27

Everyone looked out over the cliff as they watched the huge army get closer and closer to the mountain. Panthro was trying to get a better guess at their numbers by looking through a scope.

"How could they have found us?!" Lion-O asked.

"Too late to worry about that now." Panthro said, putting the scope down. "But if we move fast, we might be able to slip past them using the same trail as the cat slaves."

"Are you crazy?!" Pumyra turned to him, "Do you want to bring Mumm-Ra right to them?! We didn't free our people just to see them slaughtered!"

"Do you have a better plan?" Lion-O asked her.

"If it's the Sword of Plun-Darr and gauntlet he's after, let's use them to draw his forces into the mines." Pumyra said, "I know its tunnel system better than anyone. It'll give the slaves time to escape."

"If we're caught, Mumm-Ra will have everything he needs to rule Third Earth." Panthro warned her.

"Then let's not get caught." Pumyra said. She turned to Lion-O, "I know it's dangerous, but you owe it to your people…Your majesty." Lion-O was quiet for a moment, and then sighed, nodding. She went over to where the Sword of Plun-Darr was laying and picked it up. It had been wrapped up and covered in leather straps so it would be easier to carry. Lion-O went over and took it from her, putting it on his back.

"Panthro, I want you, Tygra, Cheetara, and Leanne to get to the tank." He said, "Pumyra and I will catch up after we lose them in the mines."

"You mean you, Pumyra, and me." Leanne said. Lion-O turned to her with wide eyes, "If you think I'm letting you do something this dangerous on your own, think again. I'm coming with you."

Lion-O tried to convince Leanne to go with the others, "Leanne—"

"It doesn't matter if you say yes or no," She cut him off, "We don't exactly have time to argue about this right now." Lion-O looked back out at the army, and sighed.

"Fine." He said.

"Are you sure you want to risk this?" Panthro asked, "I don't want your emotions to—"

"I'm sure." Lion-O said firmly. Panthro nodded once and they headed for the entrance to the tunnels. Lion-O pulled out a torch to light their path as they got to the parts of the tunnels where sunlight couldn't shine through. The walls were covered in the red crystals that encompassed the mountain. Some of them were as small the head of a nail, others were as thick as Leanne's head and longer than her torso. She wondered why no one had bothered to mine them instead of the sword. She asked Pumyra about it, and she said that they were worthless red quartz. No one would ever bother mining them.

"Why does it feel like coming back in here was a mistake?" Lion-O asked as they walked through the tunnels.

"Well, if you came for the slaves in the first place, we wouldn't be running for our lives." Pumyra snapped.

"You're never gonna give me a break, are you?" Lion-O asked, narrowing his eyes at her a little.

"You've got a lot to make up for, your majesty." Pumyra replied.

"Oh, this is going to be a long trip." Leanne muttered quietly to herself. She stopped when she saw a purplish glow out of the corner of her eye, and she saw that the sword was shining through the covering that was around it. "…That's not good."

"What's it doing?" Pumyra asked, looking at the sword curiously.

"The sword is connected to Mumm-Ra," Lion-O explained, "He's calling to it." He glared at it over his shoulder, "It's evil. I can feel it. All the death and destruction it took to create it…" He shook his head.

"We can talk about the evil properties of a demon sword later." Leanne said, "If Mumm-Ra's calling to his sword, he probably knows exactly where we are. We need to keep moving." Lion-O nodded and Leanne turned to Pumyra, "If you would continue to show us the way." As an afterthought, she added, "Please."

Pumyra continued walking through the tunnels, and Leanne and Lion-O followed her.


"Hmph." Lucas stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets, glaring at the floor of the temple as he walked through its halls, "Oh, yes. 'Watch the temple.' He says, 'It'll be fun.' He says. Biggest load of rubbish I ever heard in my life!" He knew that wasn't really what Mumm-Ra said, but it made him feel better to blame him for his boredom. He looked around, listening for any sign of anyone who wasn't supposed to be there, but could hear nothing. It seemed he was the only one in the temple. He was completely alone. He looked around the barren, metal hallways, hearing nothing but the hum of the electronics as they powered the building.

"Well, I suppose I could use this time." He said, he walked over to where Mumm-Ra's throne room was and walked in. He reached up, grasping his talisman, "Time to find out Mumm-Ra's real ideals." He walked over to the spot in front of the Well of Souls and sat down, crossing his legs. He closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on his powers, letting them flow through the talisman, and he opened them again, his eyes glowing a bright green, and the talisman floated up from his hand and in front of him. Before him came a vision, taking him back a few hundred years, back to when the temple wasn't a temple, but a headquarters that flew about in space. He could see Mumm-Ra, with three of the stones before him, beside him were two cats, one that reminded him a lot of Lion-O, and the other was a purple-furred one. In between them was one human, with dark hair and brown eyes, that looked remarkably like Leanne.

"With the acquisition of each stone," Mumm-Ra began, "I move one step closer to ever-lasting power. Tell me that I will soon be able to add one more to my collection, commander."

"I've picked up the War Stone's energy signature, and I'm working to pinpoint its location." The commander said. He pressed a few more of the holographic buttons on the computer, and on the grid before them came a picture of a square, red stone with a strange black marking in the middle.

"I am pleased with the way you have handled their recovery, Leo." Mumm-Ra said, "Your skill as a tactician is a credit to your species."

"Thank you, My Lord." Leo said.

"Perhaps, when the universe is mine," Mumm-Ra began, "You shall have a planet of your own to rule. Supervised, of course. You are still just a Cat." Leo nodded, and pressed a few more buttons.

"I have a lock on the coordinates." He said.

"It appears to be located among the militarized population." The female cat said, "They will not give it up willingly."

"Then we will take it from them." Mumm-Ra said, he turned to the three of them, "But if it is casualties you are worried about, you may send in the Lizards first. See that our invasion force is ready. I must speak with the Ancient Spirits immediately."

"At once, My Lord." Leo said. Lucas made sure he kept an eye on them as they walked out into the hallways. Panthera left the two of them to go and speak with a Lieutenant about something.

Once they were a good distance from the door, the Leanne lookalike spoke up. "An entire planet of your own…" She looked up at Leo, "Is that what your soul is worth, Leo?"

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked her.

"I'm talking about the destruction of yet another civilization so he can have his precious stones!" Erica snapped.

Leo quickly shushed her, "I don't like it when you talk this way, Erica. Mumm-Ra needs these stones to bring order to the universe!"

"Then why, in his pursuit of order, has Mumm-Ra only brought chaos and destruction?" Erica snapped.

"This is treason!" Leo hissed, trying not to get any attention drawn to them. "He is our master. Who are we to question him?"

"He is your master, not mine!" Erica snapped, "And if his own soldiers can't stand up to him, then who will?" She stepped closer to him, "Where I come from, Leo, Mumm-Ra would be called a dictator, a tyrant! He takes away people's freedoms, he locks them up and turns him into slaves! And on top of that, he commits planet-wide holocausts, all for the sake his god damned 'order!' He rules by fear! Where I come from, we would already be mounting an army against him."

"Your world and my world are extremely different, Erica." Leo said, he narrowed his eyes at her, "Although, that hasn't stopped you from treating this place like your home."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Erica asked, planting her hands on her hips.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing with Lieutenant Garflin." Leo said, Erica's eyes widened, "It's a miracle that Mumm-Ra hasn't found out about you two, that he hasn't figured it out yet. You're creating a mix of species that was never meant to be done!"

"What I do with Garflin is none of your business!" Erica growled at him.

"It is only by my good graces that Mumm-Ra doesn't know," Leo said, "And unless you stop this insane rebellious talk, he will find out." Erica's eyes narrowed into a glare.

"That's blackmail." She said.

"Blackmail, threats, call it what you like." Leo said, "The union is unnatural in every sense of the word."

"You don't know that." Erica said, "For all we know, our planets had the same evolutionary stages, but things just changed at some point. Instead of only monkeys become intelligent and turning into Neanderthals, it was all animals. Maybe that's what my world was like, and only the humans came out on top."

"And you don't know that either." Leo snapped, "For all you know, you could be committing bestiality!"

"That's sick!"

"You're sick!"

"You're a coward! A heartless, mindless cowardly drone blindly following every order he gets!" Leo growled deep in his throat.

"And you don't belong here! None of your kind belongs here!" Erica froze at his words. "The sooner you figure out how to reverse the spell that brought you here, the better!" He turned and stormed off from her. She let out an angry noise that a lot of girls made when they were frustrated, which sounded something like a mix of a scream and a groan.

"What Panthera sees in someone like you, I will never know!" She shouted at him, before turning and storming down the opposite way.

The glow from the talisman faded for a moment, and Lucas found himself back in the present time. He looked down at the talisman, then at the room. He picked it back up and focused again, going back to the moment where Leo, Panthera, and Erica separated from Mumm-Ra, and instead remained in the room to watch Mumm-Ra speaking with the Ancient Spirits.

The room had darkened significantly from when the others were inside. Mumm-Ra was kneeling before the four statues that were erected around the Well of Souls.

"The Book of Omens has finally revealed the location of the War Stone, my masters." Mumm-Ra said. The eyes of the statues lit up in a red color, and their voices shot a horrible shiver down Lucas's spine.

"The collection of the stones is but one of your tasks, our son." They said, "You must first oversee the creation of the weapon. One forged from the blood of a star, a blade to channel the stones' power."

"Show me this star, and I will extinguish it!" Mumm-Ra said, standing up before his masters.

"It burns at the center of a galaxy called Plun-Darr." The Ancient Spirits said, a picture of the galaxy coming up on a screen. Mumm-Ra nodded, and the room became lighter again, easier to see. Mumm-Ra left in order to prepare a trip to the galaxy of Plun-Darr.

Lucas still remained, watching the events take place before him as they did so many years ago.


Leanne and Lion-O continued to follow behind Pumyra as they moved through the darkened tunnels.

"These tunnels all look the same," Lion-O said, "You sure you know where you're going?"

"Perhaps you should lead us out, your majesty." Pumyra said, "After all, you've done such a great job of that so far."

Lion-O scowled and Leanne sighed. They had been arguing like this for a while, with Pumyra making the occasional snap about Lion-O, and him making the occasional snap back.

"Guys, come on." Leanne said, "We just need to focus on staying ahead of Mumm-Ra's generals. So can we please stop the mindless bickering for five minutes?"

"I will if she will." Lion-O said, Pumyra scoffed.

Suddenly, the wall of the tunnel exploded, letting in a huge cloud of smoke, as well as some sunlight. When the smoke cleared, they saw a grinning Kanar waiting for them with a small platoon of lizard soldiers.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty." He called to them, he glanced over at Lion-O, seeing the glowing blade strapped to his back. He wagged his finger mockingly at him, "Ah-ah-ah. That sword doesn't belong to you."

"Maybe not," Lion-O said, he pulled out the Sword of Omens, "But this one does."

Kanar let a wide grin come onto his face, "You're like a toy that never breaks." He let out his signature maniacal laugh and launched himself towards him, "I love it!" Once Kanar was fighting with Lion-O, the lizards opened fire on Leanne and Pumyra. Leanne did her best to dodge the plasma shots, and she blew back any that were coming towards her. She used her powers to knock a few of them back. Pumyra wasn't having any trouble either, easily firing projectiles straight at the lizards. After a minute of straight fighting, Lion-O called them over to him, and they both stood on either side.

"Stay close." He said, he lifted up his sword and a red beam shot out of the Eye of Thundera, the beam travelling along the side of the tunnel wall, and forcing back the soldiers and Kanar in order to avoid getting crushed by the rocks that came tumbling down.

"Are you trying to kill us?!" Pumyra shouted at him as the walls began to crumble.

"Trust me!" Lion-O shouted back. As some of the boulders above them began to fall, Lion-O lifted up his gauntlet, the Spirit Stone creating a barrier around them, protecting them from the rocks as they tumbled off harmlessly to the side. The lizards were crushed underneath the rocks, some of them still alive. Kanar had been knocked unconscious. "That'll slow them down, but we have to keep moving." Pumyra nodded in agreement, "As long as we have this sword, Mumm-Ra can find us."

"Well, then let's get a move on!" Leanne said, running down a tunnel.

"Wrong way!" Pumyra shouted at her, and she skidded to a halt and ran back over to her and Lion-O, following them down another tunnel.

"I knew that." She said when she caught up to them.


Lucas still sat in his meditative state as he watched Mumm-Ra bring Leo, Panthera, and Erica into the room as they prepared to destroy the star in the galaxy of Plun-Darr.

"You are privileged to witness the next step towards the domination of the universe." Mumm-Ra said to them, "Today, from the death of a star, the ultimate weapon shall be born."

"I feel it is my duty to advise you, My Lord," Panthera said, stepping forward, "That the star of Plun-Darr supports ten planets. Three of which contain intelligent life."

"I assure you, they will not be missed by anyone of consequence." Mumm-Ra said.

"You can't just destroy them!" Panthera exclaimed, "Billions will die!" Mumm-Ra lifted his hand, and a blast of purple lightning shot out of his palm and threw Panthera back. Erica was about to go to her side, but Leo stopped her. She glared at him, but stepped back as he wanted. "…Forgive me, My Lord. I-I spoke without thinking."

"A major failing of your species." Mumm-Ra said.

"She may have a point, My Lord." Leo said, "Perhaps there is another star in another system. Sparing this galaxy could increase the reach of your empire."

"It must be this galaxy!" Mumm-Ra replied, "All things have a destiny, Leo. And this star's is to perish so that I may forge the sword and bring about order to the universe. Emotion is a weakness that has no place in mastering chaos."

"…Of course." Leo said.

"It's time to launch the satellite." As Mumm-Ra commanded it, a black, diamond shaped satellite shot out the side of the ship. It flew forward for a good minute, before getting sucked into what Lucas had to guess was a worm hole, because no sooner did it go inside the inter-dimensional entrance did it appear on the screen that showed the galaxy of Plun-Darr. It flew onward until it reached the star. When it made contact, the star began to darken and shrink, before expanding rapidly, exploding in a bright display that was in a way both beautiful and mournful, as they could see the remains of some of the destroyed planets. Once the explosion had passed, and that area of space was calm, they saw the remnants of the star, which was a strange, silvery liquid substance that floated aimlessly in the spot where the star had been. The satellite flew forward and collected the remains, sealing it inside a container, and then it flew back to the path from which it had come, returning to the ship.

Once it was brought in, Mumm-Ra commanded for the blacksmith to be brought forth. He arrived only a few moments later, holding a large hammer in the shape of a lion's head. The silvery substance was placed before him, and the eyes of the Ancient Spirit statues lit up again, but this time, they all shot a red lightning at the blacksmith, but it didn't seem to cause him any pain. He seemed to absorb the lightning, and once it was done, his eyes were blazing red. He took his hammer and pounded away again and again at the silvery substance. After a good half-hour of non-stop pounding, the Sword of Plun-Darr was made, as well as its gauntlet. Once it was finished, the blacksmith was dismissed, and Mumm-Ra began reciting words that Lucas didn't recognize. They seemed to be words of magic, probably of the dark kind, that brought the sword and gauntlet over to him, and placed the three stones into the gauntlet.

"It is done." Mumm-Ra said, holding the sword in his hand and wearing the gauntlet. He turned to the others, "Never forget, Leo. True power is not given, but taken!" And with that, Mumm-Ra left the room, Erica glaring at his back the entire time.

"This can't be the way…" Leo muttered once he was gone.


Leanne and Lion-O were still running through the tunnels after Pumyra.

"At last!" She breathed in relief as they came towards the end of a tunnel, "The way out is just through here!" They followed her through towards a strange natural bridge that was made entirely of the crystals that stuck out of the walls and through the mountain. Leanne was amazed that such a thing could form, but given that they were on the run, she wouldn't have time to admire it, and she kept following Pumyra.

When they reached the middle of the bridge, they stopped when they saw Atticus and a platoon of lizard soldiers pointing guns at them at the end of the bridge.

"It was so nice of you to light the way for us." Atticus said with a grin.

There was a hissing noise, and they all looked back to see Slithe and his soldiers, all preparing their own weapons. The three of them moved so they would be back-to-back on the crystal bridge as they approached them. "Hand it to me while you're still alive, or I'll take it from you when you're dead!" Atticus ordered.

"You want it?" Lion-O asked, he reached up and grabbed the sword, taking it from the gauntlet and plunging it into the crystal, the purple glow leaving it once it touched the red stone. Atticus's eyes went wide as he saw the delicate crystal starting to crack.

"You're crazier than Kanar!" He shouted. The bridge crumbled, and everyone who happened to be on it began to fall into the deep pit below. Leanne concentrated, and she shot a plume of fire from her feet, propelling her towards the wall, where she grabbed onto one of the larger crystals and hung on for dear life. She saw Lion-O and Pumyra just a little ways away. Lion-O had used the claw in his gauntlet to shoot out and wrap onto one of the crystals, and he held onto Pumyra with one arm.

"Now I know you're trying to kill us!" Pumyra snapped at him.

"Then why do I keep saving you?" Lion-O snapped back. He looked up and saw Leanne pushing her upper body onto the crystal, trying to maneuver herself so she would be able to sit on it. "You okay, Leanne?"

She pushed up so that her torso was lying on top of the crystal and she swung her leg over so she was straddling it. She sent him a thumbs-up, "I'm good!" She pushed herself up so she could stand. "I'll make us some stairs or something." Leanne waved her hand, and she watched as a mixed group of red crystals and stone moved out from the walls, creating a pathway up to the top of the cliff. They traveled up and started running through the tunnel towards the exit, when the Sword of Plun-Darr lit up again, and Lion-O and Leanne stopped running.

"We can't outrun them." Lion-O said.

"At this rate, we'll be meeting up with them at the exit." Leanne sighed, rubbing her temples, "This is getting more hopeless by the minute."

"Well, let's fix that." Pumyra said, she looked to Lion-O, "We each need to take a sword and separate. It'll throw them off."

Lion-O shook his head, "Panthro would tell me that's a terrible idea."

"What does your gut tell you?" Pumyra asked. Lion-O looked at the Sword of Plun-Darr, and he took it off his back and handed it to her.

"Take it and run." He told her, "I'll meet you with the others."

"I'm going with you." Leanne said, Pumyra turned to her in surprise, "No offense, Pumyra, but we only met you yesterday. I don't trust you with something as powerful as the Sword of Plun-Darr."

"Leanne—" Lion-O was cut off.

"It's… fine." Pumyra said hesitantly, eying Leanne, "Let her come with me. I don't see a problem." She shouldered the sword and Lion-O looked between the two of them and sighed.

"Fine." He said. Leanne and Pumyra took off going back the way they had come, while Lion-O headed for the exit. He didn't get very far when he heard the screams of both Pumyra and Leanne. A horrible, gut wrenching fear settled in his gut at the sound of it. He immediately came to a halt and looked back at the entrance to the tunnel he had come from. "Leanne!" He ran back towards the other tunnel, "Pumyra!" He went to the end of the tunnel, and managed to stop himself before he fell into the deep abyss below. He looked and saw Leanne and Pumyra tied to one of the red crystals with Mumm-Ra's wrappings. The demon himself stood off just a little bit away from them, standing at the other end of the broken bridge. He let out a small laugh.

"Look what I found, Lion-O," He said, holding up the Sword of Plun-Darr. Lion-O's eyes went wide. No!

"Run!" Pumyra shouted, "Don't let him get the Sword of Omens, too!" Mumm-Ra lifted his hand, and Leanne instinctively flinched at the sight of it. A purple shot of lighting came out of his wrapped palm and hit Pumyra. She screamed at the feeling of it, and when it stopped, she let out a moan, on the edge of unconsciousness.

"Quiet, my dear." Mumm-Ra said, "We're talking." He turned to Lion-O, "But she's right. You should run."

"We'll be fine!" Leanne shouted at him, "Just go!"

"There's not a chance I'm leaving you with a monster like him!" Lion-O shouted at her.

"Generations pass, and still your species is weakened by emotion." Mumm-Ra said, he held up the sword, "This is power, Lion-O. This is life!" Mumm-Ra used the sword as a catalyst to strengthen the power of his magic as he shot another lightning bolt at Lion-O, twice as strong as the one he used on Pumyra. Lion-O blocked it with the Sword of Omens, and he did his best to hold his ground against the powerful blast, but it became too much, and he ended up having the sword knocked right out of his hands, and down past some of the crystals on the edge of the cliff. Mumm-Ra laughed.

"With this weapon, nothing in the universe can stop me!" He said.

Leanne looked down at the cliff with worried eyes, "Oh no…"


Lucas watched as Erica walked down the halls of the ship, a few papers bearing unique rune circles in her hands. As she passed by one of the doorways, Leo stepped out from where he had been and stopped her with a hand on her arm. She regarded him with a glare.

"What do you want, Commander?" She asked, spitting out his title.

"You were right, Erica." Leo said, "Mumm-Ra's not the leader I thought he was."

"Too late for regrets now." Erica scoffed, "He has the sword now, and we won't be able to stop him."

"Mumm-Ra plans to put the War Stone in the sword so he can direct its power." Leo said, "What if we got to it first?"

"And then what?" Erica asked, "We can't destroy it, and we have no way to harness its power."

"We could. If we had our own sword." Leo said. Erica paused for a moment, carefully eying him, then let a small smile come onto her face.

"I'm listening." She said. Leo smiled and brought her closer, making sure that no one was coming down the hallway before he pulled her into the arch he had been hiding in and began to whisper his plan to her.

"When Mumm-Ra made the Sword of Plun-Darr, there were plenty of left over pieces of the star from the blacksmith's work." He began, "If we could get our hands on it, and convince the blacksmith to make a sword for us, we should be able to compete with Mumm-Ra." Erica nodded, considering his plan.

"Good, good…" She muttered, "I just have one problem with it."

"What's that?" Leo asked.

"I want in on taking him down." Erica said, she held up her wrist, which bore a brown bracelet with a single sapphire in the shape of a square. "And this stone offers my family bloodline a lot of power, but not nearly as much as the War Stone would."

Leo sighed, "You want something made for you as well, don't you?" He asked.

"Just something small." She said, "A little necklace will be fine, something so I can hold my own piece of the War Stone. It won't be as strong as the sword you plan to make, but it will make me ten times stronger than I am now."

Leo thought for a moment, "If we use all of the metal sparingly, we might be able to make the necklace, but the sword comes first. If nothing can be made from any left-over metals, then you're going to have to deal with that."

"Fine." Erica said. She held out her hand, and Lion-O shook it. "So, how are we going to get our hands on the metals?"

"I'm going to go talk to the rats on clean-up crew." Lion-O said, "I'll make them give the pieces of metal to me, and you need to go find Lieutenant Garflin, and tell him what's happening."

"You think he'll support us?" She asked him.

"I know Panthera will, I already spoke to her. She's gone to convince the blacksmith to make the sword." Leo said, "Whether or not Garflin does is your business." Erica nodded.

"I'll do what I can to convince him if he says no." She promised. Leo nodded and he walked towards the place where the rats were cleaning up and she went down the opposite way, heading down to a specific room. She rapped her knuckles on the metal door, and it slid open for her. On the other side was a grey tabby cat, who smiled at the sight of her. "Hello, darling." She kissed his cheek, "Mind if I come in?"

"Please do." He said, stepping aside to let her into his room, the door slid shut behind her with a hiss, and she walked around the room, sitting down on his bed. "I didn't think I'd see you today." The lieutenant began undoing the top of his suit, "You were so angry with the commander, I didn't think you'd be in the mood."

"Well, you always manage to get me in the mood no matter what I'm feeling like before." She said, the lieutenant let a small chuckle bubble out of his throat before he sat down beside her on the bed. He leaned in to kiss her, and she stopped him with a hand on his lips, "But, that's not why I'm here, Garflin." He sighed.

"I should have known." He said, "What's the matter? Did you come here to talk?"

"Well… yes and no." Erica said, Garflin looked at her interestedly, intrigued by her answer, "It's… the commander and I have reconciled… and we're actually planning a coup against Mumm-Ra." Garflin's eyes went wide, and he stood up from the bed, looking at her in disbelief.

"You… You can't be serious." He said, Erica shook her head, showing him she was serious, "Erica you can't! This is treason!"

"You can't honestly tell me that you're happy with the way things are!" Erica said to him. "You're just as terrified of Mumm-Ra as the animals you beat!"

"I don't beat them." Garflin said firmly, "You know that I've never once raised my hand to any of them!"

"You still command them around like slaves, it's no better." Erica said.

"Erica, this is… completely insane!" Garflin said, "No one can stand up against him now! Not when he has that blasted blade!"

"That's why we're working to make our own." Erica said, she stood up and went over to him, "And I'm not just doing this for the animals. I'm doing this for us, too."

"How does this work for us?" He asked her. Erica reached out and took his hands in hers.

"You said you wanted us to be together, and I want that, too." She said, "But if you want me to be happy, I think this world needs some changing." She linked her fingers with his, both of them staring deeply into the other's eyes, "I want a place where we can be together, and be happy. A peaceful place, where we can raise a family together." Garflin's eyes widened for a moment, and then he smiled gently and reached out, putting one hand on the side of her face.

"A family? Erica, do you really mean that?" He asked.

"Yes, I want to have a family with you, Garflin." She said, "I want to have your children. And even when I do work out the spell to get me home, it'll only be to grab a few things and say goodbye. After that, I'll come straight back to you." Garflin embraced her tightly.

"You don't know how happy you've just made me, Erica." He said, he kissed her cheek, and she smiled.

"So, you'll help us?" Erica asked. Garflin's smile fell and he looked at her for a moment, then nodded.

"It's probably one of the dumbest ideas we've ever had, but I'll do it." He said, Erica smiled and put a quick kiss on his lips.

"Thank you." She said.

"Yes, yes, and now that we're all happy and satisfied, can we have some fun now?" Garflin asked, putting his hands around her hips and pulling her in. She giggled at him.

"Maybe later, I've got some work to do." Erica said, "But I promise I'll come back tonight." She kissed him again, and Lucas felt a little nauseous at the sight of it.

The glow from the talisman faded again, and Lucas found himself back in the present time. He picked up the talisman focused again, going back to the moment where Leo and Erica separated, and he watched as Leo was walking down the hall, a small container carrying the pieces of left-over metal from the sword of Plun-Darr.

"What do you have there, Leo?" A voice asked, and he froze, turning around to see Mumm-Ra approach him, coming down from above using his leathery wings.

"Just… doing some housekeeping, My Lord." He said, turning to him.

"Did I not ask this of the rats?" Mumm-Ra asked pointedly. Leo smiled nervously.

"Yes, but I… could not leave such an important task in their hands." He said.

Mumm-Ra frowned, "You seem to be losing your focus." He narrowed his eyes, "I'm worried you're letting your emotions get the best of you."

"Of course not, My Lord." Leo said, bowing his head to Mumm-Ra, no longer smiling.

"Good." Mumm-Ra said, "I would hate to have to replace you." He turned and walked away, opposite the direction Leo was going. Once he was gone, the lion let out a sigh of relief, and continued on his path.

He headed down into a smaller part of the temple, going through a few pipe lines to get to a hidden area where Panthera, Erica, Garflin, and the dark-eyed blacksmith from before waited for him.

"What took so long?" Panthera asked him.

"Don't ask." Leo replied as he put the container on the table. "Did you do your part?"

"The blacksmith has agreed to forge us a sword." Panthera said. Leo looked to the blacksmith, and he nodded once.

"You understand the consequences, should Mumm-Ra uncover our plan." Leo looked to him, and he nodded again. He looked down at the container with the metals, "This is our one chance we have to defeat him."

"That's not a whole lot of metal to work with." Erica said with a grimace.

"It won't be as big as the Sword of Plun-Darr." Garflin said, looking at it.

"As long as it's large enough to hold the War Stone." Leo said.

"And if you could," Erica began, speaking to the blacksmith, "If you have enough metal leftover to make a small necklace for me, I'd be very grateful. Something large enough to hold a small piece of the War Stone, to amplify my power." The blacksmith nodded again and reached for the container, opening it.


Lion-O moved through the crystals as deftly as he could, going to where the Sword of Omens lay on another one. He reached for it to the best that he could, and he was about to touch it, when Mumm-Ra's sword blasted away the crystal it was resting on, causing it to fall even further.

"That piece of scrap metal is no match for the Sword of Plun-Darr." Mumm-Ra said, "And neither are you!" He raised up his hands, "Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decayed form into Mumm-Ra! The ever-living!" Mumm-Ra once more turned into his true form, and he shot another blast at Lion-O. He dodged it and held up his gauntlet, the Spirit Stone giving him a shield to block the blasts.

As the battle went on, Leanne struggled against the bindings she and Pumyra were trapped in. She looked over when she saw the human girl squirming around. "What are you doing?" Pumyra asked.

"Trying to get out of this thing and help Lion-O." Leanne said, she let out a groan of frustration, pushing her legs against the crystal, before releasing them with a grunt. "If I could just move my arms, I might be able to burn us out of these."

"If you did, we'd plummet to our death!" Pumyra said to her, Leanne scowled at her.

"Falling and finding a place to hang onto is better than just sitting here watching Lion-O get his butt handed to him!" She said. She did her best to push out of the bindings but it was no good.

Meanwhile, below, the blast from Mumm-Ra's sword had been reflected off the shield made by the Spirit Stone and went through the mountain, creating a hole to the world outside. The entire place shook from the blow, sending much debris down from above. Mumm-Ra stopped to guard himself from the debris, and Lion-O took this chance to get up and grab the Sword of Omens. He swung the sword, lengthening it, "Thunder." He swung it again, "Thunder!" He swung it a third time, "Thunder!" He held the sword, now-blazing with lightning, in front of him, "ThunderCats! Ho!" Mumm-Ra looked out to find his opponent, but instead saw only his many reflections in the crystals that surrounded him. In his show of power, Lion-O had seemed to sharpen the edges of the natural crystals, turning them into red mirrors. Mumm-Ra snarled at the sight of so many Lion-Os.

"Your ancestor thought he could beat me as well." Mumm-Ra said, "I'm still here! Where is he?!"

"You're looking at him!" Lion-O shouted.

Mumm-Ra let out a roar and glided down to where Lion-O was reflected in one of the crystals and destroyed it. The power of his blow traveled up through the inner mountain wall, causing another few holes to be made in the side of the mountain. Mumm-Ra looked around, searching for his enemy, but only saw one of the reflections getting larger as Lion-O ran toward him. Just as he figured out where he was, Lion-O came up and knocked the Sword of Plun-Darr out of his hands. The sword went flying up into the air, landing on one of the red crystals, far from Mumm-Ra's reach. Immediately, Lion-O began to go after it, not realizing that Mumm-Ra wasn't doing the same, heading back to where Pumyra and Leanne were still tied up.

Just before Lion-O could reach the blade, Mumm-Ra's voice reached him, "Not so fast, Lion-O." He looked back to see Mumm-Ra wore his gauntlet, pointing it at where Leanne and Pumyra were. "You can't have both the sword and the girls. Will you be the first of your species to choose power over emotion?" He aimed his gauntlet at them, and fired a blast at the base of the crystal. Leanne and Pumyra let out a yelp as the crystal tipped dangerously forward, showing them the dark expanse they would be falling in, should the crystal move again. Leanne's eyes were wide in fear and she began to take in a deep breath, preparing to use some of her wind abilities to try and get her and Pumyra out of this. Mumm-Ra shot at the crystal again, and it was released from its precarious balancing point on the cliff and began to fall. Leanne blew out the breath she had been holding, and put the wind against the bindings. The wind she made was powerful enough to break through them, and wound her stomach a little, but once she was free, she grabbed Pumyra and blasted her towards the wall of the cliff, where Lion-O was waiting to catch her. She propelled herself forward towards the cliff and landed just a little ways away from the two of them. When Leanne had thrown her forward, she had hit her head on one of the rocks, so she was out of it for the moment. Lion-O and Leanne looked up to see Mumm-Ra yanking the Sword of Plun-Darr out of the crystal where it had landed. "I didn't think so."

Light began to come in from the outside, and Mumm-Ra let out a strange noise that sounded something like a monstrous shriek mixed with a hiss, and he blasted a new hole in the mountain opposite the one where the light was coming from, and he flew away from them, shouting, "We will meet again! Soon!"

Lion-O lay Pumyra down on the ground in the sunlight, and her eyes fluttered open to see him. "…The Sword of Plun-Darr…" She murmured, wondering what had happened to it.

"I've lost it, and with it, maybe everything we've been fighting for." Lion-O said, he scowled, "All because of my emotions…"

"No, your emotions are what will make you a great king." Pumyra said, "A king… I would follow anywhere." Lion-O looked at her with wide eyes, as did Leanne. "Even after the way I've treated you, you've saved me again and again. I don't deserve your compassion."

"After all you've been through, you deserve more." Lion-O said.

"Don't get mushy on me… your majesty." Pumyra said, she hesitated at his title, as if saying it seemed strange. Lion-O picked up on this and smiled.

"Call me Lion-O." He said.

Pumyra returned his smile and reached up, placing her hand on his cheek, "Lion-O." He smiled at the kind gesture, and he happened to glance up at Leanne. She met his eyes, and she looked away from him awkwardly, and he frowned. He reached up and took Pumyra's hand, placing it on her stomach.

"Are you badly injured?" He asked, Pumyra shook her head.

"Nothing more than a few scrapes." She said, "I've endured worse." Lion-O nodded and helped her to stand up. They looked over at Leanne, who didn't meet either of their eyes.

"Let's… hurry and get back to the others." Leanne said, and she started back up the cliff, heading to the exit. Pumyra and Lion-O went up with her, and Pumyra led them out of the tunnel relatively quickly. At the end of the tunnel, they saw Panthro and the others waiting for them. As they stepped into the sunlight, they all flinched a little and squinted, their eyes adjusting to the change in brightness. They saw that the three of them had returned a little scraped up, and without the sword, and worry set into their faces.

"Mumm-Ra has the sword of Plun-Darr." Lion-O said as he approached them, confirming their fears.

"Then we'd better make sure we find that next stone first." Panthro said.

Lion-O nodded, "The balance has shifted. We're looking at a whole new war."


Lucas kept watching the past as Leo and Erica, and all the other animals rose up to defeat Mumm-Ra, and how they came to be on Third Earth. When he had seen enough, he stopped, and the talisman fell to the floor before him. He still sat with his legs crossed as he leaned forward, running his fingers through his bleached hair. His green eyes were wide as he tried to comprehend all that he had seen.

He knew that Mumm-Ra wasn't exactly the most humorous guy, always serious. The guy hardly ever cracked a smile, much less a joke. But he didn't think that his entire empire was set up on the idea that emotion was useless. Emotions were what kept him going, they were why he was here now, on Third Earth, looking for a power source he could use and take back home with him. Mumm-Ra had promised him the means to get what he needed, so he could return home and help his cousin Elizabeth.

…But was this really the side of the war he wanted to be on? The side that causes the destruction of homes, planets, stars, and lives all for the sake of order?

He groaned and ran his hands down his face. This wasn't something he wanted to think about, but what else was there to do when the temple was completely empty?

He was almost thankful when he heard the oncoming approach of the soldiers and opened the doors to let them in. Most of the army was unscathed, so there weren't any problems that needed to be dealt with. He bowed in front of Mumm-Ra upon his entrance, seeing that he was in a much more intimidating form than before, and he carried with him a dark sword and gauntlet. It seemed the mission to retrieve it was a success.

"Did all go well, Lucas?" He asked him.

"Yes, My Lord." Lucas said, "The temple was completely empty. There were no problems." Mumm-Ra let out a hum of what Lucas assumed was approval, or maybe it was just a hum, and he walked by him. "Sir, if I may," Mumm-Ra looked back at him, "In our bargain… You said I would get all the power I would ever need."

"Yes, and what of it?" Mumm-Ra asked.

"Well… it's just…" Lucas hesitated, "When and how exactly am I going to get it?"

Mumm-Ra let out another hum, "It seems the human race needs to understand the concept of patience."

"I don't mean to seem ungrateful, or anything." Lucas said quickly, "I'm just… Well… Where I come from, there are certain laws that follow magic, and one of them is that you can't take someone else's power as your own. It's dark magic, and it's forbidden."

"We are not where you come from." Mumm-Ra said, "Your laws do not apply here."

"But I—"

"You will receive the girl soon enough, and when you do, take as much of her power as you like." Mumm-Ra said, he turned back around, "I have business that must be attended to. We will not discuss this again."

"…Yes, My Lord." Lucas said. Mumm-Ra walked on, leaving the boy there to contemplate all that he had seen. He looked down at the talisman in his hand, wondering if this was all really worth it. Elizabeth was certainly worth it, there was no doubt about that, but he wondered if it was really worth the price of his soul to fight in a war he was never meant to be part of.


Tada! New chapter!

Also, this only recently occurred to me, but have I been mispelling Kanar and Atticus's names? Because I saw that the pages on ThunderCats wiki spelled their names as Kaynar and Addicus. If I got it wrong, I'll be sure to correct my mistakes. Not now, but... eventually...when I have the time...

Okay, it'll be a while before I fix it, but I will fix it eventually!