Caught in a deadly vortex, Cheetara struggled to reach the surface and find air. But one leg was completely useless in swimming and the turbulence was making it impossible to even tell which way was up. She thrashed out and tried to hold her own, but it was a losing battle. The water was too cold, she was too weak, and the current was too strong. She was completely at the mercy of the underground river.

And then something seized her arm in a grip of iron and hauled her upwards. With a choking gasp, she broke the surface and heaved for air. Cavern stalactites rushed by overhead and she was periodically thrust underwater as the river roared through smaller tunnels where there were no air pockets, but she was always dragged back to the surface afterwards.

"Come on, Cheetara, work with me!" a voice commanded her after an unusually long period underwater.

"Lion-O?"

"Don’t talk, just swim!"

Obediently, the cheetah tried to keep herself afloat, but the deadweight of her injured leg kept pulling her down and she was very weak. "I’m trying, Lion-O, but this leg—"

"We’re going down again," the lion warned just before they were pulled back under the water and through yet another tunnel. Both Thundercats resurfaced gagging and choking.

"We’ve got to find somewhere to rest," Cheetara shouted above the rushing waters. "I’m not strong enough for this. I’ve lost too much blood."

"One problem at a time. You worry about keeping your head above water. I’ll worry about finding some land."

The two Thundercats continued to be swept along the twisting underground river, spinning in and out of the occasional vortex and slowly turning numb with hypothermia. Lion-O desperately tried to pull them to one side of the stream in the hopes they might grab a passing stalagmite, but to no avail. The current was ruthless and brutal, forbidding controlled movement and sweeping the two felines along at will. And Cheetara’s inability to swim was adding to the problem as Lion-O was forced to drag her to the surface time and again. His strength was rapidly failing and he didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep himself afloat, much less Cheetara.

"It’s changing."

Lion-O looked at Cheetara in surprise. "What?"

The cheetah’s eyes glittered as she stared downstream. "The river. It’s changing. It’s growing straighter. Faster. Smoother."

Lion-O’s exhaustion had prevented him from noticing this before, but he saw it now. Cheetara was right. The current was changing. And so was the noise. "What is it?" he wondered.

"Look! Daylight!"

Lion-O looked ahead and realized the Sword’s dim light was no longer needed. Ahead of them, a large opening loomed in the rock. The dismal sky lay waiting outside, but it was a welcome change when compared to the darkness of the caves. The current picked up more speed and seemed to be racing for a single point at the mouth of the cave’s opening. "We’re almost out of here. With any luck, Tygra will have been pulled the same way," Lion-O shouted.

Cheetara shook her head, spraying him with water as she flung tiny drops from her golden hair. "I don’t know. Something about this doesn’t feel right. It feels suspiciously like a—"

"Lords of Thundera!" Lion-O suddenly cursed, getting a good look at what lay ahead of them.

"Waterfall!"

From his position just outside of the Thundercats’ sickbay, Mumm-Ra waited in impatience. Ma-Mutt huddled close to his feet, hair bristling in the presence of so many enemies but constrained by Mumm-Ra’s wish to keep absolutely quiet.

"Hurry, you fools! Somnolar will not toy with them forever," Mumm-Ra hissed under his breath. From his hiding place in a dark corner, he could see through an observation window. Though the exact readouts were a mystery to him, he could tell that not all the sleeping Thundercats were sleeping well. Two of them, Panthro and Snarf, had no readings scrolling across the monitors above their heads. The other three did, but Tygra’s line was starting to behave erratically. Mumm-Ra shook his head, knowing there wasn’t must time left. "He knows how to play with them, but they can’t amuse or avoid him for much longer," he growled. Why were the Thundercats taking so long?

Bengali didn’t seem to be doing anything, really. A few wires and a partially dismantled medical monitor lay before him. Sometimes, the Thunderkittens would rush in with new material, but for the most part, nothing was happening. Bengali was slowly playing with wires in that medical monitor and Lynx-O and Pumyra were just watching. Mumm-Ra could vaguely remember the original Telepathy Beam. Even though he hadn’t been part of the elaborate plan to infiltrate Cheetara’s plan, he’d seen Vultureman’s creation through his cauldron and it didn’t look anything like what Bengali was now constructing.

Pumyra then noticed Tygra’s monitor and said something to Lynx-O. "Idiots, he’s dying!" Mumm-Ra snarled. "You have to work faster!" The two Thundercats walked over to the tiger and adjusted some of the machines he was strapped to. The lines above his head continued to jump erratically. And then they just stopped. They stopped cold.

Mumm-Ra sighed. "And then there were two," he murmured. They were really on a deadline now.

Lion-O lost his grip on Cheetara as he was swept over a wall of rocks and flung into the air. Instinctively righting himself, he looked down and was immediately sick. The drop had to be at least fifty meters. His stomach fluttered into his throat and the nauseating sensation of falling took over. Closing his eyes, he prayed it wouldn’t last long and that when it was over, he’d be able to find Cheetara. And Tygra. By Jaga, would Tygra still be alive? Tightening his grip on the Sword of Omens, Lion-O pushed thoughts like that out of his mind.

He hit the water below with a hard splash. He was lucky it was deep, as he went down quite a ways before stopping himself and swimming back to the surface. Catching a good breath of air, he instantly dove down again, looking for Cheetara. They couldn’t be far apart; they’d been flung out of the cave at the same time. And then he saw it. There was a disturbance in the water a little ways off from his position. With strong strokes, he made his way over and grabbed Cheetara’s wrist. He could feel she was trying to swim, but without the use of her leg it was difficult for her to make it to the surface.

She heaved and coughed when she reached the air and water went flying in all directions. "You okay?" Lion-O asked.

Catching her breath, Cheetara nodded. "Wow. That was really something."

"You’re telling me," Lion-O agreed, striking out for a rocky shore in the distance. "Let’s get you to land."

"Wait! Tygra! He must be here somewhere."

"First things first," Lion-O replied firmly. "I have to get you to safety. I’ll come back for Tygra."

"But he can’t swim! I can!"

"Not with your leg and you already admitted you were tired." Lion-O’s breath was coming hard and his muscles were beginning to cramp from the cold. He needed a break as much as Cheetara did, but there just wasn’t time. "A little further and you’ll be able to touch bottom with your good leg. You can hop to dry land from there."

Cheetara tried to protest, but Lion-O was right. Without his support, she’d sink like a rock. She was so tired! But what about Tygra? He was still out there somewhere and if they didn’t get to him in time…

After a few more minutes of silent swimming, something brushed against Cheetara’s good leg. "I can make it from here," she whispered. Those few minutes might have been used in looking for the lost tiger and guilt was welling up within her. "I can feel the bottom now."

Lion-O stopped and nodded. "Be careful. You’ll be alone on the shore, so don’t let your guard down even for a second." Without another word, the Lord of the Thundercats left Cheetara and struck out for the center of the lake with strong, steady strokes. Reaching the middle, he dove under and began, in his mind, the beginnings of a hopeless search.

"If we’re going to try it, we’d better try it soon. There’s only two of them left," Pumyra warned.

"I don’t have Tygra’s creative genius and I don’t have Panthro’s engineering skills," Bengali growled, already irritated. "I’m doing the best I can."

"We know you are," Lynx-O swiftly consoled, sensing a potential fight. The tension in the room was so thick that it was difficult to think clearly and tempers were high. They had to stay focused. "How much longer do you think it will take?"

Bengali sighed and shook his head. "A few more minutes, but I have no idea if it will work."

"It worked for Vultureman," Kat said. "Why shouldn’t it work for us? You’re much better at building things than Vultureman is."

"You don’t get it," Bengali rumbled. "I didn’t follow the design exactly because we’re not using it for the same purpose. The basic idea is still the same, but our means of communication have changed."

"Are you going to need anything else?" Kit asked.

The tiger shook his head and continued to work on the mess of wires that lay before him. Pumyra wandered over to Tygra’s bedside and checked his readings. He wasn’t quite brain dead, but he was close. Breathing had failed and his heartbeat was fading in and out. What could they be going through? She glanced at the still forms of Cheetara and Lion-O. It appeared they would be the only ones left in a matter of minutes.

"Okay, let’s give it a try. Who wants to go?" Bengali asked.

"I will make the attempt," Lynx-O decided. "I am more familiar with psychic powers than the rest of you, having a small amount myself."

"Good luck," Wiley Kit offered.

Lynx-O nodded and moved in Bengali’s direction. "What must I do?"

"Hold still," the tiger instructed. Lynx-O felt something sticky placed on his temples and then came the cold touch of metal. "If the figures are correct, and I assume they are since they worked against Cheetara, your energies should channels along this wire into Cheetara’s psychic center. From there, you should be able to reach her collective consciousness. Theoretically, that’s where she’ll have a weak link from her mind to her body."

"Cheetara’s connected," Pumyra announced quietly. "And I’ll be monitoring you, Lynx-O, so we can pull you back if anything goes wrong."

"Great," Bengali murmured. "Are you ready Lynx-O?"

"I am prepared."

"Be careful," Wiley Kat urged.

"Here we go then. I’m opening the channel."

For a moment, Lynx-O felt nothing. And then his thoughts seemed to be drawn away from him. Flowing with the stream of mental impulses, he cast about for Cheetara. He was fairly sure he could recognize her psychic signature when he found it. The only problem was finding it. Wait, was that…No, something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Lynx-O tried to pull back into himself, but he couldn’t. He was being pulled away now, into a void of darkness. Where Cheetara should have been, there was nothing and his thoughts were rushing to fill the vacuum. And there was something beyond. He felt a wall and as if from a distance, he felt Cheetara behind the wall. "Cheetara!" But how did one shout in the mental realm? He had to get past that wall! That was the only way to get to her. He had to find her mental spark.

Lynx-O hurled himself at the wall in Cheetara’s mind, but it didn’t move. It stood firm. And then something else happened. An outside force began streaming in. Lynx-O tried to draw back, feeling evil in the powers that were suddenly sweeping through Cheetara’s mind, but once again, he was unable to. Trying to stand firm against the darkness swiftly overtaking all he felt around him, he was suddenly aware that the wall was beginning to fade. In astonishment, he felt the wall slowly disappear. And then he was swept into the blackness of chaos.

Lost in the interplay of mental energies, Mumm-Ra concentrated on sending Lynx-O’s consciousness into Somnolar’s realm. He’d lost all track of his surroundings and was only aware of Somnolar’s mental blocks and his own feeble efforts to defeat them. His waning powers would not hold for long, and he could only hope that Lynx-O and Cheetara would find each other soon.

At his feet, Ma-Mutt watched his master anxiously. The mummy was groaning with exertion and slowly collapsing onto the floor. Fear for his master’s welfare beginning to overwhelm him, Ma-Mutt started to pace back and forth. He’d been forbidden to seek out or attack the Thundercats, but they had to be behind this somehow. Whining softly, Ma-Mutt nudged Mumm-Ra’s elbow. But there was no response. With a sniff and a soft moan, the dog started backing away from his master, overcome with the need to do something.

Lion-O’s frustration and anger were rapidly growing beyond his control. Whoever was toying with them continued to play games. He’d dive under water and see Tygra, but as soon as he got to the Thundercat, Tygra would be whisked away by an unexpected current. It was obvious that Tygra was no longer conscious, but maybe there was still a chance to save him. In any case, Lion-O wasn’t going to leave his body in the lake. He’d already lost the bodies of Panthro and Snarf. He wouldn’t lose another.

Surfacing for air, Lion-O rubbed his legs and tried to work out the cramps that were rapidly crippling him. And suddenly, the world seemed to change. Lion-O couldn’t put his finger on what changed, but it was as though his adversary abruptly left. The sky wasn’t as menacing, the rocks weren’t as gloomy, the air wasn’t as stale, the water wasn’t as cold, and the feeling of constantly being watched vanished. Lion-O wasn’t sure what this meant, but he didn’t waste time. Diving down, he once again spotted Tygra. Swimming toward him in earnest, he managed to get close enough to seize the limp tiger and drag him to the surface.

"Tygra?" Lion-O began pulling his friend toward the shore even as he tried to revive him. "Tygra? Come on, speak to me!"

Checking for a pulse, he felt a faint flutter beneath Tygra’s clammy skin. That was enough for Lion-O. Treading water, he pinched the tiger’s nose and exhaled deeply into his mouth. The lion pounded Tygra’s back and then breathed into his mouth again. It quickly became a rhythm. Pound the back. Breath for him. Pound the back again. One more breath. Another back thumping.

And then Tygra seemed to lurch. With a choking cry, he threw up a mouthful of water and started to cough. Lion-O visibly relaxed. "Tygra, don’t you EVER do that to me again."

Tygra clutched at his chest and shook, unable to respond while coughs racked his shivering body. He seized Lion-O’s shoulder with a grip of iron as if to confirm that someone had actually rescued him. "Thank you," he hissed between coughs.

"Don’t thank me yet," the lion warned. A paralyzing cramp was shooting its way up his leg and it was all he could to do to keep from crying out. "We still have to make it to shore."

Tygra nodded and tried to help as Lion-O started paddling toward the rocks. But the tiger’s movements were weak at best, and his main concern was trying not to sink. Consequently, the workload fell to Lion-O. Fortunately for the two of them, the presence that had haunted them seemed to be gone. Acting on a hunch and out of desperation, Lion-O raised the Sword. Pointing it at the shore, he prayed his idea would work. He knew he’d never be able to make it to land with Tygra. Getting a firm grip on the tiger, he closed his eyes and channeled his thoughts into the Sword. "HO!"

The Sword flared to life and started toward the shore, dragging the Lord of the Thundercats with it. Tygra’s grip on the lion’s shoulders tightened as their speed increased. It wasn’t long before they were flying past large rocks. And then the Sword stopped abruptly. Carried forward by momentum, Lion-O felt sharp rocks beneath his feet. "We made it," he murmured. He opened his eyes and stared in amazement. "We really made it."

Beside him, Tygra released the lion and stumbled toward dry land, shaking violently and still coughing. "I don’t want to see another large body of water again," he whispered.

Lion-O could sympathize with him and followed the tiger out of the water, collapsing as he reached the shoreline. His muscles were completely numb with cold, and he didn’t think he could move another step if he had to.

"Lion-O?"

Scratch that, he could move if he had to. The concern in Tygra’s voice forced Lion-O to his feet. "What is it?"

Tygra was still wobbly after his near-drowning experience, but he’d made his way over to where Cheetara lay lifeless and collapsed by her side. "What happened to Cheetara?"

Lion-O stumbled over, groaning as he forced his knotted muscles to move. "I don’t know. I left her on the shore and went looking for you."

Checking her vital signs, Tygra shook her gently. "Cheetara?" Her breathing was shallow and her pulse was faint. Something was going on, but Tygra couldn’t figure out what. "Cheetara?"

Lion-O collapsed next to the cheetah and tiger, completely exhausted. "Is she okay? What’s wrong?"

"I wish I knew," Tygra whispered, coughing up a little more water. The tiger shook his head and glanced up at the sky. "Lion-O, does it feel…different to you?"

The lion nodded. "I don’t know how to describe it, but it feels like we’re alone."

"Exactly," Tygra murmured. "I don’t like it." He shook Cheetara again. "Come on, girl, stay with us."

Lion-O suddenly stiffened and clutched the Sword. "We may have been alone a minute ago, but we aren’t alone anymore," he announced quietly.

Tygra looked up and saw what Lion-O saw. Not more than twenty feet away stood a dark figure. A black sword hissed as it was drawn from an unseen sheath.

"Stay here," Lion-O instructed softly as he stood and faced the cloaked enemy. "You’re in no condition to fight."

"And you are?" Tygra demanded, trying to get to his wobbly feet.

"As Lord of the Thundercats, I’m telling you to stay here." Lion-O looked down at the startled tiger with a gaze that sent shivers up and down Tygra’s spine. "I will not debate this. You have no weapons, you almost drowned, and Cheetara will need someone with medical knowledge. Protect her in case he gets around me."

Tygra stared at the lion blankly and then finally nodded. "Good luck, Lord Lion-O."

Lion-O grimaced, always feeling uncomfortable when things turned formal. But he couldn’t have Tygra fighting with him. Someone needed to protect Cheetara and someone else needed to directly challenge this foe. Turning to the figure in black, he raised his Sword in a warrior’s salute. Advancing slowly, he waited for the battle to begin.

Cheetara floundered in surprise for a moment until she realized where she was. She’d been here before; it was the realm of psychic thought. But how had she gotten here? She thought her sixth sense had been banished. And then she felt it: a clumsy psychic touch with a very definite signature.

"LYNX-O!?"

"Cheetara?"

"I’m here! How did you find us?"

"Cheetara, listen. I don’t know how long I can maintain this link and I have much to tell you."

Catching the urgency of his thoughts, Cheetara gave him a psychic nod. "What is it? Do you know of a way for us to escape?"

"I think so. We’re not entirely certain, but it’s the best we’ve been able to come up with. The foe you face is a being called Somnolar. You are actually in a dreamscape. It’s not real."

"We know," Cheetara interrupted. "Tygra figured that out. But it’s real enough to—to cause death, isn’t it?"

"I’m afraid it is," Lynx-O answered.

"And Panthro and Snarf? They’re dead? Where are our bodies?"

"You never left the Lair," the lynx responded. "And yes, we’ve lost Panthro and Snarf. But we have them on full life support, and there’s still a chance we can get you all out of this. Now listen carefully."

"We can get them back?" Cheetara asked breathlessly. "What about Tygra? The last I remember, Lion-O was looking for him. We’re afraid he’s drowning."

Lynx-O sighed mentally. So far, the scrolls were right. Somnolar turned his victim’s fears against them. "I don’t know," he confessed. "When I left, his readings were starting to falter. But Cheetara, you must listen to what I have to say."

"I’m sorry, Lynx-O," she murmured. "Please continue."

"As I was saying, your foe is Somnolar. You’re not truly in his realm yet, but if things continue as they are, you will be. In order to reach his realm, he must destroy you. And once there, you are lost from our world and trapped in his. But there is a way out. If you can enter his realm without a corporeal body, you challenge him on his own grounds as that is how he exists."

"How do we do that?" Cheetara asked.

Lynx-O hesitated. Now that it came down to it, he was having second thoughts about the whole thing. But there was nothing to do but continue. "You have to die, but not by Somnolar’s hands. If you die in your dreamscape, you will be taken to Somnolar’s true realm. If you die by hands other than Somnolar’s, you will not be under his control and he will have to send you, and all he’s taken, back to our world."

Cheetara paused, trying to digest the information. "You mean, we have to kill each other?"

"Yes."

There was another pause from Cheetara. "Are you sure about this?"

"No, we’re not. But it’s the best we can gather. And if we don’t act quickly, none of us will survive much longer. When he finishes with you, he will come after the rest of Third Earth."

"But to kill Lion-O or Tygra…Lynx-O, do you have any idea what you’re asking me to do?"

"I have a fair idea," the lynx responded.

"Lynx-O, I can’t kill the others. They’ll have to be the ones to do it, and I don’t know if they can, either."

"You must!" Lynx-O insisted. "As far as we can tell, there isn’t another way. True, we’re not sure about this way, but we’ve been unable to find anything else. If you don’t, we’re all doomed."

"It makes sense from what I’ve been able to gather, but I can’t do it," Cheetara protested.

"Get Lion-O to do it, then," Lynx-O ordered. "Have him use the Sword. Use the Right of Death, use anything, but do something. There’s more at stake here than I can explain right now."

"But you’re asking us to murder each other."

"I’m asking you to save Third Earth. And based on the stakes, I don’t think it’s too much of a sacrifice."

"Lynx-O!" Bengali was almost hysterical. They’d disconnected both Cheetara and Lynx-O from their impromptu Telepathy Beam, but Lynx-O’s brain waves were still absent while Cheetara’s had suddenly taken on curious properties. "If I’ve just killed him, I’ll never forgive myself," the white tiger growled.

"Calm down," Pumyra snapped. "He’s still breathing and he’s got a steady heartbeat."

"But what happened?" Snarfer asked. "He’s not hooked to Cheetara anymore, but he’s not waking up, either."

"I don’t know," the puma snarled. "Give me a few seconds and maybe I can tell you."

"In any case, I think we should all calm down," Wiley Kit suggested. "If we start fighting, we might as well give up. We’ve beaten ourselves."

Pumyra turned a vicious glare on the Thunderkitten but before she could answer, there was a large crash just outside of sickbay. Everyone turned to face the door in shock. "We’re all here and accounted for," Kat whispered.

"Let’s see who else should be accounted for," Bengali growled, focusing his anger and frustration on something tangible that could be taken care of. "Get Lynx-O back, Pumyra. The rest of us will deal with whatever’s out there."

Mumm-Ra opened his eyes in shock. Somnolar was no longer baring the entrance to his quasi-reality. Lynx-O’s connection was assured. But why? Why would Somnolar give up like that? He must have sensed Mumm-Ra’s weakness. A little more time and he’d have beaten the mummy. There was no point in stopping the mind battle. Unless…

The mummy suddenly groaned in frustration. Of course. Why hadn’t he seen it before? Cheetara would be helpless in Somnolar’s realm while in touch with Lynx-O. If Somnolar could destroy her while she was defenseless, it would all be over. Tygra was probably dead by now, Lion-O lacked the psychic ability needed for communication, and Mumm-Ra couldn’t beat down Somnolar’s wall again.

Mumm-Ra struggled to his feet and looked around. Where had Ma-Mutt gone? A sudden crashing sound down the hall answered his question. Mumm-Ra groaned and closed his eyes. He’d have to trust Ma-Mutt to extricate himself from this mess. The mummy had no powers left. Ma-Mutt was on his own.

"My fight is not with you, cub. You are last," the figure in the black robe hissed. "Stand aside and accept the inevitable."

Lion-O bristled in anger. He hated being called cub. True, he hadn’t aged as most Thunderians had, but he’d proven himself to be Lord of the Thundercats. "Do you fear to fight me, demon?"

"How touching. You intend to make a noble sacrifice." There was a short laugh from within the dark folds of the cloak. "It is a coward’s act. You cannot bear to watch as those challenged take their rightful places in battle. You shame their honor to boost your own."

Lion-O growled and clutched the Sword even tighter, feeling its energy respond to his anger. "You fight them and they are unarmed. That is the act of a coward. Face me and prove yourself."

"I show them mercy," the figure returned. "I make their pain as short as possible. You would do well to learn the same lesson, cub."

"Lion-O!"

Lion-O backtracked slightly to Tygra’s side. "What is it?"

"He’s just provoking you," the tiger hissed. "Don’t let him get to you."

"And you, Thundercat Tygra!" the figure scoffed. "Have you now elevated yourself to psychologist? You can’t even help Cheetara. Her leg is dead because of you."

"Does that make a difference to you?" Lion-O demanded. "You would have us all dead."

"You’re right. I would. And that can be arranged. Observe." And with movement faster than the eye could track, the figure had converged on the three Thundercats, slapped Lion-O away with the flat of his blade, sent Tygra flying into the shallows of the lake, and plunged his obsidian sword into Cheetara’s gut.

Lynx-O rocked backward with the force of Cheetara’s cry. "Cheetara! What’s wrong?"

"Lynx-O, I—arrrrggghhhh" The psychic world was once again shaken with the force of the cheetah’s pain. "What’s happening to me?!"

"Is it the part of you in the world of Somnolar?"

The resulting whimper was indecipherable, but Lynx-O was developing a fairly good idea of what had happened. "Cheetara, listen to me. Go back to Lion-O. Tell him what needs to be done. You MUST tell him."

"I…understand." And the Cheetara’s presence faded away. Without something holding him there, Lynx-O felt himself falling backwards. Farther he fell, farther, farther, and then…

"LYNX-O!"

The sound of Pumyra screaming in his ears jerked Lynx-O out of the psychic world and into reality. "You don’t need to shout, Pumyra!"

Pumyra almost slapped the lynx, but she refrained. "What in the world happened to you?! We were afraid we’d lost you."

Lynx-O realized he was lying down on a medical bed and slowly pushed himself up. "I did it. I found Cheetara and I spoke with her. But…Pumyra, what do Cheetara’s readings show?"

"That’s what I was concerned about! She’s just taken a sudden turn for the worst. She isn’t breathing and her heartbeat is about to shut down, too. I was afraid if you were still with her when it happened that we’d lose you, too."

"No, she left before that happened," Lynx-O murmured. "It was strange. Initially, when I first entered the psychic world, I was blocked. And then something opened up the way and I could contact Cheetara. But—it was something evil. I don’t know quite how to describe it." The lynx’s ears twitched and he turned his head in the direction of the sickbay door. Strange sounds were coming from the direction of the hallways. "What in the name of Thundera is going on out there?"

"I don’t know," Pumyra sighed. "The others went to check it out, but they haven’t come back and I was afraid to leave you. And someone should monitor the others, too."

"Things are rapidly slipping beyond our control," Lynx-O groaned, clutching his head as he felt the beginnings of a massive headache.

"And when have things ever been within our control?" Pumyra asked bitterly.

"Okay you blue mongrel!" Bengali snarled as he made a dive at the fleet Ma-Mutt. "Hold still and take what’s coming to you!"

Upon finding Mumm-Ra’s dog just outside the entrance to sickbay, the Thunderkittens, Snarfer, and Bengali had tried to capture him in vain. Ma-Mutt was leading them on a merry chase through the Cat’s Lair.

"Sleeping pellets away!" Wiley Kat announced.

The air was suddenly filled with a smoky gas. Snarfer backed away from it watched intently. "Did it work?"

"We’ll have to wait for it to clear," Kit answered.

Snarfer continued to watch the fog and suddenly screeched. A dark shadow was leaping towards him from the gas. "Here he comes!"

Ma-Mutt bowled into Snarfer and made a beeline for the doorway. Kit swung her lariat at the escaping dog, but he put on an extra boost of speed and zipped out of the room. Though he had no clear idea in mind, Ma-Mutt knew he had to get these Thundercats away from his master. He continued on a course away from sickbay.

"After him!" Bengali ordered. "He’s heading for the exit!"

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

The demon was sent flying across the lake with the force of Lion-O’s sword blast, but the damage was done. Leaping to her side, Tygra was sickened by the sight of Cheetara’s entrails gushing out of her chest and stomach. Lion-O snarled and roared a challenge to the demon.

"Cheetara!" Tygra whispered fiercely. He clutched her head to his chest and started to shake. Panthro’s death had been different. They’d seen it coming and there’d been a chance to say goodbye. But this… "Cheetara, how could I have failed you?"

There was a slight motion in her hand, so slight that Tygra was sure he’d imagined it. But no, there it was again. "Cheetara?" Grasping her hand with a crushing grip, Tygra prayed he’d be able to get through to her. "Cheetara, I’m sorry. That thing got past us and—" Tygra watched in amazement as the cheetah’s eyes fluttered open and widened in fear. But it wasn’t fear of death; it was something else. "Cheetara, is there anything I can do?"

A short sputtering cough was all Cheetara could utter and blood bubbled out of her mouth. Closing her eyes and concentrating, she thrust her free arm up and pulled Tygra’s head closer to her own. Wrenching her other arm from Tygra’s grasp, she seized his head and started to moan.

Tygra was frozen in shock, having no idea what she was doing until he felt the weak brush of her thoughts. She was attempting to initiate a psychic contact! Gathering his own thoughts, he tried to answer her. Cheetara?What is it?

There is a way out of here!

Tygra inwardly sighed. He focused his mind and tried to direct his words toward Cheetara. Though his mental powers gave him a smattering of psychic awareness, he wasn’t a telepath by any stretch of the imagination. He’d been in mental contact with Cheetara a few times before, but this time, with death so near, it was a little different. If he was in contact with her when she died, he could be pulled into death, too. He had to keep the connection light, but he had to make it strong enough for Cheetara to hear his thoughts. You’re delirious. You’ve been wounded and—

SHUT UP AND LISTEN! The force of Cheetara’s command almost knocked Tygra out of the link, but he held his ground and the cheetah continued. Lynx-O contacted me. We have to die, but not by our enemy’s hands. Something else has to kill us, and then we can challenge him in his own world.

For a moment, Tygra stared at the glazed eyes of the cheetah before him. Somewhere in his mental contact, he was getting a faint feel of what she was experiencing. The pain was excruciating, she could no longer see, she couldn’t breath, she was choking to death on her own blood, but there was saneness about her thoughts that he couldn’t just ignore. You’re certain?

Mustering her energy, Cheetara nodded. Tell Lion-O. You have to use the Sword.

We have to kill each other? Tygra was suddenly finding it difficult to concentrate. Cheetara’s pain was starting to merge into their mental contact and unimaginable pain was building in his abdomen.

With what was almost a sigh, Cheetara responded. That’s what Lynx-O said. And then contact was abruptly severed by the cheetah.

Tygra shook his head in bewilderment, having to readjust to single thoughts again. "Cheetara?"

Her hands slid down from his head and her eyes closed.

"Cheetara?"

There was a low gurgle of blood and her chest relaxed.

"Cheetara?!"

No response whatsoever.

Gently laying her back down onto the ground, Tygra looked around with blurred vision for Lion-O. The lion was standing a few meters away, his eyes fixed on the black robed figure who was laughing quietly. And in Tygra’s mind, it all clicked.

The enemy had felt Cheetara’s mind connect to Lynx-O’s as it would have left this reality. He’d realized what was happening. That’s why he’d attacked so quickly. He had to put Cheetara out of commission. But he hadn’t counted on her surviving long enough to transfer her knowledge to Tygra. If Cheetara and Lynx-O were right, there was still a chance to get out of here. Well, a chance for himself and Lion-O to get out. Panthro, Snarf, and Cheetara were now…Tygra shoved his feelings out of the way and concentrated. He had to get Lion-O to use the Sword on him. But how did he tell the lion without that demon-thing finding out?

Rising slowly, ignoring the fresh blood that dripped from the remnants of his uniform, he eased his way toward the Lord of the Thundercats.

"If you have any sense of honor," the lion was snarling, "come and face me. Or do you fear a fair fight."

"I’m rather enjoying the spectacle you’re making of yourself," the figure replied. "One by one, you’ve watched your friends perish. One more and you’ll be alone. What will you do then with no one to defend? I look forward to seeing your reaction as well as the decline of your fighting tactics as you succumb to emotion."

Tygra eased closer. Once he mentioned anything about this new plan, that thing out there would hear it. The two would have to be close enough together for Lion-O to immediately use the Sword on Tygra.

"In Cheetara’s memories, you are a bold fighter but if your emotions go to your head, you can act rashly. Such a shame you never got to say goodbye to her."

"Are words your only weapon!?" Lion-O demanded.

"Words are sometimes the most powerful of weapons," the demon responded. "And had your cheetah friend managed to say a few words, things would be very different. She knew exactly how to save your filthy skins, but you were unable to defend her. The last thing she remembers—" The demon paused and suddenly hissed, his gaze swerving to fix itself on Tygra.

The tiger knew when time was up. Apparently, Cheetara remembered passing the information on to Tygra. And now their enemy remembered, too. "LION-O! THROW ME THE SWORD!"

Surprised by the urgency in his friend’s voice, Lion-O acted instinctively and tossed Tygra the Sword. Snagging it out of the air, Tygra turned the blade inward on himself and thrust it towards his heart.

Cold metal tore open his chest in a frenzy of blood and pain, and the tiger prepared for the swift grip of death. But then his eyes bulged open in shock. Wait! That wasn’t the Sword of Omens! The Sword of Omens had been knocked from his hand. The tiger wasn’t holding a sword of any kind! Trying to focus his rapidly dimming vision, Tygra zoned in on the grinning face of a demon. A shining black blade protruded from the middle of the tiger’s rib cage. He felt the sharp edge of the sword rip through tender lung tissue as his legs stumbled and he fell further against the blade. Tygra tried to call out to Lion-O, tell him what he needed to know, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a river of blood. He struggled for air, but thick blood was filling his lungs and he felt the demon thrust the sword downward, ripping apart his diaphragm.

Lion-O watched in stunned silence, unable to comprehend the panorama of events taking place before his eyes. He’d just seen Tygra try to kill himself with the Sword of Omens, and then that enemy had prevented him from going through with it and thrust his own blade into the tiger. What was going on?

Picking up the Sword from where it had landed a few feet away, Lion-O slowly backed away, trying to ignore the nausea building in his stomach. He heard Tygra give a strangled cough and saw him go limp on the end of the sword. The lion felt burning bile rise in the back of his throat. He wanted to turn away, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Tygra’s shocked expression and grimace of pain. With a laugh, the demon pushed the Thundercat off the blade. Tygra collapsed on the ground, blood pouring from the gaping hole in his chest.

Ten thousand thoughts were racing through Lion-O’s grief-stricken mind. Why would Tygra try to commit suicide? Why had that demon stopped him? What had frightened the demon so much when he mentioned Cheetara and then looked at Tygra? What had Cheetara known that would have gotten them out of this reality? And above all was the feeling of failure. He’d failed the Thundercats.

Backing up even more, Lion-O sized up his opponent. The figure was grinning at Lion-O, waiting for some enraged outburst. Lion-O would have been more than willing to give it to him, but something was tickling the back of his mind. Cheetara had known how to get out of here. Before she died, she must have told Tygra. That would be why the demon attacked him so suddenly. But if Tygra knew, why did he try to kill himself? And why did the demon stop him only to destroy him with his own blade?

Replaying the events in his mind, Lion-O tried to solve the puzzle. Cheetara tells Tygra how beat the enemy. The demon realizes it and is about to attack Tygra. Tygra calls for the Sword and tries to kill himself. The demon stops him from going through with it. The demon kills Tygra with that black blade of his. Something in the sequence was wrong. Something—wait! Tygra had tried to kill himself before the demon could do it for him. That was the key!

Lion-O ran a quick train of logic through his head. How did one beat an illusion? If one was up against a tiger, you just disbelieved in it. You convinced yourself it wasn’t real. But if that wasn’t possible, if it was too strong for that, what would happen if you removed your mind from the illusion? And what if you yourself removed your mind rather than the enemy doing it for you with his own imagination.

"Alright, demon," Lion-O growled. "You’ve got what you wanted. You’ve killed all my friends. You’ve killed them in front of me and you’ve saved me for last. Why?"

"According to their memories, this would be what inflicted the most pain on you, my dear cub," the figure chuckled.

Lion-O tried to compose his face into something akin to rage. True, he did feel anger, but he wasn’t about to let Tygra’s sacrifice become a vain one. Rage was an emotion he was not allowing. That would come later when this was all over. "So what now?"

The black-cloaked enemy seemed to relax, apparently feeling it had nothing to fear from Lion-O. "I could let you grieve. Your last friend felt quite a bit of pain when he died, as I just brushed the heart but didn’t actually pierce it. He lived for a while after I pushed him off my sword. He is gone now, though. I felt you should know."

I’ll be you did, Lion-O thought. His palms were sweaty and he was trying not to think about what he was moments away from doing. His heart was pounding so loudly in his chest it was a wonder he could hear what the demon was saying. Well, that could be an advantage. He shouldn’t have any problems finding his heart when the time came. Now if he could only get that thing over there to relax its guard even more… Lion-O had seen how fast it moved and he wasn’t about to die like Tygra had just perished. "Do you fear to fight me now?" he challenged, hoping to convince the demon that he wasn’t thinking about following in Tygra’s footsteps.

It worked, as his enemy relaxed even more and lowered the Sword. "If you think you can take me, cub, by all means do so. I will even let you have the first strike."

A smile twisted Lion-O’s face. I’ll take that first strike, but not the way you want me to, he laughed to himself. And to his surprise, he found he was laughing out loud. It was the laugh reserved for the insane, the laugh of those who’ve reached the end and have nothing left to lose. "You killed Snarf, alone and defenseless. You took down Panthro while he was protecting Cheetara. You sealed Cheetara in a tomb of stone. You tried to drown Tygra. And now they’re both gone." It was almost time. Lion-O got a firmer grip on the Sword’s hilt, knowing if he missed or faltered there wouldn’t be a second chance. "You’ve killed them all!" he shouted. "I am all that remains, but if you think you’re going to have me, think again." He moved the Sword away from his body as if to salute his enemy. "You think you can kill me as you did my friends? Let me tell you this one last thing. The Lord of the Thundercats does not run! The Lord of the Thundercats does not hide! The Lord of the Thundercats does not surrender! And the Lord of the Thundercats will not be killed by the likes of you!" The demon straightened as if he suddenly realized the lion’s intentions, but this time the tables were turned and he was too late. The Sword of Omens, with a growl of protest, forced its way into Lion-O’s chest, barreled through the rib cage, tore through a lung, and lodged in his heart.

Pumyra watched in helpless horror as the Lion-O’s EKG readings flat-lined. "And then there were none," she whispered.

Bengali stared into the approaching dawn and searched for signs of Ma-Mutt, but the dog was gone. Kit and Kat tried to find some kind of trail in the damp grass surrounding the Lair, but their efforts were futile. Snarfer grumbled quietly at Bengali’s side. "We almost had him."

"Yes, we did," the tiger murmured. "But why didn’t he attack us? It was almost as if he wanted to be followed. Did we just do exactly what he wanted us to do?"

"Why would he want us to follow him?" Snarfer asked.

Bengali shook his head. "Find anything kids?" he called down to the Thunderkittens.

Wiley Kit and Kat were now ascending the main stairs. "Not a thing," Kat reported in disgust. "He just vanished."

"Let’s get back to sickbay," Kit suggested wearily. "Let’s see if Lynx-O and Pumyra are still okay."

Bengali stiffened. "That’s it. That’s why Ma-Mutt wanted us to follow him. That must be it. He wanted us away from sickbay."

"Great Jaga, you must be right!" Snarfer exclaimed. "Come on, we gotta get back there and fast!"

"If only Cheetara had gotten to them in time," Lynx-O murmured, placing a comforting hand on Pumyra’s shoulder.

"I guess we’re next," she sighed. "If only there was something I could have done."

"There was nothing," Lynx-O soothed. "We were all helpless. We took the only chance we had and we failed."

"But maybe if we’d gotten to them sooner then—" Pumyra stopped in amazement as readings on all five Thundercats suddenly flared to life. The life support machines automatically disconnected, and five Thunderans surged upward from their beds, each one clutching at chest or stomach.

"You did it!" Lynx-O cheered. "Cheetara, you told them and you did it!"

Tygra, Cheetara, and Lion-O were all coughing in earnest while tearing at their chests, Snarf was heaving for breath and pressing his chest hard against the bed, and Panthro had thrown himself from his bed in his efforts to curl protectively around his stomach.

At the same time, Snarfer, Wiley Kit, Wiley Kat, and Bengali burst back into sickbay. "What is going on in here?" the tiger demanded as he skidded through the door.

"Uncle Osbert!" Snarfer screeched, launching himself at the shaking snarf on the medical bed. The two hit the floor with a thud.

"Snarfer?" Snarf stopped trembling and cautiously felt his chest. "Am I…I’m not…this isn’t…"

"Is everyone okay?" Bengali shouted over the moans and yells.

"It will be in a minute," Pumyra shouted back. "Help me get some sense back into these guys."

Bengali grabbed hold of Panthro’s arm and started talking him back to reality. "Come on, big guy, you’re not dreaming any more. Panthro? Panthro!" Bengali slapped the panther across the face. "Snap out of it, Panthro!"

Cringing, Panthro blinked and looked around. "Bengali? Where…how…what am I doing here?" His hand clutched at his firm stomach and he looked down at his chest in amazement. "What happened? How did I get here?"

"Would you rather be somewhere else?" Pumyra asked. She turned back to a badly shaken cheetah who was just starting to realize where she was. "Come on, Cheetara, it’s okay."

"Pumyra?" Cheetara’s eyes blinked and she stared at a very relieved puma. Looking around, she spotted Lynx-O where he was trying to get Tygra to calm down. "We did it," she murmured breathlessly. "We actually did it."

"When your heart stopped so quickly after I left you, I feared you hadn’t been able to deliver the message," Lynx-O responded. "Tygra, quit struggling!"

Lion-O had calmed down more or less on his own and was being helped off the bed by Kit and Kat. "Looks like I guessed right," he observed. He took a deep breath and shivered. Glancing around the room, his eyes widened. "Wait. They’re—alive? We’re all alive?"

"Look!" Kit exclaimed. "The Sword!"

The Sword of Omens was appearing in the center of the room. Everyone with the exception of Lynx-O and Tygra watched in amazement as the ancient blade shimmered into existence.

The sound of a smack as Lynx-O slapped Tygra back to his senses stole the focus away from the Sword. "That’s all of them," Lynx-O sighed. "And the Sword, too."

"We did it," Cheetara whispered in relief, easing off her bed with Pumyra’s aid. "I can’t believe we made it." Her hand brushed across her stomach and she was clearly favoring one leg.

A still trembling Tygra eased himself off his bed and picked up the Sword of Omens. "How did you know?" he asked Lion-O. The tiger examined the Sword and shuddered, a hand unconsciously straying to his chest. "How did you know what to do? And why am I still alive?"

"I guessed from what you were doing," Lion-O said softly, taking the Sword from the tiger. He, too, seemed uneasy about handling it. "And I have no idea why you’re still alive. I thought that my actions would save only me, as I was the only one left."

"Excuse me for interrupting," Panthro grunted, "but what happened?"

"Let’s talk about it later," Pumyra interrupted. "You’ve all had a rough time and we’re anxious for stories, but I think you could use some sleep."

"NO!" five Thundercats chorused together. Pumyra blinked.

"I think we’re a little too shaken for that," Cheetara explained.

"And I want to know why I’m not dead," Snarf added, still rubbing his chest.

"Because Lion-O was able to defeat Somnolar," Lynx-O explained.

"Was that his name?" Lion-O asked.

"What happened when you…well, when you did what you did to defeat him?" Tygra wondered.

Lion-O shuddered and put the Sword behind him on his bed. "Well, I didn’t experience a lot of pain because I was pretty accurate. It was over quickly. And then I was—floating somewhere and things were always changing around me, but at the same time they weren’t changing. It was…" Lion-O trailed off, at a loss for words. "It wasn’t normal, I can tell you that," he finally continued. "And then it started to become normal around me. And whoever we’d been fighting—"

"Somnolar," Kat said.

Lion-O nodded. "Okay, Somnolar was there but he wasn’t, and I guess that was normal for him except that I was forcing him to be there and he threw me out. He threw everything out. The next thing I knew, I was alive again."

"Just like the scrolls said," Lynx-O murmured.

"What scrolls?" Tygra asked.

There was a pause before Bengali answered. "It’s almost morning, so let me put the Lair back on normal power. Then we can get around to exchanging stories."

"I think there’s some stories I’d rather not share," Cheetara murmured as the white tiger left the room.

Later in the control room after some breakfast whipped up by Snarfer and Pumyra, the Thundercats finished recounting the previous day’s adventures.

"It sounds like you guys didn’t have a good trip," Bengali commented as Lion-O and the others finished a rather cursory version of their experiences.

"We all died," Lion-O murmured. "And it was all very real, too. The pain, the delirium, the manner of death…" He shook his head. "I can assure you that death happens only once in a lifetime for a very good reason."

"There’s one thing I still don’t understand," Tygra mused.

"Only one?" Panthro asked, rubbing his stomach.

Tygra ignored him and continued. "Mumm-Ra. Why did he help us even if Somnolar was his enemy? Surely he could have given the mutants or Lunatacs a weapon that would have defeated Somnolar."

"I think part of the answer lies in what Snarfer, the Thunderkittens, and I found while Lynx-O and Pumyra were playing mind games," Bengali stated.

"Yes, what did you find?" Pumyra asked. "You haven’t told us yet."

"Ma-Mutt."

"Ma-Mutt?" the others chorused.

Bengali nodded. "We found Ma-Mutt and a tipped over medical cart. He took off and we followed him."

"We kind of made a mess when we chased after him, too," Kat admitted. "He was hard to catch. He got away in the end."

"That’s okay," Tygra said. "But I don’t understand how that answers my original question."

"The presence of Ma-Mutt was what clued me in," Bengali responded. "If Ma-Mutt was here, it made sense that Mumm-Ra was somewhere, too. After all, someone had to drop off those plans and someone had to cast an invisibility spell to fool the security cameras. So after all the excitement and after the Lair was turned back onto daytime power, I went looking for Mumm-Ra. I didn’t find him, but I did find a broken window near sickbay and some red material snagged on a bolt in a corner. And after hearing Lynx-O talk about an evil influence opening up Cheetara’s mind, I put it all together. Mumm-Ra didn’t use any power when he sent the scrolls to the Tower of Omens, he didn’t use any power to get himself back home, and he didn’t rescue Ma-Mutt when we took after him. And according to the scrolls, Somnolar usually doesn’t take more than two victims at once. Here he took five. Somehow, Somnolar had a lot more power than he should have and Mumm-Ra was kind of absent in the arcane power department. So what if our friendly neighborhood mummy didn’t have any powers at all? It fits the puzzle. What if those old ghosts of his had shifted their power to Somnolar?"

"If that’s true," Cheetara mused, clutching at her stomach, "then Mumm-Ra didn’t have enough time to wait for Somnolar to take out the mutants. He would have been powerless. He had to act immediately and we were his only weapon."

"Kind of gives me the creeps," Kat said. "I still don’t like the idea of help from Mumm-Ra."

"It worked, didn’t it?" Kit demanded.

"Well yeah, but—"

"Then don’t complain."

"Easy you two," Tygra interrupted. He absently rubbed his chest and glanced down as if to reassure himself that it was indeed whole.

"Well, we should be getting back to the Tower," Pumyra announced. "I’ve got those samples to go over."

"Are you guys going to want any of us to stay here today?" Bengali asked.

"We’re shaken, but I don’t think we’re that shaken," Lion-O laughed. "We’ll get over it."

"But if you want to help with the Tank’s siding, you’re more than welcome to," Panthro added.

Bengali smiled and shook his head. "I’ve been awake for over twenty-four hours. I need a nap."

"Has it really been that long?" Snarf murmured.

"Seems longer," Kit told him.

"Well, we’ll be going now," Lynx-O decided. "Let us know if you need anything."

"Don’t worry about us," Lion-O insisted. His hand unconsciously slid over his chest above his heart. "We’ll be fine."

Bengali and Pumyra both gave him dubious glances, but they didn’t argue. "See you guys later," Snarfer said as he bounced out of the room. "Good to have you back Uncle Snarf!"

"We’re going to go exploring," Wiley Kit announced, standing up with her brother. "Is that okay?"

"Go ahead," Cheetara told them. "Just be careful."

"Aren’t we always?" Kat asked as they left the control room.

"Famous last words," Panthro muttered.

The five remaining Thundercats sat in uncomfortable silence, none of them knowing quite what to do next. "That was something, wasn’t it," Snarf finally said.

"That’s one way of putting it," Lion-O grumbled, brushing his hand against his chest again.

"Eventually, we will have to get some sleep," Cheetara commented.

"I guess so," Panthro agreed reluctantly. Another uncomfortable silence settled over the room.

"Look, we’re all being stupid," Lion-O announced. "It’s over. It wasn’t real. We should be able to learn from it, not be burdened by it."

"But Lion-O, to us it was real," Tygra pointed out. His hand was rubbing his chest slightly and he would cough occasionally, as though trying to clear his lungs of something. "It doesn’t matter if it was only in our heads because what our minds believe is the ultimate reality. That’s one way the tiger clans are able to defeat their enemies. The power of the body is insignificant compared to the power of the mind. If we can get past it enough to learn from it, that’s great. But memories have a way of haunting you throughout your life. And our experience will be more of a memory than a remembered dream."

Yet another uncomfortable silence ensued. Eventually, Panthro rose, rubbing his stomach. "Well, it’s a sure thing we’ll never get over it if we keep dwelling on it. I’m going to play with the Thundertank."

"I’ll get to work on that new Thundrillium blend," Tygra sighed. "If nothing else, it will take my mind off the events of last night."

"Are you going to need some help?" Cheetara asked.

"Help is always welcome."

"What about you Panthro?" Lion-O wondered. "Do you mind if Snarf and I give you a hand with the Thundertank." Snarf nodded hopefully in agreement, his hand clutching the fur on his stomach protectively.

"That’s it, Thundercats," Panthro smiled, though it was a grim smile. "Let’s lose ourselves in work. And by tonight, it will all be something we can laugh at."

Though no one felt like laughing at their adventures as Panthro had predicted, by night the five Thundercats were feeling more like their usual selves. But fear and anxiety still lingered. Sleep didn’t come easily and the night watches turned into long group projects. Eventually, they all managed to find reluctant rest, but their dreams were troubled and they awoke in the morning as tired and worn as they’d been when they’d gone to sleep. Pumyra considered prescribing sedatives for them, but she knew that drugs couldn’t compensate for true sleep. The affected Thundercats would just have to overcome their fears and accept their memories.

But there was one being on Third Earth who slept peacefully. Secure in his sarcophagus with the powers of the Ancient Spirits of Evil flowing around him, Mumm-Ra sighed. Perhaps it was his imagination, perhaps his mind was spanning dimensions, perhaps it was nothing at all, but in his dreams, the mummy watched as Somnolar was cast out from time and space into dimensions where there was no hope of returning. He almost felt a wave of suspicion from the evil spirits, as though they wondered about his involvement, but then it was gone and Mumm-Ra was left to sleep and dream in peace.