From the Past of Third Earth, Part Two:
Lost Prince, Chapter Seven
Rainbow Brite wasn't exactly being cooperative.
"Come on!" Pumyra hissed, endeavoring to keep from screaming in exasperation. She was attempting to get the female to follow her into one of the storage rooms, where it would be much easier to hide an adult. Awkwardly, the blond kept twisting away and struggling to head towards the sounds of fighting. "This is a real lousy time to start showing some curiosity, especially after a year of just sitting around like a sponge cake!" The puma snarled as the woman pointed down the hall. "I know, that's what I'm trying to get you away from!"
Smacking the door button with her elbow, an action that smarted a fair amount, Pumyra grabbed Rainbow's wrists and dragged her forcibly into the room, throwing her full weight into the move. Reluctantly, the blond followed her in, still blatantly facing down the hallway. Once inside, however, she turned right back into her usual docile self as the puma closed and locked the door.
"By Jaga, this is frustrating!" Pumyra moaned, leading Rainbow towards the back of the darkened room and shoving her roughly into a shadowed nook to hide. "I'd give Mumm-Ra a thirty-minute blow-job to find out what's wrong with you at this point!" She was interrupted by the door being blasted open and Slythe walking in. She ripped her slingshot from her waist, loaded it with a mild explosive, and swung it threateningly over her head. "Take another step closer, Slythe, I insist! I'm in a rotten mood, and I would just love to take it out on somebody!"
The reptilian smirked, leveling his blaster at her. "None of my business if you're PMSing, Pumyra. Give me the woman and I'll make sure Prince Sincline is nicer to you than he was towards your friends!"
Like hell I'm telling you where MoonGlo is, she thought. You took her to Mumm-Ra once, that's more than enough! She threw the explosive at him, and he shot it midair; the resulting detonation knocked them both backwards, throwing him to the floor and her into a pile of boxes.
As she attempted to disentangle herself from the mess, he got to his feet first, running forward to point the blaster in her face. "Last chance," he told her. "Give her to me. Sincline's already killed Cheetara, Tygra, and Bengali; it'd be a shame if he had to snuff you, too."
She felt her breath catch in her throat. "He… what?!"
"Yup, took out the three of them one right after the other without even breaking a sweat. It's not often I'll admit this, but the man is starting to frighten even me."
Fury overcame her shock; with a swift kick, she knocked the gun from his grip, reached forward to grab his hands, and pulled hard and fast, yanking herself up and smacking her forehead against his, giving them both an immediate headache. Since she was expecting the pain, though, she managed to ignore it and got to her feet, grabbing a nearby crate and smashing it over his head.
She scrambled to get her hands on her slingshot, screeching in anger as the reptilian tripped her with his tail. She kicked at him again, making contact with his knee, and she grinned viciously as she felt the cap pop out of place beneath the blow. She tried again to grab her slingshot again, only for his axe to sweep it aside as he kicked her in the chest, driving the air out of her.
"Word of advice," he told her, only wincing slightly as he roughly popped his own kneecap back into its designated spot, "don't try these tricks if you face Sincline. Now where's the woman? I know she's around here somewhere."
"MoonGlo isn't here," she gasped, trying to convince her lungs to take in more air, "and if you lay your slimy hands on her, Lion-O will—"
"Not the pink-haired slut! She's Mumm-Ra's affair, not Sincline's! Where's the blond?"
She resisted the urge to stare at him in shock, unable to figure out how he knew about Rainbow Brite. I can't let them take her, she thought, leveling a glare at him. She's in absolutely no shape to defend herself! "What blond?"
He raised his axe threateningly. "Don't play stupid with me! Tell me where she is or else I'll be tempted to try completing for the prince's body count! You have to the count of three: one, two—"
She leapt to her feet, still short of breath, and grabbed a pellet to fling into his face.
"Three!" The axe fell.
Clang.
The pair stared in surprise at Rainbow Brite. She stood between Slythe and Pumyra, holding his blaster firmly between her hands as a shield to block the axe. The blow had caused her to slide back across the floor a few inches, but other than that she held her ground. "Well, well, looks like the little lady has made up her own mind." Pulling back the axe, he snatched the blaster from her and grabbed her wrist. Her loose hair snapped about her as he yanked her towards him. "Alright, let's go! Don't give me any trouble and I won't hurt your friend!"
"No!" Pumyra dashed forward and slammed her full body into Slythe, knocking him off-balance. Before she could grab the blond's hand and lead her away—preferably at a dead run—the reptilian round-housed her, throwing her off to the side like a rag doll.
"That's not how this works, Pumyra!" he chided her, grabbing Rainbow's wrist again. "She comes willingly, I spare your life!" He reached into a pocket and pulled out a gas canister, pulling the stop and dropping it on the floor before leading the blond towards the door. A familiar red mist expelled from the item, quickly filing the room and enveloping Pumyra. "Enjoy the Thundranium fumes!"
With that, he reached into the room, grabbed what was left of the door, and jammed it into the exit, trapping her.
Jackalman and Monkian did as they'd previously been told, attempting to break down the door to the control room… without actually breaking down the door. They would've griped about the bizarre order, except the prince stood only a few feet away from them, watching them with those sharp yellow eyes. Unlike Slythe or Rataro, Sincline didn't boast about what he had accomplished or would do in the future—his actions alone reinforced the legends of his previous undertakings.
And any man who could take on three Thundercats without breaking a sweat was too dangerous to pick a fight with.
"Sincline!" a familiar reptilian voice spoke over Monkian's communicator. "I succeeded, I've got her on the Nose Diver, and I'm taking her in!"
The prince smiled slightly before returning his attention to the two attacking the door. "You heard him. It's time to go."
Reluctantly, the two mutants put away their weapons and headed down the stairs before the prince. "I don't get him," Monkian muttered.
"Neither do I," Jackalman replied, "but I'm not going to dare cross a man who makes Mumm-Ra look like a dried-up has-been."
Covering her face with her hand in a fruitless attempt to block the gas, Pumyra crawled over to the door as quickly as possible, hoping to make it before the Thundranium made her too weak to do anything but lay on the floor helplessly. She collapsed only a few feet away from the exit, dragging herself across the floor in sheer stubbornness. Propping herself up against the wall, she pulled an explosive from her pouch and reluctantly flung it at the jammed door, wrapping herself into a fetal position to cover her eyes and make herself as small of a target as possible.
The detonation flung shrapnel everywhere, but it also opened up the doorway again, making it possible for her to get out. Ignoring the many scratches and scrapes she'd received from the blast, she crawled out into the hallway, smacked her hand against a secret panel to reveal a number pad, and quickly punched in her code. An iron door crashed down over the hole, sealing the Thundranium gas in the room.
She lay on the floor for a moment, panting in desperation as she felt her strength slowly return. I have to remember to tell Tygra to pump the air out of that room before anyone else goes in. At the thought of him, she felt her blood suddenly turn to ice. No… Slythe said… no, he had to be lying… there's no way….
Fear helped her dredge up energy from an unexpected source, and clambering to her feet, she stumbled down the hallway, attempting to sprint at her usual speed but slowed down by the effects of the gas. The further she got away from the store room, the faster she was able to run.
She skidded to an alarmed halt when she reached the main hall, staring in absolute horror at Bengali lying flat on his back upon the floor in a growing puddle of blood. Looking up, she froze at the sight of the blue-skinned man who stood at the damaged exit, smiling smugly before turning his back to her and walking casually down the stairs outside.
She didn't need to be told who he was.
"Prince Sincline," she growled through clenched teeth, dashing after him. As she ran out the front entrance, she only got a glimpse of him on a Sky-Cutter behind Jackalman, shooting through the air like a bullet.
If he's with the mutants, she thought angrily, running down the stairs, then he's heading to Castle Plun-Darr, and that's no doubt where Rainbow Brite will be as well.
"I really don't understand why we didn't just break into the control room," Jackalman whined to the prince, heading back to Castle Plun-Darr as fast as he could with two people on the Sky-Cutter. "Wouldn't it have made our lives easier?"
Sincline snorted. "There's no glory in killing a blind man or a pregnant woman, and I have no gripe against either one."
"Well, I suppose… but Lynx-O isn't exactly a pushover, and MoonGlo has a mean kick."
The prince rolled his eyes. "Somehow it doesn't surprise me you would consider them threats." He smirked slightly, glancing over his shoulder at the retreating Lair—and the lone figure which followed after them at a much slower pace. "Besides, the fun isn't over yet."
Lynx-O's ears twitched spontaneously as he listened carefully to what was going on outside the control room doors. His hands were against the door, attempting to back up every miniscule sound he heard with even the slightest of tremors. "The mutants have left," he told MoonGlo and Snarf, "but I'm having a difficult time trying to pinpoint where the other Thundercats are." I dare not tell them what I'm really afraid of, he thought. MoonGlo is in no condition for it, and Snarf won't be able to keep his mouth shut. I don't know who that Sincline Tygra fought was, but he's not to be taken lightly. A familiar set of footsteps caught his ear, but the direction they took alarmed him. His head snapped around, facing the other two. "Snarf! Get the communications back up immediately and connect with Pumyra! Find out why she's chasing after the mutants!"
Snarf, who'd been attempting to reconnect the wires for the communicators, stood helplessly in the middle of the mess. "I'm trying, I'm try—SNAAAAAAAAAAAAARF!" A brief electrical surge shot through him, causing his fur to stand on end before it stopped.
"Snarf!" MoonGlo gasped, horrified. "Are you alright?"
He coughed up a small puff of black smoke. "Don't worry," he told her with a weak smile. "Snarfs ground well. It'll take more than an electrical surge like that to knock me out!"
The control panel blazed into life. Quickly, MoonGlo leaned forward as far as she was able to and connected to Pumyra's communicator. "Pumyra, what are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm going after that bastard Sincline!" was the furious response. "If he thinks he can get away with—" The puma's voice was covered with a loud buzzing noise, blocking whatever else she might've said.
Under the noise, the sounds of two wires within the control panel starting to melt together caught Lynx-O's ears. Before MoonGlo could try to reconnect, he grabbed her arm, yanked her out of the chair, and got between her and the control board just before it erupted. Thankfully, there wasn't much in the way of shrapnel, but he wasn't going to risk any harm to the woman or the unborn cub. He heard the panels warping from the force of the electrical discharge as black smoke billowed from the wiring, filling the room with the foul smell of hot metal and burned plastic. I can't keep them in here… and Pumyra isn't here to help the others….
Snarf peeked over the edge of the chair he'd hidden behind. "I'm not going to be able to fix that," he said reluctantly.
Lynx-O grimaced. "We're on our own, then." Running to the door, he put in the code to unlock it. "Snarf, I need you to run to the infirmary and get bandages immediately!"
"Why did the mutants leave?" MoonGlo asked, watching the furry creature dash out of the room to do as he was told. "It's not like they were beaten off."
"No… in fact, it's more like they're leaving because they got what they wanted. What concerns me is what that might have been." Reluctantly, he turned to her. "MoonGlo, I don't want to do this because of your condition, but Tygra, Cheetara, and Bengali are not in good shape. I'm going to need your help with them." He winced at the snarf's exclamation of horror, even though he'd been expecting it.
She nodded. "I'll do what I can, Lynx-O."
Sincline strode into the main hall of Castle Plun-Darr, smiling slightly to himself. Not a bad run, if I do say so myself, he thought, feeling deservedly superior. Glancing around, he felt the smile grow at the looks of awe his subjects gave him. I think that's sufficiently cleared up any doubt of my skills to them. His attention fell upon Slythe, who'd returned to the castle before him. "Did the woman cooperate?" he asked the reptilian.
"She did," was the confident response. "She's in your room now, just as you ordered. Don't know what you want her for, though."
The prince didn't hesitate for a moment with his response, already having previously decided on the answer he would give to anyone who asked. "You will know in due time." They need not know how long I've wanted to make Fala mine.
As he'd hoped, the vague answer was enough for Slythe, who merely shrugged. "Suit yourself. By the way, Vulture-Man said you were followed."
Sincline smiled. "Oh, good, I'd hoped the little female would take the bait."
"I don't see why you didn't just kill her, too."
The prince raised a finger. "I am beyond curious to see what that tiny female does in an attempt to get our prisoner back—she is the one your spies know the least about, after all. If she amuses me enough, I just might keep her as a pet. After all, I find her pretty." He turned away and headed for his room. "Let little Pumyra sneak around to her heart's content. When I tire of playing games with her, you'll know."
As he headed up the stairs and down the hall, he smiled slightly, feeling the unfamiliar satisfaction of having finally gotten what he'd spent so long trying to take. My sweet Fala, I've waited so long for you I almost have no idea where to start. Do I take you hard and fast like a man starved, or do I take you slowly, thoroughly enjoying each individual second to its fullest extent? A different idea popped into his head, and he almost lost himself in the headiness of it. What if I prolong the agony until I've broken you completely, so you kneel before me on your own provocation?
Stopping before the door to his room, he took a deep breath to regain control, opened the portal, and stepped in.
She was sitting by the window, quietly looking outside with her back to him. Enchanted by being so close to her after so long, he closed the door and just stood there, admiring every inch of her. He was only slightly disappointed at the few strands of lighter blond streaking her waist-length golden hair, but taking in her smooth bare feet with a sigh, he was convinced that while it had been years, she was still young enough to please him. "That outfit suits you ill, Fala," he told her firmly, his voice softening slightly. "It hides too much of you."
She didn't respond to him, but he was perfectly prepared for such an attitude. After all, he'd had her kidnapped, and rarely did the victims look forward to such a thing. She would come around eventually, and he was perfectly prepared to wait for it.
He walked forward slowly, watching her carefully for even the minutest movement against him. Impressed at her even breathing and the lack of a single reaction, he stepped confidently beside her, looking outside the window and deliberately offering what would appear to be a moment of weakness, a chance for her to show her true colors. When she still continued to sit there calmly, he opened his mouth and turned to speak to her again. His voice died in his throat as soon as he saw her face—specifically the lavender star tattooed upon her left cheek.
Shocked, he crouched beside her, grabbed her chin firmly in his hand, and twisted her head around to get a better look at her. So similar, she was so close in appearance to Fala… but wasn't. Her eyes were too dark, the nose just a hair too long, her face slightly more youthful.
Ignoring her blank stare, he slowly stood up and walked away from her, his wrath slowly starting to mount. Did these Thundercats trick me? he pondered, clenching his fists in anger. Or did I trick myself?
Either way, he'd been tricked. With a furious shout, he grabbed the empty chest intended to hold his precious few items, lifted it over his head, and chucked it against the wall. As he glared at the destroyed piece of furniture, some thoughts started to connect together. No. It was not the Thundercats; the way they've been described to me, this is not their kind of trick. They protect the helpless, not put them in harm's way, even as a joke. I fooled myself because I still want Fala, and to be fair I probably should've double-checked who this woman was before jumping to conclusions—
He blinked, his anger still burning, but a different sort of kindling presenting itself. Unless…. The only way Mumm-Ra could've known when to grab me and keep me alive was by watching me… which means he probably knew about my desire for Fala….
MoonGlo felt her heart beat an erratic tattoo in her chest at the sight before her. Both Cheetara and Tygra were sprawled across the floor, the latter in the center of a growing pool of blood. "Lynx-O, are they—?"
"No," was the immediate reply, "but they need medical attention immediately." The old man's ears twitched. "Bengali appears to be the least damaged from this, though he's going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up. I'll go downstairs and get him on his feet, you bandage Tygra as best as you can—he's the worst of the three."
She nodded, but just as she started towards Tygra, Snarf came running in with bandages. "Snarf," she told him, taking the bandages from the creature as Lynx-O rushed downstairs, "do what you can to wake up Cheetara, I need to start bandaging Tygra immediately!"
He nodded and ran over to the cheetah, grabbing her and propping her up against the railing behind her. "Cheetara, wake up!"
Trusting him to do what he could, she went straight to Tygra, knelt beside him—trying in vain to ignore the blood squishing beneath her knees—and immediately started bandaging his arm, gagging more than once. This is no time to be sick, she thought, making sure the binding was tight enough to stop the bleeding. He was cool beneath her touch, to a degree she knew was a bad sign. He groaned as she worked, and surprised, she hesitantly said, "Tygra?"
He blinked, his gaze sharpening slightly as he looked up at her. "I'm in bad shape," he gasped. "I need Pumyra—"
"She took off after the mutants," she told him reluctantly. "You're just going to have to tell me what to do."
He groaned again. "You better hope I don't pass out again, then…." Making a wad out of the bandaging, she pressed it against the stab wound on his back. He chuckled at her, though there was absolutely no mirth in it. "That's not going to work—Sincline's sword went right through me. You have to get both ends of the wound and apply pressure to them. That'll stem the flow."
"'Through'?" She blanched, realizing what he meant. "I can barely lift Snarf!"
"I know… hold on…." Straining, he forced himself to roll onto his side, barely managing to hold himself steady as MoonGlo did her best to bandage his torso. "Not good, I'm really dizzy. I've already lost too much—" He coughed into his hand, staring at the blood covering his palm with a frown. "Internal bleeding… and Pumyra's not here…." Just as MoonGlo tightened the bandages, he slowly rolled onto his back, clearly having trouble breathing. Closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the floor, he asked, "Where's Cheetara? She can manage field surgery, and I'm in desperate need of it right now…."
Panicked, she snapped her head around to turn her attention to the snarf. "Snarf! I need Cheetara quickly!"
"I'm doing what I can!" the creature replied, still slapping the cheetah's cheeks. At the fluttering of the Thundercat's eyes, the snarf cried out, "Cheetara! We need your help!"
Cheetara looked around, unable to focus well on anything around her, though it was debatable if it was because of her broken nose or the head wound. "Wha—Snarf? What happened?"
"Forget about that, Tygra needs help!"
"Tygra?" Cheetara's eyes finally focused, but when she looked over the creature's shoulder to where MoonGlo knelt beside the tiger, her entire demeanor changed from confused to petrified. She attempted to scramble to her feet, but kept collapsing right back to her knees. Giving up, she crawled over to him. "Tygra!"
"Please don't scream," he barely managed to cough. "I'm not dead yet."
"He says he needs field surgery, Cheetara," MoonGlo said, trying her best not to have an overly emotional reaction. "He's lost a lot of blood and says he's dizzy."
Cheetara put a hand over her forehead, her eyes losing focus briefly. "I… I think I can do that…." She sat back on her heels, put her palms firmly against her temples, and shook her head. "By Thundera, if the headache wasn't bad enough, my sixth sense is going insane! Pumyra's in grave danger!"
"If she took off after Sincline, I can believe it." Tygra's eyes opened briefly. "We can contact Lion-O and Panthro immediately, but they won't get there in time to help her, even with the Thundertank." He closed his eyes again, wincing. "Is Bengali alright?"
"I'm alive but not in good shape," Bengali replied just as he climbed the last few steps, a hand to his bleeding head. He growled when he saw the others, Lynx-O not far behind him. "And blurred vision or not, something tells me I'm still in better shape than the rest of you."
"Can you go after Pumyra?"
"Unfortunately, I'm in no condition to help to her at all. If the fall alone didn't give me a concussion, I'll be shocked. Besides, I hardly think either of you are in any condition to guard the Lair."
"Lynx-O—" MoonGlo started, but the old man interrupted her before she could continue.
"I can't keep up with Pumyra when she takes off in a rage," he stated. "By the time I get there, she'll already be inside the castle and beyond my ability to help."
Tygra's eyes flashed. "Shining Glory."
"Okay, you've entered the confusion stage of blood loss," his brother told him sternly, picking him up in his arms. "Lynx-O, help Cheetara to the infirmary. Snarf, get down to the Feliner and use the communicator in it to contact Lion-O and Panthro. It's the best we can do right now; we're just going to have to hope it's enough." Snarf took off like a shot.
"I'm not confused yet," Tygra snapped. He gagged for a moment, as if he was going to be sick, but managed to hold it back with a swallow. "The machine is finished, just untested. If we can get Shining Glory out of the Sphere, he'll be able to help—even if all he can do is teleport someone into Castle Plun-Darr."
"I'll do it," MoonGlo stated, getting to her feet, a hand against the wall to help her keep her balance. "You get Cheetara and Tygra to the infirmary."
Bengali looked at her in surprise. "You can't—"
"What else am I going to do? Sit around and twiddle my thumbs? Do what you need to, and I'll do what I can!" Without bothering to wait for an answer, she ran as fast as she dared down the hallway—not towards the control room, but rather to the weapons room. Opening the door, she stepped inside and grabbed the Sphere of Light. "Shining Glory, I know you can hear me," she told it as she took it from the weapons room and headed towards the spare room Panthro had been building his machine in. "We're in serious trouble! Pumyra took off after the mutants of Plun-Darr by herself, and they've got a dangerous man with them—he just took out three Thundercats without trying! Snarf's getting in touch with Lion-O and Panthro right now, but they might not be able to get to her in time. I hope Panthro's machine is able to get you out without destroying the Sphere; I'm taking a huge risk by running this thing without him having tested it!"
Placing the Sphere on the small platform built for it, she quickly started flipping switches and turning dials, watching the power levels carefully. Glancing at the Sphere, she tried to gauge the effect the electrical streams were having on it.
The shadow of a face appeared over the crystalized surface. "More… power…" an unfamiliar voice echoed through the room. "Spell… cracking…."
"MoonGlo!" Snarf pattered into the room. "Are you insane? Panthro hasn't—"
"Pumyra needs help immediately, and I fully agree with Tygra on this! Even if all Shining Glory can do is to open a doorway to Castle Plun-Darr for you to go through and help her, then it's more help than she had before!" Snapping a few more switches, and turning all the dials as high as they could go, she glanced at the power level and screamed in frustration, banging her hands against the panel. "I can't increase the power anymore! It's as high as Panthro designed it to go!"
"For a first test, maybe!" Snarf started dashing about the room and snapping power cables together. "I know how Panthro thinks, he always has ways to increase power if it's needed! Pop open the panel on the control board and hand me the cord end in there!"
She did as she was told; as she held the cord out to him, however, she noticed he'd hooked up his own set of cables to the power of the Lair itself without grounding them. She quickly dropped the cord, acting as if she were in sudden pain. "Ooh, my back!"
"Don't worry about—SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARF!" A massive electrical current surged through the wires as Snarf plugged the cord end into his cable. Electricity engulfed the creature as at least three parts of the machine blew up.
Covering her face with her arm, she dashed out of the room, leaning up against the wall as she stared in shock at the smoke billowing out from the doorway.
After a moment, Snarf stepped out, the intact Sphere in his hands, his singed fur standing on end as he gave her an incredulous look. "You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?" he asked her blandly.
"I'm sorry, Snarf," she replied with embarrassment. "I have to think of the baby first."
He sighed, probably unable to decide if he should berate her or not. "Well, I have no idea if that plan worked or not. I saw a figure come out of the crystal before disappearing again, but only Cheetara will be able to tell us if the sorcerer actually made it out or not."
Disappointed, she asked, "Were you able to contact Lion-O and Panthro?"
"They're heading to Castle Plun-Darr now. Lion-O already knows we were attacked, they were on their way back here when—" She gasped as an unfamiliar pain suddenly shot through her entire frame. "MoonGlo, are you alright?"
Feeling her legs shake beneath her, she gripped the edge of the doorway to keep herself standing. "Um… Snarf? I… I need to sit… and I'm not sure I can do it without help…."
Pumyra peeked out from behind the tree, studying the landscape around Castle Plun-Darr meticulously with a scowl. Someone's been busy, she thought. There's hardly a square inch left that isn't covered in something deadly. This is going to be difficult. Reaching into her pouch, she pulled out a flash bomb. This will give me just long enough to cross the bridge before someone comes out to look. She reached for her slingshot, stared in surprise at her bare waist, then cussed at herself. That's right. I dropped it and didn't think to pick it up again before taking off. Shoot, how am I going to….
She looked around, spotted a sturdy-looking vine hanging off a nearby tree, ripped it from its hold, and frowned at it. "This will have to do," she sighed, creating a sloppy makeshift slingshot out of it. She loaded the flash bomb and then swung the vine around above her head, trying to get a feel for the weight of it and its balance. Once she was sure she had it, she let it fly, then ran blindly into it as it went off, keeping her eyes covered with her arm and hoping she stayed on the bridge.
As soon as her feet touched soil again, she glanced around and leapt up along the edges of the front entrance until she found a decent perch on the carved head. Keeping herself flat against the stone, she watched as several mutants came out of the castle to look around, both of them looking bored. "What do you think caused the flash?" the reptilian asked the jackalman.
"I don't care, honestly," was the reply. "It looked no different from the gases reacting to each other at night."
She waited until the two of them went back inside, then pushed herself up to get a better look at the walls behind her. "Can't believe I didn't set off any alarms," she muttered. "I better proceed as if I'm walking into a trap." Glaring at the abused vine, she tossed it aside, turned to the castle wall, and placed her hands against the bricks, studying the wall for the nearest window. Well, I might not be anywhere near as strong as some of the others, she thought, digging her claws into the crumbling mortar around a brick, but I certainly find my own way to do things. She ripped the brick out of the wall, tossed it into the foliage, stood up, put her foot in the hole she'd made, then proceeded to repeat her trick as quickly as she could further up the wall, basically creating her own ladder to enter Castle Plun-Darr.
Just underneath the sill of the window she'd picked, she clung to her self-made hand-holds and listened intently to what was going on inside the building. When she was certain there was no one nearby, she took a peek over the sill, stuck her claws under the edge of the windowpane, and lifted it open just enough for her to squeeze inside.
She glanced up and down the hallway, cursing when she realized there was no cover for her to use. "Well, time to cross my fingers and hope for the best." With that, she dashed down the passage, hoping she was headed towards the dungeons.
Bengali carried Tygra into the infirmary, quickly getting him on a bed. He didn't know what was worse: the headache, the amped-up nausea, the blurred vision, or the fearful thought he might really lose his brother this time. "Tygra, how bad are you?"
"Very," was the reply. "I'm still losing blood…."
"I can stem the bleeding for a while," Lynx-O told them as he helped Cheetara into the room, "certainly long enough for you to patch up Cheetara sufficiently for her to perform a field surgery on him."
"Then get her seated until I can tend to her!" Bengali put a hand on his brother's chest to hold him steady while he quickly examined the situation. As if all the symptoms of a concussion weren't bad enough, now his brother's heartbeat was becoming erratic. "This isn't good at all. Tygra, I'm going to knock you out."
"Please do," Tygra groaned, as Lynx-O came over and applied pressure to the stab wound. "It'll slow my heart and the bleeding, and I need to be under for what Cheetara's going to have to do, anyway."
Without a moment's hesitation, Bengali dashed to the cabinet and quickly pulled open the drawer Pumyra kept her tranquilizers in, grabbed one, then ran back to his brother's side and shot the drug into Tygra's arm. "Here; this should knock you out for a few hours."
"Why did you know exactly where Pumyra keeps those?" Lynx-O asked suspiciously.
"This is hardly the time for questions like that!"
Once Tygra passed out, Bengali turned to Cheetara and swiftly cleaned the blood away from her head wound as she held a handkerchief to her still-bleeding nose and forcefully yanked the broken bone back into position with a gasp. Just as he finished bandaging her head and was about to work on her nose, she suddenly queried, "Where's Rainbow Brite?"
Lynx-O's ears twitched just before his head snapped up in shock. "She isn't in the Lair! The mutants must've gotten her; that would explain why Pumyra took out after them!"
Bengali growled, irritated at feeling so helpless. "How'd they even know she was here? We tried to keep her presence hidden so Mumm-Ra wouldn't find her!"
"They must've found out somehow—"
A familiar scampering noise echoed down the hallway, preceding Snarf's arrival by only a moment or two. "SNARF! We've got a problem!"
"A problem?" Cheetara snapped. "Try several!"
"Another problem, then! MoonGlo's water broke!"
The two Thundercats stared at the snarf in shock, stunned speechless. In the dead silence, Lynx-O calmly stated, "We just knocked out the only person aside from Pumyra who knows how to deliver a cub, didn't we."
Bengali clenched his teeth together in a combination of anger and panic, his mind racing despite the pounding in his head to come up with solutions. "Fu—fine! Everything's going to be just fine! Snarf, get back to the Feliner to tell Lion-O and Panthro the mutants must've taken Rainbow, she's not in the Lair! DO NOT tell either of them about MoonGlo's condition!"
"But—"
"Knowing that is not going to help the matter, and Pumyra's situation just got worse! Move it!" As the snarf hastened to do as he'd been instructed, Bengali turned to his patient. "Okay, if my exceedingly limited knowledge of birthing is correct, we don't have to worry about anything happening for a few hours at the least. Cheetara, get to work on Tygra. When Snarf gets back, I'm going to have him speed-read through Pumyra's books and look for step-by-step instructions on delivering a cub."
"But I'll be working on Tygra, Lynx-O can't see, and no one else is here," Cheetara asked, looking up at him in shock, "so who's going to deliver the cub?"
He grimaced, resisting the urge to throw up. "Worse case scenario, who do you think?" he replied through clenched teeth.
Notes:
1. Originally, I was going to have more characters from Golion appear in the story for Sincline to obsess over. I could not make it work. That's when it hit me: without them, Sincline has nothing left. If anything is going to make him incredibly dangerous, it would be that horrifying realization, and guarantee a serious enmity between him and Mumm-Ra. Much more fun to write about!