A/N: I'm sorry if the last chapter seemed rushed, but most of the time, I couldn't think of what to write. Either way, this is the second part of the two-part chapter. I hope you enjoy.

Key:

Flashback = Flashback (Obviously)

Dream = Dream

Time Passage =...

- (BORDER) - = perspective change

Anyway, chapter information:

Genres: Adventure and Drama

Warnings: Scenes of violence, very slight adult themes and explicit language.

Date started (Chapter): Saturday 23rd May 2015

Date finished (Chapter): Saturday 23rd May 2015

Song/s: Hero by Skillet

Chapter 9: Hero, Part II

I open my eyes to the blinding sun. I sit up and yawn. As I stretch, I notice that Lion-O's gone. I stand up and look out over the sands, and I can see the young lion approaching.

"Where did you go?" I ask as he enters the cave.

He sits down on the floor before taking out a large parchment bag. He opens it before emptying the contents onto a piece of material. "I got us some breakfast. Turns out that they like a continental breakfast. It's fruit, meat, bread and fish, as well as honey." he says as he tears into one of the fresh, steaming loaves of bread. I tuck in, ravenously eating the food. It's actually quite nice.

I look up at Lion-O as he cuts a chunk of meat into slices. "It's salami. It's imported from Italy. There's also pepperoni. Oh, I also got you this." he says as he takes something from the bottom of the bag. He passes it to me, and I see that it's an Egyptian ankh. He slips the cord around my neck.

"It's beautiful." I say as I look at it in my hand.

"Wasn't cheap, either. Cost me fifty-nine chickens, along with the food, which cost sixty-seven chickens. I can't believe the monetary system."

He passes me a large water skin, which I hastily drink from.

"Well, we'd better get out of here." he says as he stands up. We walk out of the cave as I say "Can't you call the Sword of Omens into the Book? You did once."

"By Jaga! You're right! We just spent a night trying to get to sleep when we could have been out of here!" he says as he stands still.

"Oh, well. Either way, you can do it now." I say as I turn around to face him.

He holds his hand up as he says "Sword of Omens, come to my hand! I, Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats command it!"

Only a minute passes until the Sword materializes in his hand.

"Cheetara, grab my hand." he says as he holds his right hand out.

I take Lion-O's hand, seconds before the ground seems to disappear beneath me as we rise into the sky.

"Just don't let go!"

Seconds later, we're standing before everyone in the Council Chamber. Snarf is the first one to react, jumping into Lion-O's arms and making a big fuss over him about how he should have denied Anubis' challenge.

Lion-O groans at his nursemaid's lecture and says "Snarf, Mumm-ra would have done that anyway. I was just worried about what he'd have done to you guys if he had the chance."

Then, he looks around as he says "Is Mumm-ra gone?"

"No," Tygra says as he looks out of the window "He's not gone. He's been keeping us pressed into the Lair like sardines in a can."

"Then why haven't you fought him off?"

"We were waiting for you to get back before we did." Lynx-O says as his ears twitch "Be prepared. He's coming!"

Sure enough, Mumm-ra appears before us all.

"How the blazes did you escape?" the ancient mummy roars as he sees Lion-O.

"A little thing called 'not giving up'. Have you ever heard of that?" the young lion says as he walks towards Mumm-ra, who unsheathes the Sword of Plun-darr.

"I should have defeated you when I had the chance!"

"You'd have an extremely hard time trying, and you'd fail, just like you always do!"

Mumm-ra charges at Lion-O, who easily dodges his attack.

"That all you've got? That's pathetic!" Lion-O taunts as he pretends to look bored.

Mumm-ra roars before charging again, catching the blade of the Sword of Plun-darr on the blade of the Sword of Omens, creating a loud screeching noise. We all cover our ears as Lion-O is forced to his knees, simply because Mumm-ra is pushing him and holding him down by the throat.

I unsheathe my staff and run at the mummy as the young lion starts choking.

I quickly hit Mumm-ra around the head, which makes him roar with rage. He lets go of Lion-O, then turns on me. I'm slammed into the wall as the ancient devil priest raises the Sword of Plun-darr.

"Your life may have been long, but you have never learned! Farewell, she-cat!" he shouts, but he suddenly stops and backs off. That's when I see the blade of the Sword of Omens which had been rammed through his chest.

He chuckles before turning back to my husband as he pulls the Sword from his chest and throws it on the floor.

"A mortal wound such as that will not kill me, you fool!" he bellows as the young lion races to retrieve the Sword before a large ball of pure energy forms in the devil priest's hand. Lion-O raises the Sword of Omens, mere seconds before Mumm-ra throws the energy ball at him.

The second it hits the blade of the Sword, it explodes, engulfing the whole room in smoke

I'm thrown back as the sound of an explosion rings in my ears. I hear Lion-O's scream of pain, and then nothing as the room goes silent. When the smoke clears, I can see Lion-O lying limply on the floor, sprawled out at the bottom of the wall. Mumm-ra is also lying on the floor on the other side of the room. I run up to Lion-O as the other Thundercats start to come round.

"Lion-O? Lion-O, can you hear me?" I ask as I gently shake his shoulder. His eyes slowly open as he groans and stands up. He rubs his head before saying "Oh, god...that hurt!"

We look over at Mumm-ra as he gets up. The others get up as Lion-O retrieves the Sword of Omens. He walks towards the ancient devil priest as he growls viciously, starting with a low sound that is barely audible then opening his mouth and letting loose a hellish roar that reverberates around the room as he charges. Mumm-ra realizes what he's doing, and rushes to defend himself.

"This is going to end, Mumm-ra," Lion-O snarls as they clash "And if it's going to end with bloodshed, it won't be mine!"

"Threatening to kill me, now? Oh, how quaint! It's petty, really."

"Says you who won't give up on anything even though you know that you'll always lose!"

I can do nothing but watch in horror as they fight. They're both covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises, but they keep going, pretty much at each other's throats.

Howether, Mumm-ra suddenly throws Lion-O to the side before pointing at him, sending a bright red beam at him, which incapacitates the young lion.

"I...I can't...can't move!" he cries as he struggles against the beam, but he can't do anything.

I look at Tygra before saying "Tygra, you and the others take him from the sides. I'll take him from behind," in Thunderian.

I then look at Lion-O as I say "Lion-O, do what I tell you when I tell you, ok?"

"Ok! Just get me the fuck out of here!"

"Ok! Jeez, relax! When we distract Mumm-ra, you break out of the beam then send him back to his pyramid."

Then, we make our move. I run behind the ancient devil priest and jump on his back, making him stop attacking Lion-O, who tackles Mumm-ra once escaping. The mummy transforms back to his normal form then turns to run, but I can hear someone choking.

I turn around, and I can see that Lion-O has Mumm-ra in a choke hold, lifting him clean off of the floor.

"Lion-O! Don't!" I shout as I get up.

"Why? The bastard was going to kill you! He deserves to die!"

"Lion-O! You're not thinking straight!"

"I don't care! He still was about to kill you! HE NEEDS TO PAY!"

"Snap out of it! That's not what a Thundercat would say!"

The lion's grip tightens on the mummy's throat as he presses him against a wall, his claws tearing gouges in the devil priest's flesh.

"L...Lion-O...h...have mercy...on me!" Mumm-ra pleads as frothy saliva starts to fill and drip from his mouth.

"I'm not the type of person who takes mercy on an enemy! That's not who I am!" Lion-O snarls, his face showing his intense wrath "And I won't rest until you're long dead!"

"Please! You're...You're not...not like me..."

"I don't care!"

Lion-O raises the Sword of Omens for the killing blow, but I don't give him the chance. I run forward and throw my arm out as my hand curls into a fist, punching Lion-O around the face. The lion groans in pain and drops Mumm-ra as he holds his face in his hands, cursing in Thunderian.

Mumm-ra quickly grabs the Sword of Plun-darr then high-tails it out of the window, flying off to his pyramid.

"I'm sorry Lion-O. He might be our deadliest enemy, but what gives you the authorization to kill him?" I say as the young lion looks at me.

"Why the fuck did you defend him? After all he's done! After he tried to kill me...after he tried to kill you, you still save him? Why didn't you let me kill that inconsiderate, fucking bastard? All the years that he's tried to get shot of us, you won't let me end the battle?"

"Lion-O, if you'd have killed Mumm-ra, it'd make you no better than him! He was right; you aren't like him!"

"Still..."

"Lion-O, listen to me! If you'd have been to kill him, you'd be turning your back on the Code of Thundera..."

"Screw the damned Code! If Mumm-ra comes back, that little fucker will pay for what he did to us!"

Snarf passes me a bucket of ice-cold water, which I throw over Lion-O. He splutters as he says "Fuck...I don't know what came over me..."

"I noticed."

"All I felt was an extremely protective surge, and Mumm-ra seemed like a massive threat all of a sudden. I just had to get rid of him, and killing him seemed like the only possible way...I don't know why, but I thought that I had to kill him."

Pumyra coughs awkwardly before saying "It's natural. Especially considering that you've gone into heat."

"Wait...what?"

"Didn't you realize? The reason why you've been getting aggressive lately is because you've gone into heat."

"Oh...that's what my father warned me would be happening...Woah, wait a minute! How the bloody hell can you tell?"

"You've got to be kidding me! For a start, your scent is more pungent, you keep eyeing up all the females that you see...especially Cheetara...and even you said yourself that you wondered why your sheets were soaked when you woke up."

"Oh..."

"As I said, it's completely normal."

Lion-O groans before walking out of the door. "I'm taking a shower." I hear him say as he walks off.

Pumyra turns to me as she says "Cheetara, you do know that with both you and Lion-O being in heat, he's gonna want to..."

"I know. I had a fiancé 10 years back, and he was a monster when he went into heat. I'm glad to have got shot of him." I say as I sigh. I can remember the day he died like it was yesterday. He tried to steal the Sword of Omens when he was absolutely pissed because he wanted to be Lord of the Thundercats; he was gunned down.

Lion-O has always been easy to handle. I mean, sure, he hits on me and flirts, but he isn't anywhere near as bad as Gepardi was. He'd rape me when I'd say no, and he sometimes beat me.

"Right. So, what're we going to do about the fact that Lion-O just tried to kill Mumm-ra?" Snarf asks as he sits up on his tail "Not that I'm complaining..."

"I don't know. I think I'm going to go and talk to him." I say as I stand up.

"You could try, but I doubt that he'll listen to you. He's been getting mood swings recently, and he's the type of person to lose his temper quickly."

"Well, it's worth a try." I say, then walk out of the Council Chamber, down the corridor then up the grand staircase towards mine and Lion-O's room.

I open the door as I say "Lion-O, are you..." and I unknowingly walk in on my husband, who is stark naked.

"SHIT! Cheetara, you do know that you could, y'know, knock?" he says as he hastily pulls his towel around his waist, even though I've already seen pretty much everything.

"Hey, I need to talk to you." I say as I sit down next to him "What's going on with you at the moment? You've never been this way before. You're usually the really laid-back type. Where's the lion that once was like that? He seems to have been put away and replaced by a completely different one, who is nervous yet reckless at the same time. Where's the old Lion-O gone?"

My husband sighs before saying "I don't know. Ever since I was possessed by Satos, everything about me has changed; my personality, my behaviour. What if I can't get it back? I can barely sleep at night because I'm scared for the future. If we have cubs, will this planet be a safe place for their upbringing? I mean, there's the constant threat from Mumm-ra, the Mutants, the Lunataks, and even those Ancient Egyptian gods are extremely powerful. We'd be risking their safety."

"Lion-O, what proves that we'd be able to protect them is the way you behaved today."

"But even Pumyra said that that was just because I'm in heat. She even said that my actions were because if a Thunderian male is in heat, the presence of a female who is also in heat can drive him crazy."

"Either way, no matter who you are inside, I'll always love you for who you are, not just because you're my Lord and King, but because you're my soulmate."

Lion-O takes me in his arms and presses his lips against mine in a scorching kiss as he pushes his tongue into my mouth. I bury my fingers into my mane, caressing his body as I press him down on the bed. He growls deep in his throat as he wraps one arm around my back and holds my head down with his other hand.

"Cheetara...Darìonae t'yull ca'rrn... Darìonae t'yull ca'rrn!" he growls in Thunderian as we part for air, a trail of saliva hanging from my lips as I sit up.

"Darìonae t'yull ca'rrn y damiyda, Lyjon-Ø." I say as he sits up.

"Right, I'm off for my shower. Suppose I'll see you in a few minutes, then." he says as he slinks into the bathroom. I lie on my back on the bed and close my eyes, dreamily breathing in the scent of my husband's fur on the bed. He's moulting, which is unnatural for this time of year. Must just be the stress he's going through I think to myself as I curl up on the bed. I'm unaware of how long I'm lying there, so I'm caught by surprise when Lion-O sits down on the bed next to me, fully dressed.

"Well, you coming to have some dinner? Snarf's cooked roast meatfruit with all of the trimmings." He says as I sit up.

"I wouldn't miss it at all." I say as I smile, and I take my husband's hand, and we walk out of the door towards the dining room.

Next time on Thundercats:

Now that Mumm-ra has been taught a lesson on Lion-O's powers, he has to think carefully on what to do. A possible solution that he thinks of is to kidnap their first-born cub shortly after they eventually have one and to raise them as a killing machine; the perfect killing machine to assassinate the King of New Thundera. Panthro finds himself falling for Marcia, but when the young snow leopardess' so-called 'boyfriend' makes an unwelcome appearance at Cats' Lair, shit starts to get serious. Will Panthro be able to protect his new love, or will Thy'larr get his 'girlfriend' back into their abusive relationship?

Find out in the next chapter of Thundercats: Wake Up!