Tygra's Room, Cat's Lair, third-Earth.

"Of course," said Lion-O.  "What do you expect to find?"

            Wilykit said, "There may still be some artefacts intact.  It might help us learn more about our race."

            "All right," said Tygra.  The Thunder Kittens smiled at each other.

            Lion-O said, "We'll beam to New Thundera in the area where the Pyramid is and will make out a search plan.  Come with me, please."  The four left the room and went to the control room.  Lion-O tapped his communicator.  "Bengali and Cheetara, this is Lion-O.  Meet me in the control room, please."

            Over the communicator circuits, Bengali's and Cheetara's voices both said, "Yes, Lion-O."

            * * *

            Control Room, Metroid, VideoLand.

            At Metroid, Ludwig and MotherBrain were thinking.  "This may turn out to be," announced Ludwig, "an extremely opportune situation for us."

            "Tell me what you are thinking, my diabolical son!" said MotherBrain.

            "The Luna-tacks," Ludwig said thoughtfully, "and the Fearsome Five can handle this.  Call them, and order them to go to New Thundera and to capture the Thunder Cats who go there."

            MotherBrain said, "Yes, sir, Prince Ludwig!"

            "And call Doctor Wily and tell him to make CrystalMan speed up with getting those dilithium crystals!  We must begin working on the Warbird soon."

            "Right."  MotherBrain set to her task.

            * * *

            Dilithium Mines, MegaLand.

            On the dilithium crystal mining world on MegaLand, Dr. Wily had just received his orders.  He delivered the orders to CrystalMan, who interrupted the flow of work in time to command all the lesser robots under his command.  The robots started back to their work, but they did it four times more quickly.  "Good, CrystalMan," complimented Wily when CrystalMan was back at his side.  "That's a good clip."  Suddenly, MegaMan appeared.  "What?"

            "Just call on MegaMan to stop your evil plans!" said MegaMan.

            Wily taunted, "Have you discovered opposable thumbs yet, MegaMan?"  He turned to CrystalMan.  "And I thought this mission was secret to the N-Team!  What happened?"  CrystalMan shrugged.  He turned to the working robots.  "All right!  Who or what spilt the beans?"

            "When you removed some of the crystals," explained MegaMan, "that triggered an alarm at the Palace while the N-Team was in a conference."

            A familiar, watery voice said, "Well, if it isn't the Tin-Man!"  'The Tin-Man' turned around and saw the entire Fearsome Five, replete with Negaduck.

            "Yeah," said Negaduck tauntingly.  "He's like Darkwing:  too little upstairs!"  MegaMan was angered.

            "Watch it, Negacreep!" warned MegaMan.  "Set at its highest intensity, my MegaBuster can fix any one of you."  Liquidator stepped forward.

            "Even me?" said Liquidator.  "When the five of us finish here, we're going to see what a few kitties are playing with on New Thundera.  We'll see that their feet land on the business end of some mousetraps!  Ha, ha, ha!"

            MegaMan exclaimed, "Why, you!"  When MegaMan approached the five, Dr. Wily quickly opened a panel on the android's back and pressed something.  MegaMan fell to the ground, unconscious.

            Bushroot asked, "What'd you do?"

            "From my years spent with Dr. Wright," said Wily, "I learned several things about his androids.  For example, he puts the off-switch in the same place on all the androids he builds.  A simple matter to deactivate them, should the need arise and the robot be distracted."  He turned to the army of robots.  "Break-time's over!  Resume the same accelerated pace."  The robots continued their work.  "By the way, guys, what do you mean by seeing 'what a few kitties are playing with on New Thundera'?"

            "The Thunder Cats," announced Mega Volt, "are going there on the request of the Thunder Kittens.  Seems the pip-squeaks want to learn about what was formerly their culture.  We and the Luna-tacks are to get them."

            * * *

            Pyramid, Ancient Ruins, New Thundera.

            Later, Lion-O, Tygra, Cheetara, Bengali, and the Thunder Kittens, each of the six having one duffel bag, transported to the Pyramid on New Thundera.  "I don't see why we are the ones who will have to stay here!" Wilykit protested.  "We're the ones who asked to come in the first place."

            Lion-O shook his head.  "Better than being shocked to death by Spar-. . . ah, Mega Volt."  He turned to the other three.  "Bengali, search the Caverns of Cold.  Cheetara, see what you can find in the Mountains of the Moon.  Tygra, go through the Jungles of Darkness.  I'll search the Canyon of Youth."

            Wilykit said, "I hope you call us every-so-often, because we might get worried.  I have a feeling someone may come and crash the party."  Lion-O digested the information.

            "Okay," said Lion-O, more to everyone than specifically to anyone.  "We ought to keep an open frequency on our communicators.  That way, we can be alert to any sign of trouble."  All the other Thunder Cats nodded in comprehension.  "Let's go."  Lion-O, Tygra, Cheetara, and Bengali left.  Wilykat went over to an obelisk (or rather a mostly-destroyed one) and leant back against it.

            "Well," said Wilykat, "nothing to do but wait."

            "I hate waiting!" exclaimed Wilykit.  "It's such a darned waste of time."

            "Calm down.  You're giving me a complex."

            "Sorry, but I think it's unfair.  Here we are, on a mission we requested, and what is our task?  To sit around and wait!  And, if you don't understand my reason for being upset, it's your fault!"  Wilykat went over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

            "Like I said, calm down.  Being upset won't accomplish a thing."  Wilykit sighed.

            "Right.  Thank you."  She was suddenly cheered up.  "Thank you."

            * * *

            Canyon of Youth.

            Lion-O was exploring the Canyon of Youth, trying to avoid physically touching any of the natural plant life.  He tried to keep the flowers in the grass from brushing the lower part of the exposed parts of his legs.  He tried to avoid inhaling the pollen of the flowers.  He even dodged a bee that flew from the petals of one of the flowers, and the bee suddenly turned into a bee's egg.  I have to be careful! he thought to himself.

            Watching in the bushes were Luna and Amok.  "A sitting duck. . . er, cat!" said Luna to herself and Amok.  "Now, if there were only some way to. . ."  Out of a bush sprang Bushroot!

            "Howdy!" whispered Bushroot.  "Need some help with a Thunder Cat?"

            "Why, yes," said Luna.  "The plant life of the Canyon of Youth has no effect on you."

            Bushroot said, "I control the plant life anywhere, my dear Luna.  I can even make it so that you, my dear, can touch the plant without becoming a baby. . . or whatever you Luna-tacks are when you're real young.  I can make the plants get close to Lion-O.  I only need a distraction so I won't be noticed."  Luna nodded.

            "You've got it!" she said.  "One distraction coming up.  Let's go, Amok."  Amok grunted in assent.  He took her to a position in front of Lion-O.  "Hold it right there, Thunder Cat!"

            "Luna!" exclaimed Lion-O.

            "Forget your communicator!" snapped Luna when Lion-O reached for his communicator.  "If you use it to call your pals, you'll become a foetus!"  Lion-O grabbed the Sword of Omens.

            "Oh, yeah?  Stop this!"  He held the hilt of the Sword to his eyes, and the Eye of Thundera flashed as the hilt-apertures form.  He held the Sword pointing down above him, then he thrust it down to his left.  If he had it too close, it would have sliced through his belly like. . . well, anyway.  The Sword's blade was pointing to his left.  "Thunder,. . ." he shouted, and the Sword grew.  He swung it so that it was pointing left with the handle of the Sword as far from his main body as possible.  ". . .Thunder,. . ." he again shouted, and the Sword again increased in blade-length.  He sw-. . . he did not have time to go any further, because the grass grew to touch his legs, and he shrank to about ten years old in appearance.  "Hey!  What in the. . ."  Just as it had grown, the grass receded.  Lion-O found the Sword so heavy that he was forced to drop it.  "What happened?"

            "Ha, ha, ha!" cackled Bushroot, coming from behind a tree.  "I happened!  You can't fight us like that, you ridiculous cub!  I am not just a weed gone bad!"

            "Good work, Dr. Bushroot," said Luna.  "You had the proper scientific analysis of this situation!"  The two villains laughed.  Luna turned to Lion-O.  "And you are now a Thunder Kitten!"  She got a rope out of her 'saddle.'  She used it to tie up Lion-O.

            "You will never get away with this!" said Lion-O.  "The others will stop you."

            "The others?  Ha!" laughed Luna.  "They, too, will become members of the Tiny-Kit organisation!"  She and Bushroot had another evil-spirited laugh.  "And you have no idea what Ludwig is doing to Metroid and his seven Doomships, not to mention all that titanium and dilithium crystal.  However, that will soon change.  As soon as we get you to Sky Tomb, Mumm-ra will fill you in on the basics."

            * * *

            Jungles of Darkness.

            In the Jungles of Darkness, Tygra was performing his duties.  With Cat's-Eyes spectacles activated, he searched around this extremely dark region of the planet.  Cat's-Eyes spectacles 'translated' infrared light, that which the viewer was presumed to see, to colour-light, what one was capable of seeing.  Still, the trouble of sight still remained, as one could only see the heat and not colours.  "Almost hopeless," said Tygra.  "If only there were a way to see the colour spectrum in the Jungles of Darkness.  Of course, Red-eye's home Moon of Plundarr won't permit that."  He sighed.  He looked around. . . and saw someone behind a tree!  He drew his whip, as he could use it for a weapon even if he could not cloak himself to infrared light.  The attacker came from behind the tree.  It was Red-eye!  Tygra swung his whip and whacked Red-eye in the head with a knock-out blow.  Red-eye crashed with a small earthquake.  Just before he tried to see if Red-eye really was out, something snatched the Cat's-Eyes off his face!  "Yaah!  What happened?" Tygra demanded, blind as a bat.

            A familiar, watery voice said, "It was the top-of-the-line, número uno {nú-máy-ró ú-nó} [Spanish] (number one), grade A, bottled-water salesman, the Liquidator!"  Then, Tygra felt a hard blow to his forehead.  He was out in a moment with no injury.  Indeed, the Liquidator had seen visibly how to knock him out.

            The Liquidator finished tying Tygra up just when Red-eye awakened.  "Aah. . ." said Red-eye, regaining consciousness.  "What. . ."

            "The Liquidator!" announced the Liquidator.  "I knocked out the kitty, and he's ready for delivery!"  He helped Red-eye up.

            "Good thing you changed your temperature to mix in with the surroundings," said Red-eye.  In a moment, he saw the watery form of Liquidator as everyone with colour-vision saw him.  Liquidator had conscious control over his body temperature, and he could keep his body a super-cooled liquid if he wished; he even had enough control to thoroughly blend in with his surroundings in the infrared world.

            "Now," said Liquidator, "let's get Tygra back to Sky Tomb."

            * * *

            Mountains of the Moon.

            On the Mountains of the Moon, Cheetara was bouncing around, keeping her eyes open for artefacts.  "Nothing yet," she told herself.  "This is going to be a disappointment to the Kittens."  The next moment, she was quite literally light-headed. . . completely light-bodied!  "What in the world?"

            Tug-mug bounced up to her, his Gravity-Carbine smoking.  "Hee, hee, hee!" said Tug-mug.  Quacker Jack bounced up on springs attached solely to the bottoms of his feet.

            "Hoo, hoo, hoo!" laughed Quacker Jack, coming up.  "Oh, looky, Tuggie!  The nice cheetie wants to play!  Ha, ha, ha!  It's play-time!"  With that, he got so he could stand and got out a slinky.  "I think the cheetie will like my slinky!  Don't you, Tuggie?"

            "Indubitably, my dear Quackie!" said Tug-mug.  Quacker Jack tossed the slinky on the ground.  It sprang like a slinky, until it reached Cheetara.  Then, it sprang up and tied her up.

            "Grr!" Cheetara growled.  "You two are obviously insane!"

            Tug-mug said, "Looks like her cheetah-speed couldn't get her out of the way of your little toy, Quackie!"

            "Yeah," said Quacker Jack.  "Gee.  I'd suggest that we play some more, but she's all tied up!"  The two creeps laughed.  "Play-time's over!"  With this, Tug-mug blasted Cheetara again, and returned her to normal gravity. . . which was extremely strong in the Mountains of the Moon.

            "Let's get Cheetara to Luna," said Tug-mug.  "I'm sure she doesn't want to wait around!  Heh, heh!"  The two insane villains took Cheetara off.

            * * *

            Caverns of Cold.

            Meanwhile, in the Caverns of Cold, Bengali was warm enough in his warm Cat-Suit.  He explored extensively.  He leant against a wall.  "-Sigh.-  Nothing so far," he said to himself regretfully.  "I wish I had something to present to. . ."  Suddenly, a very well-hidden doorway slid open, and he fell in.  "Yaah. . .!"  He tumbled down a stairway to the very bottom.  "Ow," he said while getting up.  He looked around, then back at the mountain entrance.  "Of course!" he said in instant recognition.  "This mountain was in the territory of the Thunder Kittens' race, if I remember correctly!"  He turned to. . . a huge city in the enormous mountain cavern!  "Wow!" he exclaimed under his breath.  He looked at a message inscribed on a panel just outside the city.  It was written in a language extremely similar to Italian, which was close to Ancient Thunderian, so he was able to read it.  "Okay.  'This buried city is an artefact of our civilisation.  It was built simply to show other races our ways; it has never been inhabited.' "  He turned to the large city.  "This is amazing!  I've never seen anything like this!  I'd better leave and tell the others."  He climbed up the stairs to the door.  A pain that was once faint in his right ankle was now growing step by step.  He stopped, sat on a step, and removed his boot only enough to show his right ankle.  "Oh, great," he said.  "Me and my stupid falling!  I really did a job on this ankle."  He heard two people making, 'Tsk, tsk, tsk,' sounds in the doorway.  He turned up and saw Mega Volt and Chilla!

            "How unfortunate," said Chilla, "that you had to break your ankle."

            "So!" said Mega Volt insultingly.  "You cats always land on your feet, eh?  You had a bad fall this spring!  Chilla, should we put him on ice?"

            "I guess," said Chilla.  "There's nothing better to do."  She blew her breath at Bengali, and he was soon a block of ice.  "He's sure having an ice time!"  Mega Volt was amused.

            "Good," said Mega Volt.  "We'll get him to Luna at once."

            * * *

            Sky Tomb, just outside the Jungles of Darkness.

            Sky Tomb was parked just outside the Jungles of Darkness.  "Good," said Luna.  "Very good.  We'll have all six once Aluro and Negaduck return with the Wilytwins."

            "If we beat these guys so easily," said Chilla, "those twerps-s-s-s will be a snap!"

            "Let's not get cocky," warned Luna.  "Let's just wait for Negaduck and Aluro to get the Thunder Kittens."

            * * *

            Pyramid, Ancient Ruins.

            At the Pyramid, the Thunder Kittens were still bored, but they were still waiting.  "It's been too long," said Wilykat.  "I'm going to call."  Suddenly a blue, mesmerising light shone on them.

            Aluro's hypnotising voice said, "Oh, no.  You mustn't do that.  I am sure that they are all quite safe."  Aluro came up, and Negaduck was behind him.

            "Don't waste your breath, Aluro!" Wilykit said, resisting the rays.  She got a sleep-capsule off her capsule-belt.  She blasted Negaduck and Aluro with it.  After some coughing, the two villains went to sleep.  As this happened, the blue light faded.

            "A snap!" said Wilykat proudly.

            Wilykit said, "I have a bad feeling."  She went over to her bag and removed a device from it.  She held it so that a small, antenna-like projection on one end of the device pointed toward the ground.  She pressed a few buttons, and the Thunder Kittens' Space-Boards were transported to the point on the ground to which the 'antenna' was pointing.  "And there we are!"

            "Wilykit," warned Wilykat, "Lion-O told us that he wanted us to stay here!  Would you want to go against his wishes?"

            Wilykit said, "That was only on the condition that he and the others weren't captured by any Brain-Team members.  And, if they've been captured, you and I must look for that for which they were looking.  Understood?"

            Wilykat was very nervous about the situation, but he was forced to relent.  "Okay.  In that case, let's hurry!"  They put their bags on their boards, got on their boards, and took off.  They first went toward the Canyon of Youth.

            * * *

            Control Room, Metroid (cloaked), VideoLand.

            At the cloaked Metroid, everything was going as smoothly as Ludwig planned, even if Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo were helping in the project.  In the control room of the planet, Luna and Amok and Liquidator brought Tygra in.  "One Tygra!" announced Luna.

            "Good," said Ludwig.  He tapped an intercom button.  "Larry, I should like to see you in the control room yesterday.  And I do mean, 'yesterday'!"

            "Got it," Larry quickly replied.  In a few moments, a door opened, and Larry entered it.  "So, what desirest thou that I do, my brother?"

            Ludwig said, "I desire that you hypnotise the tiger that Liquidator caught."  Larry drew his sceptre.

            "Consider it finished!" said Larry.  He blasted Tygra with a ray for a second or two.  He then ordered, "Open your eyes."  Tygra's eyes opened, completely devoid of expression.  "You are to follow my orders and the orders of Prince Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa.  When I say, 'one, two, three,' three times and wave my sceptre, you will come out of your trance, and you will remember nothing of what you did while you were in this trance."

            "I understand," said Tygra in a monotone voice.

            �Tempus fugit {Tehm-puhs fú-jiht} [Ancient Latin] (Time flies),� remarked Ludwig.  "Get him started."

            "Yup!" said Larry.  "Come with me, Tygra.  We require your services."

            "I shall obey."  Tygra followed Larry into an adjacent room.

            Ludwig turned to Liquidator and Luna.  "Which kitties have the Luna-tacks and the Fearsome Five caught so far?"

            Luna said, "Bushie and I caught Lion-O; Red-eye and Liquidator caught Tygra; Quacker Jack and Tug-mug caught Cheetara; and Chilla and Mega Volt caught Bengali.  Negaduck and Aluro are incompetent!  They couldn't catch those twin-trouble-makers, the Thunder Kittens!"

            "Hmph!" said Ludwig.  "I think the Thunder Kittens need a taste of their own medicine."  Another, larger door opened.  In came MotherBrain.

            "The warp reactor coils and quantum singularity have been combined to your specifications, Ludwig," said MotherBrain upon entrance.

            Ludwig said, "Good, good."  He turned to Luna and Liquidator.  "Even if you don't manage to catch the Thunder Kittens, I will be through with the ship by the time they arrive in the freezing mountains and caverns."

            Luna said, "Oh, we'll catch them, all right!  And we'll hit them right where it hurts!"

            "Don't get cocky!" Ludwig ordered.  "Just do as you're ordered."  Luna stood up on Amok and made a short, curt bow to Ludwig.

            Luna explained, "Chilla and Quacker Jack are waiting in the Caverns of Cold; Mega Volt and Tug-mug are waiting in the Mountains of the Moon; and Red-eye and Bushroot are waiting in the Jungles of Darkness.  Liquie and I are going to wait in the Canyon of Youth."  Ludwig fired a ray at his feet.  Walking boots formed around them, and a safari suit formed on him.

            "On second thought, I'm coming," said Ludwig.  He created a safari hat and put it on his head.  "MB, you're in charge here.  If anything goes wrong, call me."

            "Yes, Prince L.," said MotherBrain.  Ludwig, Luna (sitting now on Amok's back), and Liquidator went to the warp to the Canyon of Youth on New Thundera.

            * * *

            Canyon of Youth, New Thundera.

            In the Canyon of Youth, the Kittens were flying on their Space-Boards and looking around.  "Nothing yet, 'Kit!" said Wilykat.  They looked down and saw a glint in the Lake of Youth.

            "What was that?" asked Wilykit.

            "Let's check it out!" said Wilykat.  They went down, and their Space-Boards landed on the ground in front of the lake.  They looked in and saw that the glint was stronger.  "Whatever it is, it must be below the surface of the river."

            In a concerned manner, Wilykit said, "Below the surface?  I'm not going in there!  I'd be an infant in nothing flat!"

            "Calm down!" said Wilykat.  "Remember the diving Cat-Suits?"  He got one out of his bag and began to put it on over his clothing.

            "All right," said Wilykit.  She did the same thing.  When they were both ready, they leapt into the lake.  The suits covered all of their bodies, including their heads, and gave them oxygen.  At the bottom of the lake, they found the something that was glinting.  "Do you think this is important?"

            "Don't know," said Wilykat.  He reached out and began to try to pull it out of the ground.

            Meanwhile, on the surface, Liquidator and Luna, observed by Ludwig, planned deadly sabotage.  "Hee, hee!" laughed Luna.  "Liquie, let's do a little stealing and sabotage!"  Ludwig grew a despicable smile.

            "Yes!" said Liquidator.  He grabbed the blue-rimmed Space-Board and removed Wilykat's bag from it, putting the bag with Wilykit's Space-Board.  Luna removed a small device from under the 'saddle' she used on Amok and handed it to Liquidator, who put it on the underside of the reddish-pink-rimmed Space-Board.  "Now, instead of flying, they'll fall!"  Luna grew a wicked smile.

            "Now," she said, "let's beat it!"  Luna and Amok, Liquidator, and Ludwig retreated to being hidden.  A minute or two after that, the Kittens emerged from the water.  They took off the helmets to their suits.

            "Wasted time.  That thing was nothing but trash," said Wilykat.

            Wilykit said, "Yeah."  She shook her head.  "Well, I guess we'd better be going."  Wilykat nodded.

            "Yeah.  I. . ."  He turned to where his board had been.  "My Space-Board!" he shouted, almost horrified.  "What in the world happened to it?"

            Wilykit said, "I think I may know.  Whoever captured the other Thunder Cats is trying to capture us, too.  I suspect that the ones trying to catch us are the Luna-tacks and the Fearsome Five, as we were attacked by Negaduck and Aluro."  Wilykat nodded in agreement.

            "Panthro forbade us to ride two-to-a-board," said Wilykat.  Wilykit shook her head, but it was barely a negative response.  "What's wrong?"

            Wilykit said, "Some nagging feeling I have says that something's going to happen around the Pyramid here on New Thundera.  I can't figure it out."  Wary of the effects of the plant life and of the plant life itself, she removed her suit and put it in her bag.  "I want to check on it."

            Removing his suit, Wilykat said, "No, 'Kit.  I. . ."

            "Don't chicken out on me!" said Wilykit.  "We've worked apart before!"

            "Only once or twice!" said Wilykat.  "I'm not certain I want to do that again."

            Wilykit said, "You don't see the Steeltwins complaining about having to work apart.  I am going to go to the Pyramid!"  It was not a mere statement.  It was an order.  Wilykat nodded.  Since she was the older, he had to obey.

            "Okay," he said reluctantly, stuffing his suit into his bag.

            Wilykit took her bag and put the strap around her shoulder.  "I know you hate my space-board, but try to tolerate it."  She tapped her communicator.  "N-Team Transporter, transport one to outside Mumm-ra's Thunderian Pyramid."  She disappeared.  Wilykat sighed.

            "She can take care of herself," Wilykat reassured himself.  "She can survive without me, and I without her."  He got onto Wilykit's board and lifted it into the sky.  He was apprehensive; Wilykit's board was harder to control, but then Wilykit was a better pilot.  "Now, on to the Jungles of Darkness!"  He started off.  Several tens of metres in the sky later, the power to the Space-Board cut out.  "Oh, great."  He began to descend.  "Blast."  He thought of something, reached on the underside of the Space-Board, and pulled off the thing Liquidator had put under it.  His next action was to get the Space-Board under control.  He managed this, then examined the device.  "This thing. . . wait a minute!  Water?  There was no tide when 'Kit and I entered the lake, and the ground was not very moist.  Liquidator!  Had I not found this circuit-blocker, I would have - gulp! - crashed!"  He turned the board around.  "I'll see who's around."  In flying above the trees, he caught a glimpse of Luna and Amok, Liquidator, and Ludwig.  "Luna, and Liquidator, and Ludwig?!?  Oh, my!"  He noticed the blue-rimmed Space-Board in Liquidator's hands.  "Hey!  That's my Space-Board!"

            On the ground, where the villains were, Luna demanded, "Why has he not fallen yet?"

            "I don't like the looks of this!" said Liquidator.  His eyes widened.  "He's coming back here!"

            "Good!" said Luna.  "Now, we'll show him what happens to squirts who mess with the Brain-Team!  Let's hide!"  The evil-doers hid behind a tree.

            Wilykat landed rather roughly, but he managed to keep from coming into direct contact with the plants.  "Wilykit," said Wilykat, "I do not know how you manage to fly this thing."  He then called out, "Come on out, you four evil-doers!  Thanks to Amok, I can literally smell you putrid beasts."  The four villains came out from behind the tree.

            "How dare you venture upon insulting us!" exclaimed Luna.  "Stop him, Amok!"  Amok grunted an affirmation; then, he charged for Wilykat.  In an agile manner, Wilykat leapt to one side, and Amok crashed Luna-first into a tree.

            "All right, Liquie!" said Wilykat tauntingly.  "Let's see what you can do against me, Waterhead!"  This remark half-boiled Liquidator in an instant.

            "Don't call me 'Waterhead'!" screamed Liquidator.  Wilykat removed a capsule from his capsule-belt.  Before Liquidator did anything, Wilykat tossed the capsule into him.  The capsule released pudding mix and cement into Liquidator's body.

            "Pudding or cement alone is bad enough!" screamed Liquidator.  "But pudding and cement?  Aaah!"  He solidified.

            Wilykat remarked, "Now, he's a hardened criminal with good taste!"

            "Eww!" said Ludwig.  "I hate rotten jokes.  This is perfect!  You and me here, alone.  Tûa sorella {Tú-ah só-rehl-lah} [Italian] (Your [familiar form] sister) is not around.  Now,. . ."

            Suspiciously, Wilykat said, "That sounds suspiciously like a familiar form.  Of course, I don't know Italian, but I believe it is similar to Ancient Thunderian and related to French."

            "Pardon me!" said Ludwig.  "You're right.  That should have been �sûa sorella {sú-ah só-rehl-lah} [Italian] (your [polite form] sister)�."

            Wilykat said, "That sounds more like, 'his or her sister.' "

            "Well," said Ludwig, "maybe you'd understand if you studied Spanish!  In some respects, that language is closer to Italian that to French."

            "Maybe I shall," said Wilykat.  "I remember that Ancient Thunderian does the same.  In the meantime, accept this as a souvenir of our first encounter alone!"  He blasted Ludwig with a sleep-gas capsule.  Ludwig's magic did not make him immune to the effects of the gas, and Wilykat grabbed his own Space-Board, leapt on Wilykit's, and left very quickly.  He went directly to the Jungles of Darkness.

            * * *

            Pyramid, Ancient Ruins, New Thundera.

            In the pyramid area, Wilykit's trip had so far proved fruitless.  "Nothing," she said to herself.  "I should call my brother."  She tapped her communicator.  "Wilykat?"

            Over the communicator, Wilykat's voice replied, "What is it, 'Kit?"

            "Thank Jaga!" she whispered under her breath inaudibly.  She raised her voice level to conversational.  "What's up?"

            "Well," said Wilykat, "I've just beaten the word-one-should-not-use out of Ludwig, Luna, Amok, and Liquidator, and I've rescued my Space-Board.  Now. . ."

            "What're you trying to do, SHOW ME UP?!?" Wilykit demanded.

            "Wilykit!" said Wilykat defensively.  "I merely saw them and decided to find out what they were doing!  Plus, I saw that Liquidator had my Space-Board."  Wilykit had calmed down.

            "Okay," she said.  "Sorry for snapping at you.  Make it so that I can beam directly onto the unused Space-Board.  You will have half a minute."

            "Right," said Wilykat.  The communicator beeped.

            A half-minute later, Wilykit tapped her communicator once more.  "N-Team Transporter," she instructed, "transport one to the unused Space-Board at Wilykat's co-ordinates."  The transporter beam picked her up and transported her to Wilykat's Space-Board.  She was surprised for a moment and temporarily lost control, but she easily regained it.  Not over twenty centimetres to her left was Wilykat.  "How dare you steal my Space-Board!"

            "I had no choice," said Wilykat.  "I should be the one complaining.  How the heck do you manage to land?"  Wilykit was amused.  She, too, knew her board was harder to control than Wilykat's.  However, with concentration, she could do more with it.

            "Let's just get to where we're going," said Wilykit.

            * * *

            Jungles of Darkness.

            In the Jungles of Darkness, Red-eye and Bushroot lay in wait for the Thunder Kittens.  "Where the devil are they?" demanded Bushroot.  "Luna told us they'd be here!"

            "Patience, my dear Bushroot," said Red-eye.  "Patience is a virtue."

            "I know, but I thought they were very punctual."  They saw two patterns come into view.  "Ah!  They're here!"

            The Thunder Kittens, with Cat's-Eyes, were searching everything everywhere.  "I detest these Cat's-Eyes!" remarked Wilykat.

            "Don't detest them," said Wilykit.  "Detest the infrared spectrum.  It shows colours for different levels of heat.  Also remember that we're not used to the infrared spectrum, so it's difficult to adapt."

            "Yeah," said Wilykat.  "It would've been different if we had the time to perfect our own infrared-sight abilities.  We do have that ability, you know."  Wilykit nodded in agreement.  Then, her sensitive ears twitched, as did Wilykat's.  "What was that?"

            "I don't know," said Wilykit.  She went over next to him.  "I'll never get used to infrared vision.  Whenever one's mood changes, one's infrared 'colours' change."

            "Sh!" said Wilykat.  He whispered as inaudibly as possible, "We don't want anyone to. . ."

            "Hold it right there, you disgusting omnivores!" said Bushroot's voice.  The Kittens turned and saw him and Red-eye.

            "Oh, great!" remarked Wilykat.  "Dr. Doolittle of the plant world and Mr. Heat-seer."

            "That's right, Thunder Brat!" said Red-eye.  "I'll overpower you easily!"  Wilykit removed her Cat's-Eyes.

            " 'Kit!" exclaimed Wilykat.  "What are you. . ."

            "Take off yours immediately!" she ordered.  Wilykat did so.  "Take this, evil-doers!"  She tossed a capsule onto the ground.  It lit up the world for Red-eye and overloaded his infrared sensors.  Bushroot, who had altered his eyes so he could see only infrared, was temporarily blinded.  The light so blinded Bushroot and Red-eye that they were knocked out by a whopping headache caused by the blinding effect.

            "That felt hot!" said Wilykat.

            "It was," said Wilykit.  "It was extremely hot.  That's why we removed our Cat's-Eyes."

            "Okay, clarify to me what happened, 'Kit."

            "Since this part of New Thundera permits no colour light at all, I decided to turn the situation to our advantage by using a flash-capsule.  We saw only darkness because we had our Cat's-Eyes off.  It's cooler now; thus, it's safe to put them back on now."  They did so.  Their infrared sight was restored to them.  "Anyway, since the flash-capsule gives off plenty of infrared radiation, I decided to blind Red-eye and Bushroot by tossing the capsule on the ground while the two of us had our Cat's-Eyes off.  The idea worked for the sole reason that there is no colour light in this part of the world.  Understand?"

            "Yes," said Wilykat.  "Good thinking!  Now, take out that electronic mapping device and tell us how far we've gone in this area."  Wilykit got a portable viewscreen out of her bag, set it to emit infrared instead of colour light (for obvious reasons), and read the information.

            "It looks like we've done 100%," said Wilykit.  Wilykat was surprised, and he gently took the viewscreen.

            He said, "Let me see that!"  He read it.  "By gosh, you're right!"

            "Remember," reminded Wilykit, "that the book showed little of the Jungles of Darkness in our race's area."  Wilykat nodded.

            "Mountains of the Moon, then?" he asked.

            "Mountains of the Moon," confirmed Wilykit.  "Let's get rid of these darned goggles."

            * * *

            Sky Tomb, just outside the Jungles of Darkness, along the road between the Jungles and the Caverns of Cold.

            At this time, at Sky Tomb, Liquidator engaged an auto-warp mechanism.  Red-eye and Bushroot, still unconscious, were warped to their presence.  "Well, if that is not just peachy!" said Liquidator.  He formed one of his hands into a bucket and put his other hand on its underside.  "Maybe some cold water will wake those two up!"  He splashed the two with the water.  They woke up in a moment.

            "Brr!" Bushroot said.  "That was freezing!"

            "Grr!" said Red-eye, sitting up.  "What happened?"

            Luna said, "That is for you two to explain!  We thought you had the Kittens by now!"

            "The Kittens, bah!" Bushroot said.  "They just got lucky."

            "Hardly," said Ludwig.  "What'd they do?"

            Red-eye said, "They slipped off their Cat's-Eyes, and Wilykit knocked us out with a flash-capsule.  The brightness and hotness of the light knocked us out."

            "Apparently," said Ludwig, "we have underestimated their abilities, their reflexes, and, most of all, their cunning and intelligence.  You deserve no blame.  However, somehow, they must be stopped!"

            "Well," said Bushroot in a 'nyah, nyah' voice, "why didn't you stop them?"

            Ludwig angrily demanded, "Do you expect me to humiliate myself by telling you?"

            "Wilykat decided to take us on alone," said Luna.  "Apparently, he can take care of himself quite well.  He knocked Amok and me out by getting out of the way while Amok was charging at him.  Amok crashed head- and me-first into a tree.  Then, he hit Liquidator with a cement- and pudding-capsule."

            "Eww!" said Bushroot.

            Liquidator said, "The prince will not tell us how he was beaten."

            "Now, you must know why I said that the Thunder Kittens must be stopped," said Ludwig.  "If that young man can stop me, I would have a hard time against both of them, or even just Wilykit."  Suddenly, an alarm went off.  "What in the. . ."

            "Those two are coming this way!" said Red-eye, over a control station.  Ludwig growled.

            "I hope they cause no trouble!" said Ludwig.

            "You seemed a lot more confident around the Steeltwins," said Bushroot.

            "The Steeltwins," said Ludwig, "did not overpower my first officer!  I get a feeling that the Wilytwins are a lot more clever than the Steeltwins.  Knock those brats out of the sky!"  Luna nodded.  She activated a device.

            * * *

            Outside, the Kittens, on their Space-Boards, were approaching Sky Tomb.  "Sky Tomb!" said Wilykat nervously.

            "Relax!" said Wilykit.  Her left hand went near her communicator.  "We'll beat it if things get too rough."  The moon-crescent on top of Sky Tomb brightened.  In a moment it blasted a laser at the Kittens.  The Kittens themselves managed to avoid it, but the laser wiped out their Space-Boards.  The Kittens fell about three metres and landed on their feet.  "At least we landed on our feet!  Ow!"  Her right leg began hurting.  Wilykat went over and helped her sit her down.  "My leg. . . I think it's been broken."  Wilykat sighed, kneeling beside her.

            "How the devil do we get into these messes?" he asked himself.  For emphasis, he pointed to her.  He almost ordered, "Go to the hospital in the Palace of Power and see Quicksilver."

            "What about you?" asked Wilykit.  "The same thing might have happened to you."

            "My shoes absorbed most of the shock of the landing," he said.  "Besides, bring the device Quicksilver will have used to heal you."  Wilykit nodded.

            "Okay," she said.  Wilykat got up and stepped away; she tapped her communicator and got up.  "One to transport to the Palace of Power's hospital."  She was beamed there.

            "Now, to Sky Tomb!" said Wilykat.  He abruptly stopped in step.  He got their two bags and, then, started back toward Sky Tomb.  "I never thought I'd really ever say that."

            * * *

            Hospital, Palace of Power, VideoLand.

            Just outside the door to the hospital of the Palace of Power, Wilykit rematerialised.  When she entered, she saw two or three doctors under Quicksilver's command working with patients.  She went to Quicksilver's office, where he had just finished a medical log.  "Hello, Wilykit," greeted Quicksilver.  "You and your brother seem to have plenty of scratch-ups."

            "I know," said Wilykit.  "I think, this time, I broke a leg."

            "How?"

            "We were approaching Sky Tomb, and it blasted our Space-Boards with a ray.  We landed on our feet, but the hardly hindered shock may have fractured my lower leg."  Quicksilver came over to her and looked.

            "No superficial evidence," said he.  "That means it was a clean break, if your leg was damaged at all."

            "It hurts.  That's why I fear it was broken."

            "Okay."  They went out to one of the bio-beds, and Quicksilver helped Wilykit to lie down on one.  He got an examination device off one of the tables and proceeded to examine Wilykit's leg.  He nodded.  "A simple fracture," he said.  "I deal with this all the time, as with all the scrapes you two can get into."  Wilykit smiled back.  "At least you never injure yourselves more severely than this."  Quicksilver got a device out of a drawer and used it on Wilykit's leg.  It painlessly opened up the skin, and a ray from the device rejoined her leg-bones perfectly.  When that was finished, it closed up the hole it made and left the outside of Wilykit's leg as it had been before the simple operation.  Quicksilver remarked, "Simple as . . . bad metaphor for the situation."

            "Simple as breaking a leg?" asked Wilykit, smiling.  Quicksilver nodded.  "I hope the same thing didn't happen to Wilykat.  He says his shoes absorbed the shock."

            "Probably; I wouldn't worry about him.  My young lady," Quicksilver said, "we are going to go to Commander Steelheart's office.  She'll want to know why you were anywhere near Sky Tomb."  ��Vámonos!  {Bah-mó-nós!}  [Spanish]  (Let's go!)�

            "Does that mean, 'let's go'?" asked Wilykit.  Quicksilver nodded.  They left the room; then, they entered the elevator and told it to take them to the main floor.

            "You'd better not ask a Spaniard that," said Quicksilver.  "You especially should not if you were in old Spanish America.  It's possible that you might be hanged."

            "Hanged because you don't know Spanish?" laughed Wilykit.  "Give me a break!"

            "It's true," said Quicksilver.  "Especially if the town were run by a mayor as mean as Luis Ramón {lwés rrah-món} or Ignacio de Soto {ég-nah-syó dáy só-tó}.  Those two were nasty.  Got their clocks cleaned by Zorro {zor-ró} too many times."

            "Tell me about whom your talking about."

            "In the 20th century on my Earth, there originated a movie series and a television series called 'Zorro.'  The particular villains I was talking about were in the 1990s TV series that aired on the Family Channel originally.  He's cunning like a fox, and the word el zorro {áyl só-rró} [Spanish] is the Spanish equivalent of 'the fox.'  Zorro, the man's name is pronounced the way I pronounce it because it's been anglicised by the American English-speakers who produced and watched it.  Anyway, his actual identity was that of Diego de la Vega {dyáy-gó dáy lah bay-gah}, the son of a wealthy landowner named Alejandro de la Vega {ah-láy-çahn-dró dáy lah bay-gah}.  Again, their last names were anglicised, though I didn't pronounce it that way; the Spanish V is pronounced like their B, the way I said it.  When as Diego de la Vega, Zorro acted like a real wimp and was quite a scholar to keep everyone from thinking that he was Zorro.  The only one who knew that Diego was Zorro was their 'servant,' Felipe {fáy-lé-páy}, and he was mute.  Only Diego knew that Felipe could hear.  Anyway, you might want to watch it.  It's in the computers at Hawkhaven."  Wilykit nodded.

            "I will," she said.  The elevator arrived at the proper floor.  The two went to the warp to Hawkhaven.

            * * *

            Sky Tomb, just outside the Jungles of Darkness, New Thundera.

            On New Thundera, Wilykat had entered Sky Tomb, which was as quiet as a tomb.  His senses were sharper than scissors that could cut a diamond in half.  He was also having some serious second thoughts about being there.  Too quiet, he thought.  It is all much, much too quiet.  They know I'm here.  They want me.  He heard something.  Breathing.  I'll follow it.  With extreme caution, he followed the sound to a locked chamber.  Someone or something is here.  I'd better find out who or what.  With one hand very close to his pellet-belt, he used his other hand to find a door-control or a knob.  He found a well-concealed button and pressed it.  The door slid open.  He stepped in and saw the other Thunder Cats, who were sleeping.  Looks like someone got Lion-O in the Canyon of Youth, and Bengali's been frozen.  I hate the looks of this.  He turned to Cheetara, still wrapped up in Quacker Jack's slinky.  And Quacker Jack obviously caught Cheetara.  All too dangerous.  In caution he looked to the doorway, where no one had entered.  And this was probably a trap of some sort!  Suddenly, the ceiling opened, and a net fell on him.  "Sticky," he said.  "I can't get out!"  Another door opened.  Luna, Amok, Red-eye, Liquidator, Bushroot, and Ludwig entered, in that order.

            "Well, well!" said Luna.  "Looks like we got another cat who is too curious with Vultureman's sticky net!  I wonder if he's worth his net weight in latinum?  Ha, ha!"

            "Oh, very funny, ugly!" said Wilykat.

            Luna said, "I take that as a compliment.  The situation is reversed this time!"

            "Don't be too sure about that!" shouted the voice of the Commander of the Silver Hawks.  Everyone turned to the door and saw Steelheart and Wilykit.

            "What in the name of hell?!?" demanded Luna.

            "Oh, shame on you, Luna!" said Steelheart.  "Using profanity!  Not a good practice."

            "It's none of your darned business what kind of language I use, Silver Hawk!" screamed Luna.

            "Such language is offensive," said Wilykit.  "It's your type that gives villains a bad name."  Ludwig shrugged.

            "I guess it's time," said he.  He turned off a device. . . which had projected the images of the captured Thunder Cats into the room!

            "What the. . ." demanded Wilykat.  "A hologram!  You tricked me with a stupid hologram!!"

            Ludwig asked, "Dost thou really expect us to keep such valuable prisoners here where you smarty little twerps can rescue them?  Ha!"

            "I've been lured into a fool's trap!" Wilykat almost screamed.  "If I had a mind for it, you'd be hearing some highly offensive language!"

            "How quaint," said Ludwig.  "Well, you'll have to excuse us.  Tah-tah!"  He snapped his fingers.  He, the Luna-tacks, and the Fearsome Five members in the room disappeared, as had the holograms!  (In case you don't get the clue, they were holograms as well; they weren't really there.)

            "Why, that evil little rat!" said Wilykat angrily.  He turned to Steelheart and Wilykit.  "Yeah, go ahead and laugh."

            "Why should we?" asked Wilykit softly.  "I find nothing funny about this."  Steelheart fired a shoulder-laser that destroyed the net.  It melted the adhesive so Wilykat could comfortably get the net off himself.

            "Thanks," said Wilykat dejectedly.  "I've been humiliated."

            Steelheart asked, "Do you really expect Ludwig to take humiliation from you without giving it back?"

            "No, but I really walked into this trap.  And I was trying to be so careful, too!  Why are you here, anyway?"

            Wilykit said, "When I went to Quicksilver to get my leg healed, he wanted that he and I go to Steelheart's office and explain everything to her.  She wanted to help, so she and I came to your co-ordinates."  Wilykat turned to her.

            "Why couldn't you have used a little more speed?" he asked.

            "Wilykat!" said Wilykit.  "At least we came before they did anything serious to you.  Forget about this."

            Wilykat said, "Okay, Wilykit.  Let's go."

            As they left the room, Steelheart said, "Someone's waiting outside to transport us."

            "Oh?" asked Wilykat.  "Who?"

            * * *

            Outside, they arrived.  "Okay, where is that quack?" asked Steelheart.

            "LP probably had to repair the clutch!" said Wilykat.

            "Can it with the smarty-remarks, please," said Wilykit.  Wilykat nodded.  The ThunderQuack materialised.  The canopy on the top of the ThunderQuack opened.

            "Hop on in!" said Darkwing.  Steelheart and the Kittens entered and went to the back seats.  The canopy closed.  "Take 'er up, LP!"

            "Right-o, DW!" said Launchpad.  The plane rose in the air and went toward the Mountains of the Moon.

            "Sorry I'm late," said Darkwing.  "I'd have been here sooner if my sidekick had put the engine coolant in the coolant chamber and the wiper fluid in the wiper chamber and not the other way around!"

            Launchpad said, "Sorry, DW.  I always forget which is which."  He put his right hand on a lever.  He tried to pull it.  "Nng!  It won't get out of fifth!"

            "Try putting in the clutch!" said Darkwing.

            "I always forget about that, too," said Launchpad.  His right foot went off the gas and his left foot went on the clutch.  He shifted out of the present gear and into another.  When he released the clutch, the plane zipped backwards and the engine was making an unholy noise!  "I always forget about REVERSE, too!" he managed to shout over the noise of the engine.  He put in the clutch and break pedals and came to a stop.  The craft hovered.

            Darkwing said, "Now, do it right!"  Launchpad nodded sheepishly.  This time, he got up to cruising speed without any stupid incidents.

            "You ought to take some lessons from Kevin," suggested Steelheart.  "As far as I know, he has never stalled anything he has driven. . . not even the first time he piloted the N-Team's Warp Wagon."

            "Be extremely careful when you enter the Mountains of the Moon," said Wilykit.  "The gravity there is ten times normal."

            "Why?" asked Darkwing.

            "Because the First Moon of Plundarr is in a tidal lock over that region, and it influences the gravity."  Darkwing nodded.

            "LP," Darkwing ordered, "at the instant we cross into the Mountains of the Moon, activate the gravity stabilisers."

            "Right, Darkwing," said Launchpad.

            * * *

            Bridge, Ludwig's Warbird, next to Metroid, VideoLand.

            If one were to see Metroid right now, there would be a huge ship right next to it.  On the bridge of this ship, Ludwig looked around and nodded in a manner showing how happy he really was.  It was testimony to the extreme efficiency of the Koopa Army and the Creatures of Metroid, numbering in the millions.  The door from a turbo-elevator opened, and Larry, with his 'servant,' came onto the bridge.  "Good work," said Ludwig.

            Larry reported, "Engineering is ready, bro!"

            "Good," said Ludwig.  "Everything is properly done?  Warp engines?  Phasers?  Disruptors?"

            "Affirmative on all, Ludwig."

            "Mass over ten times the combined mass of the seven Doomships?"

            "Yes, sir."

            "Good.  We'll have to do a shakedown cruise on the way to be sure everything is in proper working order, though.  Prepare to get underway."  Larry nodded.  He and Tygra (the 'servant') left.  Ludwig turned to King Bowser, also on the bridge.  "Dad, how is security?"

            "Security is fine, my treacherous son," said Bowser, at the security station.  "You sure make a dad proud, Ludwig!"

            "Thank you."  Ludwig went to the command seat in the centre.  It was hard to distinguish this bridge from that of a Romulan ship.  So was the exterior of the ship in appearance, but the ship would dominate any class of Romulan Warbird.  "Now, let's decloak."

            "Yes, son," said Bowser.  He went to a station in front of the command seat and pressed a couple of buttons.  On the outside, the huge ship and Metroid faded into view.  MotherBrain's voice came over a comm-link.

            "Your decloak is successful, Prince Ludwig," said MotherBrain.

            "Good," said Ludwig.  "Thanks.  Is Metroid's cloak working?"

            "Yes."

            "Engage it."  On the viewscreen, Metroid faded from view.  Bowser, looking at the readout, nodded.  "Your cloak is working, MotherBrain."  Larry and Tygra came back in.

            "Everything is in working order," said Larry.  He went to a station and left Tygra standing expressionlessly in a corner.

            Ludwig said, "Let's get rid of the cat, first."  He pointed a claw at Tygra.  A rope securely bound him.  "De-hypnotise him."

            "Aye!" said Larry.  He swished his sceptre, then said, "One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three."  Tygra came out of the trance.

            Tygra exclaimed, "What the. . . -gah!-"

            "Liquie fixed you, kitty!" said Ludwig.

            "You mean Monsieur Tête d'Eau {mawⁿh-syeuhr teht dó} [French] (Mr. Waterhead)?"

            "You'd better be happy he's not around.  Tell me, how do you know French?"

            "I'm trying to learn languages in part to try to understand other people's culture.  I'm not too fluent in it yet, but I hope to be some day."

            "Point well-taken, Thunder Cat."  He tapped a button.  "Liquidator, would you come to the bridge of the Warbird, please?"

            "Yes, sir," said Liquidator.

            "Warbird?" asked Tygra.  "What is happening?"

            Ludwig said, "Larry's spell really did work.  Good."  In a few moments, Liquidator arrived in a turbo-elevator.

            Liquidator asked, "What would you like, Prince?"

            Ludwig said, "Take Tygra to the Pyramid, where you have the other Thunder Cats."

            "What do you mean, 'the other Thunder Cats'?" demanded Tygra.

            "Lion-O, Cheetara, and Bengali," said Ludwig.  "We've not managed to catch the two Thunder Kittens yet.  However, we did manage to turn Lion-O into another Thunder Kitten."  This made Tygra angry.

            "You will not get away with this, Ludwig," said Tygra.

            Ludwig corrected, "That is Pr-. . . no.  No, that's Emperor Ludwig to you, Thunder Puddy-tat!  Take him away, Liquie."  Liquidator led Tygra into the turbo-elevator.  "Thunder Cats.  They are nothing but trouble!"

            * * *

            ThunderQuack, Mountains of the Moon, New Thundera.

            In the Mountains of the Moon, the Thunder Kittens and Steelheart were searching.  When they had finished, they met at the ThunderQuack.  "Nothing," said Steelheart.  The Kittens shook their heads.  Wilykit took out her electronic notepad.

            "We've just explored one hundred percent of the territory here, too," said Wilykit.

            "Then, going to the Caverns of Cold might just be a waste of time," said Launchpad, not wanting to get cold.

            "Sheesh!" said Darkwing.  "We might find something there."  Something beeped.

            "Someone's coming!" said Launchpad.

            "Who?" asked Darkwing.

            "Mega Volt and Tug-mug!" said Launchpad, scared.

            Darkwing got a spare set of spring-heels and said, "I'll fix them!"  He put the spring-heels on.  "Tah-tah!"  He shot a warp-smoke on the floor and disappeared when it enveloped him.

            Mega Volt and Tug-mug were looking for the good guys.  "They're over this rise," said Mega Volt.

            Tug-mug said, "They'll be no match for us, right, MV?"

            "Right, Tug-mug!"  Smoke appeared, and Darkwing appeared from it.

            "I am the terror," announced Darkwing, "that flaps in the night!  I am the scale that lies about your weight!  I am Darkwing Duck!"

            "Try ducking this!" said Mega Volt.  He blasted some energy over which Darkwing jumped.

            "Bad shot, Sparkie!"

            Mega Volt screamed, "Ooh, don't call me 'Sparkie'!"  He fried Darkwing.  Darkwing was also knocked out by the lethal energy.  Mega Volt tied Darkwing up with an electro-rope.  "Let's get the others!"  He and Tug-mug picked up the pace.  Mega Volt's electro-rope brought Darkwing with them.

            At the ThunderQuack, Launchpad saw a change in the evil-doer's pace.  "Homina-homina-homina. . ."

            "What is it?" asked Steelheart.

            "TUG-MUG AND MEGA VOLT HAVE DW AND ARE RUNNING HERE!!!" he screamed at the top of his voice.

            Mega Volt, Tug-mug, and Darkwing came on the scene.  "Well, if it isn't two cats and two birds!" remarked Tug-mug.  "Why don't you wait around?  Ha, ha, ha!"  He blasted at the do-gooders with his Gravity Carbine, but he only hit Launchpad and the ThunderQuack, which floated in the air.

            "I'm weightless!" said Launchpad.

            "What a genius," said Mega Volt.

            Steelheart said, "Try stopping me, you electro-charged mutt!"

            "All right, bird-brain!" said Mega Volt.  He blasted at Steelheart, who leapt out of his electricity's way.  His next blast, though, hit Steelheart and thrust her into a rock, back-first.  Knocked out from the blow, she fell on the ground.  "Tah-dah!  Mega Volt:  super-villain!"

            Both Thunder Kittens simultaneously said, "You mean, 'Tah-dah!  Sparkie:  super-nincompoop!' "

            Angrily, Mega Volt screamed, "OOH, DON'T CALL ME 'SPARKIE'!!!"  He blasted at them, but they separated so Mega Volt could not hit them both.  All of Mega Volt's subsequent blasts missed the Thunder Kittens.  Soon, and many electrified rock-faces later, Mega Volt was run-down.  He was panting.  "I'll get you two brats!"

            "We're not brats!" said Wilykit.

            "That's true!" said Wilykat.  "We're Thunder Cats."

            "Then, lighten up!" said Tug-mug.  Like Mega Volt's, all of Tug-mug's blasts missed the Thunder Kittens.  At the end, Wilykit knocked him out with some sleep-gas.  As he fell on his front, the Gravity Carbine was pushed by his huge body to one side.  Pinching his nose shut, Wilykat went over to Tug-mug and got the carbine.  He restored the weight to the ThunderQuack and Launchpad.  Then, Wilykit went over to Darkwing, tossed a capsule onto the electricity binding him, and stopped the electric rope.  She shook Darkwing until he woke up as Wilykat went to check on Steelheart.

            "Darkwing?" asked Wilykit as Darkwing took in a deep breath.

            "Oh, my head!" said Darkwing, getting up.  He put his hand on his head.  "Mega Volt must have really hit me."

            "Steelheart?" asked Wilykat.  He got Steelheart into a sitting position and tried to examine the physical evidence.  He did not notice anything much. . . except that Steelheart's back felt a little too soft, and he thought he felt some spine fractures.  " 'Kit," said Wilykat, "I'm going to take Steelheart to the Palace of Power hospital."

            "Okay," said Wilykit.  Wilykat tapped his communicator.

            "N-Team Transporter," said Wilykat, "transport two to Quicksilver's office at the Palace of Power."  The transporter beam picked up Wilykat and Steelheart.

            * * *

            Hospital, Palace of Power, VideoLand.

            The beam deposited Wilykat and Steelheart across from Quicksilver's desk in the hospital of the Palace of Power.  "Whoa!" said Quicksilver, behind his desk.  "Wilykat, what's going on?"

            "In the Mountains of the Moon," Wilykat quickly explained, "Tug-mug and Mega Volt attacked.  Mega Volt knocked Steelheart into a boulder with the force of his electricity.  Her back hit the rock first.  And it doesn't feel to good back there; I checked in the manner you described."

            "Uh, oh," said Quicksilver in a disconcerting manner.  "Uh, oh!"  He went over to Steelheart and picked her up.  He took her to an unoccupied bio-bed and put her on it.  He did what procedure told him to do next. . . he tapped his communicator to call Captain N.  "Captain N," said Quicksilver, "please come to the Palace of Power's hospital immediately."

            "On my way," said Captain N.  Quicksilver began to examine Steelheart.

            "Life signs a tad weak," said Quicksilver.  The door opened, and Captain N almost ran in.  Seeing Steelheart almost took his entire momentum away.

            "What in the. . .?" demanded Kevin in a surprised manner.  He turned to Wilykat.  "What happened, Wilykat?"

            "The entire explanation?"

            "Not yet; just what happened to Steelheart."

            "We were exploring the Mountains of the Moon on New Thundera when Mega Volt and Red-eye attacked.  The force of some wattage with which Mega Volt hit Steelheart thrust her back-first into a boulder."

            "What about the attack?"

            "Wilykit and I managed to stop Mega Volt and Tug-mug."

            "Good.  Quicksilver, call Steelwill and tell him what happened.  I'm going back to where Wilykat was."

            "Okay," said Quicksilver.

            "Kevin," said Wilykat, "you need spring-heels."

            Kevin asked, "Won't my Power Pad work just as well?"

            "You'd entirely drain it while trying to move a metre!"

            "-Gulp!-  Okay.  Let's go."  They left the hospital.  Kevin tapped his communicator.

            * * *

            Mountains of the Moon, New Thundera.

            Back at the Mountains of the Moon, Wilykit, Darkwing, and Launchpad were waiting in the ThunderQuack.  "I hope Steelheart wasn't hurt," said Wilykit.  Her communicator beeped.  She pressed it.  "Wilykit here."

            "Wilykit," said Quicksilver, "your brother arrived with Steelheart.  Her spinal bones have really been broken."  Wilykit gulped.

            "What else?" she asked.

            "She is alive, but, unless I do something about her spinal cord, she hasn't a prayer.  I. . . I have refrained from calling her brother, although Kevin ordered that I do so."

            "Why?"

            "Because he'd be extremely, extremely, extremely angry."

            "Well, who am I to give you orders?  I can only suggest that you do something. . . like calling Steelwill for example."

            "Right.  Okay.  Quicksilver out."  The communicator beeped.  Wilykit looked at Darkwing, who just shrugged.

            Wilykit said, "I wish Wilykat would get here."  Wilykat must have heard her, because, at that moment, he materialised with Kevin right outside the ThunderQuack.  Both were in spring-heels.  "Well, out with the commander, and in with her Number One, eh?"

            "Yeah, out with the commander," said Wilykat.  "We dropped her by the hospital."  Wilykit nodded.

            "Yeah," said she.  "Quicksilver just called.  He said that Steelheart's spine was in pretty awful shape.  And something is wrong with her spinal cord."

            "Did he call Steelwill as I commanded?" asked Kevin.

            "Well," said Wilykit, "he said that he didn't, but I suggested that he do that.  He said he refrained from calling Lt. Steelwill because Steelwill would be awfully angry."

            "It is his responsibility to call Will."  He mashed his communicator.  "Colonel Quicksilver, Kevin here.  I thought I ordered you to call. . ."

            "I'm just about to!" interrupted Quicksilver.  "Gee whiz, Kevin!  Give me a break, please!"

            "All right, calm down," said Kevin.  "Just try to fix Steelheart's back, and definitely do call Steelwill.  Got it?"

            "Got it," said Quicksilver.  "Quicksilver out."  The communicator beeped.  Kevin and Wilykat got in the back seat of the ThunderQuack with Wilykit.  Launchpad shut the canopy and took off for the Caverns of Cold.  Kevin turned to the Thunder Kittens as soon as they were underway.

            Kevin asked, "Well, Thunder Kittens, mind telling me what's going on?"

            * * *

            Bridge, Ludwig's Warbird, near Metroid, VideoLand.

            At Metroid, both the planet and the huge ship Ludwig called the Warbird were uncloaked.  As aforementioned, this monstrosity looked like a Romulan Warbird, except ten times as large as the latest class.  An elliptical surface went from side-to-side.  In the middle, the head of the ship protruded forwards and the tail backwards.  The head had something like a beak pointing downwards.  Between this centre body and the wingtips was empty space.  At the wing-tips were the extremely powerful warp thrusters, capable of propelling the large ship at extremely high speeds without causing subspace pollution.  The bridge was in the head.  The ship was armed to the teeth with the latest in Ludwig's weapons technology. . . the extremely latest.  It was a hundred times or more deadlier than all seven former Doomships combined.  As Ludwig sat in the command seat on the bridge of the ship, he felt the very power emanating from his huge ship.  "Magnificent," he whispered to himself.  At the forward stations were Bowser at communications and Larry at navigation, operations, and propulsion.  Roy was at the security station.  MotherBrain's voice came over a comm-link.

            "You're cleared for departure, Prince," said MotherBrain.  Ludwig could feel her smile as she continued, "Not that you need clearance."

            Ludwig said, "Thank you, MotherBrain.  We'll be back for supper!  Ludwig out."  He snapped the comm-line shut.  "Now, guys, let's see what our new toy can do.  Fire up the engines."  On the outside, the engine nacelles lit up with light a shade lighter than the leaf-green of the ship.  "Take us to New Thundera," ordered Ludwig, "at warp 30."  Larry nodded.  He input the course and speed.  The ship turned so that its 'beak' faced in New Thundera's direction.  The engines accelerated the ship rapidly, and they reached warp 30, which was millions times light speed, in thirty seconds.

            Larry announced, "We are now at a cruising speed of hyper 300, evil brother."

            "Excellent!" said Ludwig.  "ETA to New Thundera?"

            "Half an hour," replied Bowser.

            "Ah!" said Ludwig.  "And, in thirty-one minutes, the Thunder Kittens will have been transported into a prison cell by this ship's transporter."

            * * *

            Caverns of Cold, New Thundera.

            Later, the Thunder Kittens and Captain N were exploring the extremely frigid Caverns of Cold.  Without their heat-containing suits, they would be frozen.  As it turns out, the trio had explored 99% of the area when they reached the entrance for which Bengali literally fell.  Wilykat leant right next to the door.  "Let's rest for a moment," he said.  "This exploration is killing me."

            Wilykit leant on the cavern wall across from the door.  "Resting for a moment sounds like a good idea," she told him.  She noticed a very, very minor discrepancy in the section of wall taken up by the door.  "There's something next to you."

            Wilykat jumped a little, but, when he turned to the hidden door, he realised what she was talking about.  "I wonder what. . ."  He pushed the section of wall.  The door slid open partly.  "It's a door!"

            "I wonder what's inside," said Kevin.

            A voice that could belong only to Chilla herself said, "You won't get the chanc-s-s-se to find out, human!"  The three turned and saw Chilla, behind whom was Quacker Jack!

            "Oh, great!" said Kevin.  He grabbed his Zapper and turned to the 'fry' setting.  "Fry, Chilla!"  He blasted Chilla.

            "Yaah!  Stop that!  Yaah!"  She was really softened by the blast.  "Oh. . . fire!  I hate fire!  Oh. . ."  She fell on the floor and passed out.  Quacker Jack leapt up.

            "Hey, kids!" asked Quacker Jack.  "Wanna play?"

            "I don't see any kids around here!" said Wilykat.

            Quacker Jack pulled on his 'bell-ropes' angrily, then yelled, "I'm talking about the two of you, you little delinquents!"

            "Oh, shut up, Quack!" said Kevin.  He set his Zapper back to normal.  "Prepare for stunning, Chuckles!"  Before Quacker Jack could react, Kevin stunned him.

            "That's that," said Wilykat.  "We're going in."  Wilykat pushed the door open fully.  With his sister behind him, he entered.  The place was dazzling.  The Kittens saw stairs, the same ones over which Bengali had fallen to break his leg.  They began a short distance beyond the door.  The Kittens carefully descended them, as they were icy and slippery.  Once on the lower level, they looked at the city, then at each other.  "An entire city within a mountain!" remarked Wilykat.  Wilykit turned in another direction and saw a sign.

            "Ah. . ." said Wilykit.  "I cannot understand this completely."

            Wilykat observed it.  He tried to read it.  "I can't understand it, either."  He got out a pad and wrote down the contents:  �Questa città seppellita è un manufatto della nostra civiltà.  Essa fu semplicemente costruita per mostrare i nostri costumi alle altre razze; non si ha mai vissuto in essa.  {Kwáys-tah chét-tah sehp-pehl-lé-tah eh ún mah-nú-faht-tó dáyl-lah nós-trah ché-vél-tah.  Áys-sah fú sáym-plé-cháy-máyn-táy kós-trú-é-tah páyr mó-strah-ráy é nós-tré kós-tú-mé ahl-láy ahl-tráy rahts-sáy; nón sé ah mahy vés-sú-tó én ehs-sah.}  [Italian]  (This buried city is an artefact of our civilisation.  It was built simply to show other races our ways; it has never been inhabited.)�  Finishing the proper punctuation, he added, "Looks like Italian."

            "Looks like it?" said Wilykit.  "It is it!  Italian is a Romance language, like French, Spanish, and Portuguese."

            Wilykat was angered by her and turned to her.  "Wilykit, I know that!" he almost screamed.

            "Well, don't be so patient about it!"  Wilykat showed her enough of his teeth to make her get the impression.  "Oh, all right, I'm sorry.  I don't really intentionally insult your intelligence.  It's just that something inside me makes me."  She softened her voice to make Wilykat give in. . . at least slightly.  "No hard feelings, okay?"

            "Okay, 'Kit," said Wilykat.  "But don't press your luck.  We need Kevin down here.  Even though Italian is similar to Ancient Thunderian, I can't understand all of it.  Can you?  Stupid question.  You said you couldn't."  He tapped his communicator.  "Kevin, come down here, please."

            "Okay," said Kevin.  "I'm coming."  The Kittens looked toward the door.  Kevin came in and carefully descended the steps.  Once on their level, he walked over to them.  "What's up?"

            Wilykat pointed to the sign.  "That.  What does it say?"

            Kevin looked at it.  "It looks like it says:  �Questa città seppellita è un manufatto {Kwáys-tah chét-tah sehp-pehl-lé-tah eh ún mah-nú-faht-tó}. . .� "

            "We know that!" said Wilykat.  "What does it say in English?  We can't make it all out."

            "You've got me," said Kevin.  "Too bad I didn't bring along my universal translator, and I only know a little Italian.  Steelwill could tell you."

            "Okay," said Wilykat.  "I'll. . ."  At that moment, Steelwill materialised beside them.  He was angry.  "Well, hello, Lieutenant Steel-. . ."

            "Don't 'hello' me, Wilykat!" shouted Steelwill.  "Because of your little exploration,. . ."

            "Well, Spark-plug-brain wasn't aiming at us!" said Wilykat.  "Besides, we thought your sister could handle that despicable electrocutionist.  It is not our fault!"  Steelwill cooled down.

            "You're right," said Steelwill.  "Sorry, Thunder Kittens.  Boy, would I like to get my talons in that electrifying mutt!  When I'd be finished with him, he'd be screaming so loud that those in the lowest parts of hell would be able to hear him!"

            "As a commanding member of the N-Team," said Kevin evenly, "I order you to cool down, Lieutenant Steelwill.  None of those high blood pressure antics are going to help your sister."  Steelwill went over and sat down on one of the steps.

            "Sorry, Kevin," said Steelwill.  "It's just that Mega Volt critically injured my sister."  He rested his left elbow on his left leg and rested his chin on his left hand.  "Even though he might not admit it, I know Wilykat would feel the same way if Mega Volt did the same thing to Wilykit."  He got up, returning to his normal attitude.  "By the way, while I'm here, do you need my help?"

            Wilykit said, "As a matter of fact, yes.  There's a sign here written in Italian, and we don't know all of what it says."

            "Italian, eh?" asked Steelwill.  "Let me read that."  He went over to it.  "Yes, it's Italian.  I'll translate."  He paused at a few areas to get the word order right.  "Ah. . . 'This buried city is an artefact . . . of our civilisation.  It was built simply to show . . . other races our ways; it has never been inhabited.'  That's it."  Wilykat had written this down as Steelwill read it.

            "Thank you," said Wilykat.  "Now, before we go exploring, let's go see if we can save our friends from the Brain-Team."

            "Any idea where they are?" asked Wilykit.

            "Probably the Pyramid."

            * * *

            Pyramid, Ancient Ruins, New Thundera.

            The ThunderQuack landed at the Pyramid.  The canopy opened.  " 'Kit and I are going in," said Wilykat.  "I don't want the rest of you taking any more chances here on New Thundera, so we respectfully request that you beat it."

            "We get the message," said Kevin, understanding.  As the Kittens went to the Pyramid, Kevin ordered the transporter to take the ThunderQuack and its present occupants to Darkwing Tower, which the transporter did.  The Kittens found an entrance near the base of the Pyramid and decided to go in through it.  They crawled on hands and knees and found a grate, which was something like a 'door' to the tomb-chamber.  They saw Lion-O, Tygra, Cheetara, Bengali, and MegaMan. . . all unconscious, and all more helpless than felis domesticus kittens.  They also saw Mumm-ra, the Luna-tacks, and the Fearsome Five in conference near the cauldron.

            "Well," said Quacker Jack, "that blasted Captain N was the one who stopped us, not those little cat-finks!"

            "Enough blubbering!" said Luna.  "Ludwig will be on his way right now!"

            "That is," said Aluro, "if Larry hypnotised Tygra enough to make him design the Warbird correctly.  Of course, if he couldn't, he'd have requested my services."

            Wilykat turned to his sister.  "Warbird?  Oh, I don't like the sound of that!"

            "Oh, forget it," said Wilykit.  "Let's just get in there and free our pals."  Wilykat smiled, and they attempted to pull out the grate.  It came out with no noise, and the evil guys did not notice.  Wilykit tossed a flash capsule, and the Kittens timed their darting out to coincide with the flash.  They successfully did this, and they surprised the heck out of the evil-doers.

            "What?!?" exclaimed Mumm-ra.  "Not again!"

            "Well, hello to you too, Band-aid-body!" said Wilykat.

            "Curse you!" screamed Mumm-ra.  "Try to stop me once I've transformed!"

            "Oh, cool down!" said Liquidator.  "Chilla, cool off the Thunder Kittens!"

            "With pleasure, Liquie!" said Chilla.  She turned to the Kittens.  "Prepare to become icicles-s-s-s, Thunder Twerps-s-s-s!"  The Kittens evaded the barrage of deadly ice.  Wilykat tossed something on Chilla.  "What?  What is-s-s-s-s that stuff?  I'm melting!  Is that some secret formula?"

            "No," answered Wilykat.  "It's an ancient one:  rock salt!"

            "Yaah!  Not rock salt!  Anything but rock salt!"

            "Okay," said Wilykit.  She blasted Chilla with a sleep-gas capsule.  At the same time, a pair of snap-teeth snapped her arm.  "Ow!"  Her reflex action tossed off the snap-teeth, which, fortunately, had done nothing but hurt.  But weeds grew from the floor and tied her up.  "Weeds!"

            "Don't worry, 'Kit!" said Wilykat.  "I'm. . ."  Then, some wattage came out and knocked him into a wall back-first.  "Ow!  Hey!"

            "That's what you get for calling me 'Sparkie,' Wilykat!" said Mega Volt.  Liquidator stepped up to the Thunder Kitten.

            "Ha, ha, ha!" said Liquidator.  "And, now, prepare for liquidation!"  Liquidator turned into a puddle, which grew into a wave that trapped Wilykat under it.  Liquidator got up after forming a nearly unbreakable bind around the Thunder Kitten's body and legs.

            "Hey!" exclaimed Wilykat.

            Liquidator and Mega Volt gave each other a high-five, as did Quacker Jack and Bushroot.  "Good work, my three wicked comrades in villainy!" said Liquidator.  "This time, the Thunder Kittens got in way over their heads!"

            Wilykit almost laughed.  "You think you've got us, don't you, villains?  Maybe you ought to think again!"  With that, her arms burst through the weeds.

            "What!" exclaimed Bushroot.  "I don't understand!  Those weeds are as strong as Liquidator's. . ."  Wilykat burst out of the 'water-prison' in which Liquidator had imprisoned him.  ". . .water-prisons!"

            "You," announced Wilykat, "should read up on our race, you nincompoops!"

            Wilykit said, "The first major change is a massive increase in physical strength at age 27¹/₂.  We just underwent it."

            "Oh, yeah?" asked Liquidator.  "I guess that the next is a massive decrease in intelligence immediately after that, eh?"

            "Wrong direction, Waterhead!" said Wilykat.  He treated Liquidator with a cement-capsule and turned Liquidator into a slab of cement while Wilykit tossed Quacker Jack into Bushroot and Mega Volt, knocking all three villains involved out.

            Negaduck said, "Hey, kids!  How about a couple of nice doggies to play with?"  He opened a door.  Two Rottweilers, big, black, and ferocious, entered the tomb chamber.  "They just love cat-food. . . and I don't mean food eaten by cats!  Ha, ha, ha, ha!"  The Thunder Kittens backed into a corner.  Teeth gleaming, the two dogs menacingly approached the Kittens.

            "-Gulp!-  I'd like to see your way out of this one, 'Kit!" said Wilykat, extremely nervous.

            Very confidently, Wilykit said, "No problem!  I have just the thing!"  She got out a capsule and tossed it onto Negaduck and coated him with something.

            "Hack, hack!  What in the world is this stuff?" demanded Negaduck.  "It smells like. . ."  The dogs turned to him and approached him instead of the Kittens.  "Heh, heh!  Ah, nice doggies.  Good doggies.  Heh, heh!  Gulp!  Yaaah!"  As he ran out, the dogs chased him.

            "Nice move, Wilykit!" said Wilykat.  "What was in that capsule, anyway?"

            "Some of Snarf's good, old-fashioned steak-sauce!" responded Wilykit.  The two laughed.

            The Luna-tacks were infuriated.  "Ooh, don't just stand there, you idiots!" said Luna.  "Someone stop them!"  Tug-mug came forward.

            "All right, Thunder Kittens!" said Tug-mug.  "How about a little wait?"  The Kittens separated and avoided his blast.  Red-eye blasted a missile that Wilykat avoided as Wilykit avoided another blast from Tug-mug.  She hit him with some more sleep-gas as Wilykat gave some laughing-gas to Red-eye.  When Aluro tried to hypnotise Wilykit, Wilykat ran up to him and knocked him off his feet.  Aluro fell back, and his head hit Red-eye's head.  Both were knocked out.

            "Whatcha think of that?" asked Wilykat, next to his sister.

            "Great work, brother!"

            "You. . . you. . . YOU!!!" exclaimed Luna.  "Get them, you worthless oaf!"  Amok grunted and went after the Kittens.  Wilykit jumped over while Wilykat darted under Amok.  Wilykat gave one hard shove upward and flung Amok in the air.  Luna managed to leap off before Amok was knocked onto his back, unconscious.  The Kittens approached Luna.  "Yah!"

            Wilykit sarcastically said, "I know you're impressed."

            "Blast you!" screamed Luna.  "I'll. . . I'll. . ."  Wilykit grabbed her by the arms and held her in the air.

            "You'll answer some questions, that's what you're going to do!" said Wilykit.  " 'Kat, fix Mumm-ra."

            "You've got it!" said Wilykat.  He ran to the now-juvenile Lion-O, grabbed the Sword of Omens, and ran to Mumm-ra.

            "Not this time, Wilykat!" said Mumm-ra covering his eyes.  Wilykat got a particularly devious idea and kicked Mumm-ra between where the legs joined the body.  "OW!!!  THAT HURT!!!"  While Mumm-ra had his hands away from his face, Wilykat used the Sword's reflective surface to show Mumm-ra his disgusting face.  "Yaaaaaah!  Luna, you're on your own!"  He warped himself to his Pyramid on third-Earth so he could rest in peace.

            "Easy as pie!" said Wilykat.  He turned to Luna, tied up in Wilykit's rope by now.

            Wilykit said, "Okay, Luna.  You're going to answer some questions."  Wilykat handed her the Sword.

            "What if I do not?" demanded Luna.  Wilykit examined the blade of the Sword.  It was rather sharp.

            "Well," said Wilykit, "this Sword's edge is rather sharp."  She went over to Luna.  "And I think you do not like pain."

            "You would not dare to hurt me, little brat!" screamed Luna.  Wilykit grabbed the rope and held Luna in the air.  "Whoa!"  Wilykit handed the Sword to Wilykat.

            "Now," said Wilykit, "tell me what this Warbird is."

            "I shall not!"

            "My claws are sharp, too."

            "Okay, okay!  I. . . no, I shall not tell you.  Ludwig has forbidden us to even mention it around any N-Team members."

            "Oh, he has, has he?  Too bad."  She gently put Luna on the floor and dropped a sleep-capsule on her.  The Kittens stepped back so the capsule's gas would not affect them.  "I'm concerned, brother.  What could they be talking about?"

            "I don't know, and I don't want to find out."

            "That makes two of us.  C'mon.  Let's get our pals and get out of here."  Wilykat nodded in agreement.  They went to the other Thunder Cats and MegaMan.  When they were close to them, Wilykit tapped her communicator.  "N-Team Transporter, transport seven to the entry hall of Cat's Lair."  They were transported there.

            * * *

            Entry Hall, Cat's Lair, third-Earth.

            Captain N and Steelwill were waiting for the Wilytwins.  "Oh, good!" said Kevin.  "We were getting worried."

            "Several problems," noted Wilykit.  "The most noticeable one is that Luna turned Lion-O into a Thunder Kitten in the Canyon of Youth.  Where'd MegaMan come from?"

            "Sent to the dilithium crystal mining world on MegaLand to stop CrystalMan from getting dilithium crystals," explained Kevin.

            "Warbird!" exclaimed Wilykat.  "That must be the name of their ship!"

            "Oh, my gosh!" exclaimed Wilykit.  "Then we were almost ripe for the picking by Ludwig. . . and we didn't even know it!"  Her expression of fear changed.  "And we slipped right through his claws!  Ha, ha!  I'll bet that he'll be awfully darned mad!"

            "In that case," said Steelwill, "we have to modify the sensors even more to sense a cloaked ship.  He keeps updating his cloaking technology."

            Kevin reached for MegaMan's power-button.  MegaMan was activated.  "Whoa. . . what happened?" asked MegaMan, confused.

            Wilykit said, "You must have been caught."

            "Everything blanked out when I approached the Fearsome Five on the mining world.  Wily!  That rat must have turned me off!"

            "He obviously did," said Wilykat.  "Ludwig's ship.  I think I know how to stop that, too!"

            * * *

            Ludwig's Warbird, orbiting New Thundera.

            The Warbird came out of warp near New Thundera.  It entered a synchronous orbit above the Pyramid, but, if the ship were any more massive, its gravity would have had a notable effect on the planet's gravity.  Ludwig went to the transporter room, where the dastardly Hardware was operating the transporter controls.  Melodia was waiting to go with Ludwig.  "The co-ordinates are set for the Pyramid, Ludwig," reported Hardware.

            "Good," said Ludwig.  He got on the transporter pad with Melodia.  "Energise."  Hardware ran his hand along a panel, and a three-part, green, energy beam looped around Melodia and around Ludwig, disassembling their molecules.

            In the interior of the Pyramid, the same effect happened in reverse.  Melodia and Ludwig formed.  They looked around.  "What a mess," said Ludwig.  "What in the world happened here?"  One look at Liquidator gave him the hint.  "Those little twerps!  They beat us to the punch!  I'm going to kill them!"  He got his sceptre and turned Liquidator back to normal.  "Liquidator!  What happened?"

            "The Thunder Twerps happened, of course!" said Liquidator.  "They always stop us!"  Ludwig shook his head.  "And they even made us think we had them, too!  I had Wilykat in my indestructible water-prison, and Bushroot had the girl wrapped up in his equally strong vine!  And what do those two little cats do but burst out!  They're beginning to seriously annoy me!"

            "You and a lot of other people," said Ludwig.  "At least they don't know about the Warbird."  The Kittens were hiding behind a man-beast statue, listening and waiting.  "That ship almost yanked New Thundera out of orbit."

            "Must be big!" Wilykat silently commented to Wilykit, who acknowledged with a nod.  "Okay, 'Kit.  We'll attempt to transport there.  We must be extremely careful."  His sister nodded.  He tapped his communicator.  "N-Team Transporter, transport two to where the transporter beam for Ludwig von(Bowser)Koopa and Melodia originated."  The N-Team Transporter took them to that exact place, and Hardware's jaw dropped.

            "Yah!" screamed Hardware.  "How'd you get here?"  Wilykit hit him with some sleep-gas and put him to sleep.

            "Let's go!" said Wilykit.  They ran out and down the corridor to a turbo-elevator.  In it, they looked for controls but found none.  "Audio-controls," remarked Wilykit.  Speaking up a bit, she said, "Main bridge."  The elevator moved upward.  It reached the bridge without incident, and no one had yet been alerted to their presence on the ship.  They were able to get out of the turbo-elevator without being spotted by Bowser, Larry, and Roy, whose stations made them have their backs to them.  "All right, guys!  The game's up!"  The villains turned to face them.

            "Whoa!" said Bowser.  "How did you get here?!?"

            "With your elevator, Bing Kowser Boopa!" said Wilykat.

            "You will regret that, brat!"  Bowser spat a fireball at the Kittens but missed.  Wilykit, although opposed to excessive violence, delivered a knock-out punch to Roy directly between his eyes.  Wilykat grabbed Larry by the hair and, using him as a knife with the hair as the handle, tossed him into Bowser and knocked them both out.  Wilykit and Wilykat rubbed their hands.

            "Excellent!" said Wilykat.

            Wilykit said, "I wonder if we can do a little sabotage so that the Brain-Team's new bucket won't do so well."  Wilykat got a mischievous look.

            "Engineering, then!" he said.  "And let's drop by the weapons locker first to see if we can get weapon or two."  They entered the turbo-elevator and told it to take them to the floor with the weapons room.  They went to the weapons room and found it controlled by the stupid Eggplant Wizard.  After a second spent to knock him out and another second to wipe off the eggplants he involuntarily ejaculated, they broke into the weapons room and saw one row of hand-disruptors and another row of phasers.  Deciding to use the phasers, which had a less permanent effect on the person shot, they grabbed a couple, ran back to the turbo-elevator, and told it to go to the main engineering floor.  There, they saw dilithium crystal chamber.  Wilykit grabbed the dilithium crystal holder, took out the crystals, and tossed them into a waste container, which instantly disintegrated them.  She put the holder back where it had been while Wilykat found the source of the cloaking device.  He blasted this with a phaser and destroyed it.  Wilykit found the shield source and knocked it out as Wilykat located and rendered inoperable all weapons systems.  "Well, that ought to make them literally have to crawl back home to Mother-Inferior!"

            "Ha, ha!  Let's. . . hang on.  Transporters!"  They went to all transporter rooms and destroyed the transporter devices.  When they met at a turbo-elevator, Wilykit said, "That will make Ludwig extremely mad!"

            "We did leave him with his impulse engines, warp-openers, and navigation systems," said Wilykat.  "That ought to let him get back to Metroid."  Wilykit nodded.

            "With the exception of the warp-openers, that was all that our laws would require us to leave, and to leave any more would be unwise."  She pressed her communicator.  "N-Team Transporter, transport two to the Palace of Power hospital."  That was to where they were beamed.

            * * *

            Back down in the Thunderian Pyramid, Ludwig had just decided to leave.  "Let's go, Melodia," said Ludwig.  "We can still annihilate third-Earth with the Warbird."

            "Sounds good, Prince L.," said Melodia.

            "Beam us up, Hardware."

            "Ah," answered Hardware meekly, "this is going to take a little bit of explaining, sir."

            "The point?" Ludwig demanded.

            "The Thunder Kittens came on board and destroyed all weapons systems, warp systems, shield systems, cloak systems, and transporter systems."  Ludwig's eyebrows looked as though they were going to puncture his eyes, he was so mad.

            "Those two," said Ludwig, "have just made a huge, huge mistake!  When I get my hands on them, I'LL WRING THEIR DAMNED LITTLE NECKS!!!  I'll destroy them!  I'll. . . I'll. . . cool down, Ludwig.  There's nothing to be accomplished by being angry at the Thunder Kittens."  He did cool down.  "Those two make Klingons look meek."

            "Awfully darned brave!" remarked the now-revived Mega Volt.

            "Where is Negaduck?" demanded Ludwig.  A door opened.  Negaduck, with a torn outfit and cape, ran in, the two barking dogs at his heels.

            "Yaah!  Prince L., save me!" pleaded Negaduck.  "Those Thunder Kittens sprayed something on me and turned my Rottweilers against me!"  Ludwig snapped his fingers.  A cage formed around the canines, and they were forced to stop.  "Thank you, sir."

            "The Thunder Kittens hit Negajerk with steak sauce," said Luna.

            "The Thunder Kittens do this; the Thunder Kittens do that," said Ludwig.  "First, for the Plundarrian-Team, the big nuisance was Lion-O.  For Mon*Star's Mob, it was the Silver Hawks, most notably that Lieutenant Quicksilver, who was always so damned lucky.  For us Koopas, it was the moronic Mario Brothers.  For MotherBrain and her idiots, it was Captain N; and, for the Fearsome Five and their allies, it was Darkwing Duck.  Then came the matter of my goody-goody cousins and uncle.  When we first combined as the Extended Brain-Team, it was generally Steelheart, Captain N, or those Wilytwins.  At the end, the ones who saved the N-Team from destruction by yanking the Triforce out of my hands?  The Thunder Kittens.  The most annoying defeat I had ever had in my life up to that point was because the Thunder Kittens yanked the Triforce out of my hand.  They were the ones I never had on my wall for the Fearsome Five to exterminate.  They always managed to stay out of the danger-zone.  I am tired of it.  And it seems that, no matter what, we cannot separate them.  They are always together.  It is just a peculiarity.  They work together more closely than the Steeltwins do, and the Steeltwins have telepathy.  Whatever those two do, they certainly do it well.  Somewhere, somehow, they have to have a weakness!  And I shall find it, even if it is the last thing I do!"

            * * *

            Hospital, Palace of Power, VideoLand.

            In the Palace, all the Thunder Cats were recovering normally. . . except, of course, for Lion-O.  One of Quicksilver's assistants had fixed Bengali's broken ankle.  Quicksilver was spending all his time and energy trying to save Steelheart.  Because of his expertise in medical matters as well as cybernetic matters, Dr. Wright was helping Quicksilver.  Tygra put his hand on Wilykat's shoulder.  "It sounds like you two sure did a job on Ludwig's Warbird, Thunder Kittens."  Lion-O was pacing.

            "What am I going to do?" asked Lion-O.  "I can't go back to playing with stuffed bears again!"

            Wilykit said, "You don't see me playing with stuffed bears, Lion-O."

            "No," said Lion-O, "but I just feel so helpless like this."  He was presently rethinking whether he should mention his attraction to her.  She was just so pretty. . . however, did she feel the same way?  He decided not to make her uncomfortable; he would not mention it.

            Wilykit sighed and sat on an unoccupied bio-bed.  "Well," she said, "I don't know what the devil to do about it.  Have you recovered the Mirror of Truth yet, Tygra?"

            "No," said Tygra.

            Another sigh from the young lady.  "Scratch that plan.  Blast."  She sighed again.  She then looked around at the adult Thunder Cats and Lion-O.  "Did you let the Fearsome Five and the Luna-tacks capture you?"

            "Of course we didn't!" said Bengali.  "Where'd you ever get an idea like that?"

            "I would say," pointed out Wilykit, "that I have reason to be upset.  If my brother and I managed to defeat them, then why not the four of you as well?"

            "With us," said Tygra, "they had the more suitable combinations.  Liquidator can change his heat, and Red-eye can see infrared light.  That made them a deadly pair in the Jungles of Darkness.  In the Canyon of Youth, Bushroot could control the plants and make them turn someone into a child.  In the Mountains of the Moon, Tug-mug and Quacker Jack were able to use the gravity to their advantage.  In the Caverns of Cold, the icy Chilla and the frying Mega Volt made an extremely deadly team. . . as a mix of fire and ice can be rather explosive.  Therefore. . ."  Wilykit shook her head.

            "Forget it," Wilykit said, her patience returning.  "It was our fault.  We asked you to help us and, therefore, jeopardised you.  I'm sorry."

            "No, no," insisted Tygra.  "It's not your fault.  We were all off-guard, anyway.  Didn't expect an attack."

            "I hate to interrupt your little discussion," said Wilykat, "but I think that we have more important things to do around here than dividing stupid blame."

            "Well, Your Intelligence," said Wilykit with a tiny bit of sarcasm, "what should we do?"

            Wilykat said, "Well, I don't exactly. . . wait a minute!  Maybe the Sword itself can do it."

            "Heh, heh!"  She got the Sword off a table.  "That's not a bad idea, 'Kat!"  She held it so that Wilykat could easily take it by the handle.  "And you, my dear brother, may do the honours."  Wilykat grinned and took the Sword.

            "Thanks!"  He held the hilt to his eyes.  As his eyes and the Eye of Thundera glowed, the hilt-apertures formed.  He then held the Sword as high as he could.  "Thunder,. . ."  The Sword's blade heightened.  ". . .Thunder,. . ."  The Sword's blade heightened once more.  ". . .Thunder,. . ."  For the final time, the blade heightened.  ". . .Thunder Cats,. . ."  The Eye opened and showed the Cat's Eye.  ". . .HO!"  The signal flashed out, accompanied by the characteristic roar.  The eyes of all Thunder Cats present lit up.  The eye of the Cat's Eye symbol blasted Lion-O with some energy and transformed him back to his proper age.

            "Whew!" said Lion-O.  "Thanks, Wilykat.  I didn't want to have to go through childhood."  Wilykat handed the Sword to Lion-O, who took it and had it restore to its 'dormant' state.  He put it in his Claw-Shield.  "Glad we made it through that.  How about we go through that subterranean city and see if we can't find something informative."  All the Thunder Cats nodded.  Lion-O went to Quicksilver to tell him what was happening and to check on Steelheart's condition, which was still 'not too good' but at least was now optimistic, as Quicksilver now had a good clue on how to save her.  When Lion-O went back to his fellow Thunder Cats, he executed the order to transport to that area of New Thundera, and they were beamed away.

            * * *

            Bridge, Ludwig's Warbird, orbiting New Thundera.

            However, on the Warbird, still above New Thundera, Ludwig was surveying the damage done by the Thunder Kittens.  "What a pair of havoc-wreakers!" said Ludwig.  "Damn them!"

            "Yeah," agreed Liquidator.  "Damn and double-damn!"

            "And," said Eggplant Wizard, "don't forget 'zits galore'!"

            "You bloody fool!" shouted Ludwig.  He swung around to Eggplant Wizard.  "That's �zut alors {zü tah-lawr} [French] ([slightly stronger than] darn it)�, you idiot!  And I'd better not catch any more of that profane language coming from you, veggie!"

            "Hey!" said Eggplant Wizard.  "It only means 'darn it'!"

            Ludwig said, "It is a little stronger than 'darn it,' darn it!  It is profanity.  And profanity is the last thing I want to hear from anyone of your low ranks!  And how dare you let the Thunder Kittens get in the weapons room!"

            "Yeah," said Liquidator.  "You really sacrebleu {sah-kreh-bleuh} it this time!"  With the meaning of �sacrebleu {sah-kreh-bleuh} [French] (confound it)�, the sentence was illogical.  However, if one noted its similarity in sound with 'blew' (as to say 'you really, really blew it'), the intended effect was clear.

            "Yes," said Ludwig.  "Our top speed is only full impulse.  We'd have a long way home if we didn't have the warp-openers.  And those Thunder Kittens had to find out where the dilithium crystal chamber was."

            "The damage to the warp drive is extremely minimal," said Liquidator.  "In fact, all we'd have to do is get another batch of dilithium crystals out of the hold, calibrate them, and install them.  Half an hour at least."

            "Get to it," said Ludwig.  Liquidator saluted, then left.  "Larry set a course for Metroid at full impulse."  Larry did so, and the ship was soon underway.

            Larry asked, "Want an ETA?"

            "Forget it," replied Ludwig.  "Liquie is dealing with the warp drive.  He says it could be as little as half an hour before our warp engines are restored.  In the meantime, open a warp to Metroid."

            * * *

            Artefact-City, Caverns of Cold, New Thundera.

            After several hours of searching, the Thunder Cats had obtained all the information from the uninhabited city.  All six were using devices which had incredible storage memories, read the words in books, and interfaced directly with computers at the Palace of Power to feed those computers the information.  The Thunder Cats transported to the Palace to do that.

            * * *

            Congregation Hall, Palace of Power.

            In the Palace, the Thunder Cats went to the main computer network, in the congregation hall.  They hooked up the six devices to the computers and did the necessary adjustments.  "You guys can go," said Tygra.  "I'll deal with this."

            "Okay," said Lion-O.  "See you later, Tygra."  All Thunder Cats except Bengali and Tygra left.

            "Bengali?" asked Tygra.  "I. . ."

            "I want to help if you need me, Tygra," said Bengali.

            "That's always been your most annoying habit ever since you developed it," said Tygra.  "And to think it was you after whom Wilykat took."

            "Well," said Bengali, "I am younger than you, you know.  And he probably found me easier to emulate than you."  Tygra smiled as he shook his head.

            "He did more than emulate your annoying little habits," said Tygra.  "He intensified them and made them unique in himself.  Naturally, that had to pass on to his sister.  They seem to be an extraordinarily unique pair of individuals."

            "Yes," said Bengali.  "They emulate each other.  It seems as though they were one individual in two parts."

            "And, yet," said Tygra, "they sometimes act toward each other like the difference between night and day."  Bengali nodded.

            "I guess that keeps the boredom out of their relationship.  I can't help remembering how happy you were when my annoying streak left."  Tygra smiled.

            "Extremely," said Tygra.  "Though it came too late for Wilykat.  He just absorbed it like a sponge absorbs water."

            "I wish I could have been a better influence."

            "Don't be too hard on yourself, Bengali.  You were just young."

            "I guess, but. . . sigh.  In some way, I don't feel too good about certain things I did in the past.  But, as they say, 'that's life.' "  Tygra nodded.

            "Well, as long as you're here, I could use a hand," Tygra said.  "Thank you."

            * * *

            Control Room, Metroid.

            Meanwhile, on Metroid, MotherBrain received a transmission from Ludwig.  ". . .and that's what happened," said Ludwig in an understandably bad mood.  "It is necessary that the Thunder Kittens be stopped!"

            Without a single bit of sarcasm in her voice, MotherBrain replied, "Oh, you are very right!  But how shall we stop them?  They are not stupid.  They even know how to speak French."

            "True," says Ludwig, "but they must be eliminated somehow.  Open a warp from this starship to the Planet Metroid.  Make it so that this end of the warp will move in synchronisation with the ship."

            "Right."  The screen turned blank.  MotherBrain flipped several switches.  A warp opened near the back wall.  In a minute or two, Ludwig came through this, along with his first officer, Liquidator.

            "Ludwig and I are here!" said Liquidator.

            "Try it in Italian," said Ludwig.

            "Okay," said Liquidator.  �Ludwig ed io siamo qui {Lud-vihg áyd yó syah-mó kwé} [Italian] (Ludwig and I are here).�

            "Extremely good," said Ludwig.  "Those idiot servants might have used �mi {mé} [Italian] (me)� after �e {áy} [Italian] (and)�."

            "You are probably right," said Liquidator.  "I'm sorry, but I couldn't find more dilithium crystals in the hold of the ship. . . thanks to the Thunder Kittens probably!"

            "Don't worry about it," said Ludwig.  "We'll fix it.  In the meantime, I want to fix the Thunder Kittens."

            * * *

            Thunder Kittens' Room, Cat's Lair, third-Earth.

            On third-Earth at Cat's Lair, the Thunder Kittens were in their room.  They were bored again.  "This is the pits!" exclaimed Wilykit.  "We have nothing to do!"

            "Cool down," said Wilykat, lying in his bed in a position conducive to sleep.  "I don't want a complex because of you."

            "You're just lying there, trying to sleep!" Wilykit said.  "That's. . ."

            "Rather sensible, considering the amount of sleep we've had in the last few days!" said Wilykat.  "I'm sorry, but I'm tired and sleepy, and I feel like resting and snoozing."  He yawned.

            In the middle of her brother's yawn, Wilykit began to say, "You sleep if you want to.  I'm going to do something."

            "Okay," said Wilykat.  "Just stay out of trouble."

            "Wilykat!" Wilykit exclaimed.  Her anger passed momentarily.  She went over to Wilykat's bed and sat on it in a position in which she would look at her own bed if she looked to her front.  She looked at Wilykat, who had just begun to sleep.  She sighed.  "Sleep well, brother."  She gently stroked his back.  "I guess my mind just wants to make you feel inferior.  Oh, no."  She yawned.  "I'd better leave before I fall asleep, too."  She left.  As soon as she got out of the room, she got a thought.  "Hmm!  I wonder if Rataro would like a nice little visit!  Hmm, hmm, hmm!"  She smacked her communicator.  "Lieutenant Tragg, this is Wilykit."

            "Acknowledged," replied Lt. Tragg's deep yet kind voice.  "What is it, Wilykit?"

            "Could I talk to you in your office in a couple of minutes?"

            "Yes, certainly.  Just come on over."

            "Thank you.  Wilykit out."  She tapped her communicator twice.  "N-Team Transporter, transport one to the Police Complex of VideoLand."  She was transported there.

            * * *

            Police Complex, Palace of Power, VideoLand.

            The Police Complex occupied one of the floating pods physically outside the main body of the Palace of Power.  She cautiously entered and saw everything running smoothly.  She went straight to and through the door marked Homicide Department.  She went directly to a secretary.  Before she could get a word out, Tragg came from his office.

            "Don't worry," said Tragg to the secretary.  He turned to Wilykit.  "Come to my office, Wilykit."  Wilykit nodded and followed him.  In Tragg's office, Tragg offered her some tea, which she politely - very politely - refused.  Tragg sat in the chair behind his desk as Wilykit sat in the visitor's chair.  "Now, why did you request to see me, Wilykit?"

            "I think I may happen to know the location of the destroyer of most of my race before Old Thundera exploded."  Tragg's eyebrows turned up.

            "Really?" he asked, immediately interested.  "And who is this destroyer?"

            "Rataro, the ruler of what used to be the Plundarrian Empire," said Wilykit.  "He is the descendant and heir of his uncle Ratilla the Terrible, whom Jaga imprisoned.  I have consulted the history of everything that happened, and I know what occurred.

            "Rataro became head of the Plundarrian Empire after Jaga imprisoned Ratilla.  There was an agreement between Thundera and Plundarr afterwards, the Plundarrio-Thunderian Treaty, that stated that half of the Galaxy of Leos {lehy-ós}, which you call Large Magellanic Cloud, belonged to the Thunderian Empire and that half of the galaxy belonged to the Plundarrian Empire.  Nice ol' Rataro decided, after signing the treaty, to try to annex the Thunderian Empire.  Needless to say, Thundera was extremely upset about the entire thing.  So, when the Plundarrians attacked, we fought back.  This was called the War of Leos.  Unofficially, it lasted seven years; officially, though, it's still on.  That blasted war destroyed all but the controlling planets of both empires, but the Thunderians managed to win that war.  My next statement might sound like bragging, but it is the truth.  My race, the Wilykat Race, was the one to finally march into the Plundarrian capital alongside Jaga and destroy half of it.  The Thunderians knew that the Plundarrians' power was destroyed.  So, the Thunderians decided to return to Thundera and try to salvage the Thunderian Empire.

            "Unfortunately, Emperor Rataro of the Plundarrian Empire decided to get revenge.  So, he set off in his Rat*Star to Thundera with some biological weaponry.  He resolved to destroy the life on Thundera in several parts:  race-by-race.  He bombarded the. . . ah, let me recall."  She thought for a moment.  "Oh, I remember.  It was the Jaguar Race, first.  He bombarded all of the major cities in that area of Thundera.  The bomb would release a poison that would destroy everyone over five years of age.  Fortunately for Jaga, the leading members in the Jaguar Race's territory of Thundera wrote him and warned him to stay out.  It took five years for the Jaguar Race to be completely destroyed.  At that time of five years later, Rataro came to my race's territory.  Since my race had had no warning of his coming, he managed to bombard it in the same manner as Jaga's territory.  Fifty years later, Wilykat and I were born.  We were the only ones under five years old since Rataro had bombarded the area, so our mother. . ."  A very small tear escaped from her left eye.  ". . .our mother, on the date of 5 December 1775, took us across the border to the Tiger Race's territory and left us.  She must have known that, relatively speaking, the Tiger Race had the most heavily populated territory.  Anyway, the one who found us was Tygra, and that was on 6 December of the same year.  He adopted us, since he was of proper age.  Five years after he adopted us, Rataro came to his area too.  Tygra had warning, though, and he, Bengali, and their father managed to fight off Rataro before he managed to bombard that area."  A little twinkle of amusement formed in her eyes.  "And, two years later, Rataro came to the area of the Cheetah Race.  Cheetara and her family drove off Rataro a lot like Tygra and his family had.  Rataro never tried his bombarding stunts again.

            "So, that's what the rat did."

            "Some coincidence!" said Lieutenant Tragg.  "Seventeen seventy-five was the year preceding the one in which the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain.  What is your year, anyway?"

            "Nineteen ninety-three."

            "That is our year, too.  Very interesting."

            "Anyway, Lieutenant, I was wondering if you could come with me and arrest Rataro for murder of several million people."  Tragg nodded.

            "That wouldn't be the name of the crime, though," said Tragg.  "It would be genocide and attempted genocide.  You came to the right department; Homicide deals with genocide and attempted genocide, since it is technically murder and fortunately a small branch of murder.  I'll come along, all right, but we're getting some assistance."  He tapped a comm-panel on his desk.  "Kid Icarus, Tragg here.  Could you come down here, please?"

            "I'll be right down, sir!" replied Kid Icarus.  When Kid Icarus arrived, Tragg and Wilykit filled him in on everything.  "Why, that dirty rat-icus!  Where do you think he is, Wilykit?"

            Wilykit said, "I believe he's hiding on Hyrule."