"That thing's faster than it looks," muttered T-Bone.
"Yeah, I'm noticing that."
T-Bone slammed his fist into the side of the cockpit. "Darnit, Razor, we had them! How'd they ever escape?"
"Relax, buddy. Don't forget, we've destroyed their base. And now we've got them on the run."
"They could have some pretty big weapons on that thing."
"I don't think so. Otherwise, they woulda picked us off while we were standing there next to the TurboKat."
"Hey, you're right! I never thought of that."
"So what do you say we go kick some tail, partner?"
In response, T-Bone kicked in the afterburners, which cut their lead in half in less than twenty seconds. By this time, however, they were over downtown MegaKat City.
"They're going down," noted T-Bone, slowing the plane down.
"Yeah," said Razor, checking his instruments. "Right onto...City Hall Annex!"
"Looks that way. You think they're gonna take it over?"
"Take over the annex? There's no one there but bureaucrats. What good would that do?"
The City Hall Annex was six stories high, which made it the shortest building in a three block radius. However, it was big enough to take up the whole city block, with three of the sides facing some of the busiest streets in MegaKat City, the fourth facing an alley. Razor scanned the streets with a furrowed brow. It was getting on towards four o'clock, and with the long weekend about to start, many kats were taking off early from work. Traffic was already starting to build up.
"Watch for the civvies," warned Razor.
"Gotcha." T-Bone started pulling down toward the annex. The silver craft had already come to a landing on the northeast corner, and there seemed to be a flurry activity next to it.
"May as well keep them from getting away again," Razor said, and sent a missile flying towards the center of the craft. But just shy of its target, the missile veered sharply to the right. "Woah!" yelled Razor, and pressed a button to remotely detonate the missile before it ran into a building.
"They've got some force field up or something," said T-Bone, as he flew over.
Peering down, Razor said, "Yeah, you can kind of see it if you look close."
A voice came over the radio. "SwatKats!" it intoned. T-Bone and Razor both groaned. "You're putting the citizens of this city in danger with your maneuvers! Pull up and let the Enforcers handle this!"
Razor wasn't in any mood to hear this speech again. He shot back, "Feral! You listen and listen good! We've just destroyed Dark Kat's base, and now we're after the kat himself."
"The Enforcers..."
Razor didn't wait to hear any more. "If the Enforcers can help out, great, but if you dare to get in our way, so help me, I'll start shooting your guys down, too!"
T-Bone muttered through clenched teeth, "Ra-zor..."
"Are you threatening me, SwatKat!" demanded Commander Feral.
"No, I'm just warning you. We've worked out tails off to get Dark Kat out of the way for good, and we're not going to let anything get in our way this time. Now tell me - are you with us or against us here?"
There was no response for a while. T-Bone did a few more fly-bys, keeping his eyes on the activity inside the force field.
"My primary concern is with the safety of the citizens of this town," Feral finally stated.
"Duly noted," said Razor. "We're going to set down and approach on foot - less chance of anyone getting caught in the crossfire. Can you get the Enforcers to block off the area?"
"They're already on the job."
"Good. Thanks." He switched the radio off.
T-Bone looked around. "I'll put her down on the north side of the Khanaco building." This was just north of the annex. "We should be out of firing range there."
"Roger."
As T-Bone made his approach, he asked, "And were you kidding about letting the Enforcers help out?"
"No. And I wasn't kidding about shooting them down either."
The landing was complete, and T-Bone and Razor jumped out, then started checking their armaments.
"What's the plan?" T-Bone asked.
Razor checked his grappling hook. "Heck, I dunno. I'm making this up as I go along here." He peeked down onto the annex, then pointed to the northwest corner of the building. "We may be able disrupt the force field with a little high voltage. What do you say?"
"Worth a try."
"OK. They're out of range, so we'll have to relay down." He shot his grappling hook down to the corner of the building, and they slid down.
Coming to their feet, they spun to face the craft. It was getting harder to see them - apparently the force field was getting stronger. There
wasn't much in the way of cover on the roof - several ventilators, a couple stairwells on both the southwest and northeast corners, and a large elevator shaft right in the center. T-Bone and Razor scuttled over behind the elevator shaft. From there, Razor radioed back to Feral.
"Feral? We're going to see if we can take down the force field. We're coming in from the west side. You might want to try from the south."
"I copy, SwatKat," said Feral non-committally.
"Think he'll do it?" asked T-Bone.
Razor shrugged. "C'mon." He stepped out from behind the elevator shaft, with T-Bone at his heels. Three steps later, they pulled up short.
"What th'heck..." growled T-Bone.
Coming out from inside the forcefield came two...well, two things. They were just over two meters high, over a meter thick, and not quite see-through. T-Bone and Razor couldn't make out if they were slithering towards them or walking, but they were approaching as fast as one would think something that size and consistency could.
"Looks like Viper's been mixing his mutagens with the raspberry gelatin," guessed Razor.
"Well, then, let's just slice and serve," smirked T-Bone. He raised his wristgun and shot into the heart of the first one. Either the shot went right through or it lodged into the creature partway. Whichever it was, the creature acted like it didn't notice. Just to verify, Razor put a few shots into the other one, with similar results. After exchanging a quick glance, they turned around and scurried back behind the elevator shaft.
The sound of more gunfire in the distance made T-Bone peer around the other side of the shaft. "Looks like Feral took your advice," he said. "The Enforcers are mixing it up with the creeplings."
"Good. Now what about these ambrosia salads here?" asked Razor.
"Ummm...maybe electricity will knock them out?"
"Let's give it a shot." They leapt back out from the elevator shaft. The creatures were only about four meters away. T-Bone and Razor raised their tasers. "Zap 'em," commanded Razor, and they gave the creatures all the voltage they had. The creatures, however, moved inexorably towards them. T-Bone and Razor dropped their arms and jogged around the elevator shaft once again, and then a bit further on, behind a ventilator.
"Scrap that plan," said T-Bone bitterly, wiping his forehead. "What do you think'll happen if they get on us?"
"Nothing good, I bet."
"Probably not. Next idea?"
"Hmm...how would I get rid of leftover gelatin? Hey, what do you say we heat them up?" suggested Razor.
T-Bone looked blank. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking we get the TurboKat over here, and give them a taste of the afterburners."
"...and they'll melt into a puddle. Good idea."
T-Bone jumped up and ran around the ventilator and elevator shaft the other way - since the creatures were closing in from the other direction.
He shot his grappling hook back up to the Khanako building roof, and he and Razor started climbing back up.
About halfway up the rope, T-Bone peeked over his shoulder. He grinned as he saw that the creatures were standing dumbly at the edge of the roof. However, the battle between the Enforcers and the Creeplings didn't seem to be going that well. Although several Creeplings were lying either dead or senseless on the roof, there were also a few Enforcers in that state - and it didn't look like they had gotten anywhere on the force field. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught one Enforcer pick up a gun meant for two and get a shot off. He also saw that that shell was going nowhere near the force field.
"Razor!" T-Bone swung up and grabbed him with his legs to keep him from going any further. The shell landed just to the left of where the grappling hook held onto the building, the ensuing explosion snapping T-Bone's cable and sending both he and Razor hurtling downward.