Return of Evil

When the ThunderCats and the Children of Millennia returned to Cats' Lair, they wondered what the future would hold for them in Third Earth. After what transpired on Fire Rock Mountain, they wondered if they were finally going to have a period of peace. Then again, a period of peace seemed like a time of unemployment for heroes.

"Keeping the peace can be as difficult as winning it," said Lynx-O.

"I suppose there's always fire drill and routine maintenance," Cheetara figured.

"We can still help you out around here," Mana said.

"And we can continue to do help you heroic deeds in Egypt as well," Tygra returned. "Besides, the mutants are still at large around here, so we can always expect them to make trouble."

"We can teach our ThunderCat technology to all the locals here just as we've been doing for the Children of Millennia," Wilykit added.

"And turn this whole planet into a model of peace and prosperity," her brother added. "We'd be doing our part of fulfilling Millennia's wishes here on Third Earth like you do in Egypt."

"I second that," said Mystery proudly. "And I'm sure this little one agrees as well," she says, rubbing her belly. Her husband smiles and places his arm over her.

"Oh, I'm so excited," Wilykit said. "I wish the baby would come sooner."

"We all know just how you feel, Wilykit," said Lion-O. "But he or she will be here before we all know it."

Pumyra giggled with glee. "With only a few more months left, I can hardly wait."

Wilykat stood up and asked Atem, "You're hoping it'll be a boy, right, Atem? Your legacy has to live on, after all."

"Girls are just as important," Wilykit snapped.

Lion-O chuckled in disbelief. "Are you two still going on about that? The important thing you should want is for the baby to be safe and healthy."

"It's all right, Lion-O," said Atem. "Let them have their fun."

Snarf got an idea on how to avoid a fight from starting. "For now, we should throw a great feast and invite our local friends to meet our new ThunderCat friends."

"Sounds good to me," said Pumyra. Though she and her comrades had a celebration in their honor back in Egypt, they still needed to be made known to the locals here on Third Earth.

"In that case, Snarf and I will head out and get some provisions and come back to cook up some delicious delicacies," said Joseph. And they begin to head out. Joseph decided to head to the Secret Garden while Snarf decided to go to the Berbil village. With Mystery's permission, Jirachi decided to go with Snarf. Mana decided to go along and help as well.

"I guess we'll still have our hands full even with Mumm-Ra out of the way for the time being," Kisara figured. Kirara meowed in response.

"We can always count on Mumm-Ra to come back, knowing how relentless he is," said Freya. Sakuya barked in agreement.

Cheetara suddenly began groaning, as if something was telling her that Mumm-Ra may come back sooner than she and her friends may think.

Lion-O started feeling the same way. He dismissed himself and headed to his chambers to meditate on the matter. Jaga's soul appeared before him. "The forces of evil can never be entirely destroyed, Lion-O," Jaga advised him. "Evil can only be held in check by those with strength and courage. With an evil power as great as Mumm-Ra's, who can say he can be defeated for good?" And his soul disappears.

The power of the mirror shield did not destroy Mumm-Ra, but it did weaken him. As such, he had to remain in the Black Pyramid to recuperate. "Ma-Mutt, because of Lion-O's accursed mirror shield, I am weak and powerless," Mumm-Ra said weakly. "While I regain my strength, you must take my place." He wouldn't need to use up so much energy to disguise Ma-Mutt as Mumm-Ra. The disguise was transparent, but acceptable for the moment. Surely anyone would still be fooled into believing that Ma-Mutt was Mumm-Ra. The mummy began giving his faithful pet instructions on what to do.

As Mana, Snarf, and Jirachi were gathering rations from the Berbil village, they saw Ma-Mutt in the sky heading for Castle Plun-Darr. They decided to check it out by riding on Latias. Ma-Mutt made it there first and disguised himself as Mumm-Ra, surprising the mutants. They didn't want to believe that Mumm-Ra was really here after what they saw on Fire Rock Mountain, but Ma-Mutt spoke to them, using Mumm-Ra's voice, reminding them that he was immortal and could not be destroyed.

Riding on Latias and carrying Snarf, Mana went to the window where they saw Ma-Mutt enter. They kept low and quiet, not wanting to be discovered. They heard Mumm-Ra's voice, saying, "Not even the ThunderCats or the Children of Millennia will be able to resist the Lunataks of Plun-Darr."

"Mumm-Ra?" Mana whispered. "He's here?"

Inside, the mutants were even more shocked. They had heard of the Lunataks of Plun-Darr. They were a band of vicious aliens from the moons of Plun-Darr and liked to commit acts of depravity and evil without care or remorse. The mutants didn't think that the Lunataks would be here on Third Earth. Ma-Mutt explained that a long time ago, Mumm-Ra fought the Lunataks and trapped them in molten rock near the volcanic peaks of the Dark Side, one of the uncharted territories of Third Earth.

Ma-Mutt commanded the mutants to go to Dark Side and release the Lunataks, but the mutants were too afraid. They knew that the Lunataks could not be controlled and wouldn't hesitate to destroy them. That was the whole point. The Lunataks would be the perfect adversaries for the ThunderCats and the Children of Millennia. Ma-Mutt also reminded the mutants that Mumm-Ra had sealed away the Lunataks once already and he would do it again if he would have to. However, he would not tell the mutants how to release the Lunataks. He was going to leave it to them to figure out how to do it on their own. He approached the window and took his leave while taking on his true form as Ma-Mutt.

"Ma-Mutt?" Mana asked. "But I heard Mumm-Ra in there."

"Me too," said Jirachi.

"Come on," the young mage was saying. "We've got to get back to Cats' Lair and tell everyone what we heard." And Latias began carrying them all home.

Unfortunately, the mutants managed to catch a glimpse of them. "It's Mana and her friends," said Jackalman.

"They must've overheard us," said Vultureman.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Slithe asked. "Get them before they warn the ThunderCats and the Children of Millennia!" And they hurried to get their vehicles ready.

Joseph returned from the Secret Garden with plenty of fruit and vegetables that he picked with help from the cousins. He also noticed that Snarf hadn't come back yet. Lion-O wondered why Snarf and the others were taking so long and he headed for the Berbil village. He asked Ro-Bear-Bill what happened. Ro-Bear-Bill explained to him that they saw Ma-Mutt and went after him to find out what was going on. The lion was outraged. "Mana, Snarf, and Jirachi just took off after Ma-Mutt? When was this?"

Suddenly, the danger signal went off. Lion-O held the Sword of Omens close to his eyes. "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight." He began to see Mana, Snarf, and Jirachi riding on Latias while being pursued by the mutants. He let out the signal, calling the other ThunderCats for help.

Atem and Mystery saw the signal, but there was nothing they could do. They were escorted home by Kisara and Freya while the others went to help Lion-O.

Riding on the SkyCutter, Jackalman tried shooting Latias, but she was too fast for him to hit. Mana used her magic wand to attack him with bolts of magic. Lion-O saw them and waved at them to get their attention. Latias flew down to the lion.

Jackalman wouldn't give up. "Kiss Third Earth goodbye, daughter of Millennia," he sneered and began attacking again. Jirachi intercepted by using Swift, attacking with a shower of yellow stars. Jackalman ended up losing his coordination and crashed into the trees.

Panthro was driving the ThunderTank. He told Joseph and the others to stand by. The blonde got his bow and arrows ready. Seto and Mahad got their own weapons ready as well. The panther opened the hatchet. "Here they come."

Joseph saw the mutants and began shooting his arrows. Mahad and Seto began attacking them with their magic. Riding on their space boards, Wilykit and Wilykat began attacking Vultureman in his flying machine. Vultureman managed to knock Wilykat off of his space board, but Latios managed to catch him in time.

"Thanks, Latios," Wilykat said, and the blue and white dragon howled in response.

Vultureman began to be attacked again as he saw Bengali and Pumyra in the Thunderclaw. "This is getting out of hand. We're outnumbered and outgunned." He told his comrades to regroup at Castle Plun-Darr.

The heroes returned to Cats' Lair to hear what Snarf, Mana, and Jirachi found out. The three of them told everyone how they followed Ma-Mutt to Castle Plun-Darr and how they heard Mumm-Ra talking to the mutants about these strange aliens called Lunataks.

It wasn't surprising to hear that Mumm-Ra was still at large, but this was enough to confirm that evil was still at hand. But that wasn't the only issue. "What are these Lunataks?" Seto asked the ThunderCats. "Have you heard of them?"

"I have," said Lynx-O. "They are fearsome raiders from the moons of Plun-Darr."

"Well, we know the mutants are from Plun-Darr," Joseph interrupted.

"Don't interrupt, Joseph," Freya hissed. "What else do you know, Lynx-O?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," he said. "They were before my time. But I could learn more about the places they have been to and interpret the information thus gained on a braille board."

"Braille board," Mana repeated. "What's that? Is it a special keyboard like the ones on the computers here?"

"You might say that," the old lynx replied.

"If that's what it'll take to find out about the Lunataks, then we'll build one," said Mahad.

"I can help with that," Seto offered. "Tell us what to do, Lynx-O."

"You guys do that and the rest of us will check every known corner of Third Earth," said Lion-O. "We'll find out what we can and if we come out blank, at least our new ThunderCats will know the territory."

"So it won't be a total loss," Joseph joked. Seto would normally hit the blonde for making jokes, but this time, the blonde did have a valid point, so the brunette wouldn't hit him this time.

"And at least Atem and Mystery will be safe," Lion-O added. He had been informed that they were back in Egypt and he wanted them to stay there until this would all be figured out.