One day, Rikki and Avíá were together with Bahaxur, Shujaa, and Medalíana. "Want me to go get us some mice?" Avíá asked Rikki. "Actually, I think I'll come with you. I need to stretch my legs." he said, heading out with her. They came across a group of mice and were about to attack then when one of them , turning and noticing the creeping mongooses, cried out "It's not fair! Escaping from that cobra to be eaten by mongooses!" "Cobra?" said Rikki. "Yeah. The black thing that hisses and has fangs and that ate my sister!" squeaked a mouse sarcastically. "Nearby?" asked Avíá. "Yes. What's it to you? Looking for something else to eat after you're done with us?" squeaked the mouse. "If there's a cobra nearby, we need to stop them from finding our group." said Rikki. "Why should we help a mouse-killer?" squeaked the mouse. "Because we also are snake-killers. We're more interested in killing Nagasta's minions[1] than mice." said Avíá. "'However, just as you please. We'll continue with our meal then, shall we? We haven't eaten all day." "Point taken." said the mouse. "She's nearby. About half a mile northeast of here. That wicked Ragiva." "Ragiva?" said Rikki. "You know her?" said the mouse. "Nagasta's daughter." said Rikki. "It was she and Kinsta who tried to attack the human family. Also, she was one of the one's who killed Avíá's family." Rikki and Avíá followed the mouse in silence and come near to Ragiva. Ragiva spotted Avíá and moved toward her. "And what are you doing out here, young one?" she hissed. Avíá's eyes suddenly turned bright red. "You! You killed my family! You're one of the ones who did it!" she said angrily. "What are you talking about?" hissed Ragiva angrily. "You killed my parents and my brother and sister but you couldn't find me! You dared to call them 'stupid mongooses'! I have an account to settle with you!" she said. "Oh! You're Avíá-tía-tárá, the friend of that infernal[2] Rikki!" said Ragiva. "I'll deal with you myself!" snarled Avíá. "Avíá, no!" said Rikki. "Ah, talk of the devil! There he is now!" said Ragiva. "No Rikki. I want to show her what a 'stupid mongoose' can do!" said Avíá. The two began fighting and neither seemed to be winning. Rikki was about to join Avíá when three cobras, two vipers, and a dusty brown snakeling came toward him. One of the vipers and the dusty brown snakeling were about to join Ragiva but then Rikki charged at them, causing them to all come after him instead.
Avíá and Ragiva fought very fiercely. It seemed that each was likely to kill the other. "I'm going to enjoy telling your boyfriend how I killed you, just like I killed your family!" hissed Ragiva. "I enjoyed killing your sister. She was so stupid to fight us." "Those who kill the innocent will sooner or later be killed themselves!" said Avíá, her fury mounting. She and Avíá continued to fight, and Avíá was driven back against a rock wall. "At last I can finish you, just like I did your sister. And after you're dead, I'll kill your boyfriend!" hissed Ragiva. "Never!" screamed Avíá, suddenly gaining a burst of energy and leaping at Ragiva.
"You fight well. It's such a pity you joined Rikki-tikki. You'd have made a great Dark Mongoose." said Ragiva. "Your side killed my family. I'll never join you!" said Avíá. "You want to kill me, don't you?" laughed Ragiva. "I'd most certainly like to be the one to kill you." said Avíá. "Yes, Mother would be pleased with you, enemy though you are. It seems you're great at repaying deeds done against you and your family. You've done quite a great job of getting revenge." said Ragiva. "I'm nothing like Nagasta! She will harm anyone in her way. Even the innocent. It wasn't even the people who killed Nag and Nagaina. It was Rikki-tikki." said Avíá. "As if Rikki-tikki-tavi could have killed them. But it matters little. The less humans the better. And Rikki-tikki-tavi will soon be dead all the same. I'll settle him once I'm done with you." said Ragiva. "You'll do no such thing!" said Avíá, jumping back several feet to avoid Ragiva's fangs. "Poor Avíá.-tía-tárá. All alone. Abandoned by Rikki-tikki." taunted Ragiva. "He didn't abandon me; he went to get the others. Also, he drew away your pals. Anyway, I've already told him I'll deal with you myself." said Avíá.
Ragiva dodged her, though just barely. "You've killed your last mongoose!" said Avíá. "I'm going to kill Rikki-tikki and his whole family, just like I did with yours and I'll do with you!" said Ragiva. Avíá, extremely angry, leapt at Ragiva and struck her, breaking her spine and killing her. "You'll never, ever be killing any mongooses again!" said Avíá, eating Ragiva from the tail up. "You've destroyed your last family! Arda is avenged!"
Rikki returned, carrying a dead viper in his mouth. "I've gotten three of them and the lions killed the other two. Where's Ragiva?" he said. "She's gone away, and she's never coming back! Killing a snake makes one quite hungry." grinned Avíá, licking her lips. "Nagasta will be furious!" said Rikki, grinning as well. "I told you that you could survive against Nagasta's family."
"So how many lions did we get?" said Avíá. "About half of the pride. Many of the other half are too frightened to oppose Kíkatili but certainly don't have any love for him either." said Rikki. "A viper has spotted us and has gone back to Kíkatili! He managed to get away!" yelled Bahaxur. "Come on, we don't have much time!" said Rikki.
'What news do you bring? Did you find the traitors?" said Karistan. "Yes. There are many lions with them!" said a viper. "What?!" said Kíkatili. "Bahaxur and, er.., He Who We Shall Not Name, are behind this!" said the viper. "Where's Ragiva?" said Nagasta. "Er….about her…uh….." said the viper nervously. "What happened?!" said Nagasta angrily. "Well, she…er…got eaten by Her. She's almost as dangerous as He is! He and the lions killed most of the others! We barely…." the viper said, suddenly being cut off as Kíkatili clawed off his head. "Thank you Kíkatili." said Nagasta. "Anytime." said Kíkatili. "They'll pay for this!" Nagasta hissed. "Bring out the faithful! We'll crush this rebellion!" said Apakarmi.
Rikki and Avíá stood next to Bahaxur and Shujaa at the head of the procession. Ahead of them loomed a group of lions, led by Kíkatili and Apakarmi. "So you think you can be King, do you?" said Kíkatili. "He'd be a better King than you!" said Rikki. "Well, if it isn't Rikki-tikki-tavi, the mongoose that would sport[3] with lions!" said Apakarmi. "We've come to make Bahaxur the true King! It seems your husband has murdered the previous one!" said Avíá. "That is a lie!" yelled Kíkatili. "I saw you kill Karibar!" said Bahaxur. "Karibar was my Father! I'd never kill him!" said Kíkatili. "It's the wicked humans!" "All who are tired of Kíkatili, Apakarmi, Nagasta, and Karistan, join us if you would be rid of them!" said Shujaa. About half of Kikatili's army left him and joined the rebels. "You'll pay for this, traitors!" Kíkatili growled. "Where's your snake friends?" taunted Avíá. Just then, several crows appeared in the air swarming down toward them. They were all carrying snakes! "Holy bamboo!" said Rikki in horror.
"Finish them off!" hissed Karistan from above. "Aví-Tía-Taday!" yelled Avíá, jumping at a crow overhead and knocking both crow and snake to the ground and then pouncing upon them. "Fight! Don't let them get us! Fight for freedom!" yelled Rikki. "You will not stop my revenge this time Rikki-tikki!" Rikki looked and noticed Nagasta, being carried by a wicked crow, zooming toward him. "I beg to differ!" said Rikki. Nagasta shot at him and he just barely got of the way in time! He had never fought a flying cobra before, and, he thought as he got up again to face her return assault, he highly doubted any other mongoose had either for that matter.
Apakarmi and Shujaa were snapping at each other. Both were bleeding. Apakarmi knocked over Shujaa. "I'm going to enjoy this!" she said. Before she could strike the death blow, Avíá jumped up on her face and pawed at her, giving Shujaa the chance to move away, before scampering away herself. "You little pest! I'll teach you to interfere!" she roared, chasing after Avíá. Avíá ran for her life, through the trees and finally climbed up a small one. Apakarmi cornered her and started to jump up and try to reach her.
Bahaxur and Kíkatili, meanwhile, were moving up a rocky hill that overlooked the Dark Forest, fighting fiercely. "You'll pay for killing Father!" said Bahaxur. "Nobody will ever know the truth! I'll kill you and I'll be King!" laughed Kíkatili. "Much of the pride is already tired of you! You'll never win, even if you kill me!" said Bahaxur. "Once I'm done with you, nobody will dare stand in my way!" growled Kíkatili. Kíkatili and Bahaxur continued to fight. Neither seemed to be winning. Bahaxur then knocked Kíkatili down. "It's over!" said Bahaxur. "No! I will be King!" Kíkatili growled. He leapt at Bahaxur, knocking him down and knocking the wind out of him. "Going to kill me, like you killed Father?" gasped Bahaxur. "Karibar would have let us share the jungle with the humans! The humans would have been the death of us! Yes I killed him! I'm a better King than Karibar!" yelled Kíkatili very loudly[4]. Below several lions have heard him and suddenly stopped fighting. "You really did kill the King!" said a lioness. "I….er…." said Kíkatili. "It doesn't matter! Once I kill Bahaxur, I will be King!" snarled Kíkatili. Bahaxur used the moment's distraction to pull away from Kíkatili. Kíkatili jumped at him but this time he was ready. He pushed back as Kíkatili collided with him and both went tumbling off of the edge and into the Dark Forest.
"Now I'm going to finish you once and for all!" yelled Kíkatili. Before he could attack Bahaxur, Kíkatili was suddenly attacked by the ghost of Karibar. "What?! No!" yelled Kíkatili. The ghost of the King bit Kíkatili in the throat, killing him. "Thank you Father!" said Bahaxur. "Go on, son! You've still got to defeat his followers and defeat the snakes! You haven't won your kingdom yet!" said the ghost of Karibar. "You think I really can be King?" asked Bahaxur. "I know you can!" said the ghost of his father.
Apakarmi was getting very close to the branch Avíá was on. "I'm going to get you and teach you to mess with my plans, you little weasel!" screamed Apakarmi. The branch Avíá was on suddenly gave way and Avíá tumbled to the ground. Apakarmi was about to bite into her when she suddenly fell dead, clawed across the throat from behind by Shujaa. "Are you all right?" said Shujaa. "I'm fine." said Avíá. "Thank you." "Glad to be rid of her." said Shujaa.
Things were not going very good for Rikki. Nagasta had narrowly missed him several times. He had managed to scratch her by luck but that had only made her all the angrier. Suddenly, Karistan came flying over, carried by a crow. "Fly Nagasta! Kíkatili and Apakarmi are dead! The lions have turned on us! Gather the faithful lions who still serve our cause and flee!" he said, taking off. "I'll deal with this pesky mongoose first!" hissed Nagasta. "I'll kill you Rikki-tikki, then I'll go for the humans!" "You're wasting your time, trying to get revenge on them!" said Rikki. "Why's that?" hissed Nagasta, coming so close to biting Rikki that her venom singed his fur. Before he could reply, several lions came into view; they jumped at Nagasta in an attempt to bring her down. "Don't let her get away!" a lion said. "We'll meet again Rikki-tikki-tavi!" she hissed before flying off.