The Transfer

The next morning, the Berserkers brought the Thunderian survivors to the mutants in exchange for the gold they were promised. The two groups hated doing business with each other. Naturally, something like that is to be expected from villainous bunches who don't believe in working together. Bengali, Pumyra, and Lynx-O figured they could use this as an opportunity to escape.

They weren't going to get far. The Berserkers and the mutants stopped bickering once they noticed that their prisoners were trying to escape. They stopped them and threatened them, giving the Thunderians no choice but to submit to their captors for the time being.

The Thunderian survivors were brought to the Black Pyramid and presented to Mumm-Ra. The mummy emerged from his sarcophagus. "So it seems there were more ThunderCats on Third Earth than we thought."

"We are not ThunderCats," Bengali said truthfully. He and his friends weren't of noble stature like the others. No, they were commoners.

"Even so, I don't think the noble ThunderCats or even their allies, the Children of Millennia, would suffer the thought of your being in Mumm-Ra's clutches," the mummy told them. Rather than keep them here in the Black Pyramid, he decreed that his prisoners be taken to Fire Rock Mountain.

Pumyra tried to be bold. "Whatever your plan, it will fail, Mumm-Ra."

Mumm-Ra wasn't fazed by her demeanor. "Your precious ThunderCats and their allies will come to rescue you," he was saying, "but they will have to cross the Fire Rocks to accomplish their mission." He also knew that the Fire Rocks were also known as Thundranium, the one substance that weakened Thunderians. That was why he wanted the prisoners to be taken to that designated area.

Mumm-Ra called for an alien mercenary named Captain Shiner and ordered him to escort the Thunderians to Fire Rock Mountain. Mumm-Ra once hired Captain Shiner to capture Lion-O and get rid of the Sword of Omens. It didn't work, of course.

Lion-O was brought to a clearing where he could rest. Now that he was all healed up, he was ready to resume their rescue mission. "Mana, please go back to Cats' Lair and tell the others what happened. Take Snarf with you too. The rest of us will try to find our fellow Thunderians."

"You can count on us," Mana said, mounting on Latias. "Snarf, Kirlia, hold on!" And the red and white dragon began flying. Lion-O boarded the Hovercat and took off with Panthro, Mahad, and Seto.

Suddenly, the Ratstar appeared above Latias and her friends as they were flying. "The Ratstar!" Mana gasped. "Faster, Latias!" The dragon tried to move faster, but a beam pulled them into the ship.

Mahad saw this and shouted, "No, Mana!"

"It's that mutant warlord Ratar-O!" Seto snarled.

Inside the Ratstar, Mana, Snarf, and Kirlia were chained up while Latias was drugged into unconsciousness. Ratar-O and Vultureman cackled. "Where were you and your friends rushing to, daughter of Millennia?" the vulture mutant asked Mana.

"Like I'm going to tell you, Vultureman," Mana spat.

Vultureman was about to strike her for her sassy attitude, but Ratar-O stopped him. "We may have use for this girl and her monster friends later. Mumm-Ra will tell us what's going on."

"Mumm-Ra?" Snarf and Mana asked. They had a bad feeling he would be behind this.

Panthro flew the HoverCat beneath the RatStar. "I'll work my way in," said Lion-O. "You guys get back to Cats' Lair."

"I'm coming with you," Mahad declared. "Mana's my student and I'm responsible for her well-being." Jirachi agreed to come as well.

"Okay, Mahad," the lion said, seeing there was no point in trying to change either of their minds. So Panthro and Seto retreated back to the lair, leaving their friends hanging from beneath the Ratstar.

Vultureman saw them on the screen. "It's another one of the Children of Millennia and he's got Lion-O with him!"

"Master Mahad," Mana cried happily.

Ratar-O wasn't worried. He figured a little magnet force could take care of these intruders. The magnetic force pulled the Sword of Omens away from Lion-O's grip. Jirachi, being a steel-type monster, ended up getting stuck as well. Mahad figured he could use his magic to disable the magnetic force.

Mana figured she knew how to help out. She ordered Kirlia to use Magical Leaf to cut the cables she saw coming out in the control panel. Vultureman tried to stop Kirlia, only to end up taking a few cuts from the leaves. The cables still ended up getting cut, but now the controls were going haywire. The Ratstar was going out of control. Outside, Lion-O and Mahad felt their grips loosening and the magnetic power was also weakening. They had to keep holding on or they would fall. Lion-O lost his grip first. Mahad caught his wrist, only to end up slipping as well.

Ratar-O saw this and cackled. "You served your friend and teacher well, little girl," he sneered at Mana.

The young mage looked at the screen in shock. "Lion-O, Master Mahad," she whimpered. "Oh, what have I done?"

As the Thunderians were being taken to Fire Rock Mountain, they weren't going to wait around any longer. Once again, they tried to rescue themselves by fighting the guards and using their laser guns to destroy their shackles. They hurried to the flight deck and fought the pilots. "Tell them to turn the ship around, Shiner," Lynx-O ordered. Though he was blind after his escape from Thundera, he was not entirely helpless. In fact, Lynx-O's other senses were even more keen since he became blind.

Shiner pretended he would cooperate, but he was still on course for Fire Rock Mountain. He opened the windows and the fumes of Thundranium entered the ship, causing Bengali, Pumyra, and Lynx-O to feel sick. They lost consciousness and Shiner and his crew brought them to the base of Fire Rock Mountain, where they would wait for the mutants for further instructions.

Back at Cats' Lair, Panthro and Seto told the rest of their friends what happened. "It's my fault," Panthro scolded himself. "I shouldn't have let Lion-O and Mahad try to tackle Ratar-O alone."

"I am also to blame," Seto said. "I failed to help my friends when they needed me. Now Snarf and Mana are both prisoners in the Ratstar. And now, Lion-O and Mahad,"

"We don't know that for sure, Seto," said Kisara. "They could still be on their way trying to rescue the Thunderians."

Freya agreed. "You know how impetuous Lion-O is."

"Impetuous, yes," said Panthro. "Stupid, no. He'd never tackle a whole mob without us."

Joseph agreed. "Lion-O understands the value of teamwork and friendship."

"But where could we find Lion-O and Mahad?" Cheetara asked. "Even with all of us, we could never cover all of Third Earth to save all of our friends."

"We can try," said Joseph. "We won't accomplish anything if we just sit around Cats' Lair."

Wilykat and Wilykit wanted to help, but Tygra told them to stay put. "I know how much Mana means to the both of you, but someone has to stay here and man the Lair." The ThunderKittens wanted to protest, but they agreed that this was all part of working together as a team and helping their friends.

Thankfully, Mahad and Lion-O weren't hurt. Jirachi used his psychic powers to safely bring them down to Hook Mountain. Their friends, the Snowman and Snowmeow, started coming towards them. "My good friend, Lord Lion-O," the Snowman happily greeted. "And Master Mahad, one of the sons of Millennia. And Jirachi, the faithful companion to Queen Mystery."

"Hello, Snowman," Jirachi said. "Hello, Snowmeow."

"We apologize for dropping in unexpectedly," said Mahad.

"We do not mind your dropping in," said the Snowman. "It is always a pleasure to see our friends and allies." Snowmeow greeted Jirachi with a friendly head bump, causing the little monster to laugh.

Suddenly, they all looked up and saw Slithe on his SkyCutter. "It's Lion-O," he informed Jackalman and Monkian. "And Mahad is with him. So is that little monster Jirachi. We should attack them now."

"Now, Slithe?" Jackalman asked, driving the NoseDiver. "But Captain Shiner is waiting for us with Mumm-Ra's prisoners."

"Let him wait," Slithe snapped. "He'll thank us for this. Would he want us to pass up a chance to wipe out Lion-O and one of the Children of Millennia?" Without waiting for a response, he charged in to attack.

"A SkyCutter and a NoseDiver," Mahad gasped.

"It's Jackalman and Slithe," Jirachi gasped.

The Snowman mounted on Snowmeow with his ice spear in his hand. The snow cat charged towards the NoseDiver and the Snowman jabbed it with his spear and Jackalman was thrown off. Slithe was trying to hit Lion-O with his lasers, but Mahad absorbed the attacks with his scepter and redirected the blasts back at the reptilian mutant.

Lion-O used the grappling line of his Claw Shield and swung under the ice bridge and cut the icicles off with the Sword of Omens, causing them to rain down on Slithe. The reptile moved away to avoid getting skewered. Some icicles still ended up getting caught in the SkyCutter's wings.

It wasn't over yet. Monkian started coming in while operating a new mutant vehicle: the Fistpounder. It wasn't called the Fistpounder for nothing. It was smashing the ground hard.

"Is Monkian mad?" Mahad asked. "He'll cause an avalanche!"

"I'm afraid it's already come to that, Mahad," said Lion-O. He was right. A pile of snow started coming down from the top of Hook Mountain.

"Lion-O, Mahad," Kisara's voice shouted. They looked up and saw the cousins riding on top of Kirara.

Freya tossed one end of her sling down towards them. "The sling," she shouted. "Grab the sling!" Lion-O wasted no time and grabbed it, allowing Freya to pull him up. Mahad used his own magic to lift himself up before the avalanche would bury him and Jirachi flew away as well.

"How did you girls find us?" Lion-O asked.

"I used my light to find you," Kisara answered. "My light always guides me to my friends and family."

The lion smiled and said, "Well, I owe you one." It was time to let the others know where he was. "Thunder, thunder, thunder. ThunderCats, ho!" The signal appeared in the sky and the great roar was heard. Seto, Tygra, and Cheetara saw the signal and pinpointed its location on Hook Mountain. Riding in the Hovercat and Thunderclaw, they hurried full throttle.

The mutants weren't finished, however. After pulling themselves out from the avalanche, they began attacking again. "We'll take care of Slithe," Kisara said to Lion-O. She raised her dragon staff and unleashed lightning attacks towards the reptilian mutant. Freya helped by tossing a fireball with her sling.

"I will deal with Jackalman," said Mahad. He raised his scepter and attacked with blasts of magic.

The avalanche made the ground even more slippery for Lion-O to walk on. At the moment, the cousins were riding on Kirara. The lion decided he was going to need a vehicle. "Help me out, Jirachi," he said. "We'll coax Slithe over to us and at the right moment, we'll take the SkyCutter."

"Let's do it," he cheered. He flew over to Slithe and once he got close enough, he began using Psychic to force the reptilian mutant off the SkyCutter. Jirachi then used his powers to bring the vehicle to Lion-O. "Sorry, Slithe, but we need your machine."

"You and that little monster of yours haven't won yet, Lion-O," said Slithe. He hated being made a fool out of.

Finally, Tygra and Cheetara arrived. The tiger was the first to spot Mahad fighting with Jackalman. "It looks like Mahad is doing fine, but where's Lion-O?"

"I see him," said Seto. "He's on a SkyCutter and he's got Jirachi. How in the name of the Great Goddess-?"

"Never mind that," Tygra interrupted. He looked out the window and saw Lion-O on the SkyCutter and Jirachi waving at them. Seto waved back and Tygra gave them a thumb's up.

They all landed and regrouped. "Lion-O, girls, Mahad, I'm so relieved that you're all safe," said Cheetara.

Freya nodded. "What happens now? We still need to locate your fellow countrymen."

"Maybe I can use the power of my light to locate them," said Kisara. She closes her eyes and begins concentrating. "I see them," she whispers. "A white tiger, a puma woman, and a blind old lynx. They're on Fire Rock Mountain."

"I have a feeling Mumm-Ra is behind this," said Lion-O. "I'll take Jirachi with me and confront him face-to-face in the Black Pyramid. At the very least, I may find out what he plans to do with our fellow Thunderians. The rest of you get a head start to Fire Rock Mountain." He gets back on the SkyCutter and takes off.

The rest of their friends and allies get ready to leave, but the fight was still on. Monkian was still on the Fistpounder, ready for another round.

Riding in the ThunderTank, Panthro and Joseph finally made it to Hook Mountain. "Mother Goddess," Joseph gasped, looking at the Fistpounder.

"This thing could be trouble," said Panthro.

As if things weren't bad enough already, the Ratstar was just above Hook Mountain. After subduing their prisoners, Vultureman and Ratar-O decided to get into the action.

Joseph was firing his arrows, hoping to disable the Fistpounder with an electric attack. From the Ratstar, Vultureman readied the Varicannon and shot down at both vehicles. "The Ratstar," said Joseph.

"We're going to have to get into a better position if we're going to fool with that thing's firepower," Panthro said, moving the ThunderTank.

"Maybe I can give him a little shock." Joseph aimed another one of his arrows and released. Unfortunately, the laser fired from the Varicannon destroyed it. "Blast it," the blonde grunted.