Hey Readers! Happy early Easter!
Again, so sorry for the long wait. To make it up to you, here's a long chapter for you all before Easter! Enjoy!
Hackle's Plan:
Feral POV:
"What a day this turned out to be," Feral said, covering a cough as he sat in the corner of the cell. "And it's all your fault!"
"How is it our fault," Razor asked, gaping at him with shock.
"If you hadn't found that human thing and reported him to the proper authorities-"
"Like we'd've turned him over to you," T-Bone said angrily, glaring at him. "You would've locked him up or killed him!"
"And suppose if he'd been evil? He could've killed us all," the Enforcer said.
"He's trying to save us, along with our world, after saving this city countless of times!" The shorter Swat Kat shook his head. "At what point are you gonna understand that we're the good guys?"
"The day you take off those masks and turn yourselves in," the kat replied, covering another round of coughing.
They were in Void's underground lab, sitting in a cage as the evil kat himself worked at some sort of computer. From where they sat, they were able to see details about what was to come; the kat would be taking a large dose of the kat serum in gas form to some high tower in a place called Dallas, and would release it onto the city bellow. Once they were kats, he would control them, march them into the kat world, and use them to take over and strengthen his army. Then, he would return to the human world and do the same. The trio could even see when he was planning on leaving, but they couldn't tell anyone; their communicators and weapons were sitting on a table several yards away, and the cell was inescapable.
"Lonestar and the others'll come for us," Razor said. "They're gonna notice we're gone and get help."
"Hopefully from the Enforcers," Feral muttered. "Who's he going to bring with him; those two news kats and the deputy mayor?"
"Lay off, Feral," T-Bone said, sitting in the opposite corner of the cell. "He'll be able to rescue us with the Professor's help."
"Because Hackle was so helpful to the Enforcers when we asked him for weapons!"
"He doesn't build weapons anymore!" Feral coughed again. "And stop coughing; you're making me feel sick!"
"I can't help it," the Enforcer snapped, covering another cough. "I'm sick!"
"Yeah, we get it, it's flu season," the blond Swat Kat said sarcastically. "That doesn't stop us from helping this city!"
Feral snapped. "I'm dying, you idiots! Ever heard of cancer before? I've been dying for a while, so shut up and let me cough in peace!" He covered another round of coughs, hunched over as he waited for them to subside.
Looking up, he noticed that the Swat Kats were looking at him with surprise, and, was it possible, pity. "You… You're dying," Razor asked. "Of cancer?"
"We had no idea," T-Bone said.
The Enforcer rolled his eyes. "Of course you didn't; I don't go around telling vigilantes my personal business!" He coughed again, looking out at the bars of the cell. "You would've found out like everyone else in a few weeks when I went to the hospital."
"A few weeks," the cinnamon kat gasped. "You're that far along with the sickness?"
"Not yet I'm not. I would've peacefully died, passing on the Commander title to Felina, but it looks like that's out the window." He frowned. "I really should have time to make things right… Guess that won't happen if the world ends."
A silence fell upon the group, broken by the upbeat humming from Dr. Void as he worked at his computer. Never before had the three of them ever gotten this personal with one another, and the two Swat Kats exchanged worried looks when Feral coughed again.
"Commander, you shouldn't be out if you're sick," Razor said.
The kat nodded, covering another cough. "I know that… My doctor's gonna have a fit after this whole mess."
"I… I'm sorry to hear that," T-Bone said, suddenly looking guilty.
The Enforcer looked at the two Swat Kats with surprise, not expecting them to care about his wellbeing. They were selfish vigilantes, and never cared like this before. It was probably a pity party, but if it meant that they'd be quiet and more tolerable, then he'd take it. "Yeah," he said, covering another cough. "Thank you. Let's just hope your friend gets here so we can escape."
"He will come," Dr. Void spoke up, turning towards the cage. "I'm counting on it!"
Max POV:
"Anyone else getting a James Bond feel," Max asked as the Professor's car drove across Megakat Bay, using special buoyancy devices to keep them afloat. It was still nighttime, and the four of them were currently on their way to Dr. Void's house after a quick stop at the junk yard.
"Do you mean James Bombay," Ann asked.
"Uh… yeah. My mistake," the human lied, not really wanting to go into the whole spiel about their worlds having different names.
"We are approaching Toyger Island," Cybertron spoke up, steering the vehicle across the waves. The metallic robot was thrilled to be helping the Swat Kats again, and was very polite as well; the human had never encountered a robot like this before, and made a mental note to tell his world to step up their game when he got back.
"Scan to see if the Turbokat's there," Max ordered, putting on his mask, though by this point, it was kind of pointless.
"Done. Turbokat is on the island."
"So they are there," Johnny said, looking at the island before them. "Wonder what happened?"
"Whatever the reason, I don't like it," the human said. "Maybe the Turbokat did run out of fuel or something..."
"Wouldn't they have radioed for help," Ann asked.
"There appears to be some sort of signal preventing any communications from leaving the island," the robot spoke up, parking the boat car by the dock, the top folding down to allow them to exit.
"I'm just gonna say right now that he's probably the bad guy, and that our friends are trapped," Lonestar said, checking that his Glovatrix was ready to go. "Now, you two came with me, but now you're gonna stay here with the car while I get them back."
"No," Johnny said angrily. "We discussed this; we all go, or no one goes."
"I have been assigned to protect you three, along with your friends," Cybertron said lightly. "It would probably be best if we stay together."
"Fine," the human said, "but the first sign of trouble, Ann and Johnny get top priority for protection." He looked at the mechanical kat. "Remember your programming."
"I understand," the robot replied.
"Okay… Let's go. Remember the plan."
The four of them walked up the path to the modest home, stopping by the Turbokat to check its gas tank, which wasn't empty. They all exchanged worried looks; they were still here, which meant something must've gone wrong. Was Dr. Void the mysterious Father kat, or was he in league with the villain? Either way, they needed to get their friends, and fast, before the villain destroyed both of their worlds.
They all approached the door, with Max knocking on the wood. Seconds later, a middle-aged kat with striped fur opened the door, and the human grabbed the butler, slamming him to the ground and aiming his Glovatrix at his face. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he was tired of hiding and waiting; now was the time to save his friends.
"Where are they," he demanded. "We know they're here!"
"Woah, dude, chill out," Johnny yelled.
"I agree," Cybertron said. "Violence isn't the answer."
"I see you have finally come," the butler said, smiling up at Lonestar. "Your friends are waiting for you downstairs."
"I wouldn't look so smug if I were you," Max said angrily. "You're gonna end up in jail when this is over!"
"Am I?" He looked at someone inside the house. "Gorgan?"
The four visitors looked up to see the mammoth kat step out of the house, looking down at them with a cruel grin. "Look who back," he said, grabbing Johnny and Ann in each hand, lifting them off the ground. "And the human too! Father waiting for you!" While he was distracted, the butler flipped Lonestar over, pulling out a pistol and aiming it at him, slamming a small device on his Glovatrix and shorting it out.
"Now am I justified," the striped kat grinned.
"I must ask you to let them go," Cybertron spoke up, holding up his hands and aiming them at the bad kats. "I will fire if necessary."
"You'll hurt your friends," the butler said. "And you won't find the others without us. Call off your scrap metal or they die."
Max glared at the kat, then looked over at Ann and Johnny, who looked terrified. He sighed, remembering the plan. "Fine. But if anything happens to them-"
"Don't worry; Dr. Void wants you all alive for what happens next!" He pulled the human to his feet, still aiming the gun at him and leading him inside.
"Cybertron, don't shoot," the Swat Kat ordered, and the robot lowered his taser hands, following them with Gorgan and the captured kats bringing up the rear.
They made their way down the hallway of the house, which didn't look anything like the home of a supervillain. If anything, it looked like a vacation home, save for the secret passage that opened up from a random piece of wall. The butler pushed him forward down some steps, leading him under the house. Max could hear Johnny whispering something to Ann, but he couldn't tell what was being said. He mentally chided himself for allowing them to come; now they were all captured, and probably about to die.
God help me, he though as he stepped into an underground hallway, the striped kat indicating that he should go right. As he did, he passed several doors, some with bars on them. A stench was prevalent in the air, and old stains dotted parts of the floor, looking suspiciously like splatters of blood.
"Forgive the mess," the butler said. "Gorgan requires a certain… diet, and he prefers it fresh."
"I do," the tall kat agreed, still holding the two news kats in his hands, keeping an eye on the robot in front of him. Finally, the group reached a door that slid open at their arrival, and they stepped into the room.
It was about the size of the underground Swat Kat bunker, but had a darker feel to it; the lights seemed too harsh, and the metal ground too cold. Looking around, Lonestar saw several tables with electronic parts strewn across them, and a set of computers sitting along a back wall. To his right, some sort of device sat, with a walkway in the middle of it, and was surrounded by more machines, somehow looking sinister in the light.
That must be it, he thought, staring at the device that took him from his world nearly two years ago. He had no idea what had gone wrong with it that he ended up in the scrap yard, but he was glad he didn't end up here.
"Ah," a new voice said, and they looked at the computers to see an older kat standing there, wearing black goggles and lab coat, grinning at them. "We were just wondering what was keeping you." He pressed a button, and a light turned on, illuminating the left side of the room. Razor, T-Bone and Feral were all locked in a cage, staring at them.
"This is our rescue party," the Enforcer said angrily, covering another cough. "A human, a robot, and two news kats?!"
"Silence," the old kat interrupted, tossing something at Max. It unrolled midair, wrapping itself around the human, pinning his arms to his side. "Now," he continued, "let's get acquainted, shall we? I'm Dr. Viverral Void, or, as my son would put it, Father."
"I do that," Gorgan said, still holding Ann and Johnny in his hands. "Look, I got bad kats!"
"Good job, my son," the evil kat said kindly. "And as for you," He held up a small scanner, running it over Max, reading the display. "It appears you are a healthy human, though your time here has affected your strength and physical traits."
"What," Lonestar asked, wondering how this world had affected him.
"It doesn't matter; you won't be human for much longer, and I wanted to see how my first human was doing. I thought you'd died when I brought you here, but was I surprised when I saw you on TV that Halloween two years ago! It was only a matter of time to deduce that you somehow ended up with the Swat Kats, and when their third member showed up out of nowhere, it was confirmed."
"Why me," the human managed to ask, trying to break free, but unable to do so. "Why'd you choose me?"
The kat scoffed. "I didn't choose you. I needed a human to experiment on, and the portal happened to be near you. If it hadn't gone wrong, you would've been here instead of Gorgan." He smiled. "You weren't that special; I'd taken dozens of specimens from different worlds, trying to achieve what most thought to be the impossible. You humans, however, were the first to survive."
Max and his friends exchanged horrified looks; how long had Void been experimenting?
"Several years," the evil kat said, as if reading their minds. "After my failed experiments in creating a portal to another world, I had to find something else to occupy my time. I spent some time in robotics, but I decided to focus on genetics. However, I wanted to focus on areas most kats refused to go near, so I offered my help to certain parties around the world, and in return, they gave me the proper resources to fund my work."
"Wait," Ann spoke up, still the reporter. "So you're that Benefactor that Turmoil spoke of?"
"Yes," Dr. Void replied. "I had the resources at the time, and it was a perfect cover for me to try out that fear serum." He grinned at Max. "I take it you received the dose?"
A brief flash of memory appeared before the human's eyes, but he remained steely. "You son of a-"
"None of that," the grey kat replied, wagging a finger at him. "That's no way to treat your elders. I know you humans can be rude and passive aggressive, but so can kats here. No one supported my theory of multiple dimensions, and they did nothing but verbally destroy my reputation! They cared too much about this world's benefit to care about visiting others. When I perfected my portal, I vowed to use it to achieve the dream they sought; the complete reinvention of the kat world!"
"So you're destroying our worlds for some petty revenge?"
"I'm not destroying them," he explained, a mad look in his eye. "I'm fixing them. I'm creating a utopia where katkind will thrive and be the most advanced species in all the dimensions! Of course, it will take some time for natural selection to weed out the unsavory kats, so I created a serum that will turn humans into the perfect kats until then!"
"We didn't do anything wrong," Lonestar protested. "You're attacking and threatening my species for no reason!"
"I will make them perfect! And now that you're here," he said, walking over to a nearby table and picking up a syringe, "you will join us."
"I'll never join you," the human said, trying to break free of his bonds and failing, the butler still aiming the gun at him.
"Oh, you will. It took me over a year to get Gorgan's programing perfect, and I've compressed it into microbots that will take over your mind, making it mine to control! And with your skills, you will be the perfect soldier, and will help lead my new army to wipe the slate clean with this world, as well as yours!"
"You psycho," Johnny yelled. "You won't get away with this!"
"And are you going to stop me," Void asked, smirking at him. "A pathetic kat who's going to be culled in the upcoming rebirth?" He suddenly grinned, getting an idea. "You know what, I think I'll take you with me when I attack his world. Maybe I'll give you a camera to show this world what it will become! And, when I'm done, you can be the first kat to be killed for the pursuit of my mission."
"NO," Ann yelled, trying to break free from Gorgan's arm. "You're not taking him!"
"Ah, is this love I see," he said, approaching the two kats. "I guess it would make sense, but I cannot allow you two to bring more subpar kats into this world. Yes, the kamerakat will come with me; you will stay here and watch him die!
"As for you," he continued, turning towards Lonestar, "you will not become a kat yet. I want you to watch and savor every moment of your world being destroyed, helpless to stop me!" He ripped off the human's mask. "Why, you're nothing but a child, playing hero and hiding when things get too scary!" He grabbed the Swat Kat by the restraints, dragging him towards the portal machine. "I'll send you back to where you came from; no one will believe you, and even if they did, they'll have no time to stop what's going to come! You'll be helpless, and when I've got enough of an army, I'll come for you, and your family, and you will ALL bend to me!"
"NO," Max yelled, dragging his feet as the surprisingly strong villain kat shoved him to the ground, laying in front of the machine. He couldn't sit up; the bonds prevented him from moving any part of his body. Vaguely, in the background, he could hear his friends yelling and calling for help, and here he was, unable to help them. However, he knew what to do. "Cybertron; override and listen. Protect my friends!"
"Agreed," the robot said, shooting a taser at Gorgan, who yelled and dropped Ann and Johnny; the stun did little to knock out the tall kat, but it still incapacitated him for several seconds. The butler kat turned to shoot them, but they ducked, pulling out the extra smoke bombs they'd taken from the Garage and tossing them at the kat's feet, blinding him. They tackled him to the ground, wresting the gun away from him as the rotobic kat shot another taser at Gorgan, heading towards the cage where the other Swat Kats and Feral were held.
"NO," Void yelled, starting to type something into a computer as the machine around Max turned on, lights starting to flicker as the air hummed. "Gorgan, get them!"
"BAD KATS DIE," the mindless kat screamed, running forward to get Ann and Johnny, who managed to duck out of the way. Johnny pulled a small device from his pocket, aiming it at the butler, who screamed and clutched his ears as Ann ran towards Cybertron, who was using a laser to cut the lock. Upon seeing this, Gorgan roared again, running towards them. The robot quickly pulled the news kat out of the way as the evil kat slammed into the cage, knocking the door free.
"BINGO," Razor said, leaping forward and punching the kat in the face as he and the other prisoners ran towards the others. By now, the portal machine was staring to rattle the bunker, causing lights to flicker as a yellow light appeared over Max's head.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE," he yelled, trying to roll away from the light. He doubted that Void would be sending him back to Texas; more likely, it would be to some other alternate world or somewhere on Earth that would be far from Texas. "HELP!"
"I've got you," Razor called back, running forward to help him before being tackled by the mad doctor himself. The two struggled, each trying to defeat the other, and T-Bone quickly noticed his friend was in danger.
"Hey," he yelled, going towards the two before being grabbed by Goran, who probably wanted a rematch after their fight at the restaurant. Fortunately, the Swat Kat was able to kick him in the face, evening the odds as he landed on the ground, running for the table that held their Glovatrixes.
Feral, meanwhile, wasn't sure where to go. The butler was out, Gorgan was fighting T-Bone, and Void was fighting Razor. The robot was protecting the civilians, all while occasionaly shooting a taser at Gorgan, which left the human. He was still laying by the machine, which was staring to create a swirling hole of yellow, which was slowly coming closer to taking the human. Covering another cough, he ran towards the human, knowing that whether he liked him or not, he needed him free and ready to fight.
"C'mon," the kat yelled, reaching him and starting to untie the bonds. "You gotta get out of here!" He could feel the pull of the portal, like a giant vacuum was threatening to suck them away.
"Forget the bonds, get me out of here," Lonestar snapped, trying to roll away from the portal. "We gotta help them! We gotta-"
A strangled yell came as Razor finally punched Void in the face, loosening the villains hold and allowing him to escape. He ran towards Feral and Max, intending to help them escape. However, right as he reached them, the machine gave a loud hum, and the yellow portal descended on all three of them. When it receded, they were gone.
T-Bone POV:
When T-Bone saw his two best friends vanish through the portal, he froze, gaping at the air that took their place. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it… they were gone. It had happend so fast, it felt as if the world had frozen.
Unfortunately, Gorgan wasn't, and he hit the Swat Kat with a punch that sent him flying into Cybertron, both knocking over Ann and Johnny. Looking up, he saw the kat approaching them, ready to land the killing strike.
"We gotta get out of here," he yelled, struggling to his feet.
"Don't worry," the robot said. "Leave that to me." He stood up, and a small chip flew from his back, landing on the ground next to Johnny, who quickly picked it up. Then, raising its hands, it turned to the three good kats and hit them with a strange beam of light.
"What're you doing," the Swat Kat yelled.
"Getting you to safety," Cybertron replied. "Give the chip to the Professor; save your friends." Behind him, Void raised a gun, aiming it at the robot.
"No-" T-Bone froze, suddenly feeling lightheaded, and everything vanished in a flash of light.
...
Seconds later, it seemed, he fell to the floor of Hackle's lab, nearly breaking his hand along the way. Two more yells revealed that Ann and Johnny had joined him, and the Swat Kat quickly sat up before promptly vomiting to the side.
"Yes, I figured that would be a side affect," Hackle said, approaching the three kats. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that unpleasantness, but the technology is still new, and it was the only way to get you out safely."
"What… What was that," the Swat Kat demanded, shakily climbing to his feet.
"A teleporter," Ann explained. "Hackled developed one months ago to transport items from one place to another; it was meant to make transporting money and other important items easy and avoid robberies. Cybertron was to use it on us to bring us here if anything went wrong."
"And I see it did," the elderly kat said sadly. "Where are Max and the others?"
"They went through the portal," Johnny said, gasping for air. "A portal to the human world… I think." He held out the chip. "Here's the chip."
"Excellent," Hackle said, taking it and walking towards the computer. "Now we can move on."
"Move on," the blond kat snapped angrily, glaring at the three of them. "Would somekat please tell me what the crud's going on here?! We have to go back there and save them!"
"We can't," the Professor told him.
"Like you're gonna stop me?"
"Chance, shut up and listen," Johnny snapped. "The Professor already planned it out with Max and us! He needs that chip to build a portal machine."
"A… a what," Chance asked, gaping at the Professor. "But… I thought you didn't have the notes to build it."
"I didn't," the kat replied. "However, Cybertron had a scanner I built that could scan an environment and everything in it, should he ever need to help a blind kat avoid obstacles. His mission was, first and foremost, to defend and protect you all, but he also had a mission to scan the portal machine and record it's exact details. Then, it would teleport you all home."
"He didn't, though," the Swat Kat protested. "He let Jake and Max get taken!"
"Then Max must've activated the override, allowing Cybertron to protect Ann and Jake as civilians." He typed a few keys on the computer, a display of the machine coming up. "It is a shame that he was destroyed, but he gave us the key to saving your friends, and our worlds. He managed to scan the machine at the moment it activated, including its coordinates. Not only can we build our own, but we can go to the exact spot where they went to, give or take a few minutes."
"What kind of scanner is that," Ann asked, clearly impressed by its abilities. "You'll get a Whisker Prize for it!"
"A very good one, that will help us save the world." He pressed another button. "It will take a few hours, but we will have a machine that will allow us to go after them."
"That'll be too late," T-Bone said. "Void's planning on leaving in an hour or so; he's gonna release the formula from some building in Max's world, someplace called Dallas. Building that monstrosity would take too long!"
"Then why not a smaller one," Johnny suggested. "One for each of us, like something we could wear. We each have one, and we bring extras with us so we can bring the others back when it's over."
The Professor tapped the table, thinking it over. "That could work… And it would take significantly less time. Fortunately, I had already created similar prototypes for my transportation device; I can add the portal tech to it and it should work."
"I should call Callie and let her know what's going on," Ann said. "The city should prepare itself in case-"
"We're not gonna die," the Swat Kat said determinedly. "We'll save them, and the world." He frowned. "I wish we had the Turbokat, though…"
"Oh, we put one of those transportation devices on the Turbokat before we approached the house," Johnny said. "It should be in the next room." The blond kat gaped at that, looking at the smiling Hackle.
"I know, but when you're as busy as me, you'll find a solution to just about any problem," he said. "Well… except old age!" He hit another button, and several more robots entered the room, heading towards the work tables. "Now let's save the world!"
Razor POV:
Razor suddenly hit the ground, the feeling of falling suddenly gone as he found himself facing pavement.
"Crud," someone muttered, and he turned to find Feral laying nearby, still coughing and dying of cancer. "What're you doing here," he asked the Swat Kat. "I thought… you didn't make it."
"Apparently, I did," the Swat Kat replied, looking around to find Max, who was still tied up. "Max!" He quickly ran forward, using his claws to help untie and cut the bonds. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," the human muttered, slowly sitting up. "Never… better…" He froze gaping at the scene around them, and the two kats followed suit. They appeared to be in an alleyway of some sort, the two buildings between them looking like some sort of academic buildings of some kind, and given the sky, it was nighttime. Looking back at the human, they could tell he recognized the place.
"Wait," Feral said, covering a cough as he realized where they were, "is this-"
"It can't be," Lonestar muttered, climbing to his feet and running to the end of the alley. He looked out, and the two kats couldn't help but follow and look as well.
It was a college campus; there were other academic buildings, as well as a few dorms. Off in the distance the distant sound of fans cheering in a stadium, and several yards away, across the street, was a group of tents. Clearly, they were tailgaters, enjoying the warm evening as they watched the football game on flat-screen TVs, the smell of barbeque reaching the trio. However, Jake gasped as he realized their lack of tails, fur and whiskers.
"It… It is here," he whispered, looking at the humans, as if they were ghosts or some sort of bizarre creature. "The human world. 2019. It's real."
"I… " Max looked at the tailgaters as a single tear trickled from his eye. "I… I'm home."
And Max is finally back in his own world! Hooray! Of course, he was pretty reckless attacking the butler like that, and he has no way of contacting Hackle. Guess you'll have to keep reading!
Feel free to follow or favorite this story to be updated on new chapters, and feel free to leave a review on this chapter or others if you want. And, as usual, have a safe and happy week/weekend!
Quick PSA: PLEASE DO NOT DO STUPID STUFF AND GO OUTSIDE UNNECESSARILY AND SPREAD GERMS DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC! Seriously, you guys are awesome, and while being sick gives you more time to read fanfiction, it's not good for you or your loved ones. Thank you.
-aggiefrogger
