Note from the Author: Hey everyone, sorry for the wait. I guess I broke my good run of an update a week. But, that's life I suppose. Things happen, people make complicated plans; others hinder them and make the whole time difficult, that sort of thing. Well, at least I updated now. Once again, I'd like to thank my loyal readers for putting up with me. I'd also like to thank Etherweil, Smeesnoops, Wyvern, Hotaru, and Hackerkat, who encourage me to continue writing and whose kind words make me smile. Please enjoy and don't forget to review.
Chapter 9
Salvage Yard
The Turbokat approached the Salvage Yard smoothly. Blaze turned his eyes away and scanned the control console, looking for the runway switch. Quickly finding the button, he pressed it and watched as a section of earth in the yard slide back to reveal the hidden runway.
Nice and easy. Nice and easy. Blaze reminded himself over and over in his mind as he gently pushed down on the controls, making the aircraft lower slowly towards the Hangar. The red kat flipped on the landing gear and heard the tires hit the ground as he landed on the runway. Giving himself enough space, the Turbokat landed softly on the platform. The metal platform raised itself up to the Hangar, slowing to a stop. The canopy slid open quietly and Blaze leapt out, landing on the floor on his feet in a crouch. The red kat, with a down cast face, quickly changed out of his G-suit and back into his normal blue overalls. He looked around and the eerie silence of the place struck him.
It's like a graveyard here. Tai thought. Chance by now would brag about his flying and then Jake would shut him up by pointing out all the close calls he made.
The red kat made a small smirk from the memory, but it quickly vanished from his face. Reality kept hitting him like a ton of bricks, reminding him over and over that the toms he thought of friends were gone, and most likely never to return. With his eyes to the floor, he walked across the cold steel floor to the latter and climbed, pushing open the secret hatch to the hallway closet and entering the house. The sound of the hatch closing was the only noise besides Tai's shoes hitting the floor.
"It's even more silent here." Tai stated to himself in a sad tone. As he went into the living room, he noticed the time on the VCR and felt even more sadness eat away at him.
"Scardy Kat's on. Chance and I would watch it every day." Tai continued, the despair building up in him more and more till his voice began to break. ""Jake would moan and go to the Hangar to work every day. I even remember that one time when Chance thought it was fun to pounce on me and pin me to the ground with his weight. Man, that..that..tha.."
Tai could no longer continue. Tears had formed in his eyes and, against his will, began to fall to the soft carpet under his shoes.
"No! I'm.I'm not going to cry! I'm not a little kitty! I'm not..not..not gonna. CRY!!" Tai put his paws to his face and cried loudly at the loss of his comrades. The salty tears dripped though the space between his fingers and dripped on the floor, making the carpet wet and squishy.
" 'Keep it up kid, you're getting stronger.' BULLSHIT I AM!!" Tai cried out. "I'm as weak as when I began. No, I'm weaker! If only I held on a little longer. If only I was able to endure that lightning, we would have caught that little troll and came home. COME HOME TOGETHER!!"
The red kat threw himself onto the couch and continued to cry softly. After a few minutes, the sadness was drained from his body, though tears still hung on his eyes. He sniffled and pulled his paws away from his eyes. The thought still lingered in his mind, but he was able to stand it more. Then, a thought came to his mind.
"That gnome used magic." The red kat stated. "If he used magic, then there might be a way. Everything has an opposite, something that can undo the other. There could be a way!!"
Tai looked up to the ceiling, feeling courage and hope swell up inside him. Even if it was false hope, he couldn't care less.
"I need to find out everything I can about that guy before I confront him again." Tai said. "News articles, files, everything! Jake has a database on the computer downstairs. I can look up the Pastmaster's files and try to piece together where he's going. Like they say. 'The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime.' I just have to find the pattern."
With that, Tai started back for the Hangar, his will and determination stronger now than it had ever been.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Bombay
"I don't know Razor, I'm getting a really bad feeling about this." T-bone warned.
"Look T-bone, it's either this or get ripped to pieces by that mob chasing us." Razor responded, glancing over to the robed figure afterwards. "Besides, this person probably knows more about this area than we do. If we try to go around on our own, we'll get caught for sure." T-bone gave the ginger kat a stern looked, but conceded to the tom's logic, knowing that he was right, as usual. While the two discussed what to do in the situation, Havanna, under the cloak, gazed out on the city. She knew well that being out in the open, even in an alleyway, was not a good idea. If she were caught, she'd be taken back to the palace, to a furious father. But if she were caught with these two outsiders, she'd be even more in trouble. Even in Bombay, the royal family members were not exempt from treason, and the punishments for such things made her sick just thinking about them.
I must get them to safety. Havanna thought as she gazed over the great kingdom, searching rooftop to rooftop. These two are either allied with that monster, or are the ones he meant to trap. But one or the other, I will be able to find out something about the theft of the pillar.
As she looked over the rooftop, she spotted their destination. Even thought she had never really been though the town on her own, she knew that this was the safest place in the whole city to hide the outsiders. Havanna turned to the two toms and went to speak, but was still undecided about their alliance.
I have no choice. She thought, looking over to the next home. Razor noticed the stranger's movements and knew something was up.
"T-bone." He alerted.
"What?" T-bone questioned, looking where Razor was looking. The cloaked stranger backed up a little, and then shot out into a fast run. Just before she got to the edge of the building, Havanna leapt into the air, jumping over the space between the two houses. Havanna landed on her feet in a crouch and stood up.
"Go from house to house to avoid the mobs on the ground." Razor figured. "Pretty smart."
"Yeah. I still don't know, but what the hell." T-bone replied. The cloaked figure gave them a follow me sign just before they started a new run.
"Lets go!" Razor urged, running and leaping. T-bone, reluctantly, followed the two. The group leapt from home to home, following the stranger that had saved their lives. Razor kept his eyes on the stranger, analyzing everything about the movements he (or she) made. The ginger kat's eyes glanced over the city to try and see the direction of where they were going.
I hope I'm right about this. He thought. But, it's kinda funny a girl's leading us.
T-bone, in the mean time, looked back and saw two people in the streets glancing up at them. He froze when he saw the two lock onto his eyes. One was a grey female while the other was a brown male.
Oh crud! T-bone thought.
The female screamed.
Razor and the stranger looked back to see they had been spotted. Razor's eyes caught the light from the torches and could see they had changed course towards them.
"T-bone!! Ignore them and lets go!!" the ginger kat said.
"R..Right!" T-bone replied, going towards them. Havanna started running, increasing the
pace of the journey. The three kats leapt from rooftop to rooftop as the mobs began to go
in their general direction. Havanna looked back to the two as they reached a tall home,
not paying attention to where her feet were. The folds of her cloak fell under feet as she
ran, making her tumble forward. She landed on the roof with an "Oomph!" and then
began tumble towards the edge of the roof.
"WHOA!!!" Razor shouted in response, running to the fallen stranger. With a blur of fur, T-bone dashed past Razor to the one in danger.
"I got em!!" He said.
Havanna reached the end of the roof and fell. She opened her mouth to scream, anticipating the pain that was to come, when something grabbed her paw. She hung in the air, hovering just above the point where she would have fallen.
I'm not dead. She thought with a joyful smile. But, I should have fallen. What stopped me?
"Don't worry bud, I gotcha." A voice said over her head. Havanna looked up to see the more muscular of the toms was crouched down of the roof top, one paw pushing up to support himself while the other gripped her paw tightly.
He..He saved me! She thought as she looked up at him. She was now able to look at him more closely than before. He had neatly groomed blond fur with two sets black whiskers under his brown nose. He seemed a bit chubbier than what was normal, but it was ok. His gleaming white teeth were drawn in a bold smile and Havanna could see crystal blue eyes under his mask.
He seems...rather charming. Havanna thought with a smile. Suddenly, a strange feeling began to sweep over her. In that one moment, she began to feel lighter, as if gravity had no power over her. Her heart was beating heavily against her chest while gentle warmth began to spread through her body.
What's this feeling? She questioned. It feels so new and strange.
"Up you go!" The blond tabby said as he pulled the she-kat up, still oblivious to who she was. He seemed to pull her up quite easily and placed her back on the roof. Havanna's heart began to slow down again as the adrenalin from the recent events calmed down.
"You ok buddy?" T-bone asked. Havanna kept herself silent and nodded. She turned away and looked around. They were very close to their destination. She began to run and leapt to the next roof.
"What was that!? Not even a thank you." T-bone grumbled.
"What did you expect pal? You should be use to it." Razor chuckled at his side.
"Yeah yeah." The burly tom responded.
The two continued to follow the stranger, not knowing where he (or she) would lead them. Havanna got to a home that was low to the ground and leapt off, landing onto the earth with ease. She turned around and saw T-bone and Razor jump and land in front of her.
"So, is this where we're suppose to be?" T-bone questioned as he looked around. He noticed Razor staring and looked in that direction, to see a large church before them. It was built tall and grand, made of what looked like white marble. It towered above them with stained glass windows filtering the light of the full moon.
"Whoa." The tabby whispered.
"Man, this is like the Notre Dam of the ancient world!" Razor added. The stranger turned about and continued towards the church, the black cloak sweeping the ground as they walked.
"Why would he bring us to a church?" T-bone questioned.
"Well, maybe they think we'll be safe." Razor replied. The two followed behind the cloaked figure to the doors of the church. As Havanna reached for the arcadia doors, T-bone went ahead of her and grabbed the handle.
"I'll get it." He said as he opened the door.
THWACK!!!
The blond tabby fell backwards onto the ground.
"T-bone!" Razor exclaimed. " What happened?"
"I don't know. Something hit me square in the nose." T-bone answered, rubbing his nose with his paw. Out of the church stepped an old kat. He had a blueish-gray coat and bright green eyes. Around him was the thick white robe of the clergy and in his hands was a tough wooden cane.
"Go away!! You outsiders aren't welcome here!!" he bellowed.
"Hey look! We…" Razor began.
" Silence!!" the old kat interrupted, swinging his cane at the ginger kat. But at the last second, the cloaked stranger went in front and intercepted the hit. In anger, the old kat marched forward and grabbed the cloak hood, pulling it up just enough to see who was inside it.
"OH DEAR LORD!!" he cried, dropping the wooden weapon. Razor helped T-bone get to his feet, and the two saw the old kat drop to his knees.
"Forgive me! Forgive me your grace! I did not know it was you." He sobbed, grabbing the stranger's hand. The old kat got to his feet, keeping his paw on hers. "It is not safe to be outside. Come, come in."
"You know what's going on?" T-bone asked his partner.
"Not a clue." Razor answered.
The old kat lead the three into the church. They saw row after row of wooden benches in the main room in the church, with a platform at the far end for the speaker. Razor spotted at the platform two doors leading into a different room, and the beginning of a staircase. The old kat kept his eyes on the stranger's, not taking them off for a moment.
"I apologize with all my heart. I didn't know it was you. And when I saw these outsiders…"
"Hey! This dude saved us." T-bone barked. Razor shot up, now realizing that T-bone didn't know.
"Uh, T-bone." He said in a shy manner.
"What?!" T-bone replied.
"Well, for one thing, that's not a..." Razor began.
"I apologize to you for the rude reception you have received." Havanna said in a nice clear voice. T-bone looked at the cloaked figure in surprise, now realizing it was a woman. Havanna neatly undid the binds of her cloak and let it fall. T-bone and Razor watched as the dark veil fell, revealing a beautiful young she-kat. Her yellow-tan fur seemed to glow even in the faint light from the moon. Havanna's long brown hair fell to her waist and her bright green eyes met those of the SWAT Kats. The white dress decorated with diamonds seemed to accentuate her beauty, making her presence even more divine.
"Oh man." T-bone whispered in awe.
"Wow." Razor whispered as well.
"Though may I ask, who is this 'Dude' of which you speak?" The Bombay princess asked in a polite, sweet voice. T-bone and Razor were still stricken by how she looked.
"Answer her you cretins!" The old kat barked.
"Hey!! Watch it buddy!!" T-bone snapped back. The burly tabby looked over to the majestic she-kat, giving her the bold smile. "No one ma'am, just something we say where we come from."
"So, you are outsiders." Havanna said. She went down into a curtsy, proper and courteous. "Then I welcome you to our fair city in the honor of the holy family."
"Thanks." Razor replied. "What do you mean, 'Holy Family'?"
The old kat and Havanna gave them a strange look.
"You fools!! You don't even realize who you are conversing with!" the old kat said. "This is Bombay's maiden of light, height of our monarchs, and beauty known though out the land. She is Havanna Alexandria Bombayose, Princess of Bombay!!"
"Princess!!" T-bone and Razor exclaimed. Havanna gave a slight smile and let out a little giggle.
"Yes, I'm afraid so." She responded. "As I have said before, I apologize for the welcoming our citizens have given you. It is not right to persecute someone before his or her case is heard. Please, if there is anything I can…"
"Don't worry about it Havanna." T-bone replied with a smile.
"Don't address the princess so formally young tom." The old kat warned.
"Father Nore!" Havanna responded. "These two are guests to our kingdom and have been given the worst treatment possible. Our towns rely on outsiders to help fund themselves. All people are welcome here."
"Forgive me milady, but I do not suggest we trust them." Father Nore advised.
"Look, we really don't want to cause any trouble." Razor informed. "We just don't want to be butchered by those mobs either."
"Then you should stay here." The she-kat suggested. "This temple is the safest place there is in the city other than the palace. And even then, the guards would most likely arrest you for seemingly trespassing on the castle grounds. Plus, my father would not approve of it. I'm afraid our city tends to be rather violent when times of crises appear."
"Stay here!!" Father Nore exclaimed.
"Please father, they have no other place to go." The Bombay princess returned.
"No. I will not allow it." The old kat said.
"Father, they are good people." Havanna insisted. She glanced over to T-bone and felt her heart began to beat fast in her chest. "Besides, this one saved my life."
Father Nore's eyes grew wide with surprise as he looked to the strange outsider tabby. "He saved you?"
"Yes, I would have been dead by now if it were not for him. I own him my life, so I shall protect his."
Father Nore sighed and glanced at the two toms. He scanned the two kats, capturing every single detail in memory. Gazing at their eyes, he tried to get a feel of their aura. The old kat gave another sigh and looked to the Bombay princess.
"I do not sense any evil intent within them my dear." He said. " So, I shall trust them for now and grant them holy sanctuary."
"Oh thank you father." Havanna replied in a happy tone, embracing the elder kat.
"See, we found a safe place." Razor said in a matter-o-fact tone.
"Yeah yeah, shut up." T-bone replied. Havanna glanced over to the moon, seeing it was very high from the brightness of the stained glass windows. She went to her cloak and put it back on, hiding her form.
"I must return home." She informed. "I shall see you two tomorrow for the sermon. Please sleep well."
"Sleep tight princess." T-bone bade.
"See ya." Razor replied. Havanna turned away and walked away towards the doors, but she stopped and turned back, looking strait at T-bone.
"Thank you sir, for saving my life." The Bombay princess thanked. "I am truly in your debt."
"Hey, don't worry bout it." The tom replied. "Saving damsels in distress is what I do for a livin."
Havanna gave him a warm smiled and turned back to her path home. As she went away, T-bone watched her. His eyes rested upon the she-kat, and his heart began to beat faster in his chest. Every sense within him seemed to fill with energy, sending a warm spell through out his body.
She's so beautiful and sweet. The burly tabby thought with a glazed look. I just might enjoy my time here after all. Could be a learning experience.