Old Enemies -- Chapters 7, 8, and 9
Chapter 7 Hours passed and the Mutants were no closer to finding the Amulet of Seti than they had been before. “This is hopeless. How are we supposed to find the stupid amulet in all this sand?” Jackalman complained. “It’s been nothing but a wild goose chase.” Monkian agreed. “Where is Vultureman?” Slythe asked, ignoring his whiny companions. The three stopped what they were doing and looked around. Vultureman was nowhere in sight. The only hint of the mutant was a trail of footprints. “That bird brain! When I get my hands on him, he’ll wish he was never born!” Slythe ran off in the direction of the prints. Vultureman entered the black pyramid through the secret panel on one of its four sides. He slowly made his way down the long winding tunnels until he reached the main chamber. There stood Mumm-Ra’s closed sarcophagus and the cauldron. All was quiet and a smirk crossed the vulture’s face. “Ancient Spirits of Evil…” the large animal god statues awoke from their slumber to listen to the unfamiliar voice. “…transform this humble bird into the greatest warrior this planet has ever seen!” Bolts of lightening struck inside the pyramid and Mumm-Ra emerged from his sarcophagus. “What in the name of everything evil is going on in here?” The mummy shouted. Much to his surprise he found a nine foot tall Vultureman before him. The bird now had larger muscles and wore a massive chest plate with two black snakes intertwined inside a red circle. “Mumm-Ra, see how much you like being double crossed!” His voice boomed inside the pyramid as he slipped the Amulet of Seti around his neck. “Vultureman, you will not stay in that form for long. Why don’t we work together?” The mummy tried to get the mutant to listen. “Why should I work with you? You will only stab me in the back and try to take my fair share of the glory.” Vultureman asked him. “You really want to transform back into your pathetic form and have your fellow Mutants attack and take all that you worked for? Together, they would never challenge us.” Mumm-Ra tried to persuade the bird. “I see your point but what guarantees do I have you won’t try something?” The Mutant was not stupid. Mumm-Ra only looked out for himself and it would be foolish to think otherwise. “You may keep the Amulet of Seti. Use it to your discretion. I will not question you. All I ask is that we split the spoils of victory fifty-fifty.” The ever-living source of evil offered. Vultureman thought about it for a second and then shook his head. “Deal. Now let’s go kill some kitties.” ************************ At Cat’s Lair on Third Earth, Cheetara stood with the ThunderKittens and Panthro in the counsel room. They told the leaders of the Thunder Guard to keep their presence under strict silence. It was agreed that should Mumm-Ra or the Mutants show up, the ThunderCats would emerge from inside the Lair and aid the Thunder Guard to defeat them. When the commanders left, the ThunderCats sat in the counsel room together. “So what now?” WilyKat asked. “Now, we wait.” Panthro said. They had no idea how short their wait would be. Chapter 8 Lion-O sat in the control room on New Thundera hoping that if he didn’t hear anything from Third Earth that that was a good sign. The control room doors opened and Lynx-O made his way over to the seat nearest the Lord of the ThunderCats. “I sense you are nervous. Want to talk about it?” The lynx wondered. “That obvious huh?” Lion-O tried to smile. “It’s understandable, we are between a rock and a hard place but I think that is not what is bothering you as much.” Lynx-O didn’t waste time beating around the bush. “Yes old friend, you are right. I fear I just threw Panthro, Cheetara, and the ThunderKittens to the wolves.” The lion admitted. “Regretting the decision you made earlier is not uncommon for a leader to experience. One thing you have to remember Lord Lion-O is that you have earned your place as Lord and King and that none of us questions it. We would all go into hell and back with you.” The oldest ThunderCat told him. “I appreciate your loyalty and your trust but sometimes I wonder if I was really meant for this. So many lives depend on my decisions and I don’t want to see people getting hurt.” Lion-o said. “You have to be confident in yourself. People will get hurt; it’s unfortunate but true. Your decision is based on what you think is best. Your fellow ThunderCats would call you on it if they thought something was amiss.” Lynx-O reminded him. “You’re right but if something happens to her…” the Lord of the ThunderCats couldn’t finish the thought. His friend nodded and said, “As Lord you have to make decisions with your head. You did and now your heart is wondering what you were thinking. Think good thoughts Lion-O. Cheetara and the others will be fine; they can handle Mumm-Ra and the Mutants. Ben-Gali, Tygra, and Snarfer are working on one of the smaller ships in case there is an emergency.” “Yes well, even with the technology that we have been given, an hour and a half is too long if they are in immediate danger.” Lion-O told him. On Third Earth, the control room was full of activity. Alarms sounded and the Thunder Guard responded as they had been trained. Cheetara ran into the room to check out what was going on. Panthro and the ThunderKittens weren’t too far behind her. “Captain Tiberius status report!” The cheetah commanded. “We have two bogeys coming in at twelve o’clock high.” He informed her. “Can you identify them?” Panthro asked. “Zoom in Corporal.” Tiberius ordered. The Corporal did as he was instructed and magnified the approaching enemy. “Mumm-Ra and Vultureman?” Cheetara couldn’t believe her eyes. “Since when does that blasted Mutant fly?” Panthro banged his fist onto the panel in front of him. “I don’t know. Pull everyone inside. Alert all outposts and New Thundera.” Cheetara took command. “Yes ma’am. Private, radio the outposts. Corporal, call New Thundera.” Captain Tiberius ordered. The pumiger then picked up the phone and called outside. “Major Lupi, I have a direct order from Cheetara to pull everyone inside immediately.” There wasn’t any argument from the Major as Thunder Guard members flooded back inside Cat’s Lair. Major Lupi entered the control room. She was the head of the company and in this situation was directly beneath the ThunderCats in rank. “Sir, Ma’am, what is our next course of action?” The Litah asked. “Ready the laser cannons and Catapult.” Panthro commanded. Lupi gave a curt nod and picked up the phone. She gave the orders and now all that was left to do was wait for the order to fire. Chapter 9 Cheetara turned to Panthro. This had been her idea and now was no time to back down from it. The panther gave her a nod and she turned to the ThunderKittens and pulled them in close. “Kit, Kat, should the worst happen to Panthro and myself you will be in charge. I know we’ve discussed this before, you know what to do.” She spoke quietly to them. Both Kittens nodded and the cheetah turned back to the scene at hand. “I have Lord Lion-O on the line.” Corporal Wilde informed them. He quickly pulled the lion up on the small screen in front of him. Cheetara went over to the Corporal and the lower ranking man gave up his seat. “What’s wrong?” He asked. The cheetah wasted no time in explaining the situation. Lion-O’s face fell, in the back of his mind he knew that the ship that the other ThunderCats were working on was at least an hour from being finished. It would then be another hour and a half before they would be able to reach their friends. Panthro knew that they didn’t have much time. Mumm-Ra and Vultureman would be in range of their weapons in a matter of seconds. Quickly he gave the order to Major Lupi to have her men fire as soon as the enemy was in range. “Bogeys in range in ten seconds, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four three, two, one.” Captain Tiberius finished the countdown, which was accentuated by the sound of the laser cannons firing. The sound was almost deafening as the Catapult fired as well. Mumm-Ra and Vultureman weren’t surprised at this attack and they were able to dodge the first few shots but the constant barrage was difficult to handle. “Use the Amulet, Vultureman!” Mumm-Ra shouted as the hail of laser fire continued. “Amulet of Seti, take control of those cats at the guns.” The vulture ordered. A bright green light shot forth from the Amulet and within seconds the laser beams were no more. “What the hell?” Panthro quickly pressed the COM button and barked at the men to continue firing. His answer was nothing but silence. Major Lupi commanded six of her troops to go up and get those guns firing again. They were off in a flash and after a minute one of the men radioed back to the control room. “They are frozen in their places. We can’t remove them from their seats.” A Sergeant told them. “Override the controls and begin firing!” Panthro ordered. The men at the controls worked furiously and just as their training required they had overridden the controls in under a minute. Laser beams shot back into the air. Cheetara looked at Lion-O. The future was uncertain and she ached to be able to touch him. Instead she could only silently mouth the words ‘I love you’. He mouthed them back and then she ended the connection. Outside Mumm-Ra and Vultureman were once again dodging shots from Cat’s Lair. The vulture picked up the Amulet again and said, “This is getting annoying. Amulet of Seti control the entire Thunder Guard.” Suddenly there was silence. Inside Cat’s Lair, the ThunderCats were shocked to see the men and women around them freeze. “What’s going on?” Kit asked. “I have no idea but Mumm-Ra and Vultureman are in for a big surprise.” Panthro told her. “So what’s the plan?” Cheetara looked to the panther. “Take up hiding positions. When those two enter the Lair we’ll take them by surprise.” He told them. “Then we’d better do it in a hurry because they’re almost at the front door.” Kat said looking at the large screen monitor. Quickly the ThunderCats found their positions. Vultureman and Mumm-Ra walked into the control a few minutes later and took a look at their spoils of victory. “Well now that we have control of the Thunder Guard getting to the ThunderCats shouldn’t be a problem.” Vultureman smiled confidently. “Never underestimate those uppity cats.” Mumm-Ra cautioned him. “That’s right, you shouldn’t.” Panthro said standing up from his hiding place. Cheetara and the ThunderKittens popped up as well. “Look who we have here. I guess my birthday comes early this year.” Mumm-Ra smirked. “Oh I’m not sure you’ll be saying that when I get through with you.” Cheetara told him. Vultureman just laughed and held up the talisman that hung around his neck. The mummy assumed he would use it to take control of the ThunderCats but the Mutant had other ideas. “Thunder Guard kill the ThunderCats.” They watched as the soldiers suddenly came out of their frozen state and began to close in on them. To Be Continued...