Ravage Island

The ThunderCats and a few the Children of Millennia were out taking a few of their vehicles for a few test runs. Joseph whooped with enthusiasm as Lion-O drove the Thunderclaw.

"Lion-O should take these test drives seriously," said Seto.

"Go easy on him, Seto," said Mana. "He and Snarf have been working since sunrise. They should have a little fun." She looked at them and said, "Joseph certainly is."

Joseph finally stopped laughing and whooping. "The others are sure taking their time working on the other vehicles."

"Remember what Mahad said, Joseph," Snarf was telling him. "Anything worth doing is worth doing well."

"Working on the Thunderclaw took us less time because it was easy," said the blonde. "And we are testing it to make sure it's working good, though the others think we're having fun."

Suddenly, as they were heading to the ocean, a red light began to shine. Lion-O felt himself being drawn to the light and began flying towards it.

The light was coming from Ravage Island. Mumm-Ra and the mutants had set up a beacon with mesmeric powers. The mutants were provided with protective glasses so they wouldn't be mesmerized. The source of the beacon's power was a supply of red crystals. Whoever would look into the light of the crystals would be mesmerized into believing anything whoever was controlling their minds said was true. To demonstrate, Mumm-Ra took Slithe's glasses and shined the light of the crystals towards his eyes and convinced the reptilian mutant that he was shackled. But when he obscured the light, the mesmeric power was dispelled.

Back on the continent, the rest of the heroes finished working on the modifications to the Feliner and Hovercat. Suddenly, the same light from before began taking control over the other ThunderCats' minds. "What is that light?" Cheetara asked. "Where is it coming from?"

"I don't know, Cheetara," Panthro answered, "but I can't fight it."

"We must obey the commands of the light," said Pumyra.

The light wasn't affecting Seto or Mana in the same way and they wondered what was wrong with their friends. It wasn't affecting Lynx-O either, given he was blind. The ThunderCats who were affected got into the Feliner and Hovercat and began heading to Ravage Island.

The ThunderCats were dazed, but Joseph and Snarf weren't affected at all. "What in the name of the Great Goddess is going on?" the blonde asked. "And where are we?"

"And why weren't you or I affected by that light we saw earlier?" Snarf asked. "Well, if we're going to find out, we're going to need help."

Joseph agreed. "I don't want to leave our friends, but it's the only way we can help them right now. Come on, Snarf. Let's get back to the Tower of Omens." And they board the Thunderclaw and hurry back to the continent. "It's a good thing I was riding with Lion-O so I could watch him operate this contraption in case I would have to fly it." He pushed the buttons and gripped the handles and the Thunderclaw took off.

The ThunderCats had no idea where they were or what the beacon in front of them was. That was when Mumm-Ra appeared in his supreme form. "Welcome to Ravage Island, ThunderCats!"

Lion-O and his friends draw their weapons and arm themselves. "You may have tricked us into coming here, Mumm-Ra, but you have no power over us."

"Your puny ThunderCat weapons cannot match the forces of evil," Mumm-Ra said, attacking with his magic.

"But we can give you a taste of your own medicine," Lion-O countered. He held up his mirror shield to deflect the attack back at Mumm-Ra. The mummy used his cape to protect himself.

The mutants began to surround the ThunderCats. "Surrender," said Vultureman. "It will be easier for you if you submit quietly."

"You may think you're ThunderCats, but you'll soon find you're under mutant control," Jackalman sneered.

Lion-O was about to attack Slithe, but the reptile fooled the lion into believing that he was running into a wall. And it certainly felt like that to the lion. Panthro made it past Vultureman and headed for the beacon, but the vulture mutant warned the panther that he would get electrocuted if he were to get too close. And Panthro did feel like he got zapped.

As for Pumyra and Cheetara, they were fooled into believing they were trapped in a cage. "These bars aren't real," Cheetara said to Pumyra. "They only exist in our minds."

Pumyra disagreed, seeing that she could actually feel the bars of the cage surrounding them. Panthro and Lion-O were thrown in with them.

Cheetara pleaded for Lion-O to use the Eye of Thundera to break the spell and free everyone from the mesmeric control. Lion-O pulled himself together, but Mumm-Ra told him to cease. "Not even your Sword of Omens can give you the willpower to break through these prison bars. In fact, you might as well give me that toy."

Lion-O was struggling to resist. He tossed the Sword of Omens and it landed in the hard ground several feet away. "You will never have the Sword of Omens as long as I have breath in my body."

Mumm-Ra cackled, thinking Lion-O would regret those words. "In that case, the Sword will soon be mine, for you are not long for Third Earth!" And he cackled again.

Joseph and Snarf finally made it to the Tower of Omens. "There must be an easier way to earn a living," Snarf complained.

"Stop whining," the blonde snapped. "This is our life as well as our job." He landed the Thunderclaw with ease. "Too bad Panthro's not here to see how I handled the Thunderclaw. He would've been proud of me."

Snarfer was giggling. "I saw it, Joseph, and you did a pretty good job. Yes, sirree."

"Snarfer," the blonde said happily. "Am I glad to see you."

"Me too, but we don't have time for pleasantries," said Snarf. "Lion-O and the others are in trouble and we need Lynx-O."

Snarfer brought them to the control center and they began telling Lynx-O and the rest of their friends what happened.

"So, some kind of hypnotic beam," said Lynx-O. "It didn't affect me because I couldn't see it, of course. And it had no effect on Mana, Seto, or even you, Joseph, because you're humans."

"It didn't affect Snarf either," said Joseph.

"Of course not, Joseph. That's because we Snarfs have strong wills," he bragged. "It takes more than a little mutant floodlighting to control me."

"If this thing affects the ThunderCats, we'd best leave Bengali out of it," Mana suggested.

"That means it's going to be up to you Children of Millennia," said Lynx-O. "I'm coming with you. We'll take the Thunderstrike back to the island and help Lion-O and the others."

Joseph smiled and said, "As Panthro says, if we're going to do it,"

"Let's do it," they all cheer.

Lynx-O took the main control pod with his braille board. "We'll follow the beam to its source, then play it by the ear – if you'll excuse the expression."

"Just tell us what to do, Lynx-O, and we'll do it," said Seto.

On Ravage Island, the mutants were scouting around in their flying machines, watching out for any intruders – rather, looking out for more ThunderCats. Vultureman picked up the Thunderstrike's signal and told his comrades to prepare to attack.

Lynx-O heard them coming in. "We've been spotted from the port side," he warned his friends. That was Joseph and Mana's pod. They looked out the window and saw the mutants.

Slithe took out a microphone. "Welcome to Ravage Island, losers. You are out of fuel and will nosedive to the ground now!"

Seto smirked. "Nice try, Slithe, but your hypnotic powers have no effect on us." And the Thunderstrike continued its course, flying past the mutants. "We should be able to outrun them now."

"Don't be too sure, Master Seto," said Snarfer. "They're gaining!"

Jackalman fired his lasers. "Say goodbye to Third Earth, ThunderCats." Oh, if only he knew that the Children of Millennia were the ones in the Thunderstrike. Still, Seto was forced to disconnect his pod from the Thunderstrike and fly on his own.

"Lynx-O won't be able to outrun the mutants with only one pod attached to the Thunderstrike," Seto told himself. Suddenly, he saw the other pod disconnect. "Mana and Joseph have separated their pod from the Thunderstrike. Well, at least Lynx-O will have a better chance now."

The mutants wouldn't stop attacking, however. Seto and his friends weren't going to be able to fight back, however. They had no choice but to land their pods on the island. Of course, when they got out of their pods, they met Mumm-Ra.

"So you Children of Millennia are able to resist the power of the beacon of Ravage Island," said Mumm-Ra.

"Mumm-Ra," Mana gasped.

Seto raised his scepter. "Where are our friends, you demon?"

"If you really want to know," he was saying, "I'll gladly make you join them at the top of the island." That was when the mutants came back and captured the three friends.

On another part of the island, Lynx-O, Snarf, and Snarfer found the Sword of Omens stuck in the ground. The old lynx managed to pull it out with ease. "Come on, no time to lose," he said. "We have to neutralize that beacon somehow." They got back in the Thunderstrike and hurried to the top of the island.

When they arrived at the site, Lynx-O tossed the Sword of Omens down to the beacon, destroying it. Mana and Joseph cheered. "Well done, Lynx-O!" they said happily.

Mumm-Ra wasn't concerned. "Even though Lynx-O managed to destroy the beacon of Ravage Island, the cage trapping your ThunderCat friends still exists. That means they are still my mind slaves." And he cackled.

"We'll see about that, Mumm-Ra," Lion-O said defiantly. "Sword of Omens, come to my hand." The Sword obeyed and flew into his hands. The lion then raised the Sword in the air, sending out the signal. The ThunderCats were now free and ready to fight.

Like cowards, the mutants headed for their flying machines and decided to retreat to Castle Plun-Darr. Even Mumm-Ra was not willing to fight. He had spent too much time away from the Black Pyramid and he felt his power waning. "The secrets of the beacon of Ravage Island are still mine, ThunderCats," he said. "I will return and you and the Children of Millennia will be my mind slaves," he promised himself.

None of the heroes were worried. They had heard Mumm-Ra promising himself victory once too many times. Of course, they could always look forward to another fight with him in the future. Together, they cheer, "ThunderCats, Children of Millennia, ho!"

The heroes all returned to the Tower of Omens. "If Mumm-Ra does somehow manage to rebuild the beacon of Ravage Island, he will more than likely try to find a way to mesmerize us Children of Millennia just as he did to you ThunderCats," said Joseph.

"Don't worry about that, Joseph," said Panthro. "These shades will neutralize the beacon's beam. That means we'll be protected." And he shows them protective sunglasses.

"Good," said Lion-O. "I never want to go through that again."

"But I am confused about something," the blonde was saying. "Mumm-Ra wants to destroy us Children of Millennia as much as he wants to destroy you ThunderCats, yet when has a plan on how to control you, it has no effect on us."

"I've noticed it too," said Seto. "Well, we are different from our ThunderCat friends, so we must have some sort of immunity when it comes to Mumm-Ra's power."

"Well, as Children of Millennia, you all have the protection of the Great Goddess," said Lion-O.

"But the Millennium Star lives inside of Queen Mystery's heart," said Panthro. "And she hasn't been here with us."

"It is mysterious," Pumyra admitted.

"I guess we'll never know," said Cheetara.