Trust Issues -- Chapters 15 and 16
Hello all. Two more for you. :) Chapter 15 “The creature feeds off turning people against each other and it always manages to escape because there is always somewhere that it can slip away to.” The cheetah explained. “Seems very logical. According to the tapes from Solvay’s Pride the crew seemed to be turning on each other for no apparent reason.” Tygra agreed. “So it probably messed with their controls. I’ll bet that Solvay’s Pride was so close to home and they didn’t even know it.” Panthro made the connection. “So what can slip in and out of small places and not be noticed by everyone else?” Ben-Gali smirked as his little riddle. “A shadow.” WilyKit smiled. “Exactly.” The white tiger said. “And how do you get rid of a shadow?” Cheetara asked, knowing what the answer would be. “Light.” The one word answer came from the Lord of the ThunderCats, who had been quite for the past twenty minutes. “We need to light up every inch of the Lair. Force our sly opponent out of our home. Once we do that, we should be able to defeat it.” Cheetara told the group. “Then let’s round up every extra light source we have and turn on every appliance that throws light. If we can force most of the shadows out then we’ll be in business.” Panthro said. The ThunderCats then dispersed and tried to find what they needed. Unbeknownst to them, Dolosa lurked in the shadows nearby. She had heard their plan and she knew that she would no longer be safe. Quietly the shape shifter jumped from shadow to shadow until she was out of the Cats’ fortress. The moon was still high in the night sky as the evil being made her way back to Mumm-Ra’s pyramid. Somehow, he would have to help her. Dolosa objected to relying on the mummy but it seemed she didn’t have of an option. If she was exposed to the light and could not find the shadows to hide in then she would perish. Slipping through the countryside, was a breeze and soon she entered the pyramid. “Coming back already?” Mumm-Ra didn’t even turn around to face her. “I need help.” She said exasperatedly. “Oh so you need help. Well how can I help the mighty Dolosa?” The ever-living source of evil smirked. “Those pesky cats seem to have found out my secret and now they intend on lighting up their lair with every light source known in creation.” She grumbled. “Well I suppose if we want to destroy them then we have to destroy their power supply.” Mumm-Ra nodded and turned to the giant statues that surrounded his bubbling cauldron. “Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decayed form into Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living!!!!” In seconds the huddled bandaged creature became the ThunderCats’ most fierce enemy. He took to the sky and Dolosa followed through the dark to the Lair. Meanwhile, the ThunderCats had managed to round up all the lights they could and were strategically placing them all around the Lair when the Sword of Omens growled. Lion-O quickly pulled the great weapon from the Claw Shield and pulled it to his face. “Sword of Omens give me Sight Beyond Sight.” What he saw made him realize that the task they were working on had to be abandoned. He ran to the nearest COM and made an announcement over the entire Lair. “Mumm-Ra is inbound. Battle stations everyone!” He then pressed the alarm button and the fortress was filled with the sound of pounding footsteps and cries to arms. Chapter 16 The ThunderCats took up their positions in the control room. Panthro sat in the main seat and diverted the needed power to the weapons centers. Cheetara and Tygra took up positions in the gun bays that sat on the Cat’ shoulders while Ben-Gali and Lion-O manned the other weapons inside the control room. The ThunderKittens poked in the commands to seal all doors and windows while Snarf did his usual pacing back and forth. “Why hasn’t he done anything yet? Usually he’s blasting at us before we even have enough time to get into position.” Panthro wondered. “I don’t know and I don’t like it.” Lion-O told him. “Should we make a preemptive strike?” Ben-Gali asked. “Normally, I would be against it but in this case, if he’s off to attack somebody else then we’d better focus his attention here.” The lion instructed. Panthro picked up the COM and contacted Cheetara and Tygra. “Fire in the hole.” Came the command and within seconds came the sound of laser cannons being fired. Outside Mumm-Ra could see that the ThunderCats had fallen for the bait and easily dodged the shots from their cannons. He smirked as he fired some of his own shots. They were haphazard as his intended target wasn’t the ThunderCats but their supply of Thundrillium that was behind the Lair. “He’s flying behind the Cat’s Eyes. Rotate three hundred and sixty degrees.” Cheetara ordered Tygra. The orange tiger followed the command and two fired at the mummy. Mumm-Ra dodged their fire and flew in closer to the storage area. If everything worked out as he planned the ThunderCats would destroy their own power supply and all he would have to do is lead the proverbial horse to the water. Below Dolosa snuck back into the Lair through the heavy steel that had covered the Lair’s entrance and through the doors behind it. Once the power source was destroyed, she could then continue to infiltrate the ThunderCats. Her next plan was to overtake one of them and force them to do her dirty work. The best part was she had the perfect Cat for the job in mind. Pumyra sat in the lab while the battle continued. She was still running the tests on the strange material that she had removed from under Cheetara’s claws. It was a surprisingly resilient item except when it came to high-powered light. One of the computers beeped alerting her to the fact that it had finished its analysis. She wheeled her chair over to the screen and looked at what it had found. “Thirty percent of unknown one, thirty percent of unknown two, and forty percent of unknown three? How can the computer not know what it is?” The puma wasn’t happy with the answer she had gotten. She pounded her fist into the desk and turned back to the microscope. Adjusting the focus of the device, she tried to see what would happen when she poked it and tried to pull it apart. She was in the middle of the experiment when a large explosion rocked the Lair and she fell out of her seat. Pumyra grabbed her stomach as her cub kicked her. Pain emanated from her midsection and she feared that the fall had hurt her baby. Slowly she tried to reach for the alarm button on the table. That’s when the power went out and the Lair fell silent. “That’s not good.” Pumyra muttered to herself. Now the alarm button would not work and her only option would be to get up into her chair and try to wheel herself to get help. She tried to pull herself up into the chair but it hurt too much. The only other option would be to crawl and that didn’t seem like such a good idea but what choice did she have? “Here we go.” She said quietly. To Be Continued...