Chapter 6

"This is Niki Neko with Kat's Eye News. We're here at the Mega Peace Statue tonight for the veteran, memorial fundraisers. One year ago, on this day, the Enforcer HQ was attacked by an ethereal being…"

Jessie glanced at the lavender grey, chubby Nekojin talking into her partner's camera. Her bunny like tail poked out of her red, oriental dress like a snowball on top of cherry syrup. He thought she was cute, but tried his best not let his interest show. If his mother knew she'd take him right over and try to set up a date. The only thing his mother harped on him more than going to college, was finding a girlfriend. He desperately pleaded with whatever deity would listen that his mom wouldn't try and introduce him to any she-kats tonight.

Adjusting his glasses Jessie looked around. Party goers were funneling into the outdoor event, like a stream of brightly colored dresses with a riverbed of black suits. Velvet ropes hung at the entrance, leading the crowd to the massive white statue. The Mega Peace statue had been built by the last mayor of Megakat city. Old Mayor Manx stood prominently at the center and was surrounded by Enforcer Peacemaker tanks, choppers, and jets; truly a testament to stout Manx's ego. The monument was over five stories tall and made of glistening white marble. An arch stretched above it all, but few people knew that the arch was connected to a carving of the SWAT Kats' jet, the Turbokat. It was the only campaign promise old mayor Manx had kept to the vigilantes. Problem was, the Turbokat was so far up that almost no one knew about its inclusion.

"Looking good, Jessie!"

Jessie turned to see the Furlongs make their way to him and his mother. Chance was dressed in a black tuxedo, probably rented knowing him, and Felina had dawned a slimming blue dress.

Chance shook Jessie's shoulder, a proud grin on his face, "You clean up pretty good, kid."

Jessie blushed. His mom had made him trim his facial fur into a neat tuft that hung from his chin. His blond hair had been slicked back and his mother had picked out the maroon suit he was wearing. He'd been conflicted about the suit. On one hand he really liked the color, on the other he was now matching his mother's attire. However, he couldn't quite place why that bothered him.

"Watch out, Jessie, all the she-kats are going to be clawing at you," Felina teased.

"If only," Callie sighed.

Jessie looked away, hoping his mother wouldn't start this again.

Felina crossed her arms in thought, "I do know some girls looking for a date."

"Oh really?" Callie asked.

"Oh, please no."

"Yeah," Felina closed her eyes and thought over Jessie's potential blind dates, "There's Violet Cod, a bit older than you, pretty feisty, but that's almost expected from a Manxian islander, oh, and she's the leader of the new Manx Squadron. If you're looking for someone calmer there is Tama. I don't know much about her, but she works as a Pumadyne tester. I met her a year ago. Although, she was… too calm. Like, she was a rock personified; rigid and emotionless.

"What about Becky?" Callie mused.

Chance and Felina cringed. Jessie understood why people had that reaction to Becky, but she'd been one of his closest friends back in school; he knew her better than anybody else, and vice versa. Becky was… competitive and she had a tendency to butt heads with her rivals, and the descriptor "pompous" was an understatement. But, he knew that her sandpaper skin wasn't as corse as people first saw.

"Jessie!"

His heart leapt with joy upon hearing Auto's pleasant voice. He turned towards his friend, who was expertly weaving towards them. A platter of cookies and other baked goods was balanced in his left hand. As usual, he was dressed in a finely pressed, blue suit with a green tie. Auto seemed to always know when Jessie needed help, and a distracting platter of deliciousness would do the trick nicely.

"Hello Jessie," Auto turned to the others with a polite smile, "Mr. and Mrs. Furlong, Mayor Briggs, I took the liberty of precuring some deserts for you."

"Deserts before dinner?" Callie asked, smirking, "That's not very responsible, now is it Auto?"

Chance stepped forward, snatching two cookies from the plate, "That's never bothered me before!"

Auto handed Chance the platter, which was then quickly taken away by Felina. He then turned to Jessie and gestured that they take their leave. Jessie hurried after his friend, hoping to lose his mom in the crowd. But the further he got from his mother, the more nervous Jessie began to feel. The crowd was noisy and the thousands of stranger's faces seemed to judge him. Why did his chest feel like it was being crushed? He hated going to these fundraisers! When he was younger, he'd been allowed to bring his GameKat DX, but, when he was in his teens, his mom had made him leave it at home. She'd said something about making a good impression on the press; something he'd never been able to do.

A calm and steady hand gently took Jessie by the arm, "How has your day been, Jessie?" Auto asked, directing him towards the buffet tables.

"I've been working on making Cathy's hand look better," Jessie sighed, "I'm fixing people's computers to buy metal polish and some new paint. I've got the design, just not the means to make it look as good as I want."

"You could do some part time for Mr. Whiska," Auto suggested.

"Ehh," Jessie wiggled his hand, flip-flopping the idea, "I don't know, cubicles aren't in my plan."

"What are your plans?" Auto asked, keeping his genuine smile.

"I…" Jessie didn't answer him. Honestly, he didn't like thinking about the future.

"Did your performance go well?"

Jessie was grateful that he'd changed the subject. "I think it went over... fine. The video's not viral or anything, but I've got a decent amount of views." But not the one that mattered.

His mom hadn't mentioned anything about it. He knew that she had somebody combing through his internet activity, and his controversial humor should have raised some flags!

"I don't know man," Jessie sighed, "It's just been… hard recently."

Auto tilted his head, "I've gone through the numbers, Jessie. You're doing very well. You could make a serviceable income if you allowed monetization."

"I'm not putting ads in my videos. Besides, I'd have clean my act," Jessie grumbled. "Also, if you ran the numbers, why did you ask me how it went?"

"It's the polite thing to-" Auto stopped short. His ears perked up and his face became stoic. Ears swiveling about, tail stiff, and fists clenched, Auto turned to look at the MegaPeace statue.

He was staring at the statues top, but Jessie couldn't see what had caught his friend's attention.

"What are yo-"

Auto's gentle hands suddenly tightened into a vice like grip, and Jessie found himself being forcefully dragged through the crowd. He felt his heart begin to race, he'd never seen Auto so distraught!

"Sorry. Gomen'nasai. Lo Siento. Sorry," Auto continually apologized to party goers as he dragged Jessie directly to Commander Feral, who was talking with Felina, "Excuse me, Commander Feral!"

Feral glared at Auto, "What is it, boy?" He'd just gotten around to asking how Cathy was doing, what was so important that this boy would interrupt him?

"I have an inquiry about this event's security," Auto nervously glanced over his shoulder at the statue.

Feral sighed and shifted his weight onto his gold headed cane, "Look around you, I have Enforcers stationed and prepared for any situation."

Jessie scanned the event and saw the grey coated Enforcers standing about the perimeter. Their dark shades and concealing long coats made them look pretty intimidating.

"The Enforcers can handle this," Felina reassured.

"Nothing good ever happens after someone says that," Chance grumbled, to which his wife elbowed him in the ribs.

"You go and tell Whiska that his fears are unfounded," Feral snarled.

Auto glanced back at the statue, "How about the roof tops?"

"What's got you all riled up?" Felina asked, "I've never seen you like this before."

"Well, someone is trying to give a villain monologue on top of the Mega Peace statue."

"What?"

Street lights flickered and bulbs exploded into a shower of sparks. Screams erupted from the crowd as the shadows stretched to form a wall around the event. A geyser of shadow erupted from the party's center where a lone figure stood at the top.

"DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION NOW!"

The thing looked like a dark purple manikin dressed in a long coat. It had no facial features, besides two white ovals that formed eye like shapes. Black wisps bellowed from underneath it's grey long coat.

The shadow raised its arm heavenwards, "I GO THROUGH THIS WHOLE MONOLOGUE AND NOBODY HEARD IT!" He clapped his hands together and brought them close to his face, "No, its fine, I'm not mad. It's cool, I'm cool, you know what? This entrance is way cooler!"

"It's not that cool!"

Jessie, terrified, turned to Chance. The blond furred, older kat glared defiantly at the creature. However, even he had to flinch when the thing suddenly teleported in front of him in a flurry of shadow and smoke.

The weird kat's white eyes narrowed, "I'm sorry, who are you and why do you want to die?"

"You…" Felina's expression shifted from shock, to unbridled rage, "How did you survive!"

"Survive?" The creature leaned towards her; inches from her face. His head tilted to the side, "What are you… Oh, hold up, I'm remembering something." It's eyes twisted into a cartoonish look of glee, "I remembered squashing some little, pathetic ant-"

The shadow was cut short as Felina firmly placed the barrel of a laser pistol against the monster's lower jaw.

"Hmm?"

A crimson beam shot through the monster's head, blowing the top half to smithereens. Jessie breathed easier, until the creature's head reformed as if nothing had happened.

"I'm guessing, by your reaction you were there when I kicked over your itty-bitty ant hill," the creature let out a high pitch howl of laughter as Enforcers surrounded him, "But, it seems like you all forgot how things went last time."

Jessie cowered behind Auto as shadow tendrils lashed out and ensnared the Enforcers, like an anaconda suffocating it's prey. The Enforcer officers struggled in vain as the snares squeezed tighter.

Commander Feral stepped forward and growled, "Who are you?"

"Who am I? I am the thing that stalks from the shadows, and your dreams. I am the master of darkness; master of fear. I am DARK KAT!"

Chance narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow, "You can't call yourself Dark Kat. That name's taken."

The shadowy kat turned his attention back to Chance, "Seriously, who are you?!"

"Somebody cooler than you'll ever be," Chance snarked.

The creature's head trembled for a moment. "Yeah, neat, okay, whatever," the kat waved his hand as if to dismiss further comments, "Dark Kat, like, died, or something, right? So, I'm the new Dark Kat!"

Felina and Chance glanced at each other. Then, to Jessie's amazement, the two began to laugh uncontrollably at the shadow monster.

"Punk, I've met Dark Kat, and you are no Dark Kat," Felina sneered.

The creature, appalled, leaned back, "I can totally be the new Dark Kat!"

"Buddy, you don't even hold a candle to how evil that guy was," Chance defiantly put himself between the creature and Felina.

His heroic action was beaten out by Commander Feral stepping between him and the shadow, "You think you've got what it takes to replace Dark Kat? Don't make me laugh."

"Make you laugh?" The shadow's tone darkened as its eyes squinted up at the taller kat. The cold Fall air become frigid as the creature's body grew until it overshadowed the bulky commander, "I didn't show up to make you laugh!" Like a bolt of lightning, the creature's arm reached out and grabbed the commander's entire head, "You're going to make me laugh, puppet!"

Commander Feral writhed in the creature's grasp, like a worm pierced by a hook. Felina aimed her laser pistol at the monster, prepared to fire. Her hasty action was stopped by Auto grabbing her arm.

"You could hit Commander Feral," Auto reminded, "It would also appear that common weaponry has no lasting effect on him."

"That's right! I'm INVINCIBLE!" The shadow laughed as Feral's body went limp.

Jessie's tail wrapped around his leg and his body began to shake. His ears lay flat against his head and his thin frame trembled. Something had to be done, but what?

"Now watch as your beloved Comman-"

"Beloved is going a little far, dumbbell," Chance interrupted.

A hurt expression came over the shadow's face, "Seriously? Why are you being so mean!"

"You took my daughter's hand!" Felina and Chance barked together.

The shadow let go of Feral, "Beloved or not, he's now my-"

Feral fell to the grow in a motionless heap.

"-puppet."

The crowd waited with bated breath, but nothing happened. The bulky old kat just lay there, like a sack of overly proud potatoes.

A roar erupted from the shadow, which caused the crowd to scream and flee in panic, only to be blocked by walls of shadow.

"Why is everything going wrong today!"

Felina readied her laser pistol once more, "What did you do to him!"

"He was supposed to be my puppet," The shadow sulked, but his sullen aura perked up as he spotted the Kat's Eye News camera crew. The creature sunk into the shadows and reformed in front of the camera, "Ooooo, am I on TV? How many people are watching?!"

Jessie tugged at Auto's sleeve, "What should we do?"

"You're not going to do anything," Felina hissed.

Chance shook his head, "She's right, Jess, just stick with Auto."

Jessie's brow furrowed. This feeling he had was oddly new to him. He was terrified, more so than he could ever remember being. Before him was a monster that could crush him like pea, yet Jessie felt this desire to help; how he wasn't quite sure. So, he quickly searched the area for an idea.

The tables around them were set with purple and white table clothes. Flowers and lavender sprigs formed the center piece, along with a series of palm sized crystal. An idea began to brew and come together as he slipped his phone out of his pocket.

"Enough with the interviews!" Callie yelled. The mayor stepped out of the crowd to confront the creature, her blue eyes piercing the thing, "What is it you want, Shadow Kat?"

"Oh, that's a good one!" Niki Neko, Kat's Eye New's reporter, turned to her cameraman, "Keep that name in mind, Matt."

Shadow Kat glared at the Mayor "Hey, you can't name me!"

"Cut to the chase, would you? What do you want?" Callie tapped her high heel impatiently.

Shadow Kat shrugged his shoulders, "Honestly, I just wanted to have a good time. But nobody seems to want to give me the respect I deserve!"

"Respect is earned," Callie's frown deepened. Really? Most "super villains" wanted money, or control of the city. But, somehow, Shadow Kat's petty motivation was more infuriating.

A giant, inky black hand stretched out from the ground and clutched the mayor tightly, causing her to yelp in surprise. The hand sunk into the ground, dragging Callie into darkness, then rise back up in front of Shadow Kat, "Well, mayor, how do I get respect then?" Callie opened her mouth to retort, only to find Shadow Kat's crushing grip around her throat, "You know what, no. I'm done with everybody joking around."

Kicking and thrashing, Callie struggled against the creature in vain. Only gurgled cries escaped her lips as Shadow Kat constricted her windpipe.

"What's the matter mayor? You seem pretty blue!"

Jessie's feet moved without prompting, his legs springing him forward like he had been handed the relay baton. It was now or never! "Hey, lame wad, say cheese!" He pressed his phone up against the crystal and flicked the flashlight on.

A dazzle of light flashed the shadow's face, "AUGH!" he cried out, dropping Callie to rub his eyes.

Auto's blue and orange shape streaked forward to catch the falling mayor. Cradling Callie, he turned to Jessie and gave him a thumbs up. A warmth burned in Jessie's heart. Sure, guessing a shadow monster's weakness being light was a no brainer, but he still felt proud for taking advantage of it. A little too proud.

"Don't touch my mom, you freak," Jessie mocked, and once more flashed the hunched over figure.

However, the results were not nearly the same the second time. Instead of recoiling away from the light, Shadow Kat swung at Jessie and snatched his phone from his hands. The phone crumpled like a wafer cookie in the monster's grip, "You shouldn't shine lights in people's eyes, twerp!"

"Jessie run!"

Shadow Kat reached out once more, only to have an iron grip stop him. Auto held the creatures wrist, arms shaking as he struggled to keep the monster's hands off of his friend. Shadow Kat looked at him with light confusion. It seemed like Auto was holding him off. But, in one fluid motion Shadow Kat launched Auto through a window as if he were a pebble.

Jessie, paralyzed with fear, felt his bravery shatter like the glass Auto had been thrown through. The pride he'd felt had been quickly extinguished, and fear gripped his heart tighter than the one Shadow Kat now had on him.

"Pick on someone your own size!" Chance stepped forward, wielding a chair.

Shadow hands rose up and clutched Chance's legs. Shadow Kat laughed, "Oh, you're coming too, buddy. Hostage situations are much more fun with friends!"

Like a shark's prey, Jake was dragged down into the shadow abyss. Jessie, too scared to think, was plunged into the darkness. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, cold, an airless vacuum, maybe for his life force to be sucked out of him. But he hadn't expected the stomach wrenching emotions that seemed to seep through his skin like a toxic oil spill. He couldn't quite put his finger on a specific emotion, but "bad" was the closest he could get. A general sense of panic, shame, grief, and anger.

Meanwhile, lasers pelted Shadow Kat's side, but that didn't bother him. He was lost in thought, wondering what he should do next. He didn't want to just leave since that would have been super boring. How could he make this a more memorable event? A fogey image came to his mind, or was it the voices describing one? Was this new idea his own, or someone else's? Did he actually care? Nope. If this idea worked, it would be really cool, and that was all that mattered to him.

He braced himself, in a wide stance, and raised his arms in a grandiose gesture. The shadows moved and shifted, eyes peaked out and clawed feet clacked against the hard ground as bat like wings stretched out.

Shadow Kat sunk into the ground and waved goodbye to his terrified audience, "Have fuuuuuuuunnn!"