Key:
Flashback = Flashback (Obviously)
Dream = Dream
Time Passage =...
- (BORDER) - = perspective change
Anyway, chapter information:
Genres: Adventure and Drama
Warnings: Scenes of violence, adult themes, and explicit language.
Date started (Chapter): Friday 29th May 2015
Date finished (Chapter): Wednesday 3rd June 2015
Song/s: Angel With A Shotgun by The Cab
Chapter 12: Angel With A Shotgun
"You...You're...You're pregnant? You're having a cub?"
"Yeah..."
I swiftly take my wife in my arms as I cry "Oh, Cheetara! That's wonderful news! But why did you say something different at dinner?"
Cheetara sighs before saying "I wanted to tell you first, which is why I lied about it at first."
"I see. Either way, I can't believe this! I'm going to be a father...I'm going to be a father..." I say, then I look at the alarm clock; it's six-thirty in the morning.
"We'd better get up in a minute. The others will be up in a minute, and Snarf will be starting to cook breakfast..." she says as she sits up, then she rushes to the bathroom. I sit bolt upright and get out of bed then run to the bathroom and kneel down next to her.
"Bloody morning sickness! I'll be glad when it goes!" she groans as she heaves heavily. I rub her back to try to help her relax, but it doesn't seem to work that well.
"Lion-O...go and get some breakfast. I'll be...I'll be down when I'm done..." she says, so I stand up and start to walk out of the door.
"Only if you're sure."
"I'm sure!"
I walk out of the door and down to the dining room. As the door opens, I walk in and take my seat as Snarf says "Where's Cheetara? Surely she's coming down for some breakfast?"
"Yeah. She just wanted a lie-in. She'll be down a in a few minutes." I say as I take an apple from the fruit bowl and bite into the crisp, juicy flesh. Snarf puts a bowl of porridge in front of me. I start eating my breakfast, and when I'm half finished, the door opens and Cheetara walks in. She looks really pasty. As she takes her seat next to me, she looks at me.
"You ok?" I whisper as she takes a sip from her cup of coffee.
"Yeah...for now. I can't wait until the morning sickness stops."
I chuckle slightly, then raise my voice as I say "Me and Cheetara have got some big news."
Everyone turns to look at us as Cheetara says "I'm pregnant; we're going to be having a cub."
The room literally explodes with excitement as the others bombard us with congratulations and seemingly endless questions.
Annoyed with the Thunderkittens' endless dirty questions, I raise my voice again and say "I'm calling a Council Meeting after we finish breakfast. I've got some information concerning Rataro and his mutant platoon."
"Oh, god! That's not good news! It never is when the news concerns that no-good rodent!" Sebastian growls as he tears into a slab of raw beef.
"Sneyarf! Nothing's ever good when it involves any mutant." Snarf purrs as he stares at the Wolfman out of the corners of his eyes.
We finish eating, and then we walk into the Council Chamber. As we sit in our seats, I say "What news I have is bad. Cheetara had a vision in her sleep last night because of her sixth sense. Rataro hasn't retreated like we thought he had; he's just laying low for the time being. He's trying to find a way of getting into Cats' Lair undetected. He's kidnapped a pumiger cub and is threatening her, from what Cheetara's told me."
"That devious bastard! He never learns, does he?"
"No," Sebastian says as he perches on the edge of the window "I've known him for years, but kidnapping is something that he's never lowered himself to. I mean, he is notorious for threatening and torturing his prisoners to get what he wants, but not for kidnapping and holding people hostage."
"Reowr! No-one's been reported as missing, and no-one's come to us to tell us that their kid's gone missing." Bengali says as he sits back in his chair.
"I know. That's what I'm worried about."
"Howether, it could have just happened during the night, Lion-O," my wife says as she looks at me "Rataro said that he snatched the cub right from under her mother's nose in the street."
"How is that even possible?"
I turn to Wilykit as I say "Anything's possible. He could have got someone with the ability to turn invisible to do it; he could have drugged both the child and the mother. He could have done anything. All I know is that we need to get the cub out of there. God knows what he could be doing to her as we speak."
"Yeah, but there's one small problem with that, Lion-O; how the bloody hell will we know where they are?"
"The Sword of Omens will be able to locate Rataro's ship."
Sebastian clears his throat then says "And this time you'll have to take extra precautions. Rataro is wise to learn from any mistakes he makes; he's likely to have reinforcements this time."
I nod then say "Ok. I'll take some of you with me for a reconnaissance mission. The rest of you will stay here and guard Cats' Lair."
Sebastian clears his throat again as he says "I may not be a Thundercat, but what do you want me to do?"
I turn to the wolf as I say "We need all of the strength that we can get; you're coming with me."
He nods, and then I say "Meeting disbanded."
As I walk towards the Sword Chamber, I hear Cheetara call from behind me.
"Lion-O,"
I stop and turn around as my wife runs towards me.
"Lion-O, I'm coming with you."
I put my hands on her shoulders as I say "Cheetara, you're staying here. I'm not going to risk losing you, or our cub. I love you, but I'm not chancing losing you; you're too precious to me."
"But...Lion-O..."
"I said no. It's too dangerous. You could be killed."
"So could you!"
"Cheetara, I'll have some of the other Thundercats with me. The Thunderkittens, Snarf, Snarfer, Marcia and Bengali will be staying here."
She looks at me as she says "But you need me!"
I sigh before saying "As I said, I'm not risking the lives of you or our cub. You're safer here."
She nods slightly then says "Ok. You are the Lord of the Thundercats, after all. Good luck."
I hug her then continue on to the Sword Chamber. The second I walk in, the Sword of Omens springs to life when it senses my presence and roars in warning.
I pick it up then command "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!"
What I see makes me feel anger. Pure anger:
Rataro is standing before the young pumiger cub and is beating her; fresh blood trickles from her wounds as he punches and hits her. As the Sword shows me more, I can hear her screams of agony and desperate pleads, as well as the rat's cruel, callous laughter. The cub is screaming for her mother, and Rataro is just standing there, tormenting her.
I growl then try to control myself as I slip the Sword of Omens back into the Claw Shield. This is it! Time to teach this bastard a lesson about messing with the Thundercats once and for all!
...
"Alright, everyone. Stay close to me and keep your eyes peeled!" I whisper as Sebastian, Lynx-O, Pumyra, Panthro and Tygra follow me as we sneak down the corridor. The air is musty and thick with the stench of fresh blood. I signal for them to stay where they are, and as I unsheathe the Sword of Omens, I look around the corner, and see two guards standing either side of a door, their backs turned to us, speaking in some sort of unrecognisable language, which is probably Plun-darrian.
I turn back to the others as I whisper "There are guards. Rataro's nowhere to be seen. They're speaking in Plun-darrian. Sebastian, you know what to do!"
He grins as he takes a gas canister from his belt. "Ok. This is a mixture of gasses that can drop a Plun-darrian in seconds of breathing it in. Just make sure that those respirators are properly switched on and securely strapped to your mouths and noses; the fumes are highly toxic to Thunderians. Just for safety, make sure to put them on now." he says in a low whisper as we pull the masks on then secure them. It feels strange on my face, but as I switch it on, fresh, untainted air rushes to my lungs, and I breathe deeply.
"Ok. Stay back," he says as he straps his ventilator to his snout "It can irritate your skin and fur if you're in the vicinity of the concentrated gasses. That's why we're all wearing protective suits."
He pulls the pin from the canister before rolling it towards the guards. I watch as it ends up between them, then explodes in a flash of deep blue and purple. The pair near most instantly drop to the floor unconscious, then we continue on forwards.
"Lynx-O, can you detect the pumiger cub anywhere?" I ask as we rush through the doorway.
The lynx's ears twitch slightly as he searches.
"I can detect two Thunderians. The younger is ok, but the adult's life force is dangerously low." he says as we advance on to the next door. It slides open, and I instantly notice that we're in a dungeon. I can smell the scents of a female tiger and a female pumiger.
"They're in here!" I say as I walk in. They follow me through the corridor, and I come to a stop before a cell where the pumiger cub is crouching in the corner, hissing and growling at me. Her ears are on top of her head, and she's got a tail.
"Hey, don't worry. We're going to get you out of here!" I say as I crouch down outside of the cell.
"Who...Who are you?" the cub hisses as she slowly walks toward me.
I take hold of the torch from my belt and switch it on, flooding the dark corridor with shadows and patches of light.
"Lion-O!" she cries as she runs towards the bars.
"What's your name?"
"Caitlyn."
"Listen, Caitlyn. We're going to get you out of here, as well as your mother."
She looks at me as she nods. Her cheekbones look hollow in the light of the torch, and I realize exactly how thin she is.
"Sebastian, pass me those sticky bombs." I say as I turn to the Wolfman. He slips three of the bombs from his pocket then passes them to me.
"Caitlyn, I need you to go into the corner with your back to me. There's going to be a loud explosion, but it's going to be okay." I say as I fix one of the bombs to the lock. She does as I say, so we run for cover, then I detonate the sticky bomb.
"Right, if we're gonna do it, let's do it!"
"THUNDERCATS HO!"
- (BORDER) -
"So, you're having a cub, eh?"
"Yeah. Looks like you get to go back to being a nursemaid." I say as Snarf jumps up onto my shoulders. He purrs then says "I wonder what it's going to be."
"Well, Lion-O hopes that it's going to be a boy, which I do too." I say as we walk into the Control Room.
"Have you found the pumiger cub yet?" Bengali asks as the telescreen shows the footage from Lion-O's camera.
"We've just busted her out of the dungeon, and we're in the process of freeing her mum, which will be tricky because of how injured she is."
"Lion-O, just be careful. There's more guards around the corner. Keep your eyes peeled!"
"Everything's going smoothly, then?" I say as I walk up to Bengali. He turns around in the chair as he says "They've found the pair of Thunderians, but Rataro's coming for them!"
"Wha...w...that...Ben...li? Rat...o...co...ing...f...us?" I hear Lion-O say, but the communication keeps cutting in and out.
"Lion-O, I can't hear you! Your communicator keeps cutting in and out." Bengali says, and all we receive from Lion-O is a load of static with odd words, ending with a disembodied scream, then silence.
"Lion-O! Lion-O, do you hear me? Are you receiving me? Come in, Lion-O!" Bengali says, but there's nothing but static.
"We've lost the damned connection!" he growls, then there's a deafening explosion from downstairs, violently shaking the ground.
"What the hell was that?" I ask as I regain my footing.
Bengali pushes himself up off of the floor as he says "I don't know!"
He pulls himself back into the chair and turns on the monitor, and we see the cause of the explosion.
"Shit! The main hall's on fire!" he shouts as we see the raging inferno on the screen. He checks all of the cameras, all of which show flames licking at the walls of the Lair.
"The whole entire bloody building's been set ablaze! This isn't anything natural!" he snarls as he gets up "We need to get out of here!"
"But how? Everything's on fire!" I say as the cameras slowly cut to static one by one.
"I'll go and check for a way out. You stay put; I'll be back!" he says, then he's out of the door.
I watch nervously as I watch him running through the flames down the corridor, the fire licking at his fur and mane as he runs. "C'mon, Ben. You've gotta find a way out!" I say out loud as Snarf climbs onto my shoulders again.
"Reow! He won't be coming back any time soon! LOOK!" the red and yellow cat cries as he points at one of the cameras, and what I see shocks me:
Bengali is being bound in ropes then thrown into the flames by Mumm-ra, who had just materialized in front of the main entrance. I can just about see Bengali struggling against the bonds and writhing in pain as the flames consume him. Then, the ancient devil priest turns to the camera and grins as he unsheathes the Sword of Plun-darr and with one swing, he severs the camera from the wall; the feed cuts to static, and all I can hear is my blood pumping in my ears, and all I can feel is my heart pounding in my chest.
"Cheetara!" Snarf screams as he points behind me.
I turn around, and I can see the flames sneaking under the door and advancing towards us.
"Quick, Snarf! Get the fire extinguisher!" I shout as the flames slowly travel towards us.
He jumps down on to the floor and runs up to the fire extinguisher from the wall, before turning it on the fire; it doesn't have any effect on it. The flames continue their assault.
"Snarf, give it to me!" I say as he steps back. The cat passes me the fire extinguisher, and I attempt to put the flames out, but it doesn't work. One of the flames licks at my leg, and I jump back at the sensation of iciness and numbness. Cold fire? It just isn't possible.
"The fire's cold!" I say as Snarf climbs up on to the control panel.
"Sneyarf! What do we do now?" he cries as I climb onto the chair to get away from the stinging flames.
"I don't know, Snarf!" I say, and that's when I hear a familiar cackle.
"Mumm-ra!"
The mummy appears in front of us, then says "Well, well, well! In a spot of trouble, are we? Got no way to get out? What a shame!"
Snarf growls then says "You did this!"
Mumm-ra cackles again then says "Yes, I did! And I'll take what I came for, too!"
He turns to me and starts walking towards me, just as Snarf leaps at him. "You'll never take her, Muh..." he snarls, but he can't finish his sentence because Mumm-ra stuns him with a bolt of energy.
"Stay out of this, fuzz-face! I'll deal with you later!" he snarls, then he turns to me again
"Now, Cheetara," he growls, spitting my name with venom on his tongue "You can come with me the easy way or the hard way!"
"Never!" I snarl, my ears flattening against my head slightly as he raises the Sword of Plun-darr above his head.
I jump off of the chair and watch as the fire around me disappears.
"Oh, you don't know what I could do to you without Lion-O here to save you, she-cat!" he says as he grabs me around the throat and lifts me clean up off of the floor.
"M...Mu...Mumm-ra! L...Let me g...go!" I choke as I struggle against him, but he tightens his grip on my throat.
"Oh no! You're coming with me!" he gloats, watching as my body starts to react to the lack of oxygen in my lungs.
I curse in Thunderian, then everything goes black...
- (BORDER) -
"Pumyra, they're both out! You and Tygra get them to the Thundertank. We'll deal with Rataro!" I say as I wipe the blood from the blade of the Sword of Omens. That's when the Sword starts to growl like crazy, flashing and roaring.
"What now? Danger?" I say as I hold it in front of my face.
"Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!" I command for the Sword's powers; the crossbars curl upwards as the Eye of Thundera growls, and the familiar blue swirling fog fills my mind, but I can instantly tell that something is awfully wrong. When the fog clears slightly, I can feel the rage rising in my throat at what I see; Cats' Lair is in flames, which glow an eerie electric blue, and then the scenery switches to...no!
I can see Cheetara tied to a pole in Mumm-ra's throne room, and the ancient devil priest is standing before her with Slithe, Luna and Jackalman. I can clearly hear them talking and what I can hear doesn't impress me:
"How are we going to draw him out?"
"Easy, Slithe. We have Cheetara, and she is pregnant with her and Lion-O's first cub. The little wretch will be extremely overprotective of her, so he will come."
"But he'll kick our asses when he gets here. He's too strong to take on, and yet you always bitch about it and wonder why we never win!"
"Can it, you wretched canine! Go home and stew if you don't want to get a taste of pure, untainted victory!"
I lower the Sword of Omens as I feel it rising in my throat. I turn around and slowly start to speed up to a run as a low growl escapes my throat, growing into a deep, guttural roar of rage as I sprint towards the Thunderclaw and slam my fist down on the ignition, violently denting the control panel as the engine roars to life.
"Lion-O! Lion-O, think about what you're doing! You can't just rush in impulsively!" I hear Sebastian shouting after me, but I ignore him and make the Thunderclaw shoot off into the sky, the wind whipping in my mane as I rush to rescue my wife, blinded with rage.
- (BORDER) -
"Well Cheetara. Guess who's here to get you out!"
I look up at Mumm-ra as his grotesque face looms in front of me. I growl deep within my throat then say "You'll regret this!"
"I highly doubt it, she-cat! Let's see if your precious Lord can save you now!"
With that, Lion-O comes running into the room, and stops dead at the sight of me tied to the pole with Mumm-ra standing before me.
He growls viciously then unsheathes the Sword of Omens, but he doesn't say anything.
He starts to run towards us, snarling viciously at Mumm-ra, who unsheathes the Sword of Plun-darr in response to the young lion's actions.
"You're going to fucking pay for this you...you...you ac'chjyzarksch!" he growls as he circles the mummy, his fur standing on end, making him look more threatening and intimidating.
"You don't scare me, Lion-O! I have lived for a thousand years and I'll live for thousands more, but you won't because you're mortal!"
Mumm-ra thrusts the Sword towards Lion-O's stomach, but the lion easily avoids it...but that's not possible.
The ancient mummy realizes, and roars in dismay as my husband grins at him.
"For fuck's sake! Stay STILL!" he screams as he lunges at the young lion again and again, missing every time as Lion-O seems to melt into the shadows, his movements like fluid as he dodges every stroke from the blade. Where did he get those powers from?"
Lion-O skirts around the mummy and runs towards me as Mumm-ra turns to face us.
"Don't worry, Cheetara. I'll get you outta here!" he says as he starts to tear the ropes from around my wrists.
"Lion-O, look out!" I cry as Mumm-ra shouts a spell as he points at my husband's back.
Lion-O turns around, just as a red beam of lightning bolts towards my husband's chest at a breakneck speed...
Next time on Thundercats:
Now that Mumm-ra has crossed the line, things start to get messy as Lion-O fights to get him and Cheetara out of the pyramid alive. When they get back to the Lair, Sebastian reveals a terrible secret that will put the Thundercats' trust in the Plun-darrian to the test. Will Lion-O forgive the wolf, or will he be banished from New Thundera to forever roam the universe alone?
Find out in the next chapter of Thundercats: Wake Up!