Hey everyone! I'm back with a new one. This is only one chapter but hopefully the start of a beautiful new series. It is an offshoot from my Dream series. If you haven't read the dream series, I reccommend doing so if you find some of the allusions to those stories confusing. I tried to make it an entirely new story so that people who didn't read the others wouldn't be too lost. Please Read and Review.
I do not own the SWAT KATS or any related characters. I am poor and can't afford to pay the creators any fees. However, if you would like to send me money, I accept checks and cash. No plastic.
Read and Enjoy
Nyte Kat
Late night at Megakat's Bio-Chemical Laboratories
A gray-furred tom is crouched over a microscope, analyzing a petrie dish. He is heavily protected with a hazardus materials suit. "Wonderful" He said to himself. "The virus is mutating just as a suspected." He hears a crash. "What the..." He turns around, gasps and mashes a security button under the table.
"Why, good evening Dr. Vassssssssquez." One of Megakat's most notorius villians hissed from the shadows. He sauntered forward, his pink forked tongue twitching. "I will take that sample of yours."
"Wh... why do you want it" Dr. Vasquez inched backward, away from his experiments.
"What evil-doer would not want a mutated strain of Tuberculosisssss to infect the cccccity with" Dr.Viper hissed with a laugh.
"Wh-why would you want to do that" Dr. Vasquez had backed himself into a corner.
"Why wouldn't I want to do that? Though I suppose you're right. As a presssstigous ssssscientistss... I ssuposse I could create my own infectioussss bacteria. But why when you've already done just that" Dr. Viper began collecting the sample into a cannister.
"Hold it right there" An obnoxiously familiar voice interrupted.
Dr.Viper whipped around to find the two vigilantees known to the city as the Swat Kats, baring down on him, armed with their glovatrixes and gasmasks.
"Heh. How quaint." Dr. Viper mocked. "The sssswat katssss right on time as I predicted. My petsssss" He hissed and several vines reached quickly out of the darkness towards the two masked kats.
T-Bone successfully elluded the vines with his mini slicer missiles. Razor had succeeded as well at the cost of the vines whipping off his protective gas mask. He didn't allow himself a moment to wonder how dangerous a bacteria the scientist had been working with before striking Dr. Viper with an octopus missle, knocking the cannister out of his paws. The cannister then tumbled through mid air. Razor, T-Bone, and Viper all dived for it. All of them came up short, however, as it crashed to the floor, breaking open. In the distance, sirens could be heard, alerting the Swat Kats and Viper to the Enforcers approach.
T-Bone fired a couple mini bolo missiles at Dr. Viper, seeing that the villain was secured before they exited.
Chance and Jake sat around watching the early morning news following Viper's attempts to steal something from the labs.
"Our top story tonight is the break-in to Megakat City's Bio Chemical Testing Fascility. Dr. Viper attempted to steal a mutated strain of the Tuberculosis virus. He was once again foiled by the Swat Kats. However, we have received reports that some Enforcers may have been infected with the virus as well as one of the Swat Kats. Dr. Vasquez informed the Enforcers earlier that one of the Swat Kats lost their Gas mask to Dr. Viper's plantimals. Many of the Enforcers were also unprepared to deal with a hazardous material."
Jake rolled his eyes and turned off the television. "Crud, don't they have anything better to do than to overdramatize everything"
Chance quirked a whisker. "Jake, Tuberculosis is a serious virus."
"You're right, it is. However, we were vaccinated against it in the acadamy." Jake shrugged. "I'm sure this strain is just as weak against the vaccines as the original virus we were injected for."
"Okay buddy. I'm hitting the sack for a couple hours before we open." Chance got up, turning to face Jake before going down the hallway. "Look if you start feeling sick or something, let me know. Because if you did get infected..."
"Sure thing, Chance." Jake replied.
Jake hooked the chain up to the patrol car. "Alright Leiutenent Jenkins" he said"if I could just have you sign on this line." He sighed, feeling tired. Last night's events and getting less sleep than Chance left him feeling drained.
"R-righ-righ... aaaaaachoooooo" The female leiutenent turned her head as she sneezed. "Pardon me."
"Bless you..." Jake said dully, and took the form with a disgusted look. "Thanks."
"No problem. Thanks for towing it." She gave a fake smile and climbed into the passenger side of another patrol car.
"Yuck." Jake said wiping his paw on his leg. "She sneezed on the form."
"That's sick." Chance laughed.
"It's not funny." Jake rolled his eyes.
"Yeah well, better you than me." Chance said, jovialy punching Jake in the arm.
Jake turned sharply. "He..." He was cut off but a sudden unexpected cough.
Chance's eyes widened in concern.
"Crud..." Jake hissed, pressing his paw against his chest.
"What was that" Chance turned his eyes back to the road.
"Hairball, I think." Jake frowned.
"Now that's definatly sick." Chance chuckled.
"Just shut up and drive." Jake retorted.
"Fine... but I'm taking a short cut."
Jake groaned.
Later that day:
Jake was curled up on the couch, coughing loudly. He groaned and covered his face with the old faded blanket that had been hanging over the back of the couch. Jake shivered, then winced. His chest ached. It felt like he'd been mule kicked in the lungs. His mouth felt dry, despite the amount of phlegm he was coughing up. Jake got up and went to the kitchen. He leaned on the counter while holding a glass under the faucet, watching it fill with water. As he brought the glass closer to his face, a wave of dizziness washed over him. He tried to hold onto the counter in an attempt to maintain standing but failed.
Downstairs in the garage, Chance was jerked away from his work on the patrol car by the sound of glass breaking and a loud thump. "What the..." He wiped the grease off his paws and went upstairs. "Jake" He walked into the kitchen. "Crud, Jake" Chance saw Jake laying on the floor. "Jake, buddy, you okay" He knelt beside his fallen friend. Jake groaned and brought a paw to his head. "Can you sit up"
Jake forced himself up with the help of Chance.
"What happened" Chance asked Jake while helping him to a chair.
"I don't know... I was just getting some water and I blacked out." Jake watched Chance clean up the broken glass.
"Maybe you should go to a doctor" Chance gave Jake a hard look. "You sound bad, and you look worse."
"Thanks." Jake rested his head on the table. He was shivering again. "Maybe you're right." Jake practically whispered.
"I am right." Chance grabbed the truck keys. "Come on. Or am I going to have to carry you?"
Chance carried Jake's limp body through the doors to the Emergency Room. The receptionist called for a stretcher. Chance's ears quirked as the orderly said something about "another one".
"Wait, what are you talking about" Chance asked, frantic.
"There's been twelve other patients admitted through emergency today with these symptoms." The orderly replied pushing an unconscious Jake with a worried Chance following at his heals. He could only go so far before he was told he'd have to wait with the others.
"Others" Chance asked.
"Yeah. You'll have to be tested and innoccullated." The orderly said, directing Chance down the hall.
"Tested..." He was confused.
"Sir, you'll have to come with me." A nurse said urgently.
Chance hesitantly followed.
"Mr. Furlong, we are testing you for the Tuberculosis virus that was released last night." She said, jabbing him with a needle.
"But I've been vaccinated." He replied.
"It doesn't matter." A familiar voice said behind him. Chance turned his head to find Commander Feral at the enterance to the room he was in.
"Commander" Chance would normally have been bitter, but he was confused.
"How did you come in contact with the infection" Feral hissed while the nurse did a skin test.
"We towed a patrol car today. Lieutenent Jenkins. She was coughing and sneezing." Chance shook his head, unsure. "Unless she didn't have it, I don't know how."
Feral seemed to accept this excuse. "She was admitted an hour ago."
"Mr. Furlong, you skin test ispositive for the virus. But you show no symptoms, meaning you're a carrier but you haven't become infected. We've already received a vaccination for it. So I'll have to treat you." She said, filling a syringe.
"What about Jake" He asked, wincing as the needle pierced his flesh.
"He's being treated." She said.
Feral tilted his head. "His immune system is weaker because of his lack of body mass."
"Thanks for the positive reinforcment, Commander." Chance slid off the table and turned to face the nurse. "When can I see my friend."
"When admissions die down." The nurse said. "Every Enforcer has to be treated, as well as civillians that are being admitted and questioned. Wait in the hall. Someone will come and get you when it's alright" She hesitated before adding "or if he takes a turn for the worse."
Chance's mouth hung open slightly. It was like a slap to the face. Just hours ago, he and Jake were joking around, and now there was a chance of never being able to share a moment like that with his best friend.
Commander Feral had left already, leaving Chance alone in the hallway, staring down to the waiting area where others were sitted already. "I guess I don't have a choice, except to wait like everyone else."
Chance winced, stretching his stiff neck muscles. He'd dozed off a few hours ago in the hard plastic chair. The waiting room was slightly fuller than before. There number of kats in uniforms out numbered the kats in street clothes. The Commander was pacing the room, a look of worry etched on his face. It was odd to see someone so cold show emotion. Chance narrowed his eyes. He didn't see Felina in the waiting room. He frowned. If she wasn't here, then it meant she was more than likely a patient. It was unlikely that Feral would be involved in something like this without her. Chance looked at the wall clock. It had been six hours of waiting, pacing, and more waiting. Chance stood up and walked to the near-by window and looked down into the streets. Jake had no family he could call, and he'd already called his own. His mother Rita was on her way up to the city. She adored Jake as if he were a son of hers. And Chance didn't want to be by himself if he got bad news.
"Chance Furlong" An orderly poked her head into the waiting room. Chance looked away from the window sharply and heaved a nervous sigh as he followed her into the hall.
"Is he okay" Chance felt his palms grow sweaty.
"He's stable. You can see him, and the doctor is waiting." The orderly led him into a large room with several patients; their beds were separated by heavy blue curtains.
"Mr. Furlong." A small pudgy doctor extended a paw. "I'm Dr. Purkins" Chance took the firm shake and waited for an explination. "His fever spiked at 106. Which is very dangerous. We managed to cool him down. Right now it's at 99. But we're positive he will wake up in a few hours." Dr. Purkins seemed only mildly optimistic. "However" he paused.
"However what" Chance met the doctor's brown eyes.
"Well, whena fever reaches such a high temperature, it sometimes results in brain damage or other physical changes. We won't know the extent of the damage caused by the fever until he wakes up. Which could be anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks."
"I thought you said he'd wake up in a few hours." Chance grew anxious.
"That's being optimisitc. And his vitals are strong. So it is more than likely he will wake up soon. However, as a doctor, it's my job to prepare you for the worst." Dr. Purkins kept his voice even.
"So the worst is that he won't wake up for a coupld of weeks" Chance asked uncertainly.
"As with all illnesses, the worst case scenario would be coma or death." Dr. Purkins said bluntly. "There really is no way of knowing how exactly this will turn out."
If it was possible for Chance to be more worried now than when he brought Jake in, then he was, in fact, more worried. Chance pulled one of those orange plastic chairs next to the bed and sat down. He pulled one of Jake's paws into both of his own, leaning his head down on them. He swallowed the hard lump forming in his throat. "I remember when my dad was lying in a bed like this." Chance spoke softly, hoping Jake could hear him. "Mom sat here like this, holding his paw, praying." He sighed. "God..." A tear rolled down his face. "Don't do this to me again." His voice grew softer and lower. "Don't take away my best friend the way you took away my father." More tears streamed freely from his eyes, matting his blonde fur to his face. "He's made it through so much to lose like this."
A soft hand grasped his shoulder and he jerked up. "Mom" Chance stood pulling her into a tight hug.
Rita offered a grim smiled and hugged her son back. She expected him to let go when she did, but he just held her, crying into her soft gray hair. "Oh, honey..." She rubbed his back. "It's going to be alright." Finally, Chance released his mother and turned back to his friend. "He's going to be just fine." She squeezed his arm. "God willing, after the hell he's been through, with losing his family, and that breakdown, to come back out on top and stronger. He's going to pull through, son." Rita pulled a chair beside her son. "He's going to wake up and see us sitting here and everything will be alright." Chance nodded, embracing his mother's optimism and faith that God would set everything right.
Humming and buzzing. Buzzing and humming. Voices. Talking. Bits and pieces of conversation in tones he was familiar with but too incoherant to name. Everything was so dark and cold. He'd been trying for eternity to speak, but incapable of forming words, even in his mind.
"Jake" Another familiar voice said loudly, anxiously.
"What" Was that his voice. Was his mouth really moving. "Where are you"
"What do you mean 'where are you'? Turn your head."
"I can't see you, turn on a light." Jake realised he was indeed speaking. And to Chance, but not seeing.
"The lights are on. Jake quit playing around. Your eyes are wide open." Chance chuckled nervously.
"Chance... I'm not playing around... I really can't see you." Jake felt his heart begin to race. A sharp beeping seemed to correspond with the beating.
"Okay... okay just calm down, okay" Chance felt panic rise in his throat. Jake couldn't see. He stumbled away from Jake's bed and to the nurses station. It had been 19 days and they'd given him his own room. Most of the TB patients had been dismissed. But Jake had failed to wake up. Chance got a nurse to page the doctor and then he rushed back to his friend's side.
"Jake..." Chance said as he skidded to a halt next to the bed.
"Chance whats going on? I can't see anything and that beeping. What the hell is that beeping" Jake had managed to sit up, but was looking around frantically, rubbing his eyes, trying to clear away the blackness.
"I don't know, Jake. The beeping, its you... I mean, the heart monitor. You're making it go nuts. Just calm down okay" Chance ran his paws through his messy, dirty hair.
"How the hell am I supposed to calm down when you're freaking out" Jake's voice cracked.
"What's wrong" Dr. Purkins rushed into the room. "OH! Jake, you're awake."
"He can't see." Chance blurted urgently.
"Oh dear." Dr. Purkins pulled a pen light from his coat pocket. "Jake, I'm going to do a test. Let me know if you see anything." He turned on the light and held it up to Jake's left eye. "Now"
"No." Jake said quietly.
Then Purkins shined it into his right eye. "What about now"
"No. I don't see anything." Jake's voice shook.
"Jake, when you were admitted, your temperature sky-rocketed. I explained to Chance that there could be some damage as a result of the fever. And it would seem that your loss of vision is a direct result of your fever."
"What" Jake swallowed. "What are you saying"
"I'm saying, Jake, that you are... blind." Dr. Purkins said gently.
Jake felt his heart leap into his throat. The beeping quickened after just having slowed back down. The voices of Chance and the doctor became confused with the high pitched beeping. Then... he fainted.
Jake felt along the table for a chair and slowly sat down. They'd released him from the hospital 2 hours ago. Now, he was back in the comfort of his own home, except he couldn't see it. He knew where everything was, but it was like walking into a new environment now that he couldn't see it to find it. In his head, Jake could see the layout of the house, where the furniture was, which cabinet the glasses where in, what shelf the milk was on in the refrigerator. In reality, though, when he tried to feel his way out, he was disoriented and clumsy. He'd needed help getting up the stairs, unsure of how high to step. Now that he was sitting, he was afraid to move, afraid of getting lost in his own home. Jake found himself tracing the edge of the table with his claws, noticing grooves in the wood that he'd never noticed before. 'Of course you didn't notice before. You weren't blind before' Jake thought.
"You alright" Chance asked. Jake jerked his head in his direction. It was odd. Jake's eyes were wide open and dialated. But vacant. It was like staring into stagnant water. Deep pools of endless green. Jake didn't answer. He seemed to start to, but then got lost. "Jake"
"Yeah" He paused. "Oh... yeah I'm fine... glad to be home..."
Chance frowned. Jake was smart but he had so much trouble grasping the doctor's words. "There's nothing more we can do for you." Purkins had said politely, apologising and offering the services of a therapist who could help him become aquainted with this new handicap.
"Do you want me to call Rachel" Chance asked.
"Why would I want that" Jake asked sharply.
"I thought maybe if you talked to her..."
"If I talked to her I'd what? Find some positive aspect in all this" Jake almost laughed. "Thanks but no."
"No. I thought maybe if you talked to her you'd accept it and start to adjust instead of being so cynical." Chance snapped. He gave Jake ample time to make a response but received none. "Jake, you were unconscious for over 2 weeks! Do you have any idea how worried I was? Or how about my mom. She's been there every day, Jake. Every day! My entire family has been calling and coming to see you. I think being blind is a small price to pay for just waking up" Chance shook his head and stormed off.
Jake felt tears roll down his face and it made him angry that all his eyes could do were cry. He breathed in deep and stood up, feeling his way down the hall. Chance's room was the... second door on the left? No, the third? Jake stopped, leaning against the first door. "The door leading to the hangar is the first one on the right... no left... so Chance's door is the third on the left." Jake said quietly, feeling his way down the hall, reaching the third door and pounding on it. "Chance" He didn't get an answer. "Come on, I'm sorry. What do you want me to do? Your family means a lot to me. You know that." A door opened behind him. "That's the bathroom." Chance leaned against the door frame. Jake turned around and felt his way to the open door. "Obviously, I can't do this by myself."
"Obviously." Chance sighed. "Look, you know this is it? That the Swat Kats are over. That if we go on, it's just me."
"I haven't thought about it." Jake leaned against the wall, tilting his head back so that it appeared as if he was staring at the ceiling. "But you're right. All my skills... all the work I've done... " He waved his hand as if physically washing it all away. "What are we going to do" Jake turned his head towards the sound of Chance breathing.
"What do you mean" Chance asked.
"Well I certainly can't be your weapons expert anymore. But I can't see to rebuild a transmission either." Jake shrugged. "That's going to set us so far back..."
"Look, if you're worried about the money, you should be able to collect disability." Chance said. "I'll get ahold of Feral and see if we can work something out about the workload."
Jake snorted. "I can hear that conversation already."
"Yeah, just leave it to me okay." Chance half smiled. "In the meantime... just work on getting your bearings straight."
Jake nodded, walking back across the hall to the second door. "You said third door was the bathroom, right"
"Yeah... but that's the second door." Chance couldn't keep the laughter out of his voice.
"I... knew that... I was just seeing if you did." Jake felt his way down to the third door.
"Yeah..." Chance said, wincing as Jake knocked something over. "You got it"
"Yes I got it." Jake shut the door, searching for the light switch.
Chance heard the soft 'click' of the switch and laughed out loud. "What do you need the light for"
"Habit." Jake replied.
Jake felt along the back of the couch to the side and the front before finally sitting down. He was antsy already, having been home just a few hours. All the things he used to do required vision. What kind of hobbies does a blind person have? Should he learn to read Brail? Can he still kick box in the hangar? Or would it be too dangerous for him to even try to get down there? He could hear Chance on the phone in the kitchen, humming to the hold music on the line to speak to Commander Feral's seceratary. There was another noise, it sounded like a car. "Is someone here" Jake twitched an ear.
Chance walked over to the window to see Rita's car pulling through the enterance. "Mom. Get ready to be bombarded with hugs."
"And you know she's going to fuss..." Jake groaned hearing the car door shut.
Chance chuckled but then got cut off as his call went through. He disappeared into another room. Rita knocked on the door.
"It's unlocked" Jake yelled from the couch.
"Jake! You shouldn't do that! You don't know who could have been at that door" Rita scolded.
"Right. Next time I'll look through the peep hole." Jake sighed.
"Oh." Rita hugged Jake tightly. "You poor thing." She rubbed her fingers through his messy hair, sniffling. Jake felt something wet on his cheek. "Don't cry Rita. It's okay." He said softly.
"I'm just so happy to see you home and awake." She had her paws on his cheeks. Jake could feel her staring at his face. Probably his wide eyes.
"I'm sure it's unnerving." Jake said quietly. "Staring and knowing even though my eyes are directed at you, that I can't stare back."
Rita flushed and lowered her eyes.
Jake shook his head. "Thank you."
"For what" She found herself staring at his eyes again.
"Chance told me how you were there everyday. It means a lot to me." Jake said timidly.
"Now, Jake. You know that you're just as much family as Chance, and his brother and sister-in-law and his little sisters." Rita held his paw gently. "And nobody in this family is going to lie in some hospital alone. I don't care what state of consciousness you're in."
Jake nodded, hearing Chance press the 'off' button on the cordless and enter the living room.
"Okay... I talked to Feral..."
"And?" Jake and Rita asked in unison.
"Well, he was there when you were admitted, Jake, so he knows I'm not lieing. We have to fax verification of your condition to his office. He's going to sign you up for Enforcer disability, which is pretty damn generous of him considering it is Feral we're talking about. And he's going to divide our workload between the salvage yard at the other side of the city. But, that means less of our income goes to our debt and he isn't going to cut us a break on it." Chance sighed hugging his mom.
"Hey, son" She hugged him back and then sat on one side of Jake while Chance sat on the other.
"So... what now" Jake asked.
"Well, now we start over. You start over." Chance said. "You pretty much have to learn how to live all over again."
Jake nodded. "I know." He put his head in his paws. "Christ, I couldn't even find the bathroom in our own house"
"Hey, it's going to be okay." Rita comforted. "You're not going through this alone."
"Yeah, bro. Just think of this as like when you broke your knee. You had to start from scratch, learning how to bend it and stuff." Chance sighed. "And besides, you like those little memory games... you just have to remember how everything is."
"It's not that easy." Jake said, sighing at Chance's attempt to make a good analogy. "When I got home, I thought it would be. I can see the way everything is supposed to be in my head, but then I try to find it and I get confused and turned around."
"It's just going to take time." Rita said. "Something you've got a lot of."
Jake just nodded.
"Hey, don't go doubtin' yourself now." Chance said seriously. "You can do this, bro."
"Right. Yeah. I can do this." Jake said trying to convince himself that Chance wasn't trying in vain.
Six months later:
Jake stretched and walked out of his room to the bathroom. He shut the door without turning on the light. Moments later the toilet could be heard flushing followed by the faucet running. Jake then walked to the kitchen, dragging his paw along the cupboards, counting in his head. He opened the fifth one and felt around for something wrapped in foil. Finding the toaster pastry, he smelled it through the package, making sure it wasn't strawberry. Satisfied, he tore open the package and put the pastries in the toaster. Then he felt along the counter for the dish rack. He searched the drying dishes for a small plate and plucked it from the rack. The toaster dinged and he heard the pastries pop up. Jake used his claws to set them on his plate and he set the plate on the table.
Chance turned the page in the news paper. "What's on the headline" Jake asked.
"Oh, that mess with Dark Kat last night." Chance said dully.
"Don't down play it. I want the details." Jake sounded like a kitten, wanting to hear the war stories.
Chance laughed. "Oh, Dark Kat wanted to take over the city... again. So this time he made these huge giant spiders that snatched the mayor, and the commander out of their beds. Naturally, Callie managed to alert me before it got her too. Anyway, when I followed her signal, they were underground. And Callie..." Chance stopped to chuckle. "She was tied up to this rock wearing nothing but a skimpy silk nighty. It was torn all over. Her hair was a mess. No make up or glasses. God, she was beautiful. So she says to me. 'TBone theres a bomb'. And I groan and find the bomb. Which it turns out was only a decoy, while I was trying to figure that out, Dark Kat's kreeplings are robbing the treasury. But where's Dark Crud in all this? Well, his kreeplings where supposed to use this super industrial glue to stick a massive bomb to Enforcer headquarters. So the kreeplings screw up, right, and the bomb winds up glued to Dark Crud's paws! So I say to Dark Kat, I'll only disarm the bomb if he agrees to go to Alkatraz for good. And he's so afraid of getting blown up that he agrees. Oh.. and when I'm getting Callie out of there, she asks about you. Which was cool." Chance said.
"She asked about me" Jake's ears perked forward.
"Yeah. Darn, I save the city and all you care about is Callie asking about you" Chance said.
"So... in this torn little nighty... could you see anything" Jake grinned.
Chance laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know."
"Hey come on. I'd tell you if you were blind." Jake played the guilt card.
"Nope. I'm not supporting your single fantasies." Chance said.
"That's not fair." Jake said. "It's not my fault I'm single."
"You could always try the blind date thing." Chance laughed.
Jake threw a piece of pastry in Chance's direction.
"You missed." Chance said, wiping the pastry off his chest.
"You're lieing. I can hear you scraping off the crumbs." Jake replied.
"Whatever, sure shot." Chance said, in his own way, admitting he'd been beaten by a blind kat.
end
Please read and review. If you are lost, try reading from the beginning of my dream series to this one.