Unknown Enemies

Part Thirteen

Chase flew towards the Feliner like a madman. His eyes boiled with rage. Images of Cheetara with Lion-O filled his mind and it only set his jealous rage to new heights.

Lion-O and Panthro saw Chase coming at them as they head towards him in the Feliner.

“Is he crazy?” Panthro asked. “Preparing for evasive action.”

“He’s protecting Cheetara,” Lion-O said with malice. “Of course he’s crazy. Why would he want to protect her if he knew the true her?”

“What makes you think he doesn’t?” Panthro asked.

Lion-O’s teeth gritted in anger. “More than me? Of course.”

Panthro’s eyes were diverted from preparing to attack Chase, to Lion-O puzzled. “What?”

With Panthro distracted by Lion-O’s words, Chase sideswiped the Feliner on Lion-O’s side. The Feliner began spiraling as Panthro struggled for control. “Dangblasted!”

“Get this Feliner under control!” Lion-O ordered Panthro.

“What do you think I’m doing?!” Panthro yelled back. Panthro pulled on the throttle to get the Feliner leveled off before they hit the ground and pulled back up in the sky, even though the ship was a bit shaky. “I think I have it under control now.”

Lion-O looked back and saw Chase was coming at them again. Lion-O pressed a button on the panel causing the top of the Feliner to open. “I’ll take care of this guy.”

Just as Chase was about to ram into the ship again, Lion-O jumped from his seat to attack Chase. Chase fell off his vehicle, causing both him and Lion-O to crash to the ground and Chase’s ship to make a few bumps before it crashed, sustaining mild damage. Lion-O was quick to recover from the fall. He jumped to his feet and glared at Chase. Chase jumped up as well and pulled out his sword.

“I’ve been wanting to do this the moment you’ve been born, but it’s more personal now since you took my woman from me!” Chase roared and charged on Lion-O.

The Sword of Omens stretched to full length and prepared itself as Chase’s sword came down on it. Lion-O only wondered for a moment before he realized who Chase was talking about. Lion-O stretched his leg to trip Chase. Chase only fell back a moment before he got back on his feet. When Chase came at Lion-O again with his sword, Lion-O easily dodged him and punched Chase in the face. His anger was blinding him from fighting well unless he was always this pathetic.

“So, you’re Cheetara’s boyfriend? Husband?” Lion-O guessed.

Chase glared at Lion-O as he tasted the blood in his mouth. He spat it out and gave Lion-O a vicious glare. “My betrothed!” Chase came at Lion-O swinging his sword left and right at Lion-O who blocked with the Sword of Omens. Through his quick speed, Chase was able to punch Lion-O hard in the face.

The punch distorted Lion-O for a moment and Chase used his quick speed to punch Lion-O again and again as he ran around the Lord of the ThunderCats in a yellow blur. When Chase wasn’t punching Lion-O, he would hit Lion-O with the hilt of his sword or cut him. Lion-O’s skin had small wounds on his arms and legs. It wasn’t life threatening but even Lion-O knew one fatal blow would do him in.

Lion-O used his eyes and instinct to spot Chase. He used his training from Tygra to help him. Lion-O was able to make out a face and something else coming towards him. Lion-O put up a hand as he caught Chase’s sword before it struck Lion-O’s chest. A slice of blood spilled from his hand and Lion-O punched Chase in the face, knocking him on his back. Lion-O then tossed Chase’s sword of out arm’s reach and sheathe his own sword so the fight would be fair.

Chase laughed maliciously as he wiped the blood from his mouth. “You’re a fool to do that. Now you‘ll really die.”

“What kind of man are you to let your fiancée come to me the way she did?” Lion-O questioned. “You obviously didn’t love her that much…unless you’re the type of man who like women like that.”

Chase didn’t like the meaning in what Lion-O was saying. “Cheetara was the love of my life!” He tried to punch Lion-O but Lion-O caught Chase’s fist and punched Chase in the stomach hard. Chase’s knees buckled at the blow for it knocked the wind out of him.

He glared at Lion-O. “As if you’re one to talk. You betrayed your own fiancée! You’ve betrayed your own kind with the affair you had with Cheetara! If the world knew what I know, they’ll dethrone you in a second!”

“It’s my word against yours--the traitorous cheetahs for your deception. They’ll believe I was deceived by Cheetara and know I was trying to make peace,” Lion-O argued.

“Make peace by sleeping with the very enemy that’s responsible for countless deaths of lions! Oh, yes, the lions will believe that!” Chase said and charged on Lion-O again.

No matter how hard Chase fought, he just wasn’t good enough to hold up against Lion-O. Each blow he delivered to Lion-O, Lion-O punches were even harder. Chase hated to admit it but he was no match for Lion-O. Still, he had a trump card--the babies.

“You can lie to your people and say Cheetara deceived you all you want but I know there are two things that will make the people of this planet doubt your words. Cheetara knows it too,” Chase said wickedly.

“What would that be?” Lion-O asked.

Chase laughed knowing that Lion-O wasn’t aware of the twins Cheetara was carrying. He threw out some smoke balls and threw it in Lion-O’s direction. Lion-O coughed as the smoke got to him, blinding his vision and cutting off his breathing. Chase used this opportunity to run and grab his sword. He was going to slice Lion-O’s head off. That was the only thing to give him satisfaction for taking Cheetara from him.

Chase grabbed the sword and ran towards Lion-O. Lion-O was on his knees still coughing but even he could feel Chase getting closer to him so in the last moment, Lion-O pulled out the Sword of Omens and swung it at Chase as he approached.

Chase stood there shocked as the sword made a fatal blow to his side. Chase dropped his sword and his own body slumped to the ground. Lion-O looked back and saw what he had done. The Sword of Omens was caked with Chase’s blood, but there was no other way. Chase was determined to kill him and it was only in self defense that Lion-O defended himself.

Lion-O stood over Chase as the cheetah coughed up blood from his mouth with that evil gleam as if he knew something that Lion-O didn’t. “You’ll never know,” Chase breathed his final words and closed his eyes meeting death.

Lion-O stood there puzzled what Chase meant. He sheathed his sword and knew he didn’t have time to think about this. Lion-O got on Chase’s vehicle which still functioned despite being slightly damaged from the crash and took to the sky. When he found Cheetara, he’ll ask her what Chase was talking about.

****

Cheetara wondered what happened between Chase and Lion-O as she neared the mystery destination she wasn’t told about yet. The last thing she saw was Chase heading for the Feliner. She wondered if Chase told Lion-O about the babies or how he took advantage of her. She wondered how Lion-O‘s reaction was when Chase told him he was her betrothed. The way Lion-O felt for her now, he probably didn‘t care.

“We’re near the ship, Lady Cheetara,” her ride told Cheetara.

“Ship?” Cheetara questioned.

“You’ll see it when you get there. Just get off this craft and run for it. I’ll cover you.”

“But with all these lions and the Feliner after us, you’ll get killed.”

“My future queen, the prophecy said you will lead us to freedom, respect and power, not me. I may not live to see it, but I know it will happen by you. You have to survive for all the cheetahs. Without you, all hope is lost. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Cheetara said solemnly.

“There it is!”

Cheetara looked ahead and saw a ship ready for take off. She could also make out cheetah warriors and Cheetah Elders armed standing by. Cheetara’s ride increased the speed of the ship to emergency power, leaving his escorts.

In the Feliner, Panthro saw Cheetara leaving her escort. Lion-O rode alongside Panthro in his vehicle. He spoke to Lion-O through the com-link on Chase’s ship. “We can’t let them get away.” Lion-O said.

“I could fire on them so they crash,” Panthro suggested.

“No! I want her alive.” Lion-O said gravely. “She still has some question to answer to me.”

Panthro never seen Lion-O this angry. This woman really gotten under his skin, which left Panthro with the impression there was more to this than he knew about.

Lion-O sped past Panthro in his ship. “Speed up so they won’t get away!” he ordered.

Cheetara’s pilot began to descend to the docking bay. Her escorts tried their best but they were having trouble protecting Cheetara with many lion warriors, the Feliner and Lord Lion-O himself after them. A lion in his hovercraft aimed his missiles at Cheetara’s craft and fired. It was a direct hit on the engine. Cheetara screamed as they were hit. Her ship began to spiral in a downward plane to the ground.

“Hang on, Cheetara!” the cheetah yelled. “I won’t let you die!”

On the docking bay, Talia stepped out of the ship waiting to take Cheetara away and watched in horror Cheetara’s falls from the sky. “No!”

Carvel laid a hand on her shoulders to calm her. “We can’t do anything now. We must have hope they will survive.”

Talia faced Carvel. “All right. As soon as they crash, we get them out, put them in the ship and fly out of here.”

“You may have to do that, Talia,” Candra spoke gravely.

Talia didn’t like the way Candra was talking. It was very unsettling. “What do you mean by that?”

“With all the lions here coming at us, we all won’t be able to escape. We will have to fend them off while you get Cheetara out of here.”

Talia saw there was no way to argue the point. “All right. The ship is ready for take off. I’ll just wait and help Cheetara in.”

“No, you better get in there now. As soon as Cheetara gets in, you fly off,” Carvel ordered.

“Right,” Talia said and got in the ship.

Cheetara and her pilot were fast approaching the ground. The Feliner and Lion-O were hot on their tail waiting for them to crash. The pilot got a handle on the ship as they made their bumpy crash. The two ships that were guarding Cheetara crashed to the ground after being fired down by the lions. Cheetara and her pilot weren’t badly hurt, but they were in danger of being shot. The cheetahs made a quick twenty feet jog to the ship, dodging firearms from the lions. Cheetara’s guardian pulled out his gun and fired on the lion ships as he and Cheetara ran. He shot a lion out of his craft.

In the distance, Cheetara saw the Cheetah Elders armed firing on the lions knocking them out. She also saw a long Thunderian ship ready for take off. She knew it was waiting for her.

“Hurry, Cheetara!” Candra told her.

“You get in there!” Carvel ordered.

A lion saw Cheetara entering the ship. He was not going to let the person responsible for the deaths of lions get away. He fired on her so it would hit her in the back, but it didn’t hit Cheetara. It hit her guardian.

Cheetara heard her guardian’s scream as he pushed her inside the ship. She turned back. “No!” She reached for his hand to pull him in, but he fell to the ground dead.

“Go, Talia! Get Cheetara out of here!” Che’kar ordered.

The door closed on the ship and Talia took off. Lion-O and Panthro arrived to see the ship taking off. “NO! She mustn’t escape. Fire at her so she’ll crash!” Lion-O ordered.

“You want us to kill her, Lion-O?!” Panthro questioned incredulously.

“I don’t want to kill her! Just fire so she’ll crash but the ship won’t blow up!” Lion-O ordered.

The Feliner began to fire on Cheetara’s ship. The Cheetah Elders and soldiers on the ground continued to fire at the lions and the Feliner. Candra shot at the Feliner’s engines with a direct hit. Che’kar fired on one of the wings.

Panthro growled angrily. “I’ve been hit! I can’t hold her up for long.”

As the lions saw the Feliner plummet to the ground, they were even more enraged at the cheetahs and fired them with all their weapons at once. Lion-O avoided the battle to try to catch up with Cheetara. The cheetahs were obviously outnumbered by the lions’ onslaught. Cheelon was the first to fall. He got shot in the head. A bullet to the chest ended Candra’s life. Che’kar and Carvel were shot by multiple bullet wounds. Other cheetahs continued to fight while others fled for their life. The battle of the cheetahs vs. lions was over and the lions were winning.

The Feliner crashed to the ground but Panthro wasn’t badly hurt. Lion-O continued to follow Cheetara in Chase’s vehicle but there was no way his small ship would catch up with the faster ship Cheetara was in. Cheetara was too far to be reached now. She was heading out of the planet at full speed and neither the lions’ hovercraft were fast enough to catch up with them.

Panthro watched Cheetara fly away in her ship as was everyone else. He saw Lion-O descended next to him on his vehicle. “It looks like Cheetara gets away,” Panthro thought carefully. “She won’t be coming back not after this. She’d be crazy to come back. The war is over, Lion-O, and the lions have won. You should be glad.”

“No,” Lion-O growled. “I’m anything but glad. I’ve failed my people. I didn’t catch her.”

“You might not have caught her but you did defeat her. The people will be grateful for that. Now we have to clean up and deal with the cheetahs for their betrayal,” Panthro advised.

Lion-O looked at Panthro, a smile slowly creeping on his face. “Right. You’re right.” Lion-O looked back in the sky once more. “Wherever Cheetara goes, she’s better off there than here. She will never be able to return.”

In the sky, Cheetara looked out the window. She was too far away to see it but she knew many cheetahs lied on the ground dead. She never witnessed it, but something told her Chase was dead as well. Cheetara couldn’t stop the tears falling from her eyes. It was so horrible how this all turned out, a war that was forced on her, a war she never wanted to be apart of, a war she wanted to stop.

“It’s over. It’s all over. Chase is….dead. Candra, Carvel, Che’kar, Cheelon….are all gone.”

“I know it’s a terrible thing, but we have to move on, and out of this tragedy there is goodness.” Talia told her as she piloted the ship.

Cheetara looked at her friend with a flood of tears falling down her eyes. “Like what?”

“Well, you have those two children who will not witness this bloodshed. You never did want to fight in this war to begin with and now it’s over. You won’t have to deal with that,” Talia explained.

“That still doesn’t cover up the fact that lions and cheetahs are dead because of me,” Cheetara tried to argue.

“Don’t blame yourself. Although you were at that battle, it was Chase and the Cheetah Elder’s commands you were following.” Talia said. She sighed out of relief. “We’re out of the planet now. I don’t think they will be following us now.” Talia set the ship on autopilot for its destination. She got out of her seat and sat beside Cheetara who was still sitting on the floor.

“Are you all right, physically I mean?” Talia asked.

“Yes. I’m fine physically only.”

“Come on,” Talia said helping Cheetara up. She walked her to one of the sleeping quarters. “Get in bed. You need to rest.”

Cheetara took off her shoes, pulled back the covers and got in bed. Rest was what she needed now. That was all she could do now. Cheetara lied on her side and closed her eyes. Talia sat on the bed and continued to talk to her. She knew her friend wasn’t going to fall asleep anytime soon, not after what just happened.

“This war isn’t your fault. You were forced into it because of that prophecy. If not for that, you would be living a normal life.” Talia gasped as she realized something.

Cheetara opened her eyes puzzled. “What is it?”

“Chase told me to get everything we needed to escape. I got all yours and my belongings but I forgot something else. I wanted the father of your baby to come with us.”

“It’s all right, Talia. It’s not your fault. Besides, you don’t know who he is.”

“You’re right, but since we’ve escaped and we won’t be coming back, can you tell me?”

“Where are we going?” Cheetara asked changing the subject.

“Athena. It’s a small planet in another solar system.”

“How did you know about it?” Cheetara asked.

“When I was a little girl, my family used to go there on vacations. In fact, I still have relatives there on my mother’s side. They preferred living there than on Thundera. It’s a peaceful place, and it doesn’t get attack by the Mutants and Lunatacs. No one should find us there. Now, if you’re through changing the subjects, will you tell me who the father is? I might be able to sneak back on Thundera and bring him here.”

Cheetara shook her head. “No. There’s no chance the father will want to see me again.”

“Why not?”

Cheetara remained quiet. She didn’t want to say who it is.

“Cheetara, it’s me. Talia. You can tell me. You told me everything else. We never keep secrets from each other. We’re best friends.”

Cheetara sighed. There was no need in hiding it. She wasn‘t coming back to Thundera. “All right. All right. It’s…Lion-O.”

Talia’s mouth dropped. She wasn’t expecting that. “Lion-O?! The Lord of the ThunderCats?! Wow. You take sleeping with the enemy to a whole new level.”

“Talia!” Cheetara said shocked.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Talia apologized. “It’s just that I didn’t expect it to be him. How in the world did that happen anyway?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Well, it’s a long trip to Athena. We’ve got time.”

*****

Lion-O walked around Cat’s Lair, looking at the damages around his home. He and the ThunderCats would get started first thing in the morning on the numerous repairs. Panthro was right about two things: the war between the lions and cheetahs was over and he’ll never see Cheetara again.

Leela showed up behind Lion-O mysteriously. “Lion-O,” Leela called softly. Lion-O turned to face Leela. “How did it go?”

“The war is over. The cheetahs have lost,” Lion-O stated.

“What about causalities?” Leela asked.

“We lost some lions, but the cheetahs lost more. All the Cheetah Elders are dead. The man who got Cheetara out of here is dead, too.

Leela nodded her head at the news. “Good. And Cheetara?”

“She got away.”

“We must go after her!” Leela said angrily. Leela didn’t like this. As long as Cheetara was alive, she posed a threat to her and Lion-O.

“No!” Lion-O argued. “It’s over. She got away, but everyone’s death is on her head. That’s a good enough punishment for her as well knowing she can’t ever return home,” Lion-O explained and walked away.

Leela wasn’t happy about at how Lion-O was going to let the matter go, let Cheetara go. She wanted Cheetara dead. Not only was Cheetara was a threat but so were her babies. There was still a chance Cheetara could come back and ruined their lives.

Angry, she shouted. “You’re just letting her off easy because you slept with her!”

That caused Lion-O to stop dead in his tracks. As he turned to face Leela, Lion-O’s face etched in disbelief and shock. “How… how did you know?”

“I overheard you saying her name one day. So that night I followed you. I saw you two together. I followed you to Lynx-O’s home. I saw you marry her and consummate your vows. I vow I will not have her take my place so I did some research and discovered she was the Cheetah Leader. That’s how I knew where to arrest her.”

“You knew she was the Cheetah Leader and you didn’t tell me?” Lion-O asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

“Then not only is Cheetara to blame for the deaths of lions tonight, but you are too.”

“What?!” Leela yelled outraged.

“It’s true, Leela. If you told me, then I could have arrested her and lives would’ve been spared tonight. I know I was wrong for being with Cheetara, but you are wrong, too.”

“I’m wrong?! Wrong for keeping what is rightfully mine?!” Leela questioned outrage by Lion-O’s words.

Lion-O shook his head still appalled at what Leela did and what her actions caused. This was the last straw. He had been hurt and betrayed deeply tonight and he was feeling so much guilt over being with Cheetara than Leela and his feelings but now that Leela was keeping this horrible secret, Lion-O was pushed over the edge. He was starting to see Leela for who she really was.

“Is that all you thought about--your title as Lady of the ThunderCats? I never knew you were so evil. I can’t marry a woman like you. You’re not fit to be Lady of the ThunderCats. Leela, if you told me about Cheetara, we would’ve had a chance, but you blew it.”

Leela was enraged. She couldn‘t believe what he was saying. “I blew it after what you’ve done?! You can’t break up our relationship! I was born to be your wife! You can‘t stop a tradition that‘s been around for centuries!” Leela refused to think after all she did, her relationship with Lion-O was over just like that.

“It’s time for traditions to change. Some rules aren’t meant to be followed but be broken,” Lion-O argued. “Unless you want me to tell the lions about your part: how you knew Cheetara was the Cheetah Leader and that you cost lion lives tonight, we are no longer engage. I’ll make an announcement in the morning saying the war is over, a thorough investigation will be made about the cause of war from the cheetahs and then I’ll make a decision about the fate of the cheetahs, and the ending of our relationship.”

“The people know how important I am. What will they think when they learn our relationship is over?”

“I don’t care what they think!” Lion-O growled. “If I didn’t, things might have been different. You wouldn’t have wasted your life on me; I wouldn’t have wasted it on you and feeling pressured to marry someone I don’t love. We both would’ve been happy with our right partner.”

Leela crossed her arms angry. “Oh, and for you that’s Cheetara.”

“No, Cheetara isn’t the one for me. I learned that the hard way, and I know you’re not right for me. I’ll give you a week for you to find your new place and you’ll be taken care of financially for a year. After that, you’re on your own.” Lion-O decreed, turned around and head for his room, leaving Leela gawking at him at his words.

The young Lord knew tonight was a turning point in his life. Things will never be the same again….nothing would be the same again. His planet, his people and Cheetara. He’ll never love again he promised himself. If he married again, it’ll be out of compromise that the woman provided an heir. They would not love each other. That’s how things were going to be.

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