Author's note: After much thought, I've finally decided this fic is finished to my liking. Wanna see others that haven't made it to yet? Check out my site's fan fiction section for other fics others I've done. Have fun reading.
Chapter 1, 3rd season of SWAT Kats: A New Friend
Written by Jennifer Bennett, March 2001
Summary: The SWAT Kats meet Tawny Whitefeild, a rich, overprotected she-kat who wants to get away from all that and find some adventure. Instead she gets herself in trouble with Feral and finds herself in the middle of the biggest adventure of her life.
Revised, October 2002
As a young she-kat walked through a new city she thought why she left home. As she thought she suddenly heard a jet fly by. She looked up to see a black jet with red marks on it. She recognized it as the Turbokat mentioned by many residents in Megakat City, which happened to be the city she was now in.
"I wonder what's going on," she thought, "Are they on a training exercise?"
Just then a fire truck raced by. She watched it pass and then decided to follow. What she found was going to change her life forever.
The Enforcers' salvage yard was on fire! The fire department, the Enforcers and the SWAT Kats all seemed to be losing the battle.
The everyone was doing their best to cover the fire with dirt. The enforcers were, in addition, moving parts that were not on fire, away from the area. The SWAT Kats were also in the moving act as they used their grappling hook and nets to take whole piles away from the ensuing blaze.
The problem was that the fire kept jumping and with the oil, grease and other flammables the fire would cause explosions and an even more wild fire. The sand and dirt weren't even helping.
The she-kat then saw an industrial fire hydrant just behind the fence that had been pulled away to allow the fire crew to pass though.
Seeing it gave her an idea and headed for the device. She pulled the lid open and jumped out of the way as the water burst out and sprayed out the fire nearby. It then proceeded to pour out and flood the ground.
This seemed to work until the oil and gasoline flowed with it and was carried into the fire. By this time however the SWAT Kats had noticed the incident. They had a huge bucket ready to cover the water, flammables included, with sand and dirt.
As the larger one poured the sand, the smaller one approached the she-kat and closed the device back up. Then he looked to her, "That was pretty smart, but the fire extinguishing principles aren't the same when dealing with grease fires, miss."
"Oh, well, at least I tried to help," the white she-kat answered.
"You did pretty well too, till the water mixed with that fuel," the larger one said as he approached.
The caramel colored, smaller SWAT Kat then introduced himself and his partner, "I'm Razor and my buddy here is T bone."
"My name is Tawny," the creamy white she-kat answered, "Tawny Whitefeild."
"Well, Tawny. That was pretty smart how you knew that water dispenser would take out the fire," responded T Bone.
Tawny just smiled and blushed. She quickly recovered, though, when Commander Feral came up behind the SWAT Kats.
"You have caused damage to millions of dollars in machinery! I want to see you here tomorrow, miss. You'll pay off the damage by cleaning up the mess and working at the repair shop here."
"But I don't know how to fix a car," complained Tawny.
"You will."
"Where are Furlong and Clawson! I need them to show her to her new home for the next several years," announced the Commander.
Just then a young lieutenant cadet approached and addressed the Commander. As the cadet told Feral that Chance & Jake had been called for and they were not available, the SWAT Kats left.
"You had better go home and get yourself packed because you'll be living here for quite a while," Commander Feral told the young she-kat.
"But I just..."
At that moment a tow truck came up "Ah, here those two come now," grumbled Commander Feral.
Tawny noticed that there was something familiar about the kats who hopped out of the truck. There was one that was small, the same as Razor and the same small build.
It was the same with the other kat in comparison to T-bone. Same large build, same color, Tawny couldn't tell if he also had the same stripes as T-bone, however, because the big kat's shirt sleeves covered his arms.
As the two parked their tow truck in the repair garage and climbed out, the Commander approached the them, the confused Tawny in tow.
"Jake, Chance, this she-kat will be joining you in paying off a debt to the enforcers," Commander Feral told them.
The big kat was about to protest but his small companion interrupted him, "When will she arrive?"
"I just moved here, I don't have a place to stay. Also all my belongings are in my backpack here," Tawny pointed to her grey backpack hanging over her shoulder, "I could stay here now."
"Good. I want the two of you to make her feel at home, understand?" Commander Feral ordered.
"Yes, sir," acknowledged the bigger kat. Commander Feral then turned back to Tawny and glared at her. She stepped back a little, intimidated by him. Feral then looked over Tawny's shoulder and called to the other enforcers to head back to work. Apparently Tawny's idea had done a smell bit of good. The fire had begun to die down as its fuel source had been depleted; there was only the final containment, then to completely cover the gasoline so it wouldn't catch fire again.
Chance, I'll fix up a room for our new coworker. You'd better show her around," said the little kat.
Chance sighed, "Come on."
He then led her on a tour, showing her the garage where they work, repairing cars and other automobiles, and a bit of the salvage yard itself.
While they were in the salvage yard Tawny noticed that much of the junk in the yard could still be used. Tawny then asked Chance if he and Jake have used them to build anything.
"Such as?" Chance asked back.
"Such as a fighter jet, maybe."
"Um, why d' ya want to know?"
"The SWAT Kats aren't part of the government. So they must have gotten their parts from somewhere. Also, you guys almost look like the SWAT Kats. Like as if you and Jake ARE the SWAT Kats."
Chance couldn't think of anything to say. She had trapped him in a corner and he couldn't get out. Then he had a dumb but prospective idea, "You have quite an imagination, Though, we might be related; I never thought about it."
Tawny looked at him as he continued, "We've only heard of them on TV, we've always been doing what mechanics do. We've never seen them."
Tawny gave him a sarcastic smile and changed the subject, "So where is the gym? I would like to get in shape before I start carrying around engines and vehicle parts."
So Chance brought her to the exercise room. She quickly took to the punching bag, using different skills she knew since she was a kitten. It was amazing, she didn't miss a beat, every time the bag came back toward her, she would either kick or punch it away again. Once in a while she would send it in a new direction and then change position or ready herself for it to come back in any direction.
Jake then came into the room and was just as surprised as Chance to see her in that kind of exercise, "Whoa, where did she learn those moves?"
"She's good," Chance commented.
Tawny kept it up pretty well. She moved quickly like an Abbisinian and swiftly like a Siamese. Chance and Jake agreed that she could be SWAT Kat material; especially since she was a lot smarter than the average kat and had quickly caught on to their double identities.
"Hey Tawny!" Chance called.
"Ya?" Tawny answered as she continued to send the punching bag flying.
"We'd like to talk to you," Jake announced.
Tawny grabbed the bag when it came back at her, stopping the bag and her punching session. "Sure, what's up guys?"
"I was right! You guys are the SWAT Kats!" Tawny exclaimed, excited after what the two had told her. Including the story about them being kicked out of the enforcers and then forming the SWAT Kats.
Tawny smiled and then continued, "I wasn't sure until I asked Chance about the salvageable parts in the yard." She then turned to the big tabby, "You would have convinced me that you weren't the SWAT Kats if they hadn't looked like you and you hadn't squirmed at those questions." Then Tawny paused, her face that of realization as she thought to herself, "Uh, really stupid, Tawny; you really know how to make a point. You really need to work on your social skills."
"Uh, sorry Chance," Tawny apologized. She then tried to think of something to lighten things up.
Jake did it for her, "We never got where you're from, Tawny, do you think you could tell us?
"I'm... I don't have a previous place to call home. You see, my parents moved around a lot. I was pulled along with them. We would go all over the world, I had finally had enough."
"So you're a run away, don't you think they'll come looking for you?" Jake asked.
"Yeah."
"Do you think they'll help you out of that debt when they find out?" Chance asked her.
"Oh, sure, if they find me," she responded, "I don't think they'll look for me in a place like this."
Chance and Jake looked at each other in a "We're not sure about that" glance.
Elsewhere, in Megakat City a limo pulled up to Mayor Manx and Deputy Mayor Briggs. Inside were two kats who looked as if they had seen the world.
The male was a pale yellow with a tannish T-shirt and powder blue jeans. His yellowish green eyes looked worried about something or someone.
Beside him was a she-kat with very short dark blonde hair, her white fur yellowed by the sun. Her fresh grass green eyes were sad and more worried than her partner's.
She was also wearing a white dress and a pearl necklace.
"Excuse me, have you seen a white she-kat with blue eyes, a grey backpack and long hair?" Inquired the tom kat.
"I heard the enforcers had a run in with a white she-kat. Why, do you know her?" Responded Ms. Briggs.
"She's our daughter," answered the she-kat, "Tawny's her name."
"Yes, the enforcers have met her," answered Ms. Briggs, "She's over at the Enforcer Salvage yard. She's working to pay off some sort of debt to the Enforcers. I could take you there myself if it's all right."
"Thank You, but first we'd better pay off that debt of hers," the tom kat thanked her.
"Hey Tawny, I need a new washer, this one broke," called out Jake as he fixed up the tow truck. Tawny looked for a flat metal circle with a whole in it. She found one and gave it to him. She then watched as he replaced the old one with the new.
Suddenly movement caught her sight. Jake felt the breeze as she raced into hiding. The strange behavior of his new friend gained his curiosity so he looked out from the bottom of the truck.
Coming up was Callie's car followed by a limo. "So that was why Tawny ran, the kats in the limo must be her parents," thought Jake as the two cars drove up.
When the cars stopped the occupants got out. Callie led two rich looking kats inside to where Jake was waiting. "Jake," she introduced the two kats. "This is Mr. Alexander Whitefeild and his wife, Sonya. They are looking for their daughter, Tawny. I heard she's around here, do you think you could get her?"
Before Jake could comment, Chance walking in, bewildered. "Hey, why did Tawny run like that? You'd think..." He then saw the guests and slowed his speech in surprise, "... there were ... a disaster."
"Tawny! Where did she go!" Yelled Sonya, looking straight into the surprised eyes of Chance with her own angry ones.
Sonya's face showed she was disgusted by the site of him. He wore a tanktop and army jeans, the towel around his neck suggested that he was heading out to the yard to work out.
"How should I know. She hasn't been here that long and already she can get around like she's been here all her life!" Chance shrugged, trying to help the she-kat.
"Besides, she sure didn't act like she was very happy to see you," Jake included.
"She's our daughter!" Sonya protested, she pointed to herself and Alex and continued, "And she doesn't belong in this scrap heap. She belongs with her family!..."
"She seemed fine here to me," Chance interrupted her.
"He's right," announced a voice from the attached apartment. It was Tawny, "I am doing fine here. I don't want to keep moving around; I also don't want to live with you guys forever! I'd like to stay here," she said as she walked up to her parents.
"Tawny, if you don't get in that car and come home I'll..."
"You'll what mother. I'm not a kitten anymore. I don't have to listen to you tell me how a 'proper' she-kat should act!"
"Uh, Tawny, maybe you should go," Jake responded.
"What?" Tawny asked in unbelief.
"Ya, it's been cool and all but we're in enough trouble as it is. We don't want to make more by arguing with your parents," Chance agreed with Jake.
Tawny wasn't catching on, "I don't believe this, you mean you're not going to help?"
"Hey, we'll still help ya out," Chance said, offended, "If you ever need to get away from your family for awhile you can always come here."
"I don't think there's any harm in that," said Alexander, keeping his wife silent. Though her facial expression suggested that she didn't agree with her husband.
Callie, who had been silent while she listened, closed the conversation, "Now that that's been settled, I believe we must be going. I have a meeting in 7 minutes and it doesn't look good for the deputy mayor to be late," she then headed for her car.
After a few tearful hugs and good-byes, Tawny left with her parents in the limo. Her face looked solemn and then sad as she looked back at her only friends.
"Do you think we'll see her again?" asked Chance.
"I've got the feeling we haven't seen the last of her," assured Jake.
