"WilyKit!

Despite the limits of their current situation, Lion-o dove head first into the hole left by the creature, with Panthro and Bengali right on his tail. He knew, on some level, how foolish this was. What would happen if the tunnel collapsed? They had no means to directly interact with this world except under severe stress and emotion. Logically, he may well have been jumping into his own death.

Little of this matters when the heart takes command over the body. The twins were family. They might as well have been his own children—an emotion he shared with the others in some form or another.

As Panthro made his way to Lion-o's side, the creature screeched.

In frustration.

"By Jaga, you show it, Kit!"

The female kitten had lodged herself to the corner of the beast's mouth, avoiding the sharpest of the teeth while staying out of range of the tongue. She jabbed her elbow into the nearest tooth and thrust with all her strength.

The tooth broke loose, she snagged it from the air and leapt down to the ground.

Feet shifted to a guard position and she leveled the tooth in her hand, ignoring how they cut into her flesh. Tiny streams of blood began to drip but she held firm.

"Yeah, I'm not an easy snack, am I?" The ferocity of a cat three times her size rumbled in her tone. "So, you're gonna hafts fight for this one!"

The serpent beast curled, shook its head and struck.

To the left, then the right, Kit dodged. Lion-o couldn't have kept up if he were right by her side. Agility was the kittens' forte, especially hers but sometimes, it was easy to forget why or how extensive it was.

Waste of energy to dodge mutants at this speed when half would do, after all.

But a snake—-and was not this dragon creature a form of snake—-was fast. So fast even Kit's speed failed now and again. Enough to leave slivers of bloodon her legs and arms as she barely avoided a snap if jaws.

The prospect of the creature having poison did occur to both Lion-o and Panthro. After all, everything here seemed to carry an evil essence. Plus, for all its sharp teeth, there were four distinct sharper ones—two on top and rep on bottom.

At least, so far, Kit had managed to avoid those.

"What can we do, Panthro?"

The older warrior growled. "Thanks, to this blasted spell—" he fired one of his nunchucks and as expected, the creature dudny even flinch, "I don't know if there's anything we can do!"

"No! I refuse to believe we are this helpless!" Jumping to stand in between the kitten and the beast, Lion-o leveled his sword.

"Thunder….thunder….thunder. Thundercats…ho!"

The roar thundered and despite the fact it was cut off from the regular plane, the call of the sword was strong.

WikyKit's eyes glowed, her insignia burned red and courage kindled in her heart.

She darted out of range of her opponent, then, fueled by the Eye of Thundera, charged.

OOO

"Kit!"

WilyKat had full intentions of jumping down after his sister and figuring out what he was going to do once he got down there but something stopped him.

There were only two of them. There would be no one coming to their aid. But more than that, there was no one after them.

If they failed, the Thundercats, and by extension the freedom of Third Earth, was done. There would be no second chances. No last minute rescues.

He couldn't afford to be impetuous.

Plus, he had his own problems.

The giant black cat that had so narrowly missed him (and he still wasn't sure why he had suddenly ducked) was now perched on all four paws and staring him down.

Monsterous thing, far more gruesome than even his best nightmares could conjure up. Its paws were easily the size of his head with claws that curved like scythes and were a good seven inches in length. He could have sworn the edges were serrated butjt ca was too dark to tell.

He didn't truly want to know.

But those eyes…a type of yellow he'd never encountered before--grimy, pale, with a sickly aura to it. Those vertical pupils shone red in the dark and he heard its low growling more clearly.

But then...the head was half skull--literally. Pieces of fur and flesh clung in thick strings of muscle. Its teeth, huge fangs, had been broken but that only left behind shattered pieces more apt at tearing.

How was he supposed to fight this thing?

Shifting his feet, WilyKat moved as quietly ad he dared, his boots seeping into the muddy blood of the jungle floor. Always hr kept his eyes on the cat, watching for any sign…

The sounds of snapping and cursing below frayed his nerves more. He needed to help his sister!

Wait…maybe he could….

He turned his head, ever so slightly, to catch a glimpse of where she was.

With a snarl, the cat leapt.

Kat ducked but being less sure-footed than his sister, he barely missed the snapping jaws as he tumbled to his side.

Warmth dripped down his cheek. Blood. He'd been nicked, if not worse.

Another growl, a jump.

This one he avoided but when the shrill screams around the trees turned louder, becoming a throbbing echo, his next dodge fell short.

A crunch and pain erupted in the form of white hot light behind his eyes. His left shoulder sank, a tearing pressure tossing him about. Each toss twisted more, crunched, ached, burned…

Reaching into his pouch, he tossed the first pellet he touched and a burst of bright light made him see circles a moment.

But the cat released him.

Not waiting, and not trusting himself to be able to act if he had a moment to focus on the pain, WilyKat all but dove down the hole his sister had vanished into.

The cat, having recovered its senses, pursued.

"Kit!" the male kitten called, "Duck!"

She did just that as he rolled to a painful stop in front of her (rather ungracefully onto his belly) and his adversary sailed just over them.

Straight into the snake creature's mouth.

But that was not the end. Claws and teeth and scales and fur and….

The two were intent on destroying each other.

Perfect.

"Let's get out of here!" Kit threw her lariat upward, and her brother followed suit. The snarling below them was their reassurance.

Without stopping to gather breath, Kat tossed an explosive pellet right at the edge of the pit. With its shaky integrity compromised, the ground caved inward.

But that meant the numerous tunnels running beneath their feet began to fail as well.

"Run!"

The twins ran, injuries and pain forgotten at least for the moment, until they thought their lungs might explode. Until their wounds began to bleed like rivers. Until then solesof their shoes tore away.

But the jungle vanished behind them and finally, they collapsed into precious daylight.