Adventurous Anthros
The Paragons (Season 1 Chapter 18)
Story by TheAnnonymousKat on Furaffinity
All characters belong to their respective owners, this fanfiction is a nonprofit project for fun, please support the official release of the respective series shown.

Within the castle of the Syndicate, Emperor Grumm grumbled to himself as he impatiently waited in his room for a certain individual to come through the door. After much waiting, Grumm's head perked up upon seeing his door open, and in his room stepped a tall bat-like alien with three eyes, whose head was within a glass cylinder container, and a large black cloak was draped over his shoulders that covered the creature's body below his neck. Grumm's red eyes glowed in anger upon seeing the bat alien step through the threshold to his room as he was all too familiar with him,
"Broodwing…" said Grumm angrily in his usual deep and raspy voice,
"Yes Lord Grumm?" The bat alien replied,
"I could've sworn I told you to come to me a day ago…" Grumm commented angrily,
"Well, you did, but what can I say? I'm a busy guy, I've got things to sell, money to make," Broodwing explained casually,
“Yes I know, that’s actually the reason I wanted to talk to you,” Grumm explained,
“Oh? Are you dissatisfied with one of my products?” Broodwing inquired,
“More like the fact that you sold your aforementioned product to someone else has come to my attention,” Grumm explained,
“Oh? Whatever do you mean?” Broodwing inquired,
“Don’t play dumb! I received word that one of Dio’s hencemen was using krybots!” said Grumm angrily as his eyes glowed,
“What about it? I need to make money don’t I?” Broodwing asked dismissively,
“Broodwing… I could’ve sworn that your allegiance was to me,” Grumm explained,
“I… don’t really have an allegiance to anyone, our relationship is purely business,” Broodwing explained,
“Well then, given that I’m your best customer, it would be in your best interest to stay on my good side,” Grumm explained,
“Best customer? On occasions you’ve refused to pay me or demanded that I give you something for free, besides, Dio, the guy I sold the krybot container to, he’s on your team isn’t he? So why is it such a big deal?” Broodwing asked,
“I have no team mates! Only fools I choose to tolerate to help further my own cause! Not unlike you or Morgana!” Grumm explained,
“Speaking of Morgana where is she?” Broodwing asked as he looked around the room,
“Do I look like her babysitter? I don’t know, and as long as she isn’t bothering me and she’s ready to make another monster for me when I need it, I don’t care! Now back to what I was saying, of all the fools I can’t stand in this castle, Dio and Van Bloot are the worst! Though given that Van Bloot usually stays out of my way, my focus is on Dio right now, and the thought of soldiers normally seen in my own army, helping out that blood sucker drives me up the wall!” Grumm explained angrily,
“So what are you saying?” Broodwing asked,
“I’m saying… whether you’re aligned with me or not, it’s a good idea to stay on my good side, and a good way to end up on my blacklist is by helping out someone I greatly dislike, so given how often I see you, if I ever catch word of you working with Dio behind my back, I will rip off your wings and force you to eat them before I vaporize you!” said Grumm threateningly as his scepter started glowing. Broodwing gulped nervously,
“Noted,” said Broodwing, causing Grumm to put away his scepter and turn his back to the bat alien,
“Good, now leave me, I’ll let you know when I come up with a plan that requires your assistance,” Grumm explained before Broodwing did as the green skeleton said and exited the room, being sure the close the door behind him. After the door closed Grumm let out a deep sigh,
“Can’t find good help these days, some days I feel like everyone who surrounds me can’t be trusted…” said Grumm to himself in annoyance. Though little did Grumm know, Broodwing had something on his mind as he walked away from Grumm’s room,
“That green bonehead thinks he can tell me who I can and can’t sell my products to, I’ll show him someday!” Broodwing thought to himself in annoyance.

Meanwhile within Mumm-Ra's spellcasting room the mummy was concluding the resurrection spell that he was casting for Dio, who waited patiently against the wall. Mumm-Ra worked over a bubbling cauldron that had a thick purple smoke constantly pouring out of it as the contents within flashed at intervals that were moments apart. Mumm-Ra waved his hands in a rhythmic motion as he loudly spoke in an ancient language Dio had never heard before. As moments passed and Mumm-Ra's mysterious chanting got louder and faster, the flashes within the cauldron grew brighter and increasingly more frequent, until eventually the spell concluded with Mumm-Ra throwing his hands into the air with one final chant and the cauldron's glowing being continuous rather than rhythmic flashes. Immediately after Mumm-Ra's last chant, a tall man with long brown hair, pink eyes and a muscular build rose from the cauldron. The man wore a dark leather-tailed open waistcoat over a sleeveless purple leotard with a belt held together by a pink heart-shaped buckle over it, wristbands that reached up to his forearms, a black pair of boots, a metal strap that went from his belt to over his shoulder with another pink metal heart and metal letters that read "VI", a metal headpiece over his forehead that also had a heart symbol, and an earring on each ear that had heart symbols. Upon rising from the cauldron and stepping out of it, the man looked around Mumm-Ra's spellcasting room in confusion, though as soon as he noticed Dio his eyes widened,
"L-Lord Dio!" Said the man in surprise, causing Dio to grin,
"Vanilla Ice, it's been too long," said Dio casually,
"I'm honored to be in your presence once again, though my memory is somewhat hazy, what happened to me?" Vanilla Ice asked, holding his head in discomfort,
"You lost against Jean Pierre Polnareef," Dio explained bluntly, causing Vanilla Ice's narrow eyes to widen,
"D-Did I?! I… I apologise for my incompetence, please forgive me my lord," Vanilla ice requested with a bow,
"It's quite alright, after all you managed to take out more members of the Joestar's group than me," Dio explained,
"What? But… that's impossible," said Vanilla Ice in disbelief,
"It's true, for a long time I thought I had killed two members like you before Jotaro took me out, but as it turns out the elderly Joestar miraculously survived my attack," Dio explained in a casual tone as he crossed his arms,
"I see, so I take it you revived me because you want to continue your plans to put an end to the Joestar line and take over the world… or I suppose, our world," Vanilla Ice speculated,
"Not quite, after joining forces with Mumm-Ra here, the sorcerer who revived you, I've got a much bigger goal in mind," Dio explained, after a quick glance at Mumm-Ra, Vanilla Ice raised a brow,
"What do you mean by that?" Vanilla Ice asked, though rather than give his faithful servant an answer right away, Dio turned his attention back to the cauldron, causing Vanilla Ice to do the same. Like Vanilla Ice, another man rose from the cauldron, though unlike Vanilla Ice, the man wasn't particularly tall or muscular, but rather his build seemed fairly average, he had dark skin, very short white hair with lines showing it had been cut in a very specific pattern, as well as sideburns, and thicker locks of hair forming behind his head, he has brown eyes, he wore a slim black gown with a large golden cross design, what appeared to be golden cuffs around each sleeve, a belt around his waist, a pair of dark pants and some loafers on his feet. The man stepped out of the cauldron and faced Dio,
"Pucci, it's good to see you again as well," said Dio with a smile,
"Dio, it sure is my friend," said the man named Pucci. Vanilla Ice alternated between looking at Dio and Pucci,
"Lord Dio, who is this man?" Vanilla Ice asked,
"Ah that's right I don't believe I've ever told you, this is Enrico Pucci, a good friend of mine, we go way back," Dio explained,
"So these are the last two stand users you wished to bring back?" Mumm-Ra inquired,
"Yes Mumm-Ra, thank you, you have no idea how happy I am to see these two again," Dio explained with a smile,
"No, thank you for the book, I'll get much use from it," said Mumm-Ra with a deep chuckle as he left his spellcasting room, leaving Dio alone with his recently resurrected followers. After Mumm-Ra left, Dio turned his attention to Vanilla Ice and Pucci,
"I have much to catch you two up on, my new plan goes far beyond simply putting an end to the Joestar line," said Dio before he let out a maniacal laugh that echoed throughout the stone hallways of the castle.

Meanwhile, in the city that resided in the same world where the Anthros had set up their base, Kat was sitting at a table right outside of a cafe with Kuriboh floating near him as he enjoyed a warm cup of coffee and read his large book of Pokemon information. Hours ago, Kat had a lengthy conversation with Jotaro that stuck with him. After Kat explained to Jotaro the whole event with Alessi that had transpired yesterday, the hat wearing stand user went into a lengthy explanation on how he found out what book was stolen from Beast's castle and how the stand users were coming back from the dead. As it was revealed to Kat, the book in question was a spellbook, which in particular contained a spell meant for resurrecting the dead, which not only explained the stand users, but the blue flames that appeared upon their containment as well, for the flames were an obscure sign of a soul being forced into purgatory. Kat shuddered at the thought of the fates of both Alessi and Rubber Soul, though they were terrible men who deserved punishment, the thought of something unfortunate happening to one's soul such as it being destroyed or sent to purgatory made the hybrid feel uneasy. Though apart from his conversation with Jotaro, another thing on Kat's mind was Zero, as it had been so long since she was captured by Dio, and the hybrid remained concerned for her, though he tried taking his mind off her by reading the page that detailed information about Greninja in his Pokemon book since he liked frogs, and tried to enjoy his coffee. Things were quiet in the city until Kat noticed some smoke coming up from the middle of the city and after leaving a tip and picking up his book, Kat decided to go to investigate, and Kuriboh of course followed him.

When Kat got to the area that the smoke originated from, he saw that a three floor apartment was on fire, and a large crowd of people watched the building anxiously from a safe distance. Kat looked at the building in surprise and horror, though Kuriboh kept his usual calm expression, as he did in most situations,
"Oh no, how did this happen? I have to do something to help!" Kat thought to himself. Kat and Kuriboh then noticed a woman on one of the balconies that was connected to the top floor, she cowered away from flames that came from what Kat assumed was her room, there was chatter among the crowd of civilians regarding the woman's safety,
"Kuri Kuri?" Kuriboh asked,
"I think that woman is stranded up there pal, she needs help down," Kat explained before he clenched his fist,
"This would be a great time to have a communicator, I bet one of the guys could easily jump up there and quickly get that woman down safely… oh well, this doesn't look like anything I can't handle," Kat thought to himself before he started to walk closer to the apartment. It isn't long after Kat starts to approach the building that a small explosion was heard from the woman's apartment, Kat could only guess the reason, but the explosion startled the woman and caused her to fall over the guardrails of her balcony. Gasps and worried comments came from the crowd upon seeing the woman start to fall, as Kat and Kuriboh ran towards where they thought the woman would fall. Kat readied himself to catch the woman as Kuriboh made multiplications of himself to cushion the woman's fall in the event that Kat failed to catch her. Time seemed to slow down a bit as the woman was getting closer and closer to the ground, and it was uncertain if Kat was going to be able to catch her,
"I got her!" Said Kat as the woman was coming closer to the ground. Though to everyone's surprise, before Kat could catch the woman, a blue blur jumped over him and intercepted her. When the blur landed in front of Kat, who stopped himself with a skid, the blur immediately took more of a form, revealing itself to be a familiar blue anthro hedgehog,
"Are you alright?" The hedgehog asked the woman as he carefully helped her back on her feet,
"I'm fine now, thank you Sonic," said the woman graciously, causing Kat's eyes to widen as Kuriboh's doubles dissipated behind him,
"That's good to hear, now get to safety, I have work to do," Sonic instructed, causing the woman to walk over to the crowd to stand amongst them,
"Wait, Sonic? As in… Sonic the Hedgehog?" Kat asked in disbelief, which caused the blue hedgehog to turn around to reveal he was indeed Sonic, green eyes and all,
"That's me, unless you have me confused for another blue hedgehog," Sonic replied casually,
"I've heard of you! You're a member of the Righteous Paragons," Kat commented,
"Yep, and who might you be? If you aren't a hero, I'm going to have to ask you to get back with the rest of the crowd of civilians so I can do my job," Sonic explained,
"My real name is secret, just call me Kat, and I am a hero, check it out," said Kat as he got out his hero learner's permit and showed it to Sonic. The blue hedgehog quickly looked over the card before speaking up,
"Ah I see, well Kat, you are aware that it's against regulation for someone with a learner's permit to do hero work without permission from a licensed hero, right?" Sonic asked, wagging his gloved finger to emphasize his playful scolding, causing Kat to rub the back of his head in embarrassment,
"I actually forgot…" Kat explained,
"I mean, I personally don't care, but you can get into some serious trouble for doing something like that, so what I'm saying is- keep that in mind from now on… though that being said, it's going to take my team a minute or so to get here, so if ya don't mind helping me out, I'll give you permission," Sonic explained, causing Kat's ears to perk up,
“Wait, you will?” Kat asked in excitement,
"Yep," Sonic replied with a quick nod,
"Well, ok, though what are we gonna be doing exactly?" Kat asked,
"We need to go inside this apartment and save any civilians within if there are any… though two things before we get started, first, what is that furry thing next to you? Is it like your sidekick?" Sonic inquired,
"Nah, that's Kuriboh, he's our mascot," Kat explained,
"Kuri Kuri!" Kuriboh added happily. Sonic reached behind him as if to dig through his back pockets, even though he wasn't wearing any pants or shorts,
"In that case, put this on and make sure Kuriboh stays close to you," Sonic instructed as he handed Kat a small silver box with a single black screen on it that displayed a small flame. Kat gingerly took the box from Sonic and examined it,
"What is this thing?" Kat asked,
"An item box, break it," Sonic instructed as he pulled out another silver box from nowhere. Kat was slightly hesitant, though did as he was told and broke the small box by holding it in one hand, and punching it with the other. Immediately after Kat hit the strange silver box, the box turned into metal scraps and dissipated, then Kat was suddenly surrounded by flaming energy that took the shape of a sphere. Kat was confused by the strange fiery energy, though upon looking back at Sonic, the hybrid noticed the hedgehog was also surrounded by the energy, implying he also broke open the item box,
"Flame shields, they protect against heat and fire, they'll be incredibly helpful to have active when we're running around in there," Sonic explained,
"Oh, ok then," Kat replied, content with Sonic's explanation,
"If you're ready, follow me," Sonic instructed before immediately dashing into the apartment, leaving behind a blue trail for a split second,
"Stay close to me Kuriboh," Kat instructed his fuzzy companion, Kuriboh nodded and held onto Kat tightly before the hybrid entered the apartment after Sonic.

Upon entering the apartment, Kat and Sonic immediately started running all around the first floor to look for trapped civilians, given Sonic’s superior speed he covered a lot more ground in a much shorter time than Kat. A minute of quickly looking around the first floor of the burning building passed before Kat spoke up,
“I think we checked everywhere on the first floor, I didn’t see anyone,” Kat explained,
“Me neither, the first floor is clear, let’s head up to the second floor,” Sonic instructed as he and Kat made their way up the stairs.

After searching around the second floor for a bit, Kat noticed a locked door, which indicates someone may have still been inside the room. Kat immediately got out Bruiser’s pokeball and released the Incineroar with a powerful stream of white light, upon being released, Bruiser roared and flexed his muscles before he looked around and realized he was in a burning building, thankfully Kat wouldn’t need to worry about Bruiser overheating as he was a fire type Pokemon,
“Bruiser, I need you to break this door down for me buddy,” Kat explained as he pointed towards the locked door. The incineroar examined the door Kat pointed at for a bit before punching it as hard as he could, the door was knocked off its hinges and there was a large dent with a fist print in the center. Kat was impressed with his Incineroar friend’s strength, though he knew he had other matters to attend to and went further into the apartment to investigate as Kuriboh held onto him to stay close, and Bruiser followed behind the hybrid. After searching around for a bit, Kat noticed four people lying unconscious in the living room, a man, a woman, a young boy, and a young girl, very likely a family. Kat quickly approached the family and checked their pulse, they were all alive and breathing, though unconscious, although it was good that the family was still alive, Kat knew he needed to get them to safety as soon as he could, else they might breath in too much of the smoke or burn to death. Kat quickly looked towards the broken down door,
“Sonic! I found some people, four to be exact, I need help!” Kat yelled. Immediately, Sonic joined Kat in the room he was in and looked around, though his green eyes widened upon seeing the family on the floor,
“Wow, no kidding, just a sec, I know who can help with this,” Sonic explained as he pulled out a communicator from nowhere. After a brief conversation between Sonic and the person on the other end consisting of Sonic explaining where he was in the building, Sonic put away his communicator, backed away from the window, and gestures for Kat to do the same, which he did, as did Bruiser. After a brief though tense moment of waiting, Kat saw a man suddenly burst through a wall that separated the room from the outside, the man was tall with a muscular build, short blonde hair that yielded two large hair horns, a large smile, hidden eyes, a red long sleeved shirt with a design consisting of curved white lines and white circles, golden bracelets that covered his forearms and had small spikes on the end, a metallic golden belt with a silver belt buckle, blue tights, a pair of golden boots, and a long flowing blue cape. Kat, Kuriboh and Bruiser looked at the man in wonder as he effortlessly, and quickly smashed another entrance into the building,
“I AM HERE! Detroit Smash!!” said the man proudly, his voice was booming and confident,
“All Might! Hey pal, are the others close?” Sonic asked casually, as the man landed on his feet,
“Indeed they are!” said the blonde man before Kat saw a long chain with a pointed end pierce the ceiling from a low angle, before Kat heard the sound of something running along the chain and moving closer. Kat was confused about what could've been on the other end of the chain and rapidly approaching them, though he would soon get his answer as a man with blonde hair, blue eyes, pointed ears, a small beard, a red tunic a red hat that resembled a nightcap, leather gauntlets over a white long sleeved shirt, white leggings, and leather boots came through All Might's freshly made hole. The man had an item in his hand that Kat immediately recognized as a hookshot, as it retracted the rest of the chain after the man freed the pointed end of the marvelous item with a firm tug. After the man put the hookshot away, Kat recognized who the man was, it was Link, the hero of time, the main character in the Legend of Zelda games that Kat loved playing when he was younger. Kat hadn't recognized Link immediately as Link usually wore a green hat and tunic, and Link looked older in person than how he does in the games, though Kat soon realized that the red tunic that Link had on was his Goron Tunic, an article of clothing perfect for resisting heat, Kat was so excited to meet Link, a hero he knew about and adored, though he shook himself free from his starstruck state as helping the people within the burning building took priority. Soon after Link, a short italian man with short brown hair, a mustache, and blue eyes, wearing a red hat with an M emblem on it, a red shirt with blue overalls, white gloves, and brown shoes jumped through the hole and joined the other two Paragons who came through the wall. Kat immediately recognized the short man as the iconic hero Mario, a man who saves the mushroom kingdom on a regular basis with his incredible jumping ability and power-ups. Sonic moved closer to Mario as he spoke,
“Mario, can you use F.L.U.D.D. to put out some of the flames while we rescue civilians?” Sonic requested, Mario immediately nodded and pulled a strange yellow nozzle device from nowhere and strapped it to his back by tying a belt around him. Mario ran past the group, and immediately started spraying water out of the nozzle device on his back to put out the fire in the apartment. Within less than a minute, all the fire in the family’s room had been put out, and Mario had exited the room to go extinguish other parts of the building,
“If you need to refill F.L.U.D.D. I believe the plumbing in the building is still active for now” said All Might to Mario as he was exiting the room,
“Even if it wasn’t, the guy’s a plumber, I’m sure he’d figure something out,” said Sonic to All Might,
“Say Sonic, who is the hybrid?” All Might asked, clearly referring to Kat,
“Oh him? That’s Kat, he’s a member of the Anthros of Justice, he’s here to help us,” Sonic explained,
“I see, well Kat, be sure to show your plus ultra!” said All Might enthusiastically as he bent down, and started to pick up the family members, though Kat tilted his head at All Might’s instruction,
“Plus… ultra?” Kat inquired,
“It’s basically how people from his world say, give it more than one hundred percent,” Sonic explained. Suddenly a man with short dark hair, brown eyes, a red cap with a white bill, a white shirt with red sleeves and collar, blue jeans and a pair of red shoes with white laces came through the hole All Might made while riding on a Charizard. After the Charizard properly landed, and the man got off it, the man pulled out a pokeball and promptly returned the Charizard to its ball before getting out another pokeball, and releasing a Blastoise from the ball. A blue glowing fairy made herself visible to the rest of the group by flying out from behind Link, Kat instantly recognized the fairy as Navi, Link’s faithful companion,
“Good idea Red! You can help Mario extinguish the flames with your Blastoise,” said Navi,
“A Blastoise’s cannons can reach pressures that rival water cutters though,” said Kat, he had read about the information on Blastoises earlier when he was going through his book,
“Don’t worry, Red’s Blastoise is amazing at control!” Sonic replied. As Red was walking out of the room with his Blastoise to join Mario’s efforts to extinguish the flames, he looked at Kat and Bruiser for a bit, though exited the room without saying anything. As Kat and Bruiser exchanged confused expressions, Sonic turned towards All Might,
"So what are you planning to do big guy?" Sonic inquired,
"Well, considering the building is on fire, it wouldn't be good for its integrity if I kept busting through the walls, so I think after I get this family out of here, I'll make sure the people outside stay clear of the building while you guys save the rest of the civilians," All Might explained,
"Alright then," said Sonic before immediately taking off to search the rest of the building, soon followed by Kat, Kuriboh, Link, Navi and Bruiser.

The rest of the second floor was clear so Kat and the others made their way to the third and topmost floor to search. The group split up to cover more ground, Kuriboh made doubles of himself and Navi separated from Link to help make the search go faster. It wasn't long before Kat happened upon a frightened Boston Terrier while he was searching, upon seeing Kat, the little dog's ears perked up,
"Hey! You! Cat guy! Please help me out of here! I'm concerned for my owner!" The dog explained through barks that Kat could understand thanks to his hybrid ability,
"Where is your owner little guy?" Kat asked,
"Outside, so help me get outside too!" The dog explained,
"Well alright, just let me and my friends finish searching the rest of this last floor for civilians," Kat requested,
"Well… ok, but search quick!" The little dog requested,
"You must really care about your owner," Kat commented,
"Of course I do! A good boy without an owner is like an itch without a scratch! It's terrible!" The dog explained dramatically, causing Kat to chuckle a bit to himself,
"Alright good boy, come here," Kat instructed as he bent down and opened his arms, the Boston Terrier obediently moved closer to Kat until he was within Kat's flame shield, and up against the hybrid's chest, then Kat proceeded to carefully wrap his arms around the little dog, and stand up. Kat looked behind him to see that Sonic was behind him with a smirk on his face,
"That was adorable, I forgot hybrids could communicate with feral or non anthro animals," Sonic commented,
"Did you think the only thing we had over humans was the animal parts?" Kat asked with a raised brow,
"A little bit, but that's besides the point, come with me," Sonic instructed before running off, Kat did as he was told and ran in the direction the blue hedgehog went.

After catching up with Sonic, Kat found that he and the rest of the group were standing around an area on the top floor that had three doors that were side by side that were barricaded by fallen chunks of the ceiling. Kat looked at the three rooms for a bit before speaking up,
"What's the deal with these doors?" Kat inquired,
"These are the last three rooms on this floor, after we make sure they're clear, we can get out of here," Navi explained,
"I'll go first!" Said Sonic before he quickly dashed through one of the doors, shattering it instantly. Kat peered into the freshly opened doorway to see that Sonic checked around the room at a lightning fast pace, and seconds later emerged from the room while holding a woman in his arms,
"Only one civilian in that room, I'll get her out of here while you guys take care of the rest," Said Sonic as he made his way out of the floor and presumably out of the building. Kat looked to the other two doors to see that Link had already taken initiative, and pulled out a familiar looking hammer which Kat immediately recognized as Link's Megaton Hammer, a powerful weapon Link got from the Gorons. With a single swing, Link broke through the door and went inside the room with Navi. Kat peered inside the room to see Link was escorting an elderly man with a cane out of the room as Navi flew all around the room, Kat presumed the little fairy was looking for other civilians. As Link and Navi came through the doorway, Kat made room for them to pass by him,
"One civilian in that room too, Kat, do you think you can check the last room?" Navi asked,
"Of course," said Kat with a nod,
"Great, but make it quick, who knows how long the ceiling to this floor will stay intact?" Navi asked rhetorically as she and Link took their leave with the elderly man.

Kat turned his attention towards the last door, and was about to have Bruiser break it down like he did the last one, though Kuriboh quickly sent a few of his doubles close to the door, and detonated them, destroying both the door, and the fallen ceiling,
"Thanks Kuriboh," said Kat graciously,
"Kuri Kuri," said Kuriboh happily, though Bruiser simply grumbled to himself,
"Come on Bruiser, don't be like that, let's just check this last room real quick so we can get out of here," Kat requested before entering the freshly opened entrance. Upon crossing the threshold, Kat immediately noticed two people were lying unconscious on the floor, a man and a woman, presumably a couple, which caused the hybrid's eyes to widen,
"Two people?! I wasn't expecting this… alright guys here's the plan Kuriboh you-" said Kat before a large chunk of ceiling came down and hit him in the head. Kuriboh, Bruiser and the Boston Terrier seemed concerned for Kat, though the hybrid immediately realized that he was physically unhurt, though the flame shield around him dissipated, which caused both him and the dog to feel just how hot it was inside the building,
"I'm fine! I'm fine! My shield absorbed the hit, though that means we have to do this quickly, Kuriboh! As fast as you can, check every nook and cranny in this room!" Kat instructed before Kuriboh nodded and flew all around the room at top speed while making doubles to help him search, Kat then turned his attention to Bruiser,
"Bruiser! You grab one person, I'll grab the other, then we get out of here as fast as we can!" Kat instructed, Bruiser nodded, though just as both were about to take a step forward, the area of the ceiling right above the couple gave out, and was coming down on them. Kat's eyes widened as he saw the large chunks of debris come down, his heart raced as time seemed to slow down for the hybrid, Kat quickly handed the Boston Terrier to the also surprised Bruiser, since he didn't want to endanger the dog's life with the stunt he was about to pull. With no sort of plan in mind, Kat quickly ran towards the couple as the debris came falling down as his beloved Incineroar watched him in horror. As Kat was getting close he was about to summon a dark vortex, and hope with every fiber of his being that he'd pull out a weapon that would help him in his situation, though fortunately, there was no need,
"Stopza!" Said a high pitched voice behind Kat, immediately followed by the room around Kat becoming discolored. Kat skidded to a stop inches away from the couple, then looked around to see that not only did the chunks of debris stop falling, but the flames in the room stopped flickering, as though time around him stopped,
"It's ok now Kat," said a familiar voice, Kat turned around to see both Lion-O, and a familiar anthro mouse wearing a red and black outfit with lots of zippers and wielding a large golden key shaped weapon with a silver hand guard,
"Lion-O! King Mickey! It's good to see you two, especially right now," said Kat,
“There’ll be more time to talk later Kat, for now we need to get these folks outta here,” Mickey replied as he walked over to the unconscious couple, picked up the man, and slung him over his shoulder before Lion-O slung the woman over his shoulder. Lion-O turned to Kat,
“These are the last two people in the building?” the thundercat inquired, before Kat answered, Kuriboh flew back to him and nodded,
“Looks like it,” Kat then replied,
“Alright then, let’s get out of here,” Lion-O instructed,
“And let’s be quick about it, my magic won’t be active forever,” said Mickey before the group of heroes made their way out of the building.

Upon exiting the building, Lion-O and Mickey helped the civilians they carried out of the building to the ambulances that were outside. The Boston Terrier in Kat’s arms went crazy and practically jumped out of them as Kat was attempting to let him down gently, the adorable little canine made a beeline to a small child which Kat could only assume was his owner, the hybrid couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the dog and the child being reunited. It wasn’t long after the heroes made it out of the building that Kat returned Bruiser to his ball since he didn’t do well with crowded areas, and a swarm of people ran towards Lion-O and Mickey, Kat could only assume these people were fans, who were courteous enough to not bother the paragons while they did their hero work, though their patience also wore thin after several minutes of anxiously waiting for their beloved heroes to complete their job. To Kat’s surprise, after making sure the couple were looked after, the thundercat immediately ran towards him, grabbed his hand, and started running away, while also keeping ahold of Kat’s hand. Kat ran along with Lion-O for a bit before he decided to ask
“Where are we going?!”,
“Somewhere a little more private!” Lion-O replied as he kept running from his small army of adoring fans. Kat and Lion-O were running for a good five minutes as Kuriboh stayed close to Kat, before Lion-O had lost the fans that followed behind him by hiding in an alleyway. After making sure the coast is clear Lion-O spoke up again,
“Alright, that’s better,” said Lion-O,
“This is the more private area you were talking about?” Kat asked as a very exhausted Kuriboh returned to his card form and Kat put him in his pocket,
“Yep,” Lion-O replied,
“So why did you want to come here? Don’t you have important hero stuff you need to take care of?” Kat asked,
“Well not immediately, plus do you remember what I said about talking to you some more the next time we meet?” Lion-O asked,
“Oh yeah, so you’re gonna tell me the full story of how the thundercats split up?” Kat asked,
“Here in a minute yeah, but first, I think the rest of the guys should formally introduce themselves to you,” Lion-O explained,
“Oh… well where did they go after the rescue mission?” Kat asked. After a moment the hybrid realized that Lion-O was gesturing for him to look behind, and when Kat did, he saw the rest of the paragons in the alleyway with them, as if Lion-O had summoned them to his side in an instant,
"Guys, this is Kat, he's the guy I told you about that I met at the HR building, before you go off to scout the city give him a warm welcome," Lion-O requested, Sonic quickly ran over to Kat and offered a handshake, which Kat took,
"The name's Sonic, aka the fastest thing alive, I'll see ya some other time, I got work to do, maybe we can have a race sometime, though until then work on getting faster so you'd be an actual challenge," said Sonic before he took off, momentarily leaving a trail of blue light in his path. Mario was the next to walk over to Kat and offer a handshake, while Sonic's handshake was very casual and rushed, Mario had a firm but friendly and welcoming grip,
"It's-a nice to meet you! It's-a me, Mario," said Mario in an enthusiastic voice,
"Oh I know, I don't think there's anyone around who doesn't know you," Kat replied,
"Great heroes have good hearts, so I think you're on the right path, just be-a sure to stay on it," Mario advised, breaking the handshake before patting Kat on his shoulder and running off, presumably to do the same work around the city that Sonic was doing. Red was the next to approach Kat and shake his hands, his grip felt average and his face had a neutral emotion on it, after a brief moment of silence Lion-O spoke up,
"He's Red, he doesn't talk much, but he's a skilled Pokémon trainer who's helped us on a number of occasions," Lion-O explained,
"Ah, well it's nice to meet you Red," said Kat, Red stared at Kat in silence for a moment, before looking down at Kat's pocket for a few seconds, then breaking the handshake and walking off. Mickey was the next to shake Kat's hand,
"Hiya Kat, I'm Mickey Mouse, though you can just call me Mickey!" Said Mickey in a friendly tone,
"What about "King Mickey"? I thought people called you that," Kat inquired,
"Aw shucks, only people in my kingdom call me that, no need to be so formal," Mickey replied
"Ok then," Kat replied,
"Say, you harness darkness, right?" Mickey inquired,
"Yeah? Why?" Kat replied,
"I sensed as much, one of my pals does that too, so I know it's possible, but be careful, harnessing darkness is like playing with fire," Mickey explained,
"I'll keep it in mind," Kat replied, Mickey then nodded, broke the handshake and walked out of the alleyway. All Might was the next to shake Kat's hand, his grip was very strong, but friendly,
"Nice to meet an up and coming hero! I am All Might, the symbol of Peace!" All Might explained,
"Hey All Might, is there any hero advice you can give me?" Kat asked,
"Are you kidding? There's so much I could tell you, heck, I reckon I could make for a good teacher at a hero school, though to keep this exchange brief, I'll leave you with this- "it's times where you're scared or worried that you should deal with smiling,"" All Might explained before breaking the handshake and jumping away. Link was the last of the paragons to approach Kat to give him a handshake,
“Hey Link, Kat wanted to meet you more than any of the other paragons,” said Lion-O in a teasing voice, causing Kat to blush,
“I-I didn’t say all that, I asked to be introduced to you specifically when I met Lion-O because growing up I loved playing the games based on your adventures, a-and I always thought you were cool, and I wanted to be like you and-” said Kat before he was cut off by Link putting something in Kat’s hands before hook shooting away. Kat checked his hands to see that Link left a glass bottle,
“One of Link’s bottles? Did… did he really just give it to me? This is such an amazing item though” said Kat in an honored tone,
“He’s got like twelve of them, he’ll be alright giving one of them away, anyway, are you ready?” Lion-O asked,
“Huh? Ready for what?” Kat asked,
“You wanted to know the story of how the thundercats split up right?” Lion-O asked,
“But, I thought you had to patrol the city,” Kat replied,
“It’ll be alright, we got Sonic running around, and it won’t take but a few minutes to tell the story,” Lion-O explained,
“Well… alright, I have been curious about it for a while now,” Kat replied. Lion-O took a deep breath, then leaned against the brick wall of the building,
“In order to tell you how the thundercats split up, I suppose I should start where I think things truly began for me, the night my father was killed by Mumm-Ra. The kingdom my father had built was destroyed overnight with a sneak attack from Mumm-Ra and his forces, those who survived the attack were taken prisoner, though my adopted brother Tygra, a cleric named Cheetara and myself managed to escape Mumm-Ra’s clutches. We travelled looking for a way to defeat Mumm-Ra, not having much more than the clothes on our backs, and this-” said Lion-O, gesturing towards a sword he had sheathed in a golden gauntlet resembling a lion’s paw, the sword had a circular red gemstone in the crossguard,
“Wait a sec… is that?-” Kat was about to ask before Lion-O cut him off,
“The sword of Omens, yes, a very powerful sword with a lot of history,” Lion-O replied,
“And that red thing in the sword, that’s one of the power gems I’ve been hearing about huh?” Kat asked, Lion-O looked somewhat surprised,
“Ah so you know about the power gems, good, that makes it somewhat easier to explain my story, but yeah, the red gemstone you see is The Eye of Thundera, also known as the War Stone, it rested in my sword as I travelled with Tygra and Cheetara, it wasn’t long before we made new friends along the way, such as Wilykit, Wilykat and Panthro, who I’m sure you’re familiar with by now. We did a lot during our journey to take down Mumm-Ra, retrieved the Book of Omens, Entered a strange dimension known as the Astral Plane, Retrieved another one of the power stones known as the Spirit Stone, Died…” Lion-O explained in an awkward tone,
“You guys died? How come you and Panthro are still alive then?” Kat inquired,
“No, I was the one who died, though I was given another chance when the Spirit stone activated, I was given trials to complete to see if I was worthy at a second chance at life… but I blew it on the last trial, though I was thrown a bone and allowed to come back anyway since I have a good heart, or something like that. After that whole ordeal we did some more travelling, and came across other things along the way, like the place Tygra was born, and the Pit, a gladiator-style arena run by Panthro’s old friend Dobo… did he tell you about him yet?” Lion-O asked,
“No,” Kat replied,
“Ask him when you see him again, anyway, it was at the pit where I met… Pumyra…” Lion-O explained with a heavy tone,
“Was this Pumyra person someone important to you?” Kat inquired, noticing Lion-O’s tone,
“She was, though I could see the anger in her heart from the beginning, I thought she was a good person, she travelled with us, and I developed feelings for her, though nothing could have prepared me for when she showed her true colors… you see Kat, it turned out she was working with Mumm-Ra the whole time,” Lion-O explained,
“No way!” Kat replied in surprise,
“It’s true, and with her help he managed to get both the sword of Plun-Darr, and the Tech Stone,” Lion-O explained,
“Wait a sec… War, Spirit, Tech… that just left the Spirit Stone, right?” Kat asked,
“Right, and after Pumyra’s betrayal, it seemed like the race was on to find the last stone, though surprisingly, within weeks we found out that it was in El-Dara, which is a city in Limbo,” Lion-O explained,
“What’s Limbo?” Kat inquired,
“Basically a purgatorial dimension that I was supposed to go for failing my aforementioned trial, and boy, though we managed to find its location, getting to El-Dara wasn’t easy, it almost felt like we got there several years earlier than we were supposed to, and an all out war broke out between our forces and Mumm-Ra’s, the battle raged on, I managed to confront Pumyra again, though she was less than happy to see me. We fought for what felt like hours, though in reality only a few minutes passed, and miraculously, as our fight was reaching its conclusion, Pumyra seemed to feel guilt for betraying me and the other thundercats like she did, though Mumm-Ra’s influence over her was so great that her allying with us simply wasn’t an option, so with a heavy heart, I struck her down as she asked me to,” Lion-O explained,
“Ah, I’m sorry to hear about your friend… though come to think of it, you never told me her motivation for betraying you in the first place,” Kat replied,
“Oh, well you see, shortly after Mumm-Ra’s attack at the beginning of my story, Pumyra was one of the cats who ended up dying, so Mumm-Ra used his magic to bring her back to life, helped by the fact that she had hate in her heart towards me since I failed to save her,” Lion-O explained,
“So even back then Mumm-Ra was bringing people back to life…” Kat thought to himself,
“Anyway, the battle came down to me verses Mumm-Ra as we tried to get a hold of the last stone, though just as me and Mumm-Ra were about to grab it, some sort of strange force, like a violent wind, took all four of the power stones, including the War Stone, and left with them. No one could make sense of what happened, so both sides ended up retreating. My brother, who I should have mentioned would often butt heads with me during our travels and call me unfit to be the leader, was absolutely livid that all four of the stones were lost, and we were essentially back to square one,” Lion-O explained,
“But, it’s not like Mumm-Ra had them,” Kat added,
“That’s what we told him, along with things like no one being able to predict or even comprehend the strange force that took the stones away, though he refused to listen, which lead to a lot of arguing and terrible things being said until Tygra decided that our kingdom would be better off if he searched for the power stones by himself, though Cheetara, who I forgot to mention formed a relationship with Tygra, also went with him. The others wanted to stay by my side, especially Kit and Panthro, though after thinking about everything that had happened because of my incompetence as a leader, I decided that they should follow their own paths to find the stones. While the desire to rebuild our kingdom and take down Mumm-Ra was still there, it was clear that the once strong bond between us had crumbled after the last battle with Mumm-Ra. I was unsure of what to do next, I wandered third earth for many days, until I eventually came across this anthro turtle named Mr.Universe,” Lion-O explained,
“Wait, you met Uni?!” Kat asked in surprise,
“Yeah, I should also mention that the people in my home world knew about the gates of light, but we kept away from them for the longest time and stuck to our own affairs, though, that all changed when I met Uni, he explained that he was the one who sent the power stones away, because apparently us finding a way to Limbo and the last stone was “years ahead of schedule”, and that we “cheated”, so he scattered the stones across the different worlds through the gates of light, and promptly took me to this forign world where I could begin an intense training, this may surprise you Kat, but I’m actually much older than I’m supposed to be,” Lion-O explained,
“What do you mean by that?” Kat asked,
“Well you see, Uni took me to this strange place that reached up into the clouds, and it was called “the lookout”, there he took me past these doors that lead into a strange dimension where time flows differently, a day outside the room is a year within the room, I stayed within the room and trained for a full week, or rather seven years from my perspective. I know it sounds strange, but it was necessary to fight Mumm-Ra, considering he partnered himself with a few other powerful evil doers,” Lion-O explained,
“The Syndicate…” Kat commented,
“Right, and promptly after my training, I travelled around various worlds in search of one of the power stones, until I thankfully found the war stone, though Mumm-Ra found it too, which caused a fight, and though it seemed hopeless at first since I was outnumbered, that’s when I was saved by the people you met earlier. It felt nice to fight alongside these individuals, so with the war stone back in my posession, I decided that I would become a hero and help out many people along the way during my search for the other stones, since Mumm-Ra’s attention was taken away from third earth for now, and together with the other heroes I met, we formed the Righteous Paragons, and eventually made a name for ourselves as the best hero group,” Lion-O explained. Kat was surprised to hear Lion-O's story, especially the part about Uni, so the hybrid took a minute to absorb the information that was given to him,
"So there you go, that's the full story of how the Thundercats split up, with the story of how the Paragons were formed as a bonus," Lion-O explained, Kat was silent for another moment before speaking up,
"Alright then, I've made up my mind," Kat replied vaguely, causing Lion-O to tilt his head,
"Hm? About what?" Lion-O inquired,
"You're still searching for the Power stones right? Well I want to take down Mumm-Ra too, so if I ever find one of the stones, I'll be sure to give them to you," Kat offered,
"Really? That'd be great! Though you don't have to concern yourself with our matters," Lion-O replied,
"But I want to, you're a friend of Panthro, and any friend of Panthro is a friend of mine, that and I'm super curious how it looks when you have all the power stones in your possession," Kat explained causing Lion-O to chuckle a bit,
"Well I appreciate it Kat,” Lion-O replied,
“As a matter of fact, I heard about the soul stone being in a place called “Moon Theater”, which is in a different world, or at least that’s what one of the members of the syndicate believed,” Kat explained,
“Oh yeah, I heard about that incident too, I went to investigate Moon Theater myself but didn’t find anything,” Lion-O replied,
“Ah, yeah I was told as much…” Kat replied,
“Imagine being in the theater during that night though,” Lion-O commented,
“I was,” Kat replied, causing Lion-O’s eyes to widen,
“Wait… you were?!” Lion-O asked in disbelief,
“Yep, I went there with my teammate Winston to watch a show, then Van Bloot showed up, we managed to drive him away and made sure no one got hurt, and I got arrested that night,” Kat explained,
“You got arrested?” Lion-O asked in disbelief,
“Yeah though it turned out that it was an elaborate setup by Uni for my hero test, that’s how I got my learner’s permit,” Kat explained,
“I see, so Uni put you through his trials too…” Lion-O commented,
“He also put Panthro through it from what I heard,” Kat replied,
“Panthro?!” Lion-O asked in disbelief,
“Yep, so it looks like all three of us became heroes because of Uni,” Kat commented,
“I guess so,” Lion-O replied,
“Though… I didn’t do the best during my test, so Uni is going to test me again sometime in the foreseeable future, I’m a little nervous for what that turtle could possibly have planned…” Kat commented, trailing off,
“I think you’ll do alright, Uni doesn’t test just anyone you know, and the fact that you were able to succeed at all proves you’ve got what it takes in you,” Lion-O explained,
“Maybe…” Kat replied trailing off. Lion-O looked towards the sidewalk,
“Anyway Kat, I should get going, I have hero work to do, it was nice talking to you, tell Panthro I-” said Lion-O, before Panthro’s voice could be heard, cutting off the Lion,
“KAT!”, said Panthro. Both Kat and Lion-O looked towards the end of the alleyway to see Panthro, who was breathless and covered in sweat, he was too far away for Kat to make out his expression, though he didn’t seem happy. Kat and Lion-O saw Panthro run towards them, Kat expected Panthro to konk him on the head for doing something stupid and clenched his eyes shut, though to his surpise, he felt himself against Panthro’s firm furry chest, as well as the panther man’s large arms around him, Kat opened his eyes to see that Panthro was embracing him, much to his surprise. Lion-O looked at Panthro in disbelief, though Panthro didn’t notice him at the time, after a brief moment of silence Panthro finally spoke again,
“Kat… you idiot… don’t scare me like that…” said Panthro, doing his best to mask the fear in his tone with his deep voice,
“Huh?” Kat responded, incredibly confused by what was going on,
“I heard that you went inside a burning building, and I was worried something had happened to you!... you know you’re not supposed to do hero work without permission from a licensed hero…” Panthro explained,
“I’ve never seen Panthro act like this before… was he really that worried about me?” Kat thought to himself,
“You don’t need to worry, I was working alongside some licensed heroes,” Kat explained timidly. Panthro loosened his hold on Kat and looked him in the eyes, Kat did his best to hide his blushing while Panthro did his best to hide his fear,
“Who?” Panthro inquired,
“Heya Panthro,” said Lion-O, finally speaking up since Panthro’s sudden arrival. Upon hearing Lion-O’s voice Panthro’s eyes widened and his ears perked up a bit,
“That voice…” said Panthro to himself before turning his head in Lion-O’s direction, the old thundercat looked as though he had seen a ghost,
“Lion-O…?” said Panthro in disbelief as he got a good look at the lion,
“I don’t believe it… I knew you were alive and well, but you seem older and more mature than the last time I saw you… like, more than you reasonably should be,” Panthro commented,
“Well… a lot has happened to me since we last met, I guess you could say I have grown and matured in that time,” Lion-O replied,
“I should hope so, you have a new group to lead nowadays, and from what I’ve heard you’re doing a good job at it since you’ve made a name for yourselves as the top hero team,” Panthro commented,
“Heh, yeah, well I heard you’re not doing too bad yourself with your own team, you guys have even butt heads with the syndicate on occasion,” Lion-O commented,
“Well y’know, being a thundercat and all, it’s only natural that I oppose Mumm-Ra when I can, and it never hurts to help people out along the way,” said Panthro. Lion-O looked at Kat, who was still in Panthro’s arms,
“You and Kat must be close, I’ve never seen you act this way towards someone,” Lion-O commented, causing Panthro to blush, break the embrace, and instead pet Kat on his head,
“He’s my partner, and he’s been there for me when I needed him most,” Panthro explained,
“I see, well you two be nice to each other, this seems like a wonderful friendship, and it’d be a shame if something came up that ended it,” said Lion-O before finally excusing himself from the alleyway, likely off to patrol the rest of the city with his team. After Lion-O left, it fell silent between Kat and Panthro for a while before Panthro spoke up,
“Kat… how about we play a game of basketball?” Panthro offered,
“Uh… sure, I’d like that,” Kat replied before the two anthros started to make their way to the basketball court within the city,
“Great, I think I’ve been getting better, I’ll be sure to bring my A-game,” said Panthro happily,
“Bring it, I’ll beat you regardless old man,” said Kat is a sassy tone, causing Panthro to laugh,
“Don’t get cocky kitten,” Panthro replied as he and Kat kept walking.

Meanwhile, in the world of Perim, in a part of the world known as the underworld, a large red demon-like creature named Chaor stood atop his castle as he looked over his domain, Underworld City. Though as Chaor looked towards the higher areas, he noticed something, or rather someone approach his castle from the skies, the creature had wings and seemed familiar, though nothing could’ve prepared Chaor for what that creature would do next.

End of Chapter 18