From the Past of Third Earth, Part Two:

Lost Prince, Chapter Nine

Who… what… where…?

She blinked. Who… I… am…. Rainbow Brite… leader of the Color Kids… protector of Rainbow Land…. Closing her eyes, she rotated her head as it slowly became easier to connect her thoughts together. I've been… trapped… split in two… by Mumm-Ra… for daring to escape his control…. Opening her eyes, she looked up, and reality came crashing down on her all at once. Two sets of vision flashed back and forth before her eyes, momentarily making her dizzy: one she knew to be the real world, the other a visualization of light and color, including a ghostly layer or rainbows above it all, exposing the true nature of whatever she looked at. Normally she had better control of what she could see, but she could tell immediately it had been centuries since she'd done so.

Besides, right now she had a different concern. She was looking at a room and two people she'd never seen before.

"Where am I?" she asked, staring at them in confusion. She blinked, trying to control the visual layers and failing. "This isn't Mumm-Ra's Pyramid, is it?"

"Nope," the female replied, leaning her full weight against a bureau which had been shoved against the only door in the room. Something about her seemed cat-like, a trait somewhat humorous to Rainbow Brite, though the bloody bandage in her shoulder was far less amusing. Her coloring was bright and cheerful against the dull gray of the room, especially her browns and whites. Over her was a luminescence of additional colors, a veritable warm rainbow of positivity, though there was a condensed cold black around the general area of her heart. "You haven't been there in over a year. We're in Castle Plun-Darr, and we need to get out of here before the mutants get in!" A loud blast from the other side of the door caused it to shudder under the strain, splinters popping out of place with the force of the blow. "Ah, crap! If he keeps that up, I'm not going to be able to stop him!"

"I suppose the window is out of the question," the old man asked, facing the female but not looking at her. Just like her, he was more colorful than the room, but his ghostly layer was so bright it was almost lit from within. The undertones of warm indigos and violets were especially powerful, almost overshadowing the other colors.

"The Thundertank does have a zipline, but it requires someone to shoot it. I don't suppose you could teleport us out?"

"I can only teleport myself, I'm afraid. If I thought I could aim it accurately, I'd try shooting the zipline myself."

Rainbow Brite listened to this bizarre exchange, trying to figure out what was going on as she pulled her hair out of her face. Allies outside the building, enemies outside the door, a man who practically reeks of—"Can you seal the door with magic?" she asked the old man in a moment of silence, blinking deliberately as the secondary vision finally came under her control once more. Good, I can turn it off and on again.

"Only temporarily."

"Temporary is all we need." Standing up, she faced the nearest window, poking her head out of it to find the allies. Tank, tank… yeah, I guess that could qualify as a tank. She blinked, turning on the otherworldly layer, and watched the occupants for a moment.

It was easy to see who the allies were. They were practically a beacon on the gloomy landscape their colors were so solid; one's inner warm rainbow was dominated more by red and blue, the other of green, violet and a surprisingly warm black. The machine they were in practically blazed with white and black, almost blinding against the animalistic and depressingly gray monsters attempting to deluge it. Those poor creatures were so overwhelmed by their own cold drab colors, it was clear they were no match for the colorful men.

Only one creature seemed to be a legitimate problem: a blue-skinned man who engaged the red-head's sole attention when he entered the fray. His inner colors were also cold, but unlike the other monsters, they were bright and not even remotely steady. Frozen shades of orange, blue, indigo, and black especially surrounded him in a moving marbled mishmash, as if he were in a constant state of mental chaos.

She reached for her belt, planning to send a signal of some sort, scowling in anger as she remembered the Rainbow Belt had been destroyed. Blinking so she could see reality for what it truly was once more, she turned back to her two unexpected companions. "Do we have anything we can use to get a signal to the two down there?"

The female tossed her a small white ball, still holding the bureau against the door as the old man—clearly a wizard or something—finished writing strange glowing words in the air, creating a blue glow around the edge of the doorframe. "Smash that against the castle wall without looking at it, and it'll give Lion-O and Panthro a target to aim the zipline at!"

"Can do." Closing her eyes, she leaned out the window and slammed the ball against the outside wall has hard as she could.

Panthro glanced up at the noise, spotting Pumyra's flashbomb almost five floors off the ground. "Its about time," he muttered, tossing aside two jackals before glancing behind him at the struggling duelists. Lion-O was holding his own against Sincline, but only barely. We've got to take that bastard out quickly or we'll never get out of here, he thought. He blinked, knocking out a simian he spotted out of the corner of his eye as his idea slowly formed itself into something he could work with. "Bastard"… he's half-mutant! I bet I know what'll get this jerk's panties in a knot.

Leaping back into the fray, he wrapped his nun-chucks around the prince's arm again. "I've got to give you credit, young man," he taunted, smirking as Sincline's attention turned to him. "You fight pretty well for a half-breed." He deliberately added the emphasis on Plun-Darr's worst insult to really get the ball rolling.

As he'd hoped, the prince's expression twisted into one of unadulterated wrath. He almost ignored his opponent completely, giving the young lord the opportunity he needed to smack his Claw Shield into Sincline's face. It dazed him just long enough for Panthro to heft him up and toss him with full force against the nearest wall, hopefully knocking him out for a few minutes. "Where did he come from?" Lion-O gasped, clearly shaken from facing such a dangerous adversary.

"We'll figure it out later," Panthro told him. "Keep the mutants out of the tank, I've got to send the zipline to Pumyra."

It was with a cry of relief Pumyra heard the zipline's harpoon-like end slam into the castle wall just above the window. "Time to leave!" she shouted at Rainbow Brite, grabbing Shining Glory just as he finished casting his spell. "You first, missy!"

The blond made a face, looking quite as if she wanted to stay and fight, but also mature enough to recognize this was hardly the time to do so. With a snarl worthy of any Thunderian, the young woman reached up, grabbed the first of the three zipline pullies, and leapt fearlessly out of the window.

Shining Glory looked quite startled. "What in the world—"

"I trusted you," Pumyra told him, "now it's your turn to trust me." She helped him grab the handles of the next pully. "Hold onto this, don't let go, and jump out—it might be a rough landing, but you'll be fine. I'm right behind you."

"If you say so," he said with a wince, clearly not happy with this arrangement but knowing better than to argue.

As he jumped out, she turned, pulled another ball from her pouch, and popped it open. Fiddling with the tiny controls inside of it, she created a delayed reaction in the small explosive. "Enjoy the parting gift," she quipped, closing the ball, tossing it towards the door, and bounding from the window as she snatched the last pully. Though her shoulder was numb, she could feel the muscles around the wound pulling uncomfortably as she threw her weight out the window.

As soon as her feet landed inside the tank, Lion-O yanked hard on the zipline, allowing it to retract back into the tank's specialized storage for it. "Let's go, Panthro," he ordered, leaping into the front seat as she collapsed onto one of the free chairs in the back of the tank.

The explosive she'd left behind detonated, creating enough of a distraction for Panthro to reverse the tank, turn it around, and head right back to the Lair. With a deep sigh, she clasped her hands over her face, finally allowing her thoughts to stray back to the horror she'd left behind at the Lair. Too late to correct her mistake, she slowly realized she should never have taken Slythe at his word and checked her friends to see if she could've saved them. "Lion-O, Panthro," she started to say. "The others—"

"They're still alive, Pumyra," Panthro told her firmly, urging the Thundertank to move as quickly as possible. "None of them are in good shape, but they're alive." His tone wasn't entirely accusatory, as if he seemed to understand her split decision but just didn't agree with it.

"Cheetara and Bengali will be fine," Lion-O added, turning around to face her. He looked as shaken as she felt. "Our main concern right now is Tygra; Sincline did a serious number on him."

"I'm sorry," she sighed, resisting the urge to cry. "I screwed up."

"I would love it if someone could explain to me what the hell is going on," Rainbow Brite said suddenly, crossing her arms.

Lion-O turned his attention to her with a surprised look. "Well, I'm glad to see you got your mind back," he told her with a smile. "MoonGlo was starting to think she'd never be able to speak to you again."

The blond sat up straight like a shot, her expression one of utter astonishment. "MoonGlo?! You found her, she's okay?!"

"More than okay. She'll be thrilled to see you're alright again, Rainbow Brite." As the young woman made a closed-mouth squeal of delight, the young lord turned to the sorcerer. "Um… you, sir… I'm afraid I don't know you."

"You know of me, Lord of the Thundercats," the old man replied with a serene smile. "I am the sorcerer Shining Glory. MoonGlo released me with Panthro's machine, begging me to help Pumyra. She's lucky I found her when I did."

"It sounds like a lot happened all at once," Panthro stated. "I can't imagine the stress levels at the Lair right now—"

"Feliner to Thundertank," a familiar yet surprising voice crackled over the tank's communicator. "Feliner to Thundertank, please answer."

Lion-O immediately got back into his seat and pressed the button to reply. "Thundertank to Feliner," he answered. "Wily Kat, is that you? You're back already?"

"It is and we are," was the calm response. A little too calm, actually, especially considering what he and his sister must've found upon returning to the Lair. "I'm calling to see if you have Pumyra yet."

"We do." He blanched. "Don't tell me something else went wrong!"

"Well, not exactly. Tygra's stable, you don't need to worry about that, but… Bengali and Kit think the cub's turned the wrong way, and neither of them know what to do."

Lion-O must've been struck speechless, because it was Panthro who responded to the information. "Turned the wrong—MoonGlo went into labor?!"

"Labor?" Rainbow Brite asked, looking absolutely shocked.

"Kit says she's only dilated to five centimeters at the moment," Wily Kat continued. "Still, it probably wouldn't hurt to get Pumyra here as soon as possible. Just in case."

"We'll be there in ten minutes, Kat," Panthro said firmly.

Duchess Ravenwaves leaned against the banister, waving a hand in front of her face to try and keep the dust away. "Of all the people I would expect to carry a bomb," she mused as Vulture-Man pulled himself out of the rubble, "she wouldn't have been my first guess."

He sighed in irritation, casually propping his laser gun on his shoulder. "I'm not. By this point in time, I've seen every single one of them pull out tricks I've never seen before on numerous occasions. I've come to expect them storing unexpected stunts." The two of them surveyed the damage curiously; every scrap of furniture was utterly destroyed, the walls were charred and cracked, and the door—having been attacked from both sides—was scattered throughout the hall in pieces no bigger than coins. As they watched, a few pieces of rock dislodged from the ceiling and plopped onto the floor. "Well, they certainly go away. I wonder how Sincline will react once he realizes the blond has been taken."

She glanced around, making sure there was no one else nearby. "He might not care. The fact that he came straight to us barely a few moments after heading to his room to check her out tells me Father's jig is up. How the hell the prince managed to put two and two together, I have no idea." She bit her lip in irritation. "And that's just going to make things all the more irritating. Whatever motivated him before might not motivate him now, not after this revelation. It is not going to be easy to figure out what he's up to."

Sincline picked himself up from the ground, barely wincing as he got to his feet and stretched slightly. He noticed Slythe and the other commanders walking over to him out of the corner of his eye and mentally sighed. And so it begins, he thought. Now comes the dick-wagging in an attempt to put me down—good luck trying to drag my name through the mud. "So, Your Highness," the reptilian started, no doubt thinking he had the upper hand. He stopped the instant he realized the prince's sword had materialized at his throat.

Sincline smiled slightly. "That was fun," he said, gently tapping the tip of the blade against Slythe's chin. "Later skirmishes will prove just as enlightening, I'm sure."

"Fun?! We're supposed to be wiping the Thundercats off the face of Third Earth!"

He's ballsy, I'll give him that. I might keep him around, but I'll have to think of a way to make him useful. "Only an idiot thinks he can win an entire war with a single battle." Turning his yellow eyes on the mutant commander, he asked with a frown, "Let me guess: the so-called 'ever-living source of evil' is just that kind of an idiot." Go ahead. I've given you an opening to redeem yourself in the eyes of all the other mutants here. Might as well take it.

He could see the wheels slowly turning in Slythe's brain, no doubt weighing the responses and the potential outcomes from them. In the end, the prince's weapon still aimed for his jugular made up his mind for him. "Yeah, Mumm-Ra is just that kind of an idiot."

"Then it's a good thing we'll be paying him a visit later today, isn't it? I have a very low tolerance for stupidity." Quickly sheathing his sword, Sincline clasped his hands behind his back, surveying the damage Castle Plun-Darr had sustained. He was pleased to note all the mutants around him had once again fallen back slightly, unnerved by the legend standing in their midst. It will be a while before any of them try to confront me again. I can tell I'm still far more dangerous than any other leader they've known, and they don't know how to respond. "You know," he stated, "I'm fascinated these Thundercats didn't blow our fortress to smithereens. They certainly had the firepower for it, and I'll wager more than enough motivation."

"They never do," Monkian explained, rolling his eyes. "Their Code of Thundera forbids it."

"Code?" He glanced around at the other mutants, raising an eyebrow. "They have a code no one thought to mention to me before this?"

"It's drivel," Slythe told him, crossing his arms. "Justice, truth, honor, and loyalty—outdated notions."

Sincline's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked up to the heavens, wondering if it would do any good to ask a deity for patience. He sighed, "And suddenly this entire mess makes all too much sense." Justice is a childish notion, he pondered, easily subjective from person to person, but truth is a tool to be used to its fullest extent, and honor and loyalty are far more important than these morons realize. Blast it all, my empire really fell upon hard times after it collapsed, didn't it?

"Well," Jackalman asked, scratching his head. "What do we do now? They got your blond. Do you want to go after her again?"

And thank you for providing me with an opportunity to explain away my desire for the blond. "No, she served her purpose. I now have a far better grasp of what we're dealing with here." Shaking his head, he headed to the castle entrance. "Come. I'm sure there's much we need to look at before we head off to Mumm-Ra's stronghold. After our visit to him, we'll discuss these Thundercats in far more explicit detail." I don't know what I'll do afterwards, he fumed mentally, but I can certainly take my frustration out on that backstabber first.

Before he could head too far, another monkian grabbed his arm. He turned to look at the simian curiously. "By the way, Highness… we don't care about your parentage." To his further credit, the monkian didn't even cringe under the glare the prince leveled at him, though his eyes did dart to the prince's grip on his sword. "If you're even a fraction as good as the legends we've heard of you, then you've a better chance of winning this war against the Thundercats than Mumm-Ra ever did."

For the first time in his life, Sincline felt… relief. Looking around at the remains of his people—and they were still his people, pitiful as they'd become—he saw, not eyes judging him on his lineage, but rather judging him on his actions. They were impressed with what they saw, even the commanders.

For the first time in his entire life, he felt truly respected and accepted.

It was something he'd craved without ever realizing it, and the experience was quite heady. Relaxing a little, he felt a genuine smile curl the edges of his lips. "You needn't worry about this war," he stated, loudly enough for all of them to hear, "I will win it."

The cheers following his pledge were almost satisfying enough to wipe away the concerns that would later overcome his thoughts, almost enough to quell the anger still boiling in his heart for Mumm-Ra, so for one sweet moment, he relished in the praise being handed to him. I'll think of something, he reassured himself. I'm not quite sure what, yet, but I will think of something. After all, at least I still have some of my people left.

"Sorry this isn't exactly the best welcome," the female called Wily Kit said as she led Shining Glory and Rainbow Brite into the meeting room. "Normally you'd meet with all of us, but… well…."

"Considering the circumstances," Shining Glory replied in a reassuring tone, taking a seat with a sigh of relief, "I'm more than inclined to be lenient. I just hope everyone is alright."

"Luckily, yes," Wily Kat answered as he helped the old man take a seat. "We've pulled through some tight spots before, but this was certainly the tightest so far. Of those who aren't recuperating or helping with the cub, we're the only ones currently available, so you're stuck with us for a while."

Rainbow Brite walked around the meeting table as they talked, preferring not to remain seated as she studied her surroundings. Unlike the Castle Plun-Darr they'd escaped from, this Cat's Lair was brightly colored and warm in her second vision, giving her a better idea of what kind of people these Thundercats were. Every undertone color is represented and warm here, she thought, pleased. Especially brown, blue, green, and violet. She glanced at the brother and sister. Those two… they each have that cold darkness around their hearts like the others, but it's not as strong, and they keep it controlled and overpowered by their colors.

I probably have some myself now, too. A deep sorrow threatened to overtake her for a moment. The Color Crystals destroyed, my friends comatose and captured… and I couldn't do a single thing to stop it—

"Are you okay, Rainbow Brite?" a patient voice asked, breaking gently into her thoughts.

She turned to see she'd stopped behind the sorcerer called Shining Glory, who faced her general direction without looking at her. This close, she could see the cold darkness of death over his eyes, indicating blindness, but it was almost invisible against the bright colors dominating him. "Oh, I'm fine," she replied with a false grin. "A little bamboozled, but I think that's to be expected."

He nodded understandingly. "You and me both."

"We'll have to talk later, you and I." She turned to the Thundercats, pulling her hair out of her face and attempting to tuck it behind her ear. It didn't really want to obey, falling back in front of her eyes within seconds. "You found MoonGlo?"

"We did." Wily Kit shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry you can't see her yet, Rainbow Brite. I mean, it was only a matter of time before the cub came, but I guess we'd hoped you'd get better long before it happened."

She shrugged, still attempting to sort through the mixed emotions roiling within her upon finding out her friend was in a serious relationship and pregnant. "I've been out of commission for centuries, I'd be an idiot to assume nothing would change during that time. Honestly, I'd thought Mumm-Ra had killed MoonGlo, so finding out she's still alive will sustain me for now." With a genuine chuckle, she added, "Besides, something tells me I need to be brought up-to-date with everything that's happened, anyway."

"Trust me, it's been a lot. Take a seat, relax—quite frankly, this is probably going to take a while." Kit smiled back. "Especially since we found more of your friends recently."

It was evening before they were able to leave Castle Plun-Darr and head for the Pyramid. The Thundercats had left a large enough disarray in their wake that the slaves had to be organized immediately into groups to repair and clean up the mess. Besides, Sincline had needed a few bandages himself after tangling with both Lion-O and Panthro, something which seemed to leave his pride bruised and his anger absolutely boiling.

Stress on "seemed to". Duchess Ravenwaves wasn't entirely certain why, but she was getting the impression the prince was far better at keeping secrets than most males.

"Well, where the hell is he?" Slythe asked, staring at the empty sarcophagus in irritation as they entered the cauldron room. He turned to fix Ravenwaves with a sharp look, echoed in a far more hazardous manner by Sincline. "Any ideas, wench?"

"Duchess," she corrected absentmindedly, tapping her fingers against her lips. "Hmm… he could honestly be anywhere inside this place, it's pretty big."

"Of all the blasted—" Furious, Sincline stormed forward and stabbed his sword through the lid of the sarcophagus. As he pulled the blade back, probably for another blow, the stone suddenly crumbled to pieces and fell to the floor. Despite his seething rage, he stood there dumbstruck for a moment, staring at the rubble with a look of surprise. "Well. I guess I'm not the first to do that."

Ravenwaves sighed, attempting to be patient. "Seriously? Give me a moment to try something, Prince." Putting the tips of her thumb and forefinger into her mouth, she whistled loudly, making sure the pitch was as high as possible. As she'd hoped, she got an answer almost immediately: barking echoed down one of the hallways, followed a minute or two later by the scrambling of an excited dog. "Ma-Mutt!" she squealed happily, squatting down to pet the delighted animal as he ran right up to her, his entire behind wagging with his tail. "Who's an evil doggie? Are you an evil doggie? Yes, you are, you cutie-patootie!" Scratching him under the chin, she asked sweetly, "Where's Daddy, Ma-Mutt? Can you show me where Daddy is?"

Ma-Mutt dashed away as he barked enthusiastically, turning and running in circles in front of one of the portals, looking at her expectantly.

"That was disgusting," Sincline stated flatly as she stood up.

"Oh, stuff it, Prince," she told him without missing a beat. "It worked, so what do you care? Come on, let's find Father."

Following Ma-Mutt down the hallways, she was partially surprised to find out her father wasn't anywhere near as deep inside the Pyramid as she'd first expected—and that he was a bit more occupied than she would've thought. The noise from the fight echoed down the passage long before they got to the treasure room, the debris from it blowing out the door as they neared the entrance.

A few puzzle pieces that had been missing from her manipulation repertoire suddenly appeared and fell into place. "Ah, he still keeps her around, does he?" she asked no one in particular, smiling smugly. "So that's where he got the shiner…."

"'Her'?" Slythe asked, surprised. "He's got a woman?"

"Of course he does. Stay here for a moment, I'm going to—" Suddenly Mumm-Ra was thrown from the room by an electric explosion, crashing into the wall so hard bits of stone and rubble fell from the ceiling. Quickly stepping forward, Ravenwaves smacked the button to close the door, sealing the room's upset occupant inside.

"What the—Ravenwaves!" Mumm-Ra got to his feet, glaring down at her furiously. His powerful form had impressed her as a small child, now she was merely annoyed by it. "What on Third Earth are you here for?"

"Oh, I'm not here for anything, Father," she replied sweetly. "I'm just the navigator. It's the prince who wishes to have a discussion with you—you know, the kind involving blades."

Before he could reply, Sincline attacked him, throwing himself bodily at the mummy and causing the two of them to tumble down the hallway in a violent struggle. The prince brought his sword down, but the ancient sorcerer merely grabbed it between his palms and wrenched it free, tossing it to the side without looking at it. This hardly deterred his opponent, as Sincline immediately started punching Mumm-Ra, who had no choice but to fight back with just as much violence.

Slythe watched the tussle with bemusement, crossing his arms as the two literally beat the crap out of one another. "Just when I think I have this prince figured out, he goes and throws me for a loop," the reptilian admitted. "I don't know if I ought to call him insane or impressive for daring to take Mumm-Ra on like that."

She shrugged. "Meh. He's probably both." She smiled sweetly at him. "How about you go tell Vulture-Man to warm up the Flying Machine? I suspect the prince won't be long."

"What are you going to do?"

"Find out why Father's fighting with his sex-slave, that's all. Why, do you want to help?"

He snorted, turning his back to her. "Nope. Have fun."

She waited until he'd disappeared down the hallway before opening the treasure chamber's door. A lightning bolt slammed into the floor just beyond it, and she waited patiently until the electricity in the air had disappeared before stepping over and entering the room. Alright, she thought to herself, let's see if we can't figure out what her problem is.

She smiled sweetly at the lone occupant, secretly disdaining the woman's skimpy attire even as she reminded herself the slave had no choice in the matter. Good grief, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind he enhanced those curves for his own perverted delight. She's probably super-submissive most of the time, too. "I remember you," Ravenwaves stated, heading over to the violet-haired woman and walking in circles around her. "Of course, you were much younger the last time we saw each other, but I do remember you. Stormy, was it?"

The slave didn't answer, narrowing her green eyes suspiciously at the duchess.

Ravenwaves continued, unfazed, "You used to babysit me. You were, what, fifteen or sixteen at the time? Still childlike and hardly as curvy as you are now."

Recognition crossed Stormy's expression, followed immediately by a sickened anger. "He didn't tell me you were his daughter," she quietly admitted, sounding as if it hurt to say.

The duchess's lips twitched in triumph. Ah, hah! So that's why she's furious with him! She's the only one he's been dancing the mattress mambo with, and she flipped out when she thought he'd cheated on her! Sex slaves are hilarious!

Resisting the urge to laugh at the absurd scenario—her father was pretty sadistic, after all—she pretended not to care in the slightest. "Oh, I'm not surprised he didn't tell you. He didn't want anything to do with either myself or my mother. When she came to him for help with her stupid little world-conquering scheme, he used it as an opportunity to get her permanently out of his life, and then left me with you until he decided I was old enough to live on my own." I probably shouldn't be helping the bastard, but maybe if he can get his rocks off with this chick, he'll leave me alone. That, and it's fun to see someone else be completely dominated just for the sake of sex. "He never could keep a woman for more than a month or two, and certainly never more than one at a time."

She pretended to be surprised, giving Stormy a look of confusion. "You know, now that I think about it—why in the world are you still here? I've been asleep for centuries, I'd thought he'd have ditched you for someone else long before now. How strange."

As she'd planned, the desperate light of hope twinkled in the slave's eyes.

"Well, not that it matters." Turning her back on the woman, she left the room with a careless wave, grinning broadly at the familiar scream of horror echoing down the hallway. Apparently, the prince had once again gotten ahold of his sword, and this time Mumm-Ra wasn't able to not look at it. "Nice to see you again, Stormy. Be kind to Father after Sincline's done with him; his pride is going to be more than a little beaten up."

As she closed the door behind her, a flash of red streaked by her; she ignored it, knowing full well it was only Mumm-Ra fleeing back to his sarcophagus in his weak form. Patiently, she waited for Sincline to reappear; by the time he did, she was quite bored and more than ready to return to Castle Plun-Darr.

He was scowling as he stormed towards her. "That was thoroughly disappointing," he snarled, barely noticing as she matched step with him. "The Thundercat lord put up a better fight, and he was as wet behind the ears as a boy of twelve!"

She almost pointed out he'd still gotten his ass kicked by said "wet-behind-the-ears" leader, but wisely chose to keep her silence on the subject. "Found Father's weakness, did we?"

The prince held up his sword, the tiniest hint of amusement managing to make itself known through the many layers of anger. "In a manner of speaking," he replied, looking at his own reflection with narrowed eyes.

"Still plan on telling him why you're furious with him?"

"Oh, I never intended to tell him that. I want him to know who is in charge of the mutants now." He gave her a sharp look and dared her to argue with him. "You and your vulture friend can play with them all you want, manipulator, but from this point on they answer to me—as do both of you."

She frowned, wanting badly to say something but unable to find any words suitable enough to express herself without being killed. Damn it… looks like I'm really going to have to think of a way to get rid of this son of a bitch now.

Much later than night, Mumm-Ra knelt upon the floor, slowly piecing together the bits of sarcophagus. "It is a damn good thing I like puzzles," he muttered, patiently searching for the one bit he needed to complete the large repaired section he held in his hand. "This would drive me insane if I didn't." Finding the piece he wanted, he gently inserted it in its place and with a quick—and thankfully magically cheap—spell, cemented it there. "By all the ancients, I am tired." He surveyed the pile of rubble before him, sighing. "And it will be a long time before I can sleep again…."

A scuffling noise caught his attention. He'd been hearing it for a while, but ignored it as inconsequential. As he looked up, however, he saw Stormy crawling into the room, panting and wheezing in pain. "Master," she begged, "forgive me…."

He watched her collapse to the floor, twitching and crying. "Seriously, what on Third Earth is wrong with you, woman?!" he snapped. "One moment you're obedient, the next you're trying to destroy me, and now you literally come crawling to me begging for forgiveness!"

"I'm… sorry…."

Ma-Mutt pattered into the room, sitting by her head and staring down at her, whimpering.

"And you, you horrid hound, you're no better for doting on her!"

The dog looked at him and whined slightly.

Ever-living source of evil or not, he couldn't stay angry at those adorable black eyes for too long. "Oh, alright, fine. For your sake, Ma-Mutt… and quite frankly, I need the help anyway." Pushing himself to his feet, he slowly walked over to her, muttering to himself with every step. "I must be getting soft in my old age, this is ridiculous…."

She looked up at him, reaching out with tears in her eyes as he stopped beside her. "Master… please…."

He sighed, crossing his arms. "You will help me repair my sarcophagus. I will lax the limitations of the curse, but it will only be for a short time. Do you understand me?"

She nodded, gripping onto his robe.

"Good." Reaching down, he touched the collar around her throat, making sure to use as little magic as possible as he tweaked the curse upon her. "Come, Slave. We have work to do."

Shuddering as she crawled after him—he wanted to make sure she was still in pain so she would behave—she wept the entire way, "I'm sorry, Master, I'm sorry—"

"Oh, shut up and start organizing this mess! The sooner we get my sarcophagus fixed, the sooner I can rest, and then the sooner I can punish your disobedient ass!"

"Yes, Master… thank you, Master…."

Darkness… depression….

Rainbow Brite's eyes opened, her hand subconsciously reaching for her bag of Star Sprinkles of its own volition. As she grasped empty air, her conscious thoughts regained control, reminding her she was no longer in Rainbow Land. It was millennia later, she was devoid of the Sprinkles… and also of her power to use them. Sitting up, she stared around the darkened room, that part of her mind insisting someone needed her now.

At least she could still see the colors even if she couldn't affect them anymore.

Unable to ignore the strong feeling despite knowing she couldn't do much about the source of it, she got out of bed and left the room. Her bare feet tapped quietly against the stone floor, barely acknowledging the cold, hair constantly falling into her face no matter how many times she attempted to get it to stay behind her ears so she could see unimpeded. Wandering the quiet unlit hallways of the Lair, trying to pinpoint the source of the overall unhappiness she sensed with her second vision, she took in the warm colors infused into her surroundings. So much looked familiar to her, it was almost like an incredibly strong feeling of déjà vu.

There.

She stopped, her full attention on a door both familiar and unfamiliar. Cautiously, she stepped towards it, placing her ear against the metal and gently knocking on it. Someone with a nightmare, maybe? she pondered.

A moment after her knock, a deep voice said, "Come in."

A shudder ran down her spine; she wasn't sure how, but she recognized the voice. Steeling herself, she looked at the panel beside the door, pressing the button to open it with a raised eyebrow. Entering the lit room, her gaze focused on its only occupant, who sat up slowly upon her entry. Ah. Another Thundercat—a tiger, this time. She took in the blood-stained bandages around his arm and lower torso, as well as the pain he tried to hide from her. The one who was in critical condition when we got here earlier, I presume. He looks kind of familiar.

Like the others, his ghostly layer of mostly warm violet also had a black area around his heart—but unlike them, his actual colors were quite muted, almost gray. Her hand twitched, wanting to add color to the faded hues her second vision saw, but unable to do so. There's got to be a way I can go back to fixing these things, she mused.

The tiger stared at her, as if he was unable to believe what he was looking at. "Wisp?" he asked, his tone uncertain.

She was fascinated at the brightening of his colors with that single word, warm yellow and pink dominating his luminescence for a moment. Interesting. I've never seen the color return on its own before. Smiling slightly, she answered his vague query. "There's a name I haven't heard in a long time." Estimating his approximate age, she added flippantly, "I'm guessing you think 'Rainbow Brite' sounds too childish?" Her grin widened at his blatant embarrassment, and she quickly reassured him, "I don't mind, you can call me 'Wisp'. It's just been a few centuries, that's all." She glanced down at herself, reminded she was no longer a small child. "Well… millennia, anyway."

He looked acutely uncomfortable for a split second, quickly covering it up with a pretense of cool confidence as he leaned back into the pillows. "I'm glad to see you're better. The strange condition we found you in was starting to get more than a little unnerving."

"Oh, were you the other one who kept trying to bring me to my senses?" At his nod, she queried, "Tigro, was it?"

"Tygra," he corrected with a small grin. Every moment more of the gray slowly faded away, much to her genuine interest.

"Thank you, Tygra." Fascinated her mere presence alone seemed to bring the color back to him—maybe she could still affect the colors about her, just not in the same way as before—she continued, unfazed, "Why do I recognize you?"

Something she didn't expect happened. For a brief instant, his full colors returned, the luminescence dominated by warm yellows and pinks, replaced quickly with the cold black-and-white sepia tone she associated with insecure anxiety, and then back to the muted colors he'd had when she first walked in. His expression, too, changed with each swing—first something she didn't recognize at all, then a level of under-confidence bordering on fright, and finally the calm façade once more. "I don't know."

Clearly asking that question was a mistake, she chided herself, annoyed she'd accidentally undone what had fixed itself. She shrugged, hoping to put him at ease with a careless attitude. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." He looked as if he wanted to reply, but didn't know how. She gave him a once-over again, trying to think of a way to repair her blunder. "You're not going to be getting up for a while. Do you need me to get you anything?"

As she'd hoped, those muted colors slowly started to brighten again. He glanced to the side, as if considering something, and then he requested quietly, "I could use a book. I just woke up from the tranquilizer shot, so I'm not going to be able to sleep for a while."

"I can fetch a book. Any requests in particular?"

"There's one on the nightstand beside my bed that I was in the middle of. My room is one floor up, first hallway, third door on the left."

"Okay, I'll get it for you." She flashed him what she hoped he'd take as a friendly smile, and left the room, closing the door behind her. Hmm… not the most confident person, I suspect. I wonder… would he accept if I offered to stick around after bringing him his book…?

As she followed the directions she'd been given, she heard a baby start to cry.

Thank you for reading! Part Three to follow!… though not as soon as I'd like, as it's officially gone through so many rewrites it barely resembles its original draft…. One character in particular is a pain in the ass to write. Xp

Notes:

1. It was made VERY clear in the show Rainbow Brite literally saw faded colors and used the Star Sprinkles to add color. Trying to describe that in addition to how it would've "evolved" as she got older was such a pain in the neck I've been re-writing her scenes pretty much nonstop for the past month (including barely a few minutes before posting this, which should hopefully convey the annoyance I currently have with myself). It will be expanded further in Part Three what it is her second vision actually does.