Chilla’s nails were starting to puncture Luna’s arm, but she didn’t move. On the other side of the bedridden Lunatac, Alluro finished giving Chilla her daily dose of painkillers and sedatives. Amok shifted as though to back off, but Luna lightly rapped him with her riding crop. For some reason, she was overcome with sympathy for Chilla. Chilla’s grip was almost powerful enough to crush the delicate bones in Luna’s forearm, but the leader of the Lunatacs still didn’t move. Never before in Luna’s life had she been confronted with something so deadly and felt so helpless. As Chilla lay unconscious in mortal agony, Luna couldn’t help but feel moved. This only made her colder on the outside. Weakness on the part of a leader should never be conveyed in any form to her team. If a leader made a mistake, she had to keep to that mistake. To back off would be to admit weakness.

"Luna?"

Startled from her thoughts, she yanked her arm out of Chilla’s clutching hand. Eyes flashing in annoyance, she turned toward Alluro. "What is it?"

Normally, Alluro would have whipped out the perfect jibe for Luna, but he couldn’t tease her about this. He couldn’t even joke about it with TugMug. So he put his memories of Luna’s emotional display to the back of his mind. "We’re about to land. Any plans?" Normally he wouldn’t have asked for her advice, either, but he was so tired that his mind was one big fog. He needed another perspective.

Luna was surprised by his request and wasn’t quite sure how to take it. Alluro never asked for advice. He was always giving it. But on this perfect occasion for her leadership to shine, Luna didn’t have the slightest clue as to what their next step should be.

She was spared the embarrassment of an answer when an indignant TugMug bounced in. "We’re landing in five minutes. Mumm-Ra wants us all to follow the trail the Thundercats left behind. He doesn’t want to leave anyone behind to care for RedEye and Chilla."

"We’ll see about that," Luna shrieked, latching on to the situation.

"Yes, we will." Mumm-Ra poked his head through the door. "RedEye won’t need any more care and you can automate Chilla’s drug doses. You did that a few times coming down here. Now prepare to land. And Alluro, prepare a vial of the disease. These Thundercats can’t have been immunized yet. We shall infect them and enjoy watching them die. Then we’ll bury them within the earth. There shall be no remaining trace of them!"

"If you’re so confident, take them yourself," Alluro argued. "You won’t need all of us."

"The jungle is dense and while I deal with one, another may escape."

"So hunt them down and deal with them in time. Or is there something about this place that you’re not telling us? Is there a specific reason for us to be along?" Alluro knew Mumm-Ra should be perfectly capable of doing just what the Lunatac suggested. But for some reason, he wasn’t. Why? Alluro’s knowledge of a cure was definitely not a factor in Mumm-Ra’s decision. In fact, if the mummy found out that Alluro had learned of the cure, he’d probably make sure Alluro didn’t get anywhere near their destination. He didn’t want the cure to surface. But why not destroy it himself?

Mumm-Ra was taking a while to answer Alluro’s question, turning possible scenarios over in his scheming mind. The Lunatac was on to something, but would he be able to figure it out? Mumm-Ra cursed the second age. Part of their technology had enabled them to block his powers. He’d need the help of the Lunatacs to permanently destroy the cure. He wouldn’t even be able to get past the threshold of the structure. Staring down the Lunatac with one of his best glares, the mummy growled slightly for effect. "I have my reasons, weakling. And they are not to be questioned. I have told you what to do with your followers, though they are not my concern, and we should be on our way. I feel this vehicle of yours descending."

Luna and Alluro looked accusingly at TugMug. "I have it set to land itself," the Lunatac protested.

"You know better than that! It usually backfires," Luna snapped. "Alluro, take care of the necessary arrangements for Chilla. TugMug, get the disease ready for the Thundercats. Let’s get this over with."

"But—"

"Do it." And to ensure there were no other protests, Luna and Amok imperiously swept out of the room and headed for the control room to control Skytomb’s landing.

Grumbling, Alluro started to set the instruments to Chilla’s needs. If anyone needed a good dose of this plague, it was Mumm-Ra.

TugMug had grabbed a vial of the solution that held the Pain Fever. "Funny," he mused. "Like this, it looks so harmless. At least it works on Thundercats, too." He glanced over at RedEye with a shudder. "But if there were only a cure…"

Behind him, Mumm-Ra smiled an evil grin.

Tygra watched the sunrise from a sitting position. Dizzy spells had kept him from standing for most of the early morning. He knew he’d have to do something about that when they started to search the old building, but for right now, he let the disease start to take its course. It wasn’t causing any pain yet. There should be short spasms of debilitating pain before the actual onset, so he knew that for now, he was safe.

Behind him, he heard the rustling of blankets as someone sat up. He guessed it to be Snarf. Cheetara probably wouldn’t be up for another half-hour or so. The sound of a snarfish yawn confirmed his suspicions. "Morning, Snarf," the tiger said without turning around.

"Morning," Snarf answered. He trotted over and sat down next to Tygra. "Even though they’re hot, snarf, these jungles get some pretty nice sunrises."

Tygra nodded. "Feel ready to start exploring?"

Snarf shivered slightly. "I guess. But I’m getting these weird fainting spells. Not really fainting, but I feel disoriented. And both my legs are acting like they’re asleep, but I can still move them."

"I see." Tygra mentally sorted through the progression of symptoms to determine how close Snarf was to the actual pain. "Well, I’m sure it will pass."

"Yeah." Snarf didn’t sound convinced, but he didn’t argue. "Could we wake Cheetara up? Maybe if we get moving it will wear off."

"Maybe. Go ahead and wake her. I’ll break camp."

Tygra rose to his feet and instantly felt like toppling over. He stood perfectly still for a minute and hoped the feeling would pass. It didn’t, but it did go down in intensity. With a sigh, he bent down and started gathering up the meal from the night before. He heard Cheetara yawn and greet Snarf as she was awakened.

"Are you finally up, sleepy cheetah? Rest well?"

Cheetara looked over at Tygra and smiled. "I had a wonderful sleep, thanks to a little help. I’m still furious with you, but I guess it was the best thing for me."

"What are you talking about?" Snarf asked.

"Tygra gave me something that put me to sleep last night," the cheetah explained briefly. She moved to help the others clean up camp.

Tygra was placing the last of the cooking gear in a duffel bag when he dropped both gear and bag suddenly. Cheetara and Snarf jumped at the sudden noise and looked questioningly at the tiger. "Just clumsy," he told them with a sheepish grin. But Tygra knew it wasn’t clumsiness. It was that stupid disease. It was farther along than he suspected. The trembling had returned and was increasing. But still no pain. That was a good thing.

He tried to pick up the gear but ended up dropping it again and in the process of trying to catch it, he fell over. Cheetara was at his side in an instant and packing all the gear away with a speed he envied and a grace he no longer had. "The Pain Fever?" the cheetah whispered.

Tygra nodded glibly. "I didn’t think it was so close."

"How long?"

"Not past tonight. Snarf, too. In fact, Snarf will probably be early this afternoon."

Cheetara nodded, digesting the information. "Then we’d better get going." She turned to Snarf who was watching their hushed conversation with curiosity. "Come on Snarf. Let’s see if we can’t find a way into this old structure."

"Um, right. I’ll take the south wall. You two can look along the east wall."

"Sounds great. Go ahead."

Snarf nodded. "I’ll be back here in an hour if I don’t find anything. Sooner if I do." With that, he scampered off, weaving and stumbling slightly as he did so.

Tygra tried to pull himself to his feet, but he was just too dizzy. Cheetara studied him for a while with an unreadable expression on her face. Then she moved to his side, pulled his arm around her shoulder, and stood up, forcing him to stand as well. "This isn’t the most efficient way of doing it, but I’m not leaving you here," she told him.

With Cheetara to brace himself on, Tygra was able to stumble forward toward the wall of the enclosure. He was lucky his skin tones were shaded red as he could feel a growing blush of shame creeping over his face. "You’d move faster if I wasn’t here. If you find something, you could come back for me."

"If I find something and you’re with me, I won’t have to go back for you," the cheetah responded.

"Never argue with a woman," Tygra murmured with a smile.

"You’ve lived all this time only to discover that now?"

"I guess the end of your life is better than never." Tygra could feel Cheetara stiffen, but he’d said that with a reason. She had to accept the fact that he might die in the next few days. "It could happen," he added quietly.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Cheetara vowed. "Now shut up and let’s get moving."

"Still with me, Lair?"

Back in Cat’s Lair, Lion-O was monitoring Bengali’s progress south as far as the Lair’s sensors would allow it. After entering the jungle area, Bengali would enter what was known as the Static Zone. No communication could occur in that area. Something powerful jammed all signals. The sensors would also be inoperative. Even Sight Beyond Sight couldn’t penetrate certain jungle areas. But Bengali hadn’t entered those areas yet. "Still with you. What’s your status?"

"Hot. Rowr, it’s a lot warmer here than it is back where you are."

Shaking his head in amusement, Lion-O called up some other readings from the computer. "Any signs of pursuit?"

Bengali glanced behind the Thunderclaw and continued to just skim the ground. "Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I think I still have a Skycutter on my tail."

"That’s confirmed. You managed to throw Slithe, though."

"Great. So who’s winning?"

"So far, you are. You’ve got more speed, but you’re weaving quite a bit."

Bengali changed course again even as Lion-O spoke. "If I go straight south, he’ll just follow my trail. I’m trying to confuse him. They know Cheetara, Tygra, and Snarf are down there, thanks to Wiley Kat. They just don’t know where."

"I understand what you’re doing," Lion-O answered a little irritably. "I’m just saying that you’re adding distance to the trip."

"Rowr, I’m not supposed to be there until tonight. Patience, please. I’ll make up the time."

Watching the scanners intently, Lion-O breathed a sigh of relief. "Monkian didn’t follow your last course correction. You can head straight there. You might even get there by early evening if you hurry."

"One more precautionary shift," Bengali answered. "And then I’ll be there by mid-afternoon."

"Cocky tiger."

The white tiger laughed as he felt the Thunderclaw soar beneath him. "Part of the breed. Invincibility lends itself toward self-confidence."

"Just make sure you keep that invincibility intact. We can’t afford to have any more Thundercats out of commission."

Bengali banked on a wind current and caught an upper thermal that sent him into a fast glide. "Not a problem," he answered. He started playing with the Thunderclaw’s small scanners to try and determine his exact coordinates. But what he found was something a little different. "Hey Lion-O? How’s your sensor resolution around me?"

Lion-O called up some schematics on the sensors and took a moment to study them. "Not as good as it could be, why?"

"If there was an ion trail, would you be able to identify the signature?"

Lynx-O caught the last of the tiger’s question as he walked into the control room. "What’s he asking?"

"Can our sensors identify the signature of an ion trail around Bengali’s coordinates?"

Quickly tapping in through the Braille board, Lynx-O assessed the situation. "I’m sorry, Lion-O, but he’s too far away. I don’t think the sensors could even pick up the ion trail itself, much less identify it. Maybe the Tower could, but not the Lair."

"I copy," Bengali announced over the radio. "What if I send you what the Thunderclaw can pick up? Could you put the computers to work on it?"

"Shouldn’t be a problem," Lion-O answered after receiving a nod from Lynx-O. "You’re picking up an ion trail?"

"Yeah, and I was just thinking that the only known ship that could leave a trail this big would be Skytomb or the Feliner. And the Feliner shouldn’t have come this way, plus it’s not this inefficient. Are you getting the readings?"

"They’re coming in now," Lynx-O told him.

"What would Skytomb be doing so far from Darkside?" Lion-O wondered.

"According to the Thunderclaw, its course has it on a heading for the southern continent. Rowr, and it’s not too far off from where Tygra, Cheetara, and Snarf would have landed, either," Bengali reported.

Lion-O swore softly. "If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. What about it Lynx-O? Is it Skytomb?"

Lynx-O waited a few moments before answering. When he did, his voice was troubled. "It’s hard to be certain. The Thunderclaw’s sensors aren’t made for picking things like this up. But even with that, there’s about a 93% chance that Bengali’s right. It’s probably Skytomb."

"Did you hear that?" Lion-O asked.

"Unfortunately," the white tiger radioed back. "Suggestions?"

"The ion trail is several hours old," Lynx-O informed them. "They’ve probably already found the Feliner if they’ve stayed on their original course and may even be landing as we speak."

"So I won’t have to fight Skytomb, just its occupants. That’s a comfort. But what do I do about the Lunatacs themselves?" Bengali shot over a cloudbank and went into a dive.

"It’ll depend on the situation," Lion-O answered. "You’ll be out of communication range in another hour or so, so I don’t know what to tell you. Try and get to the others before the Lunatacs do, but if they’re already there, that might be difficult." The lion rubbed his head in frustration. "We have to warn them somehow!"

"Can we warn them using the Sword?"

Lion-O shook his head. "Would they interpret the Cat’s signal as a warning for them? Doubtful. They’d probably see it as an attack on the Cat’s Lair and they’d hasten their search for the cure, thinking that would help us more than their presence would. They’d become even more careless in their speed. No, this time they’re on their own. We can’t do anything." Lion-O clutched his head. "Again, we can’t do anything."

"I’m sick of this," Bengali complained. "I say it’s time somebody did something."

The tiger didn’t receive a reply. Though what he said was true, doing something required knowing what something was. And no one did. The one thing they did know was that for the Thundercats, time was running out. Time was running out for everyone.

Pumyra shifted Nayda’s pillow ever so slightly, trying to find a position in which the warrior might find it easier to breathe. She’d need to be on a respirator soon. Most of the Warrior Maidens who were victims of the Pain Fever would need a respirator in the next few hours.

She’d finished the vaccinations among the Wollos, Balkins, and Warrior Maidens. But what should have been an errand of relief had quickly turned into one of despair. She’d been amazed at how many couldn’t receive the vaccination because they were currently incubating the disease. If the fever proved fatal for everyone it touched, and Pumyra felt it would, half the Wollos population would die, the Balkins would lose one-third of their people, and three-quarters of the Warrior Maidens would never rise again. And there was nothing anyone could do about it. Nothing, unless Tygra, Cheetara, and Snarf found the cure. And both Tygra and Snarf were due to fall any day now.

"Pumyra?"

Startled from her thoughts, the puma turned to find Willa standing behind her. The Warrior Maiden looked questioningly at the Thundercat. "You have been sitting here for quite a while, staring off into the distance. Are you all right?"

Pumyra hastily nodded. "I was just thinking," she answered. She glanced over at Nayda. Nayda had sought refuge in unconsciousness, but it was obvious that the pain had followed her there, too. She trembled and shook, sometimes a tiny cry of pain would escape her lips, and her breathing rattled and labored in uneven intervals. Pumyra was just waiting for it to stop. "Willa, your sister needs more medical attention than you can provide. She’s going to need a respirator soon. There are eleven others in the same state that Nayda’s in." She looked back at Willa to try and determine how she was taking this. "At Cat’s Lair, we have some respirators and could rig some more to handle everyone who needs them. But if we don’t do something, they’ll die before Tygra and Cheetara have a chance to come back with the cure."

For a while, Willa stood there silently. And then she began to nod. "Take them. We can do nothing more for them."

Pumyra released a breath of air she didn’t know she’d been holding. "Thank you. You’ve given them the only chance they’ll get."

Though he was giving the panel his full concentration, Tygra was still aware enough of his surroundings to note that the sun had shifted from its overhead position. Over half the day was gone and they were barely through the perimeter wall. Though they hadn’t found many active security devices, they ones they had found were deadly enough to slow them down. But if they didn’t hurry, Cheetara would have to do this completely on her own. Snarf wouldn’t last another hour, and Tygra could feel stronger symptoms overtaking himself, too.

He rearranged a few more wires, praying that the trembling in his body would stay away from his hands for just a few more seconds. He made the final connection and then looked over to Cheetara and Snarf. "Ready."

Cheetara walked toward the main entrance of the bunker. Thanks to Tygra’s wire manipulation, the handprint identification should now open to anyone’s print and theoretically shut off the automatic defenses. Theoretically. That was the catch. Cheetara was poised to spring out of harm’s way should anything go awry. Almost wincing, she placed her palm on the flashing screen.

The result was highly anti-climatic. A green light flashed briefly and then the bunker doors slowly opened. Snarf heaved a sigh of relief and instantly clutched at his side. "Ugh, I think something’s cramping in there. Too many squeezing through holes in the wall, snarf."

"Let’s get going," Tygra ordered, sensing how close Snarf was to feeling the full impact of the Pain Fever. "Stay behind me and keep close."

The three slowly eased into the dark corridor. The air was stale and muggy, the metal turned dull with the humidity. "Not a very hospitable place, is it?" Cheetara whispered.

"Like a tomb," Snarf replied. The lack of cobwebs, or any other signs of life for that matter, unnerved him. It seemed too much to believe that nothing had lived here for the entire history of the third age up until that point. "You really think this cure, snarf, is in this awful place?"

Tygra nodded, but said nothing. He was searching for some kind of defense mechanism. There should be one just beyond the door, but he couldn’t see it. Maybe they’d lucked out. Maybe the panel had shut down security. Maybe—

"Duck!" The tiger grabbed both snarf and cheetah as he threw himself to the ground. They hit the ground next to him, both grunting at the force with which they’d been thrown. Above them, lasers suddenly came to life and began firing wildly. "Move!" Tygra literally threw Snarf down the corridor. Cheetara was already racing ahead and Tygra wasn’t far behind her. All three skidded to a halt as they cleared the range of the lasers. "Well, that was fun and exciting," Tygra gasped.

"I can use a little more fun and a little less excitement," Cheetara retorted. "You okay, Snarf?"

Snarf nodded weakly. He was leaning against a wall and heaving.

Tygra searched the various control panels on the wall and found one that deactivated the lasers. "That should make our trip out a little less hazardous. I guess I didn’t get the wires to take out security after all," he commented. "And I don’t see a way to shut off any of the defenses ahead from this console. Maybe…" Tygra broke off as he listened to the noises around him. Cheetara’s breathing had returned to normal after their dash down the corridor, his own was still a little rushed, but it was Snarf’s that caught his attention. It was hard and fast, not all that unusual, but there was something else. A slight irregularity. Just as Tygra’s sharp hearing caught the difference, Snarf suddenly cried out in acute pain and toppled over. "Snarf!"

"Tygra?" Snarf’s breathing caught and he started to tremble. He felt Tygra gather him up and shift his position. Breathing became a little easier, but the throbbing pains still shot through his limbs and into his torso. "What’s happening?"

"Blast that disease!" Tygra growled fiercely. He was pawing through duffel bags with one hand while his other arm supported Snarf’s convulsing body. Seizing something deep in one of the bags, he brought out a hypodermic and skillfully slid it into Snarf’s upper arm. Almost instantly, Snarf relaxed. His breathing was still labored, but he was no longer gasping. His eyes closed and his entire body went limp, though it was still shaking. Cheetara watched the whole thing anxiously over Tygra’s shoulder.

"What was that? I thought you didn’t bring any pain killers."

"I didn’t," Tygra answered quietly. He gently laid Snarf down and propped him against a wall. Swiftly repacking the duffel bag and ignoring the occasional tremor that still racked his own body, he stood. "Come on. We can’t do anything more for him."

"Wait a minute!" Cheetara ordered. She quickly moved in front of him, blocking his passage. "I want some explanations. Why are we leaving Snarf here? What did you just give him?"

"I gave him a pretty hefty dose of a rather potent anesthetic. He’ll be out for a while. We need to—"

"What about reducing the time of suffering from weeks to days? You’ve just condemned Snarf to about three weeks of intense agony with no hope of sedatives or painkillers. Do you have a reason for your actions?"

"May I finish?" Tygra asked. He could feel a slight tingling creeping over his back and was in no mood for long explanations. "We need to find the cure, which has to be in this structure or it doesn’t exist, and we need to find it in about nine hours. When Snarf wakes up, he’ll go from blissful unconsciousness to sudden and searing pain. I haven’t prolonged his suffering; I’ve actually shortened it. It won’t take more than an hour for the pain to force him into a shock-induced coma and he could easily awaken in eight hours. Once in that coma, the cure will do nothing for him. At least, that’s what the manuscripts said." Tygra glanced quickly around at his surroundings. "The manuscripts also described the stronghold in detail. We’re in the right place. But we can’t carry Snarf with us. We still have some defenses to get through and we’ll need our hands free."

"What if we don’t find the cure in nine hours?"

There was a short grimace that Tygra failed to hide from the cheetah. Then it was gone and his face was composed. "It shouldn’t take more than three hours to get to the center. That’s where the cure is theoretically stored. But if we don’t get moving, we won’t get there at all."

Cheetara studied his face, noting an uncontrolled twitch here and there, and then nodded. "Okay. But warn me if you start to feel pain. Let’s get this over with."

The two started off but were both thrown to the floor as an explosion rocked the bunker. Tygra’s stomach churned as he felt a sudden alteration in gravity. "TugMug."

"What?" Cheetara was trying to get to her feet.

"The Lunatacs. They’re here."

Cheetara stared at the tiger. "How?"

"Who cares how," Tygra answered. "They’re here, and they’ve found us. We’ll have to take Snarf with us. Come on. We’ve got to move." Picking up Snarf, Tygra took off down the hall with Cheetara right behind him.

"Timber!" TugMug hollered with a big smile. The outer perimeter finally started to crumble after its foundations had been ripped apart by sheers in gravitational forces.

"Faster, faster, you incompetent slime!"

Alluro glanced at Mumm-Ra in surprise. Had Mumm-Ra utilized his power, they would probably be in there already. Why hadn’t he?

TugMug turned to stare at the mummy, apparently coming to the same conclusion. "Care to take a stab at it, bone brain?"

"Back to work," Luna ordered before Mumm-Ra could respond. They’d had enough incidents on the way here. They didn’t need more.

A few more strategic blasts and a small portion of the outer wall collapsed. TugMug backed up with a smug grin. "After you," he said with a mocking bow.

Luna wasn’t in the mood for TugMug’s games and rode Amok past him. Alluro and TugMug followed her and they eased past the perimeter wall. It was then that they realized Mumm-Ra was not following them.

"Coming?" Luna called back, resisting the temptation to add some derogatory name to the end of her question.

"You have failed in so many missions that I have decided to watch the exit as it is inevitable that the Thundercats will slip by you."

Luna started to turn a deep shade of purple. "I don’t like what you’re suggesting, you glorified piece of wrapping paper. I think you should reconsider."

Mumm-Ra’s eyes gleamed, but he made no attempt to punish Luna for her insolence, something that immediately set off warning bells in the minds of the Lunatacs. "It does not matter what you think, if you do actually think. I will stay here. You will go on. When you have found the Thundercats, infect them and bring them back. We’ll make certain they have an enjoyable death and we’ll bury this bunker on top of them. Now go!" The note of finality in his voice was something that could not be contested, so the Lunatacs turned their backs and slowly walked toward the opening of the bunker.

"I don’t like this," TugMug muttered. "He won’t touch this place, he doesn’t like to talk about this place, but he insists we hunt the Thundercats down and take them out. Immediately. Why can’t we just let the Thundercats rot here with the rest of this archaic junk? If Mumm-Ra won’t come in here, why are we?"

"I don’t think he won’t come in," Alluro reasoned quietly. "I think it’s more of a can’t come in. If he didn’t want to come in because of something dangerous, he wouldn’t worry about the Thundercats ever returning.

"He must want something down here," Luna reasoned. "And he’s using us to get it."

"Or not want something. The Thundercats think there’s a cure to the Pain Fever and that’s why they came down here."

"A what!?"

"Quiet!" Alluro hissed, darting a look over his shoulder to see if Mumm-Ra was listening. "It’s something I learned from Wiley Kat. The Thundercats came here searching for a cure from the second age. That must be why Mumm-Ra wants us to destroy this place, but we have to see what the Thundercats are doing, first. But what bothers me is why Mumm-Ra can’t come near here. It feels like he can’t even cross the threshold."

"There’s a cure," TugMug breathed. "But what are we going to do about Mumm-Ra. He’ll never let us get out of here with a cure. That’s probably why he wants us to bring the Thundercats out. He wants to make certain there’s no chance that they’ll escape with the cure."

"Let’s not worry about Mumm-Ra," Luna instructed. "Our first priority is now the cure. We must have it and the Thundercats will just have to live without it." She smiled. "Or die without it, as the case may be."

Alluro and TugMug nodded in agreement. "The Thundercats will have shut off the defenses, so we can probably just walk right in," Alluro reasoned.

"Then what are we waiting for?" TugMug asked. "Let’s save RedEye and Chilla!"

Luna caught TugMug’s excitement, but Alluro hung back a little. Why couldn’t Mumm-Ra enter the bunker? There was something odd going on, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what. Realizing his comrades were getting ahead of him, he hurried to catch up. But the thought still rankled in the back of his mind. What was going on?

As the Pain Fever gripped an unconscious Snarf, slowly enveloped a stubborn Tygra, and drove the Lunatacs into the forbidding bunker from the second age, Bengali landed the Thunderclaw next to the Feliner and the Lunattacker. It wasn’t too hard to guess what direction they’d all taken. A clear path had been forged through the jungle. "Definitely Lunatacs," Bengali muttered as he noticed a few trees still recovering from intense gravitational forces. He was tempted to take the Thunderclaw and follow the trail from above, but he wasn’t sure he could find a suitable landing site. And if the bunker was still overgrown with mossy jungle and the trail wasn’t as clear further on, he’d completely lose them. "I guess feet are as good as anything," the tiger decided. But something in him told him that feet had better be pretty quick. Without further hesitation, Bengali took off down the jungle path.

"How long?"

The question took Pumyra by surprise. Caught up in preparing sickbay for all the patients they would receive within the next few hours, she’d almost managed to forget about the disease while she lost herself in manual labor. She finished making the final adjustments to the last respirator and turned to Panthro. "Pardon?"

Through his own respirator, Panthro managed to get his question out again. "Bengali. How—long?"

"How long has Bengali been gone?" Pumyra shook her head. "He just left this morning. Give him time, it’s only mid-afternoon. At the earliest, we shouldn’t hear from him until noon tomorrow."

"Too—long," the panther hissed.

"You and Lion-O made a deal," Pumyra reminded him.

"He—wouldn’t be—willing—to—do it otherwise," Panthro gasped back.

"And he still won’t do it. They’ll find the cure, just wait."

Panthro emitted what almost sounded like a sob. Pumyra wished desperately that she could give Panthro something, but anymore of any of the drugs he was currently on would kill him. And their anesthetics no longer worked on his inflamed neurological system. "Come on, Panthro. You’re the strength of the Thundercats. What would we do without you?"

"A—lot of good—you’re—doing with—me," Panthro murmured.

A soft moan interrupted their conversation and Pumyra turned to see Wiley Kit beginning to stir. "Oh no, not her too." The puma moved quickly to the side of the Thunderkitten and was there just in time to se Kit open her eyes. "Hi Kit." Pumyra gently tousled the kitten’s bright mane. "How are you feeling?"

Sweat was pouring off of Kit’s brow and she tugged weakly against her restraints. "I have it, don’t I?"

"Have what?" Pumyra was swabbing the kitten’s brow with a cool rag in an attempt to calm her raging fever.

Kit let out a groan and tried to move out from under the rag. "The fever. I have the Pain Fever."

"Hold still, you little imp," Pumyra ordered with a smile, but it tore her heart to see Kit like this.

"When am I going to die?"

The question rocked the healer and Pumyra completely froze up. "I’m sorry, did you say something? I didn’t quite hear you."

Kit’s eyes bored straight into Pumyra’s. "Yes you did. You—" Kit suddenly cried out as a seizure swept through her body.

"Hang on, Kit. It will pass," Pumyra whispered desperately, holding Kit’s body as still as she could. "This will all pass. Everything will be as it was. You’ll be fine!" After a few moments, the convulsions subsided, but Kit herself was nowhere near subsiding.

"When? When am I going to die?"

"No one’s going to die," Pumyra answered, knowing truth was part of the Code of Thundera but also knowing that there was a time and place for everything. "Everything’s going to be okay. You just have to wait this out."

Wiley Kit groaned and shook her head. "I hurt," she whispered.

"I know, kitten," Pumyra murmured. She gently stroked Kit’s fiery mane, wishing there was more she could. With Panthro, it had been easier. His massive size allowed him to ingest large quantities of painkillers and sedatives. But Kit’s frame was small and delicate. While her pain was no less, she couldn’t take as much for it and the danger of overdose was higher.

"I want to sleep again," Wiley Kit mumbled.

"A few more hours," Pumyra answered. "Let this drug work itself out of your system and I can give you another one. This one will be a little more potent. You’re not old enough to take them both at once."

The kitten nodded in response and tried to turn over in her bed. But she only hurt herself more with her efforts. Small sobs escaped Kit’s lips, thought she tried to hold them back. Pumyra continued to stroke her mane, knowing there was little else she could do but offer comfort.

"Kit?" The sound of her brother seemed to animate the Thunderkitten and she looked anxiously at the door to sickbay. Wiley Kat approached cautiously. "I heard you yell a minute ago. Are you okay?" He was valiantly trying to put on a brave front for his sister.

Kit’s jaw tightened as she tried to emulate her brother’s courage. "Yeah, Kat. I’m great."

With a sob, Kat suddenly shoved Pumyra out of the way and enveloped Wiley Kit into a huge hug. Though it must have hurt her, Kit hugged right back, squeezing Kat with a strength that surprised them both.

"She’ll want—it too."

Pumyra had backed up next to Panthro and jumped at the panther’s words. "What do you mean?"

"She’ll—want—the right—of death."

"Not as long as Kat’s around," Pumyra argued quietly. The two Thunderkittens were still locked in a tight embrace.

"If—that was—all it took—then I—wouldn’t—want—it either. But—it’s not—that—easy. The disease—is too strong." Panthro shook his head as much as he could. He didn’t have much muscular control left, and it wouldn’t be long before the disease finished him off. Panthro could sense the end was near, but instinctively knew that the worst of the pain would hit him in his last few moments. Was it really possible that the pain could be worse than it already was? "It would—be—wrong—to deny—her. She must—be—told about it."

Pumyra didn’t answer Panthro, but stood watching the twins. Kit was hurting, but her pain was nothing compared to what Panthro’s currently was. And she was already asking about death. As much as Pumyra hated it, Panthro was right. Kit should be told what her options were, and that included all her options, not just the ones Pumyra happened to condone. And if Panthro set death as a precedent…

Great Jaga, Pumyra thought silently. Hurry, Bengali, hurry!

With trembling arms and the first inklings of pain, Tygra dropped down from his whip. He’d created a makeshift rope bridge with it over one section of floor that was rigged to set up a collapsing matrix cage on any intruders. He looked back at Cheetara who carried Snarf. "Think you can throw him that far?"

Cheetara gauged the distance. "Are you sure we have to?"

"Can you think of another way to get him over?"

"I thought you were going to turn the defense off once you were over there."

"I can’t by myself. This one requires two to shut it down. But the good new is, this is the last obstacle before the cure. At least, that’s what the manuscripts said."

With a sigh, Cheetara shifted Snarf and stepped back a little. "Here he comes."

Tygra caught the flying snarf and waited as Cheetara hauled herself over the ground on his whip. "Now, you need to pull that switch over there at the same time I pull this one over here."

"Why are we shutting defenses down? They’ll keep the Lunatacs away from us if we leave them up, won’t they?" Cheetara asked.

"Let’s just say that we may have to make a hasty exit later."

"No more secrets, Tygra, please?"

"Just this one, Cheetara. It might not even be anything we need to worry about."

Cheetara nodded bitterly and moved to her lever. "Count of three," she grumbled. "One, two, three!"

There was the sound of something powering down, a brief flicker of light from the floor, and that was all. Tygra checked an LCD display and smiled. "It worked. We’re almost there now, so let’s keep going." While still holding Snarf, he managed to gather his whip up and turn down the dark corridors.

As Cheetara started after him, she couldn’t help but notice the trembling that shook his shoulders and a slight limp in his stride. "Tygra? How close are you to the fever?"

"Come on, Cheetara. Just a few more minutes." Cheetara couldn’t tell if he was referring to their destination or his impending ailment. In the dim light of small electronic panels that were still functioning after all these years, Cheetara tried to get a good look at Tygra’s face. Faint lines of sweat were beginning to stand out. She tried to think of something to say when Tygra suddenly stopped. "There it is."

Cheetara looked ahead of her. More control panels and displays filled the walls and the end of their twisting corridor was in sight. Two large black doors that opened inward barred their way. "What do we do now?"

"Simple," Tygra said with a grimace as he set Snarf down against a wall. "We push."

Cheetara stared at the tiger. "Push? You can’t push."

"What?"

"You can’t push. Look at yourself. You’re sweating, you’re trembling, you’ve got to be dizzy from the way you’re standing, and I’m guessing you’re starting to feel pain." Cheetara grabbed his shoulder as if to shake some sense into him. "Tygra, rest here. I’ll get the door. I need you to analyze the cure if it’s in there. I don’t have the medical knowledge to do it."

"I can hold it off a little longer." Shrugging off Cheetara’s restraining hand, Tygra moved to the doors. "Besides, these doors are too big for you to move on your own."

"This is a big mistake. You shouldn’t be exerting yourself like this." But Cheetara moved to help him even as she spoke.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"PUSH!"

Cheetara and Tygra heaved against one of the doors. For a minute, nothing happened. And then it started to move, little by little. "Come on," Cheetara growled. "Come on."

And the door reluctantly swung open. Stepping tentatively into the large room, Tygra and Cheetara both gasped. "And I thought Vultureman kept a messy lab," Tygra murmured.

Amid the dusty ruins of the massive room lay evidence of elaborate experiments and tests. Vials crowded the shelves along the walls and syringes claimed mobile carts scattered throughout the room. Grimy countertops wove an elaborate maze throughout the room while long tubes strung themselves between different experiments. The high vaulting ceiling defied what little light the room had. A few dusty monitors still blinked, ready for commands and programs.

"They left in a hurry," Tygra murmured. A few lab coats were strung over stools and what could have been someone’s lunch was left on a table near the Thundercats. The environmental controls in the room were so perfect, that no living thing had entered in eons. There was no evidence of cobwebs, mold, moths, rodents, or any kind of deteriorating elements. This room was even free from the humidity that had rusted the metal throughout the rest of the bunker.

"Just imagine all we could learn from this place," Cheetara whispered.

"First things first. That cure," Tygra reminded her. He clutched his side as he felt a spasm of pain ripple through him. He hoped Cheetara wouldn’t notice.

As it turned out, he needn’t have worried, for they quickly discovered other problems to occupy them. Laughter suddenly echoed behind them in the hallways and one shrill voice called out in triumph. "Well done, Thundercats. Now stand aside. This find is ours!"

If Bengali had a fault, it was that he let his emotions go to his head. In the heat of battle, his calculating mind seemed to disappear and feral instincts took over. This occasion was no different than any other. He was fully aware of how urgent his mission was, but his mind and awareness were unfocused. His main thought was getting to the bunker and then inside. He didn’t pause to wonder if maybe someone had posted a guard. He merely ran. It almost cost him his life.

Seconds before making what could easily have become a fatal error, Bengali saw Mumm-Ra. But the tiger was going too fast and had already committed himself. Unable to do anything else, the Thundercat hit Mumm-Ra head on and knocked them both tumbling through the jungle. Mumm-Ra recovered first and was on his feet before Bengali had stopped rolling. The ancient servant of evil roared with rage and indignation, and as Bengali tried to pull out the Hammer of Thundera in defense, lightning bolts were fired over his head. He was lucky they missed and capitalizing on the mummy’s hasty mistakes, he fired back with his characteristic accuracy. Mumm-Ra snarled and jumped out of the way, but the fight was far from over.

"I’m surprised to see you here, Thundercat, knowing the shape your friends are in," Mumm-Ra sneered. "Why keep fighting? You’re finished." Fireballs incinerated the forest around Bengali and he was hard-pressed to get out of the way.

"I don’t have time for this, you stringy excuse for an evil demon," Bengali shouted back. "What do you find so interesting down here? Why don’t you go back to your hole and gloat if we’re so finished?"

Mumm-Ra didn’t verbally reply, but a sudden flash of light blinded the Thundercat as he leaped out of the way of another fireball. Unable to see his opponent, Bengali tried to stumble out of Mumm-Ra’s way, but tripped on something behind him and went down. He recovered his eyesight just in time to see his destruction bearing down on him in the form of a large lightning bolt.

And he was dumbfounded when that same lightning bolt suddenly evaporated about a foot away from him.

Mumm-Ra stared in disbelief and suddenly roared in rage. In his blind stumbling, Bengali had managed to fall into the protection of the bunker through the hole that TugMug had created. He was beyond Mumm-Ra’s power.

Bengali didn’t know any of this, but he did know that Mumm-Ra was no longer firing at him and chose this opportunity to make a break for it. He could hear Mumm-Ra raging behind him, but he entered the bunker and the sound of the mummy’s voice faded away. What was Mumm-Ra was doing on the southern continent? Bengali didn’t like the implications. What if the Lunatacs had already found Tygra, Cheetara, and Snarf? If there was a cure, and the Lunatacs got to it first, the Thundercats would have no chance of survival. Silently, Bengali prayed he’d get to the others in time.

"What have we here?" TugMug laughed. The Lunatacs haughtily stalked toward the bunker’s center, and TugMug casually kicked Snarf who still lay in the hallway. "I think your snarf has seen better days."

"Stay away from him," Cheetara snarled viciously. She extended her staff with a speed that defeated sight. "What do you want?"

"The same thing you want," Alluro answered, discreetly pulling out his psyche club. "A cure. But we want this cure to benefit just the Lunatacs. And so do you. You want to help us find it, don’t you?"

At the sound of Alluro’s voice, Cheetara felt her will starting to slip away. She desperately tried to anchor herself to something, but it was useless. Alluro was too powerful. And she really did want to help him. She wanted to—

A sudden cry of rage and despair broke the spell and Cheetara spun around in surprise. "Tygra!?"

Tygra slammed into the ground as convulsions twisted his body. His jaw was clenched shut, but horrible moans still managed to force their way out. Cheetara threw herself on the contorting tiger in an attempt to stop his mad flailing. Glaring back at the Lunatacs, she could read the surprise on their faces, but she could also see growing confidence.

"Tygra!" She prayed he would understand her whisper. "I need to know where the cure is and how to get it. I need to know how to administer it. Can you tell me?"

Tygra made no move to answer, though his shaking was beginning to diminish. But that meant he was about to enter a brief stage of unconsciousness that usually accompanied the initial onset of the Pain Fever. It didn’t last long, no more than fifteen minutes, but those were fifteen minutes that Cheetara didn’t have. She needed answers now.

"Stand away from him, Thundercat," Luna ordered.

"Come on, Tygra! Where is it?" Cheetara hissed. Tygra groaned and cried out in agony as his temperature soared. "Tygra, please!"

"Back!" TugMug roared. His gravity carbine suddenly fired and Cheetara was force to tumble out of the way.

"Wait a minute. We’re all after the same thing, so why don’t we help each other?" Cheetara tried.

"Fat chance, cheetah," Luna laughed. Amok slapped Snarf out of the way as he walked forward. "Now back away from Tygra while we dispose of him. In return, we might make your death swift and painless."

"Nobody has to die," Cheetara insisted, neatly flipping out of the way of TugMug’s shots again. "This lab is enormous. It could take days to find the cure, and unless I miss my guess, RedEye doesn’t have that long, does he?"

"RedEye is not your concern, Thundercat!" Luna shrieked. "Alluro! TugMug! Finish her!"

Cheetara backed up, not wanting to leave Tygra’s side but not seeing a way around it. She quickly evaluated the situation. "Why aren’t you all attacking me? Where’s Chilla? Does she have the Pain Fever, too?" Cheetara continued to back further into the lab, trying to distance herself from TugMug and Alluro. "I can help you with RedEye and Chilla, but not like this."

"Yes, you can. Just relax," Alluro soothed. His psyche club was back out and Cheetara was forced to back farther away to avoid it. "It’ll all be over soon. And then you won’t have things to worry about, will you?"

Cheetara shook her head violently but knew it would only be a matter of time before Alluro was victorious. In the meantime, TugMug was still shooting at her and her concentration was effectively split between the two of them. She decided to see if she could get TugMug to shoot Alluro. At the same time, she kept glancing at the shelves to see if there was any sign of a cure.

Luna waited impatiently for her two minions to subdue Cheetara. Deciding they could use a little help, she urged Amok over toward Tygra, who was unconscious by this time but still shaking with remnants of the initial seizure. Amok picked the tiger up by the neck and dangled him much like a cat would play with a mouse. "Oh Cheetara! I think we have something you might want."

Cheetara glanced toward Luna and stopped. Her momentary distraction gave TugMug the chance he needed and she found herself flattened to the floor by waves of intense gravitational forces. "Luna! Amok, stop it. What do you want?"

"I just got what I wanted," Luna answered. "Now be a good kitty and wait. We’ll finish you both off in a minute." The leader of the Lunatacs rapped Amok with her riding stick, and the giant Lunatac tossed Tygra roughly across the room. The Thundercat slammed into a mobile cart, breaking glass beakers and spilling solutions everywhere. "In fact," Luna continued, "Alluro, why don’t you give Cheetara the Pain Fever right now? I’ll enjoy watching her join Tygra."

Alluro nodded, almost willing to admit that this idea wasn’t too bad. He approached Cheetara who lay struggling on the floor but unable to move. A needle was produced and the hypnotist slowly extracted the Pain Fever from the vial that TugMug had brought. Cheetara’s eyes bulged as she realized what was about to happen, but she was helpless to stop it. Alluro had to smile at her plight as he bent down next to her and took a hold of her arm. "Hold still. This will only hurt for a minute."

Lion-O knew he should be asleep. He knew he should be resting and that he would pay for his insomnia the next day. But he couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t bear the thought of lying down in his soft bed while others wished for death. He was Lord of the Thundercats. And he was utterly helpless.

Leaning against the window in his room, he watched the moon rise over the treetops. It was a full moon, bright and beautiful. It made a perfect circle in the night sky. Nothing broke its smooth curve. It was complete. Whole.

Like the Thundercats. Or, like the Thundercats used to be. Lion-O buried his face in his hands. The Thundercats had formed a team. They had formed a perfect circle of loyalty. Nothing could break their chain, and with that circle of friendship, they were indestructible. Or so they had thought. Then Panthro had fallen, and their circle had staggered. Next went Wiley Kit. Holes opened up, and the heart of the Thundercats suddenly became vulnerable. Tygra, Cheetara, and Snarf left. The circle was broken in two and would break further because of an opponent no one could fight. "What kind of a team are we now?" Lion-O murmured. "What kind of a leader am I that I let this happen? Where did I go wrong? Where did I fail?"

The curtains seemed to stir at a breath of wind, but the windows were closed. Lion-O looked up in surprise and found Jaga standing behind him. "Jaga!"

Jaga inclined his head slightly in Lion-O’s direction, but unlike Jaga’s previous visits, the guardian of the Thundercats said nothing immediately. He moved to Lion-O’s side and, just as the young lord had been doing, watched the moon rise. Lion-O waited in silence, wondering what answers Jaga had come with. The possibility that Jaga might not have a solution was a thought that Lion-O didn’t allow entertain very long. If Jaga didn’t have an answer for the Thundercats, what could Lion-O possibly do?

"You can not blame yourself for everything, Lion-O." Jaga’s voice startled the lion and he looked at his mentor in surprise. Jaga sounded distant. There was a note of finality and despair in his voice that frightened the lion. It was as though he’d given up. But if Jaga had given up, what did that say for the rest of them?

"You can not hold yourself responsible for the spread of a disease that was beyond your ability to control," Jaga continued. "Sometimes things happen that are outside of our realm. We must learn to accept them."

"Accept them? What do you mean? What exactly am I accepting, Jaga?"

"Surely you recognize what is happening. You have proven yourself to be a worthy Lord of the Thundercats. But even with the powers of the Sword of Omens, there are things we are powerless to fight."

"And we just accept those things?" Lion-O was incredulous. Everything Jaga was saying went against everything he’d ever been taught. "We just give up?"

"I did not tell you to give up." There was a slight note of reproach in the specter’s voice. "But it is foolishness to deny the inevitable. And it is cruelty to deny mercy."

Lion-O was momentarily confused by Jaga’s last statement, but then he thought of Panthro. Mercy. The right of death. His heart sank. From his statement, it was obvious what Jaga’s view on the subject was. But how could the Thundercats have ever instituted a practice that seemed so evil. Mercy? Murder was more like it. "Jaga, did you ever have to use the Sword to, well, to release a Thundercat from life?"

Jaga was quiet for a minute. "Yes," he finally answered softly. "Twice."

Lion-O waited for Jaga to go on, but he didn’t. The lion decided to press the issue. "What was it like? How did it happen?"

"It was not an easy task." Jaga paused slightly, as though recalling the memories was a painful experience. "I have no doubt that it was the right thing to do. But it didn’t make it any easier."

"Can you tell me about it?"

For a moment, Jaga didn’t answer, but eventually he nodded. "The first time, it was a Thundercat from the leopard clan. The mutants had devised a new weapon that didn’t act immediately on its victims, but slowly ate them away. It was like being consumed by acid. After frantic research, we found a way to counter the attack, but the solution came too late for this young Thundercat. We couldn’t stop the deterioration in her body." Jaga shook his head. "She’d been a Thundercat for only a year."

"What about the second time?"

There was a clear moment of hesitation before Jaga responded, but he did respond. "Before you were born, your father had a younger brother named Savan. He, Panthro, and Tygra were good friends. The three of them were infamous in the Cat’s Lair as they were all quite young at the time and were notorious for practical jokes." There was a trace of a smile on Jaga’s face at the memory. "Perhaps Cheetara remembers some of their exploits. I’m sure she remembers the days the trio ‘stalked the Lair,’ as they put it. They were inseparable. Where you found one, you would find the other two. Until the accident." The specter sighed. "It was a routine mission. Simple reconnaissance, that was all. The mutants somehow found out about it and ambushed them. All three were hurt in the assault, but your uncle clearly bore the brunt of the attack. Panthro and Tygra brought him in, but there was nothing we could do. Extensive brain damage guaranteed he would live out the rest of his life in a coma. We decided it would be better that Savan die rather than endure a meaningless existence trapped in his own mind. The decision was rather hard on Panthro and Tygra. Both recovered from it, but they were never quite the same."

Lion-O stared at Jaga. "You mean, Panthro has seen this before?"

"For him to ask it of you indicates the severe pain he endures, Lion-O. He resented the decision more so than Tygra did. He even went so far as to demand that those powers never be exercised again. There was a time when some thought he would leave the Thundercats. I think your birth gave him a reason to stay. He became the uncle you didn’t have in Savan. If he seemed a little overly protective during your first years of life, that was why. He and Tygra both." Jaga turned to Lion-O, an unreadable expression in his eyes. "He’s asking you, Savan’s nephew, to give him what was given Savan. He knows what he’s asking. He knows what you’re going through. But he expects you to act as the Lord of the Thundercats in this instance."

"I can’t do it, Jaga! I can’t kill Panthro."

"You aren’t ‘killing’ Panthro, you’re—"

"Yes I am!" Lion-O shot back. "If the mutants came in and blasted him out of existence with some new contraption that Vultureman threw together, it would be no different than if I went in and stole his life with the Sword. The end result is the same and in this case, the means do not justify the ends."

"I’m sorry, Lion-O. But as Lord of the Thundercats, it is your responsibility."

"Jaga!"

"It is your destiny," Jaga informed him as the mentor started to fade away.

"Jaga, wait! You can’t just leave like…that." Lion-O sighed in despair. He left the window and sank down onto his bed. Taking the Sword out of the Claw Shield, which still hung at his side, he turned it over in his hands. The Eye gleamed briefly and the moonlight sparkled off the Sword’s blade. "There must be another way." But as the night continued, hard as he tried, Lion-O couldn’t find one.