Unknown Enemies

Part Five

Cat’s Lair’s alarm blared all over the home of the ThunderCats, bringing those who were in the lair to the Control Room. Panthro, Lion-O, WilyKat and Leela arrived in the Control Room where WilyKit and Tygra were already in attendance.

“It’s another attack, isn‘t it?” Lion-O guessed. “Which lion city is it this time?”

“It’s not a lion city this time, Lion-O,” WilyKit informed her leader.

“The Cheetah Elder’s home has been attacked, as well as the surrounding area.” Tygra added and pointed to the main monitor.

Lion-O looked at the large screen and saw the city in flames. He remembered Cheetara telling him that she lived near the cheetah elders. His eyes widen in horror. She could be hurt. He had to get to her and see if she is all right.

“Let’s go! We have to help the cheetahs!” Lion-O shouted. “Panthro warm up the Thundertank. I’ll join you once I get my sword. Tygra, take the ThunderClaw. Kit and Kat, you stay here.”

Panthro and Tygra followed orders and left the room in a rush. Lion-O was about to follow when Leela grabbed his arm.

“Why help the cheetahs, Lion-O?” Leela asked upset with Lion-O’s choice to help the cheetahs--the very people that were destroying their kind. “They’re getting what they deserve for attacking the lions.”

“Even though the cheetahs are killing lions, we will still help them. We are ThunderCats. We help anyone in distress…even our enemies.” Lion-O pulled his arm from Leela’s grasp and ran out.

Leela watched Lion-O run away in disgust. “How could he help those traitors?”

*****

“Turn around now, cheetahs or we’ll shoot!”

“My friend is hurt,” Cheetara said with her back to the lions.

“He’s lucky he’s not dead. Now turn around!” A lion ordered.

Cheetara leaned Chase on the wall with her back was still to the lions. “For your own safety, I suggest that you leave,” Cheetara warned.

“For your own safety, I suggest you turn around,” the lion countered and cocked his laser gun.

Cheetara sighed. “If that’s what you want.” She turned around and saw five lions with their guns aiming at her.

Cheetara raised her right hand and moved it in a quick gesture that said ‘come here.’ The guns left the lions’ hands and turned around, aiming at the owners. “Leave now!” Cheetara ordered.

Weaponless, the lions became scared and ran away. Cheetara went back to Chase and the two made their way downstairs and out the back door. Out there were numerous lions that were attacking and killing cheetahs that were fighting back. When the back door opened, a few lions turned back to see who was coming out.

“The woman with the helmet!” Someone shouted.

“She’s the leader of the cheetahs!”

“Kill her!” Another lion shouted.

“Get behind me, Chase. I’ll take care of them,” She told him and he did so. He was too wounded to do any fighting right now.

The lions fired on Cheetara with their guns. Cheetara’s eyes glowed yellow and a gold shield immediately covered her and Chase. Cheetara heard something roaring in the distance, but she couldn’t look to see what it was. She had more important things on her mind, such as finding a way to escape.

“Chase, I’m busy concentrating on the barrier. Tell me what that noise is?”

Chase looked over Cheetara‘s shoulder and saw a familiar vehicle arriving on the scene. “It’s the Thundertank.”

“Great,” she said wryly. “This is all I need. We’ve got to get out of here before the ThunderCats attack us. Chase, can you still use your telekinetic powers?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I need you to teleport yourself to Tatiana’s new home. Tell her what’s going on. Do you have enough strength to do that?”

“I think so, but what about you?” He asked worried.

“I’m going to take care of these lions.”

“By yourself? Are you sure?” Chase asked worried.

“Of course by myself! Don’t start a fight with me now! There’s no time for that,” Cheetara argued.

“Be careful, love. These lions are ruthless people,” Chase warned her.

“I know, Chase. Be careful too.”

Chase kissed Cheetara on the back of her head and teleported himself away from the battle. Once Chase disappeared, Cheetara relaxed. He was now safe. Cheetara summoned more of her powers and repelled the bullets back at the lions who fired on her. Most of the lions were hit by their own bullets and immediately killed with shots to their heads and chest. There were only five lions who were able to dodge the flying bullets without getting hurt. Once the firing stopped, they dropped their guns and pulled out their swords. Cheetara let her protective shield fall and pulled out her sword.

“You want me! Come on then!” Cheetara challenged.

The lions raised their swords and charged on her just as the Thundercats were now arriving on the scene. Lion-O in his seat surveying the battles between the lions and cheetahs. It was cheetahs who were running in fear for their lives and safety. Part of Lion-O felt it was karma coming back on the cheetahs, but another part of Lion-O felt it wasn’t right even if the cheetahs did have it coming.

“What do you want us to do, Lion-O?” Tygra asked calling from the Thunderclaw.

“Help the cheetahs out,” Lion-O ordered. Lion-O was very worried and his concern didn‘t go unnoticed from the other Thundercats. Panthro and Tygra thought it was Lion-O’s concern for all Thunderians that made him look so worried. That was part of the truth but Lion-O’s main concern was Cheetara. He had a strong feeling she was out there and he had to get to her to make sure she was all right.

“Lion-O, I’ve spotted the leader of the cheetahs. She’s fighting a group of lions at the destroyed Cheetah Elder’s Base,” Panthro said in the Thundertank.

“I guess that’s where I’m going,” Lion-O said and jumped out of the moving vehicle. He was running to aid Cheetara not even knowing it.

Cheetara was handling herself very well. She was fighting off five lions with their swords. Her training of sword fighting and her quick reflexes came in well this day as she struck, kick, and cut the lions. One was dead, two were too injured to fight after she got through with them but the last two were putting up a strong hold. They were determined to not let Cheetara come out of this alive.

“Hang on! I’m coming!”

That was Lion-O. Cheetara knew it. The sound of his voice distracted her so much so that a lion finally got a blow on her and cut her left arm, leaving a deep wound.

“AAH!” Cheetara cried in pain as she clutched her injured arm, causing her to drop her sword.

To prevent anymore damage to herself, Cheetara jumped back from the group. The blood ran heavily on her fingers and down her arm. Cheetara gritted her teeth in pain as her breath came in heavy pants. She was injured badly and wearing herself out in battle. Still, she was not going to give up. She refused to die this way.

Cheetara used her telekinetic powers to summon her sword back to her. Cheetara took her right hand off her injured arm and grabbed her sword. She glared angrily at the lions and charged on them at full force with a loud battle cry. She was fighting wilder than any expected. Lion-O arrived and joined Cheetara to fight the lions off. When the lions saw what Lion-O was doing, they backed off.

“My Lord, what are you doing?! She’s the enemy!” A lion soldier shouted.

“How can you help her?! She must be killed!” Another lion shouted.

Lion-O stood in front of Cheetara protectively. Even the cheetah warrior was shocked by Lion-O’s actions. “No, she doesn’t! How do you expect us to live in peace if we all fight in violence?!”

“The cheetahs started this, my lord! They were the ones to attack our villages, kill our men, women and children! We will not allow her to kill another lion!”

Cheetara looked down at her arm. It was bleeding profusely. She shielded her sword and placed her free hand on her injury, trying to slow the bleeding down. Cheetara concentrated her mind on teleportation, but she was too weak to teleport anywhere far.

“Who ordered this attack?” Lion-O asked furiously.

The lion looked at Lion-O puzzled. “Don’t you know, my lord? Your fiancée approved of it last night.”

“She what?” Lion-O gasped angrily.

Cheetara noticed another Thundercat landing his vehicle. It was Tygra in the Thunderclaw. He walked over to join them. Tygra looked at Cheetara and then at Lion-O. It was now or never to escape. The Thunderclaw wasn’t that far away, but Cheetara couldn’t run over there without the others stopping her.

If I summon enough strength, I may be able to teleport myself to that vehicle that tiger Thundercat was in.

While Lion-O, Tygra and the lion soldiers were talking, Cheetara closed her eyes in concentration. One of the lions saw her glowing.

“Look! The witch is glowing!”

Everyone turned around and saw Cheetara glowing in concentration. She disappeared from their sight and reappeared by the Thunderclaw. Lion-O saw how she weakly got on the vehicle.

“She’s taking the Thunderclaw!” Tygra shouted. Tygra ran after her, but Cheetara was already typing the codes to fire up the ship. The Thunderclaw floats in the air as Tygra pulled out his whip and threw it at the Thunderclaw to get a hold on it. Cheetara maneuvered the craft to get out of the whip’s grasp in time. She hit full blast and flew off.

“You see, my Lord. If you didn’t stop us, we would have been able to kill her!” A lion shouted at his king angrily.

This wasn’t good PR Lion-O knew but he was too angry to think about that now. Lion-O faced all the standing lions. “You all are under arrest for disrupting the peace.”

“How can you arrest us, my Lord? We were only attacking the cheetahs for attacking our people!”

“You attacked defenseless people. Anyone captured in the aftermath is arrested. We arrested the cheetahs when they attacked the lion’s homes and we are now arresting the lions for attacking the cheetahs.”

“This is an outrage!” The lion soldier shouted.

“Are you sure this is right, Lion-O?” Tygra asked as he joined Lion-O again. “They do have a point.”

“They shouldn’t have sunk to the cheetahs’ level. We can never win this way. I will certainly get that through Leela’s head when I get through talking to her.”

“Leela?” Tygra said confused. “What does she have to do with this?”

“She approved of it. Come on, we have a lot of work to do.”

“Wait. What about the Thunderclaw? That woman stole it.”

“We have tracking devices on all our vehicles, Tygra. We’ll find her.” Lion-O said. “Now, let’s see to the casualties.” He hoped Cheetara wasn’t among the victims.

Cheetara landed the Thunderclaw in a desert twenty miles out of the vicinity of the battle. She tore off part of her cloak and wrapped it tightly around her wounded arm. She was nearly drained of all her strength. She had to leave the Thunderclaw abandoned it because she knew a tracking device was on the vehicle. It belonged to the Thundercats after all. The best thing Cheetara could do was walk for help, but where was she to go? She was out of range of a cheetah city or any city for that matter. Cheetahs always lived in deserted land away from other cities. Where could she go?

Lion-O. Cheetara remembered her talk with Lion-O last night and she agreed to meet him again tonight to try to kill him again or possible just to talk. After what happened the other night and her talk with Talia, she wasn‘t sure what she wanted to do. After today’s battle, Cheetara wasn’t sure she he was going to make it. What she needed was a place to stay and rest and she knew Lion-O would provide that for her…that is if they meet tonight.

“I’ve got to see him tonight,” Cheetara told herself as she made her long journey to the rendezvous point. “He can help me. He‘s the only one who can help me.”

*****

Once the ThunderCats helped with the cleanup, arresting the lions and questioning of the living cheetahs who could escape--who lied about seeing the Cheetah Leader in their area, Lion-O and the others head back to Cat’s Lair. Lion-O was relieved that he didn’t find Cheetara’s body but he was sadden by the lost of the cheetahs. He was angry with Leela for giving the lions the go ahead to attack without consulting him. As soon as Lion-O entered the lair, he asked Snarf where Leela was.

Lion-O stormed in Leela’s bedroom without knocking. “Leela, why did you give the lions the go ahead to attack the Cheetah Elders?!”

Leela was busy fixing her hair when Lion-O stormed in. She glared at her fiancée angrily. “Since we’re not married and still living in chaste, I expect you to knock before coming into my room.”

“Not when you do things like this!” Lion-O argued angrily. “Answer my question!”

Leela returned her attention to the mirror, busy combing her hair. “I did so the lions will fight the cheetahs. They are enemies of ours! They deserve a taste of their own medicine!”

“Didn’t you care about the innocent lives that were being killed?!”

Leela placed her comb down and glared at her fiancé. “The cheetahs didn’t care about the innocent lives of lions they killed and hurt when they surprise attacked cities populated with lions, so why should I care if we do the same thing!”

“Because you’re supposed to be a noble lady!” Lion-O contended.

“I don’t see how I can be a noble lady since I’m not married to my lord, and we know who’s the cause for that---you!”

“You’re suppose to have kind and just leadership qualities in your blood before you officially become a lady, but you obviously don’t have that and don’t deserve to the title as queen!” Lion-O disputed irritably.

Leela’s green eyes shot sparks at him. If she could kill him with her looks, she would do it ten times over now. “Whether you think I deserve it or not, I am going to be your wife because I was promised to you and spent my whole life to be a noble lady!”

“And you obviously failed at that!” Lion-O shouted.

“Ooooh!” Leela growled. The woman was so furious that she tried to slap him, but Lion-O was quick to catch her hand. “How dare you say that to me?!”

“It’s only the truth, Leela.” Lion-O was unabashed with the statement. Leela never fitted the role as queen, not only in his eyes but in many of the ThunderCats eyes. Still, they didn‘t have a say about it as much as Lion-O.

Lion-O released Leela’s hand and his eyes mistakenly glanced at the clock on the wall. He hadn’t realized how much time had passed today. In thirty minutes, he was to see Cheetara. He was going to be late, even if he did leave now. He couldn’t skip out. He had to see if she was all right.

“I’m out of here,” Lion-O said tiredly and left the room.

Leela was fast on his heels. “Wait. Where are you going? You can‘t leave like this! You and I are in the middle of an argument!”

“If I don’t get out now, then I might say something I will regret.”

Leela abruptly stopped as she quickly took in what he said. “You mean you don’t regret any of the things you said?!” Leela shouted after Lion-O. “How dare you?! Go for all I care! You will have a lot of apologizing when you do get back!”

When Lion-O entered the hangar, he was met with the Thunderkittens. “Lion-O, we found the Thunderclaw!” WilyKit said excited.

Lion-O was intrigued. “You have? Where?”

“Twenty miles from the battle site today. The Cheetah Leader left it there.”

“Could you tell where she went?” Lion-O asked. If he could find the leader, then this war is over.

“We found footprints that went out of the desert for a mile but you know how deserts are and their sandstorms, so we lost her tracks,” Kat explained.

“Well, we’ll find her,” Lion-O said confidently.

“She’s hurt, Lion-O.” Kat went on. “We found traces of blood on the Thunderclaw.”

“She did look weary when she took the Thunderclaw,” Lion-O said recalling her behavior today. “She couldn’t have gotten far. Have Tygra and Panthro search the area.” He ordered.

“They already are, Lion-O,” Kit said.

“Good. I’m going out for a while. I don’t know when I’ll be back.” Lion-O said and got on a hover vehicle that didn’t bare the Thundercat symbol.

“You’re going incognito?” WilyKat asked.

“Yes. I need to go out where I won’t be recognized. I’ll see you later.”

Leela entered the hangar just as Lion-O left. She saw the backlights on the hover vehicle. “Lion-O’s gone?”

“Yep,” WilyKat remarked.

“I just heard your conversation with Lion-O. Did you say that you found blood on the Thunderclaw?”

Eavesdropping on the conversation sounded more like it to the twins. “Yes, it had to have come from the cheetah warrior,” WilyKit said.

Leela thought for a moment. ‘This could be useful. If I can find the Cheetah Leader, Lion-O will see I’m worthy as queen.’ “I have an idea.”

Go to Part Six

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