Key:

Dream

Flashback

- (BORDER) - = perspective change

… = a short passage of time, e.g. a few hours

Wake Up

Prologue

As I look over the ruins of what once was my home upon Third Earth, rage, pure and fresh, runs through my blood at the thought of what the wretched Thundercat Lord Lion-O did to my pyramid. The insolent brat first somehow managed to defeat me and restore his home world back to its former glory, and then he beat me in hand-to-hand combat whilst we were inside the Book of Omens. There has to be a solution to this mass feline pest problem; I could crush Lion-O with one hand, yet the cub believes himself to be stronger than me? I'd tear his throat out with my bare hands if I had the chance to do so. He must die, but I don't know how? My best chances lie before me as rubble, and even without the Ancient Spirits of Evil, I could rebuild my pyramid.

Then, I could lure Lion-O to his death – doing so would be so fun, seeing his face contort in pain as I subject him to such intolerable agonies. Killing Mandora and Captain Bragg was easy, and although wiping out the Interplanetary Control Force was much harder, now that the Mutants and Lunatacs are free, I can bring havoc upon those despicable Thunderians, bringing them and their leader to their knees, leaving me free to rule over the universe as how I deserve.

"Ma-mutt," I shout at the top of my voice, the sound booming in the ruins of my cavernous throne room, "Ma-mutt, I need you, my faithful undead hound!"

The demonic bulldog materializes in front of me before jumping into my arms, licking my face as he whines with glee. "Yes, I know. I love you too." I say as I stroke him, before whispering into his ears, "We need to restore this pyramid if we want to succeed in our plan!"

I raise my right arm above my head as lightning streaks across the sky, thunder rumbling in the far distance. I cast a spell in Ancient Egyptian then point at the rubble and, before my very eyes at a moderately slow pace, my pyramid begins to reconstruct itself. I chuckle to myself before turning to look behind me in the direction of the old Cat's Lair. Ever since the Thundercats had left for New Thundera, Tygra and Pumyra have been left behind…abandoned… to tend to the needs of the pathetic creatures of this damned planet. It should be easier to lure them in like bait to the others, and only then when I have all of them in my clutches will I finally be able to kill that arrogant lion.

All that is needed is a simple disguise, one of the two abandoned Thundercats. Tygra. There's no way that Lion-O will hesitate to help a friend in need. I look back at my pyramid before turning around and entering the re-built stone doorway. Everything is exactly as I remember it - the hieroglyphics on the wall are just as faded as they were the day I left, and the cobwebs still randomly pepper the corridors. As I walk further, I pass cells with chains attached to the walls with various torture instruments on trays. I can't wait until Lion-O is in one of those cells as my prisoner, able to be tortured without anyone there to save him.

As I stand in front of my sarcophagus, Ma-mutt starts to run around like a dog gone mad with a bone; we're home. And Lion-O and his feline cohorts are millions of miles away across the gulf of.

"Ancient spirits of Evil," I shout as I raise my hands "Transform this decayed form to Mumm-ra, the Ever Living!"

My bones creak as my body shifts and changes, my bandages tearing as my. I laugh as I say "This plan should work perfectly! Lion-O will never hold back to help Tygra and Pumyra if they happen to be in trouble; he's so hot-blooded that he'll rush to his friends' help without thinking," Now, time to complete the transformation. "Now, transform this ancient form to the Thundercat Tygra!" I say, then I start to shrink as I transform into the tiger. Ma-mutt whines as I stand before him, seemingly unsure of what to think.

"Now, Ma-mutt. It's time to put our plan in place. I shall lure those wretched Thundercats to Third Earth, where I shall destroy them!" I roar, before launching myself into the air before flying off towards Cats' Lair.

-(BORDER) -

"Lion-O, please! We need help! Mumm-ra has ambushed the Cats' Lair and the Tower of Omens! He's taken control of Third Earth; Pumyra and I need you all here."

I look at Tygra as he talks to me via the telescreen; he's badly cut up, and he's covered in dried blood, streaked with dirt. Mumm-ra must have attacked him and Pumyra by taking them by surprise in order to inflict so much damage and injury.

"Ok, we'll be there as soon as possible." I say, and as I go to turn off the telescreen, Tygra grimly says "I don't think that you'll get here in time if you leave tomorrow – ideally, you need to leave right away!"

I nod then reply to him." as I turn off the screen. "I understand. Lion-O out

I turn in my seat to face Panthro as he makes slight repairs to the secondary monitor, and the panther looks up at me as I hurriedly blurt "You heard him! We need to go to Third Earth...", but he interrupts me by saying "Wait, Lion-O, you need to think this through. We can't rush into something with barely any information about the situation - it could be a trap!"

Growling, I snap "What if it isn't a trap? They could really be in trouble, and Mumm-ra could kill him and Pumyra. Are you really going to sit on around and do nothing? You're a Thundercat, for Jaga's sake, and Thundercats always go to the aid of their friends!"

"I know, but remember that Mumm-ra can take anyone's form." Panthro smoothly replies to me, but it just sounds and feels like he's chiding me. I sigh before getting up, trying to calm myself down by breathing deeply and slowly, but I fail. Drastically.

"Will you stop speaking to me like that? I'm not a cub anymore!" I snap as I turn to face the panther, moving so quickly that I make him jump slightly.

He gets up and stands his ground as he growls "I'm not! I'm telling you the truth! Will you just listen to me for once? Just because you're our Lord and leader doesn't mean that you've got the right to talk to me like I'm a worthless low-life!"

"I don't talk to you like that, and I definitely don't..." I viciously snarl, but I hear the door open before Cheetara shouts over us "What the hell do you think you're doing, arguing like a pair of spoilt cubs? Especially you, Lion-O! You should be ashamed of yourself! You're our leader, which means that you should be acting maturely. Can't you two get on with each other? You two are usually close friends; what's got into you all of a sudden?"

However, before I can reply, she says "Either way, do you think that you can resolve your conflict and not tear each other to shreds when we leave for Third Earth? As Tygra said, we need to get there as soon as possible. Panthro, you go and ready the Feliner for the journey. I think I'm going to have a quick word with Lion-O."

Once Panthro is out of the room, Cheetara pushes me into a chair as she says "Lion-O, is something wrong? It's not like you to be pissed off with Panthro." I sigh before saying "I'm just annoyed that everyone seems to be treating me like a cub again! I'm not a kid anymore!"

"Hey, it's nothing like that. You've been over-stressed recently with the burden of watching over and guarding two planets. We've been trying to make it easier for you by doing the harder jobs, so that the stress eases." she says as she hugs me.

"Lion-O, Cheetara, the Feliner is ready for takeoff. Get ready as quickly as possible. We leave in half an hour." Panthro's voice comes in over the communicator as we look at each other. "On our way, Panthro." I say, then we run to our sleeping chambers to get ready for the long journey to Third Earth.

…

"Altitude is two thousand feet and climbing. At this rate, we should be in the New Thundera atmosphere within the next few minutes." I say as I push the throttle down to maximum speed.

"Good. At this rate, we should be coming up on Third Earth in about half an hour to an hour's top." Cheetara replies as she reaches to change some of the switches and controls, but a clattering noise from within the baggage hold catches our attention, making us all turn around as the door opens and Bengali, the Thunderkittens and the Snarfs fall into the cockpit in an undignified heap, struggling to get up.

"And what are you lot doing here?" I ask, trying to sound mad as I turn my seat to face them.

"Do you seriously think that we were going to stay on New Thundera and miss all of the fun?" Bengali asks as he gets up and wipes himself off.

"And considering the fact that you're all here, who's guarding Cat's Lair?" I say as I cross my arms across my chest and in response, they all look sheepish. "Umm...yeah...about that, Lion-O..." Bengali continues as he looks down, looking as if he's willing the ground to swallow him up "No-one's guarding the lair..."

"You mean to say that you've left the lair unattended?" I ask the young white Bengal tiger, and he nervously looks at the floor, "For Jaga's sake, Bengali! I left you in charge of the Lair whilst we're gone, but you go and sneak everyone onto the Feliner!"

"We're so sorry Lion-O," Wilykit says as she hangs her head in shame, then she nudges her brother who does the same "We just wanted to come to Third Earth with you to see Pumyra and Tygra. As they are on a distant planet and are always busy, we never see them anymore. We wanted to have some fun and, y'know, go on an adventure."

I laugh slightly before saying "Ok, you two. I'll let you off...once. Now go on, scram!"

Like the mischievous pair that they are, then rush off to their usual spot in the Feliner, whereas Bengali and the Snarfs are left dithering on the flight deck.

"Reow! Lion-O, you know that I go everywhere with you. You need me to keep you safe. I needed to come, because who knows what trouble you could get into without ol'Snarf?" Snarf says as he stands on his tail and looks me in the eye.

I sigh before saying "Ok, I'll let you all off. Besides, the Thunderguard will guard the Lair whilst we're gone." I turn back around and look at Cheetara as I laugh, "Bloody stowaways!"

The cheetah chuckles before replying. "At least they were honest about it."

I simply sigh then concentrate on the controls, activating the comms system. "Feliner to Cat's Lair, come in Tygra. We should." I say as I adjust the headset on my head, the static crackling in my ears only serving to further worry me.

"Tygra here; receiving you loud and clear. See you in about an hour then." his voice says over the intercom, and then the most spine-chilling scream echoes throughout the cockpit, followed by a familiar, raspy voice. "Well, Lion-O. Your foolhardiness has led you to my domain again, eh? Well, you'd better hurry up or Tygra will be a rug on my floor!" Shit. Tygra's in real trouble. This could spell disaster. I growl as Mumm-ra continues "Or are you too scared to face me and fight, cub?"

I look at Cheetara and Panthro then say "Be prepared for anything - this could be a trap!"…

To Be Continued….