THE DEFINITION OF PEACE
Chapter 35: Second one up: Dr. Viper!
T-Bone eyed Feral nervously. They'd been waiting more than two hours and Feral was pacing back and forth before his wall of windows. He was beginning to act way too much like his tiger alter for the SWAT Kats comfort. Razor was taking a nap so wasn't aware of Feral's more primitive nature making an appearance. It didn't help matters that they'd been informed Dr. Viper had managed to escape. Feral had passed the word to his teams and insured one of them was heading to the swamps to search. This last bit of news had made Feral even more restless and irritable.
Speaking cautiously, the tabby said, "hey, Commander.......maybe you need to run off some steam. I can call you if there's word."
Feral paused and jerked his head toward the pilot, his eyes were glowing a bit and he definitely had a feral look about him.......fitting his last name very well......certainly more than the tabby wanted to see.
"No. Just a bit uptight but I don't want to miss a call," he said flatly, a deeper growl issuing from his chest as he turned away and began pacing again.
"If you say so," T-Bone muttered softly.
By another hours passing, T-Bone was about ready to fire a gas grenade at Feral. The pacing had increased in tempo and a low rumbling growl had been added. It was with much relief, that T-Bone heard Feral's cell phone finally ring shrilly. Razor snapped awake instantly and listened to Feral's half of the conversation.
"Feral!"
"Sir, team five.....we're on the south side, searching the swamp. We've got a good sighting of one of Viper's plant monsters. I think its guarding the mutant's hideaway, orders?"
Feral's face split into an evil grin. "At last!......Hold your position and don't let him see you there! I'll join you as quick as I can. Feral out! Come on you two, Viper's been located."
"Alright! Dr. Viper's as good as caught!" Razor said gleefully. "I'm itching to try some of the new type freeze and electrical devices the professor gave us."
"Let's go then!" Feral barked as he nearly ran out of his office and took the stairs to the flight line.
Within minutes, the three were aboard the Turbokat and on their way to Megakat Swamp.
T-Bone couldn't land too close because of the swampy ground. Razor, using his sonar, found a firm area that would be safe to park the jet and the pilot brought it silently down to land in VTOL mode. Once on the ground, the armed up, except for Feral, then headed in the direction team five said they'd be.
It took more than fifteen minutes to navigate the dark, nasty swamp before finding the team who had a scout waiting for them so they wouldn't blunder into the danger zone.
"Sir, follow me.....the guard hasn't detected us, as we have been careful to be downwind of it," the scout whispered softly then lead them further into the swamp.
They quickly met up with the rest of the team. Feral gathered them close.
"Alright, I want my altered members to go in with me in our primitive forms to take out Viper," he ordered then turned to the ones who were normal, "the SWAT Kats have some new weapons that hopefully will take out all of Viper's guards. The rest of you will give them cover. Wait five minutes for us to get in position. Keep in touch. Let's go!"
Finished with orders, Feral stripped off his flight suit as his fellow alters did the same then became their primitive forms. A tiger, bear, wolf, and leopard headed off into the swamp.
The team leader, who was not an alter, kept track of the time. No sound but the usual night noises of the swamp denizens were heard as they waited. Then the team leader called 'time'.
"Alright....let's rock and roll!" T-Bone growled as he and Razor led the way toward Viper's supposed den.
Feral used his nose to detect Viper's distinctive odor from all the other smells of the swamp. Moving stealthily, the animals pushed through the high weeds and cattails coming up on an old tree that had an odd look about it.
Feral could smell metal. The tree hid a metal door. Growling under his breath at the lack of opposable fingers and a weapon, he decided they had to make Viper come out. Before he could relay that to the others a loud commotion behind them signaled the rest of the group's attack.
'Oh well, that'll work too!' He thought. The ones with him formed a half circle before the door. They couldn't be seen as they were hiding in the high grass that surrounded the tree and they were very still.
Elsewhere in the swamp.......
Razor was firing on several plant guards that looked like thorned trees with his new freeze weapon. It turned that section of swamp into a white winter land.
The team leader had been whipped into the air by a sneaky vine that had slithered from behind him. He cooly shot his laser at it limb, as did the other enforcer which severed it. He fell to the ground but got up quickly to rejoin the fight.
From the sky came flying acid spitters which T-Bone handily took out with brace of mini-missiles filled with a special baking soda that neutralized the acid and, as an added bonus, clogged the plant's mouths so that the acid backed up in their systems and they exploded, lighting up the night briefly.
The two black ops officers fired their lasers at anything that tried to leap or grab the two SWAT Kats as the pair swiftly swept the area with their new weapons.
The group paused when there appeared to be no more enemies and allowed the uproar to quiet so they could listen for anymore attackers. For a long moment silence greeted them as the normal animals of the swamp had gone quiet in fear or left the area to the fighters. Then, suddenly a loud roar filled the air and out of the dark came a huge mushroom monster.
"Crud! That things bigger than the last one Viper sent our way!" T-Bone yelled, firing matchhead missiles at it, setting fire to its top but not doing much damage.
"Let's see if a combination of electricity and cold will take that thing out. Here buddy, take the cold ray and fire at its face," Razor shouted, tossing the weapon to his partner who caught it easily.
T-Bone put the bazooka-like weapon to his shoulder and fired where Razor directed. The blue beam struck true and turned the mushroom creature's face into a frozen white mess.
Razor had been waiting his turn and now fired his electrical device. High voltage shot out and struck the towering plant. It couldn't scream any longer with ice in its face but its body and limbs were shaking violently then it simply exploded, spraying plant matter everywhere.
"Oh yuck! That stinks!" The team leader said, holding his nose.
"You got that right! Geez, it smells like week old garbage. Let's get out of here and see how the Commander and his group are doing catching Viper," T-Bone said, holding his nose as well.
The group tramped through the water and mud till they reached the tree that was supposed to be Viper's hiding place. What greeted their eyes was shocking.
Meanwhile at Viper's place............
It took about five minutes of weapon's fire and loud roars of dying creatures before Viper opened his door to look out. Feral suspected he took so long to appear because he might have surveillance cameras about......or did have.....since he was fairly certain the SWAT Kats had taken them out during their battle against Viper's plant army.
No one moved as they waited for Viper to move further outside. They didn't want him to turn and barricade himself in. Feral wouldn't put it past the lizard to have a back door out.....so they really didn't want the omega to go back inside.
"Drat thosssse SSSWAT Katssss! How did they find me?" Viper hissed angrily. He stepped away from his tree and signaled to something the waiting animals couldn't see.
A loud roar of something that wasn't an animal erupted from the direction Viper had signaled. Against the moonlit sky, a monstrous mushroom creature......bigger than the last one they'd seen before......shoved its way through the vegetation toward its master.
'Okay! Not good! Better take out Viper before that reaches us!' Feral thought quickly. With a loud roar he leapt from his hiding place followed immediately by his fellow alters.
Viper gaped, unable to make a sound before Feral fell on him. Panic stricken, Viper allowed instincts to take over as he violently shoved the huge tiger off him with his powerful feet, used his tail to swat the face of the leopard and slithered beneath the bear who had risen to his ponderous feet.
But just as he thought he was home free and was about to slide into the water nearby, the wolf appeared suddenly beside him and snatched the mutant by the neck, flicking him back among the predators who hemmed him in, preventing any escape.
He should have froze and remained still but he was only focused on escape and not really thinking at all.......that was his last mistake. He got to his feet and sprang upward lightning quick, attempting to reach a tree limb above Feral. His movement caused all the predators to attack.
Feral caught an arm, the wolf one leg, the leopard another leg and the bear grabbed the lizard's mid section. It was a rather gruesome death and not much of their enemy remained but pieces and then maybe not much of that either since a few of the predators were hungry.
Blood on his muzzle, Feral moved off to lick himself clean. He paid no attention to the sounds of feeding a few feet from him. Finished with his toilet, he raised his head and listened to the swamp. He realized the huge plant monster was no longer around. Silence greeted his ears for a moment then he heard the rest of the team heading their way. A sniff of the air, told the tiger no more enemies were left.
T-Bone was in the lead as the group broke through the vegetation. He stopped before Feral, glancing past him. The tiger could hear the Kat let out a breathe of shock.
"Uhm, someone was hungry?" The tabby asked weakly.
Feral just snorted.
"Ewww! That's a nasty way to go!" Razor choked, looking away after catching a brief view of the kill under the moonlight, really grateful it was too dark to see much.
The two black ops officer's turned rather pale but made no comment as they too kept their eyes averted.
The night was nearly gone, dawn was but three hours away when the teams were called back in to rest. It was a celebratory group that met at Enforcer Headquarters. Two omegas were capture or dead. A successful night's hunt.
Feral thanked them all for their great work, bade them get some sleep and to report by eight that night to resume the hunt.
The teams laughed and clapped each other on the back as they left for their temporary quarters within the enforcer building.
Feral turned to the SWAT Kats. "Great work, you two. Those weapons of Hackles were very effective it seems. I'll want to debrief you so report to me thirty minutes before the other's are supposed to."
"Sure, no problem," T-Bone agreed easily.
"Uhm, Commander? Wasn't that a rather drastic way to take out Viper?" Razor asked, still rather disturbed by how Viper had died.
Feral eyed Razor for a moment. The SWAT Kat seemed really upset by what had happened. Sighing mentally, he said quietly, "I really hadn't planned for that to happen, Razor. Believe me it wasn't deliberate. Viper should have stayed put when he was surrounded by us but he chose to leap into the air to escape to a tree limb above us," he shrugged his shoulders and said, "we're predators......move and we'll attack and kill.....that's just what we are. I can't change what I am even if I wanted to. I hope it never happens again and I'll do my best to prevent it. What else can I say?"
"I guess you're right. You didn't ask to become what you and the others are now. I understand that. I guess its my more civilized side that found what happened very disturbing," Razor admitted.
"I understand and a part of me is really disturbed that I could do that as well but I've since learned to accept my primitive side as who I am or I'd go crazy by now," Feral murmured. "Actually, though, if we eat a heavy meal before going out to hunt then the chances of that happening will be lessened," he tried to be upbeat about it.
"Well, I guess that would be helpful alright. At least it will prevent any more 'accidents'," Razor said, accepting this was something he couldn't change and let it be. "We'd better be off then. I'm beat!"
"I'm with you buddy! See you tomorrow night, Feral," T-Bone said as the pair turned and left.
Feral yawned and stretched. He should write up the crime scene notes but he was tired and stressed out. Tomorrow was going to be busy enough. Turning off the lights and locking his door, he left for the elevators.