The Tower of Omens
In the Black Pyramid, Mumm-Ra was still recovering. Ma-Mutt returned to him. There was no need to say anything. While recovering, Mumm-Ra was still able to observe the events. He learned of the Lunataks' release and that Sky-Tomb was operational. Still, he needed to be cautious. Knowing his enemies, it was more than likely that the Children of Millennia and the ThuncerCats would be working together to try to find a way to stand against this new threat. He decided to give Ma-Mutt a new disguise to lay low.
"Ancient spirits of evil, transform this decaying dog into Ma-Mutt, the Berbil!" And Ma-Mutt was given the disguise of an innocent mechanical bear. "Now, my beauty, the ThunderCats and their allies will never suspect you. Find out how they plan to resist the Lunataks of Plun-Darr while I rest and regain my terrible powers." And Mumm-Ra returns to his sarcophagus while Ma-Mutt leaves the Black Pyramid.
Inside Sky-Tomb, the mutants were lashing whips at the prisoners, commanding them to load the furnaces with Thundrillium so the base could be operational.
Red-Eye observed and figured, "Perhaps we misjudged those mutants. They seem to make excellent servants."
Luna disagreed. "You can never trust a mutant."
Chilla didn't think it was something to be concerned about. "No mutant has ever been a match for a Lunatak, Luna."
"Mutants may be stupid," Luna was saying, "but they are also capable of great treachery. So once Sky-Tomb becomes fully operational, we will dump those mutants and those miserable slaves." Soon all of the Lunataks began feeling inferior. Luna was always pushy and commanding. Of course, she did make herself the leader of this group. The others were about to surround her, but Amok pushed them all back.
"You say the mutants are stupid, but you're no better," Luna snapped. "It was fighting among ourselves that enabled that bag of bones Mumm-Ra to defeat us the first time we came to this miserable planet. This time, we'll fight united under my leadership. And when we've wiped out the ThunderCats and those Children of Millennia, we'll teach Mumm-Ra a lesson in revenge." The Lunataks agreed and cheered.
The heroes assembled at the Berbil village, telling the Berbils about their plan to build a base at the canyon leading to the entrance to the Forest of Mists. It would be called the Tower of Omens. Tygra designed it to be shaped like the Sword of Omens, hence how it got its name. The Berbils argued that it was impossible to get through the Forest of Mists. Yes, it was impossible now, but Panthro, Seto, and Mahad had been working on installing fog lamps on their vehicles.
"The Tower of Omens must be built at that location," said Mahad. "It's the ideal spot to monitor the Lunataks' activities."
"It'll give us the earliest possible warning of a Lunatak attack," said Tygra.
"As I recall, you Berbils helped the ThunderCats to build Cats' Lair," Seto was saying. "Can you help us to build the Tower of Omens?"
"Yes, Master Seto," Ro-Bear-Bill answered. "We can do it. We will do it. Helping the ThunderCats and the Children of Millennia means helping everyone on Third Earth."
Little did any of them realize that among the Berbils was Ma-Mutt. While everyone was cheering, Ma-Mutt left the crowd and returned to the Black Pyramid to report to Mumm-Ra.
"The Tower of Omens," Mumm-Ra growled. "We must destroy it before they build it. We cannot allow the ThunderCats to deface Third Earth with another one of their monstrous forts. Although I am a bit surprised they wouldn't build a base for their friends, the Children of Millennia. Then again, those royal Egyptians are not of this world, yet they are able to come and go as much as they please. And still, I do not know how that is possible. But I can't fret about that now. And there's nothing I can do anyway. I am still so weak. Ma-Mutt, you must find Sky-Tomb. You must warn the Lunataks and tell them to destroy the Tower of Omens."
At Cats' Lair, Snarf was calling his nephew Snarfer. He was going to be helping run the Tower of Omens once construction was complete. Snarf loved Snarfer and knew he was smart, but his nephew did still have a carefree nature and tended to be a goofball once too often. The little Snarf was coming, though.
Naturally, construction takes weeks, even months, but with the help of the Berbils, it had really only taken a few days to build the Tower of Omens. Finally, construction was complete. From the top floor of the Tower, the heroes began checking the equipment. "From this vantage point, Lynx-O will be able to see any attempt to invade Third Earth by way of the canyon or the Forest of Mists," Panthro was saying.
"How can he see, Master Mahad?" Mana asked. "Lynx-O's blind."
"Mana, don't be rude," he snapped.
"Oh, that's all right, Mahad," the old lynx insisted. "Most people assume that anyone without sight is practically useless."
"I didn't mean it that way, Lynx-O," said Mana. "Honest, I didn't."
He chuckled and said, "I know, Mana. I may not see like you and the others do, but I have learned to develop my other senses so that I know as much as you do about what is happening around me. And now that Panthro, Tygra, Mahad, and Seto have worked together to build my latest braille board, I probably know more about what happens around here than you do."
"Lynx-O, you're amazing," said Jirachi.
The lynx chuckled and patted his head. "That's nice of you to say, Jirachi." Jirachi was even more amazed that Lynx-O managed to touch him without missing him or accidentally hitting him.
"You see, Mana and Jirachi, this board is connected to the Cat's Eye, which scans the surrounding countryside, picking up signals, amplifying them, and transmitting them to Lynx-O's braille board," Panthro explained. "Only Lynx-O's super developed senses can interpret those signals to tell us what's happening."
"And we can switch the signals to the Screen of Omens so that we can see what Lynx-O knows," Pumyra adds, and she changes the screens to get a layout of the countryside.
"That's amazing," said Joseph. Then he remembered. "Hey, Snarf, what about your nephew Snarfer? Shouldn't he be here by now?"
This got Jirachi excited. "Snarfer's coming?"
"Yes, he's on his way," Snarf said, then quietly, he whispered to himself, "I hope."
Ma-Mutt finally made it to Sky-Tomb and used his powers to disguise himself as Mumm-Ra once more. His appearance caused the alarm to go off. "Your fortress may be impregnable to all, but not to Mumm-Ra, the ever-living," Ma-Mutt said, speaking with Mumm-Ra's voice.
"What have you to tell us, you broken-down bundle of bandages?" TugMug demanded to know.
"Only that the ThunderCats and the Children of Millennia have built an outpost on the approach to Dark Side," Ma-Mutt answered. "They call it the Tower of Omens."
"It must be destroyed," Luna immediately declared. "Battle stations!" And all of the Lunataks went to the controls. "Stoke the furnaces," she commanded the mutants. "Shovel that Thundrillium! Switch to full battle power!" And Sky-Tomb began picking up speed.
At the control center at the Tower of Omens, Lynx-O began picking up readings. Sky-Tomb was approaching. "Prepare the Tower for action, friends."
Sky-Tomb landed in front of the Tower of Omens. A vehicle came out and launched a fireball at the Cat's Eye, causing the systems to go out of control. "Look out, everyone," Bengali warned. "Prepare for another attack!" And they were bombarded once more.
"Bengali, Pumyra, take Mahad and Joseph with you," Lion-O ordered. "Split the Thunderstrike and hit that Lunataker." And they all headed outside. "Snarf, you and Mana take care of damage control while Lynx-O keeps the Eye tracking."
"Yes, Lion-O," Mana said obediently. She would rather be helping Mahad, but her friends needed help here too.
"Come on, Panthro," Lion-O said. "Let's get out there and see what we can do."
Panthro got his nunchucks ready and followed Lion-O. Kisara and Freya decided to come along as well. Even Kirara and Sakuya were ready for a fight.
Bengali and Pumyra tried striking the Lunataker, but their lasers kept bouncing off. The Lunataker tried to bombard them with another fireball, but Mahad used his magic to stop it.
Lion-O and the others made it outside. The battle had already started, but the lion already had the feeling he and his friends were going to need more help. He raised the Sword of Omens in the air. "Thunder, thunder, thunder. ThunderCats, ho!"
Everyone else at Cats' Lair saw the signal coming from the Tower of Omens and headed on their way. Wilykat and Wilykit were riding on the dragon twins and Seto was riding in the ThunderTank with Tygra and Cheetara.
TugMug bounced towards Lion-O and Panthro, but Jirachi stopped him using Psychic. Kisara also raised her dragon staff and unleashed a lightning attack. "You will regret that," TugMug said, lifting himself out of the dirt.
The mutants watched from inside Sky-Tomb. Jackalman was sure that the ThunderCats and the Children of Millennia had it this time, but Slithe didn't think so just yet. Monkina figured that he and his comrades should get out there and help the Lunataks. Vultureman told them to stand by. Watching this battle could help them figure out how to overthrow the Lunataks.
When the ThunderTank arrived, the Lunataker launched another fireball. Seto stopped it using his magic. "Keep going," he ordered Tygra and Cheetara.
Panthro swung his nunchucks around as he stood in front of Alluro, ready to fight. Freya was ready too. She picked a fireball from her pouch and swung it around in her sling. "You and your friend Freya don't stand a chance, Panthro," Alluro taunted. "Give up now, while you still have a chance."
"Put your money where your mouth is and let's get to it," Panthro snapped.
"But you are only one ThunderCat and one daughter of Millennia and I am a Lunatak," Alluro argued. He reached back and raised his club and the blue sphere at the end began glowing above Freya and the panther. "Give in," Alluro ordered. "Put your weapons down."
Freya started feeling strange as she stopped swinging her sling. "Who are you?"
"I am called Alluro," he answered. "Now, Freya, dear, put your sling down. And you, Panthro, put your nunchucks down as well. You don't stand a chance."
"We don't stand a chance," Freya echoed, dropping her sling. Panthro dropped his nunchucks as well.
Sakuya didn't like this, but she got an idea. While Alluro was concentrating his powers on Freya and Panthro, she decided to land a sneak attack. She ran behind Alluro and jumped up and viciously bit him in the rear, causing him to scream in pain. "Get off me, you impertinent monster!" he cried. "Let go, I say!" But Sakuya kept her teeth tightly clenched.
Panthro snapped out of it and laughed at the scene. "Yeah, Sakuya, baby!"
"That's my girl!" Freya cheered.
Joseph tapped on Bengali's shoulder. "Bengali, look at that," he said, pointing down to the scene.
The white tiger laughed. "I'd say Sakuya had the right idea."
Alluro began running around, commanding Sakuya to get off, but the Umbreon kept her grip. Lion-O saw this and couldn't help but laugh. "Right on, Sakuya!"
Finally, Alluro managed to force Sakuya off of him, but the Umbreon still managed to bite off a portion of his garment around his pants.
From the Tower of Omens, Mana asked Lynx-O, "Isn't there something we can do, Lynx-O?"
He had an idea, though it would be a long shot. "Our best chance is to knock out Sky-Tomb. If I could only reverse the flow of energy to the Cat's Eye, so that instead of receiving and amplifying signals, it could transmit them."
"I don't get it at all, but tell me what to do," said Mana.
"Switch the Tower to maximum emergency power," the old lynx instructed. Mana obeyed and pulled the lever. "Now, line up on Sky-Tomb." And he directed the Cat's Eye towards the base. "Now, Mana, when I give you and Snarf the word, throw those four polarity reversers," Lynx-O said, referring to the four levers next to them. "Now!" And Mana and Snarf pulled the first lever, sending a signal towards Sky-Tomb. "Again!" And the two of them pulled another lever, sending out another signal. "Again, my friends," Lynx-O ordered once more, and they pulled the third level, sending another signal to attack Sky-Tomb.
Luna commanded her comrades to retreat to Sky-Tomb. They had to escape before their base would lose its mobility. Mana and Snarf pulled the last lever, giving another attack. Sky-Tomb was still making its way back to Dark Side, but hopefully, the Lunataks wouldn't come back for a while.
The heroes assembled and cheered, "ThunderCats, Children of Millennia, ho!" Sakuya also smiled proudly as she still held the piece of garment in her teeth.
Looking through his cauldron, Mumm-Ra saw that the Lunataks failed to destroy the Tower of Omens. "Once more, I am right that only I, Mumm-Ra, the ever-living have the power to wipe the ThunderCats and the Children of Millennia from the face of Third Earth. But I am still weak, Ma-Mutt. I have only but one choice: to call on the ancient spirits of evil, beg them to restore my powers." This was a serious gamble for Mumm-Ra. There was a chance the spirits would restore his power and even increase it. But there was also a chance Mumm-Ra would end up being destroyed by the spirits.
"Oh, mighty ancestors, progenitors of all evil on Third Earth," Mumm-Ra was praying, "forgive your feeble servant Mumm-Ra's intrusion upon your eternal rest. But if you will not listen, I, Mumm-Ra, the ever-living, will cease to exist. And the Code of Thundera: justice, truth, honor, and loyalty, will spread throughout our domain!"
The eyes of the statues began gleaming and they began moving towards the cauldron. They move their arms out and begin showering Mumm-Ra with their power.
"Ancient spirits of evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra, the ever-living!" He feels his power returning as he transforms into his supreme form. "Mumm-Ra, the ever-living is back on stage!" he said jubilantly. "ThunderCats, Children of Millennia, my debut will be your final curtain!"
He and Ma-Mutt look into the cauldron and see a small spaceship approaching Third Earth. Inside of it was Snarfer. He was still on his way to Third Earth after all. Snarfer's arrival was of little concern to Mumm-Ra, but he decided to keep an eye on the young Snarf, just to be safe.