HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
Chapter 5: A Plan of Action
"Well there's only one thing left to do, Chance." Jake said finally.
They'd eaten their dinner and tossed ideas back and forth but none of them would solve their problem.
"What's that?" Chance growled as he crushed his milk can.
"We've got to talk to Feral." His partner said grimly.
"What?!" The tabby exploded. "Are you nuts?"
"We have to! This is too big for us to handle and Feral has more resources. They may not be up to par with our equipment but like you said, nothing we or they have can fight magic. But together we might come up with something." Jake insisted.
"Crud! I can't believe we're going to work with that stiff-necked Kat." Chance said, subsiding when he realized his partner was both serious and right. "So when do we go and see him?"
"Probably should do it tonight!" The smaller tom sighed in resignation.
"Wonderful!" Chance grunted.
Feral was working late as usual and he was also hiding. He was afraid to go home. The hunters were closing in and he felt safer here but he needed to go home sometime if only to collect some personal items. He rubbed his head trying to ease an insipid headache. He'd been trying to finish the reports on his desk but his own personal problem kept intruding.
"Looks like you're no happier than we are." Came a gruff voice out of the shadows.
"Wha...?" Feral startled jerking his head up and looking at a most unwelcome sight. The SWAT Kats emerged from the darkness and walked up to his desk.
"What are you to doing here?" He snapped angrily.
"Just listen for once. We weren't responsible for taking down Viper or his monster. We'd been knocked into the brush but before we could get back up and fight, a weird burst of light hit the monster and shriveled it up then a glowing web struck Viper. We waited to see what was going on and heard voices. In a clearing next to us were two strangers. They were performing magic and they were responsible for Viper's downfall." T-Bone explained quickly.
"But what's worse, it turns out from listening to these guys, that there are a lot of them and they are hunting for someone. The reason we're here is there is no way we have anything that can fight magic and we know you don't either. So we've come here to put our heads together and see if our pooled resources can head off a mega disaster. Maybe even Dr. Sinian could give us some help as well." Razor finished.
Feral just gaped at them. For long minutes, he simply didn't know what to say or do. They were right when they said the enforcers and themselves had no weapon against magic but wrong when they said he personally, didn't. But he couldn't show that he was capable of magic for to do that would draw the attention of the hunters. What to do?
Maybe it would be possible to get the help they were offering. After all, he hadn't come up with anything and he'd already admitted to himself, he was trapped.
"Hmm, we wondered what that strange sticky stuff was. I just thought it was another one of your special weapons." He said cautiously.
"I wish! It certainly was effective." Razor said, shaking his head.
"Alright, then...say what you're telling me is the truth. How do you propose we solve this problem of trying to capture what appears to be a large group scattered throughout our city. How do we ferret them out and then take them when they are capable of turning us into mice if they wish?" Feral asked.
"Well, I don't know if they can do that but I certainly wouldn't put it past them. However, they seemed fixed on finding someone. My question, I guess, is are they enemies or a different type of police and are they hunting a criminal? How are we to know and how do we find out?" Razor said seriously.
Feral nearly laughed at the comment that the hunters might be police. Razor didn't know it but the hunters were certifiable killers working for the Red Force Leader and couldn't care less for mortals but he couldn't tell the SWAT Kat that.
"I'd prefer to think they are an enemy. If they were police then I would think they would have contacted me to aid in their search. That would be proper procedure for all the police I've ever dealt with." He said.
"Hmm, well you might be right about that." Razor said thoughtfully. "If that's the case, then we need to find who they are hunting and try to protect them. That person could give us clues to their enemies weaknesses and aid us in finding a way to defeat them."
'Gods! He is so brilliant!' Feral thought in amazement. 'If I dared to tell them, they just might succeed but, no, the Red Force is powerful and has many soldiers at his command. The SWAT Kats wouldn't stand a chance not even with my help. I wish it wasn't so! I'm soo tired!' He felt as close to tears as he'd ever felt in a long time. Frustration weighed heavily on him.
"And how do you intend to try and find this person? It's the same problem as finding these invaders?" Feral asked for a lack of anything else to say.
Razor frowned. "Perhaps with the help of Dr. Sinian and maybe Professor Hackle, we could invent a device that could detect magic. It's the only thing I can think of." He said with a shrug.
Feral went still. 'Was there really a chance? If he could invent such a device, it was only a next step to developing something that could negate magic.' He almost couldn't breathe...a glimmer of hope was being handed to him and he was afraid to take it. Dare he take a chance that this remarkable Kat could do exactly what he said?
Cautiously, afraid to pin too much of his hope on this Kat, Feral said, slowly, "That actually sounds like a viable idea. But I think you will have to do this on your own so that the fewer Kats that know about it the better. We don't want those strangers to get wind of what you're doing."
"Huh! You're right about that. Well then while we're trying to do the impossible, do you think you could keep off our backs for a while?" T-Bone asked with a grunt. "And do we have a temporary truce during this dangerous time?"
"I think that's a reasonable request and yes we have a truce.. I still have to pretend we're after you but won't pursue anything. Meanwhile, keep me informed of your progress but tell me personally, don't leave any messages." He warned carefully.
"No problem and a wise precaution. Okay, tomorrow I'll get with Sinian and Hackle and we'll try to brainstorm something as fast as we can. I just hope we have time before someone is actually hurt or they find whoever they are looking for." Razor said grimly.
Feral shuddered at that last comment. "All we can do is hope. You'll find me here when you need me. I intend to stay at headquarters." He told them.
They looked at him with a frown but didn't respond. They nodded and quickly vanished from his office.
Feral slumped into his seat, his head was pounding. His life was now in the paws of a pair of vigilantes and they didn't even know it.