Adventurous Anthros
Going Under (Part 3)(Season 1 Chapter 20)
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.

Five minutes earlier, as Kat fell from atop The castle, he felt time slow down around him, and a voice call out to him,
"Kat… c'mon, snap out of it!" The voice called,
"Huh? Who's there?" Kat asked in confusion before he opened his eyes. Kat looked around to see he was sitting on a station of awakening, though this one had no design, it was completely black and featureless, like Belle's station when she was still under the influence of Dio's flesh bud. Kat looked around and got a good look at the station,
"Huh?... I'm on a station of awakening?.. whose station am I on?" Kat asked in confusion,
"Yours," a voice behind Kat explained. Kat looked behind him to see a muscular man with long jet black hair fixed into a ponytail, bright Rose colored eyes and a japanese kanji tattooed on his left shoulder, wearing a black muscle shirt, navy blue gloves and grey pants with X's designed down the sides of them. After getting a good look of the man Kat stood up,
"Who are you?" Kat asked,
"I'm your ancestor, just call me Elster, the king of thieves," the man explained with a smile,
"King of thieves?... I'm descended from a king, and a thief?" Kat asked in confusion,
"Well, sort of, it's complicated.." Elster explained as he rubbed the back of his head,
"I'm so confused, why are we on my station? Why is it blank like this? And why are you here?" Kat asked,
"Your station is blank because there still lies uncertainty within your soul as to what the design should be, and the reason I'm here is the same as why we're on your station, you need a pep talk," Elster explained,
"So I'm still falling from the castle roof then?" Kat asked,
"Yeah, though your mind is going so fast from the panic that it's like the fall is being slowed down to a crawl from your perspective," Elster explained,
"Ok.. but, why are you of all people giving me a pep talk, no offense but I've never even heard of you before," Kat explained,
"No, but I have been with you for quite some time now," Elster commented with his arms crossed. Kat tilted his head in confusion,
"What? You've.. been with me?" Kat asked in surprise,
"Do you remember the day you unlocked your powers Kat?" Elster asked,
"Of course, I was really young at the time, but there's no way I could forget that day," Kat replied,
"Well this might come as a surprise to you, but your powers are actually mine," Elster explained,
"They are?" Kat asked,
"Well, at least they used to be, though that's ok, like I said you're my descendant, so really you're the only one who could inherit my powers, though something that may come as a surprise to you, the whole ordeal you went through required you to take my soul into your body," Elster explained,
"WHAT?! So.. I have two souls in my body?!" Kat asked in confusion,
"Yep" Elster replied casually. Kat groaned and rubbed his temples,
"Out of everything you've told me so far, that's… a big pill to swallow" Kat commented,
"It's about to get a little bigger, you see Kat, ever since you've gained my powers and my soul's been in your body, I've been looking out for you," Elster explained, Kat stopped rubbing his temples and turned his attention back to Elster,
"You've been looking out for me.. so like.. you've seen everything I've seen, felt everything I felt, that sort of thing?" Kat asked,
"Yep, from the embarrassing stuff to the moments of glory," Elster explained with a smile. Kat blushed and looked away,
"Oh gosh, that's.. I can think of at least ten instances that I would've preferred no one to see," Kat commented on embarrassment,
"It's ok Kat, I don't think any less of you for mistakes you've made or um.. questionable things you've done, if anything this probably makes you and me closer than anyone else you know," Elster explained,
"If you say so… but wait, if you've been with me all this time, why am I just now seeing you?" Kat asked,
"Because now you need me more than ever, you can't give up Kat, you made a promise to Zero and Mercenary! And you know as much as I do that you never break promises," Elster explained,
"But what can I do? I'm at my limit, and I still couldn't so much as scratch Von Bloot!" Kat replied. Elster then started laughing uncontrollably,
"I-it's not funny you ancient edgelord!" Said Kat angrily, after a bit Elster's laughing died down and he wipes his happy tear from his eye,
"No no, you don't understand, I'm not laughing at your weakness, I'm laughing because you legitimately think you're at your limit," Elster explained,
"I'm not?" Kat asked as he gave a confused look,
"Not even close, dude you have the power of a god leashed up, it's just that you don't know how to access that power yet," Elster explained,
"The power of a god… come to think of it, I think Uni told me something like that one time…" Kat thought to himself,
"Kat, you want to save your friends don't you?" Elster asked,
"Of course I do" Kat replied,
"Then dig deep inside yourself, break the first seal," Elster explained,
"The first seal?" Kat asked,
"Well yeah, don't you remember why your hair is the color it is? That isn't your natural hair color, when you got my powers, it was too much for you to handle at the time, so inhibitors were placed on you," Elster explained,
"My hair colors are inhibitors?" Kat asked in confusion, causing Elster to roll his eyes,
"No dummy, the inhibitors are tied to your soul, your hair colors are just symbolic of them… for now just try and break the first and easiest seal, represented by the dark blue highlights," Elster explained,
"Ok, if you have so much faith in me I think I can do this," Kat explained causing a large smile to appear on Elster's face,
"It's about time for the prelude to end, and for Act 1 to begin," said Elster.

Five minutes later Kat stood on the rooftop between both his allies and Von Bloot as he struck a confident pose,
“Kat, Act 1: Speed demon!” said Kat confidently as the people around him looked at him in confusion. Von Bloot was silent for a moment, though soon erupted with laughter,
“Ohhohohoho! This is too good, I thought I killed you a few minutes ago, though you decide to come back just to speak some random garbage, kudos to you feline, you’re quite entertaining,” said Von Bloot as he wiped the tears from his eyes that he got from laughing,
“I wouldn’t be laughing if I was you Von Bloot! As you can see I’ve gotten much stronger!” said Kat confidently as he dramatically pointed towards Von Bloot,
“Oh no, the hard-to-see blue part of your hair is missing, I’m so scared,” said Von Bloot sarcastically as he rolled his eyes,
“If you’re so confident, then try throwing me off the roof again,” Kat challenged with a casual smile. Without skipping a beat, Von Bloot ran over to Kat and attempted to pick him up by his neck again, though within a split second, Kat was standing right behind Von Bloot as he casually leaned against the underworlder’s back,
“What the-?” Von Bloot asked in confusion before he turned around and made another attempt to grab Kat, though Kat once again disappeared within a split second and leaned against Von Bloot’s back, this time casually checking his fingernails while still having his dark blue gloves on. Von Bloot growled in frustration as he proceeded to move as quickly as he could to try and hit Kat, essentially playing a losing game of whack-a-mole with the hybrid. After a minute, Kat retaliated by landing a fast-moving punch on Von Bloot's cheek, sending the underworlder skidding back. Von Bloot was surprised to see the hybrid throw such an effective punch, though he was even more surprised to see a crack appear on the magical glowing rings around his fists. Von Bloot looked at Kat angrily, though his eyes widened when he saw that Kat was handing large oval shaped purple stones to the frightened Panthro and Chaor,
"Here, take these and break them," Kat instructed,
"Those stones! Those are-!" Von Bloot exclaimed before Kat cut him off,
"Cull stones, yes, trust me, I did a lot in my five minutes absence," Kat replied with a casual smile,
"You brat! Those stones are mine!" Said Von Bloot angrily as he lunged towards Kat, only to be immediately met with Kat appearing before him and putting a hand on his chest, before Von Bloot felt a draining sensation in his body as he steadily slowed down his movements until he was moving at a snail's pace. Von Bloot looked confused and angry, though Kat paid him no mind and turned his attention back to his allies. After a bit of convincing, Panthro and Chaor did as Kat instructed and broke their respective stones, causing a strange energy to flow out of the stones and quickly into their bodies. Panthro was relieved to stop having his frightening hallucinations and to see Kat in front of him,
"Kat!... Thank you, those hallucinations were really getting to me," said Panthro graciously with a smile,
"no problem," Kat replied,
"Though… Something about you seems… Different," Panthro commented,
"It turns out that I have a lot more power within me than I thought, and my determination to help you despite how hopeless our situation seemed has unlocked a bit of that power, I can feel that I still have a considerable amount to unlock, so I decided to call this form- "Act 1: Speed Demon", or just Act 1 if you prefer," Kat explained,
"I see… so you're stronger?" Panthro asked,
"Stronger, faster, and I have a few more tricks up my sleeve, though for now.. you and Chaor are hurt, aren't you?" Kat inquired in concern,
"Yeah, he landed a few attacks on us while we were running around like crazy," Panthro replied, rubbing his shoulder that was still sore from taking a power pulse,
"We can still fight though," Chaor explained as he clenched his fist,
"I'm sure you guys can, but please, leave the rest to me, I'll take that powered up harpy down," Kat assured his two allies,
"What? No way! Von Bloot took my pride when he defeated me, I can't just let you do all the fighting!" Said Chaor in annoyance,
"Then by all means try and help, I'm sure you'll do as much as you've done to him this past hour," Kat replied with a sassy tone, Chaor simply grumbled to himself and walked to a corner of the rooftop to reluctantly give Kat some room for his upcoming fight. Kat turned his attention back to Panthro,.
"If you're sure you can take him on with your current power, then I won't stop you, just try not to do anything reckless" Panthro requested,
"Don't worry, I'll be careful," Kat replied with a thumbs up before he turned his attention back to Von Bloot.

Despite his best efforts, Von Bloot found he couldn't move his body very fast, until Kat pointed at him and shot a beam of white energy from his finger, which caused Von Bloot to rocket towards Kat uncontrollably, though the hybrid effortlessly grabbed the underworlder in mid-air and threw him over the edge of the roof. Kat chuckled and waited for Von Bloot's return as he gestured by looking at his wrist as if a watch was on it, and moments later Von Bloot swiftly flew up into the air and landed behind Kat before promptly attempting to punch him, though Kat quickly sidestepped to avoid Von Bloot's attack, leaving Von Bloot's fist to hit the roof and leave a large crack. Without giving Von Bloot a chance to react, Kat immediately punched Von Bloot in his stomach, causing the underworlder to spit up saliva and start to fly backwards, though Von Bloot mysteriously stopped in the middle of his flight, as if someone had pressed pause on him, and Kat nonchalantly walked towards him as he cracked his knuckles. Kat then hit Von Bloot with a barrage of lightning fast punches as strands of blue lightning came from his body before he snapped his fingers and Von Bloot went flying back, though before Von Bloot got far, Kat got behind Von Bloot and roundhouse kicked him in the back, causing an audible crack. Von Bloot then fell towards the ground face-first with a skid, the rings around his wrists cracking even more. Von Bloot grumbled as he got his face off the ground,
"How?... How can you be so fast?! Fast enough to go to retrieve the cull stones that were miles away in a sanctuary, in a mere five minutes?" Von Bloot asked in frustration
"Upon accessing Act 1, I gain a huge speed boost, my base speed being Mach 10, though that's not the fastest I can go, in this form, I gain the ability to steal speed from moving objects and living beings and add it to my own, or optionally I can put the speed elsewhere, like putting it back where I found it, though I didn't go to the sanctuary with my own speed, let's just say all your guards around the city are moving at a snail's pace right now" Kat explained,
"What a bunch of nonsense.. though what does you being faster have to do with my hold on Zero breaking?" Von Bloot asked,
"Simple, I'm overpowering it, you see, I've fought Zero before, and though I nearly lost, near the end of the fight I gained this strange temporary power boost that helped me pull off a win, at first I wasn't sure what it was, though now I realize that I was getting a taste of Act 1's power… which reminds me, there's one last thing Act 1 can do," Kat stated with a smile,
"And what's that?" Von Bloot asked in disbelief, before a dark vortex quite larger than the ones Kat usually summoned opened behind him, flashes of purple light coming from it. Everyone on the rooftop save for Kat was astounded to see the bigger vortex though before they had very long to look, a familiar pair of red gauntlets flew out of the vortex and immediately fixed themselves to Kat's hands before the vortex dissipated. Kat then got himself in a battle ready pose, showing off Iron Man's gauntlets,
"I can now get weapons that are a bit more iconic than everyone's used to, it is still luck based though," Kat explained with a smile, Von Bloot unleashed a furious growl,
"Fool! I don't care if you can pull out fancy red gauntlets, prepare to die!" Said Von Bloot furiously before he lunged at Kat. Von Bloot attempted to deal a devastating chop to Kat, but Kat caught Von Bloot's attacking hand with one of his own with ease before he drew his other hand back and readied it into a fist,
"Shut up, I'm ending this," said Kat before he punched Von Bloot in his gut as hard as he could, causing the underworlder to spit up blood and fall onto his back. Von Bloot screamed in agony as the glowing rings of energy around his wrists continued cracking at a rapid rate and the underworlder's body glowed with a white energy before the rings completely shattered and Von Bloot quickly returned to his familiar form. Behind Kat was a bright flash of light, which Kat promptly turned his attention to, and saw Zero, resting on her back though floating in midair before she gently descended to rest on the roof, Kat presumed that Von Bloot had stored her in some sort of pocket dimension, though most of his attention was directed towards Zero,
"Zero!" Said Kat as he quickly ran over to her, while Von Bloot simply writhed in pain. Upon approaching Zero, Kat quickly yet gently put a hand on her back and slightly lifted the upper half of her body off the ground. Kat first used his eyes of a thief technique to confirm that it was indeed Zero, then he put an ear to her chest,
"Is she breathing?" Panthro asked as he approached Kat,
"Yeah, and her heart is beating, she's alive…" said Kat in relief,
“Well that’s good, and you broke Von Bloot’s connection to her?” Panthro asked,
“Yep,” Kat replied,
“Then… shouldn’t she be waking up?” Panthro asked, though suddenly Kat and Panthro heard Von Bloot giggling and turned their attention to him,
“What’s so funny?” Panthro asked,
“You fools… I wasn’t the one who made her my power source, Mumm-Ra did it for me, thus Mumm-Ra’s magic that still has influence over her!” Von Bloot explained with delight,
“What?... so, we won’t be able to wake her up?” Panthro asked,
“Nope! Mumm-Ra is safely back at the castle, you can run as fast as you want feline, you’ll never find him, so sorry to say that you came so close to getting your friend back, but in the end it was all for naught!” said Von Bloot with a laugh, though Chaor walked over to him and hit him on the head,
“Shut Up!” said Chaor angrily, knocking Von Bloot out. Panthro turned his attention back to Kat, though to his surprise the hybrid didn’t seem distraught, though rather had a look of determination in his eyes,
“Kat… you have a way to save Zero I take it? This is Mumm-Ra’s magic we’re talking about,” Panthro explained,
“Doesn’t matter, I’ll save her the same way I saved Belle,” Kat explained,
“You’re going to do the glowing eye thing?” Panthro asked,
“Yeah, I’ll try and be quick, just make sure Von Bloot doesn’t try flying off,” Kat instructed,
“You got it, it’s the least I can do partner,” Panthro said with a smile. Kat smiled back before he turned his attention back to Zero who was in his arms, Kat raised Zero’s head a bit and closed his eyes as he pressed his forehead against Zero’s. Then Kat opened his eyes to reveal they were glowing white, before the world around Kat faded to white.

Kat was back on Zero’s station, though he could see locks and chains all around the platform, as a red cloaked figure stood in the middle,
“Who are you?” Kat demanded,
“I believe you’ve heard my name on a number of occasions before hybrid,” said the figure before he turned to face Kat,
“I am Mumm-Ra, the greatest enemy to the thundercats, or at least a reflection of him,” the figure explained,
“So that’s what Mumm-Ra looks like, I gotta say, I was expecting him to be ugly, glad to see he didn’t disappoint,” Kat commented,
“Joke all you want hybrid, I still have a good hold of your friend!” said Mumm-Ra with a grin,
“Not for long!” said Kat before he started running at full speed, blue lightning came from his body as he swiftly went from chain to chain, breaking them with ease, and causing the chains to dissipate upon being broken. In less than ten seconds, Kat had completely cleared all the chains from Zero’s station, before he attempted to punch the reflection of Mumm-Ra, though his fist phased right through the reflection,
“Huh?” said Kat in confusion,
“What are you so confused about? You cleared all the chains from the station, thus my connection to the girl has been broken,” Mumm-Ra explained casually,
“I dunno, I guess I was also expecting to fight you too,” Kat explained,
“In due time hybrid, until then, you can bet the complete Mumm-Ra will be looking forward to it,” said Mumm-Ra with a sinister chuckle before he faded away.

Kat looked around Zero’s station to see that it looked as it should once again, which caused the hybrid to smile,
“You’re back,” said a familiar female voice. Kat turned around to see Zero once again, though in this case it was the reflection of her that was bound to her station of awakening,
“Zero! Are you ok?” Kat asked,
“Yes, after you took down Von Bloot who was siphoning my magic, and rended Mumm-Ra’s hold on me, I feel much better, thank you Kat I knew you would return here to assist me,” said Zero,
“Of course.. Though if it's all the same, I’d like to leave this place and make sure the woken version of you is alright,” Kat explained,
“Of course, though before you leave, please accept this gift, it's a new ability that will help you on your journey," Zero explained before the world around Kat once again faded to white.

Kat opened his eyes to see he stood in front of a building that resembled an inn or a cabin and Kat could see Mercenary bathing in a circular wooden tub that barely covered his waist while he was sitting down,
"I'm already liking this new power," Elster commented in a cheeky tone in Kat's head,
"Quiet you," said Kat in annoyance as he begrudgingly blushed,
"Having a bath, Mercenary?" Kat heard Zero ask. Kat's ears perked up upon hearing Zero's voice, he turned his head to see her standing at the bottom of some stairs, though she wasn't wearing her black robe,
"Yeah," Mercenary replied,
"I'll help with your back," Zero offered as she walked behind Mercenary. Kat decided the view of Mercenary's naked back wouldn't be nearly as scandalous as his front, so he joined the memory Zero behind Mercenary. As Zero scrubbed Mercenary's back, Kat saw her draw some symbols into Mercenary's back, first a small circle, then a small triangle, then a slightly larger circle,
"What are you doing?" Mercenary asked as he looked over his shoulder at Zero,
"What is she doing?" Kat asked himself as he was observing the memory,
“Putting a curse on you,” Zero replied,
“What?” said Kat and Mercenary in unison,
“You’re going to be grateful for me, and unable to go on without me. That’s the curse I’m putting on you. Terrifying isn’t it?” Zero explained with a smile, though Mercenary simply looked away,
“I’d be more scared of fleas” Mercenary replied before the world around Kat once again faded to white.

The next part of the memory was rather disorienting to Kat, through his left eye he saw Mercenary lunging at a man at the edge of a cliff with his large sword ready, and through his right eye he saw Zero face to face with the man named Thirteen whom Zero told him long ago, about as a powerful magic aura flowed around each of them. It was so confusing for Kat to see two memories take place at once, it made the hybrid unsure of where he even was considering both Mercenary and Zero were in different locations. Suddenly Kat saw a glowing blue arrow pass through Mercenary from behind, causing his eyes to widen. The aura around Zero dissipated as blood spurted from her naval as three discs of magical energy of varying sizes came from Mercenary’s midsection before quickly going into his unharmed body. Mercenary hit the man off the cliff as Zero fell forward. Kat was so confused, though it wasn’t long before the world around him faded to white.

Kat was once again facing Zero on her station of awakening,
“What happened during that memory? Mercenary was the one who got hit, but it looked like you took the damage,” Kat commented,
“That is the spell Sacrisagus, a spell meant to transfer the wounds or ailments of one to another, I used it on my Mercenary a while ago, and now I’ll give you the ability to use it as well,” Zero explained before Kat was lifted off the ground somewhat by an invisible force as a feeling of power welled up within him. When Kat’s feet were back on the ground, Kat saw a glowing rainbow colored disc of magical energy appear over his heart,
“You can use this spell on one person at a time, it can’t be broken except from your will, as long as it’s active, whenever the person you put it on would be injured, you’ll instead take the injury for them, it’s a selfless curse, though one that you shouldn’t take lightly, learn- “Sacrisagus!”” Zero explained before the disc at Kat’s heart disappeared,
“That’s it?” Kat asked,
“That’s it, now off you go, I’ll be expecting my grimoire when I wake up,” said Zero with a smile, causing Kat to chuckle,
“It’s good to see you again Zero,” said Kat before the world around him faded to white one more time.

Kat opened his eyes to see that he was once again on the rooftop holding Zero off the ground slightly, upon seeing that Kat’s eyes were no longer glowing Panthro took it as a sign that Kat did what he needed to do,
“Kat, did you break Mumm-Ra’s hold on her?” Panthro asked. Suddenly Zero started to stir in Kat’s arms, causing Kat to smile,
“I dunno, you tell me,” said Kat before Zero’s eyes fluttered open,
“...Kat?” said Zero groggily,
“Hey Zero,” said Kat casually,
“Where am I? Zero asked as she composed herself rather quickly and got out of Kat’s arms, sitting up on her own,
“We’re on the rooftop of Chaor’s castle in the Underworld,” Kat explained,
“The underworld? I didn’t think we were that sinful during our lives,” Zero replied,
“Not that kind of underworld, it’s complicated,” Kat explained. Zero then stood up and dusted herself off, Kat followed her lead and also stood up before Zero got a good look around the rooftop, noticing Panthro,
“Well hey there sleeping beauty,” said Panthro with a smile,
“Panthro, did a battle happen up here?” Zero asked as she looked around, noticing all sorts of battle damage on the roof,
“You could say that yeah, it was a pretty intense battle too,” Panthro explained,
“With the harpy that was sapping my magic I take it?” Zero asked, Panthro moved aside to show her Von Bloot who was slowly starting to regain consciousness. Zero’s attention also turned to Chaor, who loomed over Von Bloot,
“And who are you?” Zero asked,
“I’m Chaor, ruler of the Underworld,” Chaor explained,
“You certainly have the looks for such a title,” Zero commented,
“Thanks,” Chaor replied, choosing to take Zero’s words as a compliment,
“And the harpy at your feet…” said Zero as she glared at Von Bloot, who was steadily trying to get back off the ground,
“That’s Von Bloot, the guy who’s been giving us all trouble,” Chaor explained. Suddenly Von Bloot tried taking to the air, only for Zero to skillfully shoot a magical arrow at him and take off both wings. After Von Bloot landed near the stairs that lead back inside the castle with his feathery wings landing nearby, the underworlder howled in pain as blood spurted out of dark blue stubs on his back that attached to his wings moments ago,
“Let’s see how you enjoy feeling powerless!” said Zero furiously,
“You’re not getting away from this one Von Bloot, it’s over,” said Panthro. Amazingly, Von Bloot still found the strength to get back on his feet, even if he was panting rapidly, though as he did, Zero realized something,
“Wait… where is my Mercenary?” Zero asked as she looked around, causing Panthro’s eyes to widen,
“I-I forgot…” Panthro commented quietly, which caused Von Bloot to start laughing unsteadily,
“Go ahead feline... answer her! Tell her about the horrible fate that came to the tiger man… because you weren’t fast enough!” Von Bloot demanded in delight between pants. Zero turned to Kat in worry in confusion, expecting an answer, though Kat’s face held a neutral expression,
“I can’t…” Kat replied, causing Von Bloot to laugh uncontrollably,
“You can’t what? You can’t admit that you failed to save him? That he died a horrible death because of your incompit-?!” said Von Bloot before he suddenly had a pained expression before he fell onto his face and revealed that some familiar darts were sticking out of his back, and Mercenary revealed himself to be behind the underworlder, though did seem to be in a weakened state as he held his chest and joined the others on the rooftop,
“I can’t… because I didn’t fail,” said Kat with a smile, completing his previous sentence. Everyone but Kat looked at Mercenary with amazement, especially Zero, who ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist,
“Mercenary!” said Zero happily, though Mercenary groaned in pain,
“Easy, my body is still sore from the venom,” Mercenary explained, though he did still put a large hand on Zero’s head,
“You’re still alive and well right?” Mercenary asked,
“Of course,” Zero replied,
“Good, if you died on me, I’d have no way to become a human,” Mercenary commented, Zero crossed her arms and shot an angry look at Mercenary,
“Oh cut the act, you missed me and you know it,” said Zero in annoyance,
“Nope,” said Mercenary dismissively,
“Oh really? So you wouldn’t mind never seeing me again?” Zero asked, after a moment of silence, Mercenary grinned,
“Ok, maybe I missed you a little,” said Mercenary with a vague happiness in his voice, causing Zero to gain a smug look on her face,
“I knew it! You can’t stand being apart from me for so long, my mercenary can be so adorable sometimes,” said Zero, causing Mercenary to sigh,
“Yeah yeah, can you use your magic to make me feel better?” Mercenary requested,
“Like you need to ask,” said Zero with a smile before she got to work using her magic to heal Mercenary’s ailment. Panthro got closer to Kat and the two started to have their own conversation,
“So, during those five minutes.. What all did you do?” Panthro asked,
“Well let’s see, I went all around Underworld city and took the speed from all of Von Bloot’s soldiers, then I went to the Overworld before going to an overworld library to read through a few books to see where the cull stones and the rare plant was located, then I went to both locations and got both, then I went back to the Underworld and back into Underworld City, and I went right back up the castle the way we came, gave Mercenary the plant, and I was about to join you guys on the roof again, but then I thought- “no wait, I should make my entrance look cooler”, so I ran right back outside and using my leg strength I jumped right back onto the roof, and well, you know the rest,” Kat explained with a smile, though Panthro’s eyes were wide,
“You did all that in five minutes?” Panthro asked in disbelief,
“I can move really fast in Act 1,” Kat explained,
“How fast?” Panthro asked,
“From my understanding, my base speed is Mach 10, though from stealing speed I can go much faster than that, though the speed caps at lightspeed,” Kat explained,
“That’s quite a lot of speed and power… also, those gauntlets…” Panthro commented as he held Kat’s hand in his own and admired the red gauntlets on his hands,
“You know who these gauntlets belong to right?” Kat asked,
“Of course I do, Iron Man, he’s an incredibly iconic hero, and he’s really good at building things, though I’m curious, what are you doing with his gauntlets?” Panthro asked,
“This stronger form improves pretty much all my base abilities by a significant margin, including my vortex thing,” Kat explained. Just then a large dark vortex with flashes of purple opened beside Kat and Panthro, and the gauntlets detached themselves from Kat’s hands and flew into the vortex, immediately causing it to vanish,
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the cool weapons I have to be sure to return after I’m done with them, I guess some people are still using them,” Kat explained, causing Panthro to chuckle,
“I should hope so,” Panthro replied. Suddenly Kat grabbed his head in pain, and nearly fell over, though Panthro caught him and held him up,
“Kat! Are you ok buddy?” Panthro asked, Kat’s hair then glowed and the dark blue highlight returned to it,
“I still haven’t gotten used to Act 1 yet, I guess I need to practice staying in that form for now,” Kat explained as he panted and sweat ran down his face. Panthro carefully sat Kat down and petted him on his head,
“Well be careful when you do.. And Kat?” said Panthro,
“Yeah?” Kat replied,
“Thank you, if it wasn’t for you, I don’t think we would’ve been able to take down Von Bloot,” said Panthro happily,
“Don’t mention it, besides I didn’t do it entirely on my own…” said Kat with a smile,
“Nice job Kat,” said Elster within Kat’s mind,
“Thanks Elster, so I take it you’re sticking around?” Kat asked mentally,
“Of course, you awakened me, so I’ll do what I can to guide you as you grow stronger, plus you got plenty of room in here, so I figured you wouldn’t mind hearing my voice every now and then” said Elster within Kat’s mind. Panthro then looked towards the stairway,
“That’s right, the others… I hope they’re ok,” Panthro commented,
“Oh trust me, they’re fine, when I was running through the castle I caught glimpses of their fights, they were all in bad spots, but things were starting to turn around, they’ll meet us up here soon enough,” Kat explained happily,
“Well that’s good,” Panthro commented with a smile,
“Kat…” said Chaor as he approached Kat and Panthro, the two Anthros turned their attention towards the underworlder. A lengthy silence followed Chaor getting Kat’s attention as the Underworlder looked as though he was looking for the words to say, after a frustrated sigh Chaor finally spoke,
“Geez… I’m really no good at these sorts of things… you helped me when I was really injured… and you helped me fight Von Bloot, and I’m… glad, you did those things, even if you didn’t have to, so to show my appreciation, I’d like to do something that I don’t have to do, and offer my assistance to your team” Chaor explained,
“So you want to become an Anthro?” Kat asked,
“Now I didn’t say all that! I’m just saying that if you ever need help that requires an army or someone like me, just give me a call, and I’ll help out if it’s convenient for me…” Chaor explained as Kat could’ve swore he saw a small blush appear on the underworlder’s face,
“You really don’t have to do all that though, a simple “thank you” would be just fine,” Kat replied with a smile,
“Look! It’s hard for me to say things like that, just accept my offer or don’t, I don’t care…” Chaor replied in a flustered tone as he crossed his arms,
“Panthro?” said Kat in an inquirious tone,
“Sure thing Chaor, if we could get your help, that’d be great, I guess we can call you a pseudo Anthro for now,” said Panthro with a smile,
“You’ll call me no such thing!” said Chaor in annoyance as he stomped over to the edge of the roof. Panthro helped Kat back to his feet and they both turned their attention to Von Bloot,
“So Panthro, what do we do with him?” Kat asked,
“You have more of that plant right?” Panthro asked,
“Yeah, I picked a decent amount just in case,” Kat explained,
“In that case I’ll call for Hikari City Police to come here and detain Von Bloot, then you can give him the plant,” Panthro instructed,
“You really want to show him mercy after all that?” Kat asked,
“It’s what it means to be a hero,” Panthro explained,
“Whatever you say partner,” said Kat with a smile. Though just as Panthro was about to get out his communicator, a bright purple light enveloped Von Bloot’s body before it disappeared, causing confusion among the people on the rooftop.

Von Bloot then found himself on top of the castle of the Syndicate, he couldn’t move his body in the slightest, but he could still move his eyes, and standing over him was Mumm-Ra, in his weaker form, though he seemed incredibly unhappy,
“Von Bloot… you said some very interesting things earlier, things like taking down the syndicate and calling me a fool…” Mumm-Ra commented in an unsettling tone, causing Von Bloot’s heartbeat to quicken in panic,
“This is why I dislike showing people mercy, you show them mercy, and they end up walking all over you… well Von Bloot, I’m done showing you mercy, especially since you once again lost the power I gave you, I’m going to enjoy tearing you apart, while you can do nothing but watch,” said Mumm-Ra with a haunting laugh that caused Von Bloot to sweat nervously. Not long after Mumm-Ra laughed, Von Bloot saw him grow much bigger, it would be the last thing the underworlder ever saw.

Back on the rooftop of Chaor’s castle, the people on the castle exchanged confused looks,
“What was that?” Kat asked,
“Mumm-Ra’s magic, I’d know it anywhere,” Panthro commented,
“As would I considering I was under its influence not long ago” Zero explained,
“So what did this Mumm-Ra guy do with Von Bloot?” Chaor asked,
“If I had to guess, I think he pulled him back to his base to deal with him, and if I know Mumm-Ra, I think that’ll be the last time we see Von Bloot,” Panthro explained,
“Good riddance then, that guy was a pain,” Mercenary commented,
“So much for trying to spare him,” Kat commented,
“Can’t win them all I guess,” Panthro replied,
“Don’t worry about it, he was a bad guy, and it’s out of your guy’s hands,” Chaor replied,
“I guess so,” Kat replied,
“So listen, I’m pretty sure that since Von Bloot is down, everyone he boosted, like the guards within the castle and all around the city have also lost their boost, meaning Takinom, Agitos and H’earring are back to normal, so I’m going to head downstairs to check on them while also sending Krekk and Skithia to my dungeon, you lot can stay for a bit longer if you want, though try to leave my castle soon,” Chaor instructed as he headed down the stairs. Panthro turned his attention to Kat,
“Actually Pal, I’m going back down stairs too, gonna make sure all the Anthros are ok, go ahead and say what you need to Zero and Mercenary,” Panthro instructed before he got close to Kat and whispered-
“And don’t forget to give her back her book,” Panthro then followed Chaor down the stairs that lead to the roof. Kat turned his attention to Zero and Mercenary, both of which looked like they were in a much better state, which caused Kat to smile,
“It’s crazy, it feels like we’ve been looking for you for so long, that seeing you in front of me like this, the real you, it’s like I’m dreaming,” said Kat happily,
“I know how you feel, it was unbearable to be imprisoned by the Syndicate, though I never lost hope that you and Mercenary would rescue me,” Zero explained before she pondered for a bit,
“Though it’s frustrating, back in my world I thought I was the most powerful magic user around, that no one could ever beat me, though losing to both you and Dio taught me that there are still levels of power that I haven’t even touched, I need to get stronger!” said Zero with a smile,
“I thought you were already planning on getting stronger to help me from my curse,” Mercenary commented,
“I am, it’s just that those fights have strengthened my resolve, of course I didn’t forget about our promise,” Zero explained,
“Speaking of promises though, here,” said Kat as he pulled out Zero’s grimoire and offered it to her, Zero’s face lit up upon seeing the book in Kat’s hand,
“My My! You’re just taking care of all my problems today, aren’t you?” said Zero as she happily accepted her grimoire back from Kat,
“Thank you Kat, not only did you save me and my Mercenary, but you kept good on your promise to help me find my grimoire,” said Zero happily,
“Yeah, as much as I don’t like to admit it, you did save my life back there,” said Mercenary with a smile,
“Don’t mention it, it’s what heroes do.. Though, what will you guys do now?” Kat asked,
“We should return to our homeworld, so I’m afraid this is where we part ways,” Zero explained,
“Oh, so soon?” Kat asked,
“I think I told you that when we found Zero I was going back to doing my thing,” Mercenary explained,
“Well yeah, you did…” Kat replied trailing off,
“Then what’s with the long face? Don’t tell me you’re gonna miss me, we barely know each other,” said Mercenary with a smile and a shrug, though when he looked back to Kat, he could see that the hybrid legitimately seemed saddened,
“Mercenary.. I think Kat really will miss you, what did you two do while I was away?” Zero asked,
“I mean, not that much… we did a few missions together, he invited me to his mom’s house-” said Mercenary before Kat cut him off,
“You saved me…” Kat explained,
“Huh?” said Mercenary in confusion,
“Don’t you remember? You saved me, if it wasn’t for you, I would’ve gotten hit by those darts…” Kat explained,
“I uh… I guess that’s true, though that was mainly because I was the one who set off the trap, and I didn’t want you to get hurt because of my mistake, though you saved me by giving me the plant, so we’re all even,” said Mercenary with a smile. After an awkward silence, Mercenary sighed and walked over to Kat, placing a large hand on Kat’s head,
“Ok… I guess I’ve grown to like you a little bit, I am going to kinda miss you,” Mercenary explained, which caused Kat to look a little happier,
“Well y’know, if you ever find that you’re unhappy with being a mercenary, we’d be more than happy to have you on the Anthros as a full member,” said Kat happily,
“Like I’d let you take my Mercenary from me,” said Zero with a smile and her arms crossed,
“Well who said you can’t join us too?” Kat asked, causing Zero to tilt her head,
“Huh?” said Zero in confusion,
“You said that your magic has the power to change the world, right? Well if you put your mind to it, you can use it to change it for the better, we could use someone as strong as you on the team Zero,” said Kat with a smile. Zero pondered for a bit before speaking up,
“Well maybe, though I’ll have to think about it, the first female Anthro has a nice ring to it,” said Zero with a smile,
“And I guess I can think about it too, though Kat, what was that thing you called me earlier?” Mercenary asked,
“What thing?” Kat asked,
“It was like, Yoohoo or something like that,” Mercenary explained,
“Oh you mean Yohei, it’s the japanese word for Mercenary, I thought it sounded cool after I learned it,” Kat explained. After a bit of silence, Mercenary spoke up again,
“It does sound like a good name, alright, you can call me Yohei,” said Mercenary,
“Can I call you Yohei?” Zero asked,
“Even if I said no you’d still call me Yohei, so whatever,” said Mercenary with a sigh. Mercenary then turned his attention back to Zero,
“So you about ready to go?” Mercenary asked,
“Not yet silly, we still need to make a deal with Kat,” Zero explained,
“Another deal? But I just made good on our last deal,” Kat replied as Zero walked closer,
“This deal is simple, you don’t even have to do anything, just keep doing what you do, and Mercenary and I will make an effort to see you and your team every now and then,” Zero proposed,
“Oh, well that sounds alright, though I don’t see why that has to be in the form of a deal,” Mercenary commented,
“Because Kat is very serious about promises, so I think we should make this agreement the way Mercenaries do,” Zero proposed,
“Ah I see,” Mercenary replied,
“And how is that?” Kat asked,
“Kat, bite your thumb to draw a bit of blood out,” Mercenary instructed. Kat did as he was told and bit into his thumb with his fangs, drawing a bit of blood from it, Zero and Mercenary did the same, then held their thumbs towards Kat. The hybrid was confused at first, but ended up pressing his thumb together with both Zero and Mercenary simultaneously,
“Oh I think I understand now, like a blood pact,” said Kat before the three of them withdrew their hands,
“That’s the way Mercenaries like myself do it,” Mercenary explained,
“Indeed, in fact, when I first met Mercenary, we also made a blood pact, the deal was he would become my bodyguard and I would turn him into a human,” Zero explained,
“Wow, you two must be pretty close then,” Kat commented, though Mercenary shrugged,
“Meh, I can tolerate her by now,” said Mercenary before he picked up Zero and placed her on his large shoulder,
“Farewell Kat, may our paths cross again,” said Zero before she promptly used her magic which enveloped her and Mercenary within a bright flash of light, which they disappeared from without a trace, Kat presumed that she used her magic to teleport.

Kat took the starway back down into the castle, though when he reached the bottom, he heard someone call out to him,
“Kat!”, the hybrid recognized the voice as Doggie’s and looked towards the end of the corridor to see most of the Anthros, bruised and battered, but alive and smiling, even Jon. Among the group of familiar faces, Kat also saw a creature that vaguely resembled Leomon, though his hair was spikier and more orange, he wore white armor, and he had turbines on his arms and legs, and also Bruiser, though that was no surprise to Kat considering he had knowledge of what he did earlier. Winston and Sulley immediately rushed over to him and wrapped him in a hug, while Doggie approached him and pet him on his head,
“Kat! Panthro told us about everything, congrats buddy,” said Doggie happily,
“We knew you were strong, but the way Panthro described the fight, it was like you were hero of legend, I bet you could even give some of the paragons a run for their money with that new power!” said Sulley, causing Kat to blush,
“Kat, thank you, if you didn’t leave Bruiser’s ball in the same room I was fighting Takinom in, I don’t think I’d live to do another mission,” Winston explained,
“I didn’t even know you did that,” Panthro commented,
“He’s one amazing cat,” Winston commented,
“He sure is,” Kat replied, Bruiser blushed and chuffed from all the praise,
“Nice job Kat, you actually took down a member of the syndicate, I guess there’s some benefit to having you around,” said Jon with his arms crossed,
“You’re an amazing cat yourself,” said the armored lion with a smile,
“Hey uh… not to be rude, though who are you?” Kat asked,
“Huh? Kat it’s me, Leomon, I digivolved during our fight with Skithia, when I was buried under all that rubbed, in this form I am Grapleomon,” Leomon explained,
“Oh yeah, so it looks like I wasn’t the only one who unlocked a stronger form during that last fight,” Kat commented,
“Indeed, though like you, I won’t be able to sustain this form for much longer, since I’m not really used to being an Ultimate level digimon,” Leomon explained,
“I’m glad this mission ended with none of us getting killed,” Adam commented,
“Me too… but wait! Where’s Kuriboh?” Kat asked as he looked around,
“Oh don’t worry, I have him right here,” Winston explained as he pulled out Kuriboh’s card and handed it to Kat,
“He won his fight against H’earring, but he ended up expending all his energy and he reverted to his card form, he’ll be ok, he just needs to recharge,” Winston explained,
“Well that’s good…” said Kat in a relieved tone as he took Kuriboh’s card and put it in his pocket. After a bit, Winston and Sulley broke their hug on Kat and Doggie ceased his petting as everyone turned their attention back to Panthro,
“Kat, it’s great that you unlocked a great deal of power within yourself and took down one of the members of the syndicate, though with doing this, we have big expectations for you, I just hope you can live up to them,” Panthro explained,
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you guys down” said Kat confidently. Thus the Anthros of Justice went home, with new levels of power unlocked in some of them, an ally lost with Mercenary returning to his homeworld, but an ally gained with Kat’s mysterious ancestor Elster suddenly making an appearance, the powerful witch Zero finally being free from the Syndicate, and one of the members of the Syndicate being defeated for good, it was time for them to get a bit of well-deserved rest, but it wouldn’t be long before these adventurous anthros would be back to their hero work. Although, it wasn’t quite the end of the first part of the Anthro’s story

End of Chapter 20
Almost end of Season 1
Season 1 Epilogue Chapter coming soon!