A New Beginning? -- Chapters 4, 5, and 6
Chapter 4 Outside the ruins of Cat’s Lair on Third Earth, three alien ships landed. A ramp came down from the almond shaped vehicle and an incredibly bright white light came out from the opening. The light reflected off the gleaming silver of the ship and it hid the occupants’ descent until they were completely out of the ship. Once out in the Third Earth sunshine the creatures looked at the damaged they had caused. Extending their fingers, they could feel their surroundings. They didn’t need to touch to feel but rather to gather the information from the air and other surroundings. The long slender green fingers were covered in tiny hairs, as was they rest of their bodies, although if you were to look at them it would appear their skin shone under the sun as if they wore scales. Most of the aliens stood between five foot ten and six foot three on account of their long slender legs, meant for holding up their long slender bodies. Instead of talking aloud through the mouths that were only there expressly for eating, they spoke through their minds. See if there are any survivors. The leader, Qual, said to three of his men. The structure seems very unstable, sir. Came the reply from his second in command, Zen. Then we must be quick about it. Qual told him. Zen nodded and sent the three out to search for survivors. Inside the ruins, Tygra finally found a way around to Pumyra. She was lying there in a lot of pain and the tiger thought how to get her out. “I told you to go.” The puma said. “I can’t do that. I’ll get this thing off you and we’ll get out of here together.” Tygra told her. “It’s not worth it. If both of us die…” Pumyra stopped. “Don’t talk like that. We’ll get out of here.” The orange tiger said. Pumyra was about to say something else when she stopped. She had a strange look on her face and Tygra was getting nervous but then he realized that she was listening. He carefully listened as well. “There is something coming. Get out of here while you still can.” The puma whispered. Tygra was about to argue but instead he listened. If he didn’t get out and find the others they wouldn’t be able to save her. He nodded and quickly slipped through the opening, which he had come to find a way out. There is heat being generated over there. One of the aliens named Bol said. Could be a fire. A second alien named Cae told him. No, it’s a creature. Come on, Qual will want to see this. The third, Sen, said and pressed his way through the rubble. Being so thin the creatures could slip through areas smaller than a ThunderCat could and they reached Pumyra without much difficulty. “Who are you? What are you?” The puma asked the strange creatures advancing toward her. The beings didn’t communicate to her and she wondered what they were going to do. Tygra slipped out of the rubble and slunk into the trees. He was grateful for his bolo whip and being invisible because it seemed as though the strange creatures had not noticed him. The tiger’s and their attention was diverted due to the sight of the Feliner coming in. “Should I fire on them?” Panthro asked Lion-O. The Lord of the ThunderCats was about to answer that when Cheetara let go of the controls and put her hands over her ears. She screamed out in pain as the other ThunderCats could only watch in confusion. “Land the Feliner!” Lion-O ordered. The panther did as fast as he could while the Lord of the ThunderCats tried to move Cheetara from her seat. Panthro successfully landed the Feliner and was about to help Lion-O with the cheetah when she realized her grip on her ears and stopped screaming. “What’s going on down there?” Ben-Gali radioed as he freed himself and Lynx-O from their seats. “I have no idea.” Panthro radioed back. “I heard these strange voices in my head and they seemed to be shouting. They were talking about a strange cat-like creature which sounds like they captured either Pumyra or Tygra.” Cheetara immediately explained. “Let’s go.” Lion-O said as the group quickly disembarked from the Feliner. Chapter 5 Back on New Thundera, Mumm-Ra entered Cat’s Lair and charged toward the control room. He would trap the ThunderKittens there and easily subdue them. However a surprise awaited him when the sliding doors flew open. The control room appeared to be empty. In fact the only signs of anything happening was the crackling of the wiring from the broken control panels on the ThunderCats’ equipment. The mummy was confused. “Maybe this is going to be easier than I thought.” Mumm-Ra said to himself. “Guess again bone bag!” WilyKat appeared from behind one of the broken panels with a blaster pointed in the mummy’s direction. “You and what army?” Mumm-Ra laughed and let forth an energy blast from his hands. Kat quickly fired the blaster and singed the ever-living source of evil’s bandages. Mumm-Ra snarled and fired back. Kat again dodged the shot and made his way toward the doors of the control room. “You’ll pay for that!” The mummy roared. “No, I’m pretty sure you will.” WilyKat smirked and the doors behind him opened. They revealed his sister, WilyKit, and at least fifty recruits. “CHARGE!” Kit cried and the melee began. Mumm-Ra repelled flares from blasters, blows from staffs, and pellets from the ThunderKittens. The mummy was becoming exhausted and he knew that he couldn’t hold out too much longer. Despite not having the other pesky ThunderCats there the Kittens had friends. “FALL BACK!” Both Kittens shouted out and the recruits stopped fighting and quickly cleared a path. Mumm-Ra didn’t wait to find out what was going on and took the opportunity to fire extra energy blasts at the Thunderians. That’s when the doors opened and a large ray gun was pushed through. “FIRE!” Kit ordered. Snarfer pressed the buttons on the controls for the ray gun and the blue shot hit Mumm-Ra squarely on the chest. “AGAIN!” Kat told the younger snarf. Another blast shot forth from the weapon but Mumm-Ra quickly brought his own firepower from his hands and combated the blue with his red blast. For a minute it seemed as though Snarfer was winning but soon it became obvious that the mummy was the mightier. The red energy blast soon pushed the blue back from whence it came and the ray gun jammed. “HIT THE DECK, SNARFER, SNARFER!” Quickly everyone around got out of the way as the machine imploded. Mumm-Ra cackled. “It’s my turn!” ******************************** On Third Earth, Tygra slowly emerged from his hiding spot as he saw the creatures bringing Pumyra out of the remnants of Cat’s Lair and decided that now it was time to make an appearance. The other ThunderCats saw what was happening and immediately charged toward the aliens. Lion-O pulled the Sword of Omens from the Claw Shield and held it above his head. “Thunder…Thunder…Thunder…THUNDERCATS HOOOOO!” The Cat Signal roared into the sky and all the ThunderCats felt power surge through their bodies. They expected the aliens to try to attack but instead they didn’t. They seemed more fascinated with the display before them. Lion-O was confused and wondered what to do when suddenly Cheetara screamed out, “STOP!” Chapter 6 The Sword of Omens growled and the Cat Signal disappeared from the sky. Lion-O quickly brought the Sword up to his face and commanded it to let him see what the trouble was. The picture he got was one he did not wish to see. Cursing under his breath, the lion returned to the trouble at hand. Cheetara held her hands over her ears and tried to comprehend the voices that spoke to her from inside her head. Lion-O looked at her nervously and the others wondered what was going on. “We have to get Pumyra!” Ben-Gali’s impatience grew. “Steady, Ben-Gali.” Panthro said. “Go toward the one who raises his hands. He wishes to speak to us.” Cheetara suddenly said flatly. Panthro gave Lion-O a questioning look. “It could be a trap.” The panther said. “Then we must be on our guard.” Lion-O told him quietly. Carefully the five ThunderCats walked toward a very tall alien that held his hands skyward. “It appears that you cannot hear us and we apologize for using the female to convey our message.” Cheetara said. “We want our friend back.” Lion-O told the alien as he pointed to Pumyra. The alien nodded and had his men bring the puma to them. Immediately, Ben-Gali sank to the ground to see how Pumyra was doing. From his standpoint, Tygra noticed that they were talking and he went as fast as he could to rejoin the group. “My name is Qual. We are the Lockti. We mean you no harm.” Again the cheetah spoke for the strange creatures. “No harm? You destroyed our fortress and almost killed two of our friends.” Lion-O challenged the leader of the Lockti. The ThunderCats watched in amazement as Qual extended his arms. He seemed to be feeling his surroundings. “We were fired upon from your fortress and we simply fired back.” The cheetah told them. “You fired on them?” Lion-O asked Tygra. “They were firing on the Lair when I got here.” The orange tiger said. “There was a malfunction and the Cat’s Eyes went off. I was in the process of checking it out when we were fired upon.” Pumyra interrupted from her position. Ben-Gali tried to keep her from speaking. Tygra carefully got down next to them to see how badly she was injured. “It is my turn to apologize. There was a malfunction. We didn’t mean to fire on you.” Lion-O explained. Qual nodded and replied, “You’re sorry and I’m sorry. We must help you rebuild and tend to your wounded. I wish to shake your hand but I do not know your name.” “I am Lion-O, Lord of the ThunderCats. We greatly appreciate your offer.” The lion said as he extended his paw. Qual took it and they shook. Then the Lockti leader turned to his men and told them something. Afterwards he turned back to the ThunderCats. “I have my men starting to repair your fortress and a few will come and bring the equipment necessary to heal your friends. In the meantime, I wish to speak to you and explain why we are here.” “Excellent, thank you Qual.” Lion-O smiled and watched as three of the Lockti carrying equipment reached the two wounded ThunderCats. “Help Tygra first, he’s bleeding.” Pumyra said. The Lockti gave her a look and she pointed to the orange tiger. They nodded and moved to him first. “No, she’s in more pain.” Tygra tried to get them to understand. “I can’t feel anything below my waist.” Pumyra said. The orange tiger had no response as the Lockti scanned him over with their contraption. Ben-Gali looked at her with his eyes wide. The others also looked at her, not knowing what to say. “She will be fine. Our technology can heal her.” Qual reassured them. The ThunderCats watched as two of the Lockti placed a device around Tygra’s wounded side. The machine whirred and hummed until something clunked inside it. Then the Lockti removed the machine and everyone looked at the tiger. The wound in Tygra’s side was completely gone. One of the Lockti opened up the device and pulled out what clunked. It was a piece of metal. “Our Extractor has the capability to pull out what is inside a wound and then seal the wound back up. The minor lacerations on his face will be taken care of in much the same way.” Qual explained. “Amazing.” Lion-O said. “How do you feel Tygra?” Panthro asked. “Incredibly better.” The tiger smiled. “Keep me informed. Qual, I’m sorry but we need to return to New Thundera. I’m afraid more of our friends are in trouble. Panthro, Lynx-O, we must return. The ThunderKittens need our help.” Lion-O said. “We will help you with this trouble. I feel we owe you.” Qual told him. “You’ve helped us a lot already. Thank you.” The lion said. “Our ships are faster, please let us help you.” Qual begged him. He then turned to his men and spoke to them. “Twenty of my men can be spared and they are willing to help you in your quest to save those that you call the ThunderKittens. Bol, Cae, and Sen take the third ship. Go now before it is too late to help.” The Lockti leader said. The men nodded and quickly rounded up the remaining number they needed. “Thank you Qual.” Lion-O again shook his hand. “You’re welcome. Take your female with you so you may be able to communicate with my men.” The Lockti leader said. Cheetara seemed to come out of her trance and was quickly brought up to date as they boarded the strange ship. To Be Continued...