Chris jerked awake. She rubbed her eyes and squinted through the darkness,
taking a moment to realize just where she was. Oh yeah, on the couch in
the living room at the mechanics shop.
She yawned wondering what it was that woke her up. Oh well, no matter. Closing her eyes and rolling over she thought she heard thunder in the distance. She groaned, realizing that that meant another storm and the roof still wasn't totally fixed thanks to her. With that thought gnawing at her she realized she's never get to sleep. She flipped her feet off the couch and stood up, stretching.
Yawning again she wandered into the kitchen and stared out the window that overlooked the city. She was surprised to see that it was a clear night, no rain or storm in sight. She also noticed flashes of light and bright dots darting around the sky, presumably Enforcer jets and helicopters. Something was happening.
Without hurrying, Chris shuffled back into the living room and flipped the TV on with the volume low so she wouldn't wake Jake and Chance.
A shaky camera shot showed a floor near the top of that really tall building in Megakat city. Chris couldn't recall what it was called exactly, just that bad guys seemed to flock to it. She watched intently as nothing happened.
Nothing continued to happen.
Something then tried to sneak up behind nothing and scare it into happening but nothing turned around at the last second and scared something away.
So nothing, now quite smug with itself for preventing something from happening stuck it's tongue out at the now shamed and running away something and completely missed an even bigger something else preparing for fontal assault.
But by then, it was too late. (A/N sorry, I just spent all day at school shouting Monty Python lines at my friends so I've kinda got it on my mind. For those of you who have no idea what those last lines meant, here it is in English (well, less strange English anyway: Nothing happened for a very long time.))
Suddenly, the windows on the top floors of the building shattered and a purple light came streaming out of them. The camera man turned and ran down the street a ways, trying to avoid the falling glass and metal. For a minute or so, Chris couldn't see anything on the screen except for a shot of the camera mans feet jumping madly about. The screen cut to another shaky shot, but this time the camera was in a helicopter that was flying around the top of the building.
The TV showed the Turbokat landed on top of the building, then paned down to look in where the windows once were. Inside, everything was bathed in an eerie purple light, Chris could just see the outlines of two cats, a big burly one, and a smaller one, the SWAT Kats. T-bone was throwing himself against a door, trying to break it down. Razor pushed him back and fired a small missile out of his glovatrix. The missile left a black mark on the door, but did nothing to make it move.
Suddenly, the door exploded outwards throwing the SWAT Kats back and out the broken windows. The camera shot lurched, then panned down to see a metal grappling hook latched over the side of the helicopter tred, T-bone was dangling from the other end. Razor continued his downward fall, uninhibited. Razor was 50 ft above the ground and falling, with no hope of being stopped. Chris was on the edge of her seat, gasping for breath.
There was a flash of silver and Razor was plucked from the sky by an Enforcer chopper. It swooped up and the camera caught a glimpse of Razor dangling from the end of a rope.
The image on the screen cut back to the camera man on the ground showing Razor slowly being lowered to the ground, a grappling hook wrapped around his abdomen. Off-screen, T-bone dropped to the ground. Something caught in Chris brain as T-bone limped on. He went to Razor and started talking to him, Chris turned on the volume.
". . .dy. Come on' buddy wake up..." Chris noticed a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around T-bones arm. "...kat's are supposed to land on their feet."
Razor stirred slightly and said something that the mic on the camera didn't catch. T-bone continued seriously, "Come on, up. We need to get out of here."
T-bone pulled a small item out of a pocket and started fiddling with it. There was a rushing sound and a rustle of debris as the VTOL on the Turbokat brought it down on the street somewhere off screen. Hoisting Razor up on his shoulder, he hobbled to the jet and put Razor gently in his seat. Jumping into the pilots seat, T-bone closed the top, and took off.
A female kat in Enforcer uniform ran on screen and, shading her eyes, watched the Turbokat fly away.
"Lutenant!" a reporter shouted at her and rushed forward, "Can you tell was what's going on here? Is Razor going to be alright?"
Felina Feral turned to the camera, "We appear to have an attack by the Pastmaster. We ask that civilians stay away from the area."
She turned and jogged back to her helicopter. The reporter turned to the camera, "Apparently this is an attack by the Pastmaster. The Enforecers ask that. . ." Chris turned the volume off again.
There was that low thundering sound again, where was that coming from? An earthquake? No, she'd lived though those before, this was-
Her thoughts were interrupted when T-bone crashed though the door, cradling Razor in his arms.
She jumped back screaming, "What are you doing here?!"
T-bone looked at her, the slowly limped over to the couch and lay Razor down.
"Oh my god," she whispered, it was all coming clear to her now. T-bone's limping, the bandage on his arm, that was from the crash an the stairs. His words echoed in her ears, "kat's are supposed to land on their feet." The same words Jake had uttered that very morning. They were ex- Enforcers, kicked off the force, gone on to live the life of vigilante's. . .it all made sense.
"You're..." she choked, "Oh god, Jake!" She rushed over to him and started pulling his helmet off. He weakly put his arm up to stop her.
"It's ok, buddy, she's knows," T-bone, Chance, whoever he was said, "I'll go get the med kit."
Trying to hide the tears streaming down her cheek, Chris took his helmet and mask off she looked over his head for any injuries, none were apparent, the helmet was for more then just looks. "Jake, honey, can you feel you legs? Wiggle you toes for me." She watched as his toes moved weakly around.
She started unzipping the top of his flight suit, and pulled it down to reveal a nasty gash across his chest. She figured he probably had a few broken ribs too, that grappling hook that had caught him had saved his life, but not with out some cost to his health. T-bone came back with a med kit and a bowl with clean water.
"You were right. . ." Jake muttered softly.
"Right? Right about what?" Chris asked while squirting iodine into the water.
"Falling," he gasped, "It's a scary thing."
Chris snorted, "You had to experience it first hand to figure that out?" She soaked some gauze in the iodine/water solution and started cleaning out his chest wound.
Chance watched as Chris worked on the wound. She turned to him, "Do you have any super glue?"
"Super glue? Yeah, why?"
"It's almost identical to the glue that doctors use to close up big gashes like this." Chance found some in the kitchen and brought it in to her, as he handed it to her Chris noticed that his bandage from this mornings trip was blood soaked, and another gash was cut just below it, this one running the length of his forearm. Chris grabbed his arm, "Nice, I'll clean you up next."
Chance pulled away, "I'm fine."
"I don't care, I didn't spend all day yesterday cleaning the house so you could bleed all over it."
She glued Jake up in silence, then examined him for any other wounds, finding none she turned to Chance, "Sit," she ordered then began cutting away the bandages. "Ow" he hissed, "I've got better things to do then sit here and get babied, I've got to go catch bad guys."
"Relax, this'll take three minutes," she paused then looked him in the eyes, "How do you plan on doing that, catching bad guys, pray tell. Last time didn't go so good and now there's only one of you."
"Hey I'm still here," Jake mumbled.
"That's not saying much," Chris said, turning back to the bandage.
Jake flatted his ears, "I resent that."
"No you resemble that," Chance cut in, "She's right, your not going anywhere tonight."
"Are you going Chance?" she asked "Or T-bone. What am I supposed to call you now?"
Chance flashed a smile, "When I've got this spiffy suit on I'm T-bone."
"Me too," Jake piped up, "except not T-bone. Razor. I'm Razor."
"You're delirious," Chris sighed, "What are you going to do?" she asked T- bone again.
"Go back."
"Do you have a plan?"
T-bone nodded is head, "Sure."
"What is it?"
"Still working out the minor details. And the major details. And all the details in between."
Chris sighed, "Great plan. Foolproof. Sure to work." She finished tying up the bandage.
"I'm a mastermind aren't I?" T-bone quipped.
"Couldn't the Enforcers handle it? They've gotten the same training as you."
"Weapons aren't half as good," Jake mumbled.
"But there's more of them. I don't understand why-"
"Look at that!" T-bone cut her off, gesturing at the TV, "The Enforcers are useless. I can't sit here and not do anything while, while that is happening to my city."
On the TV there was a shot of the Pastmaster standing on the roof and holding a small kitten over the edge of the building.
"He's got hostages now?" Chris punched up the volume on the TV
"Now that the SWAT Kats have run away with their tails between their legs, the town is helpless to my control," the Pastmaster shouted, the kitten clung crying to his arm, begging not to be dropped, "All doors, including the one behind me, are booby trapped. If any are breeched, the hostages will be killed. Hostages will be killed one every hour until my demands are met and my queen is brought to me." With that he dropped the kitten over the edge and turned back into the building.
Chris turned away as T-bone switched off the TV set.
"You see? You see why we have to stop him? You see why the Enforcers are helpless? They can't get those hostages. I have to. I just have to figure out how to get into the building."
"Wait," Chris said, "He said something about his queen. Who's that? What if they gave him what he wanted?"
"No!" T-bone shouted, "We can't give her to him?"
"Who is she?"
T-bone took a breath, "Callie. He wants Callie. Well, he's not getting her."
"Window," Jake mumbled, "Get in through the window. Get the hostages out, let the Enforcers deal with the Pastmaster."
T-bone shook his head, "I'm sure he's got the bottom floor windows booby trapped, too."
Jake tried to sit up, "Go in through the top."
"How?"
"I can fly well enough to swing you off the bottom of the plane on a rope. You just have to swing in the window."
"No way buddy," T-bone shook his head, "You are in no kind of shape to be flying an airplane."
"I can!"
"I won't let you!"
"You can't tell me what to do!"
"There's got to be another way!"
"If there's another way you won't be able to find it," Chris mumbled darkly, "Not in time anyway."
"See?" Jake said, "She's saying I have to go."
"No!" she tried to still her shaking hands, "I'm volunteering," she swallowed, "Swing me out of an airplane."
She yawned wondering what it was that woke her up. Oh well, no matter. Closing her eyes and rolling over she thought she heard thunder in the distance. She groaned, realizing that that meant another storm and the roof still wasn't totally fixed thanks to her. With that thought gnawing at her she realized she's never get to sleep. She flipped her feet off the couch and stood up, stretching.
Yawning again she wandered into the kitchen and stared out the window that overlooked the city. She was surprised to see that it was a clear night, no rain or storm in sight. She also noticed flashes of light and bright dots darting around the sky, presumably Enforcer jets and helicopters. Something was happening.
Without hurrying, Chris shuffled back into the living room and flipped the TV on with the volume low so she wouldn't wake Jake and Chance.
A shaky camera shot showed a floor near the top of that really tall building in Megakat city. Chris couldn't recall what it was called exactly, just that bad guys seemed to flock to it. She watched intently as nothing happened.
Nothing continued to happen.
Something then tried to sneak up behind nothing and scare it into happening but nothing turned around at the last second and scared something away.
So nothing, now quite smug with itself for preventing something from happening stuck it's tongue out at the now shamed and running away something and completely missed an even bigger something else preparing for fontal assault.
But by then, it was too late. (A/N sorry, I just spent all day at school shouting Monty Python lines at my friends so I've kinda got it on my mind. For those of you who have no idea what those last lines meant, here it is in English (well, less strange English anyway: Nothing happened for a very long time.))
Suddenly, the windows on the top floors of the building shattered and a purple light came streaming out of them. The camera man turned and ran down the street a ways, trying to avoid the falling glass and metal. For a minute or so, Chris couldn't see anything on the screen except for a shot of the camera mans feet jumping madly about. The screen cut to another shaky shot, but this time the camera was in a helicopter that was flying around the top of the building.
The TV showed the Turbokat landed on top of the building, then paned down to look in where the windows once were. Inside, everything was bathed in an eerie purple light, Chris could just see the outlines of two cats, a big burly one, and a smaller one, the SWAT Kats. T-bone was throwing himself against a door, trying to break it down. Razor pushed him back and fired a small missile out of his glovatrix. The missile left a black mark on the door, but did nothing to make it move.
Suddenly, the door exploded outwards throwing the SWAT Kats back and out the broken windows. The camera shot lurched, then panned down to see a metal grappling hook latched over the side of the helicopter tred, T-bone was dangling from the other end. Razor continued his downward fall, uninhibited. Razor was 50 ft above the ground and falling, with no hope of being stopped. Chris was on the edge of her seat, gasping for breath.
There was a flash of silver and Razor was plucked from the sky by an Enforcer chopper. It swooped up and the camera caught a glimpse of Razor dangling from the end of a rope.
The image on the screen cut back to the camera man on the ground showing Razor slowly being lowered to the ground, a grappling hook wrapped around his abdomen. Off-screen, T-bone dropped to the ground. Something caught in Chris brain as T-bone limped on. He went to Razor and started talking to him, Chris turned on the volume.
". . .dy. Come on' buddy wake up..." Chris noticed a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around T-bones arm. "...kat's are supposed to land on their feet."
Razor stirred slightly and said something that the mic on the camera didn't catch. T-bone continued seriously, "Come on, up. We need to get out of here."
T-bone pulled a small item out of a pocket and started fiddling with it. There was a rushing sound and a rustle of debris as the VTOL on the Turbokat brought it down on the street somewhere off screen. Hoisting Razor up on his shoulder, he hobbled to the jet and put Razor gently in his seat. Jumping into the pilots seat, T-bone closed the top, and took off.
A female kat in Enforcer uniform ran on screen and, shading her eyes, watched the Turbokat fly away.
"Lutenant!" a reporter shouted at her and rushed forward, "Can you tell was what's going on here? Is Razor going to be alright?"
Felina Feral turned to the camera, "We appear to have an attack by the Pastmaster. We ask that civilians stay away from the area."
She turned and jogged back to her helicopter. The reporter turned to the camera, "Apparently this is an attack by the Pastmaster. The Enforecers ask that. . ." Chris turned the volume off again.
There was that low thundering sound again, where was that coming from? An earthquake? No, she'd lived though those before, this was-
Her thoughts were interrupted when T-bone crashed though the door, cradling Razor in his arms.
She jumped back screaming, "What are you doing here?!"
T-bone looked at her, the slowly limped over to the couch and lay Razor down.
"Oh my god," she whispered, it was all coming clear to her now. T-bone's limping, the bandage on his arm, that was from the crash an the stairs. His words echoed in her ears, "kat's are supposed to land on their feet." The same words Jake had uttered that very morning. They were ex- Enforcers, kicked off the force, gone on to live the life of vigilante's. . .it all made sense.
"You're..." she choked, "Oh god, Jake!" She rushed over to him and started pulling his helmet off. He weakly put his arm up to stop her.
"It's ok, buddy, she's knows," T-bone, Chance, whoever he was said, "I'll go get the med kit."
Trying to hide the tears streaming down her cheek, Chris took his helmet and mask off she looked over his head for any injuries, none were apparent, the helmet was for more then just looks. "Jake, honey, can you feel you legs? Wiggle you toes for me." She watched as his toes moved weakly around.
She started unzipping the top of his flight suit, and pulled it down to reveal a nasty gash across his chest. She figured he probably had a few broken ribs too, that grappling hook that had caught him had saved his life, but not with out some cost to his health. T-bone came back with a med kit and a bowl with clean water.
"You were right. . ." Jake muttered softly.
"Right? Right about what?" Chris asked while squirting iodine into the water.
"Falling," he gasped, "It's a scary thing."
Chris snorted, "You had to experience it first hand to figure that out?" She soaked some gauze in the iodine/water solution and started cleaning out his chest wound.
Chance watched as Chris worked on the wound. She turned to him, "Do you have any super glue?"
"Super glue? Yeah, why?"
"It's almost identical to the glue that doctors use to close up big gashes like this." Chance found some in the kitchen and brought it in to her, as he handed it to her Chris noticed that his bandage from this mornings trip was blood soaked, and another gash was cut just below it, this one running the length of his forearm. Chris grabbed his arm, "Nice, I'll clean you up next."
Chance pulled away, "I'm fine."
"I don't care, I didn't spend all day yesterday cleaning the house so you could bleed all over it."
She glued Jake up in silence, then examined him for any other wounds, finding none she turned to Chance, "Sit," she ordered then began cutting away the bandages. "Ow" he hissed, "I've got better things to do then sit here and get babied, I've got to go catch bad guys."
"Relax, this'll take three minutes," she paused then looked him in the eyes, "How do you plan on doing that, catching bad guys, pray tell. Last time didn't go so good and now there's only one of you."
"Hey I'm still here," Jake mumbled.
"That's not saying much," Chris said, turning back to the bandage.
Jake flatted his ears, "I resent that."
"No you resemble that," Chance cut in, "She's right, your not going anywhere tonight."
"Are you going Chance?" she asked "Or T-bone. What am I supposed to call you now?"
Chance flashed a smile, "When I've got this spiffy suit on I'm T-bone."
"Me too," Jake piped up, "except not T-bone. Razor. I'm Razor."
"You're delirious," Chris sighed, "What are you going to do?" she asked T- bone again.
"Go back."
"Do you have a plan?"
T-bone nodded is head, "Sure."
"What is it?"
"Still working out the minor details. And the major details. And all the details in between."
Chris sighed, "Great plan. Foolproof. Sure to work." She finished tying up the bandage.
"I'm a mastermind aren't I?" T-bone quipped.
"Couldn't the Enforcers handle it? They've gotten the same training as you."
"Weapons aren't half as good," Jake mumbled.
"But there's more of them. I don't understand why-"
"Look at that!" T-bone cut her off, gesturing at the TV, "The Enforcers are useless. I can't sit here and not do anything while, while that is happening to my city."
On the TV there was a shot of the Pastmaster standing on the roof and holding a small kitten over the edge of the building.
"He's got hostages now?" Chris punched up the volume on the TV
"Now that the SWAT Kats have run away with their tails between their legs, the town is helpless to my control," the Pastmaster shouted, the kitten clung crying to his arm, begging not to be dropped, "All doors, including the one behind me, are booby trapped. If any are breeched, the hostages will be killed. Hostages will be killed one every hour until my demands are met and my queen is brought to me." With that he dropped the kitten over the edge and turned back into the building.
Chris turned away as T-bone switched off the TV set.
"You see? You see why we have to stop him? You see why the Enforcers are helpless? They can't get those hostages. I have to. I just have to figure out how to get into the building."
"Wait," Chris said, "He said something about his queen. Who's that? What if they gave him what he wanted?"
"No!" T-bone shouted, "We can't give her to him?"
"Who is she?"
T-bone took a breath, "Callie. He wants Callie. Well, he's not getting her."
"Window," Jake mumbled, "Get in through the window. Get the hostages out, let the Enforcers deal with the Pastmaster."
T-bone shook his head, "I'm sure he's got the bottom floor windows booby trapped, too."
Jake tried to sit up, "Go in through the top."
"How?"
"I can fly well enough to swing you off the bottom of the plane on a rope. You just have to swing in the window."
"No way buddy," T-bone shook his head, "You are in no kind of shape to be flying an airplane."
"I can!"
"I won't let you!"
"You can't tell me what to do!"
"There's got to be another way!"
"If there's another way you won't be able to find it," Chris mumbled darkly, "Not in time anyway."
"See?" Jake said, "She's saying I have to go."
"No!" she tried to still her shaking hands, "I'm volunteering," she swallowed, "Swing me out of an airplane."