Lynx Headquarters the next day...

The time had finally arrived to have the memorial service for the young cheetah, Kayla. Cheetara watched the small, white casket as it was lowered in its final resting place. Something deep within her stirred. Guilt overcame her, and tears fell from her eyes.

It was at that very moment that Cheetara knew it should have been her that died, not Kayla. If she had not selfishly left the cheetah clan to join the Thundercats, none of this would have happened.

She now sat outside the building and gazed at the horizon where the sun was beginning to set. Most of her strength had finally returned after yesterday's attack. As she reflected on yesterday's attack, she thought about Lion-O and how she acted towards him. She knew she was wrong for shouting at him. He was only concern for her health as he noticed how weak she was, and she shouted at him. She hated herself for the way she had been treating him. It was good that the cheetah elders had gathered around her. Otherwise, Lion-O might have arrested her, although Cheetara quietly wondered why he did not even attempt to.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Cheetara glanced over and saw Chase beside her. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she had not even heard him coming. "Yes, it is," she replied.

The sunset was truly breathtaking. The female cheetah thought it was ironic that something so beautiful would end a terrible day. Cheetara had learned that the strike on the lion clan had not been as successful as hoped. Although many of the lions had lost their life, just as many lynxes and pumas had also perished. The ratios of lynxes and pumas to lions was at least three to one. At the end of the battle, only a third of the lions remained. They had grown tired and fled the scene. Otherwise, all of the lions would have eventually been killed.

Cheetara had hoped that the leader of that lion group would give up but that did not happen. At least they had managed to decrease the number of warriors in the lion and panther clan.

"What are the next plans, Cheetara?"

"I'll let you and everyone else know at the meeting tonight."

Chase nodded and looked back at the horizon. "You know that eventually, Lord Lion-O will lead our enemies into this war, if he hasn't already agreed. Are you sure that you want to fight him?"

"No," she answered honestly. "But I will do what is necessary for us to live peacefully again. You know, Chase, I just don't understand..."

"What is it you don't understand, my dear?"

Cheetara let his words slip by her. She sighed and remarked, "I don't understand how things got so out of hand."

Chase put his hand on her shoulder and said, "I know what you mean. It's hard to imagine that there is a hatred and prejudice that exists on Thundera. But that's the whole reason why this war started. The lions have always hated us, Cheetara. However, they didn't have a good reason to attack us until you became engaged..." Chase did not want to bring up Lion-O, so he let the rest of the finish hang. "They want to wipe us out completely."

"It's so hard to believe that," she whispered.

"But you know it's true," Chase continued. "Why else would they kill a small, helpless child?"

Cheetara laid her head in her hands unwilling to cry again. She was already emotionally drained from the memorial service. Chase pulled her in toward him and wrapped his arms around her. He ran his fingers through her hair as he said, "Don't worry, my precious Cheetara. We will continue our fight until the lions and every other clan lose their hatred of us." And that won't be until all of them have been killed or banished, including the Thundercats. Then you and I will rule New Thundera. Cheetahs ruling as it should have been a thousand years ago.

Cheetara raised herself up uncomfortable in his arms. She looked away from him and commented, "I don't think the lions will ever lose their hatred of us."

Chase turned her face to him and replied, "Don't say that. We must have hope." He took the moment to lean in and kiss her.

She quickly pulled away and stood up. "Don't do that, Chase. I cannot be with anyone. My heart won't let me." She glanced back at him. "I'm going for a walk. Tell the others I'll be back before the meeting starts."

He nodded his head at her and watched her leave. This is all of your fault Lion-O. I will find a way to get rid of you once and for all. Then Cheetara will be free to love me as she once did. She must fall in love with me again. Otherwise, I don't know how I will be able to rule with her. Now, I must go find Kalar. We have some things to discuss, and he has something that I need...

Cheetara started off walking, but she soon found herself running at her top speed. When she ran that fast, her mind always cleared itself of her problems. It was vital that she focus on the path in front of her to keep from tripping, or running into a tree, etc.

The cheetah ran until she no longer had any strength. She stopped and bowed over as she tried to calm her sporadic breathing. The feel of her blood rushing through her body as her heart pumped it always felt good to her.

"Running in the evenings too, Cheetara?"

Cheetara whipped herself around at the sound of the voice. She saw Jagara standing before her.

"Jagara..."

The sorceress nodded her head and motioned at her. "Come walk with me. I want to talk to you."

Cheetara heard a sense of urgency in the ageless Thundercat's voice. She walked to Jagara's side and asked, "What is it, Jagara?"

Later within the dungeon of the Lynx Headquarters

Tychicus struggled against the leather bonds holding his wrists against the wall. The male tiger had found a weak spot and was trying to break it. Gathering all of his strength, he pulled on the strap as hard as he could. The leather cut into his wrist, but he ignored the pain. Finally, the strap snapped in half.

The tiger rubbed his free hand against his body to ease the pain. He looked at the locked cell door in front of him and realized it was going to take a lot more work to get out. Knowing he would not have much time, Tychicus used his free hand to release his other hand and feet. He then listened for footsteps of the guard coming down the hall. As soon as the sound was close enough, the tiger coughed and called out, "I need a drink of water."

The guard came to the door and said, "Okay. I'll go get the key."

Tychicus listened as the guard walked back and unlocked the door. He began creating an illusion to make the guard see him still bounded. The door creaked open. As soon as the guard stepped into the cell, the tiger leaped onto him. The prisoner then pulled out the guard's gun and pointed it at his head. "Stay quiet, and I won't shoot. Where are the keys to the other cells?"

"At the other guard post, upstairs," he replied.

The tiger took the key and ordered the guard to stand against the wall. He bounded up the guard and taped his mouth. Tychichus then exited the small cell and locked the door. He walked down the hall and found the cell holding the tiger leader. "Hey, Tachen. It's me, Tychicus."

"Tychicus! You got out of your cell!"

"Shhh!" Tychicus replied. "Do you want everyone to hear? I'm going to go find the keys, and let you out."

"No," Tachen answered. "We can't all get out of here undetected. I want you to get out of here alone. Go get help to get us out of here."

"But, Tachen," he protested.

"Enough. You've got your orders. Now go!"

Tychicus nodded in understanding. "Okay, but I'll be back as soon as I can."

He sprinted down the hallway and came to a small staircase. As quiet as he could, the tiger went up the stairs and carefully studied everything around him. The other lynx guard was down the hallway at a wooden desk. He was reading a book and never noticed the freed prisoner. Tychicus slipped down another hallway undetected. Soon, he found what he was looking for: an exit.

As the tiger ran to the door, he heard voices coming from a side room. He leaned against the wall and listened to the conversation.

"We've got to attack Cat's Lair, Cheetara," Chase commented.

"No way!" she replied. "There is no way we would survive if we were to attack the Thundercats."

Lydia remarked, "We won't have a better chance. It would be better to fight Lord Lion-O and his followers in a surprise attack than on the battlefield with lions, tigers, and panthers fighting us.

"But we don't know for sure that the Thundercats will fight us," Cheetara pointed out.

"True, but we know that Lord Lion-O has agreed to fight against us. If the other Thundercats fight with him, our chances of winning are fewer on the battlefield. Lydia is right. We should attack them at Cat's Lair," Chase argued.

"But you don't know the weapon capabilities of Cat's Lair!" Cheetara protested. "It will be a suicidal mission."

Carvel said, "We don't know, but you do Cheetara. You are our leader in this war. You can devise a plan to take out their weapons. There is a way to do this, isn't there?"

Cheetara sighed and silently wished she had not told them about her conversation with Jagara. The old sorceress had asked Cheetara if the cheetahs' motive was evil. Cheetara told her it was only to protect themselves. Then, Jagara warned her to be careful and commented that the Lord of the Thundercats would never fight against a noble cause. It was then that Cheetara knew that Lion-O was going to fight with the lions.

She answered, "Yes, there is. If the power to Cat's Lair is disrupted, their weapon systems won't work."

"Then you will sneak in there and disrupt their power," Chase commanded. "Then we will attack tomorrow afternoon."

"I give the orders around here, Chase," Cheetara calmly said although she wanted to tear into him. Cheetara really respected Carvel and his opinion. It was hard for her, though, to agree to the plan. She did not want to attack the only family and friends she had for the past five years. It was not right. But, if the cheetahs wanted to win, she was going to have to fight Lion-O because of his foolish notion to help the lions.

Che'kar interrupted her thoughts as he said, "It was you that said that we would win this war by keeping our enemies guessing. We have to do this, Cheetara."

Cheetara hated when something she said came back to haunt her. To further confuse her, Jagara's words kept running themselves over and over again in Cheetara's mind, but she pushed them aside. "Agreed," she replied reluctantly. "But I want to attack Cat's Lair tomorrow night while everyone's sleeping. I'll sneak in and turn off the alarms and remove the power link. The power link is the main power source of Cat's Lair. Without it, Cat's Lair's defenseless, and when I return, we will attack."

Outside the door, Tychicus grinned. He left the building with the secret information.

Not knowing that a prisoner had escaped, the cheetahs, lynxes, and pumas quickly ended their meeting. As Cheetara headed to her room, she noticed that Chase was following her. She stopped and turned to him putting her hands on her hips. "What do you want?"

"I have something I want to give you," he answered.

"What is it?" She saw him carrying a long black velvet box.

Chase walked to her and opened the box. "Here. It's yours. Use it to defeat Lord Lion-O."

Cheetara pulled out the leather brown sheath with gold decorations on the ends. She then withdrew the sword out of the sheath. The sword's hilt was gold and decorated with metals and precious stones. The sword itself was a long, silver blade. It looked as mighty as the Sword of Omens.

"It's beautiful," Cheetara said admiring the sword. "Where did you get this?"

"It belonged to my family, and now I'm giving it to you. When this fight for us, Cheetara," Chase told her and left her standing in the hall.

The cheetah was amazed at the gift. Maybe she had misjudged Chase. She swished the sword in the air as if she was in a duel. It felt heavy and awkward in her hand.

Cheetara put the sword back in its sheath and the sheath in the velvet box. She tucked it under her arm and headed back to her room.

Meanwhile at Cat's Lair

The Thundercats sat around the council table and listened as Lion-O announced his plan to lead the lions into battle. It was hard for them to believe that this was happening, but they supported him in his decision.

"I don't want any of you fighting," Lion-O commented.

"But, Lion-O," Tygra protested. "You should use everything at your disposal to win this war, including us."

Lion-O shook his head and explained, "I know that some of you do not want to participate. I see nothing in the future but fighting among us if some of you participate, and others don't. There is already tension among us. And I will not force anyone to fight when they don't want to."

Talia cleared her throat and spoke up. "I finished charting Cazar's ancestry. It is a pleasure to tell you that Cheetara is not related to Cazar."

Everyone was pleased at the news. Then Talia finished telling them what she knew. "However, I do have some bad news. Cazar does have a living relative."

"Who?" Lion-O eagerly asked.

"Chase," she answered.

"I knew it! I told you that he couldn't be trusted and that he was up to no good!" Tygra shouted out.

Lynx-O remarked, "It does sound like Chase found some way to convince Cheetara to lead them in this war. Right now, she's probably confused and can't find the truth in the web of lies she's been told."

"I hope you right," Panthro commented. "I really hope you are right."

"Whatever the reason, I will end this war and bring Cheetara back to us," Lion-O announced with authority laced in his voice. "You can be sure of that..."

Snarf and Snarfer entered the council room. "Schnarf...Lion-O, Luther, Tyland, and Pantharo are here. They brought someone who escaped from the lynx headquarters."

"Bring them in, Snarf," Lion-O said.

The elders and Tychicus entered and sat in the empty seats at the council table.

"Tell us, how did you escape?" Tygra asked.

Tychicus explained how he escaped. He then started to tell them about the next attack. "They are coming here next, Lord Lion-O."

"What?" Lion-O exclaimed in disbelief.

"I heard the lynx and cheetah elders and Chase talking to Cheetara. They plan to strike Cat's Lair tomorrow night while everyone's asleep. Cheetara is planning to sneak in and disarm the weapons here, and then her soldiers will come and attack," Tychicus explained to the Thundercats.

The Thundercats sat there in disbelief at what the tiger said. Lion-O was most affected by the news. He could not believe that Cheetara would attack the Thundercats. No, that woman he saw the other day was not Cheetara, at least not the Cheetara he knew.

"What's the plan, Lion-O?" Panthro asked.

Lion-O got out of his seat, thinking. As ruler of the planet, he was their protector and he knew he could not let his heart lead him. Any decisions he made had to come from his head. He walked to the window and looked out of it, viewing the full moon as it night light bathed the planet. With a decision made, he let his head fall. "We let Cheetara sneak in the lair and disarm our weapons."

"What?" Talia said.

"You can't let her do that," Luther said.

Lion-O turned around to meet everyone's incredulous looks. "I wasn't finished," the young lord said angry at his interruption. "After she leaves, we will arm our weapons again."

"I get it. We let her think she'd disarmed the weapons," Panthro said understanding.

Lion-O nodded. "Right. We have all the lion, tiger and panther soldiers around Cat's Lair, so when Cheetara and her soldiers arrive, they will be surrounded. They will either surrender or fight. I will guess they will surrender, but they may want to fight, especially with us learning that Cheetara isn't Cazar's descendent."

"What?" Tyland said.

"Cheetara isn't Cazar's descendent? That's impossible. She must be. She has all the powers," Luther protested.

"I traced Cazar's ancestry. Without a shadow of a doubt, Cheetara isn't his descendent. Chase, another cheetah, is though. I also learned that his cousin was murdered by a lion shopkeeper that was robbed by him," Talia explained.

"That could be what started the war. Chase might have tricked the elders and Cheetara into fighting," Lynx-O added.

"It doesn't matter whose Cazar's descendent is," Luther said darkly, although he was very angry that Cheetara was not Cazar's descendent. "The cheetahs are evil and are coming to attack Cat's Lair. What are you going to do, Lord Lion-O?"

"As I said, when the cheetahs, lynxes, and pumas arrived, we will surround them. If they don't surrender, then I, alone, will fight."

"You can't do that, Lion-O," Panthro said. "The cheetahs, lynxes, and pumas will outnumber you."

"No, they won't because I will only be fighting one person: Cheetara."

Lynx-O gasped. "You're going to fight Cheetara."

"Yes. I don't want to, but I know I must. I'll try to talk to Cheetara and get her to surrender, but I think she will refuse and fight me. With their leader defeated, they will have no choice but to surrender."

Luther grinned to himself. When Lord Lion-O wins, Cheetara will die and the cheetahs, the lynxes, and pumas will be banished forever.

The next night

Cheetara stood in front of Cat's Lair, her home of the people she loved most for years. She could not believe that she was doing this. She could not believe that she was betraying the other Thundercats like this, but she knew it must be done. Using her super speed, she entered Cat's Lair undetected. She turned off the alarms. Then the swift cheetah entered the power source room. In that room stood the Thundrillium generator that powered all of Cat's Lair, including the weapons systems. Quickly, she found the power link that connected the lair's scanners, sensors, auto-defenders, lasers, and the main power of the lair. She pulled the power link from its socket.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she said. She thought she heard something or someone and looked back. She saw nothing but darkness. Holding the power link in her hands, she swiftly left the room.

Panthro stepped out of the shadows holding a spare power link. He opened the communicator in his Nun-chucks. "Lion-O, it's Panthro. Cheetara got the power link as you thought she would."

"Put the spare link in, Panthro."

"Getting right on it. And, Lion-O, Cheetara didn't want to do it. There's a chance that you can reach her and won't have to fight her."

"I'm hoping for that, too, Panthro. Lion-O out."

Cheetara ran back to her soldiers holding the power link. "I have the power link. Cat's Lair is defenseless."

Chase took the coiled object out of Cheetara's hands and crushed it on the ground.

"Chase, why did you do that?" Carvel asked before Cheetara could.

"This is the enemies weapon. We must destroy it. We can't let them get to it," Chase said.

Cheetara wanted to hurt him, but she could not because she had to go to battle. "I'll deal with you later. Right now. We must fight."

Cheetara lead the cheetahs, lynxes, and pumas to the front of Cat's Lair. All the warriors had weapons ready to attack. Cheetara stood in front of the lair, not believing what she was about to do. Tears started to form in her eyes, but she wiped them away before anyone noticed.

She turned back to her warriors "Are you ready?"

They cheered. One began to put the cannon balls in the cannon.

"Ready!" Cheetara shouted.

"I wouldn't do that," Lion-O warned her as he stepped out of the shadows.

Cheetara gasped seeing Lion-O. Cheetara looked up and saw the power turned on in Cat's Lair. Right then, she knew they were expecting her. Out of nowhere, the lion, tiger and panther soldiers came out from behind the lair, around the lair and behind Cheetara's army. She was surrounded, outnumbered, and if she was going to be the victor, she would have to fight Lion-O...alone.