Fuzzball picked his way through the foothills of brown stone. He had no
real idea where he was and no regrets that he was alone. Well, maybe a few
regrets...it was a game after all and games were always more fun in groups.
But it was obvious that no one else in the group shared his decision to
drift over to the side of evil.

Well, there was Shark...but his plans were a little more complex than the
mere rending and tearing of flesh. Not that there was anything wrong with
rending and tearing as part of the greater whole...

Fuzzball stopped a moment to scratch a crude map in the dirt and plan his
route. What puzzled him about the game was how difficult it was to play the
characters. He'd originally designed the Fuzzball character to be something
of a Mad Snarf, if you will, because it would be fun to do away with social
taboos for a while. It was a *safe* place to do away with social taboos.
But rather than being a psychotic hairball, he was himself in the body of a
psychotic hairball; staying in character was a full-time job.

Although he was adapting to having a prehensile tail surprisingly well.

Decided, Fuzzball kicked dirt over his makeshift map and headed in a
somewhat southernly direction. He noticed that the ridges of the mountains
extending off to the West were marked with an irregular pattern of dark
spots. They varied in sizes though Fuzzball could not readily identify just
what they were.

The difference in their size was surprising...some patches looked like
freckles against the mountain face...others were vast expanses of black,
spreading across the rock like a blight. It took the Snarf only another
moment to realize that they were actually caves.

His heart sank. *All That Glitters,* he thought to himself, *they're the
caves of Trolls and Giants.*

But that was ridiculous. Really, how could a giant survive here? Despite
their appearance on the show, the possibility was to problematic. They
would cause major geological disturbances with every step...they could
never get enough food...

As thought in reply to the Snarf's scepticism, the ground shook beneath his
feet. Fuzzball swallowed hard as the tremours increased and then chanced a
glance over his shoulder. What he saw iced the blood in his veins.

Towering above him, thought still some distance away, was the biggest human
creature Fuzzball had ever seen. So tall was it that the Snarf could not
even make out its facial features. Stunned, he could only watch as a mere
couple of steps brought the giant within squishing range. Panicked, the
Snarf turned tail and ran.

"AUUUUUUUUUUGHHOLYFUCKINGSHIT!" swore Fuzzball, tearing through the hills
as a foot the size of a football field landed behind him nearly flattening
his tail.

Bast was going to have to pay for this one...

*********************

"Why are we cowering?" asked Xahji. "Berbils are peaceful! We're friends!"
he insisted leaning into the crowd of buzzing, beeping creatures. He leapt
back as they brandished sticks and blowpipes.

"Peaceful, eh?" smirked Wilykat.

"Well I didn't expect them to be swinging sticks around," muttered Xahji.

"Just blast them, Fireboy!" snapped Gato, attempting to pull a nervous
Jet's claws out of her ear.

"I don't want to injure them!" protested the warrior. "We came as friends
to the Thundercats! What will they think if we toast their allies?"

Xahji's words seemed to give the Berbils pause. They muttered
electronically amongst themselves and though the players could not
understand a word that was said, they could just barely make out sounds
resembling "friends" and "Thundercats". Still, they did not let down their
guard even when the mechanical beings drew back somewhat and parted to let
one of their brown-furred members through.

"You...you're RoberBill, aren't you?" asked Ruka cautiously.

"You. Know. My. Name?" asked the creature.

"Well, we've heard of you...and your Berbils," said Ruka, now the
unofficial spokesperson. "We were trying to find the Thundercats."

"You. Know. The. Thundercats?" asked the robotic bear again. "You. Are. Allies?"

"We...we'd like to be," interrupted Gatotrueno before Ruka could speak up.
"We've heard about how the Thundercats help people...we're hoping they'll
help us find our friends. Then we can help them in return."

RoberBill did not have time to reply. A rumbling in the distance heralded
the arrival of a rather large vehicle and the entire group looked up,
gasping in awe.

"Is that...?" began Wilykat, jaw dropping open.

"Looks like..." breathed Ruka.

"It is!" cried Rhythm with obvious excitement.

"The Thundertank," gloated Xahji, eyes trying to take in every detail of
the approaching vehicle.

The gleaming machine arrived in a scattering of dust and peddles, stopping
on a dime near the gathering. It fairly purred as the engine wound down.
"Wow," drawled Gato, clutching Jet tight enough to make her squirm.

"What in the cats-eyed cosmos is going on here?" growled Panthro, emerging
from the front of the tank. He was soon followed by Lion-o and joined by
Tygra as back of the vehicle opened up.

"No time! No time!" cried Snarf,leaping from the back of the tank. "We have
to find Snarfer before that...that shark-thing tears him to bits!"

"Shark-thing?" asked Gato weakly.

Lion-o made his way through the sea of Berbils who parted before him.
Gently, but firmly, he placed his hands on the young sabertooth's
shoulders. "You know of this new Mutant?"

"Reooooow," Jet informed him from under Gato's hair.

"He...er...tried to eat Jet," she grinned in nervous reply. It was one
thing to know that meeting the Thundercats was possible. It was something
else entirely to be face to face with one.

"EAT HIM?" cried Snarf shrilly. "That's my nephew we're talking about!"

"But we don't know where he is now," Ruka added before Lion-o could shake
any information out of his friend.

The Lord of the Thundercats seemed not to hear him. At least the tiger was
not acknowledged as the lion released Gato and addressed the assembly.
"Alright, listen up, everyone! Snarfer could be in mortal danger. I need to
know if anyone has seen him lately, when it was, and where he was heading."

"He. Picked. Up. Some. Fruit. Here. Lion-o," said RoberBill, "But. We.
Haven't. Seen. Him. Since."

"We haven't seen him at all, but we can spread out and help look," offered
Ruka as the others voiced their own willingness to form a search party.
Inwardly, he cursed Shark...not so much for attacking Snarfer as for his
crummy timing.

Lion-o turned to address the tiger, and possibly voice his suspicion of the
newcomers, but did not have the chance to speak as a red and yellow
creature burst from the forest yelling shrilly "LION-OOOOOOOO!"

"Snarfer!" cried Snarf. "You have some kind of nerve, scaring me half to
death! We thought you were done for!"

"Snarfer," spoke Tygra finally, trying to inject an aura of calm over the
crowd. "Snarfer, please try to tell us what happened to you. The Sword of
Omens revealed a shark-like being..."

"He was awwwwwwful," snivelled the young Snarf. "All teeth!"

Ruka did not react to the little creature's account though Gato quietly
rolled her eyes, unimpressed. The others were trying not to laugh. Rather
unsuccessfully at that as Xahji was forced to duck behind Rhythm to hide
his expression.

"How did you get away?" Tygra prompted the gibbering Snarf. "And did you
see where he went?"

"I don't knooooow!" wailed Snarfer. "I think I tripped 'cause all I
remember is thinking that he was going to catch me and then getting up and
hearing the Thundertank. Maybe he heard it and got scared away!"

"Doesn't *sound* like Shark," muttered Gato under her breath. But she'd
been heard.

"What you you mean?" asked Lion-o, turning on her.

Gato jumped in surprise. "I...well...when Jet was attacked we...really had
to fight him off."

"Whatever the reason, he's gone now," said Ruka in an effort to change the
subject.

"But still out there," challenged Panthro.

"Right! Which is why you need us!" said Wilykat thumping his chest proudly.
"We're here to fight Mutants and uphold the code of Thundera!"

Now that there was no immediate danger, the Thundercats were able to really
look at the new arrivals.

"Well, some of you *appear* to be Thunderian," said Lion-o.

"We've had problems with 'Thunderian' guests in the past," snorted Panthro.
"Remember Pumm-ra? Or Grune for that matter. Why should we trust them?"

"Because we didn't torch any Berbils when we were surrounded?" offered
Xahji, playing his ace. "We could have, you know..."

"It. Is. True. Lion-o." said RoberBill. "I. Heard. Them. Say. They. Did.
Not. Wish. To. Harm. Allies. Of. The. Thundercats."

"What are your names?" asked Lion-o.

Ruka replied, but was drowned out by a chorus of answers by the others who
quieted amongst snickers as the tiger glowered at them. "Ruka," he said
again and then introduced the rest of his group. "I guess I'm the
unofficial spokesman for now."

"You sound honest enough, but you have to understand our situation," began
the Lord of the Thundercats. "What say the rest of you?"

"Well," considered Tygra, "what harm could it do if we put them under
probation? Jaga knows we could use the help if the Mutants are gathering
allies."

"Very well," agreed Lion-o. "If you agree to these terms you may stay in
Cat's Lair on probation for a period of...say...two weeks."

A rousing chorus of cheers told Ruka that the plan was quite to the others'
liking. "I guess we accept," the tiger grinned.

"Well then, if you haven't any other means of transportation, you're
welcome to join us in the Thundertank," the lion smiled.

"Just don't touch anything," muttered Panthro as the group began crawling
into the hold.

*********************

"Back!" called Bast appearing in step beside Kith. "Didja miss me?"

"See? Said she'd find us," smirked Demonprist. "Nah, we didn't miss you
enough. You'd better take off just a while longer."

"I suppose I *could*, but I just don't have anyone else to resurrect,"
sighed Bast melodramatically. "There just isn't enough Snarfer to keep me
occupied."

"See? See? How can we have any respect for you if you go around
resurrecting Snarfs?" snorted Demonprist.

"Awww...don't tell me you don't want the chance to kill him off yourself!"
smiled the cat-woman sweetly.

"I'd rather kill Lion-Ho, but you'd just go and bring him back to life,"
hmphed the red-head Avatar.

"I'd have to...can't restrict everyone else's fun. There *are* other
players besides you, you know."

"None that matter," chuckled Demonprist, looking back. She stuck her tongue
out at Thunderwolf as he made a face.

"I resent that!" growled the lion. "Anyone who stands between me and the
mass-destruction of whiny Thundercats is asking for *another* ass-kicking."

Demonprist, snorted lightly at the comment but didn't take the bait. Kith
more or less ignored the activity, absorbed as he was in discovering all
the functions of his crystal orb.

"Do you think," he asked Bast, "that I could control this thing remotely?"
He was currently causing the sphere to hover a couple of inches above his
hands as he attempted to strengthen his Air powers without endangering his
toy. "If so, maybe I could fly this thing as far as Cat's Lair and use it
to spy on the Thundercats for Mumm-ra."

"Why the hell would Mumm-ra need that?" interrupted Demonprist, slowing to
fall into step with the others. "He has his cauldron...he's practically
all-powerful! Not his fault he had crappy writers."

"Well...well he can only see one thing at a time in that cauldron of his,"
snapped Kith, irritated that his attempts to help were being shot down
befoe they could even be put to use. "And it doesn't record things very
well...at least not in any way that it can be proven as the truth. My
sphere will only record the truth. We could use it for blackmail or
something. You can't convince *me* that the Thundercats are perfect!"

"He's got a point there," said Bast.

Demonprist shrugged. "Whatever. I doubt Mumm-ra would go for blackmail
though. It's messy. Keep your friends close and your enemies dead...that's
what I say."

"Enemies, tyrants, family memebers..." Bast smiled secretly.

"Shut-up!" Demonprist tried to flick at the cat-woman's ear, but she dodged
out of the way, attempting to hide behind Thunderwolf.

"Fuck that," grunted the lion, moving to expose the Avatar. "I'm not
helping either of you...you're both pains in the ass."

"Hey, guys," began Kith with uncertainty, "anyone hear anything...weird?
Like a humming."

"Actually, yeah," replied Thunderwolf as Demonprist chased Bast a few yards
ahead of he and the elf. "Can't figure out what it is though..."

"Think it might be a vehicle?"

"Don't see why we should care if it is. Between us we can probably destroy
anything that can pack itself into a single vehicle," shrugged the lion.

"SNAKE! SNAKE!" squealed Bast, running back the other way.

"GET BACK HERE, BITCH!" shouted Demonprist, trying to balance her equipment
and her staff as she ran after her fellow Avatar. She cursed the
cat-woman's distinct lack of luggage, hitched up her pack and gave chase.

"You think it might be Mutants then?" mused Kith, ignoring the commotion
other than feeling a twinge of satisfaction at not being the only one to be
chased. "I mean, the Luntaks can probably *all* fit into the Lunataker."

"And?" boasted Thunderwolf. "I can kick the asses of any two Lunataks
without even trying...nevermind if I put a little effort into it. Add in
the fact that you're a magic user and we have the Avatars of two gods, one
of whom is plugged into the system, and we can't possibly lose.
Theoretically speaking," he added as Bast blew Demonprist a raspberry and
ran off, shrieking.

"GET BACK HERE!" howled the red-head as she chased the cat-woman back past
Kith and Thunderwolf. "COME AND TAKE YOUR MEDICINE YOU...You...you..." she
trailed off as a huge black cloud rose up on the horizon. Skidding to a
stop, she watched the vapour's shifting and squirming. As it loomed over
the travellers, the humming grew louder and louder and it dawned on
Demonprist that what she was watching was not a cloud at all.
"HOLYFUCKINGSHIT!" she cried, making an about face and running back the way
she'd come. "BUGS!"

Hearing her cry, Kith and Thunderwolf looked up just in time to see the
towering wall of insects arch and fall as the swarm poured down on top of
them.

*********************