The Day of the Eclipse

In the Black Pyramid, Mumm-Ra was preparing for a special event. A total eclipse was about to take place on Third Earth. The moon would cover the sun for a brief period of time and during that time, he would be permitted to cast a terrible spell that would last until the time of the next eclipse. This time, the spell he would cast would be a curse on Cats' Lair, causing the heroes' home on Third Earth to slowly be destroyed. Thus would today be called the Day of Decay.

"Ancient spirits of evil, grant me your special powers on this special day of the eclipse," he prayed. "Turn your magical might against Cats' Lair." Fire burned from the great cauldron in the central chamber. "Cause stone to crumble and steel to corrode, systems to fail and friends to quarrel. Make today the ThunderCats' last day on Third Earth. Make today the Day of Decay!"

At Cats' Lair, the heroes were doing the regular routine maintenance work, checking and replacing the power circuits and making sure everything was in working order. Once they were finished, they would be able to watch the total eclipse.

Joseph was looking at the telescreen now. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen the moon shine so brightly in the middle of the day."

"That's nothing, Joseph," said Panthro. "Wait until you see the moon cover the sun. It'll be like a permanent twilight. Kind of spooky," he said in a faux eerie voice, scaring the blonde for fun.

The rest of the heroes were watching from outside. "It's beautiful," said Cheetara.

Kisara and Freya agreed. They had protective shades over their eyes so their vision wouldn't get irritated as they would watch the moon cover the sun. Suddenly, lightning crashed just above Cats' Lair. "What in the name of the Great Goddess?" Kisara asked.

"It must be a weather disturbance due to the eclipse," Tygra figured.

"Is something like that possible?" Mana asked Mahad.

"I don't know," her teacher answered.

Inside the Lair, strange things were happening as the equipment started coming apart. Panthro and Joseph checked and were surprise to see all the rust and corrosion. Suddenly, they received an alert that the Berbil village was being attacked. Panthro, Lion-O, and Joseph got into the ThunderTank. The rest of the heroes decided to stay behind at the Lair.

They weren't even halfway at the village when the ThunderTank started acting up. The engines were giving out. As if that wasn't bad enough, Jackalman and Monkian were coming in on their SkyCutters.

Joseph armed himself with his bow and shot his arrows. "I don't know what's going on here, but now's not the time to ask questions. You guys try to find cover while I try to keep them at bay." And he fired his arrows once more.

They came to a tunnel and kept going. The mutants made it to the other side first and were ready. "Big mistake, mutants," said Joseph. He fired another arrow and Monkian and Jackalman both got zapped. They went back to their SkyCutters, but the electricity surrounding them ended up damaging their controls. "That ought to ground you for a while."

"Thanks, Joseph," said Lion-O. "You can slow it down now, Panthro."

He was trying to, but the controls weren't responding. The Thunderank was speeding out of control, racing through the Berbil village and heading for a ravine. Luck happened to be on their side as they made it across and the ThunderTank finally stopped.

They got out of the ThunderTank feeling a little disoriented. "Are you guys all right?" Joseph asked Panthro and Lion-O.

"Yeah," the lion groaned. "But why did we go out of control?"

Panthro was checking it out right now. "Everything is corroded and rusted," he gasped. "There's something strange going on around here with all these equipment failures."

"I think Mumm-Ra is behind this," Joseph said.

"I think you're right, Joseph," said Lion-O. "But before we can deal with him, we'll need parts to repair the ThunderTank."

"I'll call Tygra and Mahad and ask them if they can bring us parts from the Feliner," the blonde said. He hurried to the Berbil village and asked to use their emergency hotline to contact the Lair. "Joseph calling Cats' Lair," he said. "Come in, Cats' Lair. Tygra, Mahad, anyone?" But he wasn't receiving a response. "Oh, it's no use. The line is dead."

Unfortunately, their friends back at the Lair were going through the same problems. All of the systems were failing. It was about to get worse at the Lunataks were attacking. "All of our external defenses are down," Tygra alerted his friends. "We've got to lead those Lunataks away from the Lair."

"Let's head for the woods," said Kisara. She and Freya and Mahad get on Kirara and Mana gets on Latias while Cheetara and Tygra run ahead.

"Let's split up," said Cheetara. "We'll shake them off and then meet back at the Lair to find out what's happening." They all agreed and went in different directions. As Tygra ran off, he used his bolo whip to make himself invisible. Unfortunately, Red-Eye could still see Tygra with his supervision. He tossed his disc, but Mahad destroyed it with his magic, blinding Red-Eye. Mana then trapped Red-Eye in a magic ring so he wouldn't be able to follow her and her friends.

Cheetara and the cousins came to a pit of sinking sand with TugMug in pursuit. They made it across the pit with ease while TugMug ended up getting stuck in a small pool of mud as he tried to bounce after them. The heroes knew the Lunataks wouldn't be stuck for long. Their only chance now was to get back to the lair.

Everything was still failing. All of the communication channels were out and no images could be projected on the telescreen. Apparently, the Lunataks came back quicker than any of the heroes had hoped and they continued to attack the Lair from the outside.

TugMug and Red-Eye broke in, but there was one fatal flaw. Because Cats' Lair was falling apart, they ended up falling as the floors beneath them gave away under their weight.

Lion-O had enough of this. After being warned of what was happening through the Eye of Thundera, he knew now for sure that he had to confront Mumm-Ra. He came to the Black Pyramid, ready for a confrontation. He got to the central chamber, but there was no sign of Mumm-Ra. The Sword of Omens directed Lion-O to one of the walls. The images depicted the events of the eclipse.

It was a good thing Lion-O frequently visited the Egyptian kingdom and that his royal friends taught him how to read hieroglyphs. "An evil spell cast during one eclipse will remain in effect until the next eclipse," he read.

Suddenly, Mumm-Ra's voice was heard, "And this eclipse, my Day of Decay, is ending," he said. "You'll have to wait another century for this spell to wear off, ThunderCat."

"We'll see about that, Mumm-Ra," Lion-O said defiantly. He exited the Black Pyramid. The eclipse was ending, but the lion had an idea. It was a long shot, but it seemed to be his only chance. He raised the Sword of Omens in the air, sending out the signal and directing it to be in front of the sun. The lion was making his own eclipse, reversing Mumm-Ra's spell.

Mumm-Ra wasn't going to give him the chance. He attacked with his magic, but Lion-O was prepared. He held up his mirror shield and redirected the attack back at the mummy. With that setback taken care of, Lion-O could redirect the signal in front of the sun. Sure enough, it was working. The effects of the spell were being reversed and Cats' Lair was returning to the way it was before the eclipse. Even the ThunderTank was as good as new.

It still never hurts to do a routine maintenance check. The heroes checked and saw that there was no structural damage in the foundation. The communication channels were open as well. If anything, everything was working better than before. Perhaps Lion-O's eclipse was the cause of it. Whatever the reason, this was another victory for the heroes.