Old Enemies -- Chapters 16, 17, and 18
Chapter 16 The six ThunderCats and one Warrior Maiden found a similar situation as their friends had only minutes ago. They were able to hide themselves before the rounding hallway would give away their position. “What do we do?” WilyKat asked. “Can you use the Sword?” His sister wondered. “They aren’t ThunderCats. The Sword will have no effect on them.” Lion-O said. Before anyone could suggest anything else, there was a commotion in the hallway. Cheetara poked her head around the corner to see the Thunder Guard moving closer to the control room. With their attention focused elsewhere, the weapons room would now be accessed easily. “Let’s move.” She told the others and they quickly ran to the room. The door slid open and they ducked inside. Willa easily found her bow along with her arrows. “How many of those sleep gas arrows do you have?” Lion-O asked. “Three.” Willa replied. “We’ll need them to put the Thunder Guard to sleep. That way we’ll get into the control room easier and they won’t get hurt.” The Lord of the ThunderCats explained. Willa nodded and slung her quiver over her shoulder. “What have you got there?” Tygra asked Panthro. The panther held three grenade-type objects. “It’s a form of warp gas.” He answered nonchalantly. “Warp gas?!” The orange tiger didn’t like where this was going. “A form of warp gas. This stuff is the legal version.” Panthro assured him. “But I thought that stuff was useless.” Tygra said confused. “Well yes and no. You’ll see what I mean.” The panther smirked and headed for the door. “Let’s go.” Lion-O called to everyone and they headed out into the hallway. No one could predict what would happen but they had to be ready for anything. In the meantime, the light idea had worked and two of the three remaining ThunderCats had made it into the control room. They stood and faced the four Mutants and Mumm-Ra. “Look who’s here.” Slythe smirked. “Who were you expecting?” Ben-Gali said as he pulled his hammer from its holster. “Some bigger kitties, but no matter.” The reptile replied. The two began to fight and Lynx-O was left without a weapon. Pumyra was still out in the hallway. Battle cries could be heard outside and the chance that the puma would be coming in soon didn’t look good. “You take the blind one.” Monkian told Jackalman. “Why do I have to?” The wild dog whined. The control room doors opened and Pumyra tumbled in, interrupted the whining. The distraction was enough for Lynx-O to hit Jackalman square on the chin. In an instant, Pumyra was on her feet and she joined the fray. “Why are they wasting their efforts?” Vultureman asked Mumm-Ra. “You said it yourself earlier. Not much going on upstairs.” The mummy just shrugged. Vultureman grabbed the Amulet from around his neck and started to call to it. “Amulet of Seti take hold of…” he never finished his sentence as the control room doors busted open and Lion-O, Panthro, Cheetara, Tygra, the ThunderKittens, and Willa arrived. “The cavalry’s here.” Ben-Gali smiled. “Took them long enough.” Pumyra joked as she hit Monkian upside the head with her foot. “Ho!!!” Lion-O shouted. The Sword of Omens obeyed its master, sending an energy blast in Vultureman’s direction. Chapter 17 The Mutant saw the blast and didn’t respond fast enough. It caught him squarely in the shoulder and he fell backward. Mumm-Ra watched as the group fought. The Amulet was his ticket. He grabbed the talisman off of Vultureman’s neck. “What are you doing?” The bird squawked. “What you couldn’t.” Mumm-Ra laughed. Another blast from the Sword of Omens barely missed the mummy and he fired one back. That shot hit Lion-O in the stomach. He doubled over and fell to the floor. Immediately, Cheetara and Panthro were at his side. The others continued to battle with Slythe, Monkian, Jackalman, and some Thunder Guard members that were already in the room. “Amulet of Seti…” That was all Mumm-Ra got out before Panthro grabbed him by the throat. “I don’t think so.” The panther smirked. With one swift movement, Mumm-Ra used his free hand to try to blast the mighty ThunderCat. However Panthro saw the move coming and used his other hand to block it. Then the panther head butted the ever-living source of evil. Mumm-Ra cried out slightly and the Amulet fell from his hands. Cheetara saw it drop and dove for it. She caught the talisman and quickly went back to Lion-O who had wobbly come to his feet. “We have to destroy it.” Cheetara said. Lion-O licked his lips and said, “Put it on the floor.” The cheetah did as she was told. The Lord of the ThunderCats flipped the Sword of Omens in his hand and shoved the blade into the Amulet of Seti. Suddenly the room was flooded with a green light and everyone was knocked back. When the light vanished, the pieces of the ancient talisman disintegrated. “Mutants fall back!” Slythe shouted. Quickly the four pulled themselves up headed for the door. Panthro saw his opportunity slipping away. He got up off the floor and flung one of the grenades. A strange smelling purple gas erupted from it and soon the Mutants were tripping over themselves. “Thunder Guard arrest them!” Tygra ordered. With the spell broken the Thunderians grabbed the babbling creatures and hauled them away. Mumm-Ra saw he had lost and snapped his fingers. The mummy was gone before anyone could grab him. “Everyone ok?” Ben-Gali called out now that the enemy had been defeated. “Cuts and scrapes. Lion-O took a shot to the stomach. I’ll get him to the infirmary.” Cheetara replied. “Lynx-O!” The shout got everyone’s attention. Pumyra fell to her knees and quickly felt for a pulse. “I’m getting a weak pulse. We have to get this out of him.” The puma referred to the spear that was lodged in the lynx’s stomach. “Get the Extractor!” Tygra shouted, dropping down to aid Pumyra in stemming the blood flow. Panthro raced off down the hallway toward the sickbay. “Let me go and help them.” Lion-O told Cheetara. She nodded and helped him sit down, and then she went to help the others. “Oh Jaga, Lynx-O stay with me.” Pumyra begged him. The lynx opened his mouth slightly and tried to speak. “Don’t exert yourself, old friend. Panthro will be here soon.” Tygra said. He stood and moved over to Ben-Gali and Cheetara. “We’ll have to pull the spear out. Brother you must help me with that. Cheetara get the Kittens out of here, they don’t need to see this.” The orders given, both cats went about what needed to be done. “Pulling that thing out could kill him.” Ben-Gali whispered. “Leaving it in won’t help either. I’m afraid that he may not survive anything we do. His age coupled with the blood loss…” the orange tiger stopped. Panthro burst into the room holding a stretcher and the Extractor. Quickly the four got to work. The spear was pulled out which caused more blood to flow, but with the lightening fast movements the extractor was put on Lynx-O. The alien technology whirred and clicked for twenty minutes before it stopped. Chapter 18 Pumyra stood over Lynx-O’s bed in the infirmary. The Extractor had given up on the lynx when his heart had given out. She and Tygra were able to revive him but there was no telling if the oldest ThunderCat would come out of his comatose state. The puma slipped her hand into Lynx-O’s and gave it a squeeze. He didn’t respond but that was to be expected; she just kept hoping he would wake up. The sickbay door opened and she turned her head to see Ben-Gali in the doorway. He moved toward her and wrapped his muscular arms around his mate. Pumyra let go of Lynx-O and buried her face into the white tiger’s broad chest. “It’s my fault.” She said. “No, it isn’t.” Ben-Gali told her as he tried to comfort her.. “He would have had his light shield if I still hadn’t had it.” The puma fought back the tears that were coming. At first Ben-Gali said nothing. It was true, she hadn’t given their friend back his shield but then she really hadn’t been able to on account of the battle that was raging when she entered the control room. “What’s happened has happened. There isn’t anything you can do about it. Lynx-O would not blame you for what occurred.” He said. “I will never forgive myself.” Pumyra replied. That sentence was one that could end her career as a ThunderCat. She could not hang onto these awful feelings without putting herself and others in danger. The door opened again and Tygra walked in. He smiled slightly at seeing the two together and then spoke up. “Lion-O wants to see you in his office.” “Both of us?” Ben-Gali asked. “No, just Pumyra. I have already informed him of Lynx-O’s condition and he wishes to speak to her.” His orange brother said. At that point, Ben-Gali nodded and pulled himself away from the puma. He took her hand and led her from the room, leaving Tygra alone with his patient. Not far from there Cheetara was trying to explain to the ThunderKittens how Lynx-O was doing without really telling them everything. She knew that the lynx was in serious trouble and that the possibility of death was very real. Dying was apart of life, in fact she had experienced it herself but she could not begin to explain what was happening to their friend. “Why did we get pulled out of the control room?” WilyKat asked. “Why is everyone behaving so sad?” WilyKit wondered. “Lynx-O was hurt. He’s not well but hopefully soon he will be.” The cheetah said, not entirely believing her own words. “Can we see him?” Kat inquired. “Not right now.” Cheetara smiled slightly. Kit could see that the older ThunderCat was just dancing around their questions. Things must have been pretty bad. She herself hadn’t completely seen what had happened but the tome of Pumyra’s voice had been one of worry. “Why don’t you guys go out for some air? The sun will be setting soon and there’s still time for an afternoon ride.” Cheetara suggested. Kat jumped at the chance, he loved zipping around Third Earth and he had missed it. Kit however waited until her brother was out of the room before she said, “I’m not a little cub anymore. If there is something I should know, tell me, don’t dance around it.” Cheetara’s reply was to shake her head ‘no’. Kit left the room annoyed but she would find out soon enough how bad things really were. Pumyra knocked on the big door that led into Lion-O’s office. She heard him call out the word ‘enter’ and the door slid open. Quietly, she took the seat that he offered in front of his desk. “Tygra said you wanted to see me.” She said; her voice wavered slightly. “I have to confirm what happened earlier for the record.” He said. “I understand.” Pumyra’s voice was now firm as it usually was. She then proceeded to go through the events leading up to what had happened. The Lord of the ThunderCats took note of everything and then spoke. “Do you feel that medically there isn’t much left to do?” He asked. “The spear had to be removed and the Extractor did its job of sealing up the wound but his age and the blood loss were too much. His heart failed and his body is trying to cope with the shock.” Pumyra told him. “And the Extractor wouldn’t work on his condition?” Lion-O wondered. “No. It only handles external injuries and their results not internal ones.” She said sadly. “I thought so. I want you to know that none of this is on you. You followed my instructions and did what you had to do to reach the control room. You were not brash nor were you out of line. I understand that you believe it is your fault but its not. It’s mine. I made a bad decision; expecting you, Ben-Gali, and Lynx-O to fight that many Thunder Guard members off was stupid. I will convene a tribunal in three days. If Lynx-O has not improved then I will do what is necessary.” Lion-O told her. “What is that?” Pumyra asked. The Lord of the ThunderCats answer was to tell her she was dismissed. Quickly the puma ran to find Cheetara. To Be Continued...