In a different dimension entirely, the weak and battle-worn red-cloaked figure opened his eyes and sat up. He was aware that he was weakened, but most certainly alive. They couldn’t destroy me, he thought, a smug and evil smirk spreading across his grotesque face. All three of those wretched swords combined their powers and they still couldn’t destroy me! Nothing can destroy Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living Source of Evil! He glanced over to see if his bride had also survived. She lay nearby, still unconscious, but also alive. Although he never would have admitted it, he was relieved. He may have disliked her, but at least she was company in the strange new world he found himself in. He didn’t see Ma-Mutt anywhere, but he figured he could use his powers to summon him to wherever he was before too long.

Where am I, anyway? Mumm-Ra wondered as he looked around. The world around him was like none he had ever seen in all his thousands of years on First, Second, and Third Earth or Thundera. The cloudy sky was nearly as dark as night, and a thick blanket of fog covered the gloomy, barren landscape. There were flashes of lightning and rumblings of thunder in the distance. The ground was mostly bare rock, with the exception of a scrubby bush here and there. He didn’t notice any animals or people. The only sign of life at all was a twisted-looking fortress in the distance that radiated power, pain, and evil.

He heard a groan next to him, and glanced over. Torlei stirred and sat up slowly, rubbing her forehead as if it hurt.

"So you did live," Mumm-Ra remarked, his voice devoid of any emotion.

Torlei sneered back at him. "Sorry to disappoint you, darling." She glanced around and frowned. "Do you have any idea where we are or who we’re stuck with in this place?"

"No. But I suggest we find out." Mumm-Ra stood, and then helped her to her feet. They then concentrated with all their might, drew on their weakened powers, and somehow teleported themselves inside the forbidding fortress.

Inside, they materialized in what appeared to be some sort of laboratory-like chamber, only the technology within it was nothing like either of them had ever seen before. It also appeared to double as some form of temple or altar, and there was a brown hooded figure speaking in a foreign language chanting what the two undead beings recognized as some sort of spell.

When she saw them, the figure looked up and spoke. Although the language it spoke in was unknown to them, their supernatural abilities allowed them to sense it’s thoughts and understand it’s words. They understood that the being before them was an old female witch, a practitioner of black magic, not unlike Mumm-Ra and Torlei had each been at some point in their lives, before they had become undead.

"You’ve come," she cackled in her dry, old voice. "The Ancients have granted my plea and provided me with two lesser evil spirits to aid me in my endeavors."

Mumm-Ra and Torlei both grimaced at being termed "lesser evil spirits" but it was an accurate description when they were compared to the power of Ancient Spirits of Evil themselves. "You have summoned us here? Why?" Mumm-Ra demanded.

"I prayed to the Ancient Spirits of Evil that they might send me some supernatural helpers in carrying out my evil duties and spells so they might be more effective. Are you the ever-living ones that I was told would be sent to me? From some other time on another planet on the other side of the galaxy known as Thundera, I believe?"

"I guess this is the Ancients’ way of paying us back for failing yet again," Torlei grumbled. "I suppose we’re lucky we weren’t eliminated by that Mighty Sword. But being someone’s glorified servant or advisor is almost worse than not existing at all," she complained.

Mumm-Ra nodded. "I agree, but we might as well make the best of our situation." He turned to the witch. "So we are to help you in your evil plans, then? Help you come up with spells and whatnot? And what do we get in return for our services?"

"If you do your job well enough the Ancients will restore your powers in time and you’ll get a lot of brownie points," she informed him with a cackle. "Do we have a deal, Mumm-Ra? Torlei?"

"You know our names?" Torlei asked suspiciously.

"The Ancients told me all about you and all you have done. I believe that we can help each other. Perhaps eventually I can help you return to Thundera in a time not long after you left it, and you can avenge yourself on the ones the Ancients told me were called ‘Thundercats’, the ones who defeated you time and time again."

Mumm-Ra and Torlei exchanged looks and smiled. For a time, the ‘helper’ situation might not be so bad. It might even prove entertaining. A new world to wreak havoc on held possibilities, and if they could improve their standing with the Ancient Spirits of Evil, they could eventually return to get revenge on those of Thundera, Plundarr, and its Moons. Considering their current dire straits, what did they have to lose?

Mumm-Ra smiled at the evil creature before. "My dear witch, you’ve got yourself a deal."