Snoelle stared out the window of the observatory in New Cat’s Lair, filled with dread. She knew she should be happy she had been found and freed, but something within her wouldn’t let her be. There was a terrible feeling inside her, a premonition of danger and destruction. It was vague though, warning her only of some impending doom but with no details. That made it all the worse.

"Snoelle, are you all right?" Panthro asked as he joined her side and noticed the somber expression on her face.

"I don’t know," she replied. "I just have this feeling that something terrible is about to happen. I don’t know what, only that I’m involved. All of the Thundercats are, but I somehow know I play a key role in it. What scares me is that I don’t know what that role is or if I’m making matters better or worse by staying here." She leaned against Panthro, who took her into his arms to comfort her.

"I can’t imagine that you’d make it worse," he said sincerely.

"I hope you’re right."

A call came through on the intercom, interrupting them. "All Thundercats come to the council chamber immediately! This is an emergency!" Tygra’s voice boomed over the mechanical device.

Panthro blinked in surprise. "I wonder what that’s all about. Come on Snoelle, we’d see what’s going on!" She nodded in agreement and the two of them hastened to the council chamber.

Lion-O paced nervously on the floor of the council room, where Lion-O, Cheetara, Tygra, and Bengali were already gathered. "I can’t believe this. After all this time, to be suddenly attacked by the Lunatacs and Mutants? It doesn’t make sense!"

"Rowr, well, no one has attacked yet. Maybe we’ll luck out." Bengali offered. As he finished speaking, Pumyra, Panthro, and Snoelle entered the room.

"I think that’s all of us," Cheetara said, counting heads. Lynx-O was not present because he was still on Third Earth, she remembered, and WilyKit had gone out to search for WilyKat after Chet had said something about him being in the "bad place". She was a bit concerned that WilyKit hadn’t come back or reported in yet, but she knew she would call if she needed help.

"Where is WilyKit?" Tygra asked, glancing at the empty seats. "And WilyKat, wasn’t he supposed to be back by now?"

"WilyKat hasn’t arrived yet. Kit was with me earlier when Chet said something about having seen him in a pyramid and mentioned Mumm-Ra. Kit went to the pyramid just to make sure everything was as it should be and that Kat wasn’t there. My sixth sense couldn’t locate him, and Kit felt she had to check, even though Chet was probably just talking nonsense, like many toddlers do," Cheetara explained.

"Chet mentioned Mumm-Ra?" Pumyra asked incredulously.

Suddenly Cheetara felt an odd sensation of fear as she thought about her little boy. Pumyra noticed the sudden look. "Cheetara?"

"I—I just had the strangest feeling… Where is Chet? I just had this terrible feeling that he’s in grave danger, and so are the twins!"

"But I just saw you checking on him during his nap, right before this meeting," Bengali said. "Rowr, you seemed preoccupied, so I didn’t say anything, but I know I saw you when I passed by the room."

Cheetara gulped as a terrible realization hit her. "Bengali—I didn’t—that wasn’t me," she breathed, as her stomach tied itself in knots.

"What do you mean?" Lion-O questioned.

"I’ve been in the control room almost all day, until Lion-O came to me and Tygra to call this meeting. I haven’t seen or been near Chet since Snarf put him down for his nap."

"But I’m sure I saw you!" a puzzled Bengali insisted.

Tygra shook his head. "No, she didn’t leave the control room." A worried look filled his amber eyes. "Uh oh... you don’t suppose that was some sort of illusion? Someone disguised to look like Cheetara in the Lair?"

"Lords of Thundera! I have to find Chet!" Cheetara raced out of the room.

Lion-O slammed his fist onto the table. "Oh no, no! Not my son! Damn!" He looked up and met the concerned eyes of the others. "Since Cheetara already knows this I’ll tell you all now—I called this meeting because I just was told by Jaga to expect an attack at any time now from Ratar-O of Plundarr and his Mutants, as well as a Prince Silvian of the Moons of Plundarr—the holder of the MoonSaber."

"No! It can’t be!" Snoelle exclaimed in horror.

"It’s been found?" Panthro asked.

"Apparently. This Prince Silvian is determined to use its power to take possession and rulership of Thundera under the Lunatac government. And Ratar-O’s attacking us to do the same damn thing! We’re going to have to fend off two attacks at once."

Cheetara ran back into the room, panic-stricken. "Chet’s gone! I’ve been over the whole Lair and I can’t find him anywhere! I’ve asked Pumari, Snarf, and Snarfer, and none of them have seen him! Someone’s abducted him... someone disguised as me, from what Bengali said!"

"But no one could have entered the lair without us knowing," Tygra argued. "We have heat sensors and alarms on all our doors and windows, and security cameras on the main entrances. No strangers entered the lair today, I’m sure of it."

"I installed that security system myself," Panthro agreed. "No living being could get in here without us knowing."

"Maybe it wasn’t living. Maybe it was ever-living," Pumyra suggested quietly.

"Mumm-Ra?" Bengali growled. "But he’s dead!"

"We’ve thought that and been wrong before," Lion-O stated.

Hot tears filled Cheetara’s eyes as she imagined the sort of terror her cub was experiencing if he was in the hands of Mumm-Ra. "What’s the matter with me? I should have listened to Chet! WilyKit and I both thought it was odd when he mentioned the pyramid and Mumm-Ra. I should have known that he knew something, especially when he mentioned Torlei, who we haven’t even given a second thought to in years."

"Torlei?" Pumyra exclaimed. "Chet mentioned the bride?"

"The one who took a dive into a volcano?" Panthro asked incredulously. "But we all saw her fall. There’s no way could she have lived through that!"

"And we saw Alluro looking for her after she fell. He left without her, and I don’t think he wouldn’t have left her there if she’d survived." Lion-O argued.

"But if she was as ‘ever-living’ as Mumm-Ra, it’s possible she could have climbed out after we all left," Tygra reasoned reluctantly.

"Then why didn’t she show up in any of our battles with Mumm-Ra after that?" Pumyra questioned. "I don’t think she was at home cooking him dinner and having his ever-living kids!"

The discussion came to an abrupt halt when Snarfer’s voice sounded the intercom and a loud alarm rang throughout the Lair. "A huge ship just landed outside the Lair, snarfer, snarfer. It has a crescent moon on the side of it and looks real bad, yup, sure does, snarfer, snarfer. You all better come quick!"

Fighting back a feeling of dread, Lion-O steadied his nerves. "Jaga was right. This is the battle we’ve been waiting for. We must defend ourselves."

"But Lion-O, what about Chet?" Cheetara insisted. "What about our missing cub? And WilyKit and WilyKat? If Mumm-Ra captured Chet, he must have been the one responsible for WilyKat’s disappearance and likely the reason WilyKit hasn’t reported back! They might need our help!"

"It kills me to say this, but we have no choice but to wait. I am sworn by duty to defend all of Thundera, and under all circumstances I must do that first… even if I must wait to find my own son," he said gravely. The decision was killing him, but he knew it was the only choice he could make.

Tygra laid a sympathetic hand on Cheetara’s shoulder. "Lion-O’s right. If we lose Thundera from a Lunatac invasion, then we’ll lose Chet anyway. Lunatacs only spare their enemies only to use them as slaves, and history has shown that they tend to assassinate all enemy leaders and their families. If we lost because we were looking for Chet, they would kill Lion-O, you, Chet, and the rest of us, and then enslave all the free Thunderian citizens. We must make sure that never happens."

Cheetara closed her teary eyes and nodded. "I—I know," she whispered. Forgive me, Chet, she called out mentally. It was no comfort when she felt nothing in return. It either meant he was beyond her reach or already gone. Either thought was too much to bear, so she steeled her mind to focus on the upcoming fight.

Snoelle stood and nodded dutifully. "This is it, then. The destined battle. The reason I was brought back. I have to complete my mission and help save Thundera."

Lion-O nodded. "Let’s go," he said with authority, and raised the Sword of Omens. "Thundercats—HO!"

"Thundercats—HO!" the others echoed, raising their hands to join the cheer before they left to take up their weapons and greet the enemy ship.

In the second royal Lunar craft, Selene sat in her seat wringing her hands. "Oh Aunt Luna, how could I have let this happen? If Silvian attacks the Thundercats, they’ll kill him, and I’ll lose my brother forever," she said tearfully. "And Frostor too—he’s been so much like family all these years. I can’t live with myself if I’ve let them all go to their doom."

"You didn’t know," Luna replied. "And I wouldn’t worry about it until we get there. I’m sure your brother can take care of himself."

"But Psiarik said he saw it all happen, that he saw Silvian dead! He said he saw me dead. Good gods, what if none of us come back?"

"We’ve lived through a lot worse than a little swordfight, your highness," RedEye said.

"Besides, whoever said Psiarik was psychic anyway? Alluro never had any precognitive powers as far as I know. Powers are hereditary among our kind," Luna offered in an attempt to calm the nervous Selene down.

Selene was not convinced. "His mother was a seer, I think. I remember he told me once that she was born to a mother who was an extraordinarily powerful clairvoyant, and a father who was rather proficient at mind control. I believe she inherited both those traits but to a lesser degree. It stands to reason that Psiarik inherited a bit of that from her in turn."

A terrible notion suddenly occurred to the Lunar Queen. "Aunt Luna," she started, even more worried now that she’d thought it, "you don’t think Psiarik will disobey my royal order and try to come here, do you? The gods only know what would happen to the kingdom if we lost all our rulers, and I don’t think live I could bear it if he died trying to save us if we are all doomed anyway. You don’t think he’d do that, do you Aunt Luna?"

Luna inhaled sharply and tried to think of a tactful way to answer her. To be honest, she figured that the psychic was probably on a ship right behind them at that very moment. She’d seen in that exchange in the Tower how insistent he was about the matter, and she knew if he was anything like his father, he probably didn’t listen to orders very well. Still, Selene was already upset enough, and her theories would do no good when she couldn’t prove them one way or another. It struck Luna as odd for a moment that she would care at all about Selene’s feelings. When had been the last time she’d cared about any but her own? Certainly it had been years, probably since her teen years or even her childhood...

"Aunt Luna?" Selene prodded her, watching her intently for an answer.

"Well… I think Psiarik will do what’s best," the Lunar woman replied. It was a vague answer, not an outright lie, but hopefully enough to soothe Selene.

It worked. Selene relaxed somewhat and leaned back in her seat. "I hope so."

Over at the navigations panel, RedEye turned around. "Thundera’s not too far now. With any luck we’ll be there soon."

"I just hope we’re not too late," Selene said, and watched the glowing orb of New Thundera come closer into view.

Still trapped helplessly in the heart of the black pyramid, WilyKit and WilyKat hung in their shackles. Chet lay nearby, locked in his own chains, crying uncontrollably. The twins had done their best to try and console the cub, but since he was across the room they could not reach him, only speak to him. Even their words were beginning to sound empty as the hopelessness of their situation began to sink in and they realized that this time, they might just lose to Mumm-Ra, and lose their lives as well as their entire world in the process.

Through a river of tears, Chet closed his eyes in an effort to shut out the scary place. Help, his young mind cried out. Trapped! Going to die! Don’t want to die! Help us! Save us! That silent mental cry of distress, a psychic S.O.S., was projected from his mind to anyone whose own mind was psychically receptive enough to hear it. Since his mother had now shut out her own defenses and was forcing herself to focus on the enemy ship to be dealt with, there was only one other individual with the empathic ability to sense and understand it that was also close enough to hear it. It was an individual who was on a ship bound for New Thundera that would soon pass directly over the black pyramid. That individual was Psiarik.

Alluro, Psiarik, and Vultureman were all standing impatiently at the control console of the ship trying to locate the exact spot where they expected Silvian was fighting the Thundercats and where Selene would go to try and stop them. Suddenly a loud and heartbreaking cry for help echoed through Psiarik’s head, catching him so off-guard that he fell forward against the control panel.

"What’s the matter?" Alluro asked.

Psiarik tried to focus and find out who or what was assaulting his senses like this. Help, someone needed help. That much was clear. It was a child, too. He knew it was a child, and a very young one at that… and the poor thing was trapped in a place of incomprehensible evil. Somehow, in a way he didn’t quite understand, he knew it was someone who was also connected to the conflict of the swords. The Psi man took a deep breath and regained his composure. When he looked up, he saw both Alluro and Vultureman staring back at him. "We have to land here now," he said with quiet authority. "There’s someone in danger down there and we have to save him."

"Silvian?" Vultureman asked.

"No, it’s a child. A very young child. Land now, right below here."

"Caww, but the others aren’t on this part of Thundera. If we land now we could lose valuable time in getting to the others," Vultureman argued.

"I don’t care, land NOW!" Psiarik snapped at the Mutant.

"To save someone you don’t even know? Likely just some useless Thunderian?" Alluro questioned with disbelief.

"You don’t understand," Psiarik insisted. "He needs us to help him. He’s only a little boy, barely old enough to talk. He’s terrified—trapped in some dark place of intense evil. I think it’s the same evil that’s behind all of this. I don’t know why, but I do know that if we don’t get to him in time it means disaster for all of us. Just trust me, and land the ship."

Alluro frowned, but decided not to argue the matter further. If Psiarik was at all psychic, and his dreams indicated that he was, then he figured it was probably best to not fight him on it, no matter how foolish it seemed. "All right, if it’s what you really think we should do."

"Yes. Do it."

Vultureman wasn’t as understanding. "Look, if we waste time chasing after some brat, we’re not going to make it to the others in time," he ranted. "To put it bluntly, caww, this ship is a hunk of junk, and if we land suddenly on some wild goose chase we risk not being able to get it up again if the engines overheat. If you think I’m going to listen to your crazy ideas—"

Psiarik growled in frustration and grabbed Vultureman by the throat. Given his tall stature and more muscular build, he easily could overpower the bird-Mutant. "I said ‘land the ship’ Vultureman! Don’t you dare defy a royal order!"

Vultureman was unimpressed by the Lunatac’s temper tantrum. "You don’t have the authority to give me orders when we aren’t on your moons!"

"Perhaps not, but you’ll follow them when you’re overpowered and outnumbered, won’t you?" Alluro replied, holding up his psyche club, ready to sedate him with mind-control if necessary.

Vultureman gave up. "All right, fine. We’ll land. But don’t complain to me when we get there and find them all dead."

Psiarik gave him a disgusted look and released him. "Just land the ship."

Alluro hit a few buttons on the control panel. "Landing sequence initiated."

Ratar-O pulled his ship into New Thundera’s airspace and watched the monitor in hungry anticipation. "It won’t be long now before this planet is mine and its people are my slaves."

"And Lion-O will be nothing but a sliced up bloody mess, yesssss?" Slythe laughed.

"Nyah ha ha, I can’t wait to see those Thundercats finally get what’s coming to them. After all these years, we can pay them back for sending us to Way Out Back, interfering with us on Third Earth, and humiliating us time and time again. Now it’s their turn to be humiliated."

"Hoo hoo, and we can also stick it to those worthless Lunatacs who belittled us and forced us to do their dirty work all those years," Monkian added.

"The Mutants of Plundarr will no longer be treated like vermin by these lowly creatures. Soon we are to take our rightful place as masters of those cats and loony moon-dwellers. They will never dare to show anything but awe and submission to the mighty Mutants!" Ratar-O announced with a savage grin, and twirled the mighty Sword of Plundarr in his hands.

The Mutants let out a few more victory cries and began their descent onto the battlefield in front of Cat’s Lair.

Lion-O, Tygra, Cheetara, Bengali, Pumyra, Panthro, and Snoelle gathered outside the Lair as the Lunatacs’ ship landed. They stood in a line, Lion-O in front of them all as their leader, armed with their weapons in a defensive stance.

Only moments after the ship touched down, the main door opened. Silvian stepped out, holding the MoonSaber, with Frostor, Chilla, and TugMug behind him, all also armed and ready to fight.

In the distance, two other beings watched intently as the fight they had waited for was finally about to begin. No one noticed these two shadowy figures, for they were too busy watching each other to see Mumm-Ra and Torlei lurking by the side of Cat’s Lair, grinning in wicked delight as the two groups faced off.

Silvian was first to step forward. "I have come to personally battle the Lord of the Thundercats!" he shouted. "Which of you is he?"

Lion-O took the Sword of Omens out of the Claw Shield and held it in front of him. He gave Silvian a mental evaluation to see how much of a threat he could pose. He was much smaller than Lion-O, but he was also much younger. Lion-O guessed him to be in his early twenties at most. The white-haired Lunatac Prince also had a very powerful looking sword that Lion-O realized must be the MoonSaber in his hands. That alone made him a force to be reckoned with. "I am Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats," he identified himself to the Lunatac. "Who are you and why have you come to fight me, Lunatac?" he demanded.

Silvian arrogantly strode forward. "I am Prince Silvian, royal heir to the throne of the kingdom of the Moons of Plundarr, and I have come to stop you from trying to take that which is rightfully mine, Thundercat," he replied, referring to the MoonSaber, which "Chillandra" had told him they intended to steal.

Lion-O was astonished at the prince’s statement. Jaga had told him that the Prince intended to try and take Thundera for himself, but he couldn’t believe the Prince’s justification for his actions. He thinks Thundera is rightfully his? "Rightfully yours? You Lunatacs don’t know the first thing about what is rightfully yours! ‘Right’ and ‘wrong’ are words that have little meaning to raiders like yourselves!"

"And you self-righteous Thundercats use your oh-so-honorable words to justify any action you see fit, regardless of how it affects everyone else," Frostor snarled back at them.

"How dare you? Who do you think you are?" shouted back an indignant Cheetara.

"I am Frostor, Governor General of the Moons of Plundarr. I enforce the laws and orders given out by the royal commanders, and that includes stopping you overconfident, presumptuous felines from screwing with us," the ice general replied, glaring at the cheetah.

"You’re the one that’s presumptuous, thinking you can come to our planet and do whatever the hell you please!" Panthro growled. "Defend yourself, Lunatac!" With that, Panthro leapt forward and swung at Frostor with his nunchuks.

The second she saw Panthro move, Chilla jumped up and hissed a blast of icy air at him, knocking him off balance and freezing his left arm and leg. "Freeze, Thundercat," she snarled. Chilla prepared to blast him again, but Snoelle sprang forward in a rage when she saw Chilla. In a flash of speed rivaling Cheetara’s, she leapt through the air, tackled Chilla, and began choking her.

That first skirmish stirred them all into action. Silvian charged forward and swung the MoonSaber, now extended to its full length and pulsing with power, at Lion-O. Lion-O countered the blow with the Sword of Omens, now also fully charged with the power of the Eye of Thundera. Frostor opened fire with a weapon attached to his arm that shot a heat ray, a channeling device for the firing power that the ice-born Lunatacs had which multiplied it to be twice as damaging. Tygra swung his bolo whip to fight the ice general in an attempt to disarm the weapon. Unfortunately Frostor could move just as fast as Tygra. Bengali and Cheetara fought off TugMug, who had by now opened fire on the Thundercats with his gravity carbine. Pumyra leaned over the iced Panthro and carefully smashed the crystals off of him with a pellet. When it was clear that Panthro wasn’t hurt, she helped him to his feet and the two rejoined the fight a few moments later.

Snoelle increased the power in her grip on Chilla’s throat. "You miserable ice witch! I can’t believe it! After all these years you still live, and haven’t even aged. What deal did you make with the evil sprits of the Ancients to secure such a gift? Who did you sell your soul to, evil sorceress of the cold?" Snoelle raged.

Chilla struggled beneath her and tried to kick her off. "Let go of me, feline," she whispered hoarsely, taking desperate gasps for air.

"I will avenge myself for what you did to me, Chillandra. You will pay for sealing me in that ice and taking my life from me!" Snoelle howled, digging her claws into the ice woman’s flesh.

Chilla managed to move her foot beneath Snoelle and finally kick the enraged snow cat off of her. Being called Chillandra, after the unpleasant conversation she’d had with Frostor back on the ship, had only fueled her temper more. "You stupid inbred cat," Chilla spat. "I’ve never seen you before in my life, and I am not Chillandra! If you Thundercats had any brains at all you’d know that she disappeared fifty years ago!"

Snoelle paused and narrowed her eyes. The ice-spitting Lunatac did have a point, but still, she looked so much like her old enemy. Snoelle’s supernaturally attuned senses tingled and she realized her error, and figured out the actual identity of her nemesis. "No, you are not Chillandra," she said coldly. "You’re right. She is long gone. But her power lives, and her blood is within you. You have her power, and you must be stopped."

"Just try to stop me," Chilla hissed.

Snoelle roared and took on the challenge.

As the battle continued, Mumm-Ra and Torlei exchanged amused looks with one another. "The fools!" Mumm-Ra laughed. "They’re sealing their own doom and they haven’t got the slightest idea of it yet."

Torlei nodded. "It’s about to get even better. Look darling, here come the Mutants to liven things up." She gestured to the Rat Star, descending on the battlefield nearby.

All of the fighting paused for a moment as the ship landed. The Rat Star’s doors opened, and out stepped Ratar-O, Slythe, Jackalman, and Monkian. The rat leader was holding the Sword of Plundarr, its terrible blades already extended and glowing with its destructive power. He stepped towards Lion-O and Silvian and laughed. "This is my competition? A Thundercat who spends more time doing politics than battle on his ‘peaceful’ world and a Lunatac Prince who is no more than a boy, and a short one at that?"

"I’ll give you short, Mutant!" Silvian snarled, and he charged angrily at Ratar-O with the MoonSaber’s blade drawn and aiming for him. Ratar-O avoided the swipe and swung his own weapon back, missing his opponent. The rat then shot a beam at Lion-O, who deflected it with an instinctive raise of the claw shield. Soon the three of them were fighting viciously, each out for the blood of the other.

"That is the signal we have been waiting for, Mumm-Ra!" Torlei whispered excitedly. "The three swords have clashed against one another in battle. Begin the incantation."

"Heh heh heh, I believe I’ll do just that, my dear." Mumm-Ra lowered his head and began chanting in a forgotten ancient language, a language that was once common to all three worlds and the ancient spirits.

High above, the sky darkened and thunder crashed all around them. The destruction was beginning.