Psiarik couldn’t believe his eyes. He hadn’t gotten to Thundera fast enough to stop the battle. It was just like the dream. He was too late, and the three swords met and clashed. Lightning crashed as the cloaked figure—where was the other one, Psiarik wondered, weren’t there two in all his dreams?—chanted. The swords began to pull together and join, a terrible destructive force melding them together into one terrible blade of annihilation.

"No, stop!" Psiarik shouted, running toward Selene. WilyKit and WilyKat ran with him, calling at the top of their lungs to Lion-O to stop the fight. Alluro and Vultureman weren’t far behind. It was then that the ground shook with a terrible earthquake that reminded Psiarik terribly of the day his family had been swallowed by the chasm. He was knocked to the ground along with his friends and all he felt was a complete helplessness, just like the day the disasters had begun. "Not again!" he shouted.

"Oh yes, again," Torlei’s voice laughed mockingly from behind. "You didn’t really think you could stop it, did you?"

"You!" WilyKat shouted angrily.

"Yes, that little earthquake was my doing. Being immortal and a telekinetic sorceress gives me power beyond anything you can comprehend, Thundercat," the undead Lunatac hissed snidely. She looked over her fallen foes, until she met the eyes of the one of them she detested the most: Alluro. "Well well well. I should have known you’d show up, brother dear. You never were one to miss all the action. Now I can finally repay you for betraying me and siding with Luna… repeatedly," she seethed.

Psiarik looked over horror. "You know her, Dad?"

"Meet your aunt, Psiarik," Alluro growled with more hurt than sarcasm in his tone.

Torlei grinned in a twisted form of amusement and looked from Alluro to Psiarik, then back to Alluro. "‘Dad’ is it now? Oh yes, I should have noticed. He resembles you a great deal. And he isn’t young either, he must have come into the world while we were still on the Third Moon or not long afterward. Which one of your female playthings was the mother, Alluro?"

Torlei studied Psiarik’s features some more and tried to see if she recognized any of the features that had come from his mother. One name came to her. "Lurella, wasn’t it? Yes, I think so. The rich airhead whose bank accounts you were helping yourself to. Now I see how you were able to keep her attentions for so long. I remember her. And," she cackled, "I supposed she remembered you too, even after we were all forced to leave."

"Shut up, you undead bitch," Psiarik growled.

Torlei scowled. "Well Alluro, I must say you haven’t done well with teaching your boy manners. He isn’t terribly respectful."

"Respect is something earned, and you deserve none," Psiarik said coldly.

"Your opinions, dear nephew, are meaningless to me."

"Everything is meaningless to you except your and Mumm-Ra’s destructive and power-hungry lust to rule everything, even if it ruins entire civilizations in the process," WilyKit spat with uncharacteristic venom.

"You’ve already lost, Thundercat," an unimpressed Torlei hissed back. "The swords have met. Mumm-Ra is reciting the Incantation of Destruction as we speak. It is inevitable. Do you hear me? INEVITABLE!"

Snoelle, Tygra, Frostor, and Chilla heard Torlei’s maniacal screaming at once, and for the first time, they noticed the undead presence that had their friends trapped across the field. Chilla and Tygra recognized her immediately.

"‘Inevitable’, isn’t that word part of that prophecy, Frostor?" Chilla questioned the historian.

Frostor nodded. "Yes, ‘only the impossible can stop the inevitable’ to be precise."

"Well according Torlei, the inevitable is happening. So what can stop it? What is the ‘impossible’?" Chilla asked.

"I don’t know," Snoelle said worriedly. "But the swords have met. We haven’t long to figure it out."

The wind began to howl around them all in gusts so fierce they could barely stand, and the sky had become as black as night. Supernatural lightning of all colors crashed around them, and Lion-O, Selene, and Ratar-O were locked in some terrible force together that would destroy them in a matter of minutes.

"I’ve got it!" Tygra exclaimed. "There’s only one thing we can use against the Incantation of Destruction. The Incantation of Peace!"

"Peace? Between all of us, forever?" Chilla hissed in disbelief. "You’re right, Thundercat, that is impossible!"

"Exactly!" exclaimed Frostor. "But we can’t recite it, it has to be invoked by those fighting. The rulers have to be willing to create the peace. And I don’t know if that can happen," he said worriedly, noting the bloodthirsty savagery with which the three leaders fought.

"We have to try and get through to them somehow," Snoelle said determinedly. "Tygra, can you use your mental powers to create a distraction for them? Perhaps then we can get them to stop and listen."

"I can try. I have an idea. I don’t know where he is, but I’m sure Mumm-Ra is behind this if Torlei is here. If I can create an illusion to flush him out of hiding, maybe the three of them will see for themselves how they’ve been tricked, and cause them to invoke the Incantation of Peace to stop him," Tygra suggested.

"It’s worth a try," Frostor agreed.

"I don’t believe we’re considering peace with them," Chilla grumbled.

"As Selene so wisely put it back when we first found the MoonSaber, ‘it’s better than the alternative—dying together,’" Frostor told her.

Chilla sighed. "I know. You’re right. But I still hate it."

"That I’m right or that we’ll be at peace forever if this works?"

"Both," Chilla answered with a half-smile.

Tygra closed his eyes and focused his mind. He created a huge holographic image of Mumm-Ra to form and hover above Lion-O, Selene, and Ratar-O.

"Fools!" the fake Mumm-Ra’s voice boomed. "Now you die and leave your miserable worlds to the power of Mumm-Ra!"

Across the field, Torlei looked up in fury. "Shut up!" she howled. "What are you doing, you overconfident, arrogant idiot?" In a flash she was at the fake Mumm-Ra’s side.

The real Mumm-Ra’s ego was deeply offended at Tygra’s facsimile. While Torlei attempted to confront the fake Mumm-Ra, the real one also appeared next to the illusion. "Who dares to imitate the mighty Mumm-Ra?" he bellowed in fury.

As soon as the real Mumm-Ra materialized, Tygra removed his illusion and it vanished altogether. Mumm-Ra and Torlei were left exposed in the center of the battlefield, snarling in outrage.

Lion-O, Selene, and Ratar-O all stopped their fighting momentarily and saw the two undead evil beings there.

"Mumm-Ra!" Lion-O gasped. "I should have known you were behind this!"

"Yes, Lion-O. Too bad you figured it out too late. I have finished the Incantation of Destruction. You will all be obliterated in a matter of minutes."

"No!" Ratar-O shouted in fury. "You promised me victory!"

Mumm-Ra only laughed. "I lied, Ratar-O. The only victory here will be mine."

"We’ll see about that!" Lion-O growled, and with all his strength, yanked the Sword of Omens from the hold of the other two swords. All three of them fell backwards as their swords disentangled from one another and back into their hands.

"It’s too late, Thundercat," Torlei informed him. "The incantation is complete. Tearing your swords apart will change nothing. You will all be destroyed in a matter of moments."

There were loud explosions in the background and the ground began to quake again.

In the distance Lion-O heard yelling. He turned and saw Tygra, shouting to him with Snoelle. Chilla and the Lunatac Governor General man were calling with them, trying to tell them something. The word "peace" was all he could make out from the distant shouting over the roaring rumbles of thunder and the explosions in the distance.

Suddenly there was a blue flash of light, and Jaga’s image, the real Jaga this time, appeared in front of him. "Peace, Lion-O. The Incantation of Peace. You must begin it now, or all will be lost." Jaga said quickly, and vanished.

Lion-O held the Sword of Omens up high.

Mumm-Ra looked at him in astonishment. "You think you can defeat me when you are about to be destroyed yourself? What do you think you can possibly do against me that will make any difference, you foolish, arrogant mortal?"

"The one thing you fear, Mumm-Ra." Lion-O raised his head and held the Sword of Omens against the raging skies above. "I, Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats, rightful holder of the Sword of Omens, hereby use the power in the Eye of Thundera to invoke the Incantation of Peace, that our worlds might never be at odds and live in peace and prosperity for all time!" he shouted with authority.

A red lightning bolt shot from the heavens and encircled the Sword of Omens, raising it high into the air and filling it with power.

"Your Incantation of Peace will do nothing. Your enemies hate you. They would sooner die than be at peace with you," Torlei hissed.

Selene’s head swam as she tried to take in all that was happening. She saw Mumm-Ra in front of her. He was evil, of that much she was certain. She knew he had done horrible things to her Aunt Luna and her allies on Third Earth, and just now he had tricked them all into killing one another. Yes, she hated Lion-O too, for killing Silvian and for his crimes against Luna, but she knew Mumm-Ra was by far the worse of the two… and for some reason, she couldn’t accept that Lion-O was completely bad. Mumm-Ra, on the other hand, was. That was enough justification for her.

"Wrong, Mumm-Ra," Selene said, holding the MoonSaber as Lion-O had done. "Peace and forgiveness is always better than death and mindless destruction. There has been enough pain and suffering already, and I will not be a party to any more of it. I, Selene, Queen of the Kingdom of the Moons of Plundarr, rightful holder of the MoonSaber, hereby use the power within the Moonstone to invoke the Incantation of Peace, that our worlds might never be at odds and live in peace and prosperity for all time!" she cried loudly. A blue flash of lightning hit the MoonSaber and it floated next to the Sword of Omens.

Both Lion-O and Selene turned to Ratar-O expectantly.

"Selene may join you, Lion-O, but Ratar-O never will! Without him, your heroics mean nothing," Mumm-Ra asserted, though now he sounded more sure of himself than he actually was.

Ratar-O let out a dark laugh. "And ally myself with you, Mumm-Ra? Allow you to win and destroy me? You who lied to me and used me for your own purposes? I don’t think so. An alliance with these two, as revolting as it is to me, is the perfect punishment to get even with you, you worthless bag of bones! Nobody makes a fool out of the mighty Ratar-O and lives to tell about it!"

Ratar-O then raised the Sword of Plundarr as the other two had done. "I, Ratar-O, Mutant Warrior King of Plundarr, rightful holder of the Sword of Plundarr, hereby use the power within the mighty blades to invoke the Incantation of Peace, that our worlds might never be at odds and live in peace and prosperity for all time!" he shouted. The rat leader had nearly choked getting it out, but he knew it had to be done. Contrary to popular belief, Mutants weren’t stupid. There was no sense in dying when there was a way, any way at all, to live, even if there were conditions.

The Sword of Plundarr was struck with a yellow bolt of lightning, and filled with power.

"No!" an agonized Mumm-Ra and Torlei both shouted in vain protest.

"Yes," a smug WilyKat said as he got to his feet. Along with the other individuals of all sides in alignments, who had long since stopped their own fighting to watch the leaders, went and surrounded Lion-O, Selene, and Ratar-O in a show of united support against the undead pair.

Once Ratar-O’s invocation was complete, the three swords flew upward and met in the sky. They fused, and a new sword, one that was a combination of all three together, formed in the heavens above.

"The Mighty Sword," Frostor breathed in wonder. "I thought it was just a legend!"

"Legends have a way of becoming reality. Trust me, I know that firsthand," Snoelle said quietly, awestruck as they all watched the Mighty Sword take it’s brilliant form.

As soon as it was forged, an unseen force made it glow with incredible power and slice a cosmic rip into the heavens themselves. A beautiful and brilliant light shined through the dimensional rift. The Mighty Sword then took aim at Mumm-Ra and Torlei and shot a beam of pure white light at the two wicked beings. They both screamed in agony as the energy hit them and forced them through the cosmic tear, banishing the undead dark sorcerers into another realm entirely.

As soon as the ever-living couple was through the portal, it sealed up again as if it had never existed to begin with. The Mighty Sword flashed a blinding light of every color in the spectrum before it exploded into its three counterparts, and each sword fell at the feet of its rightful owner. The ground stopped its quaking, the terrible wind died, and the stormy skies cleared. A beautiful starry cosmos filled the sky above them all, and a welcome peace settled over the entire group.

"It’s over," Lion-O breathed in relief. "It’s finally over."

"And we’re at peace," Selene added softly.

"Like it or not," Ratar-O added. For some reason, there was no longer any malice in his voice. He had lost the desire or energy to hate those he had, just minutes ago, been ready to kill. He only wanted to go home.

Lion-O turned to Selene. "I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am about your brother."

"I know," she replied. "I realize now that you weren’t the one who was evil. If there is anyone to truly blame for Silvian’s death, it’s Mumm-Ra, not you, and on Mumm-Ra, I have already avenged my brother. I no longer bear you any ill will."

Psiarik, who had gone back to his ship to retrieve Chet, returned and handed the child to Lion-O. "I believe this cub belongs to you."

"Chet!" Lion-O exclaimed, pulling the boy into his arms to give him a big hug.

"You found him!" Cheetara said, also beaming with joy. As soon as Lion-O had the cub, she leaned over and kissed his cheek affectionately.

Selene saw her husband there and smiled despite herself. "Psiarik! I told you stay at the Tower! You defied my royal order," she berated him. However she was clearly not as angry as her words would have him believe, for the first thing she did was run over and give him a hug.

"Well, the kid needed my help," he replied with a grin. "Besides, since when do I listen to anybody? And anyway, someone," he shot a knowing smile at Alluro, "told me that women like to be rescued because it feeds their egos. I thought you needed a little ego boost."

Selene hugged him tightly. "You jerk. How dare you be right!"

"I am sorry about Silvian," he whispered in a more serious tone. "You know that although we didn’t always get along, I still considered him like a brother."

"I know," she replied, and held him closer. He returned the embrace, thankful that he hadn’t lost her as he had been so afraid he would.

Meanwhile Cheetara was still fawning over Chet. "Oh honey, I was so worried about you," she gushed as she squeezed him. Snarf, Snarfer, and Pumari, who had been waiting anxiously in the Lair during the battle, all came outside and joined them. Snarf gave little Chet a hug himself and fussed over him.

"This is one of those ‘mushy’ moments that Chet will look on with complete embarrassment in a few years," WilyKat remarked with a grin.

Alluro silently watched the scene and wondered what his own son had looked like when he was that age. Part of him regretted not having been there to see it.

"Hey, what’s with you?" WilyKit asked Alluro, noticing his expression. "We just won, you know."

Alluro came back to reality. "I know," he said with a nod. "I was just thinking."

"Well don’t strain yourself," Luna quipped as she rode Amok over to have a word with Alluro.

"And to think things were going well," the hypnotist sighed with a roll of his eyes.

If Luna heard his remark, she ignored it. "Do you see that?" she asked, pointing to Selene and Psiarik, who were now engaging in a rather expressive public display of affection. "Look at how your son is making Selene make an utter fool of herself!"

Frostor joined his fellow Lunatacs and smirked. "I think our dear Luna is just jealous because no one’s giving her a celebratory kiss."

Luna whirled in her seat and saw that not only Frostor had come over, but Chilla, TugMug, and RedEye had as well. The tiny Lunatac shot him a dirty look, but all Frostor did in response was lean over and kiss her, taking her completely by surprise. When he straightened again, Luna stared back in utter shock, but blushed despite herself.

Frostor laughed. "Yes, think about that, my dear."

The rest of the Lunatacs, as well as Psiarik and Selene, who had just joined them, took note of the expression on her face and burst out laughing.

"Oh Aunt Luna, the expression on your face is priceless!" Selene said between breaths.

"Shut up," Luna protested heatedly. Unfortunately it only made the others laugh harder.

"I think Luna has a thing for Frostor..." Alluro teased, clearly enjoying the ability to needle Luna.

"I do not," Luna insisted vehemently. "And besides, even if I did, I’d have only been in denial about the matter for a short time, unlike certain other parties I could mention who have been hot for each other for years and haven’t done anything about it," she shot back, giving both Alluro and Chilla pointed glances.

TugMug caught on instantly and snickered. "Gee, I wonder who they’re talking about," he said with a sneer.

Psiarik grinned at Alluro. "Hey, go for it, Dad."

Alluro glanced at Chilla, who was trying to remain nonchalant as the others made the two of them the focus of their banter. Chilla felt Alluro’s eyes on her and looked over at him briefly. When their eyes met, and Alluro didn’t see any threat in them, it was all the invitation he needed. The hypnotist drew her close and kissed her. To her surprise, Chilla didn’t shove him away, and in fact, she found herself returning the kiss rather energetically.

The celebration was beginning.

From where she stood several feet away, Pumyra laughed. "Hey, check that out. The Lunatacs are all getting affectionate over there! Who ever thought we’d live to see that happen?"

"I don’t know, but I can agree with their sentiment though," Bengali said with a grin, and kissed Pumyra.

"Ewww," muttered Pumari. Watching her parents make out wasn’t anything she wanted to watch for too long. She considered such mushy stuff quite gross.

WilyKat couldn’t resist the urge to tease the child a little. "Hey Pumari, someday a guy will want to kiss you like that too."

"No way!" she exclaimed, clearly disgusted.

"Oh yes," WilyKit said, joining in with a mischievous smile. "And I’m sure you’ll want him to."

"Nuh-unh!" she said with a vehement shake of her head.

Lion-O, holding Chet in one arm with his other around Cheetara, chuckled lightly. "Hey now, let’s not pick on Pumari. By the way, WilyKat, it’s about time you showed up. Where were you all this time?"

"It turned out Chet was psychic after all, Lion-O," WilyKit explained. "When I went to the pyramid, I found out—the hard way—that was where Kat was. Torlei had lured him there pretending to be me and trapped him. When I showed up to save him, she trapped me too. Then she kidnapped Chet while Mumm-Ra was out starting this whole mess by giving you, Silvian, and Ratar-O fake visions."

"Chet then used his psychic powers to call for help and Psiarik showed up with Alluro and Vultureman," WilyKat continued. "They freed us from the pyramid, believe it or not."

"I hardly can believe it, but I think this whole thing has actually made the Mutants and Lunatacs be—dare I say—not that bad? Almost civilized? Decent?" Cheetara offered.

Panthro, who had walked over with Snoelle, laughed. "Now there’s something, before today, I would have called impossible."

"Almost as impossible as living in magical ice for fifty years?" Snoelle asked.

"More," Panthro, Lion-O, Cheetara, WilyKit, and WilyKat responded in unison, and laughed.

"So Panthro," purred Snoelle "when do I get my victory kiss from you?"

"Right now," Panthro answered, and swept her into a passionate embrace.

"That’s disgusting, nyah!" Jackalman whined as he glanced at all the couples expressing their feelings all around him. "Can’t they get rooms or something?"

"I’m just happy that we’re all finally rid of that Mumm-Ra, yesss! It’s about damn time someone eliminated him!" Slythe said with a big grin on his reptilian face.

"Cawww, hey guys! Remember me?" Vultureman greeted his old allies.

"Hoo hoo, well, if it isn’t the Lunatacs’ techno-slave?"

"It’s not my fault they pay me better than you guys," Vultureman retorted with a shrug as he turned to his old comrades. "Wasn’t that great watching Mumm-Ra finally get his?"

"Yessss," Slythe agreed. "He may not be dead, but at least he’s out of our dimension. He’ll never order or jerk us around again."

"Nyah, now all we have to listen to is Ratar-O."

"That’s right, Jackalman," Ratar-O said, standing in front of them all in an imposing stance. "I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d like to get out of here. We may have to be peaceful with the Thunderians from now on, but I still don’t want to hang out

with them."

"Then let’s get out of here," Monkian agreed.

"In a moment. But first we have to make sure we know where we stand with our new allies. I want to have a little diplomatic discussion with Lion-O and Selene before we leave." Ratar-O then shouted to get everyone’s attention.

Everyone quieted at the rat’s shout, and when he indicated for the other leaders to join him, the entire group gathered around while Lion-O, Selene, and Ratar-O stood in the middle.

"Before we Mutants return to Plundarr, I want the status of our new alliance spelled out in clear terms," Ratar-O stated in a businesslike manner.

Lion-O nodded agreeably. "We’re at peace, Ratar-O. We agree to leave Plundarr and its Moons alone, except to engage in friendly commerce and trade. We will also allow any peaceful Mutant or Lunatac who wishes to spend time on our world do so with no distrust or unfriendly treatment."

"The same goes for the Moons and with Mutants and Thunderians," Selene agreed.

"All right then. Plundarr will pledge the same, and from this point on, we leave each other in peace," Ratar-O finished. "We will

no longer fight, and use our swords to defend our worlds against common enemies."

The three nodded and shook hands.

Luna watched the scene with a sort of unease. "I’ve never known any other way but conflict and battle. How are we supposed to live in peace? What happens to us now?" Luna wondered aloud.

"We get on with our lives, Luna," Lion-O said. "We move on."

"Then let’s go home now and do just that," Psiarik suggested to the other Lunatacs, who all agreed. They each headed back to their ships, except for Luna, who had Amok pick up Silvian’s body and carry it back to the ship so they could have a funeral for him when they got back. Once they were all inside, they left for home.

At the same time, Ratar-O led the Mutants, except for Vultureman, who went back with the Lunatacs, back to their ships and they took off for Plundarr with plenty to think about and reflect on for the ride.

The Thundercats watched their old enemies, now their allies, leave in a quiet sort of wonder.

"Peace, Thundercats. After all this time, we’ve finally found peace," Lion-O said, almost unable to believe it was possible.

The others nodded in agreement, and cheered in unison. "THUNDERCATS, HO!!!"