It only took about an hour for Nakela to begin to wake up. Her wounds were pretty bad, and neither shifter seemed to be healing much. However, the wounds would have probably killed a kat or normal animal, yet both had survived, thankfully. Sarita however was in her massive chatro form, her 'natural' form as Nakela had said. The kats knew that they couldn't leave her out in the open in case someone pulled into the yard, though that was doubtful at night, or an Enforcer chopper just happened to fly overhead. Due to her size, they had to use the winch on the back of the tow-truck to pull her inside the garage. The blood was easy enough to hide with the red dirt that covered the ground of the salvage yard. They were both worried about the state of mind that the Hellcat would be in when she awoke, but Nak and Sawgrass both assured them that she'd be fine. They were right that she wouldn't go mad again, but she certainly wasn't 'fine'.
Sarita was even more depressed than she had been previously, simply laying there in the garage with her head on her paws, staring off into nothing. Because of her poor condition, Jake had insisted that Nakela use his room tonight, and he would sleep on the couch. Later, Chance checked on Sarita one more time before going to bed himself. She still refused to eat or drink, and wouldn't even look at the kat. He worried about the jaguar's state of mind, as well as her physical health. He actually felt sorry for her. The first time he had encountered her, she was a fierce warrior, and he was actually glad that Nakela had intervened when she did, now knowing exactly how strong she really was. But now, he could hardly believe this was the same cat, after seeing her reduced to such a pitiful state of depression in less than two days.
.
They waited until a little after midnight to make the attack. Viper had lead the vampire and her three shape-changers through the sewers deep into the center of Megakat City. To the Megakat Biochemical Labs. The trick would be to get inside. Once inside, the dark creatures figured they would have an easy time with the mortals there. Large shielded gun turrets surrounded the outside of the lab on the street above, but that was not how they planned to enter. The front was too obvious, and too difficult. Viper had gotten in before via the sewers, but that way was now blocked. For the moment.
Dr. Viper looked up at the thick cement slab interlaced with bars of agracite alloy.
"Thissss isss why I've been unable to get in lately. I could go above, but they've increassssed their sssecurity there too."
Ange wore her kevlar body suit, her silver-etched machete in her right hand, the blade resting against her shoulder, and the lion-skull helmet under her left arm. She studied the bars a moment.
"How long have these been here?"
"About a year now."
"So not long. Stephen?"
She looked at the crinos werewolf who walked over and ran his clawed hands over the concrete and bars.
"Too strong to break through. But I might could get through via the Umbra. I'll see if there's another way in from there."
Ange nodded and held out the blade. The Garou looked at the steel weapon's polished surface, concentrating on his reflection. He then stepped forward. Dr. Viper blinked in surprise as the massive creature suddenly shimmered, then vanished into thin air!
"What happened..?"
Ange gave a soft, dark laugh.
"He went into the Umbra. The 'Spirit World'. It's a talent of the shifters, particularly the wolves."
Darian, in his felis form, snorted disdainfully. The wolves could come and go almost at will, while his kind were mostly stuck in the physical relm, not even able to enter the Penumbra. They waited almost ten minutes, then heard a crashing sound further down the tunnel. Viper began to get nervous, but Ange simply smiled.
"Let's go."
The shifters and the vampire were fast. Viper was quick, but he still had a difficult time keeping up with them. A few yards away, they found a small hole smashed in the side of the sewer tunnel. Ange put her helmet on, then she crawled through first, followed by Chigger, then Darian. Viper hesitated, then crawled through as well. It led to a small sinkhole in the ground, with another hole going up. They came up into a storage room. Viper couldn't believe it. They had found another way into the building!
Stephen had shifted down to his hispo form. Ange pulled down the visor of her helmet, hiding her face. Only her feline ears and tail were visible from the body armor.
"Okay, Doctor. Where to?"
"Thisssss way."
Viper took the lead now, the vampire behind him, and the three shifters spreading out. At one point, Chigger stopped and pricked his ears with his head held up, looking down a darkened hallway. This caused everyone else to freeze and listen. Ange motioned with her hand, and the three shifters ran quickly down the hall. Viper then heard a sudden yell, cut off in a gurgle only two seconds later. It was followed by the sound of snarling, tearing, and the crunching of bone.
"Sssssso much for that sssecruity guard!"
Ange nodded, then they continued on quickly through the building as the shifters fed. Viper led the vampire up two flights of stairs, then down another hall.
"Almossssst there! Where are your petsssss?"
"Don't worry about them. They'll catch up."
They continued on, then came to a sudden stop at the sound of voices. Just in front of them, a pair of security guards came around the corner.
"Hey what are you... It's Doctor Viper!"
The first guard drew his gun while the second grabbed his radio. He never got a chance to speak, as Ange, with lightning speed, threw her machete at him. The 20" blade sliced straight through the guard's throat. The first guard, terrified, fired the gun. Viper dodged aside and swung his long tail around, tripping the kat. Before the guard could get up, Ange had ran forward and grabbed him by the neck, jerking him easily up into the air, his feet dangling. The security guard gasped for air as he struggled against the vampire's powerful grip.
"Who... what are you?"
Viper walked forward and laughed at the guard.
"Ssssstupid! Don't you know Death when you ssssssee it?"
The kat's eyed went wide in terror. With her free hand, Angelida pulled off the helmet, revealing her frightening visage. Her eyes glowed a deep red and her fangs were long and sharp. She jerked the kat forward and sank her fangs deep in his neck and bit down. He screamed as she then jerked back, ripping a large chunk of flesh. Blood spurted from the severed vein as Ange spit out the chunk of flesh and fur, then bit down again, drinking the kat's blood. Viper found her feeding both gruesome, and fascinating. After a few moments, she tossed the lifeless corpse aside, wiping her blood-covered mouth with the back of a gloved hand.
"Well that wassssss interresssting."
"And satisfying. Now then, those chemicals?"
"Yessss... they're in there!"
He pointed to the door at the other end of the hall. The two walked over to the large steel door. Locked, of course.
"Thisssss issss new."
He tried to break the door, and the lock, as he'd been able to do in the past. The new door was far to strong. Ange grinned.
"Allow me."
She reached back with her right hand, focusing the strength in her blood, then brought it forward, hard. She connected against the door over the lock, and created a huge dent, causing the door to smash inward, effectively breaking the lock. Viper's eyes went wide at her sudden show of strength. Now he knew why she was always so calm and confident!
He went inside and looked around at the many different vials of mutagens and chemicals. Finding the one he was looking for, Viper grabbed it, as well as another he had thought about possibly needing.
"Okay, now letsss go."
"What's the hurry?"
"I'm not conssssscerned about the Enforcerssss, but the SSSSWAT Katssss could posssssibly be here ssssoon."
"So? Let them come. We can deal with them."
"On foot perhapssss. But not aginsssssst their jet. Not yet..."
Ange shrugged. The SWAT Kats were apparently allies of Sarita and Nakela. She'd deal with them soon enough anyway.
"Fine. Let's go."
They made their way quickly back downstairs. The three shifters were already waiting near the store-room where they had come in. All three had blood on their paws and muzzles.
.
No silent alarms had ever been hit, and no-one was able to report out about the break-in at the labs until it was too late. By the time the Enforcers got there, all they found was eight dead security guards, and two dead scientists who had stayed for a night-shift. Big mistake. Most of the corpses were at least partially eaten, apparently by some sort of large animals. Massive bloody paw-prints were found everywhere, but they seemed to disappear on the ground floor of the building. They had also found that the heavy steel door to the chemical room had been smashed in by something very powerful.
Commander Feral stood outside of the door with his sergeant and a handful of other Enforcers. One of the head scientists, called in once it was learned of in massacre and theft, was going through the list of katalysts.
"Two vials are missing, Commander. Katalyst 47, and Katalyst X-98. Both very dangerous mutagens."
"Mutagens huh? Sounds like that snake, Dr. Viper, is back. But how could he do something like this?"
The scientist looked at the door and shook his head.
"That door is a foot of steel. It would take something of massive strength to break it. It wasn't the door itself, but the lock that was hit. The steel rod that locks it is only about 4" thick. That's what broke. The hit was targeted for the weakest point on the door."
"It seems your security measures arn't as strong as you thought, Doctor. And apparently, if this was the work of Viper, he's in league with whatever creatures killed and ate those three kats in the southern part of town last night."
"Most likely some new mutations of his. I'm worried that whatever he's up to this time, this is only just the beginning."
Feral narrowed his eyes as he stared at the dent in the heavy steel door.
"So do I..."
.
Chance and Jake had found out about the break-in at the labs last night while on patrol as the SWAT Kats, but by the time anyone got there, it was far too late. The were-raven perched near the group of Enforcers outside the entrance to the building, listening to everything that was said. He later relayed the information to the SWAT Kats, which confirmed their suspicions. Viper had indeed teamed up with the vampire, and now they had raided the Biochemical labs, slaughtering everyone they found inside. That next morning, they watched the report of in incident on the news, but it didn't reveal anything that the raven hadn't already told them. Jake shook his head.
"I don't like this, pal. That is a bad combination."
"Yeah. We're gonna have to find a way to stop that snake, and the blood-sucker, before they can cause any-more serious damage. Or take any more lives."
"Affirmative. But the question is, how? With Sarita and Nakela both in such bad shape... well, those things are stronger than anything we've faced before."
"But they're not invincible. I doubt even those monsters can stand up to the firepower of the Turbokat."
"I hope so, buddy. I really hope so."
Two days passed as the shifters continued to heal. Nakela seemed to be getting a little better each day, and Sarita's wounds were healing too, though she still would not speak or eat. She at least would drink water now, and Jake & Chance were able to convince her to move to at least the far back of the garage where she could be kept out of sight. Trying to ignore the two wounded shape-changers, the pair of kats continued on with their normal lives, including making nightly patrols in the Turbokat. Strangely, the crime seemed to be slightly lessened in the city with the exception of the nightly brutal murders in the southern part of town. Though they searched, the SWAT Kats were unable to locate any trace of the vampire and her evil shifters, or Dr Viper.
The Corax however, would spend his days flying over the city, and would then come back and inform them of what he saw. Now Chance was beginning to understand what the dragon had meant about the raven being a useful spy. There wasn't much that escaped his notice. Most of his information was about the crime in the city, what was being done about it, the many rumors about the 'animals' killing and eating people in the night, and what the Enforcers were trying to do to stop it.