreed. He saluted the others. "It's settled, we're taking back our thundrillium. Ho, Thundercats!."

They saluted him. "Ho!"

Author's note: A relatively short chapter, but entertaining for me to write- especially during these stressful, lean Holiday months. There is a great deal of head cannon and background characters in this (fan fiction IS in essence head cannon I guess).

More action, less dialog and a new character coming next chapter.

Thank you for reading. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas everyone ^^

Extra merry wishes to whoever can guess which TV show is heavily influencing this chapter. XD

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