Hello and welcome back, everyone! This week, we're wrapping up Recipe For Disaster and moving on to Soul Sever. What awaits us in this next episode?
Besides the giant Mumm-Ra monster hunting them, Lion-O would say things were going great. After all, he finally knew where he stood with Leopara and…
And that was it, really.
But that was all he needed for the future to look bright. They were going to find this Cara-Cara tree and brew up more of Ponzi's Miracle Elixir in no time! Mumm-Ra's monstrous form would be no match for them!
…right?
Lion-O shook his head. He swayed slightly in his seat as the Thundertank slowed to a stop.
"We're here." Panthro said gruffly.
Blue skies dotted with white clouds dominated the many, many display screens. Consuming the foreground was a circlet of jagged, rocky outcrops, strange red… cacti? And, in the middle of it all, the most bizarre tree he had seen, beating out the candy fruit trees by a long, long mile. It was tall and bulbous at its base, tapering like a vase as it grew upwards. Strange mushroom-shaped branches sprouted from its trunk, and from under the smooth 'mushroom heads,' wiry branches protruded out and snaked towards the warm sunlight. Most of the length of the branch was barren, but ended in great, big clusters of dark aqua green leaves.
He stared at it for a moment, dumb struck. That was the Cara-Cara tree?
"Indeed, young friend!" Ponzi exclaimed.
"Well, we best get to work. We're going to need all the miracle elixir we can get."
With solemn expressions and Tygra's dopey smile, they disembarked from the Thundertank. Ponzi retrieved Lucy and his wagon from the cargo bay while everyone else began appraising the tree.
"It's.. so… beautiful!" Tygra gasped with awe, clasping his hands together.
Lion-O grinned wryly. He was glad Tygra drank that potion, actually. Right about this time tomorrow, Tygra would be so grateful the Wilytwins weren't here to witness his, uh, 'behavior.' Lion-O would just have to tell them about it himself. Then, they would never stop whining about how they missed it- and never let Tygra forget.
Panthro wasn't as amused. "Oh, brother. It's like having to babysit another cub."
"It was getting too quiet without WilyKat and Kit anyways." Lion-O said smoothly. "Have to keep you on your toes somehow, General."
He grunted. "More like 'walk' on my toes, kid."
"Well," Leopara interrupted, "we should get up there and start picking, right?" She craned her head to look past Lion-O, where he could hear Ponzi's wagon rattling over the parched ground. "How many leaves do we need?"
Lion-O also turned his attention to Ponzi. He had his hand to his chin, stroking his white beard in thought. "If that creature is as big as you say… uh, all of them."
"Alright, everyone, you heard him. Let's get busy."
"What about him?" Pumyra asked.
As a group, they pivoted to where she was looking. Tygra was crouching or maybe just hunched over one of the odd, red cacti with two yellow flowers in his hands, sniffing them so deeply it pulled the petals towards his nose. Lion-O shared a glance with Leopara, who shrugged.
He sighed softly. I am never letting him live this down. "Just leave him."
As they walked away, he heard Snowmeow chuff behind him. He glanced back to see Leopara whispering in his ear and pointing at Tygra. As she straightened, Snowmeow trudged towards his brother while Leopara hurried to catch up with him. When she did, she slipped her hand into his.
Warmth blossomed in his chest. I could get used to this.
"Did you just sic Snowmeow on my brother?"
"Maybe~" Leopara answered coyly, with a shrug and a mischievous smile that betrayed her innocent attempt to deflect the question. Affection for her washed over him and he chuckled again.
"I'm never letting him live this down."
This time, she laughed. "Let him live his relaxed, uninhibited life, Lion-O. You never know when he'll try to get you back."
Lion-O considered that for a moment as they latched onto the tree. No, he didn't think he would let Tygra live his 'relaxed, uninhibited life.' It was too good of an opportunity to squander and, hey, Tygra did this to himself when he stole Leopara's drink without heeding Lion-O's warning. It was fair game.
Someone had to benefit from it.
Something about climbing the Cara-Cara tree and perching precariously on its dry, root-like branches with only the 'mushroom tops' for shade, reminded Leopara of the elephant village. Perching in the trees of their grove and cutting down fruit was a fond memory for her; even when she fell into the basket of fruit below. Getting the sticky juices of the fruit out of her hair had been a nightmare, but it still brought a smile to her lips.
To Leopara, it was a calm moment before everything seemed to get bad, and fast. When they came back from the Magi Oar, the village was held hostile- that was the first time she had really pushed her magic and imagination of what she could do with it.
Or… no, that wasn't quite right. It was the first time she felt like she could, without the magic of the Magi Oar.
What if it wasn't just everything else that changed?
What if you changed?
Leopara paused, taken off guard by the thought. What if she changed?
Lion-O noticed the change in her demeanor instantly. "How are you holding up?" he asked. He was precariously balanced on a branch just near her, one hand firmly clasping its 'root' while he swiped leaves and stuffed them into his sack with the other.
"I… I just had the strangest thought. Have I changed?"
A pause.
Lion-O regarded her seriously for a few moments. She wondered what he saw on her face and what he was feeling, but his expression betrayed nothing. Then, he answered, "I think we've all changed, Leopara."
We've all changed.
You changed.
Leopara repressed a shiver. She had changed and she hadn't even realised it. How could she not realise it?
Her throat suddenly felt dry. She swallowed hard. "Is it a good change?"
Lion-O grabbed another fistful of leaves, but glanced at her. He grinned and reached across the distance, stretching in a way that made her stomach flop uncomfortably. Still, she gave him her hand to squeeze. "I think so~"
Her tension melted.
He was right, wasn't he? The girl she was before would never have tried using magic in the ways she had in the last few months. Looking back, she could remember how unsure and useless she felt, how desperate she was to help and how much it stung when she couldn't. That girl… that girl would never have been able to face down Mumm-Ra in the mines.
She had changed.
Lion-O had changed too, and… and she liked it. "I think so too~" Leopara said.
He grinned at her. "I didn't ask earlier, but how do you feel?"
"Better." She swirled her hand a little, creating a very small tornado that swirled in her palm. "I have a bit of my magic back~" She closed her hand. "But not a lot."
"So… you can't feel what I'm feeling?" he guessed with caution in his voice.
She shook her head. "No, and I don't think I want to. It can be hard to feel my own emotions when I'm feeling others', too. And… I don't know, sometimes the things I sense are intrusive and private. If I could turn it off," she chuckled, "-I would."
"How do you know you can't?"
"How do I know I…" Leopara paused again. Could she turn it off? Could magic not just be repressed, but be turned off to use at will?"Well, I- um… huh. I guess I've never thought of it like that."
"Sometimes, you just have to step back and look at the big picture~ You never know what you might've missed before."
Leopara couldn't help but snort.
On the other side of the 'mushroom,' Panthro let out a heavy sigh. "What is he doing?"
Realising the sigh was not aimed at her and Lion-O, Leopara followed his gaze down below. Tygra was… "Oh, he's making a flower crown for Snowmeow! …I didn't know he knew how to… do that." Leopara remarked. Snowmeow looked grumpy about it, staring up at her with his tail flicking in annoyance. She perked her ears, hoping to catch a hint of whatever the uninhibited prince was saying.
"-uch a good kitty, aren't you? You're just the BESTEST felyne. You deserve ALL the fwowers in the deswert, don't you? Yes, you do~"
Leopara snickered to herself, garnering the attention of Lion-O. "What?"
"Nothing~" she answered with a big, stupid grin that betrayed her again. Lion-O gave her an odd look, but turned his attention back to picking leaves. On the other side of Leopara, Cheetara was still beating branches with her staff.
The 'bestest felyne,' huh?
Out of breath, Lion-O gestured to the giant pile of leaves. "There. That's all of them."
Ponzi turned from the giant alembic that dominated his cart, which was filled with the sounds of boiling water and hissing steam that rattled its ceramic lid, and wiped his hands dry with a tattered old rag. "Perfect, in a short time you will have gallons of Ponzi's miracle elixir at your disposal."
A knot of tension unwound in Leopara's chest. "That's good."
She glanced towards Tygra. He was frolicking now, with flowers tucked into his hair and armor. Faintly, she could make out a little red dot he seemed to be chasing. Her lips quivered with amusement. Poor, poor Tygra.
Her eyes drifted towards Snowmeow. He was still laying down in about the same spot, but had shifted to face her and was wagging his tail with a hopeful expression. A loosely woven crown of yellow flowers sat upon his head, despite Snowmeow's laid back ears.
What a good kitty.
With a smile, she approached Snowmeow. "Are you the bestest felyne, Snowmeow?" she asked, reaching down to scratch.
"Mrow…"
Leopara couldn't help but chuckle at his pitiful expression. "Aw, it's okay. Tygra will return to normal soon. I hope."
"No, I mean NO!" Lion-O's shout pierced the air. Startled, Leopara whipped around.
The massive pile of leaves the five of them spent the last few hours gathering? Gone. Well, there was one leaf, quickly being chewed and swallowed by Lucy, the giant caterpillar.
"Lucy!" Ponzi exclaimed as he and Lion-O rushed towards her. "Bad girl! Oh, you selfish, thoughtless bug!" With an expression of guilt, Lucy lowered her head. "We needed those leaves."
And, with a whine, Lucy began to scuttle away. Leopara watched, jaw dropped in shock.
"Hey, wait! Lucy, come back." Ponzi chased her to the base of the tree and watched helplessly as she ascended the trunk in mere seconds. "I'm sorry. Oh, I didn't mean it. Please come down."
In response, Lucy just let out strange, squealing cries and continued surging her way up the tree.
"She'll be okay." Cheetara reassured Ponzi.
With perfect timing as always, the ground shook under their feet and the roar of Sycorax thundered across the distance.
Leopara's heart sank.
"I can't say the same about us." Pumyra said for her. In the distance, she could hear Tygra giggling gleefully.
With an audible slap, Lion-O murmured, "Oh boy."
For some reason, that was what snapped Leopara out of her daze. "What are we going to do now? That elixir was the only thing that did anything to slow Sycorax's form down!"
"Sycorax?"
"Yes, Sycorax!"
"What's a Sygorax?"
Leopara whipped around to Panthro. "Sycorax! Does that matter? It's prehistoric and impervious to most forms of harm!"
"What about your magic?" Pumyra asked. "I bet it wouldn't be impervious to one of those fireballs."
"I don't have that kind of magic right now."
"What now?"
"We could try to outrun him in the Thundertank until Fire Fingers has enough magic to do her, well, magic." Pumyra suggested.
Fire Fingers?
The ground continued to shake with each step closer Sycorax grew. Leopara became more and more aware they were all looking at her. "Why are you looking at me?!"
"You seem to know what it is." Cheetara said.
"So? Lion-O's the king, it's his choice." In unison, their heads swiveled towards him.
THUMP THUMP THUMP.
Sycorax roared again. Panthro glared down at it. "This might get ugly."
"Perhaps not," Ponzi raised a long wooden pole with some twine tied around a leaf at the end.
"One leaf?" Lion-O guffawed.
"It may not produce gallons, but it might just make enough to subdue that beast."
Lion-O looked at them with a serious expression, gauging each of them. His eyes lingered on her with… worry? Well, she didn't have her usual magical arsenal at her beck and call, but there were less taxing tricks she could, if she'd learned anything from watching the twins. Just as serious, she nodded.
Then, he spoke clearly, "We'll keep him occupied as long as we can."
It was good he made the decision there. By the time they lined up in plain sight for Mumm-Ra, the body of Sycorax was already cresting the rise.
"Your long overdue end has arrived." THUMP THUMP THUMP. The ground cracked and strained with each step.
"Thundercats, ho!" Lion-O cried, drawing the Sword of Omens from the gauntlet. An arc of red light raced out from the eye, briefly spiraling in the shape of a roaring cat's head- and then, they charged to meet Mumm-Ra.
Cheetara was the first to get close. With his giant hand, Mumm-Ra slammed his claws into the ground where she had just been, missing her by milliseconds. With his head lowered to the ground, Cheetara aimed the end of her staff at his skull-like face. Her staff glowed yellow and grew, racing across the distance and widening and twisting as it did so, until it resembled the tree it came from more than it did a staff, and ensnared Sycorax's bony maw.
In the precious few moments Mumm-Ra was distracted, Lion-O and Panthro closed the distance. While they did, she drew Jaga's stance and began stirring the air with its head, gathering winds as she did.
With a roar, Sycorax broke free of his entanglement. With a roar, he spouted a pulse of purple that crashed into the earth and, again, missed Cheetara.
"Too slow!" she cheerily exclaimed, taunting him.
Meanwhile, Lion-O brought the Sword of Omens down on Sycorax's toe- and stumbled backwards from the force. It was enough that it momentarily caught Mumm-Ra's attention, and he tried to stomp on Lion-O with Sycorax's massive foot. Lion-O wasn't as fast as Cheetara; he stumbled as the ground broke under his feet and tumbled to the earth. He raised the gauntlet and his barrier just in time to deflect another pulse from Sycorax's mouth. The bursts of lightning splintered off of the barrier and smashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust until even Leopara couldn't see, only hear.
She could hear the thwip-thwip of Pumyra's sling and the ting-ting as her bullets bounced off of his scales. The distant laughter of Tygra growing suddenly quiet. The yowl of Snowmeow as he threw himself, again, at Sycorax and tried ferociously to bite him-
Whiskers! I should have sent him to keep Tygra out of this!
With that thought, Leopara whipped the winds higher and higher, pulling in the dust and debris so kindly created by Mumm-Ra. The pebbles were instant, but to draw in the giant chunks of rock, she would need more time.
Sycorax, now visible, whipped around and slammed his thickly muscled tail down, missing Lion-O as he lept and rolled out of the way. Seizing his opportunity, Panthro charged and lept onto the tail and began sprinting up the ridge. With a simple flex and flick, Sycorax launched Panthro clear and into the sky. The edge of her winds caught him and tugged him off trajectory, conveniently tossing him from a lower and more gentle height.
Panthro took exactly one moment to eye the tornado she was spinning. "Thanks, kid. Good luck with that." Then, he sprinted back to the fray.
Good luck?
"Instead of fighting," Tygra shouted, "-let's talk about our feelings!"
Oh no.
Sycorax turned, screeched and then swung his clawed hand, smacking Tygra full-force and flinging him across the clearing. Leopara couldn't gauge how well he was after a direct hit like that, but he quickly began frolicking again, so it couldn't have been too hard of a landing, could it?
The boulders and broken chunks of dirt and stone finally broke free of their earthy bonds and spun high in her tornado.
Thwip thwip thwip. Pumyra fired more bullets, aiming for his eyes. Each one missed and spun quickly into her tornado; Leopara cringed. Surely one of those would have hit without the interference of her winds?
"In addition to invulnerability, this form gives me something much more powerful." THUMP THUMP. He advanced on Pumyra. "An appetite!" He opened his maw and let out another ear-piercing shriek.
"Pumyra!" Leopara spun the staff a final time and swung it with a shout, hurling every pebble, boulder, and chunk of stone at Mumm-Ra, battering his giant form with the racing winds of a frenzied tornado and a hail of earth.
Sycorax's form was impervious to harm; it was not impervious to being knocked around by sheer force. It staggered over the loose and cracked soil- just in time for the Thundertank to smash into its foot from the other direction, knocking it completely off-balance. It stumbled backwards into the cara-cara tree.
Its new condition didn't last long. Mumm-Ra shook himself, looked at her, and screeched. With thundering steps, Sycorax began charging.
Before Leopara could react, Lion-O appeared in front of her in a ready-stance.
"Lion-O!" Ponzi's voice rang out. "Catch!"
Ponzi hurled the bottle of elixir across the distance. By some miracle, Lion-O caught it and, in turn, threw it with all his might against the chest of Sycorax.
That awful scent instant wafted in the air, choking out the smell of dust and… dust. Blue vapors curled around Sycorax's form-
They waited with baited breath while Mumm-Ra simply stood there. As the vapors parted, Leopara could have sworn he was smirking smugly. Those blood red eyes, contrasted by the black sclera of those narrow eyes, just stared haughtily down at them.
Nothing was happening. It wasn't affecting him.
Seemingly content that they now knew the futility of their struggles, Mumm-Ra let out one more ear-piercing, shrieking roar, a sound like grating metal grinding and squeaking against each other in a guttural, visceral imitation.
"It didn't work." Cheetara angrily turned to Ponzi.
"Uh, bad batch." Ponzi said weakly. "It happens."
"There weren't enough cara-cara leaves." Leopara said, her grip tightening on her staff. Great, I'm going to die because a caterpillar got hungry.
As if to emphasise her internal dialogue, Sycorax roared again. "There is no escape."
Lion-O turned to look over his shoulder at her. Their eyes met for a moment.
And just when we finally started dating, too. Leopara lamented to herself. She leaned in for one last kiss. If we're going to die anyways…
No sooner than she shut her eyes and surged forward to plant her lips on his cheek- she couldn't quite get his lips- a dark shadow passed overhead, and then wind tore at her- at all of them, dragging them each stumbling off balance. Lion-O twisted, wrapping his arm around Leopara and spinning to catch her and catch his footing in one smooth motion. Taken completely off guard, again, she merely tucked herself into him with her arms close to her chest as he performed this maneuver.
It left them staring at Sycorax being carried off into the cast desert difference by… what was that?
She gasped as whatever flying creature it was shoved Sycorax into the ground with force that rumbled the ground even from so far away. The creature flew up and trilled once, twice, three times.
It had beautiful wings, like a butterfly or mother, in beautiful yellows and earthy oranges, with long antennae and a pale, round face-
Lucy?
"Lucy!" Ponzi exclaimed with glee.
Panthro pointed in shock. "That's Lucy?"
"She's transmuted."
"Metamorphosis-ed," Leopara corrected, still stunned.
"No wonder she had such an appetite."
Still trilling and purring, Lucy dove at Sycorax, not one to permit a giant, stupid, prehistoric monster to regain its footing. Indeed, Mumm-Ra couldn't even mount a defense as the giant butterfly latched onto his face, wings beating aggressively.
"What's she doing?" Lion-O exclaimed.
"She's supercharged with miracle elixir." Not an answer, Ponzi.
What was Lucy doing? Well, she appeared to be glowing green, or making the space between her and Sycorax do so, and…? Leopara didn't know after that. She really didn't.
Whatever she was doing, it was making Mumm-Ra and Sycorax roar and screech in anger or pain, Leopara wasn't sure, until the sounds stopped altogether and the light faded away. All that was left was a giant cluster, the size of Sycorax, of green crystals, hundreds of them.
Then, with a single beat of her great wings, Lucy shattered it. The crystals burst in a shower of mostly fine dust and a few splinters, easily deflected by a small vortex of wind.
A purple mist spilled from the remaining crystals and out of the obscuring cloud, the Mumm-Ra, reduced to the form of a bird, cawed "I shall return, Thundercats!"
As he flew off, Ponzi began celebrating.
"Lucy took that beast down!"
"Did… did we just get saved by a butterfly?" Leopara asked.
"Uh-huh." Lion-O murmured. Snowmeow chuffed, apparently just as dismayed.
What even is this day?
As dusk fell, the sky turned orange, pink, purple, and finally a deep blue.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Lion-O asked Ponzi.
The Wolo was seated on the bench of his alembic cart, with Lucy towering beside him. "Thank you, but Lucy and I have a business to rebuild." Lucy trilled in agreement.
"Good luck, Ponzi."
"And good luck to you, my feline friend…" Ponzi glanced at Leopara and back to Lion-O and winked, "-with everything." Leopara took a break from gaping at Lucy to share a glance with Lion-O. "Fly like the wind, Lucy!" Lucy purred and grasped the cart with her many legs. With a single beat of her wings, they were launched high into the air and began to soar away.
Approaching them, Tygra groaned.
"How're you feeling?" Lion-O asked.
"Like you look."
Pleased with that answer, they went back to watching Lucy fly away. "Lion-O sighed happily. "And everything is back to normal."
Leopara smiled and slipped her hand into his again.
Better than normal.
Thank you everyone for coming back chapter after chapter and reading! Special thanks to The Night Whisperer, Heart of the Demons, Hestia28, and Frankannestein for leaving reviews last chapter! I always love and appreciate feedback~ I've said it before, but the interactions with you guys means a lot to me :D See you in next chapter!
P.S. What's this? I didn't menace Leopara this chapter? No electrocution or hitting her head? Well, I can't menace her every chapter ;)