Another Side

Chapter 9: The Storm

When the tom showed up thirty minutes later, Garrett hopped inside and buckled up.

Chance smiled. "Hey kiddo, so was school any better today?" he asked, pressing the gas pedal and exiting the parking lot.

"Yea, actually it was for once," Garrett said, smiling a little.

"Good to know, though it kinda sucks your club meeting was canceled today."

Frowning a little, Garrett sighed, "Yea…it kinda does." Then he turned to look out the window, watching the passing scenery.

Chance noticed the grimace and was pleased as this meant the club was doing the teen some good and helping him make friends when having it canceled caused him such dismay.

"Where's Jake?" Garrett asked.

"Oh, we had two cars come in just before you called so Jake said he'd stay and work on them while I take you to get our new phones and stop by the barber."

"Oh, okay...sounds cool," Garrett's voice not as enthused as it should have been...he really had wanted to work today.

Chance knew why the kid looked a little down and it wasn't just because of the club canceling though that was certainly part of it. He smiled and placed a paw on the kit's shoulder with one paw, the other still on the steering wheel. "Don't worry, I told Jake to save ya one car."

Garrett smiled brightly at the news. "Really? Thanks! I've been wanting to stick my paws in something covered with grease all day."

Laughing at the kit's enthusiasm Chance turned and parked in front of the Kat-Mobile store, the two exited the car and walked in. He looked around as they headed for the counter. "Jake already picked out the phones, all we have to do is sign the paperwork and pay...shouldn't take more than ten minutes."

Garrett nodded and went to look at the phones on display near the front window. A movement caught his eye and he looked outside. Rolling in were heavy gray clouds. He grimaced unhappily, 'that doesn't look like a small storm.'

Just as Chance promised, he got all the paper stuff signed and received three boxes with their phones inside. Calling the kit over, the two headed back to the car, climbed in and drove to the barbershop.

Fifteen minutes later, they reached the shop just as a serious gust of wind blew, nearly knocking Chance's cap off.

The tom placed a protective paw to his head and muttered, "Geez, looks like it's going to be a doozy of a storm. We'd better hurry." Garrett nodded and the two entered the shop.

A she-kat with brown hair down to her shoulders greeted them; Chance told her the kit needed a haircut.

She smiled coyly at the burly tom. "Sure handsome, come on sweetie." She led the teen to a chair, asked how short he wanted it, then began cutting his hair. She was done in less then twenty minutes. He'd gotten an inch off his length and got it thinned too.

He thanked her and saw Chance was reading a car magazine when he walked up. The big tom smiled, put the mag back and looked the haircut over.

Smiling he said, "Looking good kiddo, you'll be pulling in the girls in no time." He gave Garrett a wink.

The teen blushed hotly as Chance paid the bill and gave the she-kat a broad smile making her dimple sweetly at him. A flash of lightning made her gasp. Chance and Garrett turned to look outside and saw it had begun to drizzle and the sky was filled with dark thunderclouds. They hurried out to the car and ducked inside.

"Looks like a nasty storm rolling in. Better scurry home," Chance said, eyeing the sky in concern as he put the car in gear and headed out of the parking lot.

Garrett noticed the oddly traffic-less road and commented, "looks like everyone is already home."

Chance nodded, "Yea probably trying to get out of this storm." He turned at an upcoming intersection landing them on the back road leading to the yard. Only a few farm houses dotted the area, the Salvage Yard taking most of the land hereabouts.

The storm was getting worse as the high winds buffeted and rocked the car more than normal and the rain pelted down like bullets making driving very difficult.

Garrett stared out the rain filled windshield in concern. "Damn, I don't remember seeing a storm this bad before, you can't even see the road."

"Don't worry we'll be-" Chance began to say before being interrupted by a boom and then a bolt of lighting striking a tree to the right of the road. Chance cursed and swerved to avoid the now falling tree as it headed for the spot he had been passing under.

The sudden violent movement sent Garrett hard against the passenger door, slamming his shoulder against the frame.

"Sorry kit," Chance grunted, his paws gripping the steering wheel hard, his eyes firmly on the nearly invisible roadway. He pressed on the gas more hoping to get them home quicker.

"It's okay, I'm not hurt. That was close and I'm glad you're such a good driver," Garrett said, sincerely, rubbing his sore arm.

Out in the distance in front of them the sky started to swirl, which made Chance press hard on the breaks bringing them to a stop as he gaped in shock.

"Uh Chance…I don't think we should try to go that way," Garrett said in a small voice, tight with fear.

Chance shook off his shock and pressed on the gas turning the wheel sharply, performing a complete u-turn sending them speeding back toward the city as fast as he dared.

"Where are we going," the teen shouted, holding on as best he could and they raced along.

"I saw a parking garage at that intersection. We'll take shelter there until this blows over," Chance shouted back. He had to swerve widely to get around the tree that fell in their path earlier. They were just a block from the intersection when the car motor ceased running.

Shocked, Chance kept his paws on the wheel and guided the now dead car forward until it slowed enough for him to brake safely from their high speed. That sent them shooting past the intersection some distance before they stopped.

"What the hell happened to the car? Nothing's working...not even the radio!" Garrett said, testing the radio and other electrics on the dash.

"I don't know," Chance said tightly, as he attempted to restart the car but nothing happened except for a ticking sound. "I changed the battery a month ago," he said, angrily. Reflexively, he looked up and stared in his rear view mirror, concerned someone might hit them.

Instead of a car, he saw a huge bird like creature flying up on them. "What the hell is that..." he gasped, rolling down his window to take a better look.

"Huh? What are you... oh my god!" Garrett gawked as the bird passed over them and continued on into the city.

Chance shook off his stunned amazement when he realized something else was happening. "It seems that storm is following it too, as strange as that sounds. We'd better hoof it to the parking garage quickly."

Garrett nodded, pointing a claw to their left. Apparently, they had managed to drift far enough to be very close to the parking facility.

"We should be able to make it," Garrett said, preparing to get out of the car. Chance was already pushing hard on the door as the wind was fighting to keep it closed.

As they both managed to get out, the rain pelted them hard and the wind threatened to sweep them off their feet as they ran like mad for the cement structure.

Chance reached cover first and immediately turned around to see if Garrett was there too. The teen was not far away though he stumbled a bit due to the wind but kept on coming. Staring upward at the sky, Chance saw another threat.

"Garrett RUN!" he screamed, watching in horror as another of those birds came flying overhead but spotted the teen and was dipping down for a closer look.

Garrett didn't dare look behind him or he'd fall. Whatever was after him had freaked Chance out who was waving madly at him to put on speed.

He was within a few feet of Chance when he saw a huge shadow sweeping over him and a weird, scary scream. Chance's arms were reaching out to him and he put on a burst of speed then leaped forward.

Chance caught him in his strong arms and quickly threw them both to the side, rolling away from the entrance. Garrett managed to get a glimpse of what had terrified Chance. The huge bird screamed in anger at missing its prey before soaring upward and vanishing from view.

They lay on the cold concrete floor for long minutes, hearts hammering as they listened hard. No more sounds but that of the passing storm could be heard. Rolling to a seated position, his arms still around the teen, Chance looked him over quickly.

"You alright, no injuries?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm okay, thanks for saving me. What the hell was that thing?" Garrett asked as he pulled free of Chance and stood up.

"Beats me. I've never seen anything like that but then Megakat City is prone to nasty surprises," Chance said, catching his breath and waiting for his heart to slow, climbing to his feet as well.

The two of them went to sit on some curbing sheltered by a solid wall where they could wait out the storm. They hadn't sat more than a second when the air filled with new sounds.

Chance jumped to his feet and stared outside. He could hear the distinctive sound of enforcer sirens, gunfire, and explosions through the noise of the rain and thunder. But he couldn't see the battle itself. It was obvious to him, the storm had brought more than rain and giant birds. Trouble had come to the city again but he was no longer an enforcer to do anything but hide like normal Katizens were forced to do. He found he didn't like that much.

He glanced back at Garrett who stared up at him with huge eyes. Walking back over to the teen, he sat down beside him and put a paw on his shoulder.

"It okay, we're safe here. You're sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, but the city isn't," the teen said worriedly.

"Don't worry, the enforcers will do their best to keep it safe."

Garrett nodded but still looked worried.

~O~O~O~O~

The storm finally blew off some thirty minutes later, which was strange as was the total lack of traffic anywhere. Chance decided to go see if his sedan would start now, so the two of them walked back to it while keeping an eye on the sky, but, except for some stray gray clouds, it was clearing and no sign of the odd birds.

To Chance's surprise the sedan started easily. "What the heck?"

"Maybe it was magnetic interference from that weird storm," Garrett suggested, thoughtfully.

All Chance could do was shake his head and climb into the driver's side. "I don't know...it's possible I guess...still it was strange..." He let his sentence fade off as he fiddled with his CB, trying to pull in anything.

Suddenly, a very familiar voice was shouting, "get this ...bird off the street...figure out how it got here..." Chance frowned, saying, "sounds like Feral and his lackeys have finally gotten things under control."

"That's good," the teen sighed in relief.

"Let's head home, Jake might be worried," Chance said as he u-turned back toward the salvage yard and raced off.

"Oh, that's right, he would have heard about how bad the storm was and be scared for us. Wow, what an adventure to end the day," Garrett said with feeling, smiling a little.

Chance chuckled at him, glad he wasn't too upset by what happened.

Again they had to pass around the massive tree but nothing else stopped them and in another fifteen minutes they were pulling into the salvage yard and parking next to the garage.

~O~O~O~O~O~

They had just gotten out of the sedan when a slim figure burst outside running toward them and shouted, "are you alright, no hurt?" Jake asked anxiously, his face pale.

"Hey, it's okay, buddy. No one's hurt. Garrett might be bruised up a bit but he's okay," Chance soothed his friend quickly. "Come on, let's go inside and get something to drink and sit down."

Chance led the way to the waiting room and went to the fridge. Jake was badly shaken and felt the need to wrap an arm around Garrett's shoulders and pull him tightly to his side as they walked into the building after his partner. The teen let him as he could feel how shook up the slim tom was.

After drinking some milk, Chance told Jake what had happened. Jake paled even more when he learned how close Garrett came to being snatched by some huge bird.

Giving Garrett a hard hug then releasing him when the kit winced, he look at the teen closely. "Tell me the truth, is it just bruising?" Jake asked, concerned.

"Yeah, promise."

Jake huffed out a relieved breath. "Glad you both survived that weird attack and weather in one piece. I wonder where the heck those things came from?"

"Don't know, never seen anything like 'em. Anyway, Feral and crew apparently took care of them then the storm disappeared like magic," Chance said, shaking his head.

Jake grimaced unhappily. "Oh joy, another new enemy to plague the city, I bet."

"Possible but nothing we can do about it," Chance grunted, a bitter note in his voice.

His partner said nothing to that but he did take note of Chance unhappiness at not being able to take action against such things. Perhaps, he would now be ready for what Jake planned. He would have to wait and see.

He looked over at Garrett and eyed him with concern. "You okay about what happened?"

"Well, the whole experience made me want to get up there and take those things out myself for destroying things and nearly killing me. I've decided I want to be an enforcer!" Garrett said seriously, though his eyes shone with excitement.

The two toms stared at him in stunned amazement for a long moment before Jake managed to say, "Enforcers?"

"Oh yeah! I've seen what you guys can do on TV. I've watched the enforcers handle the omegas and all the weird happenings that go one in the city and I want to be one of those that takes them out. I felt such a rush of adrenaline when running from that bird, it was unlike anything I've ever felt before. I know you guys were screwed over by Feral but he should be long gone by the time I'm old enough to join."

Chance shook his head but Jake just gave the kit a small smile. "Well, I can understand that feeling, we both had that when we were enforcers but you have to remember, it's not all excitement and fighting...there's a lot of hard work, tedious paperwork, and assholes to deal with too."

"Oh, yeah, but that's true of any job. But this is the only job where you're saving Kat's lives and bringing in criminals, like Dark Kat. I might even chose to work in the CSI Division. I want to make a difference in my life and this is where I think I can do that by saving other's lives," he said, determination in his eyes.

"That's a noble calling and if that's what you want to do, then we'll support you all the way. However, first you must finish school with good grades and it wouldn't hurt to get your body in the physical shape required to pass the entrance tests at the enforcer academy. Chance and I would be happy to train you in many of the fighting and physical fitness requirements we learned at the academy, if you like?"

Garrett's face beamed. "Really? That'll be cool. I took karate when I was five until...well you know. But I did my best to continue my training using online videos."

Chance looked surprised and pleased. "That's great, that means we only have to fine tune what you know and teach you other fighting methods as well."

"That might not be completely necessary though I certainly won't turn down adding to my training and getting stronger at it. Remember when I said my mom told me to learn to fend for myself?"

Puzzled, the two toms nodded.

"Well she meant 'fend' in more ways then one." He scratched the back of his neck a bit self consciously.

"Uh huh...so what belt are you," Jake asked.

"Black. I took all forms of Karate till I moved here and had to quit," Garrett said, a little pride in his voice.

Jake nodded, impressed by what the teen had managed so far. "That's good but it's not all you need to learn. I myself know karate, street fighting, Jujitsu, and weapons fighting. If you're serious, we'll spar and see what you still need to work on and teach you some new stuff as well."

Garrett looked skeptical. He knew he was good. "Wouldn't mind some new moves but in Karate, we'll see who lands on the floor first," he smirked.

Jake just gave the teen an evil smile and said, "hmm, we'll just see about that." Garrett didn't know or realize age played a lot in just how powerful your moves could be but he was willing to show him the error of his thinking and knock the cockiness that youth brings right out of the teen.

Chance chuckled. "Okay, enough of this, we should get back to work. I betcha five bucks were gonna get a lot of cars to fix today."

"Won't take that bet," Jake snorted, amused.

Garrett went upstairs to change into his work overalls. The teen walked into his room and closed the door leaning against it a minute. "Man what a day." He stared out the window to see the dark clouds were gone leaving only bright sunshine moving toward dusk.

AN: Now things are gonna get interesting from here on out X3