This is my first attempt at a ThunderCats story, please be gentle. This is also an AU fic of the 2011 series. Tell me what you think of it!

ThunderCats: Sword of Kings

Chapter I: The Ring

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE RING!" the announcer, a jaguar, boomed out as the crowd cheered on. All the regular spectators were there, as well as some newcomers. For Panthro, running the operation was easy: always bring in new fighters and make sure the Thundera's city guard didn't get wind of it.

Unfortunately, the latter could not be said as well for the Clerics.

From his private box, Panthro saw sitting in the stands a figure dressed in the white cloak and lion mask that all Clerics were known to wear. This was strange. Clerics never got involved with something like the Ring. Why was this Cleric here? As long as he didn't get in the way of his business, Panthro couldn't care less.

Everything went as it normally did. Cats gambled on the fights, a few small brawls were started but then quickly quelled, and many cheered as their favorite fighters won. But they all knew this was just the pre-show. Panthro knew that what they really came for was coming up.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN NOW IS THE TIME YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITNG FOR!" At that the crowd began to cheer. "IT'S TIME FOR THE MAIN EVENT! PRESENTING THE CHALLENGER! THE RISING STAR OF THE RING, TORR!"

Panthro heard the cheers as a young male ThunderCat emerged from the tunnel outside of the main arena. He raised both fists in the air as the crowd cheered on.

"HE'S QUITE THE FIGHTER FOLKS! BUT DOES HE HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST THE REIGNING CHAMPION!" The cheering became louder. "PRESENTING OUR CHAMPION! THE KING OF THE RING! THE FIGHTER TO END ALL FIGHTERS! LION-O!"

As their champion appeared, the crowd went wild! The cheering became thunderous as they chanted his name over and over again. The lines for the bookies were crowded as everyone knew that Lion-O was the cat to bet on. That was when Panthro saw the Cleric stand, and the old cat knew what he was there for.

"Cleric or not," Panthro mumbled, "if he messes with my best fighter, he doesn't leave here alive!"

Lion-O knew this wasn't easy, it never was. If Panthro sent Torr to try and take Lion-O's place as champion, that meant he was formidable. He heard the mumblings. People believed that Lion-O was invincible. That no fighter could ever beat him. They were wrong. He was mortal just like everyone else, but they didn't have to know that.

Lion-O sized up his latest opponent: tall and well built, but Lion-O knew that he could be brought down like any fighter. The referee came, got the two to shake hands, and the fight began. Torr lunged forward as Lion-O rolled out of the way. That was an amateurish mistake; never seek out your opponent.

Torr lunged again and Lion-O struck, the lion's fist making contact with his opponent's face. The young ThunderCat stumbled but quickly recovered, this time trying to grapple the champion. But Lion-O was quick, avoiding the challenger while delivering a quick kick to his midsection and followed with a sucker punch that sent his opponent sprawling.

Torr slowly rose, fatigued setting in, and Lion-O knew he had him. The ThunderCat lunged at the champion again, and Lion-O landed one last punch and Torr went down for the count. Just like that, the crowd went wild. They chanted their champion's name as the referee came and declared Lion-O the winner.

Panthro watched the Cleric leave the stands as Lion-O left the arena and went into the tunnel. He didn't like this, something was definitely up. But the old panther knew what was happening. They had finally found him.

Lion-O was in his private room, one of the perks of being champion. He wouldn't be here if Panthro hadn't found him when he was a baby. The old panther had taught the young lion everything about fighting. But he knew that he wouldn't fight forever, he would soon retire and take over the Ring. That was how it was supposed to be.

There was a quick knock on his door before it opened. "Hey Lion-O!" twin voices greeted. WilyKat and WilyKit soon ran into the room, both carrying their own load of full pouches full of coins.

Lion-O quickly scooped the two up in a hug as they came close to him. "Am I glad to see you two," he said. "How'd we do today?" When Lion-O met the young twins, they were young pick-pockets whom he had caught trying to steal from one of Panthro's favorite customers. That gave him the chance to make a little side business for himself. During his fights, WilyKat and WilyKit would pick-pocket as many as they could until Lion-O won, then the three would split everything evenly. Lion-O didn't know if Panthro knew about this, but as long as it didn't interfere with business, the old cat probably couldn't care less.

"We made it big!" WilyKat said.

"They came here with a lot of coin," WilyKit said. "They always do when you fight Lion-O."

"That's because they know I always win," Lion-O said. "C'mon, let's split the take."

The two wilys emptied out the pouches as the three began splitting their take. Before long, three organized stacks of gold coins were arranged. "Look at all this gold," Kat said before turning to his sister. "See Kit, soon we'll have enough to use to find El Dara!"

Lion-O had heard this one before, the two saving their takes to earn enough to try and find the lost city of El Dara, said to be home to the greatest of treasures and riches beyond measure. Why the twins wanted to find this mythical city, only they knew.

The lion discreetly took two coins from his own pile and grab one of the pouches. "Hey guys," he said, pretending to dig around the pouch and took out his two coins. "I found two more. Catch!" He tossed the two coins and the twins caught them.

Kat and Kit exchanged looks. "Are you sure Lion-O?" Kit asked.

"Of course I'm sure," Lion-O said. "Why don't you two use them to buy yourselves some Candy Fruit?"

That instantly put smiles on the two young ThunderCats' faces. "Thanks, Lion-O!" they chorused before they ran off.

Lion-O smiled as he hid away his share. "That was awfully generous of you."

Lion-O quickly turned toward the intruder. Standing in the doorway was a beautiful cheetah girl. The golden hair with black spots flowed down past her shoulders. Her ruby colored eyes went perfectly with the rust colored marks around her eyes. The sight of her took the young lion's breath away.

"Y-y-you…you're not supposed to be back here," he stammered. That had never happened to Lion-O.

"Really?" the cheetah asked innocently as she walked into his room. "Not even for a…fan?"

Lion-O gulped as she huskily uttered that last word and he couldn't keep the blush off his face. Even if he was a great fighter, Lion-O never had any luck with women. It seems that when they got to know him outside the Ring, they wanted nothing to do with him.

"Yes," Lion-O said with more bravado "not even for a fan."

"That's too bad," the cheetah said, pretending to be disappointed. "Oh well, I tried." She seemed to be sizing him up. "You're different than I thought you would be."

That sudden statement surprised Lion-O. He wanted to say something, but the cheetah was already out the door before he knew it. "What was that all about?" he asked himself confused.