What If?: Az and Taz
What If? Az and Taz She had seen it months ago, perhaps even a year ago, but until it had come to fruition, she had always hoped that it had been nothing more then a dream. But this was no dream; it was a nightmare! Aspects of the visions had changed, and in Az’s fleeting moments of clarity during battle, she could only blame it on key points in history where they must have changed the future. Instead of vampires and demons led by Sin and Talia, it was mutants! Horribly disfigured, oozing, grotesque mutants, medically transfigured by leading Plundarrian scientists in an attempt to wipe out all Thundarians and any who stood in their way of universal domination. So dire was the threat to the normal routine of things that many of the Thundercats foes had joined forces with them in order to defeat the Mutant hordes. Sin and Talia, Zhyan and Leona, even Mumm-ra had put away their petty differences to enter the fray, each with their own agendas and reasons. No matter the enemy, the vision was all too real now as the Thundercats and their uneasy allies fought valiantly against them, but for every one that they defeated, two more took their place. “Lion-o, we can’t keep this up!” Tygra shouted; his usually neat and clean uniform covered in blood, soot, and gore. “Just keep at them!” the young lord shouted back, “We have to give the villagers time to escape!” “And who’s going to give us time to escape?” the archangel known at Zhyan asked before taking flight to add to the arial attack. Lion-o wondered about that as well. High above Az, Zhyan, Mumm-ra, and Mumm-rana chose their targets at will, trying to stem the tide. “Look at how far I’ve fallen!” Mumm-ra wailed as he blasted a group of Mutants into the air. “Forced to aide these wretched Cats! I, who wield the power of the gods with a mere thought!” “Cease your prattle Dark One, we haven’t the time for it!” admonished Mumm-rana as she ducked a missile aimed at her. “Is it not enough that I must share the same air with you without having you befoul it more?” “Ok you two, enough of the lover’s quarrel.” said Zhyan then he turned towards Az. “Makes you long for the days when we all wanted to kill each other instead of these guys, eh? But Az ignored him. Her only thought, her only focus, was on the two cheetahs fighting on the ground. They fought together, back to back, covering each other’s side so that neither of them were caught unaware. “Hey! Wake up you chit!” Az whirled around to face the archangel then gasped in shock as a laser shot went past her. It was so close that she could feel the heat from it. “Yeah, we’ve got a war on our hands if you didn’t notice!” growled Zhyan before he flew away. “A war, right.” The Protectorate whispered then turned away from the fighting couple, only to return when she heard the hybrid screaming in pain. Down on the battle grounds Tara had been separated from Taz and try as he might, he could not get to her. Alone and bleeding from a cut on her arm, Tara looked around in fear, assessing the situation and trying to find a way back to her lover. Before she could do a thing, one mutant, possibly a monkian from his patchy grey fur, rushed forward with a club, catching her in the head and dropping her immediately. Even from a distance Taz could see his lover fall and he cried out, “Tara! NO!!!” Instantly he phased into his lynx form and transported to her side, tenderly picking her up in his arms and cradling her lifeless body, heedless of the carnage around him. He never saw the Vultureman behind him coming at him with a dagger, but Az did. “Taz, look out!” she yelled as she tried to get to him before it was too late but as she watched, Taz turned around, his face strewn with tears and did nothing as the blade descended towards him. Az stopped in midair, disbelief overcoming her as she saw the cheetah slump on top of Tara’s, the lovers together in death as they had been in life. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even breath. This was not supposed to happen! The vision had told her that if she gave up Taz so that he and Tara could be together, that they would live. How could things have been so wrong? How could she have been so wrong? A searing pain penetrated her chest and as Az looked down, she saw the gaping hole and her life’s blood flowing from her body, falling on the combatants like red rain. Her last thought as she fell to the ground was “Why?” “Oh you really stepped into it this time, Wings!” Az opened her eyes and found herself lying on her own bed at the Lair. “What am I doing here?” “You’re not really here; it’s just an illusion of a place that you find safe.” The Protectorate looked around the room for the owner of the voice and came face to face with herself. Well, maybe not exactly herself, the woman standing in front of the bed could most definitely be her twin if it weren’t for the flaming red and black streaked hair, the skin tight leather black outfit, high heel stiletto boots, or the cold violet eyes. “Who the hell are you?!” Az demanded, sliding off the bed to face the strange woman. “I’m you,” she said, “Or rather I’m the you that you could be if you didn’t have that moral stick up your ass.” “I do not have a stick up my ass!” “Oh please!” the other Az said with a laugh, then she folded her hands together and brought them up to her face, batting her eyes in a parody of innocence. “I’m so scared of using my powers, Lion-o. What ever will I do if I were to hurt some one?” Then the twin dropped the act with a look of disdain. “Did it ever occur to you that some people need to be hurt? Sometimes a good ass kicking is necessary.” “You don’t understand!” Az retorted, “I know what my powers are capable of and I don’t think I could deal with the consequences!” “Oh boo hoo hoo! You whine too much!” Az wanted to make a come back but the realization that she was in fact arguing with herself hit her funny and she just began to laugh. Instead of getting mad, the doppelganger just nodded. “Good, now we’re getting somewhere.” Az looked at her intently, the mirror image still giving her goose bumps. “So what do I call you anyways? Mini Az?” “Not if you want to keep all your feathers intact!” her twin sneered. “For lack of a better name, call me Angel.” “Would that be a fallen angel by chance?” Az asked sweetly. “Oh honey, you have no idea how much fun you can have until you’ve fallen from grace, but then you’re too uptight and ‘goody, goody’ for something like that. She ignored that last jab at her morality. “Well, anyways, it’s been fun, but I have to get back to the war.” “I’d like to see how you do that without a body!” This stopped the Protectorate in her tracks. “What?” Angel sauntered over lazily. “That’s right, Ms. Wings, you’re dead.” She heard the words but the meaning took some time for her to comprehend. “I, I can’t be. I mean, I’m not supposed to be, not for a very long time!” “And why is that?” “Because my vision…” “Ah yes, the vision.” said Angel with a nod. “The vision where if you break up with Taz and push him into the arms of Tara that he will stay alive. Is that the vision we’re talking about?” Az only nodded. “Well that one turned out well, didn’t it? Did it ever occur to you that maybe the ‘vision’ was showing you what would happen if Taz and Tara got together? By getting them together, you just might have caused the very deaths you wanted to avoid.” “That’s not true!” Az shouted. “Oh really? Well let’s find out, shall we?” Light radiated out from Angel, slamming into Az like a freight train, sending her back into darkness. The pillow felt soft beneath her cheek, the sheets caressing her skin as smooth as silk. It felt like heaven and she didn’t want to get up. Movement on the other side of the bed alerted her that she was not alone. “Good morning luv,” crooned a deep masculine voice as a hand caressed her bare shoulder and arm, “How’s your head this morning?” Az’s eyes flew open and she shot up in bed. She turned around to confront the intruder and screamed when a pair of hazel eyes gazed lovingly into her. “Taz?! What the hell are you doing here?” “Taking care of you, what else?” A throbbing pain radiated from her head and she placed one hand against her temple in a vain attempt to make it go away. “Yeah, you might want to lay back down babe.” Taz said as he helped Az back to the pillow. Little by little the pain subsided until it became bearable. “What happened?” “You were thrown into a pillar during our last bout with Mumm-ra.” He answered sadly. “Tygra was afraid that we might lose you, but you pulled through and for that I am grateful.” He leaned down and kissed her gently, never noticing Az’s eyes going wide. “I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you.” He whispered against her lips. She was shocked at what he was doing. Quickly she put her hands up and pushed the cheetah up off of her. “Taz, if Tara finds us like this together, she’s going to skin you alive and yank my feathers out one by one!” A look of confusion spread across Taz’s face. “Tara? What does she have to do with anything?” “She’s your mate and a very jealous one if I remember correctly. No offense hun, but I would like to stay in one piece if you don’t mind.” The handsome cheetah shook his head slowly. “I think I better call Tygra. Looks like that blow to your head was more severe then we thought.” “Why do you say that?” Az asked. “Because babe, Tara isn’t my mate, you are.” Her mouth only dropped and it was a minute or two before she found her voice again. “No, you and Tara hooked up after I fully came into my powers, I remember that for sure.” Taz smiled, “You mean when you tried to push me into her arms because of that vision of yours. Yeah, I remember that, and I remember exactly what I said to you.” "But?" "But.. what if you're wrong? What if Tara and I are not truly meant for one another? Visions can't always be interpreted exactly as they are presented. I won't pretend to know or understand what you saw, cause I didn't see it... but do you truly believe what you saw is set in stone if things here continue as they are? I just.. I still love you a great deal.. I know that's not what you want to hear right now but.." Az shushed him then, touching his face gently with her hand. He covered her hand with his, looking at her sadly. “And we ended it as friends, right?” Az asked. Taz looked away, a bit ashamed. “Well yes, technically we did, and I won’t lie that I was eager to see what could happen with me and Tara, but as I left the room, I looked behind and saw you just sitting there, looking beautiful, looking serene, and my heart stopped beating. I knew then that I loved you and even though I did have feelings for Tara, they couldn’t compare to the ones I had for you.” She didn’t remember Taz taking his time leaving the room, he had been eager to seek out Tara and start a relationship with her so this was all new to her. “Taz, I’m sorry, I don’t remember all of this. Really, I don’t.” “It’s no problem babe. Tygra said you might have some memory loss. All it means to me is that we can make new ones now.” The way he looked at her, the way he touched her, made her stomach do summersaults. Though it had been nearly a year since they had been a couple, she still remembered all he could do and her heartbeat quickened. And as he leaned down to embrace her, she closed her eyes and thought “I could definitely like living in this reality.” “Think again, bird brain!” Once again Az was in her room with Angel staring at her. “What the hell?!” Az demanded. “What? You think I was just going to let you live the perfect life? Sorry, I’m your evil half, remember? I just wanted you to see a glimpse of what you could of have.” “But why?” Angel glared at her. “Because I’m tired of being held back by you! If you had let me out every once in a while, then maybe you and Taz could have had that life. Maybe you wouldn’t be dead right now. Maybe you might have another chance at love with someone, anyone at this point!” “So this is what it was all about, payback.” “It’s so much more then that, but your little innocent mind won’t allow you to comprehend it, at least not until you are ready to let it. Now get the hell out of here and do a better job this time!” Az closed her eyes against the blinding light Angel shot at her and when she opened her eyes, she saw that she was back on the battle field. She looked down and saw Tara and Taz still alive and fighting. “Makes you long for the days when we all wanted to kill each other instead of these guys, eh?” Az looked over at Zhyan then around at the chaos, the odds still stacked against them. There was just no way they could defeat them with out a miracle. Then an idea came to her. “Alright Angel, I get it now. You want to come out and play. Well, the door is open, do your worse!” From within her was a roar of triumph and a light enveloped her. Beside her, Zhyan gawked at the spectacle. When the light faded, it was to show radically changed Az. Black leather molded to her body, showing off every dangerous and delicious curve. Short choppy auburn hair was replaced with flowing, fiery red tresses accentuated with raven black streaks. 4 inch high heel stiletto boots clung to her calves like lovers. And her violet hued eyes shone with a mischievous twinkle. The archangel looked her up and down and gave out a low whistle. Az/Angel turned to him with a cocky grin, looking him over as well. “Not so bad looking yourself, darlin’.” She flew over to him and wrapped her arms playfully around him, one hand playing with his lavender pony tail. “Listen baby, I need you to go get your friends and be ready to join your powers together.” Zhyan felt himself becoming aroused, but he knew this wasn’t the time or place. “Sure thing love, but promise that you’ll meet me later so that we may further our acquaintance.” Angel leaned back, grinning seductively. “Oh if there were just more time!” then she flew out of his grasp and down towards the Thundercats. Above, Zhyan shivered a bit then looked down and saw his lady, Leona, glaring at him. “Aww crap! She saw that!” Immediately he flew off to tell Sin and Talia of this woman’s plans in hopes of delaying the ear blistering he knew he was in for from the leopardess. Lion-o had just let loose another bolt of energy at one of the advancing Mutants when someone landed directly in front of him, making him jump in surprise. “Hey Afro Man! I need you to call all your dudes and dudettes over here.” Both Lion-o and Tygra looked at each other at this command. “Afro man?” wondered Tygra while Lion-o said, “What’s going on Az?” “Angel actually. Hi, how ya doin’?” she said, grabbing his hand and shaking it briefly before continuing. “No, seriously, if you want all your lil underlings to keep breathing, get them over here now.” “Lion-o!” Tygra shouted as new Mutants came at them. Lion-o brought the Sword up but Angel beat him to it by simply raising her hand and shooting a ray of black light behind her, disintegrating the creature. The young lord’s eyes rose clear up to his hair line. “You, you…” “I just blew up his face, yeah. Now, get your guys over here pronto! We’ve only got one chance at this. If you aren’t willing to listen, then I’m outta here and you can tackle these big uglies on your own.” He had always trusted Az in the past, he just hoped he could trust her, or Angel as it were, now. Lion-o lifted up the Sword of Omens and called out to his people. Seeing the symbol in the sky, their eyes flashed and they rushed over as soon as they could. With them came the allies; Mumm-ra, Mumm-rana, Sin and Talia, Leona and a sulking Zhyan. Instead of Lion-o telling them what they needed to do, it was Angel who stepped forward. “Ok, before anyone asks and wastes my time, I’m Angel, Az’s more evil, more fun, more sexy side. You don’t like me, tough, I don’t care. We got the introductions out of the way now? Good. Now listen up!” Sinistral smirked at the cocky young woman. “She reminds me of this one snake charmer I had a one nighter with.” He said to Zhyan slyly. The archangel only grinned back, knowing what he meant. “Long story short people. In all of you good guys is a little bit of evil. In all you bad guys is a smidgen of good. We’re going to tap into those parts and send these bastards packing.” “How?” Bengali asked. Angel looked at him, looked down towards parts she shouldn’t, looked up and grinned. “Sorry baby but questions waste time, actions are faster.” The white tiger blushed at this, to which Angel winked at him then returned to the group at large. “Everyone must be in physical contact with everyone else. You don’t have to hold hands if that’s not your thing, but you do need to be touching the one in front of you. And make it quick, our time out is over.” Quickly everyone got into formation, creating a branching V pointed out at the Mutants advancing on them. When she knew they were ready, Angel placed one hand on Lion-o’s shoulder and one on Mumm-ra’s, seeking through them for that one spark of good or evil that they tried to hide from the rest of the world, that one tiny secret that could make or break a person. Time slowed down while a blue aura surrounded each person in the V until each and every hidden power had been tapped. Her eyes glowing brightly, Angel waited until the power was built into an immeasurable force. “Focus people, focus on the complete annihilation of those things in front of you.” When she felt that focus, she honed it to a razors edge. “Now, release it!” The aura quickly left the group, searching out and destroying any creature that stood in front of it. In no time at all, nearly all of the bio-engineered Mutants laid dead or dying. At first no one made a sound, but when they realized that they had won, the crowd cheered wildly. For her own part, Angel knew her time was almost up so she had to do just one last thing before that moral bound Az forced her back into captivity. Quickly she walked over to where Tara and Taz were embracing and yanked the hybrid away, sending her into the dirt. Before Taz could protest, Angel grabbed him by the face and pressed her lips to his, her tongue invading the inside of his mouth, tasting the sweetness that was him. So shocked was he that Taz just let it happen. When she pulled back, the poor cheetah was in a daze. “Hey Taz, you ever think about ‘What ifs’?” Then a glow enveloped her and Az returned. When she saw where she was and in whose arms she was in, she quickly backed away, blushing profusely. “Uh, I’m sorry Taz. I didn’t know she was going to do that.” Taz reached up and started scratching his head, embarrassed himself. “Uh, yeah, no problem.” Then he saw Tara still on the ground, glaring at Az and rushed to help her, leaving the human woman alone. A soft knock sounded at her door. “Come in.” she called out as she continued to sit on her bed and examine her damaged wing. “Ouch! That looks bad.” Came the voice of Taz. The woman looked up and smiled uneasily at him. “You can thank Tara for that. She slammed the door on my wing when we came in earlier today. Her revenge for me, or rather my evil me, kissing you.” He nodded sadly, understanding why Tara would do that. “Will it be ok?” “Yeah, I just need a few days rest and it’ll be good as new. Gotta love wings that can regenerate quickly.” “Well that’s good.” The cheetah said nervously. “Um, speaking of your ‘evil you’, what did she mean by What Ifs?” Az stopped plucking the bent feathers from her wings and looked up at her friend. “I think that was mostly a message for me, to remind me that I don’t always have to do the right thing.” This made Taz think. “Is that what happened when we broke up? You were doing the right thing?” She sighed and decided to come clean. “At the time yes, I thought I was, but now, I’m not so sure. I think I pushed you to Tara because I wanted to see if maybe you would change your mind after a while and come back to me or because I loved you too much to keep you with me when your heart obviously wanted something else. I just don’t know. But Angel showed me that doing the right thing all the time might not be so right.” Taz sat down next to her, being careful not to brush up against her injured wing. “So what will you do then?” “Follow my heart.” She said with a smile. Taz saw how sad her smile was and wrapped an arm around her. “I know you’ll do ok luv. Just stick to your guns.” She smiled again, but this one reached her eyes, making both her and the cheetah feel better. “Well, I have to get going.” Taz said, getting up from the edge of the bed. “We’ve got a lot of recovery planned over the next few weeks so I’ll see you later.” As he headed out the door he paused and said, “Oh and Az, there are some ‘What Ifs’ that can become ‘What might become.’ Just keep that in mind.” He winked at her then left. She was left to ponder what he meant by his last statement but when it hit her, she grinned from ear to ear. “Indeed?” she thought as her eyes briefly blazed violet. “Hmm, I think I might like that challenge.” The End
What If? Az and Taz She had seen it months ago, perhaps even a year ago, but until it had come to fruition, she had always hoped that it had been nothing more then a dream. But this was no dream; it was a nightmare! Aspects of the visions had changed, and in Az’s fleeting moments of clarity during battle, she could only blame it on key points in history where they must have changed the future. Instead of vampires and demons led by Sin and Talia, it was mutants! Horribly disfigured, oozing, grotesque mutants, medically transfigured by leading Plundarrian scientists in an attempt to wipe out all Thundarians and any who stood in their way of universal domination. So dire was the threat to the normal routine of things that many of the Thundercats foes had joined forces with them in order to defeat the Mutant hordes. Sin and Talia, Zhyan and Leona, even Mumm-ra had put away their petty differences to enter the fray, each with their own agendas and reasons. No matter the enemy, the vision was all too real now as the Thundercats and their uneasy allies fought valiantly against them, but for every one that they defeated, two more took their place. “Lion-o, we can’t keep this up!” Tygra shouted; his usually neat and clean uniform covered in blood, soot, and gore. “Just keep at them!” the young lord shouted back, “We have to give the villagers time to escape!” “And who’s going to give us time to escape?” the archangel known at Zhyan asked before taking flight to add to the arial attack. Lion-o wondered about that as well. High above Az, Zhyan, Mumm-ra, and Mumm-rana chose their targets at will, trying to stem the tide. “Look at how far I’ve fallen!” Mumm-ra wailed as he blasted a group of Mutants into the air. “Forced to aide these wretched Cats! I, who wield the power of the gods with a mere thought!” “Cease your prattle Dark One, we haven’t the time for it!” admonished Mumm-rana as she ducked a missile aimed at her. “Is it not enough that I must share the same air with you without having you befoul it more?” “Ok you two, enough of the lover’s quarrel.” said Zhyan then he turned towards Az. “Makes you long for the days when we all wanted to kill each other instead of these guys, eh? But Az ignored him. Her only thought, her only focus, was on the two cheetahs fighting on the ground. They fought together, back to back, covering each other’s side so that neither of them were caught unaware. “Hey! Wake up you chit!” Az whirled around to face the archangel then gasped in shock as a laser shot went past her. It was so close that she could feel the heat from it. “Yeah, we’ve got a war on our hands if you didn’t notice!” growled Zhyan before he flew away. “A war, right.” The Protectorate whispered then turned away from the fighting couple, only to return when she heard the hybrid screaming in pain. Down on the battle grounds Tara had been separated from Taz and try as he might, he could not get to her. Alone and bleeding from a cut on her arm, Tara looked around in fear, assessing the situation and trying to find a way back to her lover. Before she could do a thing, one mutant, possibly a monkian from his patchy grey fur, rushed forward with a club, catching her in the head and dropping her immediately. Even from a distance Taz could see his lover fall and he cried out, “Tara! NO!!!” Instantly he phased into his lynx form and transported to her side, tenderly picking her up in his arms and cradling her lifeless body, heedless of the carnage around him. He never saw the Vultureman behind him coming at him with a dagger, but Az did. “Taz, look out!” she yelled as she tried to get to him before it was too late but as she watched, Taz turned around, his face strewn with tears and did nothing as the blade descended towards him. Az stopped in midair, disbelief overcoming her as she saw the cheetah slump on top of Tara’s, the lovers together in death as they had been in life. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even breath. This was not supposed to happen! The vision had told her that if she gave up Taz so that he and Tara could be together, that they would live. How could things have been so wrong? How could she have been so wrong? A searing pain penetrated her chest and as Az looked down, she saw the gaping hole and her life’s blood flowing from her body, falling on the combatants like red rain. Her last thought as she fell to the ground was “Why?” “Oh you really stepped into it this time, Wings!” Az opened her eyes and found herself lying on her own bed at the Lair. “What am I doing here?” “You’re not really here; it’s just an illusion of a place that you find safe.” The Protectorate looked around the room for the owner of the voice and came face to face with herself. Well, maybe not exactly herself, the woman standing in front of the bed could most definitely be her twin if it weren’t for the flaming red and black streaked hair, the skin tight leather black outfit, high heel stiletto boots, or the cold violet eyes. “Who the hell are you?!” Az demanded, sliding off the bed to face the strange woman. “I’m you,” she said, “Or rather I’m the you that you could be if you didn’t have that moral stick up your ass.” “I do not have a stick up my ass!” “Oh please!” the other Az said with a laugh, then she folded her hands together and brought them up to her face, batting her eyes in a parody of innocence. “I’m so scared of using my powers, Lion-o. What ever will I do if I were to hurt some one?” Then the twin dropped the act with a look of disdain. “Did it ever occur to you that some people need to be hurt? Sometimes a good ass kicking is necessary.” “You don’t understand!” Az retorted, “I know what my powers are capable of and I don’t think I could deal with the consequences!” “Oh boo hoo hoo! You whine too much!” Az wanted to make a come back but the realization that she was in fact arguing with herself hit her funny and she just began to laugh. Instead of getting mad, the doppelganger just nodded. “Good, now we’re getting somewhere.” Az looked at her intently, the mirror image still giving her goose bumps. “So what do I call you anyways? Mini Az?” “Not if you want to keep all your feathers intact!” her twin sneered. “For lack of a better name, call me Angel.” “Would that be a fallen angel by chance?” Az asked sweetly. “Oh honey, you have no idea how much fun you can have until you’ve fallen from grace, but then you’re too uptight and ‘goody, goody’ for something like that. She ignored that last jab at her morality. “Well, anyways, it’s been fun, but I have to get back to the war.” “I’d like to see how you do that without a body!” This stopped the Protectorate in her tracks. “What?” Angel sauntered over lazily. “That’s right, Ms. Wings, you’re dead.” She heard the words but the meaning took some time for her to comprehend. “I, I can’t be. I mean, I’m not supposed to be, not for a very long time!” “And why is that?” “Because my vision…” “Ah yes, the vision.” said Angel with a nod. “The vision where if you break up with Taz and push him into the arms of Tara that he will stay alive. Is that the vision we’re talking about?” Az only nodded. “Well that one turned out well, didn’t it? Did it ever occur to you that maybe the ‘vision’ was showing you what would happen if Taz and Tara got together? By getting them together, you just might have caused the very deaths you wanted to avoid.” “That’s not true!” Az shouted. “Oh really? Well let’s find out, shall we?” Light radiated out from Angel, slamming into Az like a freight train, sending her back into darkness. The pillow felt soft beneath her cheek, the sheets caressing her skin as smooth as silk. It felt like heaven and she didn’t want to get up. Movement on the other side of the bed alerted her that she was not alone. “Good morning luv,” crooned a deep masculine voice as a hand caressed her bare shoulder and arm, “How’s your head this morning?” Az’s eyes flew open and she shot up in bed. She turned around to confront the intruder and screamed when a pair of hazel eyes gazed lovingly into her. “Taz?! What the hell are you doing here?” “Taking care of you, what else?” A throbbing pain radiated from her head and she placed one hand against her temple in a vain attempt to make it go away. “Yeah, you might want to lay back down babe.” Taz said as he helped Az back to the pillow. Little by little the pain subsided until it became bearable. “What happened?” “You were thrown into a pillar during our last bout with Mumm-ra.” He answered sadly. “Tygra was afraid that we might lose you, but you pulled through and for that I am grateful.” He leaned down and kissed her gently, never noticing Az’s eyes going wide. “I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you.” He whispered against her lips. She was shocked at what he was doing. Quickly she put her hands up and pushed the cheetah up off of her. “Taz, if Tara finds us like this together, she’s going to skin you alive and yank my feathers out one by one!” A look of confusion spread across Taz’s face. “Tara? What does she have to do with anything?” “She’s your mate and a very jealous one if I remember correctly. No offense hun, but I would like to stay in one piece if you don’t mind.” The handsome cheetah shook his head slowly. “I think I better call Tygra. Looks like that blow to your head was more severe then we thought.” “Why do you say that?” Az asked. “Because babe, Tara isn’t my mate, you are.” Her mouth only dropped and it was a minute or two before she found her voice again. “No, you and Tara hooked up after I fully came into my powers, I remember that for sure.” Taz smiled, “You mean when you tried to push me into her arms because of that vision of yours. Yeah, I remember that, and I remember exactly what I said to you.” "But?" "But.. what if you're wrong? What if Tara and I are not truly meant for one another? Visions can't always be interpreted exactly as they are presented. I won't pretend to know or understand what you saw, cause I didn't see it... but do you truly believe what you saw is set in stone if things here continue as they are? I just.. I still love you a great deal.. I know that's not what you want to hear right now but.." Az shushed him then, touching his face gently with her hand. He covered her hand with his, looking at her sadly. “And we ended it as friends, right?” Az asked. Taz looked away, a bit ashamed. “Well yes, technically we did, and I won’t lie that I was eager to see what could happen with me and Tara, but as I left the room, I looked behind and saw you just sitting there, looking beautiful, looking serene, and my heart stopped beating. I knew then that I loved you and even though I did have feelings for Tara, they couldn’t compare to the ones I had for you.” She didn’t remember Taz taking his time leaving the room, he had been eager to seek out Tara and start a relationship with her so this was all new to her. “Taz, I’m sorry, I don’t remember all of this. Really, I don’t.” “It’s no problem babe. Tygra said you might have some memory loss. All it means to me is that we can make new ones now.” The way he looked at her, the way he touched her, made her stomach do summersaults. Though it had been nearly a year since they had been a couple, she still remembered all he could do and her heartbeat quickened. And as he leaned down to embrace her, she closed her eyes and thought “I could definitely like living in this reality.” “Think again, bird brain!” Once again Az was in her room with Angel staring at her. “What the hell?!” Az demanded. “What? You think I was just going to let you live the perfect life? Sorry, I’m your evil half, remember? I just wanted you to see a glimpse of what you could of have.” “But why?” Angel glared at her. “Because I’m tired of being held back by you! If you had let me out every once in a while, then maybe you and Taz could have had that life. Maybe you wouldn’t be dead right now. Maybe you might have another chance at love with someone, anyone at this point!” “So this is what it was all about, payback.” “It’s so much more then that, but your little innocent mind won’t allow you to comprehend it, at least not until you are ready to let it. Now get the hell out of here and do a better job this time!” Az closed her eyes against the blinding light Angel shot at her and when she opened her eyes, she saw that she was back on the battle field. She looked down and saw Tara and Taz still alive and fighting. “Makes you long for the days when we all wanted to kill each other instead of these guys, eh?” Az looked over at Zhyan then around at the chaos, the odds still stacked against them. There was just no way they could defeat them with out a miracle. Then an idea came to her. “Alright Angel, I get it now. You want to come out and play. Well, the door is open, do your worse!” From within her was a roar of triumph and a light enveloped her. Beside her, Zhyan gawked at the spectacle. When the light faded, it was to show radically changed Az. Black leather molded to her body, showing off every dangerous and delicious curve. Short choppy auburn hair was replaced with flowing, fiery red tresses accentuated with raven black streaks. 4 inch high heel stiletto boots clung to her calves like lovers. And her violet hued eyes shone with a mischievous twinkle. The archangel looked her up and down and gave out a low whistle. Az/Angel turned to him with a cocky grin, looking him over as well. “Not so bad looking yourself, darlin’.” She flew over to him and wrapped her arms playfully around him, one hand playing with his lavender pony tail. “Listen baby, I need you to go get your friends and be ready to join your powers together.” Zhyan felt himself becoming aroused, but he knew this wasn’t the time or place. “Sure thing love, but promise that you’ll meet me later so that we may further our acquaintance.” Angel leaned back, grinning seductively. “Oh if there were just more time!” then she flew out of his grasp and down towards the Thundercats. Above, Zhyan shivered a bit then looked down and saw his lady, Leona, glaring at him. “Aww crap! She saw that!” Immediately he flew off to tell Sin and Talia of this woman’s plans in hopes of delaying the ear blistering he knew he was in for from the leopardess. Lion-o had just let loose another bolt of energy at one of the advancing Mutants when someone landed directly in front of him, making him jump in surprise. “Hey Afro Man! I need you to call all your dudes and dudettes over here.” Both Lion-o and Tygra looked at each other at this command. “Afro man?” wondered Tygra while Lion-o said, “What’s going on Az?” “Angel actually. Hi, how ya doin’?” she said, grabbing his hand and shaking it briefly before continuing. “No, seriously, if you want all your lil underlings to keep breathing, get them over here now.” “Lion-o!” Tygra shouted as new Mutants came at them. Lion-o brought the Sword up but Angel beat him to it by simply raising her hand and shooting a ray of black light behind her, disintegrating the creature. The young lord’s eyes rose clear up to his hair line. “You, you…” “I just blew up his face, yeah. Now, get your guys over here pronto! We’ve only got one chance at this. If you aren’t willing to listen, then I’m outta here and you can tackle these big uglies on your own.” He had always trusted Az in the past, he just hoped he could trust her, or Angel as it were, now. Lion-o lifted up the Sword of Omens and called out to his people. Seeing the symbol in the sky, their eyes flashed and they rushed over as soon as they could. With them came the allies; Mumm-ra, Mumm-rana, Sin and Talia, Leona and a sulking Zhyan. Instead of Lion-o telling them what they needed to do, it was Angel who stepped forward. “Ok, before anyone asks and wastes my time, I’m Angel, Az’s more evil, more fun, more sexy side. You don’t like me, tough, I don’t care. We got the introductions out of the way now? Good. Now listen up!” Sinistral smirked at the cocky young woman. “She reminds me of this one snake charmer I had a one nighter with.” He said to Zhyan slyly. The archangel only grinned back, knowing what he meant. “Long story short people. In all of you good guys is a little bit of evil. In all you bad guys is a smidgen of good. We’re going to tap into those parts and send these bastards packing.” “How?” Bengali asked. Angel looked at him, looked down towards parts she shouldn’t, looked up and grinned. “Sorry baby but questions waste time, actions are faster.” The white tiger blushed at this, to which Angel winked at him then returned to the group at large. “Everyone must be in physical contact with everyone else. You don’t have to hold hands if that’s not your thing, but you do need to be touching the one in front of you. And make it quick, our time out is over.” Quickly everyone got into formation, creating a branching V pointed out at the Mutants advancing on them. When she knew they were ready, Angel placed one hand on Lion-o’s shoulder and one on Mumm-ra’s, seeking through them for that one spark of good or evil that they tried to hide from the rest of the world, that one tiny secret that could make or break a person. Time slowed down while a blue aura surrounded each person in the V until each and every hidden power had been tapped. Her eyes glowing brightly, Angel waited until the power was built into an immeasurable force. “Focus people, focus on the complete annihilation of those things in front of you.” When she felt that focus, she honed it to a razors edge. “Now, release it!” The aura quickly left the group, searching out and destroying any creature that stood in front of it. In no time at all, nearly all of the bio-engineered Mutants laid dead or dying. At first no one made a sound, but when they realized that they had won, the crowd cheered wildly. For her own part, Angel knew her time was almost up so she had to do just one last thing before that moral bound Az forced her back into captivity. Quickly she walked over to where Tara and Taz were embracing and yanked the hybrid away, sending her into the dirt. Before Taz could protest, Angel grabbed him by the face and pressed her lips to his, her tongue invading the inside of his mouth, tasting the sweetness that was him. So shocked was he that Taz just let it happen. When she pulled back, the poor cheetah was in a daze. “Hey Taz, you ever think about ‘What ifs’?” Then a glow enveloped her and Az returned. When she saw where she was and in whose arms she was in, she quickly backed away, blushing profusely. “Uh, I’m sorry Taz. I didn’t know she was going to do that.” Taz reached up and started scratching his head, embarrassed himself. “Uh, yeah, no problem.” Then he saw Tara still on the ground, glaring at Az and rushed to help her, leaving the human woman alone. A soft knock sounded at her door. “Come in.” she called out as she continued to sit on her bed and examine her damaged wing. “Ouch! That looks bad.” Came the voice of Taz. The woman looked up and smiled uneasily at him. “You can thank Tara for that. She slammed the door on my wing when we came in earlier today. Her revenge for me, or rather my evil me, kissing you.” He nodded sadly, understanding why Tara would do that. “Will it be ok?” “Yeah, I just need a few days rest and it’ll be good as new. Gotta love wings that can regenerate quickly.” “Well that’s good.” The cheetah said nervously. “Um, speaking of your ‘evil you’, what did she mean by What Ifs?” Az stopped plucking the bent feathers from her wings and looked up at her friend. “I think that was mostly a message for me, to remind me that I don’t always have to do the right thing.” This made Taz think. “Is that what happened when we broke up? You were doing the right thing?” She sighed and decided to come clean. “At the time yes, I thought I was, but now, I’m not so sure. I think I pushed you to Tara because I wanted to see if maybe you would change your mind after a while and come back to me or because I loved you too much to keep you with me when your heart obviously wanted something else. I just don’t know. But Angel showed me that doing the right thing all the time might not be so right.” Taz sat down next to her, being careful not to brush up against her injured wing. “So what will you do then?” “Follow my heart.” She said with a smile. Taz saw how sad her smile was and wrapped an arm around her. “I know you’ll do ok luv. Just stick to your guns.” She smiled again, but this one reached her eyes, making both her and the cheetah feel better. “Well, I have to get going.” Taz said, getting up from the edge of the bed. “We’ve got a lot of recovery planned over the next few weeks so I’ll see you later.” As he headed out the door he paused and said, “Oh and Az, there are some ‘What Ifs’ that can become ‘What might become.’ Just keep that in mind.” He winked at her then left. She was left to ponder what he meant by his last statement but when it hit her, she grinned from ear to ear. “Indeed?” she thought as her eyes briefly blazed violet. “Hmm, I think I might like that challenge.” The End