Part III--Through the Fire
Felina blinked, looking at her uncle as if he had just
grown another head and started speaking in tongues.
Which--considering the bombshell he had just dropped-
wasn't too far from the realm of plausibility.
"You're..WHAT??" exclaimed the more than slightly upset
she-Kat.
"I know this is a shock Felina, but I exp...I need your
support on this." The older Feral sighed, sitting back down
in the same chair he had occupied when a short time ago David
Steele had replied in much the same manner to his earlier
announcement. **And if she's this upset with me being
Mayor, imagine how upset she's going to be when she
finds out the rest..**
Ulysses had asked Felina back to the office Thomas had
loaned to the former Enforcer commander until he could
finalize the threads of the rapidly unwinding tapestry that
had once been Ulysses Feral's normal existence. Now
more than ever, the seclusion of the office was a grateful
blessing as Felina took the news in stride.
"With all due respect /sir/, are you out of your
ever-loving mind?!" Felina glared at her beloved uncle,
honestly doubting his sanity at this point. When he had
knocked on Callie's hospital door not more than half an
hour ago, this..conservation..was the last thing she would
have ever expected. Now, instead of worrying about
Callie's slim chances for recovery she had to compound
that with the news that her uncle was now mayor of Megakat
City.
A haunting thought crossed the threshold of her
awareness, shaking her mentally to the core. **Wait..if
he's the Mayor, then who..??** Felina looked at
Ulysses, the unspoken question burning in her eyes.
Feral knew what the look meant, and steadied himself.
"Steele." was his only reply. It was all that was needed. In
fact, it was more than enough to stun the young Enforcer into
silence.
Feral took advantage of the momentary silence to cross
the desk and take his niece's paw and try to salvage
the more civilized aspects of the conservation. "Felina..I
know this is all a great shock. It was to me as well. But the
city council elected me by a narrow margin and if I refused,
someone else would have gotten the job, and that I could not
allow. This is the best way to hold our city together long
enough until the Enforcers are back to full strength." He
paused, letting Felina slowly absorb what he was saying. *Not
a total lie, if you look at it from a certain point of
view..* mused Ulysses. He knew the real reason he
didn't fight the vote, but to draw Felina into a
potential political struggle between his supporters and
Steele's would not be good for either of them nor would
it help Megakat City. But with David now in a position of
importance, those supporters would have less ground to block
his decisions out of spite and be forced to defend their
positions with legitimate concerns instead of hiding behind
political filibustering.
Felina shook her head and gazed at her uncle with a look
of understanding, if not total acceptance. Still, there was
one thing she /had/ to know. "But Uncle..why Steele? After
all he's done..what he's said to you. Was he the
only choice..?"
Feral mentally nodded to himself, the hardest question
she could have asked now hanging in the air for him to
answer. "I'll admit that he was not my first choice to
lead the Enforcers. That would have been you." Ignoring the
shocked look from his niece, Feral continued. "But you were
right the other day Felina. You are needed on the front
lines. Without a doubt you would make a outstanding
Commander, and I always suspected that one day it would have
been you that took my place. But all that was before Dark
Kat's attack." Feral turned, and looked out the window
into the hall as orderlies attended to their duties.
Momentarily, he began again..."The Enforcers are weakened
Felina, more so than in recent memory. We lost a lot of good
Kats to that attack, and those that are left are looking for
reassurance that the Enforcers can..and will..go on. You're the
best Kat for that job Felina." Slowly he turned, looking at
the young woman..."The others believe in you; they have for a
long time. You might not have noticed, but I have. They trust
you with their lives, because they have in the past and they
have survived. That is where you can do the greatest good."
Feral sat back down, studying his niece.
Felina looked at her uncle, a mix of emotions on her
face. On the surface, she didn't want to believe him.
But deep down, she knew it was true. She /had/ noticed, but
never felt a need to acknowledge that trust openly. She
simply was a soldier, and part of her job was to look out for
her fellows. Nothing else mattered in battle. Now, she had to
be there for them again, but this time as a leader. Closing
her eyes, she nodded gently, understanding her role for the
time being, but still unclear on one other part. "Uncle, will
Steele be able to effectively repla...fill in for you?"
Felina was shocked as the word 'replace'; almost
came out as the though of /anyone/ replacing her Uncle made
her physically sick. She opened her eyes and looked up,
hoping he didn't take offense at her near slip-up.
"Believe it or not Felina, I think deep inside Steele has
what it takes to succeed. I saw his entrance test, and
disregarding rumor, he passed it without help from his
family, in fact.." Feral paused, a small smile on his
face.."he scored only slightly under you."
Felina blinked, honestly shocked he scored /that/ well on
his own.
Feral nodded, then continued. "When I told him of my
decision Felina, there was a... change, akin to a stuck door
suddenly flung open, a fire in his eyes unlike I ever saw in
him before emerged. I challenged his honor Felina, and I
think I like the results." He paused and walked over to his
niece, kneeling down and again taking her paw in his. "I
think I made the best choice I could Felina. I need you to
understand that."
After what seemed like an eternity, Felina stood and
smiled at him as a look of quiet acceptance filled her eyes.
"I understand Uncle..and I promise to do the best job I can."
Then, in an action that was certainly against every rule in
the Enforcer Handbook, she hugged her Uncle with a tight
embrace.
Feral blinked, and chose to not press how undignified
this was between different ranks. His own arms held his niece
for a long moment until an all-too familiar alarm shattered
their peace.
"Trauma Team to ICU 4 STAT. Trauma to ICU 4 STAT"
Felina paled.."Oh..Goddess..that's Callie's
room!" and in an instant she was out the door, nearly shoving
orderlies out of the way as she careened through the
antiseptic halls of Megakat Memorial. Nearly at the door, she
was stopped by the same intern who had checked up on Callie a
few moments before Feral had come to take Felina to their
discussion. "Let me go!" she yelled but the young intern held
her close.
"Lieutenant, you can't go in there!" Douglas said
as he held Felina tightly. "Doctor Katzenberg and the trauma
team are going to handle this. You'll only be in the
way!" He blinked as Felina snarled at him, but held his
ground long enough for an already present Sami and the just
arriving Ulysses to pull her back, trying to calm the
ballistic she-Kat as best they could. Nodding to Sami,
Douglas released the she-Kat into their custody and
disappeared into Calico's room.
Moments later, Thomas and his team rounded the corner and
disappeared into the room, as once again a feeling to total
helplessness welled up in Felina's stomach. Tears
unwelcomed began to flow down her cheek, the pit of her being
somehow knowing that there would be no miracles this time.
Pain.
Total, all-consuming, never ending pain.
There was no respite. Not a second. Not a moment.
Nothing. It never ended. Every cell in her body screamed in
agony. Tears ran down her face, spilling into the nothingness
that still surrounded her. Her heart was beating like never
before, blood surging through her body as if her heart was
going to rupture.
Another blast. Another lighting bolt lanced through her
body. She wanted to beg for it to stop. She would give
anything..body and soul..for it to end. But it
wouldn't. Over and over she screamed as pain slammed
into her. Over and over her tears welled up. Over and over
she begged the Goddess to let her change her mind, to accept
the everlasting peace that she had denied. But the Goddess
refused and Callie Briggs whimpered as her body felt as if it
would explode in neverending flame.
"Arrrruuughhhh...."
Merklyn winced at the sound of pure anguish that escaped
the lips of the body that lay in agony before him. Still, he
could not falter, not for a moment. To do so could destroy
him, the Orb, and Calico as well. Holding his hands high, he
focused the remaining power from the Orb of Prysmos and
blanketed Callie's body with it, causing a scream of
pure terror as the bluish-green light seemed to soak into
every fiber of her being.
Merklyn had not wanted the transfer to be this painful,
but he could not have known beforehand that the dormant
genetic code that enabled Calico's bloodline to wield
magic had only recently started to rewrite her body's
DNA. The trauma of the Swat Kats' death had started the
process, but it had been too short a time, and her body had
diverted too much energy to preventing the change from
happening. All he could do now was overpower her defenses,
and let what was needed to be occur.
**Just the totems. That is all that is left Calico.
Please..for everyone and everything you hold dear..hold on.
Just a little while longer...** Merklyn silently beseeched
the forces of light to protect their champion for just a
little while longer. A final surge of power erupted from the
Orb and into Calico's body, causing another scream of
torment to explode from her lips.
Images flooded Callie's mind as her body was
assaulted over and over by pain that felt like it came from
the underworld itself. Images of creatures both familiar and
strange filled her thoughts; an eagle taking flight, a bear
protecting it's cub, a proud and noble lion defending
it's territory. A gorilla swinging through the treetops
in search of food, a horrible looking creature from
prehistory terrorizing the skies on leather wings. A shark
gliding along the ocean currents, closing on its next prey.
Suddenly, the images stopped. A blinding nothingness
filled her body as the pain began to subside.
Then..emptiness. No pain. No agony. Only the cool calmness of
nothing. Slowly the ravaged she-Kat looked at Merklyn, her
eyes awash with tears as the elder being knelt above her, a
look of true and genuine concern on his ancient face.
Although there was no way she could have stood, her eyes
stayed fixed on her strange mentor as his words finally
reached her conscious mind for processing.
"...ou okay young one?"
Slowly, a smile filled her features as the all-consuming
blackness of needed sleep began to envelope her. Finding her
voice, she was able to tell Merklyn just how she felt with
two simple words. They summed up her feelings more than
adequately.
"That...sucked."
Merklyn blinked as she drifted off into a dreamless
slumber. Then, laughter unheard for a millennium slowly
filled the void eternal that surrounded this most unlikely
pair. Standing once more, the ancient wizard smiled and cast
one final spell, this last gift of his own design. Soft
blue-pink streams of light wrapped around Callie's
unmoving body, then faded into her fur. A moment later she
began to turn transparent and faded from sight as if she
never existed in the first place.
The ancient being watched as his new charge left this
realm of existence and returned to her own. When her body
faded completely from sight, Merklyn returned to the fog, his
final words drifting forever in the night.
"The dye is cast and all is as it should. May the light
shine forever....".
Jake and Chance looked at Arkatta with shocked
expressions as her tale concluded. Neither of the pair could
find words to break the stunned silence. After a few minutes,
it was the elder sorceress' voice that finally broke
the stillness. "I warned you." was all she said.
Chance was the first to recover from the haze of
confusion that enveloped him and Jake. Nodding, he looked at
Arkatta. "I..ya..you did." He paused, shaking his head as if
to force his fears and concerns into some coherent pattern. "
I still.. I mean I just.. can't believe we're
supposed to be.." he stopped, unable to say finish the
sentence.
"Dead.." was Jake's quiet finish to the morbid
comment.
Callista walked over and gently placed her hands on each
shoulder of the stunned Kats. "Sir Razor..Sir T-Bone..we do
not know for sure. All I know is what I saw momentarily in
the time storm before you arrived here. Your flying machine
plunged into the water and exploded. There is not way to know
if you were to be inside when it was destroyed." She sighed,
wishing silently to herself for understanding of the
paradoxes unleashed that day. Instead, together they would
need to piece the mystery bit by bit until a resolution was
found.
"But you said you never meant to bring us to Megalith
City.." Jake began. "You only wanted to transport us from the
Turbokat to a safe place in the water. "
Callista nodded in agreement, but a soft sigh escaped her
lips. "That is correct, my brave knight. But the power surge I
mentioned must have come from somewhere. And that power is
what hurled you both through the Narnstone Portal here to
Megalith City, instead of a safe place in your own time." She
paused, trying to find a way to give her friends some gleam
of hope. "Perhaps, by working together, it might just be
possible to find that power; and if we find the source..."
"We can find a way to get back!" exclaimed Chance.
Callista nodded in agreement, but Arkatta's voice
suddenly interrupted... "The power that sent them here was
great Callista, and despite our best efforts, no answers have
been forthcoming." Slowly, she turned to face the two
time-lost vigilantes..."It might be wise to accept that fact
that your stay here will be for a great deal longer than your
last visit. If not, so be it, but preparing for the worse
might be a more prudent direction."
Jake and Chance blinked, both wanting to dispute the
words Arkatta had put forth, but neither could find a
legitimate counter. Quickly the mood in the room turned
somber, but Chance's voice broke the silence this time.
"That well may be true ma'am, but we're the Swat
Kats, and we've faced problems a lot harder than this.
It may take us a while, but we're not going to give up.
We'll find a way to return to Megakat City and this
time Dark Kat's not going to stop us." The grin on
Chance's face was infectious as Jake smiled in unison,
prompting a look of unease from the ancient she-Kat.
Before another word could be spoken a soft knock filled
the room.
"Enter" commanded Callista.
A page, no more than eight at best, opened the door and
warily entered. Callista recognized him as the cooks'
assistant. Noticing the young boy's fear she softly
smiled and waved the child into the room.
"I'm s-sorry to b-bother you ma'a..your M..
Majesty..b-but.." the boy began as he kneeled, upset at how
everyone was staring at him. Especially the larger orange and
black-striped Kat. Callista walked over and knelt down before
the kitten, smiling broadly to reassure him.
"It's okay Tobias. Is dinner ready?" she asked
gently, trying to keep the boy from panicking away into a
dead faint. Attempting to be as non-threatening as possible,
Callista rubbed the boy's head, causing a ever so
slight grin to cross the kitten's face.
Nodding briskly, the silver furred and blacked-striped
youngster relaxed slightly. "Yes ma'am. There's
mutton, and fruit, and lots of bread. We even made that plum
pudding that you like so much!" The boy beamed, but realized
he was talking too much and quickly shut his mouth, looking
at the ground. Half expecting to be yelled at for talking
like that to the Queen, he was amazed when instead of
disapproval a gentle laugh escaped from Callista.
"Why thank you, Tobias. That is very nice of you. Would
you run along and tell everyone that we will be there soon?"
Callista grinned as the boy acted as if he had been asked to
go slay a mighty dragon for her.
"Yes, your Majesty!" the boy puffed up slightly, feeling
on top of the world. Without another word the youngster
saluted like the guards and at top speed dashed out of the
room bound for the kitchen. A small round of laughter escaped
from the gathered Kats as the mood lightened noticeably.
Chance smiled.."I think he was trying to impress you,
Callista."
The young Queen nodded. "He was, but for all the wrong
reasons." Seeing a look of puzzlement on his face she
elaborated.. "Tobias is an orphan, his parents were killed
several years ago in a mud slide south of the Dijor
mountains. He's been here since, and I don't
think we have a better page in the castle. But..he tries
hard..too hard.. to prove himself to me. I think he's
trying to pay me back for taking him in, although I keep
hoping he will realize he does not owe me anything. Being the
best Kat he can be is reward enough."
Chance looked at Callista with a nod, understanding both
her concerns and the boy's behavior. "He's just
trying to find a way to balance the scales Callista. More
than likely he feels a need to repay you for your kindness
since you didn't have to take him in. Once he feels
like the debt has been filled, even if it only exists in his
mind, he'll be able to put it behind him and move on.
The best thing is to let him find his own path in his own
time." Not seeing the stunned look from his partner, Chance
just smiled at Callista who nodded in acceptance of his
logic.
Arkatta looked at Chance, a expression of deep thought on
her withered face. **His compassion is deep. That may not be
a good sign...** her mind's eye commented. Realizing
that this tom-Kat could be an unforeseen variable in her
plans, Arkatta reluctantly accepted the fact that he would
have to be told the whole truth. **Either that, or risk all we
know being undone, even by the best of intentions...**.
Jake looked over at Chance and smiled. "I don't
know about you, partner, but I'm starving." Struggling
against his aching body Jake rose halfway, but winced as that
same body protested loudly and painfully. Gasps for air
escaped his lips as he looked at Callista apologetically.
"Sorry your Highness, but I might have to dine in the room
tonight."
Callista regretfully nodded and prepared to called a
guard to bring food for Sir Razor when Chance laughed softly.
"Not a chance buddy. If I gotta eat more pepper stew, so are
you! Wait right here.." and with that the Swat Kat darted
outside to the hall only returning a few moments later with a
makeshift wheelchair. Arkatta and Callista looked at the
contraption with interest, while Jake merely shook his head
smiling. As Chance walked over to help Jake, Callista knelt
over and peered at the device.
"Sir T-Bone, what is this??" she asked with small amount
of awe in her voice.
"A wheelchair ma'am. Where we come from, this helps
Kats with injuries get around and have the means to do things
they normally couldn't."
"When did you have time to put this together Chance?"
The burly Kat looked at his partner and smirked.
"Actually, I can't take credit. The town blacksmith
gets all the credit for this baby. I ran into Sir Steele on
my way to bathe and told him that you might need help getting
around. So instead of having a guard carry you like a sack of
kitty litter, I drew him a rough layout of a chair, and he
got the smithy to cobble up this.." he commented, gesturing
to the chair.
Callista nodded in approval at her knight's foresight. "A clever
idea, Sir T-Bone."
Jake laughed, instantly regretting the action. After the
pain subsided, he looked at Callista with a bit of humor in
his eyes as Chance lowered him into the chair. "He gets them
every now and then your Majesty. About once every decade!"
Callista and Jake's laughter filled the room as
Chance's only gentlemanly response (due to ladies being
present) was a low growl from deep in his throat. This
prompted another round of laughter, which Chance gave up on
trying to defuse and started to push his tormentor (and
former best friend) to the dining hall when Arkatta's
voice caught his attention.
"Sir T-bone. I have a few questions I would like to ask
you, and I must be returning to my home soon. I do not wish
to make you late for dinner, but they are of some importance
and a few minutes of your time would be most helpful..." the
elder Kat said.
Callista looked at her mentor and cocked her head..."Is
it of that importance Arkatta? Surely it can wait until after
dinner?"
"I am afraid not, my child. We shall be along shortly.
Perhaps Sir Steele can escort Sir Razor?"
Callista shook her head. "I will. Both knights have saved
myself and my kingdom with little regard for their own
safety. This will be a small repayment of that service."
Walking over, Callista took the crude handles of the
wheelchair and smiled at Jake. "I hope the change in driver
is acceptable?" she asked with a hint of playfulness.
"No complaints here." Jake chuckled as the pair slowly
departed. Before rounding the corner of the door, he gave
Chance a sly grin, a slight 'thumbs up' sign on
his left paw, another point scored in their battle for
Callista's attentions. Chance sighed and gave only a
slight nod, accepting the point, but his look told Jake that
the battle was far from over.
Arkatta quietly studied the exchange, her feeling of
uneasiness growing as the Swat Kats' concern for each
other was bad enough; but this battle for the attentions of
her pupil had far more dangerous repercussions. With a
focused look, she walked over to the remaining Kat and looked
up at him with a quizzical stare.
Chance met her look, a bit uneasy himself as her glance
upset him for some reason. Clearing his throat, he tried to
break the silence when Arkatta's voice cut him off with
the strangest of questions.
"How much do you care for him, Sir T-Bone?"
Chance blinked, the query catching him totally off guard.
He looked at her with total confusion.
"It is not a hard question to answer. How much do you
care for him?"
Chance swallowed hard, a ball of ice beginning to form in
the pit of his stomach. "I would give my life for him
Arkatta. After what we have been through I would think that
would be obvious." He paused, looking at the figure before
him. "Is he hurt that bad? Is he going to...?" Chance paused,
unable to say the word Jake had filled in for him earlier.
Arkatta shook her head, a paw reaching up to rest
reassuringly on his forearm. "Not here, not now. But your
compassion for him is without restraint. While that is a
noble quality-rare in any time-it could prove to be terrible
mistake."
Chance looked at her, anger building in his eyes. "Please
Arkatta! No more riddles. If Jake's in danger, I've got to know
what..."
Again her paw patted his forearm, quieting the upset
warrior. She then hobbled over to the fire, warming her old
bones as Chance walked behind her as panic joined the fear
forming within his gut. Biting his tongue, Chance let the
she-Kat find the words herself, knowing his being upset
wouldn't help at all. After a long moment, Arkatta
turned and sat down, her gaze solid on the young tom-Kat.
"I am the one responsible for you and Sir Razor being
here."
Chance blinked once..then twice, not sure if he heard
right. Clenching his fists, the Swat Kat glared at her,
daring to not say anything as his anger would escape
unchecked.
"I do not blame you for being upset, but before you pass
judgment hear me out." She paused, gesturing for him to sit
in the chair Callista had recently occupied.
Chance sat, still upset but holding it all in with a
force of will he never suspected possessing until now.
"What I am about to tell you Sir T-Bone is of such great
importance I had to disregard all the ethical principles I
hold dear. What will happen...what /must/ happen..is that
crucial to everything we both hold close in our hearts. "
Again she paused, letting her mind organize her concerns into
something coherent. "Your compassion for your friend does you
great credit, but there will come a time T-Bone where...if
you save Razor from what appears to be a terrible fate...you
will doom all that you see here, and all you love in your own
time."
Chance could only sit there, the color draining from his
face.
"You will reach home again noble knight. I do not know
how, or when, but you will leave this time and once again be
in your own. After your return, a great and terrible threat
will emerge. Once more, the Swat Kats will take to the skies
to protect their home and city from it. But in the process,
to secure victory, you will be required to sacrifice your
partner. /IF/ you do not allow this..if you save him... you
will doom my world and yours...forever. "
"B..but..h..how....?"
"There will be a great evil, more powerful than ever to
be seen on this world. I do not know the cause, but the
results are all too clear; to stop the threat you must leave
Razor to face certain death while you deliver the final blow.
By the time you return, it will be too late. Razor will be
lost, seemingly forever. "
Chance felt his heart stop.
To her credit, Arkatta felt for the young Kat, but she
could not let her personal feelings get in the way of saving
all she held dear. But to leave him hanging like this was
torture so she quickly resumed.
"In fact, Razor will not be dead but here in Megalith
City some years in our future. After many failed attempts to
return home, he will begin to carve a life for himself. And
in time, that life will include his hand in marriage to
Callista."
What little breath Chance had left was savagely expelled
as another deeply personal dream was wrenched from his soul.
He felt numb all over, unable to speak or move as Arkatta
continued.
"In time, their marriage will produce a child. A
beautiful daughter that will cause the gods themselves to be
envious. They will be a happy family, full of love and life
that has escaped both your friend and my Queen for the
longest time." She faltered, a dark look passing over her
face. "However, it will not last. A long forgotten spell will
be tried in one final attempt to reach you Sir T-Bone."
"But..why? If..if he's got Callista, why..."
Arkatta shook her head, amazed at how this Kat could be
so empathic and unaware at the same time. "To give you a
sense of closure and dispel the grief of your loss. As the
spell is completed, a doorway will open into your
world's future where Callista and Razor will see the
ruin that was once his home now engulfed by creatures of
nightmare. They run rampant as their leader..an evil being of
unnatural creation..feasts on the bodies of those who tried
to stop him. Their power will grow unchecked until your
entire world is theirs to do with as they please."
There was no sound from Chance, his mind racing as he
tried to understand it all.
"They will use all the powers at their disposal to see
how the fall happened and where the focal point occurred.
Upon that discovery, it is then that their happiness will
shatter totally. They will see that the technology your world
possessed was unable to stop the wave of darkness, and with
no wielders of magic in your time there was no hope. Unable
to send themselves and leave Megalith City to her enemies-but
just as unwilling to leave your time unguarded-a painful
choice will be made. Their precious baby daughter will be
sent to the future, memories of her life here erased. She
will grow up there, learn the ways of the modern world. And,
when the time comes, her natural control over the forces of
magic will stop the cataclysm, ensuring the safety of
generations to come. " Arkatta stopped, giving Chance much
needed time to pull himself together.
To his own credit, Chance quickly pulled the pieces of
the puzzle before him into a simple picture..."S..so. If..if
I save Razor, then he won't travel back in time. If he
doesn't travel back in time, his daughter won't be born. If
she's not born, then she can't be sent to the future and if
she's not in the future..."
"Then there will be no future." finished Arkatta.
Chance staggered to his feet, his mind a whirl of fear
and terror as the insight of what was to be shattered him to
the core. After forever passed, his voice returned to ask a
question..."Their daughter in our time..will she know
what..will she know the truth? How can I find her when the
time comes..?"
"You do not know her true identity?" she asked, surprised
etched on her weathered face.
Chance shook his head.
"Their daughter will be a warrior of words for most of
her life, defending the innocent in her own way. That will be
taken from her, and from the depths of her deepest despair
her true self will begin to emerge. That self will be all
that stands in the way of terror for a thousand generations.
Yet, until that transformation, no one..not even you and Sir
Razor, will have ever suspected her true role in the future
of MegaKat City."
Chance looked at her, turning a ghastly shade of white.
"Yo..you mean we know her??"
Arkatta nodded as she reached over, gently holding the
paw of the troubled tom-Kat. The male looked down and with an
almost reverent voice as he begged the answer to be revealed.
"Who..who is she??"
"The daughter of Sir Razor and Callista is well known to
you, Sir T-Bone. She is the Swat Kats' greatest
ally..and the one love you have forbade yourself from
following so the Swat Kats will remain unbroken..."
Chance stopped breathing, the realization of who Arkatta
was referring to hitting him like a ton of bricks. Tears ran
down his eyes as his knees were no longer able to support
him, the warrior sinking to the hard floor in a fit of
distress. For long moments he could say nothing, but slowly,
her name escaped his lips, as if the necessary conclusions
would only be justified by his own voice. The word filled the
room..and his heart..with a heavy light.
"Callie...".
Chance Furlong clenched his fists and shook in mortal
fear as deep in his heart he knew it all to be true...
What sound ends the world?
What does one hear when emptiness is all there is?
What does the archangel sing as all becomes nothing?
For a doctor, the song is never welcomed. In this case,
nevermore was it so. The biomonitor was respectfully muted,
the shrill, even call silenced as time itself seemed to pay
its final respects.
There is no song now; at least none the living could
hear. There are only words to give the life a macabre sense
of closure.
Three little words to be precise.
"She's gone, Thomas."
The words sounded hollow, as if the life before him was
over..just like.../that/? That was all necessary to close a
life of service and dedication to her fellow Kats?
Tears began to fall from Thomas Katzenberg's eyes
as he drew the sheet over the lifeless form. "Time of death?"
he whispered, mostly from terrible habit.
"2:47 P.M." whispered Douglas Kowser, his own face wet
with grief.
Thomas nodded. Little words. That is what life boiled
down to at this moment. A lifetime of effort and achievement
put into a neat little package.
More tears fell, spotting the sheet below him.
Little words was all that was left.
And Calico Briggs deserved so much more.
Slowly Thomas and his staff walked out, unable to hide
the despair that infected their spirits. As the others left
to file respective reports on Calico's death, it fell
to Thomas to be the bearer of the news.
Ulysses and Felina looked up at the doctor as he emerged
from the room which held Callie. The elder Feral saw the look
on the healer's face and knew what had happened. He
tensed, reflexively holding his niece closer, as if he could
somehow protect her from the tragedy about to occur.
Felina knew as soon as she saw the look in
Katzenberg's eyes that Callie was gone. "N..no..please
Goddess..no.." she whimpered. Clutching at her uncle's
arm, she felt her legs try to give out, only continuing to
stand with the help from him and Sami.
Sami herself just stood there, stunned. Even though she
personally didn't know Calico Briggs all that well, the
loss of the most respected She-Kat in Megakat City was nearly
more than she could handle. The tears ran down her face,
soaking her fur with sorrow.
"How..?" asked Ulysses quietly.
"Massive systems failure Mayor." Thomas took off his
glasses, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his smock.
Looking up at the trio he tried to continue..."All of her
major systems--nervous, lympathic circulatory--everything
just..stopped. I've never seen this before. It's
as if her body just..gave up. I know..this doesn't mean
much now..but I doubt she felt any pain. She went quickly
Lieutenant."
Felina just stood there in shock, a slight nod her only
reply available.
"Can we see her Doctor. To say good-bye?"
Thomas shook his head at Sami. "I'm sorry. She's not ..you
don't need to see her like she is. I don't want you to remember
her like that. She wouldn't want that either."
Sami wanted to protest, but a slight squeeze from
Felina's paw on her arm quieted her for the moment.
Feral looked at the doctor and placed a paw on the elder
Kat's shoulder. "I know you did what you could Thomas.
She also wouldn't want you to blame yourself. "
Thomas nodded, but it was clear he did just that. "Maybe
if I had caught her symptoms earlier..put her on light
duty.." he sighed, knowing that somehow he had failed beyond
redemption.
"It's not your fault sir.." began Felina.
"There's only one Kat who needs to take the blame for
this..".
Ulysses looked at his niece, and now saw not just grief,
but blood-red rage in her eyes. He had seen that look only
once before, but it was enough to stay etched in his mind,
blissfully forgotten until now.
"Felina..." began Feral softly but with clear intent for
her to not continue.
"Uncle, this is all Dark Kat's fault and you know
it! He /HAS/ to be made to pay!"
Sami turned and looked at her friend, her face filled
with so many emotions. Grief at the loss of Calico, fear at
Felina's barely held rage, worry for what the future
would be like with all that had happened. Somewhere deep in
her soul, Sami knew that it would be alright..it would
/have/ to be. But she also knew that if Felina gave into the
rage now, would she be lost as well after all was said and
done?
"Felina..please. We'll get Dark Kat. I promise you.
He'll pay for everything he's done to you, to
Callie, to our city."
To Sami's relief, Felina just nodded, unable to say
anything lest her anger be vented upon the wrong Kat. Closing
her eyes, she leaned against her Uncle, trying to find an
inner calm amongst the emotional storm she found herself
trapped in.
Ulysses held his niece, his gaze starting to drift
towards Thomas when his radio broke the silence.
"Mayor Feral, come in. Lieutenant Commander Steele to
Mayor Feral. Come in.."
Sami and Felina glanced towards each other, wondering
what was going on now.
"Mayor. Code magenta sir. Do you read me?"
The blood in the two Ferals froze as the words sank
in. Sami's eyes widened as Felina's darkened considerably.
Thomas looked around confused. "Code Magenta..what's code..?"
he began, but the elder Feral's swipe for his walkie cut the
doctor short.
"Steele! What the blazes is going on?!"
"We've got Viper at Megakat Biochem, Hard Drive and
the Metallikats at Pumadyne, and an unidentified airship on
route to MegaTron Labs! Best guess..it's Dark Kat sir."
Steele's voice was deceptively calm considering what he
just said.
"Blast it all!" shouted Felina. "Those bastards..they're
trying to divide us..split forces. But..why? I mean..all three
companies have moved their top secret stuff to other labs as a
precaution until the Megakat city branches could be repaired.
What could be left that..."
"Project Victory..." whispered Ulysses.
Sami looked at a very confused Dr. Katzenberg to a
pensive Mayor to a shaking Felina. Needing to understand what
was going on, she turned to the elder Feral.."Sir...
What's Project Victory? And how does that relate to
this code Magenta?" Sami didn't want to overstep her
bounds, but the sinking feeling in her gut had to be abated.
And that could only be accomplished with information.
Information only Mayor Feral seemed to possess.
Feral looked at the young Enforcer and sighed.."Project
Victory was created by MegaTron Labs and Pumadyne as the last
line of defense against nuclear attack by either rogue forces
with missile access or..."
"...other forces, such as Dark Kat, who would rather destroy
MegaKat City rather than lose. It's an energy shield, meant to keep
the entire city safe in case of outside attack." Felina quietly added.
"But what could Dark Kat want with an energy shield that
keeps attacks out?" Thomas asked. "Surely, even on the off
chance he could take over the entire city, the President
wouldn't sanction a nuclear response....would she?"
"No..but think Doctor. If a shield is designed to keep
forces out, wouldn't it stand to reason that it could
be designed to..." Feral began
"..keep people in!" finished Sami. "Goddess..he could
envelope the entire city from the rest of the world!"
"Not just that Sami, but the entire project is powered by
a reactor. And where there's a reactor.."
Thomas paled as Felina's statement registered.
"Oh..my..he could detonate the core and decimate the city!"
"It's worse than that Thomas," Ulysses said as he
looked at the shocked healer.." The core isn't nuclear
...it's antimatter based.."
Silence filled the room.
Felina looked at her uncle as all the blood froze in her
lithe body. "Goddess..Uncle..that means..that means.."
"If he succeeds, there will be nothing left for anyone to
salvage. The entire world could well be obliterated."
A deafening quiet filled the room once more for long
moments until Steele's voice broke through the
stillness. "Mayor..this is Steele. Come in.."
Feral looked down and grasped his radio. "Commander, you
have full authority to activate project Doomsday. I repeat,
you are GO for project Doomsday."
"Understood Mayor. Good luck sir.." Steele said quietly,
the channel closing with a soft click.
"To us all..." whispered Feral.
Both Sami and Felina looked considerably paler than a few
moments ago, both of them having heard rumors about project
Doomsday, but neither ever expecting it to be sanctioned.
"Uncle...." began Felina, but Feral's look stopped
her flat.
"No arguments on this Felina. I know the risks."
"Yes sir..but..please.."
"I'll be careful Felina. But I don't want you
to go after Dark Kat solo."
"But..he has to pay for what he's.."
"That's an /order/ Lieutenant!" Feral stressed as
his voice gave no room for argument. "I expect it to be
obeyed to the fullest. Am I /clear/ on that?" His tone
shocked Thomas and Sami, but both knew there was little room
for interruption on Felina's part.
"As crystal sir." was Felina's only reply, her
fists clenched in anger.
Feral saluted. "Good luck then." and he saluted.
Felina responded likewise and turned to go, not allowing
herself to give her Uncle a final hug good-bye.
Sami saluted as well, and turned to go when Feral's
voice got her attention.
"Higgins...? "
"Sir?"
"Watch out for her. Please."
Sami blinked at the request, but nodded in understanding.
"I will sir. "
Sami turned to follow Felina, but stopped short when she
saw her friend staring at Callie's door. There was a
glistening of tears on the young she-Kat's face as
Felina softly put her hand on the door to the room that held
the remains of a woman she admired more than she could ever
admit.
**I'll make him pay Callie..if it's the last
thing I ever do. I swear it.** thought Felina as she felt
Sami's presence beside her. Looking over she nodded
only once and as she forced her grief down, a plan began to
from in her mind. One that had great risks, but maybe..just
maybe..was their only hope for success.
And it would only cost Felina her life.
Thomas watched Sami and Felina depart, then looked over
at Feral. "Mayor..what is going on? Why is this project
Doomsday so dangerous?"
Feral looked at the Doctor and shook his head. "No time
Thomas. Suffice it to say you need to prepare your staff for
the worst." With that, he began to leave, pausing only long
enough to gaze at Callie's room, a soft prayer echoing
in his mind.
**Dust to dust...** echoed the thought in Feral's
mind. *Perhaps she's with her beloved Swat Kats. At any
rate, now she can rest...* With that, he went to the elevator
and made for the parking deck.
A confused Thomas stared at the door to Callie's
room for a long moment. Alone and out of the loop, all he
could do was his duty; ready the autopsy on Calico and
prepare as best he could for the unknown results of Project
Doomsday. Although Callie was beyond his help, Thomas felt
compelled to give her life a proper closure. If nothing else,
he could at least say good-bye. Taking a deep breath and
gathering his resolve, he opened the door and walked into ICU
4.
That same resolve crumbled as the door shut behind a
shocked Thomas Katzenberg as his gaze fell to the spot were
less than five minutes before the body of Calico Briggs
rested. Now there was nothing.
Callie was gone.
"What the hell??!!" shouted Thomas as he rushed to the
empty bedside. Staring in disbelief the healer felt panic
nudging at his gut. Denying the sensation, he leapt to the
first logical conclusion anyone would have in the same
situation.
"This is not happening."
The room chose not to reply.
Closing his eyes, Thomas counted to five and took another
deep breath. Slowly, he opened them and gazed at the bed.
Callie was still gone.
Beginning to wonder if the grief of losing his
goddaughter was effecting him mentally, Thomas shook his head
to clear it. It was then something caught his eye. Something
that was very out of place.
The window was open.
When he left, the window was closed.
That means...
**No! Impossible! She couldn't have left the
hospital. One, she was dead! Two, we're over 8 stories
high. And three..**
Thomas sighed 'Three'; was a rather moot
point since number one was a pretty good argument against her
leaving.
"The wind blew it open. That's all." Thomas said to
the room, as if trying to convince himself of the futility of
what his heart was reaching for.
It was then Thomas noticed one other item that had eluded
his awareness until now. There, stuck in the right side of
the window frame, there was a royal blue feather. Deep in
hue, the feather swayed in the breeze, almost glistening in
the midday sunlight.
Walking over, Thomas gently took the feather from
it's resting place and shut the window. He dropped his
gaze, scanning the object for some clue..some piece...that
would shed light on the disappearance of Calico Briggs.
But the blue feather held it's secrets tightly. For now......
Felina blinked, looking at her uncle as if he had just
grown another head and started speaking in tongues.
Which--considering the bombshell he had just dropped-
wasn't too far from the realm of plausibility.
"You're..WHAT??" exclaimed the more than slightly upset
she-Kat.
"I know this is a shock Felina, but I exp...I need your
support on this." The older Feral sighed, sitting back down
in the same chair he had occupied when a short time ago David
Steele had replied in much the same manner to his earlier
announcement. **And if she's this upset with me being
Mayor, imagine how upset she's going to be when she
finds out the rest..**
Ulysses had asked Felina back to the office Thomas had
loaned to the former Enforcer commander until he could
finalize the threads of the rapidly unwinding tapestry that
had once been Ulysses Feral's normal existence. Now
more than ever, the seclusion of the office was a grateful
blessing as Felina took the news in stride.
"With all due respect /sir/, are you out of your
ever-loving mind?!" Felina glared at her beloved uncle,
honestly doubting his sanity at this point. When he had
knocked on Callie's hospital door not more than half an
hour ago, this..conservation..was the last thing she would
have ever expected. Now, instead of worrying about
Callie's slim chances for recovery she had to compound
that with the news that her uncle was now mayor of Megakat
City.
A haunting thought crossed the threshold of her
awareness, shaking her mentally to the core. **Wait..if
he's the Mayor, then who..??** Felina looked at
Ulysses, the unspoken question burning in her eyes.
Feral knew what the look meant, and steadied himself.
"Steele." was his only reply. It was all that was needed. In
fact, it was more than enough to stun the young Enforcer into
silence.
Feral took advantage of the momentary silence to cross
the desk and take his niece's paw and try to salvage
the more civilized aspects of the conservation. "Felina..I
know this is all a great shock. It was to me as well. But the
city council elected me by a narrow margin and if I refused,
someone else would have gotten the job, and that I could not
allow. This is the best way to hold our city together long
enough until the Enforcers are back to full strength." He
paused, letting Felina slowly absorb what he was saying. *Not
a total lie, if you look at it from a certain point of
view..* mused Ulysses. He knew the real reason he
didn't fight the vote, but to draw Felina into a
potential political struggle between his supporters and
Steele's would not be good for either of them nor would
it help Megakat City. But with David now in a position of
importance, those supporters would have less ground to block
his decisions out of spite and be forced to defend their
positions with legitimate concerns instead of hiding behind
political filibustering.
Felina shook her head and gazed at her uncle with a look
of understanding, if not total acceptance. Still, there was
one thing she /had/ to know. "But Uncle..why Steele? After
all he's done..what he's said to you. Was he the
only choice..?"
Feral mentally nodded to himself, the hardest question
she could have asked now hanging in the air for him to
answer. "I'll admit that he was not my first choice to
lead the Enforcers. That would have been you." Ignoring the
shocked look from his niece, Feral continued. "But you were
right the other day Felina. You are needed on the front
lines. Without a doubt you would make a outstanding
Commander, and I always suspected that one day it would have
been you that took my place. But all that was before Dark
Kat's attack." Feral turned, and looked out the window
into the hall as orderlies attended to their duties.
Momentarily, he began again..."The Enforcers are weakened
Felina, more so than in recent memory. We lost a lot of good
Kats to that attack, and those that are left are looking for
reassurance that the Enforcers can..and will..go on. You're the
best Kat for that job Felina." Slowly he turned, looking at
the young woman..."The others believe in you; they have for a
long time. You might not have noticed, but I have. They trust
you with their lives, because they have in the past and they
have survived. That is where you can do the greatest good."
Feral sat back down, studying his niece.
Felina looked at her uncle, a mix of emotions on her
face. On the surface, she didn't want to believe him.
But deep down, she knew it was true. She /had/ noticed, but
never felt a need to acknowledge that trust openly. She
simply was a soldier, and part of her job was to look out for
her fellows. Nothing else mattered in battle. Now, she had to
be there for them again, but this time as a leader. Closing
her eyes, she nodded gently, understanding her role for the
time being, but still unclear on one other part. "Uncle, will
Steele be able to effectively repla...fill in for you?"
Felina was shocked as the word 'replace'; almost
came out as the though of /anyone/ replacing her Uncle made
her physically sick. She opened her eyes and looked up,
hoping he didn't take offense at her near slip-up.
"Believe it or not Felina, I think deep inside Steele has
what it takes to succeed. I saw his entrance test, and
disregarding rumor, he passed it without help from his
family, in fact.." Feral paused, a small smile on his
face.."he scored only slightly under you."
Felina blinked, honestly shocked he scored /that/ well on
his own.
Feral nodded, then continued. "When I told him of my
decision Felina, there was a... change, akin to a stuck door
suddenly flung open, a fire in his eyes unlike I ever saw in
him before emerged. I challenged his honor Felina, and I
think I like the results." He paused and walked over to his
niece, kneeling down and again taking her paw in his. "I
think I made the best choice I could Felina. I need you to
understand that."
After what seemed like an eternity, Felina stood and
smiled at him as a look of quiet acceptance filled her eyes.
"I understand Uncle..and I promise to do the best job I can."
Then, in an action that was certainly against every rule in
the Enforcer Handbook, she hugged her Uncle with a tight
embrace.
Feral blinked, and chose to not press how undignified
this was between different ranks. His own arms held his niece
for a long moment until an all-too familiar alarm shattered
their peace.
"Trauma Team to ICU 4 STAT. Trauma to ICU 4 STAT"
Felina paled.."Oh..Goddess..that's Callie's
room!" and in an instant she was out the door, nearly shoving
orderlies out of the way as she careened through the
antiseptic halls of Megakat Memorial. Nearly at the door, she
was stopped by the same intern who had checked up on Callie a
few moments before Feral had come to take Felina to their
discussion. "Let me go!" she yelled but the young intern held
her close.
"Lieutenant, you can't go in there!" Douglas said
as he held Felina tightly. "Doctor Katzenberg and the trauma
team are going to handle this. You'll only be in the
way!" He blinked as Felina snarled at him, but held his
ground long enough for an already present Sami and the just
arriving Ulysses to pull her back, trying to calm the
ballistic she-Kat as best they could. Nodding to Sami,
Douglas released the she-Kat into their custody and
disappeared into Calico's room.
Moments later, Thomas and his team rounded the corner and
disappeared into the room, as once again a feeling to total
helplessness welled up in Felina's stomach. Tears
unwelcomed began to flow down her cheek, the pit of her being
somehow knowing that there would be no miracles this time.
Pain.
Total, all-consuming, never ending pain.
There was no respite. Not a second. Not a moment.
Nothing. It never ended. Every cell in her body screamed in
agony. Tears ran down her face, spilling into the nothingness
that still surrounded her. Her heart was beating like never
before, blood surging through her body as if her heart was
going to rupture.
Another blast. Another lighting bolt lanced through her
body. She wanted to beg for it to stop. She would give
anything..body and soul..for it to end. But it
wouldn't. Over and over she screamed as pain slammed
into her. Over and over her tears welled up. Over and over
she begged the Goddess to let her change her mind, to accept
the everlasting peace that she had denied. But the Goddess
refused and Callie Briggs whimpered as her body felt as if it
would explode in neverending flame.
"Arrrruuughhhh...."
Merklyn winced at the sound of pure anguish that escaped
the lips of the body that lay in agony before him. Still, he
could not falter, not for a moment. To do so could destroy
him, the Orb, and Calico as well. Holding his hands high, he
focused the remaining power from the Orb of Prysmos and
blanketed Callie's body with it, causing a scream of
pure terror as the bluish-green light seemed to soak into
every fiber of her being.
Merklyn had not wanted the transfer to be this painful,
but he could not have known beforehand that the dormant
genetic code that enabled Calico's bloodline to wield
magic had only recently started to rewrite her body's
DNA. The trauma of the Swat Kats' death had started the
process, but it had been too short a time, and her body had
diverted too much energy to preventing the change from
happening. All he could do now was overpower her defenses,
and let what was needed to be occur.
**Just the totems. That is all that is left Calico.
Please..for everyone and everything you hold dear..hold on.
Just a little while longer...** Merklyn silently beseeched
the forces of light to protect their champion for just a
little while longer. A final surge of power erupted from the
Orb and into Calico's body, causing another scream of
torment to explode from her lips.
Images flooded Callie's mind as her body was
assaulted over and over by pain that felt like it came from
the underworld itself. Images of creatures both familiar and
strange filled her thoughts; an eagle taking flight, a bear
protecting it's cub, a proud and noble lion defending
it's territory. A gorilla swinging through the treetops
in search of food, a horrible looking creature from
prehistory terrorizing the skies on leather wings. A shark
gliding along the ocean currents, closing on its next prey.
Suddenly, the images stopped. A blinding nothingness
filled her body as the pain began to subside.
Then..emptiness. No pain. No agony. Only the cool calmness of
nothing. Slowly the ravaged she-Kat looked at Merklyn, her
eyes awash with tears as the elder being knelt above her, a
look of true and genuine concern on his ancient face.
Although there was no way she could have stood, her eyes
stayed fixed on her strange mentor as his words finally
reached her conscious mind for processing.
"...ou okay young one?"
Slowly, a smile filled her features as the all-consuming
blackness of needed sleep began to envelope her. Finding her
voice, she was able to tell Merklyn just how she felt with
two simple words. They summed up her feelings more than
adequately.
"That...sucked."
Merklyn blinked as she drifted off into a dreamless
slumber. Then, laughter unheard for a millennium slowly
filled the void eternal that surrounded this most unlikely
pair. Standing once more, the ancient wizard smiled and cast
one final spell, this last gift of his own design. Soft
blue-pink streams of light wrapped around Callie's
unmoving body, then faded into her fur. A moment later she
began to turn transparent and faded from sight as if she
never existed in the first place.
The ancient being watched as his new charge left this
realm of existence and returned to her own. When her body
faded completely from sight, Merklyn returned to the fog, his
final words drifting forever in the night.
"The dye is cast and all is as it should. May the light
shine forever....".
Jake and Chance looked at Arkatta with shocked
expressions as her tale concluded. Neither of the pair could
find words to break the stunned silence. After a few minutes,
it was the elder sorceress' voice that finally broke
the stillness. "I warned you." was all she said.
Chance was the first to recover from the haze of
confusion that enveloped him and Jake. Nodding, he looked at
Arkatta. "I..ya..you did." He paused, shaking his head as if
to force his fears and concerns into some coherent pattern. "
I still.. I mean I just.. can't believe we're
supposed to be.." he stopped, unable to say finish the
sentence.
"Dead.." was Jake's quiet finish to the morbid
comment.
Callista walked over and gently placed her hands on each
shoulder of the stunned Kats. "Sir Razor..Sir T-Bone..we do
not know for sure. All I know is what I saw momentarily in
the time storm before you arrived here. Your flying machine
plunged into the water and exploded. There is not way to know
if you were to be inside when it was destroyed." She sighed,
wishing silently to herself for understanding of the
paradoxes unleashed that day. Instead, together they would
need to piece the mystery bit by bit until a resolution was
found.
"But you said you never meant to bring us to Megalith
City.." Jake began. "You only wanted to transport us from the
Turbokat to a safe place in the water. "
Callista nodded in agreement, but a soft sigh escaped her
lips. "That is correct, my brave knight. But the power surge I
mentioned must have come from somewhere. And that power is
what hurled you both through the Narnstone Portal here to
Megalith City, instead of a safe place in your own time." She
paused, trying to find a way to give her friends some gleam
of hope. "Perhaps, by working together, it might just be
possible to find that power; and if we find the source..."
"We can find a way to get back!" exclaimed Chance.
Callista nodded in agreement, but Arkatta's voice
suddenly interrupted... "The power that sent them here was
great Callista, and despite our best efforts, no answers have
been forthcoming." Slowly, she turned to face the two
time-lost vigilantes..."It might be wise to accept that fact
that your stay here will be for a great deal longer than your
last visit. If not, so be it, but preparing for the worse
might be a more prudent direction."
Jake and Chance blinked, both wanting to dispute the
words Arkatta had put forth, but neither could find a
legitimate counter. Quickly the mood in the room turned
somber, but Chance's voice broke the silence this time.
"That well may be true ma'am, but we're the Swat
Kats, and we've faced problems a lot harder than this.
It may take us a while, but we're not going to give up.
We'll find a way to return to Megakat City and this
time Dark Kat's not going to stop us." The grin on
Chance's face was infectious as Jake smiled in unison,
prompting a look of unease from the ancient she-Kat.
Before another word could be spoken a soft knock filled
the room.
"Enter" commanded Callista.
A page, no more than eight at best, opened the door and
warily entered. Callista recognized him as the cooks'
assistant. Noticing the young boy's fear she softly
smiled and waved the child into the room.
"I'm s-sorry to b-bother you ma'a..your M..
Majesty..b-but.." the boy began as he kneeled, upset at how
everyone was staring at him. Especially the larger orange and
black-striped Kat. Callista walked over and knelt down before
the kitten, smiling broadly to reassure him.
"It's okay Tobias. Is dinner ready?" she asked
gently, trying to keep the boy from panicking away into a
dead faint. Attempting to be as non-threatening as possible,
Callista rubbed the boy's head, causing a ever so
slight grin to cross the kitten's face.
Nodding briskly, the silver furred and blacked-striped
youngster relaxed slightly. "Yes ma'am. There's
mutton, and fruit, and lots of bread. We even made that plum
pudding that you like so much!" The boy beamed, but realized
he was talking too much and quickly shut his mouth, looking
at the ground. Half expecting to be yelled at for talking
like that to the Queen, he was amazed when instead of
disapproval a gentle laugh escaped from Callista.
"Why thank you, Tobias. That is very nice of you. Would
you run along and tell everyone that we will be there soon?"
Callista grinned as the boy acted as if he had been asked to
go slay a mighty dragon for her.
"Yes, your Majesty!" the boy puffed up slightly, feeling
on top of the world. Without another word the youngster
saluted like the guards and at top speed dashed out of the
room bound for the kitchen. A small round of laughter escaped
from the gathered Kats as the mood lightened noticeably.
Chance smiled.."I think he was trying to impress you,
Callista."
The young Queen nodded. "He was, but for all the wrong
reasons." Seeing a look of puzzlement on his face she
elaborated.. "Tobias is an orphan, his parents were killed
several years ago in a mud slide south of the Dijor
mountains. He's been here since, and I don't
think we have a better page in the castle. But..he tries
hard..too hard.. to prove himself to me. I think he's
trying to pay me back for taking him in, although I keep
hoping he will realize he does not owe me anything. Being the
best Kat he can be is reward enough."
Chance looked at Callista with a nod, understanding both
her concerns and the boy's behavior. "He's just
trying to find a way to balance the scales Callista. More
than likely he feels a need to repay you for your kindness
since you didn't have to take him in. Once he feels
like the debt has been filled, even if it only exists in his
mind, he'll be able to put it behind him and move on.
The best thing is to let him find his own path in his own
time." Not seeing the stunned look from his partner, Chance
just smiled at Callista who nodded in acceptance of his
logic.
Arkatta looked at Chance, a expression of deep thought on
her withered face. **His compassion is deep. That may not be
a good sign...** her mind's eye commented. Realizing
that this tom-Kat could be an unforeseen variable in her
plans, Arkatta reluctantly accepted the fact that he would
have to be told the whole truth. **Either that, or risk all we
know being undone, even by the best of intentions...**.
Jake looked over at Chance and smiled. "I don't
know about you, partner, but I'm starving." Struggling
against his aching body Jake rose halfway, but winced as that
same body protested loudly and painfully. Gasps for air
escaped his lips as he looked at Callista apologetically.
"Sorry your Highness, but I might have to dine in the room
tonight."
Callista regretfully nodded and prepared to called a
guard to bring food for Sir Razor when Chance laughed softly.
"Not a chance buddy. If I gotta eat more pepper stew, so are
you! Wait right here.." and with that the Swat Kat darted
outside to the hall only returning a few moments later with a
makeshift wheelchair. Arkatta and Callista looked at the
contraption with interest, while Jake merely shook his head
smiling. As Chance walked over to help Jake, Callista knelt
over and peered at the device.
"Sir T-Bone, what is this??" she asked with small amount
of awe in her voice.
"A wheelchair ma'am. Where we come from, this helps
Kats with injuries get around and have the means to do things
they normally couldn't."
"When did you have time to put this together Chance?"
The burly Kat looked at his partner and smirked.
"Actually, I can't take credit. The town blacksmith
gets all the credit for this baby. I ran into Sir Steele on
my way to bathe and told him that you might need help getting
around. So instead of having a guard carry you like a sack of
kitty litter, I drew him a rough layout of a chair, and he
got the smithy to cobble up this.." he commented, gesturing
to the chair.
Callista nodded in approval at her knight's foresight. "A clever
idea, Sir T-Bone."
Jake laughed, instantly regretting the action. After the
pain subsided, he looked at Callista with a bit of humor in
his eyes as Chance lowered him into the chair. "He gets them
every now and then your Majesty. About once every decade!"
Callista and Jake's laughter filled the room as
Chance's only gentlemanly response (due to ladies being
present) was a low growl from deep in his throat. This
prompted another round of laughter, which Chance gave up on
trying to defuse and started to push his tormentor (and
former best friend) to the dining hall when Arkatta's
voice caught his attention.
"Sir T-bone. I have a few questions I would like to ask
you, and I must be returning to my home soon. I do not wish
to make you late for dinner, but they are of some importance
and a few minutes of your time would be most helpful..." the
elder Kat said.
Callista looked at her mentor and cocked her head..."Is
it of that importance Arkatta? Surely it can wait until after
dinner?"
"I am afraid not, my child. We shall be along shortly.
Perhaps Sir Steele can escort Sir Razor?"
Callista shook her head. "I will. Both knights have saved
myself and my kingdom with little regard for their own
safety. This will be a small repayment of that service."
Walking over, Callista took the crude handles of the
wheelchair and smiled at Jake. "I hope the change in driver
is acceptable?" she asked with a hint of playfulness.
"No complaints here." Jake chuckled as the pair slowly
departed. Before rounding the corner of the door, he gave
Chance a sly grin, a slight 'thumbs up' sign on
his left paw, another point scored in their battle for
Callista's attentions. Chance sighed and gave only a
slight nod, accepting the point, but his look told Jake that
the battle was far from over.
Arkatta quietly studied the exchange, her feeling of
uneasiness growing as the Swat Kats' concern for each
other was bad enough; but this battle for the attentions of
her pupil had far more dangerous repercussions. With a
focused look, she walked over to the remaining Kat and looked
up at him with a quizzical stare.
Chance met her look, a bit uneasy himself as her glance
upset him for some reason. Clearing his throat, he tried to
break the silence when Arkatta's voice cut him off with
the strangest of questions.
"How much do you care for him, Sir T-Bone?"
Chance blinked, the query catching him totally off guard.
He looked at her with total confusion.
"It is not a hard question to answer. How much do you
care for him?"
Chance swallowed hard, a ball of ice beginning to form in
the pit of his stomach. "I would give my life for him
Arkatta. After what we have been through I would think that
would be obvious." He paused, looking at the figure before
him. "Is he hurt that bad? Is he going to...?" Chance paused,
unable to say the word Jake had filled in for him earlier.
Arkatta shook her head, a paw reaching up to rest
reassuringly on his forearm. "Not here, not now. But your
compassion for him is without restraint. While that is a
noble quality-rare in any time-it could prove to be terrible
mistake."
Chance looked at her, anger building in his eyes. "Please
Arkatta! No more riddles. If Jake's in danger, I've got to know
what..."
Again her paw patted his forearm, quieting the upset
warrior. She then hobbled over to the fire, warming her old
bones as Chance walked behind her as panic joined the fear
forming within his gut. Biting his tongue, Chance let the
she-Kat find the words herself, knowing his being upset
wouldn't help at all. After a long moment, Arkatta
turned and sat down, her gaze solid on the young tom-Kat.
"I am the one responsible for you and Sir Razor being
here."
Chance blinked once..then twice, not sure if he heard
right. Clenching his fists, the Swat Kat glared at her,
daring to not say anything as his anger would escape
unchecked.
"I do not blame you for being upset, but before you pass
judgment hear me out." She paused, gesturing for him to sit
in the chair Callista had recently occupied.
Chance sat, still upset but holding it all in with a
force of will he never suspected possessing until now.
"What I am about to tell you Sir T-Bone is of such great
importance I had to disregard all the ethical principles I
hold dear. What will happen...what /must/ happen..is that
crucial to everything we both hold close in our hearts. "
Again she paused, letting her mind organize her concerns into
something coherent. "Your compassion for your friend does you
great credit, but there will come a time T-Bone where...if
you save Razor from what appears to be a terrible fate...you
will doom all that you see here, and all you love in your own
time."
Chance could only sit there, the color draining from his
face.
"You will reach home again noble knight. I do not know
how, or when, but you will leave this time and once again be
in your own. After your return, a great and terrible threat
will emerge. Once more, the Swat Kats will take to the skies
to protect their home and city from it. But in the process,
to secure victory, you will be required to sacrifice your
partner. /IF/ you do not allow this..if you save him... you
will doom my world and yours...forever. "
"B..but..h..how....?"
"There will be a great evil, more powerful than ever to
be seen on this world. I do not know the cause, but the
results are all too clear; to stop the threat you must leave
Razor to face certain death while you deliver the final blow.
By the time you return, it will be too late. Razor will be
lost, seemingly forever. "
Chance felt his heart stop.
To her credit, Arkatta felt for the young Kat, but she
could not let her personal feelings get in the way of saving
all she held dear. But to leave him hanging like this was
torture so she quickly resumed.
"In fact, Razor will not be dead but here in Megalith
City some years in our future. After many failed attempts to
return home, he will begin to carve a life for himself. And
in time, that life will include his hand in marriage to
Callista."
What little breath Chance had left was savagely expelled
as another deeply personal dream was wrenched from his soul.
He felt numb all over, unable to speak or move as Arkatta
continued.
"In time, their marriage will produce a child. A
beautiful daughter that will cause the gods themselves to be
envious. They will be a happy family, full of love and life
that has escaped both your friend and my Queen for the
longest time." She faltered, a dark look passing over her
face. "However, it will not last. A long forgotten spell will
be tried in one final attempt to reach you Sir T-Bone."
"But..why? If..if he's got Callista, why..."
Arkatta shook her head, amazed at how this Kat could be
so empathic and unaware at the same time. "To give you a
sense of closure and dispel the grief of your loss. As the
spell is completed, a doorway will open into your
world's future where Callista and Razor will see the
ruin that was once his home now engulfed by creatures of
nightmare. They run rampant as their leader..an evil being of
unnatural creation..feasts on the bodies of those who tried
to stop him. Their power will grow unchecked until your
entire world is theirs to do with as they please."
There was no sound from Chance, his mind racing as he
tried to understand it all.
"They will use all the powers at their disposal to see
how the fall happened and where the focal point occurred.
Upon that discovery, it is then that their happiness will
shatter totally. They will see that the technology your world
possessed was unable to stop the wave of darkness, and with
no wielders of magic in your time there was no hope. Unable
to send themselves and leave Megalith City to her enemies-but
just as unwilling to leave your time unguarded-a painful
choice will be made. Their precious baby daughter will be
sent to the future, memories of her life here erased. She
will grow up there, learn the ways of the modern world. And,
when the time comes, her natural control over the forces of
magic will stop the cataclysm, ensuring the safety of
generations to come. " Arkatta stopped, giving Chance much
needed time to pull himself together.
To his own credit, Chance quickly pulled the pieces of
the puzzle before him into a simple picture..."S..so. If..if
I save Razor, then he won't travel back in time. If he
doesn't travel back in time, his daughter won't be born. If
she's not born, then she can't be sent to the future and if
she's not in the future..."
"Then there will be no future." finished Arkatta.
Chance staggered to his feet, his mind a whirl of fear
and terror as the insight of what was to be shattered him to
the core. After forever passed, his voice returned to ask a
question..."Their daughter in our time..will she know
what..will she know the truth? How can I find her when the
time comes..?"
"You do not know her true identity?" she asked, surprised
etched on her weathered face.
Chance shook his head.
"Their daughter will be a warrior of words for most of
her life, defending the innocent in her own way. That will be
taken from her, and from the depths of her deepest despair
her true self will begin to emerge. That self will be all
that stands in the way of terror for a thousand generations.
Yet, until that transformation, no one..not even you and Sir
Razor, will have ever suspected her true role in the future
of MegaKat City."
Chance looked at her, turning a ghastly shade of white.
"Yo..you mean we know her??"
Arkatta nodded as she reached over, gently holding the
paw of the troubled tom-Kat. The male looked down and with an
almost reverent voice as he begged the answer to be revealed.
"Who..who is she??"
"The daughter of Sir Razor and Callista is well known to
you, Sir T-Bone. She is the Swat Kats' greatest
ally..and the one love you have forbade yourself from
following so the Swat Kats will remain unbroken..."
Chance stopped breathing, the realization of who Arkatta
was referring to hitting him like a ton of bricks. Tears ran
down his eyes as his knees were no longer able to support
him, the warrior sinking to the hard floor in a fit of
distress. For long moments he could say nothing, but slowly,
her name escaped his lips, as if the necessary conclusions
would only be justified by his own voice. The word filled the
room..and his heart..with a heavy light.
"Callie...".
Chance Furlong clenched his fists and shook in mortal
fear as deep in his heart he knew it all to be true...
What sound ends the world?
What does one hear when emptiness is all there is?
What does the archangel sing as all becomes nothing?
For a doctor, the song is never welcomed. In this case,
nevermore was it so. The biomonitor was respectfully muted,
the shrill, even call silenced as time itself seemed to pay
its final respects.
There is no song now; at least none the living could
hear. There are only words to give the life a macabre sense
of closure.
Three little words to be precise.
"She's gone, Thomas."
The words sounded hollow, as if the life before him was
over..just like.../that/? That was all necessary to close a
life of service and dedication to her fellow Kats?
Tears began to fall from Thomas Katzenberg's eyes
as he drew the sheet over the lifeless form. "Time of death?"
he whispered, mostly from terrible habit.
"2:47 P.M." whispered Douglas Kowser, his own face wet
with grief.
Thomas nodded. Little words. That is what life boiled
down to at this moment. A lifetime of effort and achievement
put into a neat little package.
More tears fell, spotting the sheet below him.
Little words was all that was left.
And Calico Briggs deserved so much more.
Slowly Thomas and his staff walked out, unable to hide
the despair that infected their spirits. As the others left
to file respective reports on Calico's death, it fell
to Thomas to be the bearer of the news.
Ulysses and Felina looked up at the doctor as he emerged
from the room which held Callie. The elder Feral saw the look
on the healer's face and knew what had happened. He
tensed, reflexively holding his niece closer, as if he could
somehow protect her from the tragedy about to occur.
Felina knew as soon as she saw the look in
Katzenberg's eyes that Callie was gone. "N..no..please
Goddess..no.." she whimpered. Clutching at her uncle's
arm, she felt her legs try to give out, only continuing to
stand with the help from him and Sami.
Sami herself just stood there, stunned. Even though she
personally didn't know Calico Briggs all that well, the
loss of the most respected She-Kat in Megakat City was nearly
more than she could handle. The tears ran down her face,
soaking her fur with sorrow.
"How..?" asked Ulysses quietly.
"Massive systems failure Mayor." Thomas took off his
glasses, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his smock.
Looking up at the trio he tried to continue..."All of her
major systems--nervous, lympathic circulatory--everything
just..stopped. I've never seen this before. It's
as if her body just..gave up. I know..this doesn't mean
much now..but I doubt she felt any pain. She went quickly
Lieutenant."
Felina just stood there in shock, a slight nod her only
reply available.
"Can we see her Doctor. To say good-bye?"
Thomas shook his head at Sami. "I'm sorry. She's not ..you
don't need to see her like she is. I don't want you to remember
her like that. She wouldn't want that either."
Sami wanted to protest, but a slight squeeze from
Felina's paw on her arm quieted her for the moment.
Feral looked at the doctor and placed a paw on the elder
Kat's shoulder. "I know you did what you could Thomas.
She also wouldn't want you to blame yourself. "
Thomas nodded, but it was clear he did just that. "Maybe
if I had caught her symptoms earlier..put her on light
duty.." he sighed, knowing that somehow he had failed beyond
redemption.
"It's not your fault sir.." began Felina.
"There's only one Kat who needs to take the blame for
this..".
Ulysses looked at his niece, and now saw not just grief,
but blood-red rage in her eyes. He had seen that look only
once before, but it was enough to stay etched in his mind,
blissfully forgotten until now.
"Felina..." began Feral softly but with clear intent for
her to not continue.
"Uncle, this is all Dark Kat's fault and you know
it! He /HAS/ to be made to pay!"
Sami turned and looked at her friend, her face filled
with so many emotions. Grief at the loss of Calico, fear at
Felina's barely held rage, worry for what the future
would be like with all that had happened. Somewhere deep in
her soul, Sami knew that it would be alright..it would
/have/ to be. But she also knew that if Felina gave into the
rage now, would she be lost as well after all was said and
done?
"Felina..please. We'll get Dark Kat. I promise you.
He'll pay for everything he's done to you, to
Callie, to our city."
To Sami's relief, Felina just nodded, unable to say
anything lest her anger be vented upon the wrong Kat. Closing
her eyes, she leaned against her Uncle, trying to find an
inner calm amongst the emotional storm she found herself
trapped in.
Ulysses held his niece, his gaze starting to drift
towards Thomas when his radio broke the silence.
"Mayor Feral, come in. Lieutenant Commander Steele to
Mayor Feral. Come in.."
Sami and Felina glanced towards each other, wondering
what was going on now.
"Mayor. Code magenta sir. Do you read me?"
The blood in the two Ferals froze as the words sank
in. Sami's eyes widened as Felina's darkened considerably.
Thomas looked around confused. "Code Magenta..what's code..?"
he began, but the elder Feral's swipe for his walkie cut the
doctor short.
"Steele! What the blazes is going on?!"
"We've got Viper at Megakat Biochem, Hard Drive and
the Metallikats at Pumadyne, and an unidentified airship on
route to MegaTron Labs! Best guess..it's Dark Kat sir."
Steele's voice was deceptively calm considering what he
just said.
"Blast it all!" shouted Felina. "Those bastards..they're
trying to divide us..split forces. But..why? I mean..all three
companies have moved their top secret stuff to other labs as a
precaution until the Megakat city branches could be repaired.
What could be left that..."
"Project Victory..." whispered Ulysses.
Sami looked at a very confused Dr. Katzenberg to a
pensive Mayor to a shaking Felina. Needing to understand what
was going on, she turned to the elder Feral.."Sir...
What's Project Victory? And how does that relate to
this code Magenta?" Sami didn't want to overstep her
bounds, but the sinking feeling in her gut had to be abated.
And that could only be accomplished with information.
Information only Mayor Feral seemed to possess.
Feral looked at the young Enforcer and sighed.."Project
Victory was created by MegaTron Labs and Pumadyne as the last
line of defense against nuclear attack by either rogue forces
with missile access or..."
"...other forces, such as Dark Kat, who would rather destroy
MegaKat City rather than lose. It's an energy shield, meant to keep
the entire city safe in case of outside attack." Felina quietly added.
"But what could Dark Kat want with an energy shield that
keeps attacks out?" Thomas asked. "Surely, even on the off
chance he could take over the entire city, the President
wouldn't sanction a nuclear response....would she?"
"No..but think Doctor. If a shield is designed to keep
forces out, wouldn't it stand to reason that it could
be designed to..." Feral began
"..keep people in!" finished Sami. "Goddess..he could
envelope the entire city from the rest of the world!"
"Not just that Sami, but the entire project is powered by
a reactor. And where there's a reactor.."
Thomas paled as Felina's statement registered.
"Oh..my..he could detonate the core and decimate the city!"
"It's worse than that Thomas," Ulysses said as he
looked at the shocked healer.." The core isn't nuclear
...it's antimatter based.."
Silence filled the room.
Felina looked at her uncle as all the blood froze in her
lithe body. "Goddess..Uncle..that means..that means.."
"If he succeeds, there will be nothing left for anyone to
salvage. The entire world could well be obliterated."
A deafening quiet filled the room once more for long
moments until Steele's voice broke through the
stillness. "Mayor..this is Steele. Come in.."
Feral looked down and grasped his radio. "Commander, you
have full authority to activate project Doomsday. I repeat,
you are GO for project Doomsday."
"Understood Mayor. Good luck sir.." Steele said quietly,
the channel closing with a soft click.
"To us all..." whispered Feral.
Both Sami and Felina looked considerably paler than a few
moments ago, both of them having heard rumors about project
Doomsday, but neither ever expecting it to be sanctioned.
"Uncle...." began Felina, but Feral's look stopped
her flat.
"No arguments on this Felina. I know the risks."
"Yes sir..but..please.."
"I'll be careful Felina. But I don't want you
to go after Dark Kat solo."
"But..he has to pay for what he's.."
"That's an /order/ Lieutenant!" Feral stressed as
his voice gave no room for argument. "I expect it to be
obeyed to the fullest. Am I /clear/ on that?" His tone
shocked Thomas and Sami, but both knew there was little room
for interruption on Felina's part.
"As crystal sir." was Felina's only reply, her
fists clenched in anger.
Feral saluted. "Good luck then." and he saluted.
Felina responded likewise and turned to go, not allowing
herself to give her Uncle a final hug good-bye.
Sami saluted as well, and turned to go when Feral's
voice got her attention.
"Higgins...? "
"Sir?"
"Watch out for her. Please."
Sami blinked at the request, but nodded in understanding.
"I will sir. "
Sami turned to follow Felina, but stopped short when she
saw her friend staring at Callie's door. There was a
glistening of tears on the young she-Kat's face as
Felina softly put her hand on the door to the room that held
the remains of a woman she admired more than she could ever
admit.
**I'll make him pay Callie..if it's the last
thing I ever do. I swear it.** thought Felina as she felt
Sami's presence beside her. Looking over she nodded
only once and as she forced her grief down, a plan began to
from in her mind. One that had great risks, but maybe..just
maybe..was their only hope for success.
And it would only cost Felina her life.
Thomas watched Sami and Felina depart, then looked over
at Feral. "Mayor..what is going on? Why is this project
Doomsday so dangerous?"
Feral looked at the Doctor and shook his head. "No time
Thomas. Suffice it to say you need to prepare your staff for
the worst." With that, he began to leave, pausing only long
enough to gaze at Callie's room, a soft prayer echoing
in his mind.
**Dust to dust...** echoed the thought in Feral's
mind. *Perhaps she's with her beloved Swat Kats. At any
rate, now she can rest...* With that, he went to the elevator
and made for the parking deck.
A confused Thomas stared at the door to Callie's
room for a long moment. Alone and out of the loop, all he
could do was his duty; ready the autopsy on Calico and
prepare as best he could for the unknown results of Project
Doomsday. Although Callie was beyond his help, Thomas felt
compelled to give her life a proper closure. If nothing else,
he could at least say good-bye. Taking a deep breath and
gathering his resolve, he opened the door and walked into ICU
4.
That same resolve crumbled as the door shut behind a
shocked Thomas Katzenberg as his gaze fell to the spot were
less than five minutes before the body of Calico Briggs
rested. Now there was nothing.
Callie was gone.
"What the hell??!!" shouted Thomas as he rushed to the
empty bedside. Staring in disbelief the healer felt panic
nudging at his gut. Denying the sensation, he leapt to the
first logical conclusion anyone would have in the same
situation.
"This is not happening."
The room chose not to reply.
Closing his eyes, Thomas counted to five and took another
deep breath. Slowly, he opened them and gazed at the bed.
Callie was still gone.
Beginning to wonder if the grief of losing his
goddaughter was effecting him mentally, Thomas shook his head
to clear it. It was then something caught his eye. Something
that was very out of place.
The window was open.
When he left, the window was closed.
That means...
**No! Impossible! She couldn't have left the
hospital. One, she was dead! Two, we're over 8 stories
high. And three..**
Thomas sighed 'Three'; was a rather moot
point since number one was a pretty good argument against her
leaving.
"The wind blew it open. That's all." Thomas said to
the room, as if trying to convince himself of the futility of
what his heart was reaching for.
It was then Thomas noticed one other item that had eluded
his awareness until now. There, stuck in the right side of
the window frame, there was a royal blue feather. Deep in
hue, the feather swayed in the breeze, almost glistening in
the midday sunlight.
Walking over, Thomas gently took the feather from
it's resting place and shut the window. He dropped his
gaze, scanning the object for some clue..some piece...that
would shed light on the disappearance of Calico Briggs.
But the blue feather held it's secrets tightly. For now......